Miscellanies. 197 



17. Supplement to the Introduction to the Atomic Theory ; comprehen- 

 ding a sketch of certain opinions and discoveries hearing upon the general 

 principles of Chemical Philosophy ; prefaced hy some remarks on the pro- 

 jected reforms in academical education. By Charles DAuuENy, M. D., 

 F. R. S., L. S., G. S., M. R. I. A., Professor of Chemistry and Botany 

 in the University of Oxford. 



This work has many claims to attention. The remarks " on the pro. 

 jected reforms in academical education" are appropriate, and are applica- 

 cable to academical education in this country as well as in England. Re- 

 garded as a brief exposition of the leading doctrines of chemistry, divested 

 of their technicalities, and embracing the points of general scientific inte- 

 rest, this essay possesses great merit. Those who may desire to obtain a 

 knowledge of only the general principles of chemical philosophy, will find 

 them ably developed in Dr. Daubeny's sixty two pages. 



MISCELLANIES. 

 DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 



1. Horticultural Experiments; extracted from a letter from Dr. 

 J. T. Plummer. — For some years past I have been experimenting in 

 a horticultural way. I till my garden with my own hands, and take 

 great delight in it. It not only furnishes a wholesome exercise, but 

 it affords me a much relished mental recreation, in watching the curi- 

 ous developments of the vegetable world, its recuperative powers, and 

 indeed its pathology and physiology generally. Part of the experi- 

 ments which I have made are intended to show at what average tem- 

 perature at noon various seeds will germinate, and how many days 

 are requisite for them to vegetate at any given temperature. Thus I 

 find that the Lima bean, at a temperature of 88°, (in the shade,) will 

 a-ppear above ground in seven days ; at a temperature of 62°, it re- 

 quires twenty days. The marrowfat pea, at 51°, requires nineteen 

 days ; and at 74°, only eleven days. Radishes vary with the tem- 

 perature from six to twelve days. Thus the average temperature of 

 any country, other things being, equal, may be inferred with consid- 

 erable accuracy, from the periods of vegetation ; for in looking over 

 my long list of recorded experiments, I find a great degree of uni- 

 formity in the process of germination, in ordinary circumstances. 



After various experiments, I have succeeded in ridding my peas of 

 the bug, (Bruchus pisi.) Immediately after gathering the seed, I sub- 

 ject them to the action of boiling water one minute ; by this means I 

 destroy the little grubs, or larvos, which at this time are just below 

 the integuments of the pea, without destroying the vitality of the 



