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PART III. 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. Foreign Notices. 

 FRANCE. 



Supposed Influence of the Moon. — There is an impression very general 

 with gardeners, that the moon has a particular effect on plants, especially in 

 certain months. The gardeners near Paris gave the name of the liine 

 rousse to the moon which, beginning in April, becomes full either at the 

 end of the month, or more generally in May. According to them, the 

 light of the moon, in the months of April and May, injures the shoots of 

 plants ; and, when the sky is clear, the leaves and buds exposed to this 

 light become red or brown, and are killed, though the thermometer in the 

 atmosphere is several degrees above the freezing point : they confirm this 

 observation by remarking that, when the rays of the moon are stopped in 

 consequence of the existence of clouds in the air, that then the plants are 

 not injured, although the temperature and other circumstances are the 

 same. 



M- Arago explains this observation of practical men by a reference to the 

 facts and principles established by Dr. Wells. He has shown that, in a 

 clear night, exposed bodies may frequently have their temperatures reduced 

 below that of the surrounding atmosphere, solely by the effect of radiation, 

 the difference being as much as six, seven, ten, or more degrees, but that it 

 does not take place when the heavens are obscured. M. Arago then 

 observes that the temperature is often more than four, five, or six degrees 

 above the freezing point during the nights of April and May, and that 

 when the night is clear, consequently, when the moon is bright, the tem- 

 perature of the leaves and buds may often be brought, by radiation, below 

 the freezing point, whilst the air remains above it, and, consequently, an 

 effect be produced, which, though not dependent upon, accompanies the 

 brilliant unobserved state of the moon ; the absence of these injurious 

 effects, when the moon is obscured, being also as perfectly accounted for 

 by these principles, from the knowledge that the same clouds which obscure 

 the moon will prevent the radiation of heat from the plants. Hence, as M. 

 Arago remarks, the observation of the gardener is correct as far as it goes, 

 though the interpretation of the effect which he generally gives is incorrect. 

 (Annuaire du Bureau cles hong., Bui. Tin., and Quar. Jour., October, 1827.) 



Destruction of Snails by common Salt. — M. Em. Rousseau had applied 

 common salt as a manure to a small piece of garden, and remarked that 

 where snails had come in contact with the salt they quickly died. Wishing 

 to confirm the fact, he strewed some salt upon the ground, and placed a 

 number of snails amongst it ; all those which came out of their shells and 

 touched the salt immediately threw out a greenish globular froth, and in a 

 few minutes were dead. The fact may be turned to account by agricul- 

 turists and gardeners. {Bui. Un. and Brande's Jour., Jan., 1828, p.493.) 



