General Notices. 513 



" 1. A distension of the cellular succulent parts, often attended by lacera- 

 tion ; and always by a destruction of their irritability. 



" 2. An expulsion of air from the aeriferous passages and cells. 



" 3. An introduction of air, either expelled from the air passages, or dis- 

 engaged by the decomposition of water, into parts intended exclusively to 

 contain fluid. 



" 4. A chemical decomposition of the tissue and its contents, especially of 

 the chlorophyll. 



" 5. A destruction of the vitality of the latex, and a stoppage of the action 

 of its vessels. 



" 6. An obstruction of the interior of the tubes of pleurenchyma, by the 

 distension of their sides. 



" These phaenomena may be considered in part mechanical, in part chemical, 

 and in part vital. The two latter are beyond our controul, and probably 

 depend, in part, upon the quality of fluid and organic matter, which may re- 

 sist the action of cold in different degrees, according to their various modifi- 

 cations ; and, in part, upon specific vitality. Salt and water freeze at various 

 temperatures, according to the density of the mixture, from 4° to 27° ; oil of 

 turpentine at 14° ; oil of bergamot at 23° ; vinegar at 28° ; milk at 30° ; 

 water at 32° ; olive oil at 36° ; oil of anise at 50° ; and it is not to be 

 doubted, that, in like manner, the fluid contents of plants, which we know 

 are infinitely modified, will resist the action of cold in very different degrees. 



"The mechanical action of frost may however undoubtedly be guarded against 

 to a great extent. It is well known, that the same plant growing in a dry cli- 

 mate, or in a dry soil, or in a situation thoroughly drained from water during 

 winter, will resist much more cold, than if cultivated in a damp climate, 

 or in wet soil, or in a place affected by water in winter. Whatever tends to 

 render tissue moist will increase its power of conducting heat, and conse- 

 quently augment the susceptibility of plants to the influence of frost; and 

 whatever tends to diminish their humidity, will also diminish their conducting 

 power, and with it their susceptibility ; this is an invariable law, and must 

 consequently be regarded as a fundamental principle in Horticulture, upon 

 attention to which all success in the adaptation of plants to a climate less 

 warm than their own will essentially depend. The destructive effects of frost 

 upon the succulent parts of plants, or upon their tissue when in a succulent 

 condition, may be thus accounted for, independently of the mechanical expansion 

 of their parts ; indeed, it is chiefly to that circumstance, that Dr. NeufFer 

 ascribes the evil influence of cold in the spring ; for he found, that at Tu- 

 bingen nearly all trees contain 8 per cent, more of aqueous parts in March 

 than at the end of January ; and the experience of the past winter shows, 

 that the cultivation of plants in situations too much sheltered, where they 

 are liable to be stimulated into growth, and consequently to be filled with 

 fluid, by the warmth and brightness of a mild protracted autumn, exposes 

 them to the same bad consequences as growing them in damp places, or where 

 their wood is not ripewet?, that is to say, exhausted of superfluous moisture, 

 and strengthened by the deposition of solid matter, resulting from such ex- 

 haustion." 



MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 



Art. I. General Notices. 



Steele's improved KitcJien-Range. — Messrs. W. and P. Steele, the most ex- 

 tensive manufacturing and furnishing ironmongers in Edinburgh, have lately 

 completed a kitchen-range which appears to us to be by far the most complete 

 apparatus of the kind hitherto brought under public notice. Though chiefly 

 calculated for large cstabhshments, yet it may be so far reduced in dimensions, 

 as to be put up for 251. ; though, for large mansions, club-houses, hotels, &c., 

 it will cost from 50/. to 100/ There are two features in it which are new 



