THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



515 



arm* imi-ok hru r uurc I MJLB-. 



J ,, s .* >.\ i. SOM8 lia*e the pleasure of 



fl^afttia* tb»t it* hart made vary extaaaiva i>u ctiaset 

 ^^< o raoatcelebra 1 Fiori i in Uusrlem this 



^lconaJent their coll* ion will su- k *s almo-t 

 •< imixjrted. The sorts of HYACINTH* were 

 s in b'.ooa . and can be warranted* of fir>t-r.uo 

 at we uadermaa tied low prieaa :— f. d. 



iit'TCH HYACINTHS, b/ name, per dozen ... 9 



Ljijj D*. l>) - Do - 1v> - — 6 ° 



gi\'gST I* ^ mixed l>o. ... 8 



imA ail other Bulbous Flower Roots pseportioaably cheap. 

 - Early Orders are requested, and will have the preference 

 Wfcarce sorts. 



Gtoriap *e by Great Western, South W* stern and 



Railway \ except parcels under 10*. value. 



Re; og Nurseries Iteadfn?, B ertea. 



TO -TRAWBERRY GROWER*. 



has to offer, in fine strong 



id STRAWB&U'UES, at per llM> : 



E n Pine 2*. Od. 



Keen*' Seedling ... 2 



Prince s s Alice Maud... 2 



Caroline 2 



Black Prince 

 British Queen 

 Cants de Pari 

 Eisanor 



* - * 



ts.Od. 

 2 

 6 

 8 



Hsrticultural Gardens, N>r\\ h , Aug. 16. 



"AZALEA INDICA « VESTA*? 



LUCOMBE. PINCE, and Co., will be ready to send 

 out, on the lOih of September next, fine healthy grafted 

 Hie* e€ Mstlr beautiful new Seedling INDIAN AZALEA 



<• V&STA. 



It U decidedly the finest of all the white varieties, beinff of 

 great snb-tance, snowy whiteness, and good shape, with neat 

 jrjaiij foliage and compact habit, flowering very profuse Iv ; it 

 E^ tee* aa* sired greatly by all who have seen it, and ex- 

 tjSltffSll ordered, to 'hat early application at* respectfully 

 aajfeited, 



L., P.. and Co., in rrcommending "AZALEA VESTA" to 

 ealttVaSo-* of this beiu?iful tribe, beg leave to point with 

 fyeiioc* of pleasure 10 their two previous Seedling Azaleas— 

 ••Dr/K OF DBVONSHIRK" and "AURORA" which h. 

 beta so gre y approved of, and they are certain that 



VKTA" wiN $ci?e as great sati faction as thesj have done. 

 - rke 21 1> each. Discount to the Trade when threa are 

 ordered.— ^xetvr Nursi ry, August 16. 



NEW AM) RARE PLANT*. **] 



Wl-mS. VEITCH and SOWS catalogues of New 

 a \ Rare Plants, Orchids* Stove and Greenhouse Plants, 

 Camellia, Ericas, Pelargoniums, <fcc. arc now ready for 

 distribution, on th» receipt of two postage stamps. 

 Exeter, August 16, 1851. 



where each grain was d : sited w iUv marked. 



In a few weeks four young ants mad I appear- 



ance at the places v. ere four of the grains had been 

 sown. One of them died shortly aftei ard the 



oth« is throve, becante Raspberry 1 . and are 

 still living in the gar u of the Hort 

 Society. 



Some doubt having been expressed, whan the 

 result of the experiment was known, as to the 

 good faith of Mr. Maclean, he produced wha 

 appeared to be satisfactory proof of the truth 

 of his statement, but the nature of which i^ 

 now forgotten, and the fact was briefly recorded 

 in a work published shortly aftei wards.* Since 

 that time, it has remained, we believe, un- 

 questioned, until the late meeting of the Brit h 

 Association at Ipswich, when Prof. 1 1 u iv pointed 

 it out as a statement requiring confirmation ; the 

 experiment* that have been made a Oxford, upon 

 the vitality of seeds, not leading to the conclusion 

 that v ility oan be prolonged in any such degree. 

 Upon the subject of these experiments, and npon 

 the inferences which can be drawn from them. 



• 



-» 



■ 1 



JTJie firtrtrenerg' Chronicle* 



SATURDA Y, A UGUST 16, 1851. 



sfEVTfNOS FOR THE KN8UINO WEEK. 



Terr*f»4Y Aa •. 21 -National FloriculturaJ 3r.M. 



revvtai Shows. — Wednesday, Au*. ?0 : Trowbridge Horticultural.— 

 Hs*arri*y, Aug. 23: North Kent Horticultural. 



About sixteen years since a stranger called upon 

 a London naturalist engaged in the study of fossil 

 plants, concerning a discovery he thought he had 

 made. The stranger opened his business in the 

 following manner : " My name, sir, is Maclean ; I 

 am a dentist, living at Dorchester, and I have 

 brought you some fossil seeds, which I have lately 

 found, in the hope that you may be able to tell me 

 to what plant they belong." He then produced a 

 lump of brown brittle matter, coloured like peat; or, 

 to describe it more correctly, resembling in appear- 

 ance the preparations of blood which the Neapo- 

 litan Brocchibri is now exhibiting in the Crystal 

 Palace.* Ur>on breaking it a number of small grains 



imbedded in the 



resembling seeds were to be i 

 mass. Upon inquiring what the history was of this 

 auppeeed fowil matter, Mr. Maclean proceeded to 

 the following effect-: " I was anxious, sir, in the 

 pursuit of my profession of a dentist, to ascertain 

 for myself in what condition very ancient teeth are 

 found, and for that purpose obtained permission to- 

 open one of the ancient barrows (tumuli) 9 near 

 Maiden Castle, in my county. We were fortunate 

 enough to find a coffin at the bottom of one of these 

 harrows, 30 feet below the surface, containing a 

 skeleton, some coins of the Emperor Hadrian, and 

 other articles. Amonga* the bones I observed a 

 quantity of the substance now produced, lying in 

 what seemed to have been the cavity of the 

 abdomen." 



The statement had so much the appearance of 

 truth that the supposed seeds were submitted to 

 careful examination, the result of which was the 



scovery that they were the grains of the Rasp- 

 berry. When placed side by side with grains of 

 the fresh Raspberry they could only be distinguished 

 by their surface having been corroded. Specimen 

 of the ancient and recent grains were exhibited at 

 one of the soirees of the late Duke of Susskx, when 

 His Royal Highness was President of the Royal 

 Society, as it is possible that some of our readers 

 may remember. In the course of the examination 

 of these ancient grains some traces of vitality were 

 remarked, and it was determined to have them 

 sown. This was done in the following manner: — 



The season being winter, a garden pot filled with 

 earth was placed in a hothouse, under the charge of 

 a young ( rman, named Hartweg, in the garden of 

 the Horticultural Society. In this pot six seeds 

 Were deposited at equal distances. 



we shall have something to say hereafter. Our 

 immediate object in drawing attention to this Dorset- 

 shire case, is to obtain, if possible, some t >timony 

 respecting it. Mr. Maci.kan is we believe dead ; at 

 least letters do not find him, and therefore we must 

 look elsewhere for i rroboration of the story. We 

 would therefore ask our readers in the country to 

 make some inquiry into such points as are .still 



ascertainable; as for instance whetln ran v harrow w; 

 opened by Mr. Maclkan near Maiden Castle, about 

 the year 1884-1835 — whether any thing, and what 

 was found on the occasion, and also whether there 

 are any fair grounds for qu tioning his assertion. 

 For ourselves, we have certainly regarded the case 

 as one wholly free from suspicion ; the mass of 

 brown matter in which the seeds were found, and 

 which we carefully examined, had no appearance 

 of having been made up for the purpose of deception ; 

 the corroded state of the hard shell of the Raspberry 

 itself indicated antiquity ; and the manner of the 

 gentleman who produced the specimen, had all the 

 aspect of truth and honesty. 



Nor is there anything improbable in the fact of 

 Raspberry seeds having retained their vitality for 1CO0 

 or 1700 years. Putting aside mummy Wheat, the 

 statements respecting which have been lately 

 doubted, we have still the unquestionable fact 

 that seeds buried for ages will grow when exposed 

 to the air, as has happened in the railway cuttings 

 and elsewhere, and of which a notable example is 

 given in the u Annals of Natural History," vol. xiii., 

 l>. 89, by Mr. Kemp. This gentleman ascertained 

 that seeds of Polygonum Convolvulus, an Atriplex, 

 and a Rumex, found at the bottom of a stratified 

 sand pit, upwards of 25 feet deep, still retained 

 their germinating power. Upon geological evidence 

 Mr. Kemp arrived at the conclusion that these seeds 

 must have been deposited by the Tweed at some 

 remote period anterior to the time of the Romans in 

 Britain. Unless therefore this evidence is also called 

 in question, we can perceive no reason for doubting 

 the high antiquity of other seeds, and of the Dor- 

 chester Raspberry more especially. 



knew nothing of the history of the seeds 

 *<* object of the experiment, was directed to 

 m anything made its appearance. 



The poin 



curious fact thai the oa»y 



The important services which Liebig has rendered 

 to the philosophy of vegetation invest all his writings 

 with a peculiar interest, and render them, however 

 we may differ from him on particular subjects, at 

 least worthy of careful and attentive study. The 

 " Letters on Chemistry," of which an English trans- 

 lation has recently appeared, contain several matters 

 well worthy of consideration ; and whilst we may 

 fairly recommend the whole book to our readers 

 generally, as one which cannot fail to instruct and 

 entertain them, from the importance of the matters 

 described, and the agreeable manner in which they 

 are treated, we would point out at the present time 

 one or two scientific considerations relating to the 

 general nature of plants, which fall more imme- 

 diately within our usual province ; for example, in 

 the 19th letter will be found some very curious state- 

 ments with regard to the growth of fungi, and the 

 distinctions which are generally supposed to exist 

 between plants and animals. 



Until within a comparatively recent period, all 

 observations and facts have gone to establish 

 certain great leading distinctions between plants 

 and animals ; for though Darwin, and other writers 

 towards the close of the last century, endeavoured 

 to prove that a very close resemblance in many 

 points existed between the two classes of organised 

 beings, yet, setting aside this apparent resemblance, 

 there were evidently certain plain and unmis take- 

 able differences, which taken altogether formed a 

 broad line of d liuction between the two. Without 

 going into detail, it will be remembered, that th* 

 existence of nerves in animals, and of starch in 



vegetables, and ce rent- a u o the mocks > 



feeding and reproduction, constituted the chief 

 points of distinction. Within the last few yeaWL 

 the soundness of these distinctions have b< i called 

 i question, and we are now told that plants and 

 animals are all members of one great group of 

 ori ii^ 1 beings, differing in minor points, but agree- 

 ing in their leading charac ristii 1 in fact, in 



not to be distingu bed from 



one 



some points, 

 another. 



Amongst the peculiar differences of plants and 

 anim, . it used to be stated, that whilst the former 

 were able to feed on inorganic matter, the latter 

 would only feed upon tliat which v * already 

 organised ; so that, whilst plants were able to 

 assimilate the carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen of the 

 atmosphere, animals were unable to do so, but 

 could only absorb those aubstanees, when they 

 had already been a ed and combined together 



b J plan .lid \ re therefore . converted into 



organic matter. Again it was stat {, as one of the 

 many be itiful facts which science had brought to 

 light, that whilst all animals by u ir 1 

 ten 1 to render the atmosphere imj . plants oa 

 the contrary were con aitly at u ) cou ac 



the effects thus prodm 1 by animals, and to inaiu^ 

 tain the air in a uniform and he . tat 



A few ye. ^uc, some oxpe4i meats ware pub- 

 lished which appeared to show that some of t > 

 lower forms of animal life approached \ neaily* 

 in n ny respects, to the rupler ] rats; and, in 

 fact, to prove that the old and acknowledged p U 

 of distinction could no long 3 maintained. Thate 

 experiments are qu 9& and confirmed by Lnsie in 

 a very decided manner, and, a^ we have just said 

 h statements are alwaj > worthy of respect and 



mtion, though, from the p live manner in which 

 they are sometimes made, and the little evident 



— 



* Lindlet's " Introduction to Botaov," ed. 2, p. 293, ISM 



which is brought forward to prove them, they rnuat 

 be received with caution, and do not always carry 

 conviction to the reader. 



The improvements effected in the microscope in 

 the present century have introduced to us quite a 

 new subject f inquiry, in the multitudes of minute 

 plants and animals which have been brought to light. 

 The labours of Eh&BNMJLG are peculiarly interesting, 

 for he has carefully studied and described a vast 

 number of the minute infusorial annuals, as they 

 are called, which live in water ; and the remains 

 of which, in countless myriads, are found in various 

 stones and alluvial deposits. Amongst these, there 

 are some which appear to be intermediate iii nature 

 between plants and animals, forming as it were the 

 connecting link which unites the two kingdoms of 

 organic being, and which, according to the views of 

 different naturalists, are described either as plants 

 or as animals. It is to some of these questionable 

 animalcules, that attention has of late been in par- 

 ticular directed, and the conclusion arrived at is, 

 that they are true animals, but that they possess the 

 usual characteristics of plants ! 



The observations on which these conclusions are 

 founded, are by no means new ; they were made long 

 ago and forgotten ; and it is only now that recent 

 investigations have led to the same conclusions, that 

 the statements of our forefathers are remembered, 

 and acknowledged to be correct. In certain of the 

 Hessian salt pans, a green slimy deposit was 

 observed ; and it was noticed that from this 

 green matter bubbles of air continually arise ; 

 it was natural, in accordance with all received 

 facts, to presume that this green matter was 

 vemtable — a Conferva, or some similar plant ; and 

 consequently that the gas given jwit was oxygen, 

 which the plants had set free as a result of the 

 decomposition of carbonic acid, and the assimila- 

 tion of carbon. Pfankuch ami Wohleh, who 

 investigated the nature of this green matter, found 

 that the gas given out was undoubtedly oxygen ; 

 but they also found out that the green matter itself 

 was not a vegetable production, but consisted 

 entirely of infusorial animals. This, presuming the 

 observation to be correct, was certainly a very 

 curious and important fact. It was known that 

 animals which inhabit water, like those which live 

 upon the surface of the earth, absorb oxygen and 

 give out carbonic acid ; and it was also known 

 that Confervse and similar water plants absorb 

 carbonic acid and give out oxygen ; the observa- 

 tions of these philosophers, therefore, would appear 

 to show, that certain animals, differing from most 

 others, not only do not give out carbonic acid gas, 

 but, on the contrary, evolve oxygen. This state- 

 ment has also been confirmed by Morin and 

 by Liebig, who in his "letters" 'remarks, that 

 he has recently verified the observation of Pfankuch, 

 having taken a portion of spring water, and 

 filtered it, and then exposed it to the influence of 

 unshine for a fortnight, in a glass jar; at the end 

 of which time he found that more than 30 cubic 

 inches of air, containing a large proportion of oxygen 



