AND OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



35 



would fiiid a nearly similar climate. But, in reality, some species extend themselves 

 in the direction of the longitude, and never swerve to the right or to the left. This 

 is one of those anomalies of which it is not easy to trace the cause. The Phalangium 

 Ucolor begins to show itself in the country round Algiers; it crosses over to Spain, 

 clears the Pyrenees, and terminates its career in Brittany. Mcnziesia polifoUa belongs 

 to Portugal, France, and Ireland. The heaths are confined exclusively to Europe and 

 Africa; Uiey extend themselves from the regions bordering on the Pole to the Cape 

 of Good Hope, over a surface which is very narrow in proportion to its breadth. The 

 Ramonda pyrenaica, as yet only found in the Pyrenees, follows, without deviating 

 from its course, the valleys in those mountains which run from north to south, and 

 so closely that not a single plant of it has been descried in those which skirt the chain 

 in the other direction. But we will now quit insulated facts, and turn our attention 

 to vegetation in general. 



It may be observed that, with the exception of the Lichens, which bid defiance 

 to all climates alilte, a vastly greater proportion of species is calculated to endure a 

 very high degree of warmth, than is cal-culated to bear severe cold. The progressive 

 course of the proportion demonstrates itself most clearly if we direct our view from 

 the polar towards the equinoctial regions. Botanists compute that at Spitzberg, 

 which lies near the 80th degree of northern latitude, there are only about 30 species ; 

 in Lapland, which hes in the 70th degree, about 534; in Iceland, in the 65th degree, 

 about 553 ; in Sweden, which reaches from the southern parts of Lapland to the 55th 

 degree, 1300; in Brandenburgh, between the 52d and 54th degree, 2,000; in Pied- 

 mont, between the 43d and 46th degree, 2,800; nearly 4,000 in Jamaica, which is 

 between the 17th and 19th degree; in Madagascar, situate between the 13th and 

 24th degree* under the tropic of Capricorn, more than 5,000. But such computa- 

 tions are very wide of the true proportion of species which belong to hot climates, 

 as opposed in that respect to cold or temperate climates. To come at the real amount 

 of the difference, we must first know the number of species spread over the whole 

 globe; how many belong to the same space, under the same longitudes, at different 

 latitudes; how many are common to several countries at the same time; how many 

 belong exclusively to peculiar regions; — points that will require the lapse of ages for 

 the Botanist to enable himself to resolve. 



The general face of the vegetation of a country does not depend solely upon the 

 number, it depends also upon the more or less remarkable characters of the species 

 found there. The chief part of these characters are fixed, and are derived, as I 

 have said before, from primitive creation, not from the effect of climate. As to the 

 proposition, that certain vegetable forms are nccessai-ily co-existent and dependent 

 upon certain other animal forms in a given climate (an occult law of nature, of which 

 some ingenious writers have endeavoured to find the proof, in those harmonies and 

 contrasts which always result from the approximation of different beings), we do 

 not presume to controvert it; but sound reasoning rejects its adoption as a doctrine, 

 while the connection and reciprocal control of the phenomena of nature arc unknown 

 to us. Cautious and esact observers of those things which are the objects of our 

 senses, let us leave to the fancy of the poet the bold task of unfolding the purposes 

 of the Creator in his works, while we confine ourselves to the less presumptuous 

 one of describing them as we find them. 



Vegetation, within the tropics, fills the European traveller with amazement, by 

 the majesty and vigour of its aspect. The proportion of the woody to the herbaceous 

 species, is vastly more considerable towards the Equator than in Europe; and the 

 difference is therefore in favor of the equinoctial regions, for trees give the character 

 of grandeur to vegetation. 



On the Duration of the Germinative Power of the Seeds of Plants.-— 

 The Society for the Improvement of Horticulture in Prussia, proposes from time to 

 time certain questions, to which it directs the attention of Horticulturists. The 

 following was proposed by the Society: — " Is it true that the seeds of the Melon and 

 Cucumber, being preserved for some years, yield a greater abundance of fruit?" Most 

 observers remark, that the plants obtained from the seeds of the preceding year pro- 

 duce many leaves, but few fruitful flowers, and almost entirely male ones; but that 

 these same seeds, dried by the heat of the sun or of a stove, yield a greater number 

 of fruitful plants, and that it is particularly at the end of some years that they acquire 

 this property. These experiments vary from three to twenty years. The heat of 

 the human body may be useful, but it must be used with discretion, or the germi- 

 nating powers of the seeds will be destroyed. 



The author of the preceding remarks made experiments of the same kind on bal- 

 sams and gillyflowers. He sowed at the same time some seeds of the last, part of 

 which were of the preceding year, others of some years previous. The first came up 

 much sooner than the second, and gave only simple flowers; the others produced only 

 sixteen out of several hundred plants. 



M. Schmidt employs seed from five to twelve yeai's old; those of twenty years do 

 not grow. Professor Sprengel of Halle says, he obtained no fruit from seed a year old. 

 M. d'Arenstorff, of Drebleau, obtained fruit, remarkable for flavour and size, from seed 

 of twenty years old. The observations of Professor Trcviranus, of Berhn, have 

 afforded the same result. A \'igorous vegetation induces, in numerous plants, male 

 flowers in the greatest abundance, sometimes even exclusively. This has been proved 

 as far as regards Cucumber seeds ; but those which ai-e too old produce an opposite 

 result. He has seen seeds of five years old produce only female flowers; they were 

 fecimdated by male flowers of another bed, and yielded fruit. 



M. Voss, head gardener at Sans Souci, sowed on the 17th February 1827, twenty- 

 four seeds of a Spanish INIelon of the year 1790, being consequently thirty years 

 old, and he obtained eight plants which gave good fruit. This experiment, the most 

 remarkable of all, will excuse our citing eleven others, which he made with seed of a 

 less age, and of different species. Cucumber seeds of seventeen years afforded the 

 same results. M. Voss adds, that some seeds of the Althaea rosea, of twenty-three 

 years old, afforded very well-conditioned plants. 



Wc admit, as incontestible, the above-mentioned observations. It is knovm that 

 the seeds of different famiUes retain for a greater or less time their germinative 

 power. To cite only one example from among the Leguminous plants : About twenty- 



six years since, we believe, fruit was obtained in the Royal Garden, from a species of 

 Phaseolus or Dolichos, taken from the herbai'ium of Tournefort. 



The Rev. Rlr White makes the following observations on this subject: — ** The 

 naked part of the Hanger at Selborne," says he, " is now covered with thistles of 

 vaj'ious kinds. The seeds of these thistles may have lain probably under the thick 

 shade of the beeches for many years, but could not vegetate till the sun and air were 

 admitted. When old beech trees are cleared away, the naked ground in a year or 

 two becomes covered with strawberry plants, the seeds of which must have lain in 

 the ground for an age at least. One of the slidders, or trenches, down the middle of the 

 Hanger, close covered over with lofty beeches, near a century old, is still called straw- 

 fcer/-y-slidder, though no strawberries have grown there in the memory of man. That 

 sort of fruit did once, no doubt, abound there, and will again, when the obstruction 

 is removed." 



Sir Thomas Dick Lauder, Bart., made some curious and interesting experiments 

 in 1817, on the germination of seeds, which we shall describe in his own words: — *' A 

 friend of mine possesses an estate in Morayshire, a great part of which lying along 

 the Moray Frith, was, at some period not very well ascertained, but certainly not 

 less than sixty years ago, covered with sand, which had been blown from the west- 

 ward, and overwhelmed the ciltivated fields, so that the agriculturist was forced to 

 abandon them altogether. My friend, soon after his purchase of the estate, began 

 the arduous, but judicious, operation of trenching down the land, and bringing to the 

 surface the original black mould. These operations of improvement were so produc- 

 tive, as to induce the very intelligent and enterprising proprietor to undertake lately 

 a still more laborious task, viz., to trench down the superincumbent sand on a part of 

 the property, where it was no less than eight feet deep. 



*' Conceiving this to be a favourable opportunity for trying some experiments relative 

 to the length of time which seeds preserve then' power of vegetation, even when 

 immersed in the soil, I procured from my friend a quantity of the mould, taken fresh 

 from under the sand, and carefully avoiding any mixture of the latter. This was 

 instantly put into a jar, which was stopped up close, by means of a piece of bladder 

 tied tightly over its mouth. Having prepared a couple of tlower-pot-flats, by drilling 

 small holes in the bottoms of them, so as to admit of the ascent of water, I filled the 

 fiats with some of the mould, and placing them in a very wide and shallow tub, made 

 on purpose, I covered each of them with a large glass receiver. Each receiver, how- 

 ever, was provided with a brass rim, having httle brass nobs on it, so as to raise its 

 edge from the bottom of the tub, and leave a small opening for the admission of air. 

 The whole apparatus was placed in my library, of which the door and windows were 

 kept constantly shut. 



" This was done on the 17th February last. It is now the 6th of May; and, on 

 examining the fiats, I find about forty-six plants in them, apparently of four different 

 kinds; but as they are yet very young, I cannot determine their species with any 

 degree of accuracy." 



Sir Thomas has since informed us, that the seeds which germinated were all highly 

 oleaginous ; and the plants produced were the mouse-ear (Myosotis scorpioides) , scor- 

 pion grass (^Lamium purpureum'), purple archangel, and {Spergida arvensis), corn- 

 spurrey. The earth thus experimented upon was taken from the lands of Inveragie. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Mud Volcano of Grobocan. — Having received an extraordinary account 

 of a natural phenomenon in the plains of Grobogan, 50 pals or miles N.E. of Solo, 

 a party, of which I was one, set off from Solo on the 8th of September to exainine it. 



On approaching the village of Kuhoo, we saw, between two trees in a plain, an 

 appearance like the surf breaking over rocks, with a strong spray falling to leeward. 

 The spot was completely surrounded by huts for the manufacture of salt, and at a 

 distance looked like a large village. Alighting, we went to the Bludugs, as the 

 Javanese call them. They are situate in the village of Kuhoo, and by Europeans are 

 called by that name. We found them to be on an elevated plain of mud, about two 

 miles in circumference, in the centre of which immense bodies of salt mud were thrown 

 up to the height of from ten to fifteen feet, in the forms of large globes, which burst- 

 ing, emitted volumes of dense white smoke. These large globes or bubbles, of which 

 there were two, continued throwing up and bursting seven or eight times in a minute, 

 by the watch. At times they threw up two or three tons of mud. Wc got to lee- 

 ward of the smoke, and found it to smell like the washing of a gun barrel. As the 

 globes burst, they threw the mud out from the centre with a pretty loud noise, occa- 

 sioned by the faUing of the mud upon that which surrounded it, and of which the 

 plain is composed. It was difiicult and dangerous to approach the large globes or 

 bubbles, as the ground was all a quagmire, except where the surface of the mud had 

 become hardened by the sun. Upon this we approached cautiously to within fifty yards 

 of the largest bubble or mud pudding, as it might very properly be called, for it was 

 of the consistency of a custard pudding, and of very considerable diameter ; here and 

 there, where the foot accidentally rested on a spot not suflSciently hardened to bear, it 

 sunk, to the no small distress of the walker. 



We also got close to a small globe or bubble (^the plain was full of them of different 

 sizes), and observed it closely for some time. It appeared to heave and swell; and 

 when the internal air had raised it to some height it burst, and the mud fell down in 

 concentric cu'cles, in which shape it remained quiet until a sufficient quantity of air 

 was again formed internally to raise and burst another bubble. This continued at 

 intervals, from about one half to two minutes. From various other parts of the 

 quagmire, round the large globes or bubbles, there were occasionally small quantities 

 of mud shot up like rockets, to the height of 20 or 30 feet, and accompanied by 

 smoke. This was in parts where the mud was of too stiff a consistency to rise in 

 globes or bubbles. The mud at all the places we came near was cold on the surface, 

 but we were told it was warm beneath. The water which drains from the mud is 

 collected by the Javanese, and by being exposed, in the hollows of spht bamboos, to 

 the rays of the sun, deposits crystals of salts. The salt thus made is rtserved ex- 

 clusively for the Emperor of Solo. In di-y weather it yields 30 dudgins, of one 

 hundred catties each, every month, but in wet or cloudy weather less. 



