46 [Senate 



Prom J. 0. STRATTON, of Oxford, Chenango county, N.Y. 



Specimen of Sulphur (so called), but of the Pollen of the Pine Tree, 

 which fell in considerable quantity, so as to be visible on the ground, during 

 a rain-storm, at Oxford in Chenango county, on the 26th of March 1853. 



A small portion of the yellow powder being placed under a powerful 

 microscope, proved it to be of vegetable origin, and to be wholly composed 

 of the pollen of plants. The pollen grains are all uniformly kidney-shaped, 

 clearly showing that they are all from the same species of plant. 



The pollen was shown to Prof. Henet of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 while on a visit to the city of Albany the past summer; who stated that a 

 similar powder had been sent to their institution at Washingion, and that 

 it had been submitted to Prof Bailet for examination. 



Through the politeness of Prof. Henky, the following communication 

 was received : 



* Smithsonian Institution, 



■Washikgton, B.C. Not. 7, 1853. 

 Mt Dear Sir — By Prof. Henry's request, I write to inform you that the 

 " sulphur dust " submitted by the Smithsonian Institution to Prof. Bailey for 

 microscopic examination, proved to be the pollen of the Pine tree. 



Yours truly, SPENCER P. BAIRD, jissiet. Sec. S. I.' 



The extent of the pollen storm may be inferred from the following extracts 

 from the public journals : 



From tlie Guernsey (Ohio) Times. 



A Phenomenon — On Saturday morning last we were visited with rain, 

 accompanied by wind from the southwest. A short time after the shower com- 

 menced, a singular substance, of the appearance of sulphur, was discovered on 

 our pavements, and other places where little puddles of water collected. The 

 popular opinion decided the yellow deposit to be veritable brimstone, and our 

 relative distance from plutonian regions was a matter of considerable speculation. 

 The same phenomenon occurred at Zanesville; and Dr. Holstou-, who made a 

 microscopic examination of the substance, found it to be the pollen of blossoming 

 trees, borne on the wind from regions where trees are now blooming, and 

 brought to the ground by the rain. This is a reasonable, and, we doubt not, the 

 true solution of the mystery of the " shower of brimstone." 



The Albany Evening Journal, in commenting upon the above article from the 

 Ohio Times, remarks as follows : 



" Notices of this ' phenomenon ' reach us from as far to the southwest as 

 Louisville (Ky.), the 'sulphur track' extending northwest to Delaware county 

 in this State. Generally the substance deposited is regarded as ' veritable brim- 

 stone;' but the true solution of the mystery is most undoubtedly given in the 

 above paragraph." 



