CHAPTER II. 
A View of the different Theortes entertained on the Potatoe 
Plague. 
Tue article from Mr. Thompson, which forms a large part 
of the preceding chapter, has been given almost entirely as it 
was originally published, because it contains, I believe, the 
most rational theory that has yet been promulgated on the 
nature, cause, and cure of the Potatoe Plague. It is true 
that his argument does not extend so far as to cover the 
present appearances which the plague has assumed, but it 
leads us to expect results precisely similar to those which are 
now recognized with reference to it, and may be regarded as 
prophetic, if, indeed, the view he has taken, be not assigned to 
the true cause, namely, a discovery of the causes producing 
the malady. A remarkable feature in the history of potatoe 
cultivation is, that it has been free from a variety of diseases, 
though, as before remarked, it has been subject to distase 
from a very early period of its existence. The Curl and the 
Taint, which last is considered a modification of the other, are 
the only diseases of which any mention is made by writers on 
the subject, from its first introduction as a field crop to the 
present time. Now Mr. Thompson’s article, though it is 
professedly on the curl in potatoes, looks forward to a devel- 
opement of this disease, assuming a malignant type, which 
would ultimate, as he has predicted, and exactly as we have 
