[ 568 ] 



LVII. Upon the Application of Hot Water in Heating 

 Hot-houses. In a Letter to the Secretary, By Mr. 

 Thomas Tredgold. 



Read August 5, 1828. 



Sir, 



A. new method of applying heat to the purposes of forcing 

 and preserving Plants in houses having been discovered which 

 possesses some important advantages compared with the best 

 method before in use ; and the first instance of its successful 

 application under the direction of Mr. W. Atkinson, its dis- 

 coverer, having been published in the Transactions of the 

 Horticultural Society,* it appeared to me that the principles 

 of the method would form an interesting inquiry which might 

 not be altogether unworthy of your attention. 



1. The power of imitating other climes and other seasons 

 than those which nature affords us, is known and valued as 

 it ought to be ; yet it remains difficult even to imagine the 

 extent to which this power may be applied ; in this age it 

 produces luxuries of which few can enjoy more than the 

 commonest species ; but in the next — nay, even in our own, 

 there is a reasonable expectation of a considerable addition 

 to the quantity and quality of those artificial productions, as 

 well as to the vast sources of pleasure and information they 

 afford to the admirers and the students of nature. 



2. The vehicle employed to convey and distribute heat in 



* Vol. VII. p. 203. 



