-i^5\:- 
MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 
255 \yf 
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as the valley of Cashmere, the Bay of Naples, the 
shores of Genoa, or even oiu- own Windermere, Loch 
Lomond, or the Lakes of Killarney, present to us 
(cheers). But we must remember that there is hardly 
any spot of gi-oimd so built on but the monotony of the 
scene may be diversified by the gay pai-terre ; scarcely 
a cottage so small that it may not have the Woodbine 
twining round its porch ; nay, more, there is hardly a 
lodging or dwelling in the most squalid alley of this 
metropolis, but it may have its Geranium on the win- 
dow-siH (hear, hear) ; and I have heard, and I believe 
the statement is true, that the poor weavers of 
Bethnal-green tate especial pride in rearing their 
Geraniums, their Hyacinths, and their Tulips (Cheers). 
It would thus appear that there is a sort of spell 
or charm about flowers — something like magnetism, 
or mesmerism — which, independently of fashion, or 
the pleasures of sight and smell, tends to sooth the 
spirits and compose the mind. (Hear, hear.) I need 
not seek, gentlemen, to corroborate the respectability 
or honoiu- of your craft, by alluding to its antiquity ; 
but you will not forget that the first spot on which 
man was placed on earth was a garden, and it is fair 
to presume that the first avocation of man must have 
been that of a gardener (cheers) ; and the shi'ubs 
must have been green, and the flowers must have 
looked bright among the glades of Eden before sickness, 
pain, sorrow, or sin entered into our world. (Cheers.) 
However, gentlemen, we know that those drawbacks 
and disfigurements abound near the pursuit and pro- 
fession of a gardener, as they do to every other calling 
or occupation. And this brings me especially to the 
claims which such a charity as this puts forth for your 
support. I learn, gentlemen, that the Gardeners' 
Benevolent Institution is adapted to afford relief to 
aged and infirm gai'dencrs above sixty years of age, and 
their widows, in aU parts of the United Kingdom ; that 
it has now thirty-four pensioners upon its funds, eleven 
women and twenty-three men, whose claims have all 
borne the strictest investigation, and who have been 
reduced in their old age to penury and destitution ; and 
I find that the average ages of these parties are seventy- 
four years for the women, and seventy-six years for 
the men. I am fui-ther told that it wiU appear by one 
of yom- rules, that this society, besides providing 
pecuniary relief for the distressed and broken down in 
the shape of charity, partakes also of the nature of a 
friendly society, and encoui'ages contributions fi'om 
gardeners, by contributing which, while in the hey-day 
of their vigour and prime, they acquire a right of pre- 
ference and a title to the enjoyment of your bounty in 
the event of dai'ker days coming across them. (Ap- 
plause.) I find that dming the few years (eight, I 
believe) that the Society has been in operation, it has 
contributed relief to the amount of £2,280. (Hear, 
hear.) But does the relief it is enabled to give meet 
all the claims made upon it .' By no moans. I regret 
to have to add, that, though this much has been done, 
yet at this time your committee, out of twenty eligible 
candidates for your bounty, can only elect two of them 
this year. (Hear, hear.) I have now to invite your 
considerate attention on behalf of these broken-down 
veterans in a pursuit so honourable, so respectable, and 
so useful. Ton wUl not forget — I am sirre those who 
exercise the same craft "vvill not forget — you will not 
forget, you who, by the favour of yom- Creator, are in 
easy circumstances, and in an affluent position, all the 
enjoyment you derive from what is beautifid to the 
sight and fragrant to the smell in the rich and varied 
products of yom' gardens. You wUl not forget that the 
life and piu'suit of a gardener is a laborious one, and 
subject to much competition, subject to many reverses, 
subject to the change of taste, and the caprice of fashion, 
and trying and unhealthy to some constitutions ; 
exposed to unhcalthiness in some situations, and often 
bending the stout back and stifiening the active limbs 
of those who minister to yom* luxury, your comfort, 
and your pleasm-e. (Hear, hear.) These are claims 
which you wOl not, I am sm-e, forget. You will 
remember that in the brightest foliage, and in the most 
gorgeous colours, there often Im-ks the most mischievous 
poison, and that even the fairest rose is never without 
its thom. (Hear, hear). Above all, you wiU remember 
that amid all that is bright and beautiful in nature, 
there is still no blossom of plant, or shrub, or tree that 
blows with such unfading colours — there is no scent of 
earth so fraught with undying fragrance — as the bloom 
of good and charitable works, and as the sweet-smelling 
savour of that pity which feels for the wants and 
relieves the distresses of our friends and our brothers. 
(Loud applause.) Gentlemen, I feel that a cause like 
this is safe in your hands, and I have only to recom- 
mend, with all good-will and all the fervour' it deserves, 
the claims of this institution on your support, and to 
beg that you wiU join with me in drinking " Success 
to the Gardeners' Benevolent Institution." (Loud 
cheers.) The toast was drunk with three times three 
and one cheer more. 
Atmospheric influence on Plants. — The pressure of 
the atmosphere has a decided influence on the form and 
life of plants. From the abundance of their leafy organs 
provided with porous openings, plants live principally 
in and through their smfaees ; and hence theii' depend- 
ence on the surrounding medium. Animals are de- 
pendent rather on internal impulses and stimuli ; they 
originate and maintain theii' o^vn temperatru'e, and, by 
means of muscular movement, their own electric 
currents, and the chemical vital processes which depend 
on, and react upon those cun'euts. A species of skin 
respii'ation is an active and important vital frmction in 
plants ; and this respiration, in so far as it consists in 
evaporation, inhalation, and exhalation of fluids, is de- 
pendent on the pressiu-e of the atmosphere. Therefore 
it is that alpine plants are more aromatic, and are haiiy 
and covered with numerous pores. For according to 
zoonomic experience, organs become more abundant and 
more perfect in proportion to the facility with which 
the conditions necessary for the exercise of their func- 
tions are fulfilled, as I have elsewhere shown. In alpine 
plants the distm'bance of their skin -respii'ation occasioned 
by increased atmospheric pressm-e, makes it very difficult 
for such plants to flom'ish in the low grounds. The 
question whether the mean pressme of the aerial ocean 
€S[l 
