AN IMPORTANT PAPER ON ELECTRO-VEGETATION. 
475 
to a 48 li part of the whole value ; especially 
whe'i it considered that the inoon’s distance, 
astrdtion.icaliy speakin", is comparatively 
small, arid n)ic;ht be asceit.iined with tolerable 
accuracy, by observations on her horizontal 
parallax. 
V e aie, therefore, induced to conclude, 
that ihi-i difference has aiisen, to a certain 
extent, from the moon’s a ppi oximation. If 
we iiad a true and invariable standard of time 
to vvhich we could refer, it mii;ht possibly 
furnish us with a natura vvheieby to determine 
the rate of the moon’s approximation. Ac- 
cordiriff to our tlieoiy.the moon’s rate of mo- 
tion in her mbit is a continually increasin'^ 
quantity, and the mean time from node to 
node is, coi'.sequently, continuallv decreasing. 
But as the earth i- also sunject to tlie same 
iav\ 5 , it is eviilenl that her motions and time 
must also vary in a direct ratio v\ith those of 
the moon ; and, therefore, a true measure of 
the duration of time cannot be obtained by 
assuming as a standard the periorl of tlio 
earth’s annual revolution, or that ofthe moon, 
or, indeed, of any ai/ig/e planet in tlie solar 
system. If the tiue time of the planets 
were carefully ascertained and compared with 
each other, we might obtain a mean time that 
should approacli very nearly to the truth. But 
perhaps the only true and unvarying standaid 
of time in the solar system is to be derived 
from the sun’s rotation on his axis , as, from 
his situation in the centre of the system, he is 
not affected by the same causes, it is probable 
that his rotary motion is uniform and con- 
stant. 
It would appear, also, that even the motions 
of the earth, as compared with each other, 
are not constant and uniform ; that the velo- 
city ill her orbit is increasing, whilst the 
diurnal motion lemains stationary, or perhaps, 
agreeable to our theory, we ought to say, that 
the latter suffers a retardation. In the time of 
Julius Caesar, the length of the year was 
settled at 365 days and 6 hours ; and in the 
time of Pope Gregory XIII., in 1582, it was 
found that tire equinox had gone backwards 
lO days, in consequence, as it was supposed, 
of the year having been fixed at too great a 
length ; it was, therefore, determined tlrat the 
calendar should be reformed, and the length 
of the year was settled at 365 days, 5 hours, 
48 minutes, and 51 '6 seconds. This was 
done by the ablest men in Europe with great 
care and circumspection, and after extending 
their observations throughout a long series of 
years ; and yet it has lately been discovered, 
as appears in Dr. Playfair’s “ System of 
Chronology,” that the Gregorian year is too 
long. As usual, this discrepancy is attributed 
to the reformeis of the calendar, and no one 
seems to suspect, that the year is gradually 
becoming shorter. It may be objected, that 
the difference is extremely small as compared 
with so long a period. But we must recol- 
lect, that all the works of nature are carried 
forward by slow, sure, and imperceptible de- 
grees ; and, therefore, the smallness of the 
difference only shows, that this work is in 
strict comforraity with all her other opera- 
tions. 
Our theory assumes, that the planets and 
satellites are maintained at their respective 
di-tances fiom the sun and each other by the 
relative quantities of positive and negative 
electricity with which ea( h is charged, or, in 
other w'okIs, by the solid contents of matter 
contained in each, and the quantity of electric 
fluid with vvhich that matter is charged or 
satuiated. Now, as we can (letennine by 
exoeriu ent the exact state of two electiified 
bodies by the atiiactive and lepulsive forces 
wbicb they exert on each other ■ and 'veknow 
that these forces follow ibe >;ame law as to 
the intensi’y ot the fluid, namely, tlie inverse 
ratio ofthe squaie of the rlistance-ihi' might 
birnisli us with a rough datum h r ascertain- 
ing tlie moon’s electrical state, that is. how 
far slie ha's receded toc.aids a conijilele ne- 
gative cond t'on ; and as tlie power wiiirh 
she exerts upon the tides is governed by the 
sairte law tliat regulates her own distance, vve 
niight, by caiefully eslimating the difference 
of her attractive and repulsive forces in 
apogee and perigee, be enabled to obtain a 
tolerably correct measure of his inductive 
influence. 'J'he ocean may be regarded as a 
great natural barometer, indicating the state 
of the electrical atmosphere by which tlie 
earth is surrounded; but as it is moved by 
three forces at the same time— the moon, the 
sun, and the earth’s galvanic circle— all these 
elements of power must be nicely adjusted 
before vve can expect to arrive at any thing 
like an accuiate calculation. 
(To be continued,) 
ELECTRO-VEGETATION. - 
By T. Pine, Esq. 
Whatever opinion may be formed 
respecting the identity of the fluid which 
emanates from the sun, and that which 
is the cause of electricity, the principle 
of the extraordinary conducting virtues 
of plants through their acute extre- 
mities will, I trust, be admitted from the 
facts which are there adduced. I have 
alluded to some other facts and expe- 
riments, tending to show that this conduct- 
ing virtue is intimately connected with 
their vegetating properties. In connexion 
with this most energetic influence continu- 
ally exerted by plants, it appears to be of 
the greatest consequence to determine how 
far they are furnished with supplies of the 
electric fluid in the medium by which they 
are surrounded ; and at what seasons, and 
under what circumstances, this supply ap- 
pears to be most abundant in the ordinary 
course of nature. With a view to a satis- 
factory answer to this question, I turned my 
attention to the observations of those elec- 
tricians who have made numerous experi- 
ments on atmospheric electricity, and in 
particular to those of Mr. Cavallo, from the 
second volume of whose work on electricity 
