62 
ELECTRO-CULTURE. 
propriating it to some necessary, but as yet unknown, purpose 
in its economy. 
“ In the first week in May I buried in that part of the gardens 
of the Royal Botanic Society appropriated to agricultural experi¬ 
ments a plate of sheet-copper, two feet in length and nine inches 
in depth, and also, at the distance of about nine feet, a plate of 
zinc of the same dimensions. These plates were both placed in 
an upright position, facing the magnetic north and south, and 
connected together by means of two copper wires, which ex¬ 
tended between them at the height of about three inches above 
the ground. Each end of the wire was soldered to the upper 
corners of the plates, thus forming a galvanic battery, the moist 
earth completing the circuit. 
"Within this parallelogram of ground were sown in rows, 
parallel to the plates, lucerne, saintfoin, clover, red globe turnips, 
and yellow mangold wurtzel. Another parallelogram of ground, 
of precisely equal size and quality, and at the distance from the 
former of only eighteen inches, and uninfluenced by galvanism, 
was formed out at the same time and sown in a similar manner, 
with an equal quantity of seed. No manure whatever was made 
use of on either side. In the course of three or four weeks, 
when the seeds had germinated the difference between the two 
plots of ground was very obvious. The seeds on the galvanized 
side failed to a considerable extent, and the mode of their failure 
was this : that soon after the appearance of the cotyledons above 
the ground the young plants began to droop and die off in a 
peculiar way. In this manner the clover and the saintfoin, 
which had been placed nearest to the metallic plates, were de¬ 
stroyed to the amount of two thirds, and the lucerne of one 
third; while the mangold wurtzel and the turnips, which were 
the furthest from the plates, lost only about one sixth of their 
number. These different degrees of injury received by the young 
plants would probably depend upon the separate and relatively 
tender or more hardy nature of each species. It was, however, 
at this time evident that a greater amount of galvanic power was 
generated than is congenial to the germination of these particular 
seeds. All those plants, however, which survived the first five 
or six weeks continued to live, but, with the exception of the 
turnips and mangold wurtzel, they were not at any time so healthy 
