the latter author between the mermaid and the kraken, in a chapter which treats on sea-monsters; and that, standing in such suspicious company, it had been rejected by naturalists in general as a fabulous creature. He stated, however, that within a few weeks, a vast marine animal, shaped like a snake, and not described in the works of systematic naturalists, had been cast ashore in Orkney. This curious animal, it appears, was stranded in Rothesholm bay, in the island of Stronsa. Malcolm Laing, Esq. M. P. being in Orkney at the time, communicated the circumstance to his brother Gilbert Laing, Esq. Advocate, Edinburgh, on whose property the animal had been stranded. Through this authentic channel Mr. Neill received his information. The creature was dead when it came on shore, and the tail seemed to have been injured and broken by dashing among the rocks. The body measured fifty-five feet in length, and the circumference of the thickest part was equal to the girth of an Orkney poney. The head was not larger than that of a seal, and was furnished with two blowholes. From the back a number of filaments resembling in texture the substance called Indian sea-grass, hung down like a mane. On each side of the body were three large fins, shaped like paws, and jointed. Before measures could be taken for securing this rare animal for the inspection of naturalists, a violent tempest unfortunately occurred, and beat the carcass to pieces. Some fragments, however, have been collected by Mr. Malcolm Laing, and are to be deposited in the museum of the University of Edinburgh. Mr. Neill concluded with remarking that no doubt could be entertained that this was the kind of animal which had served as the prototype of all the wonderful seasnakes, whose appearance is on record; and that although the unfortunate destruction of the specimen by the storm may probably render it impossible to form a correct generic character on Linnean principles, yet a place (if it should be an appendix) could no longer be refused to the Serpens Marinus Magnus of the Bishop of Bergen.

was

An Attempt to ascertain the time when the Potato (Solanum tuberosum first introduced into the United Kingdom. By the Right Hon. Sir JOSEPH BANKS, Bart. K. B. P R. S. &c.

THE notes on the introduction of the potato, which it is hoped will not be found uninteresting, were chiefly collected by my worthy and learned friend

Mr. Dryander, some of them from authorities not easily accessible. Could we trace the origin of any one of our cultivated plants, it may, and probably will, lead to the discovery of others.

The potato now is use (Solanum turberosum) was brought to England by the colonists sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh, under the authority of his patent, granted by Queen Elizabeth, "for discovering and planting new countries, not possessed by christians," which passed the great seal in 1584. Some of Sir Walter's ships sailed in the same year; others, on board one of which was Thomas Herriot, afterwards known as a mathematician, in 1585; the whole however returned, and probably brought with them the potato, on the 27th July, 1586.

This Mr. Thomas Herriot, who was probably sent out to examine the country, and report to his employers the nature and produce of its soil, wrote an account of it, which is printed in De Bry's collection of Voyages, Vol. I. In this account, under the article of roots, p. 17, he describes a plant called openawk: "These roots," says he, "are round, some as large as a walnut, others much larger: they grow in damp soil, many hanging to gether, as if fixed on ropes; they are good food, either boiled or roasted."

Gerard, in his Herbal, published 1597, gives a figure of the potato, under the name of potato of Virginia; and tells us that he received the roots from Virginia, otherwise called Norembega.

The manuscript minutes of the Royal Society, December 13, 1693, tell us, that Sir Robert Southwell then president, informed the fellows, at a meeting, that his grandfather brought potatoes into Ireland, who first had them from Sir Walter Raleigh.

This evidence proves, not unsatisfactorily, that the potato was first brought into England, either in the year 1586, or very soon after, and sent thence to Ireland, without delay by Sir Robert Southwell's ancestor, where it was cherished and cultivated for food before the good people of England knew its value; for Gerard, who had this plant in his garden in 1597, recommends the roots to be eaten as a delicate dish, not as common food.

It appears, however, that it first came into Europe, at an earlier period, and by a different channel; for Clusius, who at that time resided at Vienna, first received the potato in 1598, from the governor of Mons, in Hainault, who had procured it the year before from one of the attendants of the pope's legate, under the name of taratoufli; and learned from him, that in Italy, where it was then in use, no one certainly knew whether it originally came from Spain, or from America.

Peter Cieca, in his Chronicle, printed in 1553, tells us, chap. xl, p. 49, that the inhabitants of Quito, and its vicinity, have, beside maize, a tuberous root, which they eat, and call papas. This Clusius guesses to be the plant he received from Flanders; and this conjecture has been confirmed by the accounts of travellers, who have since that period visited the country.

From these details we may fairly infer, that potatoes were first brought into Europe from the mountainous parts of South America, in the neighbour

hood of Quito; and, as the Spaniards were the sole possessors of that country, there is little doubt of their having been first carried into Spain, but as it would take some time to introduce them into use in that country, and afterward to make the Italians so well acquainted with them as to give them a name, there is every reason to believe they had been several years in Europe, before they were sent to Clusius.

The name of the root, in South America, is papas, and in Virginia, it was called openawk; the name of potato was therefore evidently applied to it on account of its similarity in appearance to the battata, or sweet potato; and our potato appears to have been distinguished from that root, by the appellative of potato of Virginia, till the year 1640, if not longer †.

Some authors have asserted, that potatoes were first discovered by Sir Francis Drake, in the South Seas; and others, that they were introduced into England, by Sir John Hawkins ; but in both instances the plant alluded to - is clearly the sweet potato, which was used in England as a delicacy, long before the introduction of our potatoes; it was imported in considerable quantities from Spain, and the Canaries, and was supposed to possess the power of restoring decayed vigour. The kissing comfits of Falstaff, and other confections of similar imaginary qualities, with which our ancestors were duped, were principally made of these, and of eringo roots.

The potatoes themselves were sold by itinerant dealers, chiefly in the neighbourhood of the Royal Exchange, and purchased when scarce at no inconsiderable cost, by those who had faith in their alleged properties. The allusions to this opinion are very frequent in the plays of that age.

THE NATURALIST No. III.—FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

THE inhabitants of the United States, like the joint heirs of an immense, undescribed property, are not yet acquainted with half the value of their inheritance; the incalculable riches of their country. Its mineral treasures are but little known; its botanical ones are far from

• Taratoufli signifies also truffles.

Gerard's Herbal, by Johnson, p. 729.

* "Let it rain potatoes, and hail kissing comfits." Merry Wives of Windsor, Act v, Scene 5.

Parkinson's Paradisus Terrestris, p. 518. Gerard's Herbal, 1697, p. 780.

being fully explored. Vegetable productions of equal, perhaps superior value with that of the celebrated cotton or tobaco plants, may yet lurk in the obscure recesses of our forests, or even of our fields, waiting only the kindly hand of the cultivator, and the aid of the ingenious and enterprising manufacturer, to usher them into notice and general usefulness. Considering it the duty of every citizen, at all times, more particularly at the present extraordinary crisis, to contribute his mite to promote our national independence, I shall make no apology for introducing, in this place, some account of a plant which grows in great abundance in many parts of the country, as well as in the neighbourhood of this city; and of pointing out some of the useful purposes to which it may be applied.

Those who amuse themselves with a ramble, or promenade, along the charming banks of the Schuylkill and Delaware, may have observed a plant, rising in a single stem to the height of three or four feet, whose smooth oval leaves, when broken, exude a white milky juice in considerable quantities; it bears bunches of blossoms of a dingy purple colour, which are succeeded by pods, containing numerous seeds, and a white glistening silky substance usually called wild cotton, or Virginia silk. This plant belongs to a genus called by botanists Asclepias, from Esculapius the god of medicine; and is the Asclepias syriaca of Linnæus, or Syrian Swallow-Wort. The root is perennial, and will last from ten to twenty years. In the month of April it throws out, likė asparagus and hops, a great number of shoots; the principal stem is about as thick as a man's finger, straight, round, and smooth, and beset with oval leaves of considerable size, covered on the upper side with dark green, and on the lower side with whitish down. The plant begins to flower about the beginning of June, and continues till the beginning of August; there are often from twelve to sixteen flowers on one stem, each of which forms a bunch, containing from thirty to forty single flowers. Each single flower adheres to the bunch by a long thin stalk, and has a sweetish odour. Each bunch of flowers is succeeded by three, four, and sometimes ten long, and rough pods, which inclose several round, yellowish-brown, flat, and thin seeds, wrapped up in a beautiful white shining kind of silk. The seeds are winged, a form which nature has given with great variety to many others, in order that they may conveyed with more ease, and to a greater distance, by the wind.

The silk, which covers the seeds in the pods, is the principal part of use. The pods gradually acquire maturity from August to the beginning of October; during which period those who cultivate the plant must watch with great care for the period of their bursting, in order to collect the silk, lest it should be carried away by the wind, or spoil

ed by the rain. The pods, when collected, should be spread out on a net, or rack, to the height of about a foot, in an airy place, to dry.

The silk, which is of a shining white colour, from an inch to an inch and a half in length, and exceedingly elastic, is then taken out, and being freed from the seeds, is then hung up in thin bags in the sun, that it may become perfectly dry; and at the same time it is often softened with the hand, or by being beat. This vegetable silk may now be used, without any farther preparation, instead of feathers and horse hair, for beads, cushions, coverlets to beds, bolsters and mattresses. From eight to nine pounds of it, which occupy the space of from five to six cubic feet, will be sufficient for a bed, coverlet, and two pillows; such beds, therefore, are exceedingly convenient for travelling. It is not advisable, however, to use the silk in common for beds, instead of feathers, as it is too soft and warm. It requires a little preparation for quilts and counterpanes, and is lighter and warmer than those of common silk. For spinning, however, notwithstanding its fineness, which approaches near to that of common silk, it is not fit, when taken alone, as it is almost too short, and, therefore, must be used with an addition of flax, wool, or common silk; but particularly of cotton. One third of this silk, with two thirds of cotton, forms a very good mixture for gloves, stockings, and caps. Other mixtures may be used for different kinds of stuffs; but it has been observed, that the cloth is much stronger when the vegetable silk is employed for the woof, rather than for the warp. Many colours have been applied to such cloth with great success; but as each substance requires a peculiar mode of treatment, more experiments on this subject are necessary; a mixture of one third vegetable silk, and two thirds of rabbits' down, forms hats exceedingly light and soft to the touch; which have a great resemblance to beaver hats, and are much cheaper.

As soon as the pods have been collected, the stems which contain a fibrous part capable of being spun, must be cut before they become dry, or suffer from the night frost. They must then be immersed for some days, in water, like flax or hemp, and then dried, by being spread out on the grass. Care, however, must be taken by experiments, to ascertain the proper length of time, as too much, or too little, would be prejudicial. In the last case, the flaxy part is brittle; and in the former, it loses its strength. After it has been watered it is beaten and heckled. A mixture of the threads spun from the flax of these stems with the vegetable silk and cotton, produces a kind of cloth very proper for furniture. It has been, however, employed chiefly, with and without an addition of rags, for making all kinds of writing and packing papers, which sometimes is similar to the Chinese paper, and sometimes exceeds in strength the usual paper made from rags.