Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-05-17
HISTORY OF THE TULIP.

plants, while all the rest are disregarded In iur-
kew. for instance. the flowers which after tne rose,
are principally esteemed, are the ranunc'ius an"
the tulip, the latter of which grows wlid In u, .he
Levant; but, through accident, weakness OF as
ease, few plants acquire so many uh's' as
ton and fipures. as the tulip. This gaudy How
err was first cultivated in Italy, about the middle
of the sixteenth century, under the name OF tuil-
pa, obviously derived from Tulbrand, WHICH, IN
the Turkish language, signifies tnroah'
1t is we'll known that in Holland the tulip De-
came, about the middle of the seventeenth cel:u-
ry, the object of trade unparalleled IN te ms
tory of commercial speculation. From 1854 TO
1857. inclusive. all classes in all the great cities
of Holland became infected with the tu'iPomaniia.
A single root of particular species, called the
Viceroy, was exchanged, in the true Dufch taste
for the following articles lasts OF wheat, 4 Oh
rye, 4 fat oxen, 5 fat swine, l2 fat sheep, hhas
of wine, tons of beer, 9 tons OF butter, iUoo
pounds of cheese, complete bed, suit OF clothes
and silver beaker-vaue of the whole 2oOo
forms. ,,
These tulips afterwards were sold according
to the weight of the roots. Four hundred Per"s'
something less than grain of Admiral Lelkeh'
cost 44O0 florins; 446 ditto of Admiral Wonder
Eyk, 1920 florins; los perits schiider CT 1919
florins; 200 ditto Semper Augustus, $500 HORNS;
40 ditto Viceroy, 5000 iorins, &c: Inc spe-
cies Semper Augustus has been often sold for
5000 florrins; and it once happened that there
were only two roots of it to be had, the one at
Amsterdam and the other at Harlem. For root
of this species one agreed to give $500 HORNS,
together with new carriage, two grey horses, q
complete harness. Another agreed TO give tor
a root twelve acres of land; for those, who had
not ready money, promised their movable and
immoveable goods. houses and lands, cattle and
clothes. The trade was followed not only by
mercantile people, but also by the first nobiemen'
citizens of every description, mechanics, seamen,
farmers, turfiggers, chimney sweeps, tootmen,
maid servants. old clothes women, &c. At first
every one won, and no one lost. Some OF the
poorest people gained, in few months, houses,
coaches and horses, and figured away like the
first characters in the land. In every town some
tavern was selected which served as change,
where HIGH and low traded in flowers, and con-
firmed their bargains with the most sumptuous en-
tertainments. They formed laws for themselves
and had their notaries and clerks.
These dealers in flowers were by no means de-
sirous to get possession of them; no one thought
of sending, much less of going himself, to Con
stantinope to procure scarce roots, as many Eu-
ropeans travel to Golconda and Vispour to OBJ
tain rare and precious stones. 1t was IN fact a
complete stOckjobbng transaction. Tulips OF
all prices were in the market and their roots were
divided into small portions. known by the name
of perits in order that the poor as well as the
rich might be admitted into the speculation: the
tulip root itself was at length put out Of the ques
tion-it was a nonenttv; but it furnished, like
our funds, the subject of a bargain for time.
During the time of the tuipomania, specula-
tor often offered and paid large sums for root
which he never recei we'd, and never wished to
reccise. Another sold roots which he never pos
sessed or delivered. Often did nobeman pur-
chase of chimney sweep tulips to the amount
of 1000 horins. and sell them at the same time
to farmer, and neither the nobleman, chimney
sweep, nor farmer had roots in their possession.
or wished to possess them. Before the tulip sea-
son was over, more roots were sold and purchas-
ed bespoke, and promised to be delivered, than
in all probability were to be found in the gar
dens of Holland; and when Semper Augustus
was not to be had, which happened twice, no spe-
cies perhaps was oftener purchased and sold.-
In the space of three years. as Munting tells US,
more than ten millions were expended In this
trade, in only one town of Holland.
The evil rose to such pitch, that the states of
hOliand were under the necessity oil interfering;
the buyers took the alarm, the bubble, like the
South Sea scheme, suddenly burst and as, in the
! outset, all were winners, in the winding up, We
ry few escaped without loss.
Some personsare so fond of odoriferous plants
and flowers, as to have them in their bedcham-
Der. This, however is dangerous practice,
many of them being so powerful as to overcome
the senses entirely. Even the plants that are
not insfower, and have no smell, yet injure the
air during the night, and in the absence of the
sun, by impregnating it with nitrogen and car
bonic acid gas; although in the daylight they ra-
Their improve the atmosphere, by yielding oxygen
gas
A melancholy proof of this, recorded by DR..
Curry. occurred in October 1914, at Leighton
Buzzard, in Bedfordshire :-.:Mr Sherbrook
having frequently had his pinery robbed. the
gardener determined to sit up and watch. He
accordingly posted himself with loaded fowling
piece in the greenhouse, where it is supposed he
fell asleep. and in the morning was found dead
upon the ground, with all the appearance of suf-
location. evidently occasioned by the discharge
of mephitic gas from the plants during the night.