The emigrant aid journal of Minnesota. [volume] (Nininger City, Minn. Terr. [i.e. Minn.]) 1856-1858, 1858-03-10

Where Dees Weed Come From3
1t We were to take up q handful of soil and examin
1t under the microscope, we should probably find it t
contain a number Of fragments of wood, SMALL broker
pieces Of the branches, OF leaves, or other parts of tn
tree. II We could examine it chemically, VIC should fnt
yet moro ~strikingly that it was nearly the same as wood
IN Its composition. Perhaps, then, it may be said, the
young plant obtaius the wood from the earth in which
it Grows?
The following experiment will show whether this
conjecture is likely to be a correct one or not. Two
hundred pounds Of earth were dried in an oven, and az
forwards put into a large earthen vessel; the earth was
then moistened with rain-water, and u willow tree,
weighing Eve pounds, was planted therein. During the
space Of Eve years, tho earth was carefully watered with
rain water or pure water. The willow grew aud -four.
ished, and, to prevent the earth being mixed with fresh
earth, or dirt being blown upon it by the winds, it was
covered with q metal plate, full of very minute holes,
which would exclude everything but air from getting
access to the earth below it. 9
After growing it in the earth five years, the tree was
removed, and on hoing weighed, was found to have
gained l64 pounds, as it now weighed 100 pounds.
And this estimate did not include the weight of the
leaves or dead branches which in five years fell from the
tree. Now came the application Of the test. Was all
this obtained from the earth ? 1t had not sensibly di.
mlnished but, in order to make the experiment con-
elusive, it was again dried in an oven and out in the
balance. Astonishing was the result,-the earth
weighed only t~o ounces less than it did when the vii.
low was first planted in it! Manifestly, then, the wood
thus gained in this space of time was not obtained from
the earth-we are therefore compelled to repeat our
question, { Where does the wood come from !? We are
lett with only two alternatives the water With which
1t was refreshed, Or the air in which it lived. It can
be clearly shown that it was not due to the water We
are, consequently, unable to resist the perplexing and
wonderful conclusion, it was derived from the air.
Can 1t be! We're those great ocean-spaces of wood,
which were as old as mans Introduction into Eden, and
in their vast but solitary luxurianoe over the fertile hills
and plains Of South America, were these all obtained
from the thin air We're the PARTICLES which unite to
ever borne the world about, not only on the wings Of
air, but actually as air themselves? Was the firm
table on which | rest, the solid floor on which I tread.
and much Of the house in which I dwell, once in a form
which | could not as much as lay my finger on, or grasp
in my hands? Wonderful /! all this was air.-(Life Of
q Tree.
Kindness Of African Women.
When the traveller Mungo Park was in Africa, he
was directed by one Of the native kings to a village to
pass the night. He went; but as the order was not &C.
with any provision for his reception, he fou nd
every door shut. Hf
Turning his horse loose to Craze, he was preparing, as
a security from wild beasts, to climb a tree, and sleep
among the branches, when a beautiful and affecting in
cident occurred.
A woman, returning from the labors of the field, cast
on him a look OF compassion, and desired him to follow
her. She led him to an apartment in her hut, procured
a fish, which she broiled for his supper, and spread a
mat for him to sleep upon. She then desired her maid
ems, who had been gazing in fixed establishment on the
white man, to resume their tasks, which they continued
to ply through a great part of the night.
They cheered their labors with songs, one of which
must have been composed at the time, as Mr.. Park, with
deep emotion, discovered that he himself was the sub.
ject Of it. We remember reading in a magazine many
years ago the words Of the song thus put into verse -
The loud wind roar'd, the rain fell fast,
The white man yielded to the blast;
He sat him down beneath our tree,
For weary, sad, and faint was he.
The white man shall our pity share,
For, ah no wife nor mothers care
For him the milk or corn prepare.
CHORUS.
The white man shall our pity share,
For, ah no wife nor mothers care
For him the milk or corn prepare.
Go, white man, 60, but with thee bear
Remembrance of the negroes care,
The negro's wish, the negro's prayer.
The traveller was much affected, and next morning
could not depart without requesting his landlady's &C,
ceptance of the only gift he had left-two out of the
four brass buttons that still remained on his w~aistcoat.