The Lambertville press., 1861-10-02
The Raf-TaiI Cactus.

The New York Leader. in giving a
sketch Of the late Mike Walsh, relates
of him when a member of Congress,
the following story, which, though old
is well worth repeating as no one can,
by any possibility read it without
laughing:
At the foot of the capitol gardens
in Pennsylvania avenue, { on the right
hand side as you are fronting that
building, is an enclosed space-na-
tional property containing one or
more tonements end some conserva-
tories and lighthouses. Here for some
years past, and until his death, enjoy
ing Uncles Sans patronage sojournPd
a Frenchman, learned in botany and
many other sciences Some compan-
ions, while passing these premises were
vaunting his requirements to Mike,
who, from spirit of contradiction,
called them in question. He doubted
whether these eminent botonists knew
the difference between oats and wheat,
and believed, he said, that a Bowery
boy could persuade him that their
corn was clover. Finally, Mike un-
dertook, botanicaly," to deceive the
Frenchman with whatever he could
pick up where they stood, in the lane
skirting his premises. From a wreck
of flower pots and rubbish, he selected
one sound pot and a dead rat lying
near the heap. Placing the rat in
the flowerpot he covered it Up with
mould, leavin !, out the tail, which he
fixed prependicularly by tying it care
fully to small stick which happened
to be convenient" amongst the rub
bish He next called on the Profess
or, and told him that friend, Lieut.
-(whose ship having touched at
one of the islands of the the terra
incognata, Japan, had excited some
interest,) had presented him with
very curious kind of cactus. This he
wished the Professor to examine. No
one, Mike said, had been able to make
it out, and he might have is for ten
years and not find five people who
would so he hardly felt justified in
keeping it out of public collection,
and yet he did not like to part with
keepsake from friend"
The Professor eagerly repaired to
examine the vegetable curiosity. Af-I
ter close inspection he determined
what it was, or at least christened it
by fine Greek name-two words, as
Mike said, averaging sixteen letters.
The Professor exhausted himself in
persuading Mike that the interests of
science required that he should sacrl-
fee to them the sentiments of friend
ship, by surrendering this rare produc-
tion of the vegetable kingdom TO the
keeping of the botanist The reluc-
tant Mike eventually consented, on
the willing and solemn assurance OF
the Professor that it would be tened
with the utmost care and SO it was.
Placed ina ot-house, it was cautious
ly besprinkled with water at a tenn
perature of seventy degrees by ther-
mometer. II was noticed and de-
scribed in the National Intelligencert
The notice was copied into other pa
pers. The plant was exhibited with
prideto several individuals at length
with the heat and moisture the tip of
the tail began to excoriate. The
Professor was delighted-it was bud
ding 1t was examined with great
interest by one of the chief patrons,
"the Great Daniel,o to whom the bo-'
tanist promised one Of the first slips
for Marsfeld "It was too good a
joke to keep" said Mike, especially
in hot-house, so long before he smelt
a rat" The wrath and shame of the
Professor was excessive, and so was
the indignation Of the great Daniel,
not at the author Of the joke, but at
the unfortunate boUanist, whom he
stigmatized as a id frog eating
Frenchman, through whom he had
been taken in. and who ought to have
known better"
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