The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1869-09-22
From the Charleston Courier, July IS, 1859,
PORCHER'S
Resources Of the South

The title of this weIi>known and valuable
olume, is q comprehensive one, ana fuly
I inveys the idea of its contents. II deVelc
tpes, as it purports to do, the resources OF
he Southern fields and forest; medical,
commercial and agricultural;' and provides
y complete medical botany of the Southern
States." far moro comprehensive than any
yet publiShed-haviug, in fact, the adFan.
tage of using all previous puo!icauonS-ol
which DE-. PoRcHEs has made eNceiient
use. 1t affords practical Information, OF the
most valuable kind, in respectto the 'use>
SuI properties of the trees, plants and
shrubs,". abounding everywhere IN the
tropical vegetation of the South.
All the conditions of this promise OF the
ale ara fulfilled in the pages of this copious
nd most valuable volume; and, whether
q consider the politician. the planter, the
soecaiator, the housekeeper, or the simple
citizeu, this should. be 8 household oooS
with all. In brief, it tax es. rank with the
bsolu,ely necessary histories Of the coun>
Nv; and where they exhibit little less than
the strifes, the struggles, the wars, ana tue
miserable politics of society, TINS volume
3hrows Us back upon God: shows us "hat
;Iaye been the blessings and bounaes we
owe to His hands; shows US where to turn
,eatesunan how best TO calculate the prooa>
HE nroducts of the soil; the farmer how to
avail himself of its natural productions; the
Nomestic mediciner how 10 meet the emer>
oancies of disease, from his native WOODS;
and the domestic economist how to hnd, IN
probably the most miserable weed, an nero
of grace as we'll as utility, giving renet 10
his pains, and SAVIOR to his soups.
Conveying almost every variety OF Instruc>
,;on ON al these vital subjects, this volume
of Ds PoRcHER was admirably calculated
10 meet the exigencies Of the great civil war,
forced upon the Confederate States at mo>
ment when their materials IN food, medlc'ne,
metals and machinery were almost wholly
wanting; art and science, irrespective OF
simple agriculture, was deficient IN training
aud experience, and when our people sur
fered from privations which rendered neceS-
sary the exercise of every agency 10 n'ee'
the exigences Of daily life.
The preparation OF such WofS as sue
present happily occurred to the Surgeon>
General of the Confederate States; and with
a like felicity of Judgment. be chose for Its
preparation the editor in whose able hands
81 achieved che most Singular success, ana
became of general use throughout the war.
DR.. PoRcHER brought to his task all the
essentials Of study, science thought ana
,nedicsl training so essential to the WORK
For 10 wears, as ply sicisn and surgeon, ne
had dwelt in charge of the hospitals, enJoy>
ing daily opportunities for experimental IN
yestia ations in Therapeutics and Practcal
Medicine. He bad made the hest use OIL
these opportunities; of most incorrIsiole in>
dustry his experiments were conducted
thrcsieh tie incest details, and subjected to
Nh tfe most scientific tests, He was at tonce
scientifically and practically Ba'urahst; an
explorer of woods and forests an aualst o.
shrubs roots and herr gifted wise nap
py quickness in diserltdinaling shem, ana an
equally happy ART IN discovering thelr lAea>
icinal and other qualities
Nor, IN these ssufi.S Ia the open helds.
did he Hmis himself to the teachings slmpy
Of material nature. He was well read in the
best books of science, and tested their ai>
legged rrasi1s by his own experience The
catalogue OF scientific works which ne has
examined constitutes, Of itself most ca>
nacious library. From the woods, 1elds
and forests, the swamp and the ROCKS, from
the writings OF learned men, he tuned
again 10 contemporary authority, and sought
lTom tho individual cisizen the forester,. tue
farmer and planter, and old housekeepers.
all that they could tell of their own diScoV>
cries in the domestic province. There Were,
aud still are thousand simple secrets OF oid
people, of the red men and OF the negro,
which yield remedies against hunger anu
disease Of which science as yet knows no
thing.
With curious search ana indassry, DE-.
PoRcHEs sought out AMI followed all the
clues, through whatever medium, when
might conducs him TO the new truth; anu
the result IL, this most copious anu compre>
hensiye dictionary of Southern resource;
whether for peace or war, for healih or di>
sease for toll 10 procure and art 10 manlpu'
late. and reduce to human use.
Whether, as regards staple or farm culture,
tie proper modes for raising cotton, rice,
sugar. indigo corn aud the cereals, or the
humber ambition Of the fruit, vegetable and
garden grower. in all of these our author
has been almost equally solicitiouS TO pro-
cure the cornpletest information and give
the wises. counsel. No interest is over
looked, hardly single object Of use, how
ever unknown or however much despised,
and the volume rises into the rank OF MS
tory, as essential 10 that Of the South IN gen
erai, as any that teaches the progress OF so
ciety and its experiences through the TWO
hundred years of its past existence. The
book may and should be kept alongside the
States history its civil and military at
fairs; of its growth and development in hu-
man respects and character. II provides a
frting auxiliary and companion volume TO
every such history in each Of the Southern
States ~ -.
: The STYLE of the aushor is clear and unaf>
fected. neat and sufficiently compact He
seldorn fails below his subject. and exhibits
no vain ambition to rise above it. In his
preface, he narrates the manner of his pro>
gress, without assumtion as withOutdisguSe.
The alphabetical index to the coNMoN
names of plants viii gratefully meet the
needs Of the simply practical. while the IN.
dex of the botanical names of geuera ard
species, viii satisfy the scientific student,
to whom the common names may be unfa>
milisr. These indexes are valuable additions
20 the work, necessary, in fact, in volume
so crowded with its thousand topics not one
of which is without its interest and value to
the people Of the South It should be IN
the library of every Southern household
and deserves to be well thumbed.
The volume, beautifully printed on fine
paper, with q clear new style is from the
press Of Messrs. Walker, Evans and Cogs>
well, who have acquitted themselves OF their
share of the work with the most commenda-
Bile skill, neatness and good taste. It is
large octave, neatly bound, and contains
more than seven hundred pages of letter
press. Such q publication is highly honora>
bic to our local literature, especially when
We consider under what circumstances 1t
was originally prepared, under what dis
courasing aspects of society, it has been re-
published in such handsome costume.
From Charleston Daily News, July 2Sth.
OUR FIELDS AND FORESTS.
we s-e Glad that DR. Porcher has met
sufficient announcement to warrant him in