National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-11-07
4 CcsMICAL Plant.



IN Arctic Dust
New York CUmmciclI n Alvevu.-.I
On train between Rochester and SYRIA
cusc hopIcrtd the other day to upy
scat with q middle aged mun, who cartel
n small iowtr POT containing little plant,
for whose SAFETY bc seemed extremely ~.
licitous. During the frat huff uf TIE jour.
ney there WIS hut s"nut conversation he
tween U.s. each being nreOccuplGd VITA hls
own thoughts. lut, No | am Interested I'm
botany, | Began tU luOk more closely nt my
fellow travellers plant, aud finally became
quite absorbed IN II. IL was q species Of
fem with which was wholly unaclualnted.
"May ! ask whst mind Of fern that is AMI
wi ue 1t grows Inquired at last.
"That Is more than ! can tell you,n he
replied, "hut venture 20 say there is no
other like IL IN the world
Naturally, became curious, nnl asked
questions. The following Is u synopsis OF
bis replies
~ was for years IN the employ OF the
Hudson Bay Company, aud spent the hest
part Of my life among ice and Gavagcs In the
cold regions of British America. had often
EotiCed that the snow and Ice In some To-
CalitiCs were covered with a grayish-blac!
powder, hut paid no attention to II till |
read an acc cunt OF an Arctic expedition, IN
which the writer stated that such powder
was cosmic dust, s'itcd down through the
atmosphere from space, which 10 said to bc
more or less filed with IT,
GAS soon as | read this statement II struck
me that II would be a good plan to collect
some Of the dust and see whether anything
would grow In IL. SO / began to carry
bottle into which put the powder when
ever found any. In few years succeeded
in collecting quite quantity, about rs
much 0s you see herch-hc held the lower
pot toward me; It was about onc-thirl full
lard became very much interested IN my
cosmic treasure, wondering whether, II any
Of our plants should grow in it, they would
take the same shape ns when nourishel by
their native soil.
"At this time was called 20 England IN
Connection with the business of the com
pany, and, planting q pea In the celestial
mold, ! locked 1t up In a large wooden box.
There IL remained un1isturbed until my re-
turn, a little more than year. ! confess
opened the box again with good deal OF
curiosity, and was both astonished aud de-
lighted to see that the pea had developed
into fern, as ! supposed, for this plant
YVES then about one inch In height. | at
tended it very carefully for about two
months, but 1t did not seem to grow, One
day ] stirred up the dust Ut had hitherto
been undisturbed), and to my extreme as
constituent brought to light the pea had
planted as dry ana unsproutcd as though IL
had been buried in dry sand. | examined
the pea carefully. 1t was wholly unaf.
fected, and the fern must have had some
other origin. There is no doubt about
that
'IIave you any idea how 1t originated
there ?" asked.
"Well, yes; / am confident the seed came
with the dust from some other world"
In answer to my look of amazement, and
II NAV be incredulity, he continued sit
was certainly not planted in this pot In any
shape. And how could fern root or u fern
seed have become mixed with the dust at
the top Of thick snow and iceY That was
impossible. Neither could II get into the
bottle In which l Kept 1t until emptied into
| this pot which was brand new. And now II
Cosmic dust can settle upon the earth,
| which believe scientists regard as fact,
| is there anything unreasonable in supposing
| that light plant seed can do the same ~
"Your logic seems good, but l must con-
fcss that on first thought your theory APP
| pears fanciful."
"On first thought 1t will doubtlcssly
| seem so, hut not on the hundredth, perhaps.
| i have studied this matter in all directions,
| ard | have come to the conclusion that
| some Of the varieties of our plants have had
| Just such an origin as | claim for this fern,
| and II may he that the same Is true OF some
| Of our animal species. Perhaps the begin
| ming OF all life ON earth had such an origin,
| perhaps life from this earth has been waited
TO our neighbor planets as well.
snow another confirmation of my theory
as regards this pal ticuar plant is that nc
| one has ever seen one like It.. No botanist
| that / ever consulted has been able to elias
sify II. Since l became interested in Tho
subject ] have examined many kinds o.
fern, but never came across one that rcsem
blcd this"
slow long has It been growing"
"Ten years. 1t grows very slowly and
does not thrive on water. At the sugges
ton of friend | have tried sprinkling Il
with diluted ammonia, which seems to agree
with it.n
At this point we came, as | thought, yer,
suddenly TO my destination, and as l lef
the car ] asked the stranger to give me hi
name. He replied that it was Tarleton o
Carleton, / could not distinguish which, anC
said nc was on his way to England.