The
commission appointed by government, consisting of three of the most
celebrated practical chemists, has published a preliminary report,
in which several suggestions, rather than ascertained results, are
communicated, by which the sound portions of the root may, it is
hoped, be preserved from the epidemy, and possibly, the tainted be
rendered innoxious, and even partially nutritious. Followed
implicitly, their directions might mitigate the calamity. But the
care, the diligence, the persevering industry which the various
forms of process require, in order to effecting the purposes which
_might_ result if they were promptly adopted and properly carried
out, are the very qualities in which the Irish peasantry are most
deficient. In the present crisis, the people are more disposed to
regard the extensive destruction of their crops in the light of an
extraordinary visitation of Heaven, with which it is vain for human
efforts to contend, than to employ counteracting or remedial
applications. "Sure the Almighty sent the potato-plague, and we
must bear it as well as we can!" is the remark of many; while, in
other places, the copious sprinklings of holy water on the potato
gardens, and on the produce, as it lies upon the surface, are more
depended on for disinfecting the potatoes than the suggestions of
science, which require the application of patient industry.
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