16 



kutrttion of TrAtXAttV,^, 



Its products. 



carbon than cart>on as was contained in the seeds from which they sptUn^ ; 

 while those in mould were much more vigorous, in conse- 

 quence of the carbon with which it furnished their roots. 

 But these experiments were on too small a scale to furnish 

 satisfactory results; and I have therefore attempted to inves- 

 tigate the subject anew, in order to ascertain, how far this 

 opinion is well founded. 

 Mould first As a preliminary step, T conceived it necessary to analyse 



analysed. vegetable mould in a state of perfect decompoiition. F or 



this purpose I selected perfectly pure, black, pulverulent 

 mould, from among the hollow roots of a very old ti'ec. 

 Contained no- Distilled water, in which it was boiled, remained colourless 

 thing soluble after filtration, and on being evaporated left no sign of any 

 in water. i v i ^. 



soluble matter. 



Very retentive A hundred grammes [3| oz.] were reduced by dessication 

 of moisture, ^q oy^ which shows it to be extremely retentive of water. 



These "20 gr,, distilled at a red heat, gave out 4 of water, 

 that powerfully reddened infusion of litmus; and contained 

 empyreumatic acetous acid, partly saturated with ammonia; 

 2 of an acrid oil, that congealed on cooling, and was of a 

 dark brown colour; 89 cubic inches of oily hidrogen gas, 

 burning with a blue flame; and 34 cubic inches of carbonic 

 acid absorbed by lime. 



The coally residuum weighed 8*5 grammes, which were 

 reduced by incineration to 2*4 gr. of light yellow ashes. 



Boiling distilled water digested on these ashes acquired nO 

 peculiar taste, did not turn sirup of violets green, and was 

 barely rendered turbid by the addition of a few drops of 

 oxalic acid, which seemed to indicate, that a few particles 

 «if lime had been set free by the calcination. The nitrates 

 of barj^es and of silver produced no change in it. On far- 

 ther analysis these ashes afforded 1*3 of a gr. of silex, "3, of 

 oxide of iron containing a little oxide of manganese, '25 of 

 phosphate of lime, '2 of lime, and some traces of magneVia. 



I belled G gr. [92 grains] of the same mould for an hour, 

 i^^ol r>«^"^^ a strong solution of caustic potash, when it became glu- 

 tinous, and swelled up. I then diluted it with water fil- 

 tered, and obtained a very deep brown liquor. This mixed 

 if lib the lixiviating waters gave on the addition of an acid 

 a precipitate, that weighed 1 gr. when dried. It was of a 



ver/ 



Residuum. 



Ashes. 



The mould 

 boiled in sokl 

 tipn 



