^.^O Mr. R. Phillips, jun. on the state of 



The arrangement was the following, being a modification 

 of the apparatus of Liebig for drying organic bodies : — The 

 air was passed through bulbs containing solution of caustic 

 potash, by which it was deprived of all carbonic acid; it then 

 passed over the soil, and having, by passing through a long 

 tube containing chloride of calcium, been deprived of any 

 moisture it might have acquired, through some bulbs partly 

 filled with caustic potash, these were connected with a Woulfe's 

 bottle filled with v/ater, and fitted with a siphon. Having 

 ascertained the apparatus to be perfectly tight, the air was 

 drawn through it by the action of the siphon, and the second 

 set of bulbs filled with caustic potash, which had been pre- 

 viously v/eighed, were found, as I have before mentioned, to 

 have increased six grains in weight. 



I proved that the iron was uninfluenced by any soluble or- 

 ganic matter, by washing two samples, the one with cold, and 

 the other with boiling water: the first gave 1*95 per cent, of 

 soluble organic matter and inorganic salts, and the latter 3*27 ; 

 but in both instances, although the residues were dried with 

 exposure to the air, the iron remained unchanged. That it 

 did not exist in the state of the black or magnetic oxide was 

 shown by its being non-magnetic when dissolved and precipi- 

 tated, as that oxide according to Liebig still retains its mag- 

 netic property when thus treated. 



The non-fertility of bog-earths may, it appears to me, be 

 perhaps accounted for from the organic acid they have been 

 found to contain; supposed to be the suberic acid, but probably 

 an acid peculiar to these earths. The action of the manures 

 usually employed to bring them into a state of fertility, viz. 

 lime and strong oil of vitriol, is made apparent if we take this 

 view, for by uniting with the first the organic acid would be 

 rendered innoxious, whilst the second would destroy it; but 

 neither of these agents would have any influence on the further 

 oxidation of the iron, and the second would render it soluble; 

 and what makes this idea more probable is, that I have found 

 in all rich soils a soluble organic salt of lime to exist, and that 

 these soils never possessed any acid properties. The poison- 

 ous character of the drainage water from these earths is ex- 

 plained by this view ; but, on the other supposition, that it 

 results from the action of protoxide of iron, we can hardly 

 imagine, — knowing as we do how immediately, when held in 

 solution by carbonic acid, it is decomposed by exposure to the 

 action of the atmosphere, — that these injurious effects could 

 take place in the short tinie that would elaj)se before it becanje 

 sescjuioxide; and I have before pointed out that the soluble 

 organic matter would have no effect in arresting this decom- 



