1 62 The Irish Naturalist. [June, 



eonvexity was 30 feet in height, and after sinking, was again 

 raised in the course of a few days. 



Although a great work was accomplished by the Commission 

 on Bogs at the beginning of the present century, little has 

 been done since ; a few organized attempts have been made 

 from time to time to turn some of our peat bogs to better use, 

 but the want of success which has generally attended them 

 seems to have discouraged further effort, and thus a possible 

 source of vast national wealth has been left to undeserved 

 neglect ; 



On the Continent it is far otherwise ; there the investigation 

 of peat bogs receives the attention that the importance of the 

 subject demands. So great is the interest taken in the subject 

 in Germany, that a society numbering more than 600 members 

 exists there, having for its object the advancement of 

 knowledge of peat culture, under which term more is com- 

 prised by German workers than might be supposed. This 

 society publishes ** Mittheilungen" fortnightly ; those for 1896 

 make a volume of 476 pages in royal octavo. A similar 

 society exists in Sweden : it was founded in 1885, and now 

 numbers over 3300 members. It possesses experimental 

 peat farms, where investigations are made on methods of 

 cultivation ; it employs a skilled agricultural engineer, who 

 is occupied, travelling through the country, in giving 

 information and advice to the peat farmers. A botanist is 

 kept at work on the microscopical examination of peat, and a 

 chemist to perform analyses. A " Tidskrift" is published 

 bi-monthly ; the collected numbers for 1896 include 304 pages 

 of letterpress. By means of this journal, yearly meetings, 

 discussions, lectures, and exhibitions, the Society is earnestly 

 engaged in diffusing information on all subjects connected 

 with peat industry throughout the kingdom. 



