THE CHARLESTON PHOSPHATES. 107 



change more than one-half of the powder, leaving the other 

 half entirely inert. You may put it upon your ground, and it 

 will remain there as long as you live, and you will never get 

 any benefit from it. But of course, these deposits are very 

 wonderful. I know of nothing so interesting. I think they 

 show us that the Almighty is very watchful over our interests. 

 I think we cannot escape from the conviction that these things 

 are all provided for us. I did not suppose it possible that a 

 source of phosphoric acid could be opened to us equal to that 

 in South Carolina ; and it is a mystery now how those deposits 

 happen to be there. A number of theories have been advanced 

 to account for it, but it is still a very great mystery. The 

 deposit is perfectly immense, and I think the supply of potash 

 at Stassfurth is equally great. It shows, I think, that as civ- 

 ilization progresses and science is developed, all these things 

 are opened up to us. I never have doubted, for a moment, 

 that a sufficiency of plant-food would be provided for us. Of 

 course, we cannot expect to obtain animal excrement enough 

 to meet our purposes ; we must resort to these sources of plant- 

 food, and we must all of us do what we can to bring them out, 

 and develop the inestimable gifts which the Almighty has pro- 

 vided for us. 



Mr. Buffinton. Is there any real manurial value in the 

 shells that come in the phosphates, if ground up and put upon 

 the soil ? 



Dr. Nichols. Oh, no, sir. 



Mr. Buffinton. I had some at home, and tried the experi- 

 ment, and could find no evidence of any benefit from it. 



Dr. Nichols. Not at all. It is so firmly locked up that you 

 might as well put on sand, or any other inert substance. But 

 by chemical manipulation, by the use of sulphuric acid, of course 

 you develop it, the same as you do in the case of bones. 



Mr. Buffinton. Those deposits were no doubt made from 

 mussels or shell-fish. Why should not our oyster shells be 

 valuable, if put through the same process ? 



Dr. Nichols. No, sir, that is not the source of them. The 

 theory I have in relation to them is this, and I think my idea is 

 supported by the deep-sea dredgings that have taken place on 

 our coast, in charge of our Coast Survey. I think the deposits 

 of these phosphates have been going on for ages, and are going 



