1877.1 bo J [Britton 



failed to produce heat sufficient for the reduction of an ore of iron to a 

 button of metal ; the quantitj^ thoug^li^ was scarcely sufficient for a con 

 elusive test. It burned with a roar, and gave flame enough to heat the 

 pipe red-hot for some distance, which I never found anthracite to do in the 

 .same furnace. 



The sample of peat from Rome, N. Y. (about 50 lbs.), was dug from a 

 bog in Oneida county, where large bodies of it exist, and prepared by first 

 grinding into pulp, then partially compressing and air-drying, and, lastly, 

 more completely drying in a current of air artificially heated. The cost of 

 preparing in quantity is . estimated at under $1.50 per gross ton. The 

 pieces, like those of Syracuse article, are of suitable size, tough and strong. 

 The specific gravity varied mostly between 1 and 1.21 ; nearly all of the 

 pieces tested sank in water. 



Results of Analysis. 



Water 14.3t) 



Crude oleaginous and tarry matter 19.77 



Other volatile matter more or less combustible 30. oil 



Ash 12.40 



Fixed carbonaceous matter 22.85 



Total 100.00 



Included in the above : 



Sulphuric acid 1 .44 



Phosphoric acid 17 



Gomposition of the Ash. 



Ferric oxide 7.91 



Silica 35.24 



Alumina 14.83 



Lime 25.21 



Magnesia 36 



Manganous oxide 1.05 



Sulphuric acid 11.32 



Phosphoric acid 1.35 



Alkali, undetected matter and loss 2.73 



Total 100 00 



A portion of this sample was tested in the assay furnace with about the 

 same effect as that produced by the charred peat. Another portion was 

 tested for liability to absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and found to 

 regain 7.70 per cent, at a temperature between 65° and 73° F. in three 

 days. What it would regain out of doors in a covered, latticed bin can be 

 inferred. 



From the facts stated it is clear that neither of the samples examined 

 would be equal to wood charcoal for use in blast furnaces as they are now 



