DISTRIBUTION OF AMMONIA. 269 



to this Society was on the ammonia found in peat ; I 

 was unable then to see the extent of the subject. 



Ammonia must ever be one of the most interesting of 

 chemical compounds. It comes from all living organisms, 

 and is equally necessary to build them up. To do this, it 

 must be wherever plants or animals grow or decay. As it 

 is volatile, some of it is launched into the air on its escape 

 from combination ; and in the air it is always found. As 

 it is soluble in water, it is found wherever we find water 

 on the surface of the earth or in the air, and probably in 

 all natural waters, even the deepest and most purified. As 

 a part of the atmosphere, it touches all substances and can 

 be found on many; it is in reality universally on the 

 surface of the earth in the presence of men and animals, 

 perhaps attached more or less to all objects, but especially 

 to all found within human habitations, and, we might also 

 add with equal certainty, the habitations of all animals. 



If you pick up a stone in a city and wash off the matter 

 on the surface, you will find the water to contain ammonia. 

 If you wash a chair or a table or any thing in a room, you 

 will find ammonia in the washing ; and if you wash your 

 hands you will find the same ; and your paper, your pen, 

 your table-cloth, and clothes, all show ammonia j and even 

 the glass cover to an ornament has retained some on its 

 surface. You will find it not to be a permanent part of 

 the glass, because you require only to wash with pure water 

 once or twice, and then you will obtain a washing which 

 contains no ammonia ; it is only superficial. 



This ammonia on the surface is partly the result of the 

 decomposition, continually taking place, of organic matter 

 adhering to every thing in dwellings. The presence of 

 organic matter is easily accounted for ; but it is less easily 

 detected than ammonia. It is probable that the chief 

 cause of the presence of ammonia on surfaces in houses 



