55 JOURNAL OF THE 
rocks (Dieulafait) and has been found by Deville in bauxite. 
rutile, and many other minerals, and by Bechi and others in 
the ashes of plants and in argillaceous limestones, schists, 
and sands........’ It is further reported to comprise as 
V,O, 0.02-0.07 per cent. of many French clays, 0.02—0.03 per 
cent. of some basalts, 0.24 per cent. of a coal of unknown ori- 
gin, and 0.45 per cent. of one from Peru, amounting to 38.5 
per cent. and 38.0 per cent. of the ash, and noted respective- 
ly by Mourlot and Torrico y Meca.” 
Roussel! states that a basalt with a content of 0.707-2.378 
per cent. of titanium contained 0.006—0.023 per cent. of vana- 
dium. Gladstone,” however, states that it does not occur in 
the volcanic dust of Vesuvius. ‘Terreil*® found it in iron ores. 
Stolba‘ also mentions its occurrence. 
From the above the presence of vanadium could with reason 
be suspected in peat. Inthe hands of the writer were sam- 
ples of peats from Hyde Swamps, one mile south of Pungo 
Lake near the Northern Junction of Beaufort and Hyde 
Counties, N. C. The approximate analysis of these peats 
gave : 
Volatile Fixed 
Sample. Water. matter. carbon. Ash. 
Peawt.. o.. ieee oe 73.67 16.16 Ay ee WY 0.45 
Peatpihss.. .\ceemwe va 71.58 17.42 10.31 0.69 
Pest iil... 2d 76.01 14.19 9.32 0.48 
The water was determined by taking a cube measuring 
about eight cm. each way (from 700 to 800 grams) and bring- 
ing to a constant weight by heating for a number of hours 
not higher than 105°C. An analysis, approximate, of this 
dried peat gave the following results: 
Sample. Volatile matter. Fixed carbon. Ash. 
Peat. oe aues s aeee 61.38 36.90 1.72 
Peat Ui, coe ss ate 61.35 36.20 2.45 
Peat ili. tees. ee 59.13 38.85 2.02 
It was convenient to examine the ash of a large number of 
1 Ber. d. chem. Ges., 6, 14177 6. 
2 Jbid., 5, 815 b. 
3 /bid., 10, 731 a. 
4 Chem, Centrbl. (1897), 12. 
