1890.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 93 



which I had set down in my memoranda as not affording any 

 promise. A sample from pit No. 2, marked by Dr. Battle as a 

 poor specimen (in which I concurred), showed by analysis over 

 61 per cent of bone phosphate. The samples from the seven 

 pits above indicated yielded respectively about 61, 58, 62, 69 

 (another " poor specimen"), 50, 32, and 41 per cent. 



There had been other pits on this property, just over the line, 

 opened by previous prospectors before the property came under 

 the control of Mr. Hawkins, which had been carefully filled up 

 before they left. These were not reopened during my stay, but 

 specimens picked up on the surface showed 64.85 per cent of 

 bone phosphate, 67.59 per cent, and 64.59 per cent. In one pit, 

 situated upon a rise of ground, and which did not strike the 

 phosphate until some 12 feet below the surface, an auger was 

 run down to a depth of between two and three feet, and the bor- 

 ing yielded 50 per cent of bone phosphate ; as the auger had no 

 handle, we could not go deeper. 



The examination of these properties showed, first, the prob- 

 able presence of phosphate underlying nearly the whole area, and, 

 second, a cousiderable variation in the percentage at different 

 depths. The deeper one goes into the material, the freer it is 

 from clay and sand, and the purer. Unlike the samples from 

 the hammock land that I have alluded to, these pits were quite 

 uniform and solid ; but even in some of the hammock properties 

 I am told that, in prospecting, the detached masses, if thrown 

 on one side in digging and the sand on the other, will nearly 

 equal the latter in bulk. 



An analysis of the Peace Eiver phosphate obtained by river- 

 dredging, in samples submitted to me, and which are shown here, 

 gave in the coarser particles 58.42 per cent of bone phosphate, 

 and in the finer 60.38 per cent. In the samples from the Haw- 

 kins property spoken of, the percentage of oxide of iron and 

 alumina varied from 5 per cent as a minimum up to 10 per cent 

 as a maximum. In a sample from the hammock land, the maxi- 

 mum (15:^ per cent) of oxide of iron and alumina was found. 

 The presence of iron and alumina, so dreaded by many of our 

 American fertilizer manufacturers, was detected very early in the 

 examination of these Florida beds, and yet in practical working 

 it was found that in spite of these elements the other difficulties 

 usual in such cases were not encountered,' and the rock dried out 

 fairly well and did not "revert" after treatment. 



Professor Frost, above quoted, called attention to this fact and 

 says: "lean only account for these injurious constituents not 

 acting in their usual way by supposing that the presence of lime 

 counteracts their presence." I venture with some hesitation, in 

 the absence of any thorough investigation, to say that from pre- 



