262 ESSAYS anp OBSERVATIONS 
compared a peat of this kind with a piece 
of coal brought from Baron Clerk’s coal- 
mines near Edinburgh, and, by the hy- 
droftatical balance, reckoning water 1000, 
their {pecific gravities were nearly as fol- 
lows, pit-coal 1287, folid peat 1303. 
From what has been faid, it appears, 
that, if iron could be made with peat, it 
would be of great fervice, particularly in 
fome places of North Britain, where peat 
is to be had in plenty,. along with iron, 
which now lies unwrought for want of 
wood: And, even where wood may be 
found, if peat brought to the confiftency 
I mention would do the bufinefs, it would 
come cheaper than charred wood, Ano- 
ther advantage of this kind of peat, would 
be the fmelting of lead with it alone, 
which cannot well be done at prefent, 
without the help of pit-coal, which in 
fome places muft be brought from a con- 
fiderable diftance, and at no {mall charge. 
THE other ufe I would propofe of peat, 
is the employing it as dung, for the fer- 
tilizine of ground, when prepared in the 
manner I fhall afterwards mention. [am 
not 
