M. De Gasparin on the Classificativn of Soils. 85 



theatre and principal material in all its operations. Attempts 

 have been made to confer upon it a nomenclature, one of the 

 first reqiurements of a rising science ; but, before success can 

 be obtained, it must make the same attainments that the other 

 natural sciences have recently done. For the discovery of 

 the appropriate characters of his classification, the author has 

 du'ected a particular share of attention to Chemistry and Na- 

 tural Philosophy, to Microscopic Observation, Geology, and 

 Botany ; and the soils have been analyzed, experimented upon, 

 and observed in relation to all these sciences. As it is impos- 

 sible, in this place, to enter at length upon the consideration 

 of these laborious researches, we must confine ourselves to the 

 citation of some of the facts which result from the iuA^estiga- 

 tion. 1st, The author points out the small (quantity of car- 

 bonate of lime which is sufficient to change the character of 

 soils. It is knoA^Ti that the five or six per cent, of this sub- 

 stance which is supplied by marling, produces very remark- 

 able effects, whilst the one-hundredth part which is con- 

 tained m the soil of Lille, as analyzed by M. Berthier, like- 

 wise sensibly aff'ects its nature and vegetative power. Lime 

 gradually disappears fi*om soils, being changed into a bi-car- 

 bonate. The enclosure of la grande Chartreuse, which is 

 formed of the debris of rocks which contain lime, does not now 

 furnish a single particle of this earth. 2d, The carbonate of 

 magnesia modifies soils in the same way as the carbonate of 

 lime. This earth is contained in great quantities in the soils 

 of the valley of the Nile ; and those of Bas-Languedoc often 

 furnish from eight to thirty-three per cent. 3d, It has often 

 been attempted to ascertain the characters which distin- 

 guish those soils in which gypsum produces an effect upon 

 vegetables, and those in which it has none ; but hitherto with- 

 out success. The author has ascertained that gypsum has no 

 action upon recent alluvial soils, and that it produces a bene- 

 ficial effect upon all more ancient soils, beginning with the 

 diluvian. 4th, He has found sal-ammoniac in all the clays be- 

 longing to the vegetable stratum of soils. This observation 

 shews the importance of clay as a magazine of the materials 

 which favour vegetation. 5th, If by washing we separate 

 into several portions the coarser and finer parts of earth, we 



