5 io Mr. Majfey on Saltpetre. 
fedtly putrefied, as they had been fecluded from 
the air the whole time. This gave him the fird 
idea of the ufe and necefTity of putrefa&ion, 
which made too drong an impreffion upon his 
mind to be eafily erafed. 
With earths, thus duly matured, we can 
fcarcely fail of fucceeding in this bufinefs as well 
as our neighbours. Yet there may be reafons for 
our declining it. 
The large quantities of earth that mud be 
elixiviated to obtain a fmall portion of laltpetre, 
it mud be owned, affords no very tempting prof- 
pe<d. And the fears of not finding a fufficient 
quantity of wood-afhes in this country may have 
ftill greater weight. 
The labour of collefting thefe earths, it is cer¬ 
tain, cannot be fmall; yet may the value of this 
commodity fully pay the price of it, when brought 
to a good market, which it is likely to find in 
England. 
In refpect to wood-afhes, they may reafonably 
be judged to be lefs plentiful in this than in other 
countries where wood is the only fuel. But where 
pot-alh is made, in confiderable quantities, as in 
many of our counties, there certainly can be no 
fcarcity of them ; and, if their place may be fup- 
plied by another commodity equally cheap, and 
eafily procured, we can never find any real want 
of them. This is foreign pot-afh, which we find 
recommended in a fmall work, not long ago 
publidied. 
