PEAT BOGS AND TURBARIES. 101 



of the water, and by the pressure of the annually accumu- 

 lating mass, become Consolidated, wliilst tbose on the 

 surface also grow, decay, and drop in their turn ; so that 

 in the course of years a spongy mass is gradually elevated 

 above the circumjacent waters, and finally becomes so 

 solid that heaths, willows, and other ligneous plants grow 

 up and Cover the surface with their beautlful foliage and 

 flowers." 



2. It seems requisite to the formation of peat that the 

 waters of the morass should be stagnant and not exposed 

 to the admixture with other water or currents , as the 

 vegetable particles which compose peat being macerated 

 in the water, the water wherein they grow becomes highly 

 astringent and antiseptic, and congenial to accelerate the 

 growth of peat vegetables. If, however, a current of 

 water passes through it, the astringent juice is washed 

 away, and the chemical agent for Converting vegetable 

 matter into peat is then lost. 



This mass or congeries of plants, by the alternations of 

 growth and decay, forms the bed of peat, and continues to 

 increase rapidly, if undisturbed, soon rising above the ad- 

 joining lands, being kept in a buoyant state in the winter 

 and summer by the water contained in the spongy matter. 

 The mass of peat also rises in the winter, and in the 

 summer, in proportion to the quantity of water accu- 

 mulated in the basin on which it rests. This curious 

 circumstance is noticed by the inhabitants living on 

 the borders of these Turbaries, who see objects across the 

 bog in the summer, which are intercepted by the elevation 

 of the surface of the peat in winter. 



The general thickness of the vegetable mass in the 

 centre of the bog is from fifteen to eighteen feet. A com- 

 mon opinion prevails that the pits cut for fuel grow up 



