Ca 
Miscellanies. ee 391 
ae 2. Ow from White Fish. 
Madison, September. 12, 1838. 
To Pror. Susamax. amie Sir—The question has often been 
proposed to me, whether by some chemical or natural process, the oil 
contained in our “white” fish might not be extracted without material 
detriment to them as a manure. You are probably aware that in our vi- 
ia we rely in a great. measure upon these fish as a manure for the 
“worn out lands.” For this purpose, at least one hundred and fifty of 
our most active men are in the season. engaged in taking he 
number taken yearly i is, upon average, ‘Alien millions. It has oan: as- 
certained by repeated experiment, that these fish contain half a gill of 
pure oil apiece. By those who made the experiment, (who at the time 
consulted you upon the subject, viz. 1814 or ’15,) the remnants, after the 
extraction, were applied, side by. side, with fish just taken, and no mate- 
rial difference noticed in the crops. They at that time extracted from 7000 
fish, value $7, a barrel of oil, value at that time $25 ; the process was very 
tedious and filthy, From these premises, sir, I wish to ask of you, whether. 
the oil contained in these fish can be purified from the other matters. Does 
the principle of manure consist in the solid material parts of the substances 
used, or in a gas arising from the decomposition of.such materials? Is 
the oil the principal source of manure, and if so, in what ratio? I have 
been induced to solicit your opinion in this matter from a conviction that 
a very large profit may be realized from a disposition of the fish in the 
manner suggested, provided any method can be devised for rope a 
separating the oil from the other parts. 
Yours with great respect, 
W. W. Witcox, A. M., 
Prec. Lee’s Rodauy” 
Being unable to caggeet any Ling satisfactory in reply to the letter of 
Mr. iia We give it publicity, in the hope that it may elicit informa- 
23. "Calm _We learn frodi Prof Robert Hare, that he has recently, 
by a new process, obtained calcium, the metal of lime, in considerable 
quantity. His process is new, and we will not presume on a private letter 
for any of the details of procedure, or of the Properties of the metal, of 
which, we trust, the public may, ¢ ere long, receive a notice from Dy. Hare 
: himsel f. 
~ 24. N. Dunn’s Chinese vellneesion at Philadelphia, enmvetiniiated. 
—It would be difficult to name a subject that has puzzled the learned 
world so much and so Jong, as the accurate delineation of the char- 
acter of that wonderful and unchanging people, the Chinese. The 
