350 PEAT. 



as the first remove from the vegetable, the results are 

 similar, but the proportions of the products different ; 

 becoming most sensible as the peat departs furthest 

 from the plant, and being very decided in that which 

 is perfect and inorganic. The proportions of the acid 

 and the volatile oil are diminished, and there is a 

 larger produce of the pitch, or bistre : so that, neglect- 

 ing the azote, as here of no moment, the change from 

 the vegetable matter to peat consists chiefly in a dimi- 

 nution of the hydrogen and oxygen, compared to the 

 carbon. 



Recurring now to the action of water on the vege- 

 table compound, the resemblance of its effects to those 

 of the incipient action of heat, will be sensible even to 

 those who are but slenderly acquainted with chemistry. 

 Under heat, the hydrocarbonaceous compound becomes 

 partially soluble in water, as in the case of coffee, 

 while acetic acid is also generated, aiding in this solu- 

 tion as far as it is not volatilized. In the case of water, 

 converting the vegetable into peat, the same compound 

 is produced ; while the differences are easily explained, 

 as the chemical production ceases at an early stage of 

 the process, and the ulterior changes are merely me- 

 chanical. The acid also is carried off by the water as 

 fast as it is formed ; aiding, however, in producing 

 that solution which forms the brown water; while, 

 remaining united to it under the other process, it in- 

 creases its solubility. And this matter, collected by 

 natural deposition, is the pitchy substance already de- 

 scribed as the " essence" of peat. It is pure peat, in 

 a chemical sense ; while, whatever slender and unessen- 

 tial differences it may present, as is true of every one 

 of these varying and indeterminate compounds, it is 

 analogous to, if not identical with, the bistre produced 

 by the action of fire. Thus the actions of fire and of 



