EXTRACTS FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC. 367 



I nulated in the form of dung, of bones, or of guano, we restore to it 



) is manure 1 We find them in the ashes of plants, but the ques- 



\ ion is, what purpose do they serve ? A few years ago the 



nineral elements of plants were supposed to be accidental ; but, 



ly exact analysis of the ashes of the different parts of plants, 



jiebig discovered that the phosphates are invariably found in 



he largest proportion in the seeds ; and, pursuing the inves- 



igation, he showed that the phosphates are essential to the ex- 



5tence of those vegetable products which are capable of con- 



ributing to the nutrition and growth of animals — of albumen, 



brine, and caseine ; which bodies, as is well known, are chiefly 



3und in seeds, but are present also, in all nutritious roots and 



iices. Hence he drew the conclusion that the phosphates are 



idispensable to the life of vegetables ; not merely, as he showed^ 



1 being essential to the formation of seeds, but also for a wise 



nd beneficent purpose, namely, that animals should find in the 



egetables they consume, (such as grass, hay, oats, and turnips) 



[Ibumen, fibrine, and caseine, the materials of which their blood, 



lat is, their bodies, are formed. In animals, again, it is notmere- 



r their bones, but every part of their structure, that requires the 



Dntinued supply of phosphates, while the phosphates not required 



)r nutrition are discharged in the dungand urine, andin that form 



jstored to the soil, again to contribute to vegetable life, and from 



ants again to pass into the bodies of animals. It is impossible 



i) imagine a more beautiful display of the divine wisdom and pow- 



il: than is thus laid open to our view. (Cheers ) Again, what is 



18 use of the alkalies which are always found in the ashes of 



lants, generally in the form of carbonates, indicating that they 



ave been, in the fresh plant, combined with vegetable acids ? 



he idea of Liebig is, that the alkalies, being supplied by the soil 



> the young plants, not by fixing carbonic acid from the atmos- 



tj here, which, along with the elements of water, under the com- 



ined influence of the vital force of the plant and the chemical 



jgency of the alkali, passes first into oxalic acid, then into malic, 



;vtric, and tartaric acids, and finally, into sugar, gum, starch, and 



roody fibre, which have all essentially the same composition. 



liaving served this important purpose, the alkalies, in the shape 



'^f vegetable ashes, or of animal manure, are again restored to the 



' )il, again to run the same unceasing course of usefulness, and to 



. cc.ite our wonder and admiration of that infinite wisdom which 



) IS devised such beautiful arrangements for our benefit and happi- 



?ss. (Cheers.) I cannot here refrain from mentioning, in proof 



' \he continued activity of Liebig, that he published in May last 



paper on the urine, which, for the importance of the subject, the 



gaiiiy displayed in its investigation, and the beauty, as well as 



e practical value of the deiluctions arrived at, is, in my opinion, 



ititled to the very highest place among all the modern writing on 



