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THE GENESEE FAKMEE. 



July, witli a disease of the nose, the whole sj-stcm showing gi-eat progress in scrofulous decay. Tlie 

 usual remedies were unsuccessfully applied until August, when cod Uver oil wua used, but the disor- 

 ganization of the stomach was increased by it. The })hospliate of lime was then applied, eight grains 

 three times a day. Its good effects were soon apparent. It and the oil were therefore administered 

 together, and the patient soon was restored to health. 



"Tlie second case is that of a young lady aged 24. Iler disease was one of 'unmixed jihthisis,' 

 which might liave been expected to terminate in the course of a few months fatally. The upper part 

 of both her lungs was filled with tubercles, and in some places were beginning to soften. The c^ise 

 was evidently a bad one. The treatment of cod liver oil was at first used, but without marked 

 improvement The phosphate of lime was then administered with the oil, and the result, as in the 

 case of the negro, was soon apparent. The patient was rapidly getting well. 



"The third case was that of a cliild seven years of age, in which the phosphate of lime was used 

 with complete success. 



" We can only refer briefly to these cases for the purpose of directing attention to this subject. 

 Before the dreadful diseases which they describe, scientific men have stood abashed. That there is 

 some remedy for them we c;\u hardly doubt; and tliis may, if a new thing, be the desideratum which 

 science is in search of." 



The chemical forces in blood, and the separation of bone in one set of cells, muscle in 

 another, nerves in a third, fat in a fourth, bile in a fifth, urine in a sixth, and all other 

 secretions, from the same bloody are now being investigated with an acuteness and energy 

 never before equalled. Powerful microscopes, delicate balances, reliable re-agents, greater 

 experience, tact, and expertness, in all necessary manipulations, promise a more rapid 

 advancement in pathology and organic chemistry in future. To the practical farmer, 

 the application of chemical knowledge to the fee^ling of cultivated plants, will probably 

 be most intelHgible, and therefore satisfactory and useful. Among the many substances 

 that chemists have suggested as likely to fertilize the soil, the nitrate of soda, or " cubic 

 nitre," is not the least important. It has the merit of being much cheaper than the 

 nitrate of potash, (saltpetre,) and is, by some wheat-growers, regarded not inferior to 

 that valuable salt. In an agricultural point of \'iew, ammonia, which is a powerful 

 alkali, and nitric acid, which is an intense acid, (aquafortis,) have very similar properties. 

 Both yield available nitrogen to growing plants. Ammonia is formed by the chemical 

 union of 14 parts of nitrogen with 3 of hydrogen; and nitric acid is formed by the 

 chemical union of 14 parts of nitrogen with 40 of oxygen. IV is the equivalent number 

 of ammonia, and 54 that of nitric acid. 



In the second volume of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of Eno-land 

 there is an account of an experiment in which 42 lbs. of nitrate of soda were drilled in 

 with seed wheat upon a quarter of an acre. The result was a gain of 2 bu.'and 2 pecks 

 in grain, and 129 lbs. in straw. The wheat Aveighed 155 lbs., and the entire gain in 

 both wheat and straw was 284 lbs. In this experiment, a pound of the salt gave over 

 3.^ lbs. of wheat, and over 3 lbs. of straw. In another series of experiments with this 

 salt, it gave a small addition to the yield of gi-ain, but a large gain in straw. In another 

 experiment, with cubic petre and common salt, 112 lbs. of each being sown broadcast on 

 an acre of wheat early in the spring, the gain was 4.-^ bu. (from 21 to 25.-J-); and in 

 another, 8.4 bu., or from 19 to 27.4. As soda is a much cheaper alkali than potash, it 

 is highly important that experiments be made in this country to ascertain how far soda 

 can take the place of potash in organizing starch in potatoes and the seeds of cereals, 

 such as wheat, maize, barley, and oats. Any County Society can make a valuable 

 experiment with carbonate of potash, (common pearlash,) and carbonate of soda, on the 

 growth of potatoes, corn, or wheat, for five dollars. Let all the money be paid for equal 

 quantities of the salts named, and let these be pulverized and mixed with four times their 

 weight of fine dry loam. Now, get a little cup that will hold about two ounces of this 

 compound, and apply a cup full to each hill of potatoes, or corn, spreading it over at 

 least a square foot of surface, at the time the seed is planted. The plan should be to 

 give one or two rows of potatoes or corn a given quantity, say 16 lbs. of soda, and a like 

 weight of potash to other rows. Leave two rows of corn or potatoes between the 



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