ACIDS. 



that if these lo not exist in sufficient quantity 

 in the soil, other bases must supply their place'; 

 anil that the progress of a plant must be wholly 

 arrested when none are pr> 



"Seeds of the Sikolu Kuli, when sown in 

 common garden soil, produce a plant coutain- 

 : > potash and soda; while the plants 



grown from the seeds of this contain only si'its 

 of potash, with mere traces of muriate of soda. 

 (Cud ft.) 



existence of vegetable alkalies in com- 

 bination with organic ac.uls gives great weight 

 to the opinion, that alkaline bases in general 

 >i'i-t'd with tht: developement of plants. 

 "If potatoes are grown when- they are not 

 upplied with earth, the magazine of in 

 : liars for example,) a true alkali, 



call'-d .Sdanin, of VT. is natiii<>. is 



: in the spi h extend t 



the li.'ht. while not the smallest trace of such 

 ;i red in the roots, 



i ms, or fruits of potatoes grown in 

 . (Otto.) 



>ots find their more appropriate 

 ' r ity, they will t 



Organic Chcm.)] 



Vegetable acids abound in most plant 

 the Acetic acid (rintgar) is found in the chick 

 pea (Cieer ort'e/iitum), in the elderberr 

 bucus nigra), in the date palm tree (Phanix 

 /era), and in numerous others. 



t combined with 



in the Oxalif ActtoM/la, or wood-sorrel 



its name), and many other plants; 



united with lime, it is detected in the root of 



; arii, in parsley, fennel, soap wort, 



squills, vVc.; and in an uncombined state in 



the liquid which exudes from the Cicer aritti- 



nuni, [chick pea, or Spanith Garbanza.] 



ic Acid [or Cremor tartar] is com- 



i red from tartar or tartrate of pot- 

 ash (whence its name). It has been detected 



jrmpes, tamarinds, 

 Ahite mulberries, the Scotch fir, 

 u r rass, dandelion, &c. &c. 

 Acid has been found in oranges and 

 uberries, red whortleberry, bird- 

 woody nightshade, the hip, and the 

 onion. 



Malic Acid is the only acid existing in the 

 apple, [pear,] barberry, plum, sloe, elder, ser- 

 vice, &c. It is found with the citric acid in 

 seberry, currant, bleaberry, cherry, 

 rry, raspberry, &c. ; combined with 

 'ind in the house-leek, wakerobin, 

 I d with potash and lime, in me, garden 



purslane, madder, spinach, lilac, mignionette, 

 &r. 



Benzoi'c Acid. This acid is found in ben- 

 zoin, balsam of Tolu, storax, &c. ; and in 

 marjoram, clan', chickpea, Tonkin bean, &c. 

 The / J rnir, or Hydrocyanic Acid, exists in 



M, peach blossoms, bitter almonds, 

 of the sloe, leaves of the bay-leaved 



: there is little doubt but that all the 

 almond kernels contain this acid. 

 (.nillic Arid abounds in the barks of many 

 as the elm, oak, chestnut, beech, 

 . elder, plum tree, sycamore, birch, 

 . sallow, mountain ash, poplar, 

 : ' uninon ash, sumach, &c. 



At, IDS. 



These are the chief vegetable acids. There 

 are others which have been detected occa- 

 sionally ; such as the moroxylic, in the Morua 

 alba, or white mulberry; the boletic, in the 

 Boletus pseiidu-igniarius f [a species of mush- 

 room,] the meconic, in opium ; the kinic, in 

 the bark of the Cinchona uffichwlis , the cam- 

 phoric from camphor; the suberic from cork, 

 &c.; but none of these are of that importance 

 to the cultivator to require a particular notice 

 in this place. The composition of the princi- 

 ftable acids is much more similar than 

 the intelligent farmer might be inclined to 

 suspect, as will be readily seen from a com 

 parison of the following table of their composi- 

 tion, chiefly by M. Berzelius : 



Acetk acid 

 Oxalic acid 

 Tartaric acid 

 (Uric acid 



Ic acid 

 Gallic acid 



Hydrogen. 



0-244 



3951 

 3-800 



. 516 



500 



Carbon. 

 4683 

 33-222 

 36-167 

 41-3G9 

 7-1-41 

 56-64 



Oxygen. 



4682 



66534 



50-882 



54-831 



2043 



3836 



{Thomson's Chem.) 



[The organic acids of animal origin are, like 

 those obtained from vegetables, very numerous, 

 .u pies, there are, the formic acids, first 

 obtained from ants, but now ascertained to 

 exist in sii2;ar and some other vegetable sub- 

 stances: Lactic acid, obtained from milk; 

 Uric acid, procured from human urine, and 

 Hi/i/)itric acid, from the urine of the horse and 

 other animals when stall-fed: Margaric and 

 Steuric acids from fat, etc. The Phosphoric 

 Of id, though found combined with minerals, is 

 very abundant in the animal system, being 

 combined with lime to form the bones, and ex- 

 isting in the urine and other fluids and solids, 

 in union with alkaline bases, forming phos- 

 phates of soda, potash, lime, and magnesia. 



Phosphoric acid has also been found in all 

 plants, the ashes of which have been examined 

 by chemists, always, however, in combination 

 with potash, soda, magnesia, or lime. Most 

 seeds contain certain quantities of the phos- 

 phates formed by the union of phosphoric acid 

 with some one or more of the alkalies just 

 named. In the seeds of diffemi' 'rinds of grain, 

 there is abundance of phosphate of magnesia. 



Phosphoric acid, in one or other of its com- 

 binations, plays indeed an important part in 

 agriculture, and is an indispensable constituent 

 of all good land. 



" The soil in which plants grow furnishes 

 (hem with phosphoric acid, and they in turn 

 yield it to animals, to be used in the formation 

 of their bones, and of those constituents of the 

 brain \rhich contain phosphorus. Much more 

 phosphorus is thus afforded to the body than it 

 requires, when flesh, bread, fruit, and husks 

 of grain are used for food, and this excess in 

 them is eliminated in the urine and the solid 

 excrements. We may form an idea of the 

 quantity of phosphate of magnesia contained 

 in grain ; when we consider that the concre- 

 tions in t>.. tcecum of horses consist, of phos- 

 phate of magnesia and ammonia, which must 

 have been obtained from the hay and oats con 

 sumed as food. Twenty-nine of these stones 

 were taken after death from the rectum cf H 

 horse belonging to a. miller in Eberstadt, tha 

 total weight of which amounted to 3 Ihs. 



23 



