3BB J(»T«CUI.TUEA liTJ»-«r» 



»te an^sufphate of potash, niirate of linie, tnd the mal4 

 alkalies. 



The oxide of Iron is the same with the nist produced 

 fc^y exposing iron to the air and water ; it is found in alt 

 s«i!s, but U most abundant in yellow aad red clays, aai 

 in yellow and red siliceous sabd*. 



A more minute accoimt of these different §ubsfance* 

 ^ould be incompatible with the object of this paper. 

 A full description of their properties and agencies may 

 ■ Iguxy be found in the elementary books on chymistry* 

 *nd particularly in the system ofchym;stry, by Dr„ 

 Thompson (2d. edit. )> and in Henry V epitome of Qhy^ 

 sSiistry. 



Ill, Insfrum^nU rzqwrtd for the Analy?h f Soils* 



The really important instrumen-ts required for thd 

 iinalysis of soils are few, and but Utile expensive. 

 They are a balance capable of containing a quarter of 

 a pound of common soil, and capable o^f turning, when 

 loaded with a grain ; a series of weights from a quarter 

 <!>f a pound Troy to a gi-ain ; a wire sieve, sufficiently 

 ♦oarse to admit a pepper corn through its apertures 3 an 

 Argand's lamp £nd stand ; some glass bottles ; Hessia* 

 (trucibles ; porcelain, or queen'^s-ware evaporating ba- 

 sins ; a Wedgewood pestle and mortar ; some filter* 

 made of half a sheet of blotting-paper, folded so as t» 

 contain a pint of liquid, and greased at the edges ; a bone 

 knife, and an appaiatus f«r collecting and measuring 

 aeriform fluids. 



The chj-mical s;ibst«nces of re agents required for se» 

 parating the constituent parts of the soil, are muriatic 

 acid (spirit of salt), guiphuric acid, pure volatile alkali 

 dissolved in water, solution of prussiate of potash, soap 

 lye, solution of carbonate of ammoniac, of muriate ot am- 

 monia, solution of neutral carbonate of potash, and ni- 

 trate of ammoniac. An account of the nature of these 



