FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 2 



posure to a moderate red heat, it loses ils greenish 

 colour, together with a part of its weight, and the 

 former is chanirod into a lip-ht brown, intermixed 

 with grey. With iiorax, belbre the hlow-pipe, it 

 melts into a blackish slagijy frlobuie of considera- 

 ble hardness. It docs not ctlervesce with acids; 

 its specific gravity is 1.485. 



Experiment, No. 1. 



Five hundred grains of this mineral were care- 

 fully heated in a small glass retort until red hot; 

 its colour changed ns above stated, and after bav- 

 ins cooled, its weight amounted to lour hundred 

 and eighty grains. During this process no gas 

 (carbonic acid) was disengaged, but in the tube of 

 the retort and the adopter a quantity of water was 

 condensed, whose weiijht nearly corresponded to 

 the above loss. We may, therefore, consider this 

 mineral as a hydrate, or a compound of hydrates. 



Experiment, No. 2. 



The above four hundred and eighty grains, fine- 

 ly pulverized, were boiled in a matrass with a long 

 neck, for several hours, with nitro-muriatic acid, 

 consisting of five parts muriatic acid of fifteen de- 

 grees Baume, and one of nitric acid of thirty-five 

 degrees.* 



Again. — A considerable part of the mineral 

 was dissolved, but the brown colour had not dis- 

 appeared; the solution was set aside for twenty- 

 four hours, and the yellowish solution decanted 

 from the sediment and again treated for several 

 hours with a new addition of nitro-muriatic acid. 

 The color of the mineral had disappeared consi- 

 derably more, but was not altogether white: there- 

 tore, it was set aside again for twenty-four hours, 

 and then decanted, a new portion of acid added, 

 and treated again as above. 



After one hour's boiling, the colour had com- 

 pletely changed, and appeared perlijctly tohite. 

 The matrass was removed from the fire, and the 

 liquid allowed to subside; after having decanted 

 the same, the residue was washed with distilled 

 water until perfectly insipid; the residue, gathered 

 on a filter and well dried, at 170 degrees, weighed 

 277^ grains, and proved to be silex. 



Experiment, No. 3. 



AH the clear decanted solutions of experiment 

 No. 2, which vv'ere of a yellow wine colour, were 

 heated gently in a matrass, arul then saturated 

 with caustic anmnonia: a copious and voluminous 

 brown precifiitate issued; which was brought on a 

 filter and perfectly edulcorated with warm distilled 

 water. 



This precipitate (anticipating that it consisted of 

 alumina and oxyd of iron) was boiled in a silver 

 vessel with five hundred grains of potash, and af- 

 terwards gently evaporated to dryness and ex- 

 posed to a moderate red heat, re-dissolved and 

 filtered. The brown residue on the filter copious- 

 ly washed with distilled water, and dried at 170 

 degrees of heat, weighed 134 grains, and proved 

 to be pure oxyd of iron. 



Experiment, No. 4. 

 The alkaline solution of the foregoing experi- 



* These acids, as well as all other re-agents employed 

 in this analysis, were chemically pure. 



ment was saturated minutely with muriatic acid, 

 and a voluminous white precipitate was formed, 

 which proved to be pure alumina; after washing 

 it copiously and drying, it weighed 62 grains. 



Experiment, A^o. 5. 



The remaininn; solution precipitated with nm- 

 monia in ex|'eriment No. 3, was examined fur- 

 ther, antl bv adding oxalate of ammonia, a preci- 

 pitate was fl)rmed, which, after it had been well 

 washed and dried, weighed 14 grains, and showed 

 all the properties oi" oxalate nf lime, which, ni\er 

 destroying the acid by exposure to heat, left 6 

 grains of pure lime, which corresponds exactly 

 with the proportions of this salt given in the che- 

 mical works. 



Experiment, No. 6. 



As it is a known fi^ct that matrnesia forms a tri- 

 ple combination with muriate of ammonia, which 

 cannot be decomposed by potash, unless the 

 ammonia is driven out in a higher temperature, 

 the solution from which the oxalate of lime had 

 been obtained, was mixed with a sufficient quanti- 

 ty of pure potash, heated and finally evaporated 

 to dryness. The dry mass being now deprived of 

 all the ammonia, was re-dissolved, but no precipi- 

 tate made its appearance, even after standing over 

 night: therefore it contained no magnesia. 



Co7iclusion. 



According to tlie foregoing experiments, this 

 green marl is composed of 



277.50 grains of Silex. Experiment No. 2. 



234. " Oxvdoflron. " 3. 



62. " Alumina. " 4. 



6. " Lime. " 5. 



20. " Water. " 1. 



.50 " Loss. 



500 



Analysis of the non-fertilizing green marl from 

 New Jersey, by A. Seidler. 



The external appearance of this mineral is of a 

 dull olive green, granular, or rather consistinij of 

 crummy masses; which, by exposure to a slight 

 red heat, loses its green color, and part of its 

 weight, becominir of a blackish brown. It does 

 not effervesce with acids: belbre the blow pipe it 

 melts, with borax, into a slaggy globule. Specific 

 gravity, 1.566. 



Experiment, No. 1. 



Five hundred iirains of this mineral were heated 

 in a small glass retort, lontj enough to change ils 

 color entirely; a quantity of water was condensed 

 in the tube of the retort and adoj)ter; it lost by 

 this process thirty-one grains, the loss correspond- 

 ing with the evaporation. The remaining 469 

 grains were boiled repeatedly in a long-neck glass 

 matrass, with a mixture of five parts muriatic acid 

 of 15", and one part of nitric acid of 35°, Baume, 

 until its colour had entirely disappeared. The in- 

 soluble white residue, after copious washing with 

 distilled water, and being well dried, weighed 277^ 

 grains. 



