FACTS AND OPINIONS ON LIME. 19 



It has been ascertained, from a series of experiments 

 carefully made in England, by Bishop Watson — and it 

 is presumed that they will apply equally well in this 

 country — that, upon an average, every ton, of 2240 

 pounds, of good limestone produced 1292 pounds of 

 quick lime, weighed before it was cold ; and that, when 

 it was exposed to the air, it increased in weight daily, 

 at the rate of a hundred weight per ton, for the first 

 five or six days after it was drawn from the kiln. 



A ton of fresh well-burnt lime will absorb 680 

 pounds, or nearly one third its weight of water, with- 

 out being slacked ; and a bushel of good stone lime, 

 when slacked, win measure two bushels; of course, 

 slacked lime should sell for one half the price per 

 bushel of stone lime. 



There is a great difference in the value of lime, de- 

 pending on the purity of the stone out of which it was 

 burnt. Some lime contains one fourth or more of 

 sand ; and often other impurities enter into its compo- 

 sition, which materially lessen its value. Masons and 

 bricklayers are among the best judges of lime, for they 

 know that the purer it is, the better it works, and 

 the more sand may be mixed with it. Some lime is 

 so poor, or contains so m.uch foreign matter in its com- 

 position, as not to admit of any or only of a very 

 small quantity of sand being added to it in making 

 mortar. The lime that is most profitable for making 

 mortar is also most valuable for agricultural purposes. 

 The purer lime is, the more water it takes in, and the 

 longer it is in slacking, and it increases more, both in 

 weight and measure by the process of being slacked, 

 than poor or impure lime does. 



Water dissolves the alkaline ingredient of lime, and 

 it has been ascertained that at the freezing point 

 it dissolves double the quantity that boiling water 

 does, differing in this respect, perhaps, from all other 

 bodies. 



Lime-water, or the alkaline solution of lime,. is per- 



