AGRICULTURE WITH CHEMISTRY. 71 



NITKAT OF LIME. 



This saline substance is found in the rubbish of old 

 buildings, and in those materiars from which salt-petre 

 is extraded : viz. animal and vegetable matters, which, 

 with a due proportion of calcareous earth, have under- 

 gone the putrefatftive process, together with a subse- 

 quent, sufiiciently long, exposure to atmospheric air. 

 According to Dr. Home, it is likewise contained in what 

 is commonly called hard v.'ater, which, by his experi- 

 ments, was found to promote the growth of plants in 

 a much higher degree than soft water. 



Nitrat of lime is very soluble, and is deliquescent; it 

 is decomposed by fixed alkalis, and forms therewith 

 nitrat of potash or salt-petre, and nitrat of soda, or cu* 

 bic nitre. 



NITRAT 



