12 DR. NICHOLS' ADDRESS. 



sive to taste and smell, and withal so poisonous, enters the plant in 

 'combination with oxygen, which combination forms phosphoric acid, 

 ^he entire supply of phosphorus employed in the arts, comes from 

 .'plants, and they hunt it from the soil, atom by atom, and incorporate 

 'it into their structures. Animals feeding upon plants abstract the ele- 

 ment and it takes its place in the bones, in combination with lime, 

 forming basic phosphate of lime. We gather the bones of the dead 

 animals and, after calcination, subject them to chemical treatment, and 

 thus isolate the phosphorus in a pure state, in large quantities. How 

 curious is the cycle of changes and transformations, and we can in no 

 way obtain i\ clearer conception of them than by reflection upon the 

 fact that the phosphorus found upon the end of every friction match 

 we use in our dwellings, has been gathered from the soil by vegeta- 

 'bles, and passing through their organization, it has taken its place in 

 the bones of oxen, cows or horses, and from thence passed into the 

 laboratory of the chemisfc, where it is fitted to subserve the most useful 

 purposes. If this substance had a tongue v>'hat an interesting history 

 of its adventures it could unfold. 



The amount of phosphorus, or phosphoric acid, in the soil, is usually 

 insufficient to meet the wants of the plant, and hence, the farmer must 

 furnish supplies if he wishes to increase his crops. Formerly there 

 were but two sources of supply, that from manure, or animal excre- 

 ment, and that from the bones of animals, but now we have a third 

 source in the mineral coprolites or phosphoric deposits found upon the 

 coast of South Carolina. From these substances what are popularly 

 ■KRown as superphosphates are made and sold largely in the market. 

 The siiperphosphate of lime, true and simple, as known to science, is a 

 rather whitish gray powder without odor, having an acid taste. It is 

 "mado from bones by first calcining them and then dissolving the pow- 

 der in oil of vitriol. In this method of manipulation we remove from 

 hone phosphate cf lime two equivalents of lime and replace them with 

 water, and thus we have a superphosphate of lime. By a similar 

 manipulation we can prepare superphosphate from the mineral rock 

 iliasses before spoken of. The* phosphatic deposits from Charleston 

 ^3ontc\iii from 30 to GO per cent, of phosphate of lime, and when pow- 

 '^krod and properly treated with acid, they serve nearly as good pur- 

 pose as bones, as a source of phosphoric acid. But if the powder is 

 unacted upon by acid it is almost wholly inert as a fertilizing agent. 

 In this we see the importance of the faithful and skillful treatment of 

 the substances by phosphate makers. Finely powdered bones serve a 

 good purpose in the soil when used in the raw condition, as their struc- 

 ture is different from the coprolites. The gelatine they contain pro- 

 motes decomposition and aids in rendering the bony structure 

 assimilable. 



I have said so much in public addresses and through the press, upon 

 superphosphates, that I ought not to dwell upon the subject here, but 

 I must be permitted to say that the persistent exposure of frauds, and 

 the explanation of the true nature of the article, has had the effect to 

 improve the character of the couimcrcial phosphates very decidedly, 



