EXPLANATION OF ITS ACTION. ' 185 



sal-ammoniac and carbonate of lime. A solution of 

 bones in muriatic acid placed on land in autumn or 

 in winter would, therefore, not only restore a neces- 

 sary constituent of the soil, and attract moisture to 

 it, but would also give it the power to retain all the 

 ammonia which fell upon it dissolved in the rain 

 during the period of six months.* 



The ashes of brown coalf and peat often contain 

 silicate of potash,J so that it is evident, that these 



* Immense quantities of bran are used in all print- works, for the 

 purpose of clearing printed goods. After having served this purpose, 

 it is thrown away. But the insoluble part of bran contains much 

 phosphates of magnesia and soda; it would therefore be useful to pre- 

 serve it as a manure. This has been done for some years in a farm 

 with which I am connected, and its value as a manure has been found 

 so great that it is much preferred to cow-dung. In some works this 

 waste bran is heaped up into little hillocks, which might be disposed 

 of as a manure, instead of being an annoyance on account of the space 

 which it occupies. — Ed. 



t Brown coal. Braunkohle, Lignite has the structure and appearance 

 of carbonized wood. It occurs abundantly in Germany ; in Hessia it 

 forms beds 20 to 40 feet thick, and several square miles in extent. 

 Fibrous and compact varieties occur near Bovey Tracey in England, 

 where it is called Bovey coal. Small quantities are found at Gay Head, 

 Massachusetts. 



t The following is the result of an analysis by Dr. C. T. Jackson, 

 of peat from Lexington, Massachusetts. 100 grains, dried at 300° F. 

 weighed 74 grains, loss 26 grains, water. Burned in a platina crucible 

 it left 50 ashes. The ashes yielded 



Silex, . 10 



Alumina, iron, and manganese, . . . 0*6' 



Phosphate of lime, . . . ... . 3*0 



Potash, traces. — • 



4-6 

 Peat from Watertown, Massachusetts, yielded 4*5 grains of ashes, 

 which gave by analysis 



Silex, ........ V'S 



Alumina, oxide of iron, and manganese, . .15 

 Phosphate of lime, 1'7 



4-5 



The vegetable matter amounted to 955 per cent., consisting of veg- 

 etable fibre, and apocrenicand crenic acids, in part combined with the 

 bases obtained from its ashes. See Report on Rhode Island, p. 233. 



Swamp muck contains the same ingredients as peat, but the vegetable 

 matters are more finely divided, more soluble, and there is generally a 

 larger proportion of earthy matters. It is formed of the fine particles 

 of humus, washed out from the upland soils, and of the dead and 

 decomposed leaves and roots of swamp plants. 



The pulpy matter of both peat and swamp muck consists chiefly of 

 the apocrenic acid, in part combined with the earthy bases, and me- 

 tallic oxides. The crenic acid is frequently united with lime and man- 



16* 



