CHAPTER IV 



PEAT AND ITS USES 



Early investigations of the Royal Society Continuity of mental 

 processes Reality of material progress Diamonds and 

 peat: an analogy Conditions of peat deposition Its con- 

 stitution Variations in composition Mineral and organic 

 residues Peat formation Peat, lignite, and coal Extent 

 of peat deposits Uses of peat Fuel Power Chemical 

 products Paper Artificial wood mattresses Surgical 

 dressings Litter Dr. Dachnowski's views Objections to 

 peat as manure Experiments with peat-moss litter at 

 Kew Gardens Deleterious effects Dr. Voelcker's explana- 

 tion Contrast with humogen. 



IF those who affect to consider that there has been 

 no advance in the world's knowledge during the last 

 quarter millennium would study the early history of 

 the Royal Society, founded a little more than 250 

 years ago, they would be amazed chiefly by two 

 points. The first would be the completeness with 

 which the founders and early Fellows of the Society 

 adopted the methods of observation and experiment, 

 reasoning according to completely modern methods 

 of thought, and the second the appalling extent of 

 ignorance that prevailed among those who were the 

 best instructed and most enlightened of their time. 

 Men steeped in literary lines of thought are fre- 

 quently pleased to quote with smug expressions of 



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