Phosphates and Nitrogen 



phosphate of lime. This combination of burnt 

 phosphorus and lime forms the greater part 

 of the mineral substance of bones. If we 

 put a bone on the fire the grease and juices 

 with which it is saturated will burn, and 

 the bone will remain light, friable, and 

 perfectly white. This bone which has been 

 burnt in the fire consists almost entirely of 

 phosphate of lime. Containing the most 

 inflammable of substances— phosphorus— it 

 is itself absolutely uninflammable ; while 

 partly composed of a deadly poison, it is 

 perfectly harmless ; and while holding in 

 combination matter with a horribly sharp 

 taste, it is itself quite tasteless. It is in this 

 combination, as an inoffensive phosphate, 

 that phosphorus exists in meat, milk, the 

 grain of cereals, flour and bread. 



A cow will provide about fifteen gallons 

 of milk in a week, containing one pound of 

 phosphate. This phosphate comes from the 

 hay, which derived it from the ground. But 

 as the ground only holds a moderate quantity, 

 of which it is constantly deprived by the hay, 

 in time it will be exhausted, and the milk will 

 become less plentiful and inferior. Two and 

 a half pounds of bones (which contain about 

 the same amount of phosphate as the fifteen 



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