No. 199.] 105 



These items may form a subject of remark on a future occasion. In 

 conclusionj the committee would remark, that they consider Mr. 

 Townsend entitled to the premium a^varded for field crops 

 All of which is respectfully submitted, 



PETER B. MEAD, 

 R. HALL. 

 October 1, 1849. 



REPORT OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE MANUFACTURE 

 OF SAL^RATUS, BY MESSRS. BROWNE AND LOMBARD, 

 BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



American Institute, JVov. 18, 1849. 

 The committee appointed by the Trustees to examine and report 

 on the manufacture of salaeratus, as it is called, by Browne and Lom- 

 bard of Brooklyn, respectfully report : 



That on the thirteenth of November, inst., they repaired to the 

 manufactory where the work was in full operation. The grinding of 

 the crude soda, in order to render the absorption of carbonic acid more 

 easy, is done by steam power. The powdered ash is then spread in 

 oblong shallow wooden trays, to the depth of about two inches; which 

 trays^e placed in air-tight vaulted brick chambers, of the dimensions 

 of about twelve feet by eight feet. Into each of these chambers, (of 

 which there are ten,) in this factory, (eight being in operation during 

 our visit,) two pipes enter ; one from a furnace burning anthracite 

 coal in a passage out side of the vault, the carbonic acid arising 

 from the combustion of which, is thus thrown into the vault in large 

 quantity ; the other is a steam pipe led off from the boiler of the steam 

 engine, used for grinding as above stated. The trays are laid in the 

 vault, one above the other, being kept about three inches apart by 

 slips of wood, and the whole chamber so filled as to allow only a 

 central passage for workmen. When the chambers are thus filled, 

 the furnaces are lighted and the steam pipes turned on. The cham- 

 bers become gradually filled with steam and carbonic acid, no exit 

 being allowed, the vault being air tight. With the assistance of the 

 steam, the alkali takes up an additional quantity of carbonic acid, and 



