268 



CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF ' MOORLOG.'* 



T. LENTON ELLIOTT. 



This substance is a Peat Deposit, dredged from the Dogger 

 Bank. It is blackish-brown in colour, similar to old moorland 

 peat, but rather denser and more pulverulent than that variety. 

 The sample was easily reduced to a coarse powder in a mortar. 



Solubility :• — 14.4 per cent, of the powdered sample was soluble 

 in hot water, and the solution gave a neutral re-action, showing 

 absence of ' humic acids.' The matter dissolved was chiefly 

 non-nitrogenous organic matter ; more than one-fifth of the 

 matter dissolved was sodium chloride (common salt) and the 

 solution gave reactions for Iron, Alumina, Calcium (Lime), and 

 Sulphates. 



This examination is by no means exhaustive, but serves 

 to demonstrate the general composition of the substance. 



The percentage of ash (residue after ignition at high tempera- 

 ture), of ordinary ' peats ' varies from one per cent, to forty 

 per cent. 



Carbonic acid is never found in any quantity in peat-ash, 

 on account of the high temperature necessary to completely 

 burn it ; it is driven off when present. 



The neutral re-action of the aqueous extract shows the 

 absence of alkaline carbonates. 



The percentage of Lime (CaO) i generally about double the 

 amount of the oxide of iron (Fe., O3) in ordinary peats. In 

 the present report, this usual relationship is disturbed, the 

 iron-oxide being about four times the quantity of the lime. 



German moor peat has always a higher percentage of ash 

 than Irish bog peat, and while the present figures are unlike 

 any recorded analyses at my disposal, they bear some slight 

 relationship to German moorland deposits. Generally speaking, 

 the German deposits are of an older formation than the Irish. 



General Analysis 



Per Cent. 

 Moisture (lost at ioo°-iio° Cent) . . . . 22.0 



fAsh (Mineral Matter) 24.8 



Sodium Chloride (calculated from total Cl) 4.1 



fOrganic Matter (by difference) . . . . 49.1 



loc.o 



* See J. W. Statherin The Naturalist for May, p. 138. 

 f Contains Nitrogen — i4'o per cent, (not confirmed). 



Naturalist, 



