192 Bibliography. 



9. A Muck Manual for Farmers ; by Samuel L. Dana. Lowell, 

 Daniel Bixby, 1842 : pp. 216. (Communicated.) 



Dr. Dana has long been known as one of our most accurate and 

 learned chemists ; and his professional duties, as connected with the 

 large calico printing establishment at Lowell, have led him to make 

 many careful experiments upon subjects bearing directly upon agricul- 

 tural chemistry. He has written this work, therefore, in the full matu- 

 rity of experience and judgment. His statements and reasonings are 

 not those of a novice, but we see at once that he has looked at every 

 point again and again, and that he gives us the final conclusions of long 

 and patient examination. It is well known that on many points the 

 theory of this science is not fully settled. The author, however, shows, 

 (and this we regard as a most valuable part of his labors,) that these 

 different views are of very little practical importance. His own pecu- 

 liar opinions he states with great frankness, and merely gives a summary 

 of arguments on which he founds his conclusions, with scarcely any 

 personal allusion to those of different views. 



The condensation of matter in this volume is one of its marked fea- 

 tures. The amount of facts and reasonings brought into so small a 

 compass is truly astonishing. We think it is sometimes carried to an 

 extreme ; that is, it produces obscurity. It is truly a book of aphorisms. 

 There is so much of generalization, indeed, that we suspect the author 

 will sometimes be misunderstood. It would not be strange if this very 

 notice should furnish some examples. 



The present work is a very original one. The author's views, gen- 

 erally, do indeed correspond with those of the most distinguished 

 chemists. But he has his own method of stating, proving, and correct- 

 ing them ; and we have been agreeably surprised to see how straight 

 and luminous a path he has cut through the entangled vines and brush- 

 wood of this subject. A brief account of his arrangement and ele- 

 mentary principles, will give our readers some idea of his manner and 

 matter. 



The whole work is divided into eight chapters. 1. The Geology of 

 Soil. 2. The Chemistry of Soil. 3. Properties and Chemical Action 

 of the Elements of Soil. 4. Of the Organic Constituents of Soil, with 

 an Appendix, containing the History of Geine. 5. Of the Mutual 

 Action of the Organic and Inorganic Elements of Soil, 6. Manures. 

 7. Artificial Manures and Irrigation. 8. Physical Properties of Soils. 

 In the first five chapters he announces, defends and illustrates ten fun- 

 damental principles, which constitute the essence of agricultural chem- 

 istry. These we shall copy, with a few remarks upon some of them. 



The first principle is, " that there is one rock, consequenthj one soiV 

 It is true, that the later rocks contain from 4 to 7 per cent, of lime and 



