320 



JoJmson^s Use of crushed Bones as Manure. 



2. The cartilage of bones is composed of a substance nearly 

 identical in all its properties with solid albumen. 



One hundred parts of albumen are composed of 

 Parts. 



Azote 



Carbon 



. 



- 52-888 



Oxygen 



- 



- 23-872 



Hydrogen 



- 



- 7-540 



Parts. 

 15-705 



100- 



It is perfectly needless to specify any vegetable substances into which the 

 three fir^t of these enter ; for the vegetable world is almost entirely composed 

 of them, and occasionally, though rarely, a portion of azote is also found in 

 vegetable substances, but the three first are invariably present. The flour of 

 wheat, the poison of the deadly nightshade, the oxalic acid of the wild sorrel, 

 the narcotic milk of the lettuce, the stinking odour of the garlic, and the per- 

 fume of the violet, are, by the contrivance of their Divine Architect, only some 

 of the results of the combination in different proportions of carbon, oxygen, 

 and hydrogen. 



But the chief constituent present in all bones, we have already seen, is the 

 phosphate of lime ; and how absolutely necessary this substance is for the 

 healthy vegetation of plants, will be apparent from the following table, which 

 contains the results of the examination by MM. Saussure and Vauquelin, 

 and a few other distinguished chemists, of the ashes, or solid contents, of a 

 number of vegetable substances. 



One hundred parts of the ashes of the 



Grain of the oat yielded of 



phosphate of lime - 

 Straw of wheat, phosphates 



of lime and magnesia 

 Seeds of wheat - 

 Bran of wheat 

 Seeds of vetches 

 Seeds of golden rod (Soli- 

 dago Virgaurea) - 

 Plants of turnsole (Helian- 



thus annuus) 

 Chaff of barley - 

 Seeds of barley 

 Seeds of oat - - 



Phosphate of lime has also been found in the common bean ( Hcia i^aba), and 

 in the pea pod, or husk, by Einhof; in rice, by Braconnot; in the Scotch fir, 

 by Dr. John ; in the quinquina of St. Domingo, by Fourcroy ; in the fuci, by 

 Gaultier de Claubery ; and in many others. In fact, as Dr. Thomson remarks. 

 System of Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 319., "phosphate of lime is a constant ingre- 

 dient in plants." 



The cultivator of the soil will not be incredulous as to the power of vege- 

 tables to dissolve and feed upon the hard substance of the crushed bones of 

 animals, when he is reminded that the ashes of the straw of wheat are com- 

 posed of 61i per cent of silica (flint), a still harder substance than the hardest 

 bone. And this is not a solitary instance j for the same earth abounds in a 

 still greater proportion in the straw of other grain. Vauquelin found 60f per 

 cent of it in the ashes of the seeds of the oat ; and the Dutch rush (i'quise- 

 tum hyemale) contains it in such abundance, that it is employed by the turner 

 to polish wood, and even brass. (See Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. v. p. 178.) 



3. The returns received by the Doncaster Association es- 

 tablished the efficacy of bones as manure, more especially on 



Parts. 





Parts. 





Leaves of oak 



- 24- 



39-3 



Wood of oak 



- 4-5 





Bark of oak - 



- 4-5 



6-2 



Leaves of poplar 



- 13- 



44-5 



Wood of ditto - 



- 16-75 



46-5 



Leaves of hazel 



- 23-3 



27-92 



Wood of hazel - 



- 35- 





Bark of hazel 



- 5-5 



11- 



Wood of mulberry - 



- 2-25 





Bark of mulberry - 



- 8-5 



22-5 



Wood of hornbeam 



- 23- 



7-75 



Bark of hornbeam - 



- 4-6 



42-5 



Seeds of peas - 



- 17-5 



24- 



Bulbs of garlic 



- 8-9 



