302 DR. ANGUS SMITH ON PEAT. 



manibus lutum ventis magis quam sole siccantes, terra ci- 

 bos, et rigentia septentrione viscera sua urunt/') 



It has sometimes been proposed to throw the sewage of 

 towns on to peat-bogs, and so procure disinfection. How 

 this would suit has not been tried ; it is extremely probable 

 that the richer manures (that is, those much richer in nitro- 

 gen and phosphates than the peat has been accustomed to) 

 would cause the growth of the mosses which constitute the 

 material of most of the bogs of which I speak to cease, and 

 bring out grasses or other substances more fitted for the 

 feeding of cattle. Alkaline manures would probably suit 

 best. This would be no misfortune in itself ; but it would 

 at least put an end to the plan begun, namely the disin- 

 fection by the peaty matter, after a time. 



The manuring of peat-bogs by sewage so as to grow peat 

 would not be hopeful, as we cannot look for any crop so ex- 

 travagant as to make such agriculture valuable ; but the 

 humble Sphagnum would probably be well pleased to have 

 the poorer food which comes as drainage from land already 

 manured either by sewage or other manures. At present 

 the peat does very well with the washings of rocks most 

 disinclined to dissolve or to disintegrate. I can give no 

 opinion on the best mode of manuring the mosses so as 

 to cause the increased growth of the same plants, further 

 than said; but I quite expect that trials would find some 

 fit substance, probably earthy manures with little of phos- 

 phates. 



Achard (CrelTs J. 1786, p. 391), by some experiments, 

 very imperfect however, wished to prove that the three 

 layers of peat which he observed at Hertefeld, a village in 

 the district of Konigshorst, some 25 miles from Berlin, were 

 alike in quality fundamentally, but differed in the relative 

 quantity of some of their component parts. He does not 

 seem to have noticed resins or wax. In Ireland, as 

 Mr. Moir Crane tells me, three layers are prominent at 



