306 DR. ANGUS SMITH ON PEAT. 



the bitumen, and that the bitumen is necessary for preser- 

 ving the vegetable matter of the peat. In some parts of 

 this moor are mineral wells, which bubble up very strongly 

 and contain a great deal of gas. They contain also a good 

 deal of Glauber salt, which is found around them in efflo- 

 rescence in warm weather. The stems and roots of pines 

 or birches found in the peat are of a very dark colour, red 

 and sound in the centre, and are used for fuel." 



In Erdmann and Marchand's ' J. fur prakt. Chemie' for 

 1839, m a communication from M. Reinsch on the peat of 

 the Fichtelgebirge, the value of wood and peat are com- 

 pared. When a klafter of wood is worth 6 florins, a klaf- 

 ter of surface-peat (Rasentorf) is worth 4 florins and 13 

 kreutzers (4*2 florins), and of hard peat (Pechtorf) 7 florins 

 (6 florins 55 kr., properly; but 60 kreutzers are a florin). 

 At the time when this was written the two qualities of peat 

 were selling at the same price, namely a florin and a half. 

 Peat was in reality much cheaper than coal. These prices 

 have ceased in Germany ; but the relative value of the heat- 

 producers must remain the same. 



Petzholdt, in the same year (Erd. J. ii. 1839, P- 2> l A)> 

 says that peat-formation is more active in warm weather, 

 and that the proportion of carbon is constantly increasing 

 until there appears to be nothing but carbon. He adds 

 also that, although the formation is rapid at present, some 

 peat-bogs must be 2000 years old, judging by the substances 

 or articles found in them. The escape of marsh-gas and 

 carbonic acid he especially mentions as constant. 



Several works or brochures have appeared of late years 

 in Germany on peat. We have a useful history by Dr. 

 Theodor Bromeis, Berlin, 1859, ( Die neuesten Metho- 

 den der Aufbereitung und Verdichtung des Torfs/ It 

 gives the development of the pressure-system, wet and dry, 

 of the mixture of peat with tar, and the machinery and 

 arrangements used in various establishments in France, 



