I873-J Peat. 4 6 9 



25 per cent of water. It does not appear to be capable of 

 being dried in air beyond a point at which it will continue 

 to retain about 15 per cent of water ; and even when dried 

 in a stove, it is never reduced beneath 7 or 8 per cent. 



According to Dr. Ure, the calorific power of dry turf is 

 only about half that of coal. This power is, however, 

 immensely diminished in ordinary use by the water which 

 is allowed to remain in its texture, and which the spongy 

 character of its mass renders it very difficult to get rid of. 

 Again, we find it stated, in "Tomlinson's Cyclopaedia/' that 

 7 lbs. of properly dried peat will evaporate the same quantity 

 of water as 6 lbs. of Newcastle coal. No reliance can, how- 

 ever, be placed on any of these statements, so far as they 

 concern the actual value of peat as a fuel, without more 

 detailed information relative to the analysis of the peat 

 used, the mode in which it was prepared, and the analysis 

 of the coal against which it was tried. In the absence of 

 this information, all reports on the relative values of peat 

 and coal are unreliable, except as regards the experiments to 

 which they relate, and worse than worthless for general 

 purposes of comparison, as they are calculated to mislead 

 rather than to give substantial facts that will apply in other 

 cases and in other localities than where such results had 

 been obtained. The fact, which is too often lost sight of by 

 the advocates for the use of peat, is that that fuel varies in 

 its nature and properties to a far greater extent even than 

 coal. In speaking of the value of peat, therefore, care 

 should be taken to define the quality of the substance 

 referred to, in some such a manner as we now refer to coal 

 of different kinds under the names of " anthracite," 

 "steam," "bituminous," " cannel," &c, &c. ; and until 

 this is done, the statistics relative to peat and its perform- 

 ances must possess but a very questionable value. In order 

 to show more clearly what we mean by this observation, we 

 shall give presently some further particulars regarding the 

 analyses of different peats, and the properties varying with 

 its increased age, and its relative position in the peat bog. 

 We shall thus see that great discernment is necessary for 

 the judicious and economical working of a peat bog, as well 

 as in its subsequent preparation as fuel. 



According to Dr. Percy, the specific gravity of peat 

 varies from 0*25 to from o*6 to 0-9, and it varies in its 

 contents of carbon from 32*28 in peat from Cashmere to 

 61*04 in P eat f rom Kilbeggan, in Ireland. The value of 

 peat as fuel will, of course, as a rule, vary according to the 

 amount of carbon it contains, the peat having the highest 

 vol. in. (n.s.) 3 p 



