184I.]> On the Salts, called Puckwah and Phool-Kharee. 945 



IV. — Estimate of the quantity of Puckwah produced annually. 



The Report to the Board estimates the annual produce of Puckwah 

 at 1^ lac of maunds. I presume this is a mere conjectural estimate, 

 at least I have not learnt on what it is founded. The following data 

 and estimate appear to me to have good chemical foundation. 



1. Mr. Stephenson [Treatise on the manufacture of Saltpetre, and 

 papers in Journal of Asiatic Society] says, that the average of Muriate 

 Soda obtained by him from 20,000 maunds oi Dooah* or crude Saltpetre 

 from Loll Gunge in Tirhoot at the Company's factories, which he 

 superintended, were as follows : — 



Average per cent, of Muriate of Soda from good Dooah, ... 4.2 

 From />ooa/^ of native factories, 3.7 



7.9 



Mean, 3.95 



and that only about 35 per cent, of this Dooah is Saltpetre. Hence 

 we shall not, I think, exaggerate, if we say according to his results, 

 (Pamphlet, page 47,) that in the average of factories, 2 maunds of 

 Dooah (35 per cent, would require nearly 3 maunds) go to the produc- 

 tion of one of Saltpetre. In round numbers we may also say, that as 

 the average of good Dooah gives about 4 per cent, of Muriate of 

 Soda,f there will be about 8 per cent, of it produced for every 

 maund of good Saltpetre. But then, as we have seen by our analysis, 

 there are but J (75 per cent.) of pure Muriate of Soda in Puckwah, 

 we must add the other fourth, or 2 per cent, to our 8 per cent, of Muriate 

 of Soda to make it Puckwah. This gives 10 per cent, of Puckwah for 

 100 maunds of good merchantable Saltpetre. 



2. But the preparation of the Dooah itself produces a large propor- 

 tion of Puckwah, as I shall now shew. 



3. Dr. Buchanan distinctly says, (Martin's Buchanan, vol. i. Behar, 

 p. 363 and 364,) when describing the manufacture of Dooah, that he 

 is assured that as much Muriate of Soda as Nitre is obtained by the 

 workmen, and he gives at p. 364 and 365, the details of the manu- 



* Dooah is in fact the first washings from the Saltpetre heaps or earths, boiled 

 down and sold to refiners of Saltpetre, Natives or Europeans, who make it into 

 marketable Saltpetre: all Saltpetre works must first produce Dooah. 

 f He speaks of some containing 8 per cent. 



