184].] On the Salts, called Packwah and PhooL-Kharee. 947 



produced in waste places, or on old walls, &c. the proportion of 

 Puckwah to fine Saltpetre was I raaund 16 seers to 14 maunds, or 

 exactly 10 per cent. The proportion in earths collected as the Noo- 

 neas, (native Saltpetre-makers,) find them, was 7 seers of Puckwah to 

 22 of Saltpetre, or about 30 per cent, from the mother liquor only, after 

 the making of the Saltpetre. From the whole result [p. 86] the pro- 

 portion of Puckwah to Saltpetre was 17 seers to k^^ seers, or about 33 

 per cent.* 



10. I have not been able to 'meet with Dr. John Davy's experiments 

 on the factory earths, or with Tennant's work, — -if he had any thing on 

 the subject ? To Colebrooke I shall refer subsequently. 



1 1. Resuming all these, we find, I think, that there is evidence enough 

 to shew, that if as much Puckwah as Saltpetre be not produced, there 

 must at any rate be a large per centage, and I think it cannot be 

 below 30 per cent, for we find that Mr. Stephenson, doing liis best, 

 and under the most favorable circumstances — he did not want to pro- 

 duce Puckwah but Saltpetre — could not avoid obtaining 10 per cent, 

 from factory earth of the best quality for Nitre, and 30 per cent, from 

 others. Taking it, however, at only 25 per cent, in all the earths, of 

 which as we have seen [page 7 ] 10 per cent, certainly exists, for 

 it goes with the Dooah Saltpetre when sold to the refiner ; we have 

 still altogether 25 per cent, of Culinary Salt produced for every 

 maund of good Saltpetre. I shall notice subsequently other sources 

 of it. 



12. We must now endeavour to ascertain the total amount of good 

 Saltpetre manufactured in Bengal. 



13. The total export of Culmee Saltpetre from Calcutta in 1840, 

 was 4,86,000 maunds, and it has in recent years been as high as 

 5,14,000 maunds; for the sake of round numbers we may call the 

 exports 1 think, 5,00,000 maunds. 



14. We have next to estimate the internal consumption of Saltpetre 

 for nearly all India, for it can but in few places be made so cheap as 

 in Bengal. 



• 

 * Again in Journal Asiatic Society, vol. ii. p. 23, he says, that an analysis from 

 several hundred maunds of Native Dooah gave 8 per cent. Culinary Salt, (Muriate,) 

 &c. to 77 Nitre. The proportion 8 to 77 is about 19| per cent. How much had been 

 already extracted from it ? 



6 ^: 



