THE SOURCE OF LIGHT, HEAT, COLOUR, ETC. 



155 



of products was given as the result of tliis Company's operations on 

 775 tons of peat : viz. — 



Ammonia ... - 1 ton, 4 cwt., 1 qr. 



Naphtha 77| gallons. 



Lubricating oils - - - 1,1 62^ „ 



Paraffine 2,325 lbs. 



Peat charcoal ... 



Mr Newton also mentioned the purchase of the Company's plant, by a 

 private individual, who proposed carrying on the manufacture, and it would 

 be interesting to know if this Irish industry has really survived. 



Two principal products attend upon the distillation of peat. 1st, a 

 watery liquor, in which are found the ammonia, carbonic acid, acetic acid, 

 &c. ; and, 2nd, the tar which contains the naphtha, oils, and paraffine — the 

 residuum being peat-charcoal. The various products obtainable from peat, 

 may be enumerated thus : inflammable gas, sulphate of ammonia, acetic 

 acid, pyroxylic spirit, light and heavy oils, solid paraffine, humic acid, or 

 peat umber, &c, &c. The following table will show the general composi- 

 tion of this valuable hydro-carbon : 





Carbon. Hydrogen. 



1 



Oxygen. 



Nitrogen. 



Ashes. 



Fichtelgeberge 

 Abbeville - 

 Friesland - 

 Holland - 



66-55 

 57-03 

 57-16 

 50-85 



10-39 

 563 

 5-65 

 4-64 



18-59 

 29-67 

 33-39 

 30-25 



2-76 

 2-09 



1-70 



5-58 



3-80 



14-25 



Bituminous Shales. 



Besides the true coals and peats, there exists in nature other supplies of 

 the fossil hydro-carbons, termed bituminous shales, &c., being porous rocks, 

 or strata, saturated with bituminous matter ; but I observe a very nice and 

 proper distinction made by Mr T. Sterry Hunt, of Canada, in a recent 

 publication, between those rocks which contain true bitumen, and those 

 which are simply intermixed with carbonised organic matter, allied to 

 peats or coals. Mr Hunt proposes that the former be called bituminous 

 shales — as of old — and the latter, lignitic shales. 



Several of these hydro-carbon shales are largely distilled in America 

 and on the continent, more especially in Germany, for their volatile 

 products. Burning oils, lubricating oils, and solid paraffine, are the 

 results, all of which, in moderate quantities, find their way to this country, 

 and to all appearance are quite equal to our own English manufacture. 



Bitumens. 



Bitumens form another most interesting group of fossil hydro-carbons, 



and they are causing no small stir, both in scientific and commercial 



circles. They are not, like coals and peats, primary deposits, but are the 



result of a spontaneous decomposition of those substances, or are distilled 



