THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Feb. 1, 1865. 



334 THE NITRE BEDS OF ECUADOR. 



some Bessemer may touch a secret spring in Nature, that may reveal a 

 simple law, which shall cause the present circuitous method to be entirely 

 abandoned. 



One practical observation, in conclusion, may be permitted. The 

 consumers of tin have often to contend with an inconvenience, if not a 

 loss, in the accumulation of dross — it is an oxide of tin. Let him ob- 

 tain some of the waste which is saturated with oil, after having been 

 used for wiping engines, &c, and put it into his kettle with the dross, 

 over a brisk fire, stirring it well ; he will find the carbon and oxygen 

 will unite, and the tin will be sweated out from the dross. 



The Nitre Beds op Ecuador. — M. Boussingault has communicated 

 to the Academy of Sciences a paper on the nitre beds of Tacunga, in the 

 state of Ecuador. Nitre, or saltpetre, is a substance formed by nature 

 in astonishing abundance ; it is to be met with in rain, snow, hail, and 

 fogs ; in the water of rivers, and consequently also in the ocean. It is 

 produced in the air and in various soils ; but though found everywhere, 

 it is seldom found in large quantities ; the only spot on the globe where 

 it is met with in this shape is Zarapaca, in Peru. Elsewhere this salt 

 makes its appearance spontaneously, producing efflorescences on the 

 surface not unlike vegetation. One day the soil is black and damp ; the 

 next is white and crumbles into dust. The saltpetre is collected by 

 sweeping the surface, and if the weather continues fine, a new crop soon 

 appears. It is thus they get it on the banks of the Ganges after an in- 

 undation ; in Spain they obtain it by lixiviating vegetable mould, which 

 may, therefore, serve the double purpose of a profitable nitre-bed or a 

 rich corn-field. Tacunga is a town situated 59 minutes S. lat. and 80 

 deg. 10 min. W. long, from Paris ; it was built in 1524 on the site of an 

 Indian city ; its altitude is 2,S60 metres, its mean temperature 15 deg. 

 Centigrade. It lies between two rivers, the Alaque and the Cutushee, 

 and at the base of the Cotopaxi. Its soil rests on a bed ot trachyte and 

 volcanic tufa, and consists of fine sand containing particles of trachyte 

 and pumice-stone. The saltpetre effloresces on its surface, and is col- 

 lected as above described. A kilogramme of dry earth here produces 

 18 per cent, of nitre, independently of nearly 2^ per cent, of nitrogen 

 combined with organic substances. Efflorescence of saltpetre denotes 

 an extremely fertile soil ; indeed, M. Boussingault considers fertility and 

 nitrification to be intimately connected ; the latter, however, depends 

 in a great measure upon certain atmospherical conditions ; thus, dry 

 weather favours it ; but damp, and especially rain, will dissolve and 

 wash away the nitre already formed. 



