^58 



than almost any other in the kingdom from the compounds 

 of this mineral, and hence its extreme and unusual soft- 

 ness — all water containing calcareous matter being hard.* 

 Waters which hold in solution a considerable quantity of 

 the compounds of Lime, are eminently adapted for irriga- 

 tion, as by running over the grass, and exposure to the 

 air, by which they lose part of the carbonic acid, they 

 deposit a large portion of the calcareous matter which 

 they previously contained in a state of solution, and which 

 is extremely fertilizing : indeed, I believe it is an ascer- 

 tained fact, that none of the neutral salts of Lime, hitherto 

 discovered, are otherwise than fertilizing. I said that Lime- 

 stone is found in England in both the primary, secondary, 

 and tertiary rocks ; but by far the greatest and most 

 important supply is derived from the secondary strata ; 

 first from the chalk, then the oolitic series, next from 

 what is called the Magnesian Limestone, and then from 

 the mountain or Carboniferous Limestone. I have been 

 able to obtain analyses of only three of these, namely, 

 the Chalk, the Magnesian, and the Mountain Limestone, 

 which I will proceed to detail ; but I must, at the same 

 time, acknowledge the source whence I derived them, 

 which was from the report of a paper read before one 

 of the sections of the British Association at York, by 

 my friend, Mr. W. Lucas, of Sheffield. 



Analysis of the Yorkshire Wold Chalk. 



Carbonic Acid 43.00 | Carbonate of Lime ... 98.42 



Lime 55.42 / Insoluble Matter 1.10 



Loss 0.48 



100.00 



* Here some of the Halifax water was tested with oxalate of ammonia, and 

 not the slightest presence of Lime was detected. 



I 



