314 
On  the  Power  of  Soils  to  absorb  Manure. 
at  the  present  time,  leaving  it  to  a later  part  of  the  paper  to  show 
its  practical  bearing  upon  the  question  of  manuring  and  other 
agricultural  operations. 
We  shall  have  occasion  to  describe  presently  other  experiments 
made  with  the  solution  of  free  ammonia  and  different  soils.  In 
order,  however,  that  the  reader  may  follow  as  closely  as  possible 
the  steps  of  the  operator— seeing  the  object  to  which  his  experi- 
ments were  directed,  understanding  his  difficulties,  and  appre- 
ciating the  means  by  which  the  results  were  successively  developed 
— we  shall  now  relate  the  experiments  which  were  made  with  one 
of  the  salts  of  ammonia,  instead  of  the  free  alkali  itself. 
Muriate  of  ammonia  was  chosen  for  this  purpose,  and  in  order 
that  the  trials  might  bear  some  comparison  with  those  before 
described,  the  strength  of  the  liquid  was  so  regulated  that  the 
quantity  of  ammonia  might  be  somewhat  about  '3  per  cent. 
Pure  sal-ammoniac  was  dissolved  in  about  100  times  its  weight 
of  water,  a large  stock  of  the  liquid  being  prepared  for  use  ; 
the  following  analyses  show  its  actual  strength : — 
1st  Distillation  of  Standard  Solution  of  Muriate  of  Ammonia — 
Grains. 
119-21 
gave 
Platinum  Salt. 
4- Cl  = 
Ammonia. 
•35146 
or 
Per  Cent. 
•2918 
2nd  Distillation — • 
185-91 
gave 
7-31  = 
•5573 
or 
•2997 
3rd  Distillation — 
227-61 
gave 
9-21  = 
•70445 
or 
•3095 
4th  Distillation — 
165’ 72 
gave 
6-70  = 
•5108 
or 
•3088 
1st  Experiment  . . . ’29-18  per  Cent. 
2nd  ,,  ...  ’2997  ,, 
3rd  ,,  ...  ’3095  ,, 
4th  ' ...  -3088  ,, 
The  first  of  these  determinations  is  evidently  below  the  truth; 
and  as  the  other  three  agree  as  closely  as  could  be  expected,  it 
will  be  safe  to  take  the  mean  of  these  results  as  the  true  pro- 
portion : — 
The  standard  solution  of  muriate  of  ammonia  contains,  there- 
fore, ’3060  per  cent,  of  ammonia. 
The  first  experiment  was  with  Mr.  Huxtable’s  soil  ; and,  in 
order  to  make  it  compare  with  those  in  which  the  free  ammonia 
was  employed,  similar  quantities  of  the  soil  and  solution  were 
taken  : — 
Experiment  67. — Mr.  Huxtable’s  light  soil,  and  standard  solution  of 
muriate  of  ammonia — 
So!lUHOn  3594  Sraim}  DiSes,ed  for  two  ll0urs’ 
1st  Distillation  of  the  resulting  Liquid — 
Grains.  Platinum  Salt.  Ammonia.  1 Per  Cent. 
82*83  gave  5*95  = *4536  or  *2481 
