350 
On  the  Power  of  Soils  to  absorb  Manure. 
2nd  Distillation — 
194*04  gave  G • 5 1 
1st  Experiment  . 
2nd  , , . 
•49577  or 
•2571  grains. 
*2555  ,, 
■2555 
Mean  . • . 
100  grains  of  the  original  Liquid  contained 
100  grains  of  the  resulting  Liquid  contained 
Loss  by  100  grains  . 
*2563 
•3173  Ammonia. 
•2563 
•0610 
The  whole  quantity  of  liquid  (4000  grains)  will  therefore  have  lost  2-440 
grains  of  ammonia,  which  has  been  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  burnt  clay, 
making  the  absorption  -1220  per  cent. 
ft  was  found  in  a previous  instance  (Expt.  66  and  67)  that  the 
absorption  by  a soil  was  the  same  for  ammonia  in  the  free  state 
or  as  muriate.  It  is,  therefore,  fair  to  assume  that  the  experi- 
ment just  described  would  have  afforded  a corresponding  result 
had  the  muriate  of  ammonia  been  substituted  for  the  other 
solution.  We  see,  then,  that  burning  the  clay  has  had  the  effect 
of  diminishing  its  absorptive  power  by  about  one  half. 
With  the  view  of  deciding  whether  the  alteration  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  clay  is  reduced  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the 
burning,  an  experiment  was  made  upon  tobacco-pipes  broken  and 
sifted.  It  was  found  that  the  tobacco-pipe,  when  sifted  through 
the  sieve  of  40  holes  to  the  inch,  would  not  subside  from  the 
solution  of  free  ammonia,  and  it  became  accordingly  necessary  to 
employ  the  muriate  : — 
Experiment  74  . — Tobacco-pipe  powdered,  muriate  of  ammonia,  and 
chalk : — 
Standard  Solution  of  Muriate  of  Ammonia  ....  4000  grains. 
Pipe-dust • 2000  , , 
Powdered  Chalk 200  , , 
The  chalk  and  powdered  pipes  were  mixed  in  a mortar  and  digested 
with  the  muriate  for  more  than  24  hours. 
1st  Distillation  of  the  resulting  Liquid — 
Grains.  Platinum  Salt.  Ammonia.  Per  Cent. 
292*21  gave  11*07  = -84397  or  -2888 
2nd  Distillation — 
209-68  gave  7-90  = -6023  or  -2872 
1st  Experiment 
2nd  , , 
•2888  per  Cent. 
•2872  ,, 
Mean  . . . 
100  grains  of  the  original  Liquid  contained 
100  grains  of  the  resulting  Liquid  contained 
Loss  by  each  100  grains  of  Solution 
•2880  ,, 
•3060  grains  of  Ammonia. 
•2880  ,, 
•0180 
The  whole  quantity  of  solution  (4000  grains)  had  lost  '7200  of 
ammonia,  which  being  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  pipe-dust,  makes  the 
absorption  by  the  latter  -0300  per  cent. 
