353 
On  the  Power  of  Soils  to  absorb  Manure. 
1st  Experiment  . . . . *2059  per  Cent. 
2nd  , , ....  *2095  ,, 
Mean  . . . *2077  ,, 
100  grains  of  the  original  Liquid  contained  *3060  grains  of  Ammonia. 
100  grains  of  the  resulting  Liquid  contained  '2077  , , , , 
Loss  by  100  grains  of  Liquid  . . . *0983  , , ' 
The  whole  quantity  of  liquid  has  therefore  lost  3*932  grains  of  ammonia, 
which  is  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  soil — making  the  absorption  *1900 
per  cent. 
According  to  these  experiments,  every  100  grains  of  Mr. 
Pusey’s  soil  absorbs  from  free  ammonia  ’1570  grains  of  am- 
monia; whilst  from  the  muriate  it  absorbs  '1966,  or  con- 
siderably more.  If  the  result  had  been  the  other  way — that  is, 
if  the  soil  had  absorbed  more  from  the  solution  of  the  free 
alkali  than  from  that  of  its  salt,  it  would  have  been  believed 
that  the  necessary  circumstances  for  the  decomposition  of  that 
salt  were  wanting.  But  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the  result 
as  it  stands.  Future  experiments  may  clear  up  the  diffi- 
culty ; but  in  the  mean  while  we  must  suppose  that,  whilst  some 
soils  have  an  equal  absorption  for  free  ammonia  and  its  salts, 
others  may  possess  the  property  in  a different  degree  for  those 
different  conditions  of  the  alkali ; and  this  supposition  is  borne 
out  by  other  experiments,  to  be  presently  described.  The  follow- 
ing experiment  on  the  extent  of  absorption  of  different  soils  for 
ammonia  will  find  its  proper  place  here  : — 
Experiment  78. — Mr.  Huxtable’s  soil  and  muriate  of  ammonia. 
Standard  Solution  of  Muriate  of  Ammonia 
Mr.  Huxtable’s  Soil 
2000  ®ra*nS  j-  Digested  for  two  hours. 
1st  Distillation  of  the  Resulting  Liquid — 
Grains.  Platinum  Salt.  Ammonia.  Per  Cent. 
270*76  gave  6*71  = *51157  or  *1889 
2nd  Distillation — 
245*47  gave  6*01  = *45820  or  *1866 
1st  Experiment  ....  • 1889  per  Cent. 
2nd  ,,  ....  *1866  ,, 
Mean  .....  *1877  ,, 
100  grains  of  the  original  Liquid  contained  . *3060  grains  of  Ammonia. 
100  grains  of  the  resulting  Liquid  contained  * 1877  , , , , 
Loss  by  each  100  grains  of  Solution  . . *1183  ,,  ,, 
The  whole  quantity  of  liquid  will  have  lost  4*732  grains  of  ammonia, 
which  has  been  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  soil — making  the  absorption 
*2366  per  cent. 
3 he  absorption  by  pipe-clay  with  similar  quantities  was  2010 
per  cent.;  so  that,  although  a soil  like  that  of  Mr.  Huxtable’s 
may  contain  scarcely  half  of  its  weight  of  the  absorbing  sub- 
VOL.  XI.  2 A 
