362 
On  the  Power  of  Soils  to  absorb  Manure. 
perimcnt  was  made  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  extent  of 
the  power  of  clay  to  absorb  free  or  caustic  lime. 
Experiment  87. — White  clay  and  lime-water. — A saturated  solution  of 
lime  in  water  was  analyzed  in  the  usual  way,  and  found  to  contain  1 "211 
grains  of  lime  in  each  1000  grains,  or  *121 1 per  cent. 
White  clay 
Lime  water 
4000  b'a'nS  | Digested  together  for  12  hours. 
lOOO^grains  of  the  resulting  solution  precipitated  by  oxalate  of  ammonia 
in  the  usual  way  gave  * 10  grains  carbonate  of  lime,  equal  to  ’050  lime. 
1000  grains  of  the  original  lime  water  contained  . 1-211  lime. 
1000  grains  of  the  resulting  liquid -056  ,, 
Loss  by  each  1000  grains  of  liquid  • 1 • 155  , , 
The  whole  4000  grains  will  therefore  have  lost  4*620  grains  of  lime, 
which  has  been  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  clay,  or  at  the  rate  of  *2310 
per  cent. 
Experiment  88. — White  clay  and  bi-carbonate  of  lime. — Lime  water  of 
the  previous  strength  was  diluted  with  twice  its  weight  of  water,  and  well 
washed  carbonic  acid  was  passed  through  it  till  the  carbonate  of  lime  first 
produced  was  completely  redissolved.  This  solution  would  contain  one- 
third  of  the  lime  of  the  lime  water  itself,  or  *404  grains  in  1000. 
Solution  of  bi-carbonate  of  lime  . 4000  grains.  ] t..  , , . .,  ..  AO  , 
White  clay 2000  , , ) D,Sested  toSether  for  48  hours* 
2000  grains  of  the  liquid  when  analyzed  gave  *084  of  lime,  or  *042  lime 
in  1000. 
1000  grains  of  the  original  liquid  contained  ...  *4040  lime. 
1000  grains  of  the  resulting  liquid *0420  ,, 
Loss  by  each  1000  grains *3620  ,, 
The  whole  4000  grains  would  consequently  have  lost  1*448  grains  lime, 
which  has  been  absorbed  by  2000  grains  of  clay,  or  at  the  rate  of  *0724 
per  cent. 
On  examining  these  two  experiments,  move  especially  the  last, 
it  became  evident  that  they  were  unsatisfactory  in  their  results, 
inasmuch  as  the  solution  of  lime-water  being  necessarily  dilute 
(in  fact,  containing  only  one -tenth  of  the  quantity  of  alkali  that 
the  1 per  cent,  potash  solution  did),  scope  was  not  given  for  the 
full  absorption.  That  all  the  lime  did  not  disappear  from  the 
liquid  must  be  ascribed  to  a certain  solubility  of  the  compounds 
formed  with  it  in  the  clay. 
It  became  necessary  to  make  experiments  in  which  either  the 
quantity  of  lime  should  be  greatly  increased,  or  that  of  the  clay 
proportionably  diminished  ; the  latter  alternative  was  chosen  in 
the  following  trials  : — 
Experiment  89. — 
Lime  water  of  previous  strength  . 4000  grains.  1 D-  t d f 2 hours. 
White  clay 100  ,,  I ° 
1000  grains  of  the  original  lime  water  contained  . . . . 1*211  lime. 
1000  grains  of  the  resulting  solution *644  ,, 
Loss  by  each  1000  grains  of  solution  . . . *3fi7  ,, 
