526 
Fourth  Report  on  the  Analysis 
In  4480  lbs. 
(2  tons) 
L'nsteeped. 
In  3020  lbs. 
of 
Steeped. , 
Lost  in 
the  i 
Steep- Water. 
Silica 
lb-60 
4-G7 
6-93  1 
Phosphoric  Acid 
11-04 
1-11 
9-93 
Sulphuric  Acid 
4-27 
•55 
4-42 
Carbonic  Acid  . 
23-00 
5-29 
17-71  | 
Lime 
31-01 
13-77 
17-24 
Magnesia  .... 
G- 15 
• 76 
5-39 
Peroxide  of  Iron 
8-11 
1 -66 
6-45 
Potash 
31-55 
•50 
31-05 
Soda 
5-39 
•98 
4-41 
Chloride  of  Potassium  . 
Chloride  of  Sodium 
13-50 
13-50 
Total  .... 
14G-32 
29-29 
117-03 
This  table,  although  in  substance  it  is  merely  a confirmation  of 
what  Sir  Robert  Kane  has  so  well  shown  before,  cannot  yet  be 
studied  without  renewed  interest.  By  an  examination  of  a certain 
specimen  of  flax-straw  before  steeping,  and  a portion  of  the  same 
specimen  after  undergoing  that  process,  we  discover  a difference 
or  loss  of  four-fifths  of  the  whole  mineral  ingredients;  this  loss 
consisting  principally,  as  it  naturally  would,  of  the  soluble  and 
most  important  constituents. 
Nearly  all  the  potash,  the  magnesia,  and  the  phosphoric  acid 
have  disappeared,  whilst  what  is  left  is  little  else  than  carbonate 
of  lime  with  a little  silica  and  oxide  of  iron.  It  is  needless  to 
insist  therefore  upon  what  has  so  often  before  been  said,  that  as  in 
the  steep -water  will  be  found  the  great  bulk  of  the  mineral 
matters  with*  one-tliird  of  the  vegetable  matter  of  the  straw  (and 
this  too,  according  to  Dr.  Kane,  very  rich  in  nitrogen),  every 
effort  should  be  made  for  the  introduction  of  such  modifications 
of  the  process  as  will  allow  of  their  return  to  the  soil  in  some 
form  or  other. 
We  beg  the  reader  to  follow  us  one  step  further  whilst  we  show 
from  the  analyses  what  becomes  of  the  mineral  matters  which  are 
still  left  in  the  steeped  straw.  In  the  “ scutching  ” the  fibre  of 
the  flax  is  separated  from  the  wood  by  striking  the  straw  with  a 
peculiarly  shaped  piece  of  wood ; no  chemical  change  intervenes 
in  this  case,  and  there  is  therefore  no  loss  of  mineral  ingredients.f 
* From  certain  analyses  of  flax-water  made  since  the  above  was  written,  I have 
reason  to  think  that  a large  portion  of  the  vegetable  matter  which  the  flax  loses  in 
steeping  is  dissipated  by  the  fermentation  ; at  all  events,  the  steep-water  contains  much 
less  than  it  should  do  were  such  not  the  case. — J.  Thomas  Way,  October,  1850. 
f Unless  indeed  the  very  considerable  dust  which  is  produced  in  the  operation,  and 
which  is  annoying  to  the  eyes  of  any  person  entering  the  room  where  the  scutchers  are 
at  work,  should  be  in  part  composed  of  silicious  matter,  a circumstance  which  is  not 
improbable. 
