279 
salts by distillation, and yields a brown extract to 
hot water, of a bitter taste. It likewise contains 
an empyreumatic oil. Its basis is charcoal, in a 
state in which it is capable of being rendered soluble 
by the action of oxygene and water. 
This manure is well fitted to be used in the dry 
state, thrown into the ground with the seed, and 
requires no preparation. 
The doctrine of the proper application of ma- 
nures from organized substances, offers an illustra- 
tion of an important part of the economy of nature, 
and of the happy order in which it is arranged. 
The death and decay of animal substances tend 
to resolve organised forms into chemical consti- 
tuents ; and the pernicious effluvia disengaged in 
the process seem to point out the propriety of bury- 
ing them in the soil, where they are fitted to become 
the food of vegetables. The fermentation and 
putrefaction of organised substances in the free 
atmosphere are noxious processes ; beneath the 
surface of the ground, they are salutary operations. 
In this case the food of plants is prepared where it 
can be used ; and that which would offend the 
senses and injure the health, if exposed, is con- 
verted by gradual processes into forms of beauty 
and of usefulness ; the foetid gas is rendered a con- 
stituent of the aroma of the flower, and what might 
be poison, becomes nourishment to animals and to 
man. 
