333 
TENDENCY OF LIME TO SINK BEi.OW THE SURFACE OF THE SOIL. 
portant, and most characteristic of over-feeding, of 
which there were, however, signs in all. It may 
be nearly two years since my examination of the 
last, which died in a pleasant part of the country, a 
few miles from Liverpool, and where, as I am in¬ 
formed, the animal had the range of a paddock, 
with several more of its kind, and had sufficient 
access to water at all times. I found no fat in the 
Interior cavities of the body of this, or the other 
animals; but on the surface it was rather more 
abundant in this than in the other two. It was a 
female, and the state of the hones showed it to be 
not quite fully grown. 
“ ‘ The viscera of the chest were in a healthy con¬ 
dition ; but those of the abdomen drew my atten¬ 
tion as being out of order in, perhaps, several 
respects. The stomach was much gorged with 
food, hay, and oats; the former very imperfectly 
masticated, and the latter quite whole. Whether 
their condition varied in the different cavities I can- 
not say, as the stomach, being wanted for a prepa¬ 
ration, was not cut open, but evacuated of its con¬ 
tents through the oesophagus, with much difficulty. 
Large quantities of half-digested food loaded the 
intestines; whole oats and hay, in a still fibrous 
state, being found in the small intestines, and much 
hard fcecal matter in the large intestine. 
“ { The intestines were pretty extensively adhering 
to each other by their peritoneal coat, on which a 
rough deposit of crystalline particles, of great 
minuteness, but very numerous, had taken place. 
This deposit having formed most in the parts most 
dependent after death, made me think that it was 
probably of post mortem occurrence; and I have 
lately been confirmed in this opinion, by observing 
the same to have occurred in a dead rabbit. I 
thought the coats of the bowels weaker in some 
parts than is natural, for they gave way very easily, 
chiefly in the small intestines, in attempting to 
wash out their contents with water. The head was 
not opened, and the immediate cause of death may, 
therefore,, have had its seat in the brain ; but there 
is no doubt that such a state of repletion with food 
would much predispose an animal to fatal disorders. 
I have not had such opportunity of observing the 
diseased state of the alpaca’s feet, as to give any 
definite notions on the subject of its ordinary ap¬ 
pearance and course.’ 
“ The preceding results clearly show that the 
animal dissected, besides having taken improper 
nourishment, had been over-fed—the mistake com¬ 
mitted by the greater part of our early breeders, and 
the one which, beyond all doubt, gave rise to many 
deaths. Mr. Edwards confesses that, at the begin¬ 
ning, his alpacas ‘ had a good deal of hard food— 
oats, beans,’ &c., besides grass and hay; but when 
they died so rapidly, he discontinued the practice, 
and only gave them grass, hay, and vegetables. 
Notwithstanding Mr. Stirling’s success, I here take 
occasion to repeat, that the experiment of giving 
beans to animals accustomed to succulent herbage, 
is, in my opinion, a dangerous one. Their pecu¬ 
liarly framed stomachs are not adapted for dry and 
hard food, the best proof of which is their habitual 
abstinence from water. If, at home, they are ever 
treated with grain, it is maize or millet, in their 
green, soft, and milky state. A Peruvian would 
laugh to see us giving them substances which we 
ourselves could not masticate until they have pass¬ 
ed through the millstones. The herbage which 
they cull on their native hills, is to them meat and 
drink, and they vary it according to taste and the 
season. They select it themselves on a wide range, 
in this respect evincing a strong instinct; and if it 
is wished that they should prosper, they must be 
allowed to do the same with us. 
“ There is not, I feel assured, any disorder to 
which Andes sheep are liable, either at home or 
here, that could prevent them from being success¬ 
fully bred in our isles. Mr. Tayleure mentions the 
disease with which his little flock was afflicted; but 
insinuates that the circumstance was owing to con¬ 
tact with animals imported subsequent to the pos¬ 
session of his first alpacas. Mr. Edwards remarks, 
that those he had were subject to the scab, and 
seldom free from it; but at the same time gives us 
to understand, that this disorder was attributable to 
the nature of the food of which the strangers par¬ 
took. The other breeders agree that they have 
fared well, even in situations by no means eligible; 
and their earlier maturity with us is an additional 
proof that the climate agrees with them, and that 
on our pastures they find kindly herbage ” 
TENDENCY OF LIME TO SINK BELOW 
THE SURFACE OF THE SOIL. 
It is remarked by Dundonald, in his “ Treatise 
showing the Intimate Cpnnection that subsists be¬ 
tween Agriculture and Chemistry,” that lime is 
known to have a tendency to sink below the upper 
surface, and to form itself into a regular stratum 
between the fertile and the unfertile mould. After 
breaking up pasture ground that formerly had been 
limed on the sward, it is frequently observed in 
this situation. This has been generally ascribed to 
its specific gravity, and to its acting in a mechanical 
manner. In gravelly, or sandy soils, there can be. 
no doubt but that the diffusibility and smallness of 
the particles of lime will induce it mechanically to 
sink through the larger particles of the sand' or 
gravel, and to remain at rest on the more compact 
stratum which may resist its passage. 
When lands of this description have been limed, 
and kept constantly under annual crops, the greater 
mechanical process of the plow will operate 
against the lesser one of subsidence, and keep the 
lime diffused through the soil; but in clayey or 
loam^ soils, which are equally diffusible with lime, 
and nearly of the same specific gravity, the ten¬ 
dency which lime has to sink downwards cannot 
be accounted for simply on mechanical principles. 
In lands of this description, under the plow, the 
lime is dispersed or mixed with the soil, until such 
time as these lands are laid down with grass seeds. 
After remaining in this situation at rest for a cer¬ 
tain number of years, on breaking up, a floor of 
calcareous matter will frequently be found lying 
immediately beneath the roots of the grass (a). 
This effect, contrary to the general opinion of its 
being disserviceable, is of great utility, as the staple 
or depth of the soil is always increased and ren¬ 
dered less retentive of water in proportion to the 
distance which the lime penetrates downwards; 
and thus by increasing the depth of the soil a 
greater scope is afforded for the expansions of the 
