214 
MINERAL PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 
from the yard, four shoats, three months old, ran 
squealing down to meet her at their utmost speed. 
The cow remained in the rear of the others, and 
quietly and patiently stood still till every drop of 
milk was extracted from her udder by the pigs; 
they standing the while erect on their hind legs, 
with each a teat in its mouth. The place for the 
operation was most favorably selected, as small 
apple-trees interposed between the parties and the 
house, which stands upon an elevation. The ex¬ 
traordinary thrift of my pigs, which all along was 
so discernible, was now accounted for ; and I learn¬ 
ed a lesson which shall never be forgotten through 
life, viz: never to make accusation on mere cir¬ 
cumstantial evidence unless strongly corroborated. 
I shut my pigs in a pen immediately. The next 
morning the cow appeared as uneasy without their 
visit as if she had lost a calf, and the pigs squealed 
in answer as if they had been deprived at the 
time of their mother sus. 
Now, as Professor Silliman thought his story 
worth publishing, I have concluded to write mine 
to you. 
Preserving a Goose-Egg Under Ground.—I 
was walking this morning behind my plowman, 
when his plow turned up from the soil, at the 
depth of about 8 inches, a goose-egg of very rusty 
complexion. Almost taking it for granted that it 
was spoiled, I opened very carefully a small space 
in one end, with the point of my knife. As no ex¬ 
plosion ensued, I made the opening still larger, 
and to my surprise found the egg perfectly sweet, 
and its different parts perfect, with tbe exception 
that it contained a very small embryo completely 
developed. The white of the egg was as clear 
and sweet as if newly laid. There was no pos¬ 
sible perceptible difference, the yolk was of the 
natural color and entirely sweet to the smell. The 
egg must have been in the position from which it 
was taken, at least twelve months. There can be 
no mistake in the matter. The ground where it 
was deposited was a deep, mellow, alluvial loam. 
Oats had been sowed and harvested last year, and 
the ground seeded to clover, which, from some 
cause not having taken well, I am plowing the 
same land for corn. The egg must have been 
plowed under last spring. Something perhaps 
may be learned from this; at least of interest to 
the good lady of the farm-house, if not to others. 
Jos. C. G. Kennedy. 
Hillside, near Meadville, Pa., 30 th April, 1844. 
MINERAL PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 
When the great value of phosphate of lime for 
agricultural purposes is generally understood, as it 
must already be by intelligent farmers, it is a mat¬ 
ter of surprise that no more use is made of it, and 
that it has been subjected to so few experiments, 
with reference to its application to this object. 
This mineral is identical with tbe chief ingredient 
of bone-dust, and may with equal profit be substi¬ 
tuted for that as a fertilizer. 
Bone-dust, after deducting the animal matter 
which it contains in its natural state, which is 
about 33 per cent, consisting mostly of gelatine, 
with a small addition of cartilage and fatty matter, 
contains about 86 per cent, of phosphate of lime; 
the remainder being composed principally of car¬ 
bonate of lime, with a small amount of phosphate 
of magnesia, soda, &c. But as most of the animal 
portion of bones is usually extracted before they are 
crushed and ground for the farmer’s use, and fre¬ 
quently are reduced to this state by calcination, by 
which all this organic matter is effectually ex¬ 
pelled, we have the earth of bones, differing im¬ 
materially for the economical purposes of agricul¬ 
ture, from pure mineral phosphate of lime. This 
exists in nature, under a variety of forms. 
Phosphorite is found in extensive beds, in a 
massive state, generally of a yellowish, or grayish 
white color. Apatite is another variety, of consid- 
able diversity of color, abounding in certain re¬ 
gions, and particularly abundant in Estramadura 
in Spain, whence it has been exported to Ireland, 
to a considerable extent, for agricultural purposes, 
but with what results we are yet ignorant. Its 
colors are whitish, or faintly red, blue, and green. 
Another variety, found in very limited quantities, 
from its lustre and transparency, has been some¬ 
times ranked as a gem. Its beautiful green color 
has secured for it the name of asparagus-stone. 
It is dentical in composition with Apatite. Osseous 
breccia frequently occur, and contain a large pro¬ 
portion of phosphate of lime. 
Fossil guano has been recently found in Eng 
land, in a number of places, and contains a large 
amount of phosphate of lime. It has already been 
made subservient to the interests of agriculture. 
Coprolites and other organic matters, the remains 
of bones, teeth, &c., the exuvise of fish, birds, and 
animals of preceding ages, indefinitely remote, ex¬ 
ist with more or less mixture, in many places, 
either as marl or solid limestone. It is the pres¬ 
ence of these organic remains, giving to them a 
considerable proportion of phosphate of lime, which 
renders many of the marls of our own country so 
valuable to the farmer. 
In referring to the five annual Geological Reports 
made under the authority of the state of New 
York, I find only a brief notice of this mineral in 
two of them. The first is made by Dr. Emmons 
in the report of 1838, in which it is described un¬ 
der the head of Eupyrchrorite, from its giving off 
a beautiful phosphorescent light, when subjected 
to a strong heat. “ Its color is a pale malachite 
green, passing into a greenish-white and some¬ 
times brownish. Structure indistinctly fibrous in 
the thin, mammilated layers. Colors of the sev¬ 
eral layers various. Dull and opake. Hardness, 
4; specific gravity 3.06.” The above specimen 
was found near the landing at Crown Point, but 
in what quantity is not mentioned. _ 
Dr. Beck refers to the above specimen in the re¬ 
port of 1840, under the head of “ Fibrous phosphate 
of lime ,” and gives an analysis of its composition. 
He found it contained of 
Phosphate of lime.. • • • .92.85 
Oxide of iron with a little alumina. 5.20 
Silica.50 
Moisture (water ?). 1-25 
Fluoric acid.-. a trace. 
He considers the oxide of iron, silica, and alumina, 
as accidental ingredients. He also found speci- 
