THE CULTIVATOR. 
317 
THE LATE DR. SAMUEL L. MITCHILL 
Of the city of New-York, and his labors in aid of Agri¬ 
culture. —No. 4. 
We concluded our third number with the title and 
some remarks on Dr. Mitchill’s letter to the Rev. H. 
Muhlenberg, on “ Septon,” or azote and its compounds. 
This letter on Septon we may consider as a valuable es¬ 
say on manures. After some introductory remarks on 
gypsum, and stating the fact that it was then (1796) 
“ said to be found plentifully in Onondaga county,” the 
author proceeds to remark*, 
“ In my letter to Chancellor Livingston, of February 
20th, 1796, an attempt was made to show that plants had 
the power of destroying pestilential fluids, and of render¬ 
ing the atmosphere, which had been contaminated by 
them, healthy. It was stated that Septon (azote,) was 
taken up as a nutrient material, and retained in the vege¬ 
table economy; while the oxygen was discharged, and 
in company with caloric and light, renewed the respira¬ 
ble portion of the atmosphere. I shall now prosecute 
the inquiry a little further, and go into some practical 
details relative to this sort of manure.”—(Trans, p. 246.) 
“ What I have to remark will be comprised under three 
heads: 1. That animal manures contain Septon, (azote.) 
2. That plants nourished by such manures, contain it al¬ 
so; and 3. That hence maybe derived a principle elu¬ 
cidating the use and operation of such manures.” 
“ 1. The whole history of decaying animal substances 
tends to prove the abundance of septic, (azotic, nitric,) 
ingredients they afford. The urine and excrements of 
neat cattle and sheep, the soakings of dung-hills, the 
earth of horse stables and cow houses, the soil of graves, 
and generally speaking, animal relics, and putrefying 
carcases of all kinds, afford every one of them, Septic 
(nitric) acid. This acid is composed of Septon, (azote) 
and oxygen. Water aids the formation of this acid, by 
promoting intestine motion among the decaying materi¬ 
als, and by its own decomposition furnishing any quanti¬ 
ty of the principle of acidity which may be wanted. 
And when formed, water acts as a vehicle to convey and 
apply it te the various substances it meets with.”—(p. 
247.) 
In this extract, Mr. Editor, we have the principles 
contained in what are considered, discoveries of the late 
Chemico-agricultural writers. According to their doc¬ 
trines, as I understand them, a compost of manure, street 
dirt, or other mass of animal and vegetable substances, 
when undergoing fermentation and putrefaction, evolves 
numerous gases. The principal of these are carbonic 
acid gas and ammonia. Carbonic acid gas may be form¬ 
ed by the carbon of the dung heap uniting with the oxy¬ 
gen of the air, or the oxygen of water. Ammonia may 
be formed by the union of hydrogen and nitrogen (or 
azote, Dr. Mitchill’s Septon.) In a compost heap, the 
hydrogen is produced by the heatof fermentation decom¬ 
posing water, and the nitrogen or azote, either from the 
atmosphere or from the decomposition of azotized sub¬ 
stances in the manure heap. Other gases may also be 
evolved, as by the union of carbon and hydrogen, we 
may have carburetted hydrogen, or if sulphur be present, 
sulphuretted hydrogen, &c. 
These are all compatible with the theory of Dr. Mitch- 
ill, or the doctrine of Septon, as he was pleased to call it, 
in which it was his principal aim to show that fermen¬ 
tation progressing into the putrefactive state, produced 
nitrogen in abundance, or azote, which he termed Sep¬ 
ton or Septic gas, and which acted injuriously on the hu¬ 
man constitution, and favorably on vegetation. Alkaline 
substances arrested this and other deleterious gases, neu¬ 
tralized and rendered them harmless to animal life,while 
they did not impair their action as fertilizers. But I am 
anticipating too much; let the author of the «Doctrine 
of Septon,” speak for himself. 
(e Septic substances, the offal of slaughtered animals, 
the refuse of house keeping, are when mingled in due 
quantity with the soil, justly ranked among the best fer¬ 
tilizers. The impregnation of land around houses and 
barns long occupied with such materials, is the acknow¬ 
ledged cause of its superior productiveness.”—(p. 248.) 
But it nevertheless sometimes happens, that in cellars, 
and around country dwellings, in pig-styes and cow-pens 
near the house, there are accumulated great quantities of 
excrementitious and corrupting substances, which if sea¬ 
sonably carted away, tend eminently to fertilize the 
fields, and promote the growth of vegetables, while at 
the same time by remaining, they render the house foul 
and unhealthy by the extrication of septic vapors. Neat¬ 
ness and elegance are thus found to be as conducive to 
good health as to good husbandry.” 
“ When I see a farmer permit such unwholesome sub¬ 
stances to collect around his habitation, I cannot help re¬ 
flecting on the danger which awaits him. The manure 
which ought to have been carried away and spread over 
his lots, serves, as it lays, but to make his family sickly, 
to disable his laborers, and lead him to the dubious and 
expensive routine of physic.”—(p. 249.) 
“ The street manure of cities consists of pretty much 
the same materials with the yard manure collected about 
farm-houses. Both are unhealthy, for a similar reason.” 
“If further proof was wanting of the real nature of 
these manures, it would be easy to state, that besides the 
affinity of septic compounds with water, they have a 
strong attraction for other bodies. With potash and so¬ 
da, of which large quantities are daily poured into the 
streets with the soap-suds employed in washing, and from 
other sources, the septic acid forms the septite of potash, 
(common salt-petre,) and septite of soda, (cubic nitre.) 
With lime, which from measuring, carting and building, 
is sprinkled plentifully along the streets, as well as in the 
mortar of walls and the ceilings of rooms, it forms the 
septite of lime, (calcareous nitre,) and with clay it forms 
the septite of argil, (nitrate of alumine.”) 
“2. There will be no great difficulty in showing that 
Septon (azote,) is one of the component materials in cer¬ 
tain vegetables. If it can be made evident what plants 
especially abound with it, we shall be furnished with a 
clue, leading us to the true use of the manures contain¬ 
ing it. From an analysis of plants, we have become ac¬ 
quainted w/th several of their component parts, and 
thence are enabled to form some judgment concerning 
the qualities of the manure best adapted to such and such 
particular kinds. There is good reason to believe, that 
particular manures ought to contain ingredients of the 
same nature and quality with those which the plants so 
manured, are found by analysis to consist of. By pro¬ 
ceeding in this manner, there can be rarely a mistake 
made in the application of manure. It is observable in 
the order of creation, that certain vegetable bodies ap¬ 
proach more than others towards animal nature. The 
presence of Septon (azote) is the circums'ance in the com¬ 
position of organized beings, which particularly denotes 
animality or the approximation to it. Septic manures, 
being of animal derivation, ought therefore, if they en¬ 
tered into the constitution of plants, to make such as are 
nourished by them, take on somewhat of an animal na¬ 
ture. Let us now examine how this principle accords 
with facts. A familiar example may be taken from 
wheat. Wheat is most benefited by manures that contain 
Septon. Street manure, door dirt, and well mixed barn¬ 
yard composts , all of which abound with Septon, are 
among the best manures for that vegetable. And the ef¬ 
ficacy of wood ashes in making ground capable of produ¬ 
cing great crops of that grain, is probably owing, if mo¬ 
dern conjecture be true, to the Septon (azote) composing 
a part of the alkali it contains. Some of the swamp ma¬ 
nures will also produce good harvests of wheat; but oth¬ 
ers of them, though they cause a sufficient growth of 
straw, fail to fill the seed in the ear. The reason appears 
to be this: when swamp manures happen to be charged 
with the septic matters derived from animals, or from 
vegetable substances that approach toward animal nature, 
they will produce plentiful crops of wheat; but when 
they consist merely of decayed plants, they are incapable 
of elaborating the grain in the head. The cause of this 
can easily be investigated by attending to the analysis of 
wheat. Mr. Parmentier assures us of the presence of 
Septon in the mucous part of the meal; and he affirms, 
that the glutinous portion affords products quite similar 
to animal substances. If then the land upon which wheat 
grows, contains a scanty quantity of Septon, the seed will 
be poor and light in proportion to the deficiency of that 
article of food in the soil. Yet in this very ground, the 
