A PI\IZE ESSAY. 
19 
the close of the la^fc section, that cattle dung is com¬ 
posed of water, mould, and salts. 
You want to know what salts, and how they act. 
If you understand this, you may be able to say before¬ 
hand, whether other things, supposing their nature 
understood, can take the place of the mould and salts. 
The mould, then, of cattle dung, as of all other 
mould, contains the following substances:— 
The water consists of oxygen and hydrogen 
The mould consists of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, 
nitrogen, and ammonia. 
Thus it is seen, that the mould contains all the sub¬ 
stances found in the first class into which the elements 
of plants were divided. The salts contain the sulphur, 
phosphorus, and the carbon as sulphuric, phosphoric, 
and carbonic acids, and the chlorine, as muriatic acid, 
or spirits of salt. 
The acids, formed of the elements of the fourth class 
of the substances entering into plants, are combined 
with those of the second and third classes, namely, 
the potash, soda, lime, clay, magnesia, iron, and man¬ 
ganese. Here, then, we have all the elements of 
plants, found in cattle dung. Let us detail their 
several proportions. We have all that plants need, 
distributed in cattle dung, as follows :— 
In 100 lbs. of clear cattle dung are, 
Water, ........ 83.60 
Mould, composed of hay, . . . 14.00 
Bile and slime, .... 1.275 
Albumen, a substance like the 
white of an egg, . . . 0.175 
Salts, silica, or sand,.0.14 
Potash, united to oil of vitriol, form¬ 
ing a salt, . . . . 0.05 
Potash, united to acid of mould, . 0.07 
Common salt, .... 0.08 
Bonedust, or phosphate of lime, f 0.23 
Plaster of Paris, .... 0.12 
