THE 
MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 


No. LI. | 


DECEMBER 1, 1799. [No 

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Srr, 
AVING had occafion to dire&t fe- 
veral excavations in various parts 
of the eftate on which I refide, particu- 
larly in forming a carriage road to my 
houfe, which required the cutting througli 
the top of a hill to render the alcent eat, 
I have tet with fubftances at different 
times lying in beds of ample dimenfions,; 
whichI take to be varieties of marl. Now, 
as in this part of the country marling is 
not in the flighteft degree praétifed by the 
farmers— I cannot. ‘trom that body of 
menderive any information at all {atisfac- 
tory on the fubjeé&t; but am induced to 
tranimit you the fol lowing deferiptions of 
thele fubftances, hoping that fome one of 
your intelligent correfp.ndents will be 
able and willing to fupply the deficiency 
I cannot but lament in my neighbours. 
I muft premife, that from much obferva- 
tion I am induced to think a large diftriét 
of country around is full of one fpecies 
of thefe marls (the red argillaceous marl), 
and that therefore it is not a fubjeét of 
merely individyal intereft. It is but fair 
alfo to fiate, that I have experiments on 
the different kinds at prefent under hand ; 
but the refult of which I fhould like to be 
enabled, in fome meafure, to anticipate, 
~as alfo to be juftified in their immediate 
adoption on a larger {cale. “The marls 
which I have met with appear to be of 
three different forts. 
1. One in colour of a reddifh brown, 
its furface dufty, when wetted adhefive, 
and foapy to the touch: its fracture in- 
clines to the conchcidal; it crumbles by 
fimple expofure to the aétion of the at- 
mo{phere,—It effervefces in common vi- 
negar, ftrongly in the nitric acid.—Mild 
calx and clay in certain proportions I take 
to be the principal component parts, with 
a flight mixture of tome ferruginous par- 
ticles. - 
2. The fecond is deeper-coloured than 
the firft, containing many fhining particles’ 
yefembling mica. Its fraéture is flaty, it 
crumbles in water but flowly, the air and 
ntorfture reduce it toa powder. It effer- 
veices in acids more ftrongly than the fir, 
and the refiduum feems chiefly, if not’en- 
firely,-a fine fand. This I imagine to be 
Mostux Maa, No. Lu. 
what Kirwan, in his valuable Effay on 
Manures, terns Siliceous Marl. 
3. Another fort | have met with which 
differs from the firft chiefly in colour, 
which-is a French grey; when dry, it 
marks the fingers flivhty, like chalk, but 
not fo white. 
ae I have obferved not unfrequently 
encompafied in large pieces of N° 1. finall 
globular pieces of IY 
I fhall be glad to be informed be patie 
agreeing with any or all the foregoing de- 
feriptions are at prefent in ufe ; and their 
effect from long experience on different 
foils from the light fand to the High = 
Tt has been fu vgcefted to me, that the ufe 
of N°s z and 3, on lands like my own, 
already too ftiff, might be prejudicial, as 
furnifhing a confiderable proportion of 
clay; on this fubje& I with therefore to 
atk if thefe fpecies of marls have ever been 
calcined for ufe 2s manure ; and their effeét 
on fiiit lands (grafs as well as arable) in 
that fhape. - 
Hoping to be favoured with a reply as 
foon as poflible, I remain 
Your obedient fervant, 
Joun H. MoGGRInDGE. 
The Boyce near G loucefter, 
Nov. 9, 1799. 
ant ee 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
\* HAVE reviewed my own remarks, 
IL (p.346.) with an anxiety tomake every 
fair allowance againft myftelf. You have 
here the refult. 
Gro. ii. 23. Abfcidens for abfcindens. 
Abfcidens as not the authority of the 
Medicean: but it was introduced by 
Heinfius: on the authority of fome MSS. 
HeyNne has adopted it: WaKEFI£ELD 
has not. If it had been the genuine read- 
ing, the probability is, 1t would have not 
been changed in the Mediceaz. 
GEO. il. 150. Arbor for arbos. Bur- 
MaNN adopted arbor for euphony, on ac- 
count of the precéding-ss. HeyNe and 
WAKEFIELD have followed him. It has 
not the authority of the Medicean, either 
here or in vv. 57, 8, and neither _Heyne 
nor Wakefield have it in either of thofe 
verfes;where the ciaim of euphony to avoid 
coliifion of ss would be equally ftrong for it. 
5 Meise GEO, lis 
.6.0f VOL. VIII. 

