IODINE  FROM  THE  ASHES  OP  SEA-WEEDS. 
531 
in  the  purchase  of  this  product  of  the  ocean,  which,  but  for  the 
iodine  manufacture,  would  assuredly  go  to  waste,  as  in  addition 
to  what  is  made  into  kelp,  they  also  get  what  they  require  for 
manure.  Of  this  sum  of  $225,000,  $175,000  is  distributed 
along  a  coast  in  Ireland\ot  exceeding  two  hundred  miles  in  ex- 
tent ;  and  mostly  indeed  within  the  limits  of  one  county,  viz. : 
Donegal.  Are  these  facts  not  worthy  the  attention  of  the  sea- 
board inhabitants  of  Maine  and  Nova  Scotia  ?  Undoubtedly  the 
time  must  come  when  the  manufacture  of  kelp  for  chemical  pur- 
poses will  be  one  of  the  branches  of  trade  on  the  American  Con- 
tinent ;  when  it  may  be  we  cannot  presume  to  say,  but  the  initia- 
tive must  be  taken  by  the  coast  people,  and  we  have  no  fear,  if 
they  produce  a  good  article,  but  that  the  enterprise  of  Boston 
merchants  would  soon  find  means  of  turning  it  to  profitable 
account. 
The  amount  of  iodine  procurable  from  kelp  has  been  variously 
stated,  but  is  generally  set  down  at  about  10  lbs.  to  the  ton.  This 
amount  would  be  too  high  an  average  for  the  article  imported 
into  Glasgow,  as  the  adulteration  of  it,  especially  on  the  Irish 
coast,  is  carried  on  to  an  enormous  extent,  as  much  as  thirty  per 
cent,  of  stones  and  gravel  being  generally  introduced  during  the 
process  of  burning ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  writer  of  this  has 
known  kelp  from  some  particular  districts  to  yield  15  lbs.  per 
ton  for  a  series  of  years,  and  some  as  high  as  20  lbs.  to  the  ton. 
If  we  take  them  at  an  average  of  9  lbs.  of  iodine  per  ton,  we 
will  be  pretty  near  the  real  amount. 
But  iodine  is  not  the  only  valuable  product  of  the  manufac  - 
ture ;  if  it  were  so,  it  would  never  pay. 
The  "  salts  of  potash"  form  a  very  important  item  in  the 
manufacturer's  calculation  of  profits  ;  and  in  the  properly  separat- 
ing these  from  their  mixed  solution  in  the  kelp  ley,  consists  the 
whole  nicety  of  the  process.  The  proper  mode  of  doing  this  has 
been  completely  omitted  in  all  works  treating  on  this  manufac- 
ture which  we  have  seen,  so  that  any  person  attempting  the  manu- 
facture of  iodine,  trusting  to  the  loose  and  careless  phraseology 
of  the  books,  would  be  groping  in  the  dark ;  the  result  being 
inevitable  failure.  To  obviate  this,  and  place  everything  plainly 
before  him,  as  briefly  and  with  as  few  technicalities  as  possible, 
is  the  object  of  this  paper. 
