204 
clover and only another grass, such as a species 
of meadow foxtail, it will still be scarcely touched ; 
and not till sown as but a minor ingredient in 
rather a numerous mixture will it be tolerably 
well relished, and fully accomplish its peculiar 
uses. This grass contains little saccharine matter, 
abounds in mucilage, and contains a larger pro- 
portion of bitter, insoluble, extractive matter 
than most other grasses. The green plant, in its 
early spring condition, has been ascertained to 
contain 80 per cent. of mucilage, 2 of saccharine 
matter, and 18 of bitter extractive; and the ma- 
tured plant, at the time of its seed being ripe, 
has been ascertained to contain 86 per cent. of 
mucilage, 8 of saccharine matter, and 6 of bitter 
extractive and salt. When grown upon sandy 
loam, it has been found to yield per acre, in the 
Ist of April, 3,484 lbs. of green produce, and 953 
lbs. of nutritive matter; when in flower, 7,8274 
lbs. of green produce, 2,1034 lbs. of dry produce, 
and 1227 lbs. of nutritive matter; when its seed 
is ripe, 6,125? lbs. of green produce, 1,837? lbs. 
of dry produce, and 311 lbs. of nutritive matter ; 
and when in aftergrass, 6,806 lbs. of green pro- 
duce, and 2393 lbs. of nutritive matter. But 
though considerably inferior to some other grasses 
in nutritious value, and in spite of its not being 
very well relished by cattle, it ought always, in 
small quantity, to be an ingredient in the sown 
grasses of at once meadows, dry pastures, parks, 
and pleasure-grounds. An essential oil which can 
be obtained from this grass, has an agreeable 
odour, and may be used as a mild aromatic and 
stimulant.— Wethering’s Botany—Loudon’s Enc. 
of Plants—Low’s Elements of Practical Agr— 
Sproule’s Treatise on Agr.—Lrebig’s Chemistry of 
Agr.—sSinelair’s Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis. 
—Treatise on British Husbandry in Library of 
Useful Knowledge. 
ANTHRACITE. A coal formation, containing 
little or no bituminous matter, and sometimes as 
high as 95 per cent. carbon. The name, which 
is derived from the Greek, signifies merely car- 
bon or coal. The largest formation is comprised 
in the several basins in central Pennsylvania, 
east of the Susquehanna river ; other formations 
exist in England and France, besides smaller de- 
posits of the same geological age; and a few lo- 
calities where basalt intruded through the brown 
coal, appears to have deprived it of its bitumen, 
and converted it into a species of anthracite. 
The volatile matter in the purer varieties is 
almost exclusively water; but in the same basin 
may be traced a gradual transition from those 
burning without flame to those containing a suffi- 
cient quantity of bitumen to burn more freely 
and with flame. The ashes of anthracite neces- 
sarily varies in composition, consisting of a sili- 
cate of alumina, with variable quantities of oxide 
of iron, magnesia, lime, &c., the two last being 
often absent. Sulphur (in sulphuret of iron, 
pyrites)‘is also a variable constituent, from 4 to 
1 per cent., being usually much less than the | tures. 
ANTHRACITE. 
proportion in bituminous coals. An analysis of 
several specimens of anthracite is given by Pro- 
fessor Johnson in the Journal of the Franklin 
Institute, Pennsylvania, of which the following 
is a tabular view :— 
Water,......... 3°43 3°96 0:00 2:19 0:40 
Volat. Matter, 4:08 105 960 4:23 £49551 
Fixed Carbon, 87°48 91:69 85°34 92°30 91-01 
IAISN OSs ee en 501 4°00 5:06 1:28 3:08 
100:00 100:00 100:00 100-00 100-00. 
Of twelve specimens analyzed by Berthier, the 
mean per-centage of ingredients was— 
Volatile matter, . ; ere: 
Fixed carbon, . : A 79°15 
Ashes, . . 13°25 
A much more minute analysis of anthracite 
from Wales is given by Dr. Schafhaeutl, in a re- 
port submitted to the Anthracite Patent com- 
pany. The following is the composition of two 
samples :— 
Moisture, 00-00 0°300 
Carbon, 92°42 94°100 
Hydrogen, 3°37) Volat. 2°390 Volat. 
Oxygen, 1°43 matter, 1°336 matter, 
Nitrogen, 1:05 597 0°874 4°6 
Sulphur, . 0°12 trace 
Ashes, 1-61 0°932 
100-00 _ 99°932 
Loss, *068 
100-000 
In these specimens, the quantity of volatile 
matter varies from 4:31 to 9°6. It may be stated 
to be on anaverage about 5 per cent. The great- 
est amount of carbon is 94:1. 
Anthracite has been employed for heating 
apartments for culinary operations, both in close 
stoves and open grates. The advantages it pos- 
sesses for these purposes are the long-continuance 
and uniform combustion of the fire, the little at- 
tention it requires, freedom from smoke, ‘its 
greater cleanliness, and the little liability to com- 
municate fire from sparks, &c. Its disadvantages 
are the intensity and very drying character of 
the heat, although the latter difficulty may be 
obviated by the use of open vessels of water, with 
stoves and hot-air furnaces. The same advan- 
tages render it very superior as a fuel for numer- 
ous technical processes. After many unsuccess- 
ful attempts made in Pennsylvania to employ it 
in the reduction of iron from its ores, Mr, Crane 
fully succeeded at his iron-works in Wales, Eng~ 
land, in 1837, by the use of the hot-blast, since 
which it has been employed with variable suc- 
cess in the United States. For some technical 
operations it is less valuable, such as in the manu- 
facture of glass, in some reverberatories, where 
the transported heat of flame appears to be better 
adapted to the purposes required. Notwithstand- 
ing the great number of practical applications 
which anthracite has received, we have yet to 
witness its far more varied and general employ- 
ment both in domestic economy and in manufac- 
