398 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
No. 20.—On the Occurrence of Ammonia in Anthracite. By 
I. H. Storer, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry. 
F Rom examinations of several samples of the coal which have been 
made in the Bussey laboratory, it appears that some soluble compound 
of ammonium is often contained in Pennsylvania anthracite, such as is 
used for fuel in this vicinity. Thus:— 
I. 932 grammes of small fragments of white-ash anthracite (‘‘ slack’’), 
taken from a bin in which coarse furnace-coal is kept at the Bussey Insti- 
tution, were percolated with a litre and a half of rain-water; the perco- 
late was distilled, and the distillate tested, with the utmost care, with 
Nessler’s reagent; * 0.021 gramme of ammonia (NH3) was found in the 
1500 cc. of percolate. But, since the rain-water itself contained 0.0005 
gramme of ammonia to the litre, the amount of ammonia obtained from 
the coal was really 0.02025 gramme, or 0.00217 per cent of the weight of 
the coal. 
II. 320 grammes of fine coal from a bin at the Bussey Institution, in 
which a not very coarse white-ash stove-coal is kept, percolated with two 
litres of rain-water and tested as before, gave 0.0036 gramme of am- 
monia, or corrected for the amount contained in the rain-water, 0.0026 
gramme, — that is to say, 0.0008 o% of the weight of the coal. 
III. 530 grammes of coal-dust from a dwelling-house in Boston, perco- 
lated with two litres of water free from ammonia, and tested as before, 
gave 0.03 gramme of ammonia, or 0.00566 0 of the weight of the coal. 
IV. 560 grammes of coal-dust, taken at another time from the same 
bin as No. II, and percolated with two and a half litres of water free 
from ammonia, gave on mere distillation 0.0025 gramme of ammonia, or 
0.00045 o% of the weight of the coal. 
V. 600 grammes of coal-dust, taken at still another time from the 
same bin as Nos. II and IV, were percolated with rain-water, and the 
percolate was distilled as before ; but no ammonia could be detected in 
the distillate, not even the amount that was known to be contained in the 
rain-water that was used. But, on transferring the residual liquor to a 
flask charged with milk of lime that had just been boiled to expel any 
trace of ammonia. and again distilling, an abundance of ammonia (nearly 
0.003 gramme) came forward, — that is to say, about 0.0005 @%. 
Several sinall bits of lime-mortar were noticed in this sample of coal- 
dust; and it was observed, furthermore, that the percolate, though color- 
less at first, soon became yellow and cloudy, and that, after a while, flocks 
of some compound of iron were deposited from it. The inference is 
* See Wanklyn’s “ Water Analysis,” London, 1874. 
