109
acid:ngthition.liftedd thealienaver-raw:
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ationss allsoil,ege-, buti un*t fori, ve-s ali-teep-threep, inlid inhem.ibovethosei thej fed-•eeks;hoselthy.on ispd iton ofwithid tocom-Is itslants
cor-bun-; soilmow1 ob-
tained, so as to supply the demands of annual vegetation in re-gular succession. It has therefore been thought necessary toinquire, at considerable' length, into the nature of that process,by the agency of which the continued round of existence, decay,and resuscitation, is promoted, that we may be the better enabledto judge how this agent may be most beneficially employed. Inthe execution of this task, much technical language has beenused, to which the unlearned reader may perhaps object. But,in treating of such topics, it was found necessary to employ thenomenclature used by those who have made them their study,there being no terms in common language by which the sameideas can be properly conveyed. As pains, however, have beentaken to explain these terms, as we have gone along, by keepingthese explanations in mind, it is hoped no one will be at a lossto comprehend what has been above advanced. In tracing thechanges which occur in organization and decomposition, nothingis more staggering to the unlearned, than the doctrine of viewlessair forming parts of concrete bodies. But it is necessary here tobelieve, that HE, who formed all things of nothing, can alsoform solid bodies of liquid air.
We now proceed to submit to the judgment of the public afew thoughts on the means by which the putrefactive processmay be managed, so as to bring such organized substances as areat the husbandman’s command to a soluble state, with the leastpossible waste, which it is proposed to usher by the followingaphorisms.
1st. Soft and succulent vegetables are susceptible of moretasy and full solution than those which contain confirmed ligne-ous fibres; and the succulent parts of animal bodies, containingazote, are more soluble than vegetables.
2d. Substances, become putrid, facilitate the putrefaction ofany that are still resisting, with which they come in contact.
3d. Animal and vegetable substances, immersed in water, pu-trefy, and gradually dissolve, without generating much heat: theputrefaction goes on without ceasing, so long as they are keptwet, the component parts diffusing in the water, apparently stillin a state of combination. *
4th. It has been already observed, that dry vegetables pre-serve their organization unimpaired, so long as they are keptdry; that when only wetted and thrown in a heap, heat ensues,and the decomposition is sudden ; that, when immersed in water,the decomposition is gradual and slow. The changes which take
* That the combination of carbon, with the other ingredients of the sub-'stances, is not annihilated in this solution, is evident from this, that charcoalis not soluble in water; whereas the solid matter left after evaporating the solu-tion, is eminently so, attracting water from the air, and becoming soft wheuj?&-exposed; and dissolving in water ill all proportions.