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sometimes made manure, but are oftener thrown aside or burnt.These laid on a dry spot, and turned till the power of revivingbe fully destroyed, would greatly augment the vegetable matterof the mass, and convert an enemy to an useful friend.
From the foregoing examination of organized substances, andof the process by which they are prepared to pass into a newstate of organization, it would appear, that, of the two great a-gents, water and oxigen, the former should be in the largest ad-missible proportion, and the latter in the least. In this state,the substances dissolve in water, before the combination is alto-gether annihilated, while they are still soluble, not being maderefractory by combining with oxigen, by the heat of a rapid fer-mentation, and by the escape of the solvent, hydrogen. Forthis purpose, an excavation, largo enough to hold all the sub-stances to be prepared for manure, daily increasing in bulk, fora given period, would be a proper receptacle. It should bemade to hold water like a cup, and at the same time the marginshould be raised so much above the common level as to sufferno water to flow spontaneously into it, and wash away the solu-tion, as the substances dissolved. Here the excrements andlitter of domestic animals, together with all kinds of putresciblesubstances above enumerated, should be continually laid, mixed,and regularly spread with a level surface. These should be some-what compressed ; and if enough of rain has not fallen, watershould be thrown on them, as well to fill the interstices, and pre-vent the too free admission of air, as to macerate the substances,and keep them always in a soft and soluble state. The scrapingsof passages, where straw may' be scattered, and cattle passing,should from time to time be added. Chamber lie, soap suds, andal) kinds of foul water, should be thrown over the mass; and anyurine of animals which is not absorbed by their litter, should becarefully collected, and applied the same way.
It will probably be objected, that by the air being so muchexcluded, the fermentation by which organized bodies are de-composed, in which it is a necessary agent, will be suspended.But Fourcroy has proved, that most fermentable substances de-composed in a vacuum : and as water, in this putrid state, isstill decomposing, the oxygen, thus disengaged, will serve thepurpose of a slow fermentation. The mass will indeed remain,for a considerable time, not altogether decomposed ; but the af-finity by which the parts are held together, is greatly weakenedby being macerated in putrid water, and the whole is graduallydissolving. There is another objection, which probably has someweight with those who have the management of composite ma-nure. The organization of the straw in litter, not being quitedestroyed, the mass is held together by it, and by the watercontained in the mass, which makes the lifting from the dung-ftead much more laborious, and the fpreading on the field either