Sequel of Mb Naismith’s Inquiry

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Mr Naismith has recently transmitted the following commu-nication, being the

Sequel of his Experimental Inquiry into the Natureof Peat-moss.

(See No. 2. of Chapter XI. page 2. of this Volume.)

When the few experiments of 1812, already recorded, wereended, the four flower-pots were deposited in a lumber garrettill the return of spring.

On the 1 6th of February 1 SI3, after the contents of all thefour were sufficiently moistened, three sound grains of wheatwere planted on each, and they were placed in the inside of awindow', in a room where a fire was kept, and regularly watered.On the 6th of March a plant appeared on No. 3. ; and on the 8ththere were two on it, and one on each of the other three.

When walking along the lower side of the peat-moss first de-scribed in the former part of this Inquiry, some fragments wereobserved which had been lifted from the bottom ; and havingbeen exposed to the weather through the winter, the annualgrowths had separated from one another, none of which exceed-ed the tenth of an inch in thickness.

March 13 ih. A part of this having been thoroughly dried,4 ounces were burnt, and yielded J-th of an ounce, or T Vh ofthe whole, of ashes or pure earth. By this it appears, that thevegetable matter is continually dissolving, though slowly, and is1 carried away in the water draining from the moss: For, accord-ing to Mr Naismith’s experiments in Prize Essay, pure moss, atthe surface, yielded only T -]-,d part of its weight in ashes: Inthe former part of this Inquiry, the dry moss submitted to com-bustion yielded -j-rTth part of its weight in ashes, at two feet be-low the surface ; and at five feet lower in the moss, the propor-tion of ashes was to the hist as 5 to 4, or something less than■ 9 %th of the burnt peat; and here the proportion of ashes in thebottom peat is T "-jth; so that in the course of ages more than -j-thsof the vegetable matter is dissolved, and washed away in water.Whether the residue be soluble in the same menstruum, does notappear to be known ; but it is probably very difficult of solution.

March 1 9th. All the flower-pots were sunk in the earth, inthe open air, and left to take the weather as it came. At thesame time, a part of the bottom moss, after it had been wellbruised, was put into another flower-pot; and there being now