REPOR 
 
 O.N TIIK 
 
 CANADIAN PHOSPHATES 
 
 CON'.SIUEREU WITH HEKEnEXCE TO TIlEiU 
 
 APPLICATION TO AGRICULTURE 
 
 GORDON BROOMK, F.G.S. 
 
 OF THE <;i:OI.<)liIiAI. SIRVCV OF lANADA. 
 
 -!»»(< Aftociule '•/ the Royal School of Miitea, Lowlon, Enjlnnil. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Rqvi'nktl /mm ih: Canadian Naturalist (TV. T'., Xo. :>.) 
 
 - 
 
 DAWSON BUO'I HKIIS, 
 
 M ATIIEAL. 
 
 IHTO 
 
'm 
 
REPORT 
 
 ON Tirn 
 
 CANADIAN PHOSPHATES 
 
 CONSIDERKD WITH nEFKREXCK TO TIIEII! 
 
 APPLICATION TO AGRICULTURH 
 
 vr 
 
 GORDON BROOME, F.G.S. 
 
 or THE GEOLOOIOAL SrRVEY Or CAN\DA. 
 
 And Aatociale of the lioyal School <tf Minef, London, England. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Reprinled from the Canadian Naturalist (Vol. T'., No. 3.) 
 
 DAWSON BROTH BUS, 
 
 MONTRKAt. 
 
 1870 
 
S".l'> 
 
 OAKTT* BTIAM PRINTING HOUSB, 171 ST. JAMSS 8TRHT. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The present pamphlet is taken from the advance sheets 
 of the Canadian Naturalist (vol. V.,) and the contents 
 are, with a few trifling exceptions, identical with those of a 
 Paper, bearing the same title, read before the Natural 
 History Society of Montreal, on the occaeion of their 
 November meeting (November 28th, 1870.) 
 
 In commencing the publication of the present treatise, the 
 Author especially desires to convey his best thanks to Dr. T. 
 Sterry Hunt, F.R.S., for much kindness in facilitating the 
 analytical work, which was wholly conducted in his Labora- 
 tory ; and co many other gentlemen for valuable assistance 
 in the field. 
 
 The Author may venture to hope that, imperfect as the 
 first part of this contribution to Applied Science must 
 necessarily be, the results of his labours may be found 
 useful in aiding, to some extent, at least, in the advance- 
 ment of the agricultural industries of the New Dominion. 
 
 Gordon Buooaie. 
 
 Obolooical Survky OrriCKS, 
 
 Montreal, DeccmlH;!- 7tli, 1870. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Paor 
 
 Introduction ' 
 
 Uses of the Mineral Apatite 1 
 
 Uelations of Phosphoric Acid to Animal Structures 2 
 
 (Comparison between the relations of Phosphoric Acid to 
 
 Animal and VeRctable organisms 2 
 
 Phosphoric Acid in Plants 2 
 
 Table I ^ 
 
 Table II. — Phosphorus in Animal Substances 3 
 
 Natural Circles of Changes -^ 
 
 Liebih's Phinciplks or Aobiculturb "* 
 
 RirniN OF Phosphates to tub Soil "* 
 
 Necessity of Artificial Return "^ 
 
 Calculations showing the Rate of Exhaustion of Arabic 
 
 Lands "^ 
 
 Table III.— Loss of Phosphoric Acid, due to Shipments from 
 
 Montreal in the year 1869 5 
 
 Phosphoric Acid imported by Great Britain 5 
 
 Utility of Farmyard and Organic Manures 6 
 
 Insufticicncy of such Methods of Restoration 6 
 
 Loss of Phosphates due to Exportation 6 
 
 Table IV.— Analysis of average and good Soils by Dr. Hunt 7 
 
 History of Manuiies "i^ 
 
 Knowledge of the Ancients 8 
 
 Present Practice in the Channel Islands 8 
 
 History of the Erajdoyment of Bones as Fertilizers 9 
 
 Present Sources of Supply of Bones 'J 
 
 Mineral Sources of Manures 9 
 
 Statement of Liebig in 1840 ^ 
 
 Patent of J. B. Lawcs in 1842 
 
 Phosphorite of Estramadura 9 
 
 Importations of " Snperphotphatei' of Lime into England in 
 
 1854 3 
 
 English Coprolites 10 
 
 Laurentian Apatites of Canada 10 
 
 Information contained in Reports of the Geological Survey. 10 
 
 Researches of Dr. Hunt 10 
 
 Work of the Author 11 
 
▼1 
 
 I'Ai.r. 
 
 MoDii or Action or I'iiosphatic Maxl-reh 11 
 
 Ktmctions of PhoHphoiic Acid, aH a constituent of IMuntM. . . IJ 
 
 Larger proportions present in growing parts 12 
 
 Modes by which Plants obtain their Mineral food 12 
 
 llesearches of Eiclihorn 13 
 
 Action of Organic Acids 13 
 
 Absorptive Powers or .Soils 13 
 
 Analysis of Clay, and Experiments made thereon 11 
 
 Researches of Way, Thomson, Hunt, Thenard, and others . . 11 
 
 EXPERIMKNTS ON THE SOLUBILITIES OF CANADIAN APATITES 15 
 
 ilcscarches of Eichhorn, Dehcrain, and others KJ 
 
 Co»( LC8I0N8 or S. W. Johnson, 1.8 to the indirect uction of Mineral 
 
 Manures 17 
 
 Manufactcub or iSepERPHOspHATB OP Lime 17 
 
 Work done at Brockville, Ontario 17 
 
 Analysis or Superphosphate from Brockville 17 
 
 Comparative Analyses of Apatites 18 
 
 Calculations showing the amounts of Sulphuric Acid, both 
 Anhydrous and of Chamber Strength, required for the 
 conversion of Minerals of varying percentage com- 
 position 19 
 
 '1'able VII. — Tabulated Results 20 
 
 Use of the Table, No. vii 20 
 
 Employment of Hydrochloric Acid 20 
 
 Relative Amounts Required 21 
 
 Advantages of Chloride of Calcium over Sulphate of Lime. 21 
 Disiidvantages resulting from the deliquescent properties of 
 
 Chloride of Calcium 21 
 
 Driers containing Ammoniacal or Potash Salts 21 
 
 Means of overcoming the objections to Hydrochloric Acid. . 22 
 
 Cases in which Hydrochloric Acid may be preferable 22 
 
 Formation of the Acid from Steam and Common Salt 22 
 
 Corrosion of the Vessels 22 
 
 Remarks upon Education in Applied Scknck 23 
 
 Dr. Dawson's RemarksJ 23 
 
 Good effects hoped for 23 
 
 Conclusion 23 
 
CANADIAN PHOSPHATES 
 
 CONSIDERED WITH llEFERENCE TO TIIEIU USE IN AGRICULTURE. 
 
 
 
 By OOUDON BKOOME, F.G.8., 
 
 Ok the flEOLOOICAL SiRVEV OF Oamada. 
 
 (^Rtad be/ore the Natural Uutory Society ef Montreal, November, 1870.) 
 
 Among the numerous sources of wealth included within 
 the vast thickness of the Laurentian system, — those ancient 
 mctamorphic rocks developed on such a grand scale in our 
 Canadian geology, — few arc invested with a larger amount 
 of scientific interest than the mineral apatite, a substance 
 already ranking among our economics, and probably destined 
 to constitute, in the future, one of the most important of the 
 raw materials of Caua<la, one of those sinews of the 
 country, upon which her industrial advancement must ever 
 be primarily founded. 
 
 It is, therefore, highly desirable that what is at present 
 known of the extent and character of the apatite deposits 
 of Canada should at once be made available ; and that the 
 attention of this and other societies in the Dominion should 
 be, to a proper extent, directed to facts relating to a mineral, 
 at once so interesting and so practically useful. 
 
 With this in view, we would state, first of all, what are 
 the purposes to which the mineral is adapted ; the processes 
 by which it is rendered available ; and, as far as can be 
 ascertained, the past and present extent of its usefulness. 
 
 Apatite, although of some importance to the manufacturer 
 of the element phosphorus, and in the preparation of certain 
 varieties of porcclaiii, derives its chief interest from its 
 power, when used in conjunction with nitrogenous substances, 
 of restoring exhausted lands to their original fertility, and of 
 
2 
 
 incrcasin<; the value, tor agricultural purposes, of such as 
 have always been, more or less, sterile and unproductive. 
 
 Phosphoric acid is an essential element of all but the 
 lowest animal structures ; and the large quantities of phos- 
 phate of lime found in the chitinous tests of Lingula, as well 
 as in the shields of the TrilobitidaD, prove that the element 
 phosphorus possessed, from the earliest geological epochs, 
 the same importance, in its relation io the animal kingdom, 
 as at the present day ; and, since the sole source of the 
 phosphorus in animal organisms is from the vegetable king- 
 dom, it is not surprizing to find that the element is equally 
 essential to the higher orders of plants, and, more especially 
 to those which are the most adapted to the wants of animals. 
 
 The following Table, extracted, partly from the works of 
 S. W. Johnson, and in part derived from Emmons' Report, 
 on the Geology of North Carolina, exliibits this relation in a 
 very striking manner, and proves, moreover, that not only 
 the most nutritous plants, but also the most valuable portions 
 of the same species contain the highest percentages of phos- 
 phoric acid : — 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid in the Ashes of Plants. 
 
 Scries A—E 
 r.0.5 
 
 jwr tent. 
 
 llico 53 
 
 Kye 50 
 
 Wheat.... 50 
 
 Maize 45 
 
 Oats 44 
 
 Harloy .. .39 
 
 Ikans ,38 
 
 Peas 33 
 
 Turnips... 13 
 Potatoes. .13 
 Clover.... IH 
 Cabbage.. P2 
 
 ilihlc Substances. 
 
 V.O., 
 per cant. 
 
 Rico straw. ... 1 
 Ryo straw. ... 4 
 ■\V heat straw. . 3 
 Maizo straw. . . 17 
 
 Oat straw 3 
 
 Parley straw. . 3 
 Beau .straw. . . 7 
 Pease straw... 5 
 Turnip tops... 9 
 Potatoe tops.. 8 
 
 Beet root 8 
 
 Meadow grass.. 8 
 
 Series B — Miscellaneous substances. 
 
 P.O.J 
 por rent. 
 
 Leaves of Catawaba Grnpo. .18.3 
 White Ofik (Quercus Alba) 
 
 Twigs 12-7 
 
 Do. do. Wood.. 4.5 
 
 Cotton (wooloQ 11.6 
 
 Tobacio ... fi.5 
 
 Fibre of Flax 6.2 
 
 Seaweed (average) 0.28 
 
 Adthgritiks: 
 Series I. J«)hu8on. 
 Series IL 1-6 inch. Emmons. 
 7. Way. 
 
 The phosphorus of plants appears, for the most part, to bo 
 confined to the softer and more highly organized portions of 
 the structure : there is but little to answer to the lime and 
 magnesia phosphates constituting the main frame-work of the 
 liard internal skeleton of vertcbrata, or to those composing the 
 exoskeleton of cmstacea and lower orders. The phosphorus 
 
Milk (of cow) O.fiS— Haidlen. 
 
 Fibriu (of blood) ..0.58 — Fowncs. 
 Albumin (of blood) 0.40 — Miildcr. 
 
 of a ])lant would seem to correspond more closely to- that of 
 the nervous and vascular animal tissues ; as, for example, to 
 that of the brain in man, — which amounts to 0*9 per cent, of 
 the ccrebric acid, — or of the albumin and fibriu of the blood. 
 The following Table (ii), which might be great.y amplified, 
 has been compiled for the sake of comparison : — 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 PHosrnoBua in Animal Substancbs. 
 
 Ox Boue 12.25— Fronij. 
 
 Human Bono 9.21 — Kichardson.* 
 
 liinguia ovalis (.shell — recent sp.) 17.IG — Sterry Jlnnt.t 
 
 Mastodon (fossil bone) 17.13 — Pratt.t 
 
 Casein 1.42 — Miildcr. 
 
 Urino (human) ...1.24 — Berzclius. 
 Cercbric Acid (hu- 
 man brain) 0.90— Fremy. 
 
 Tiastric Juice, "j 
 
 mS, Traccs-Fownoa. 
 
 Etc, etc. j 
 
 From the researches of chcmsist and physiologists it is 
 now fully estabhshed that the element phosphorus plays a 
 most important part in the performance of nerve functions ; 
 that it undergoes many, at present, inexplicable changes 
 within the bodies of vertebrate animals ; and that various of 
 its oxy-compounds, produced by such changes, as well as the 
 phosphates resulting from the waste of the bones, are con- 
 stantly rejected from the system in a soluble condition. 
 
 There is, therefore, in the history of the clement phos- 
 phorus, a beautiful example of a complete circle of changes ; 
 and of a number Ox substances existmg, at one time or an- 
 other, in each of the three great divisions of nature, and 
 handed on, from the world of vegctablo existence to that of 
 
 • Chemical Technology, vol. ii, Article " Soluble Phosphate!*." 
 
 t First discovered by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, who, in 1854, showed the 
 shells of Lingula to have a composition identical with the bones of vcr. 
 tebratCK. (Silliman's Journal [2], vol. xvii., p. 235.) 
 
 t Report Sonth Carolina PhosphatcH, 1868. About 30 per cent, or- 
 ganic matter lost by decomposition, while the recent Lingula examined 
 by Dr. Hunt bad previously lost 38 per cent, of jricanic matter by calci- 
 nation. 
 
animal lite, before being iinally returned to inorganic nature, 
 thenceforth to be subjected to a number of chemical changes, 
 preparing them for a new round of usefulness. But, in 
 order to enable this great principle to operate completely and 
 effectually, one thing is necessary ; for, omng to the concen- 
 tration of populations in towns and cities, one link, so to 
 speak, in the chain, becomes faulty, and the return of phos- 
 phates to the soil must be aided by artificial means. 
 
 From whatever lands vegetable matters are removed in 
 the annual crops, there is a constant withdrawal of the neces- 
 sary mineral constituents of the plant, including, of course, 
 the phosphoric acid ; and, although poor or exhausted lands 
 do not shew the entire absence of i)hosphates, yet they have 
 become deficient in such phosphorus salts as are available for 
 the use of the growing plant ; and do not, especially, contain 
 enough to suffice for the cereals, containing, as they do, a 
 larger proportion of phosphoric acid than any other family of 
 plants- 
 
 Tho grain of wheat contains about 8-lOths per cent, of 
 ])liosphoric acid, which proportion amoun:s to 16 lbs. of the 
 acid to each ton (=2,000 lbs.) weight of wheat. Now the 
 amount of phosphoric acid in soil may said to average 0*2 per 
 cent. ; although, except in clays the proportion is usually 
 less. Taking 0*2 per cent, as the average <iuantity, and 
 assuming the specific gravity of soil to be 2.5, there exists in 
 the soil covering one acre of land, to the depth of 12 inches, 
 about 08.0 lbs. of phosphoric acid ; or only enough to supply 
 the phosphates to 4.10 tons of wheat. The total weight of 
 wheat, (whether as grain, or in the state of flour) exported 
 from the port of Montreal in 1860, amounted to about 
 292,534.5 tons* ; or a weight requiring the total abstraction 
 of phosphoric acid from 70,320.8 acres (=109.8 square 
 miles) of good average laud. This withdrawal of phosphoric 
 acid, equalling 2,340 tons (292,534.5x16=4,680,552 lbs. 
 =2,340 tons) would require, in order to counterbalance the 
 
 • This information was kindly fimiishod hy "Win. T. Patterson, Esq., 
 Secretary to the Montreal Board «»!' Trade. 
 
loss, the annual employment of 5,800 tons of apalite, con- 
 taining 88 per cent, of phosphate of lime ; a quantity equiva- 
 lent to t),8G4 tons of apatite of 75 per cent., or to 13,728 
 tons of " super-phosphates" of good quality. 
 
 The corresponding money value, at $35 per ton, makes 
 the total annual deficiency no less than $480,480. 
 
 Tlie losses resulting from the exportation of wheat alone 
 (either as grain or flour) have been here cstim.*ted ; and the 
 following table, compiled from Mr. Patterson's Statistical 
 Report, will afford some idea of the approximate worth of 
 all the phosphates contamcd in crops annually shipped from 
 this port : — 
 
 TABLE III. 
 
 SmsTAKCES Causisg Loss of Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 Shiptuouts 
 
 iu the year 1800 
 
 for Montreal. 
 
 Amount 
 
 or 
 Weight. 
 
 Equivalent 
 Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 Tons of 2,000 lbs. 
 
 Approximalo 
 
 Value of 
 
 Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 Flour (banels) 
 
 Wheat (bufhcls) 
 
 Com do. 
 
 Peas do. 
 
 Barley do. .... 
 Oats do 
 
 966,067 
 G,.^>95,3;« 
 108,018 
 576,984 
 103,372 
 330,738 
 
 I 2,340.0 
 
 24.3 
 
 115.4 
 
 29-4 
 
 65.5 
 
 $480,480.00 
 
 4,989.60 
 23,095.40 
 
 0,030.80 
 14,989.20* 
 
 Totals 
 
 
 2,574.6 
 
 $530,191.00 
 
 
 
 Moreover, the exports of wheat from British North 
 America are only about 7J per cent, of the total amount 
 received by Britain : so that the phosphoric acid, exported by 
 foreign countries for consumption in England, in the shape of 
 wheat alone, amounts to no less than 31,200 tons, and repre- 
 sents a tmney value of about $6,406,400 annually/. 
 
 Adding to this the imports of mineral phosphates, we have 
 a ffrand total of $15,156,400. 
 
 From these figures it is at once evident that, wherever no 
 restorative agents containing available phosphoric acid arc 
 employed by agriculturalists, the exhaustion of lands by 
 wheat crops is by no means a slow process ; even if the 
 
6 
 
 utmost allowance be made for the action of springs, and of 
 waters flowing from uncultivated lands, in bearing to the soil 
 minute quantities of phosphates, which might retard, although 
 they would be by no means sufficient to prevent a gradual 
 impoverishment. 
 
 It becomes, therefore, absolutely necessary to follow the 
 principles laid down by Liebig,* and to restore to the soils the 
 cinereal elements of which the// have been despoiled. Hence 
 the utility of fannyard and vegetable manures, as well as of 
 various products of the chemical manufactures applicable to 
 this necessary work of restoration. In no country, however, 
 can such a return of the valuable components of its soils be 
 sufficient to counterbalance the constant drain required 
 merely to furnish the elements of growth to its inhabitants : 
 for, if the utilization of sewage-matter and of every other 
 kind of organic residua Avcre effiicted to the uttermost pos- 
 sible extent, — a condition very far from being realized, — 
 there would still always be a great unavoidable waste, by 
 which the essential constituents of the soils would, in process 
 of time, be sensibly diminished ; and, since there are but few 
 countries whose entire vegetable product is applied to the use 
 of the inhabitants, but that, on the contrary, a certain pro- 
 portion is almost always exported for the benefit of other 
 lands, there is usually a ftir greater deficiency than that re- 
 sulting from irrecoverable waste. This further loss is espe- 
 cially great to those newly peopled lands, whose rich virgin 
 soils have constituted them the granaries of the Old World. 
 
 Thus a very large proportion of the vegetable produce of 
 North America, in the shape of cotton, wheat, sugar, and 
 tobacco, is employed in ministering to the necessities of 
 European countries ; and the result is a stupendous annual 
 withdrawal of their necessary constituents from all soils 
 occupied in satisfying these ever-increasing demands, and 
 this is especially true with r-^gard to their limited quantities 
 of the salts of phosphoric acid. 
 
 The annexed table (No. iv,), derived from the analyses 
 
 * Agricultural Lectures, Letters, etc., by I3amn Liebig. 
 
of Dr. T. Sterry Hunt,* shows how small is the proportion 
 of phosphoric acid usually existing in soils of even the best 
 quality ; and hence it arises that there already exist so many 
 partially, or even wholly exhausted soils in Canada, and 
 more especially in the Province of Quebec, which might 
 have been still yielding large returns of wheat crops had 
 they been, from the first, subjected t'^ a rational system of 
 tillage, coupled with the judicious and periodical use of phos. 
 phatic manures. 
 
 TABLE IV. 
 
 Analyses of Canadian Soils, showinq the Pboportioxs or Phosphoric 
 
 Acid Present. 
 
 Character. 
 
 Locality. 
 
 POb per ceut. 
 
 (l) Sandv Soil 
 
 St. Charles 
 
 .215 
 
 (2) Clavev Soil 
 
 St. Ililaire 
 
 .3yu 
 
 (3) do. do 
 
 St. Douiiuiquo 
 
 St. llvacintho 
 
 Chamblv 
 
 .152 
 
 (4) Sandv Ciav 
 
 .i«y 
 
 (r») OlaTSoil 
 
 .•i')^ 
 
 (6) Clav 
 
 .1-20 
 
 
 
 
 It is true that attempts have been made to utilize the 
 residua of the Newfoundland fisheries, and that Dr. Hunt 
 called attention to the subject in an Essay on Fish Manures 
 in 1857 ;t but very little success has been met with in their 
 employment in this country, chiefly owing to a want of the 
 necessary knowledge or spirit of enterprise amongst the 
 farmers themselves. 
 
 On proceeding to inquire into the means adopted by various 
 nations to prevent the impoverishment of their soils, it is 
 somewhat surprising to find that the great principles of agri- 
 culture, in respect to manures, were understood from the 
 earliest times, and that the practice of some, apparently less 
 civilized, communities was even far in advance of that exist- 
 ing among European nations, — at least, until the beginning 
 
 * Canada Geological Survey Reports, 1841) and 1851 ; also, in abridge- 
 ment, Report of 1863, pp. 636-64'i. 
 
 t Oeol. Survey Report, IH.'iT, pp. 218-229 ; am' Canadian Naturalist 
 
 TOl. IV. 
 
8 
 
 of the present century, when the more systematic research 
 of modern agriculturists was soon rewarded by a correspond- 
 ingly rapid improvement m the practice of farming. From 
 the earliest dates in their history, the Chinese appear to have 
 been strict economists in respect to manures, the filth of the 
 cities being most scrupulously collected for the enrichment 
 of surrounding lands. Several passages in the Bible prove 
 that Eastern nations were also aware of the importance of 
 manures, and that the Romans were in the habit of employ- 
 ing them, is evident from the writings of Virgil ; especially 
 where, in his first Georgic,* he recommended the use of 
 ordure, and of ashes, to fertilize the exhausted fields. 
 
 In no place, probably, are natural manures more religiously 
 farmed than in the Channel Islands, on the coast of Nor- 
 mandy, celebrated for their rich pastures and excellent breed 
 of cattle ; and on the Jersey coasts, the extensive flats, exist- 
 ing between high and low water-mark, are actually portioned 
 out into lots belonging to the different farmers, who, in the 
 autumn season, — for the law only then permits its removal, — 
 gather in the rank sea-week (tenned Vrjack) as scrupulously 
 as they harvest the produce of their fields, which mainly owe 
 then* fertility to the rich saline ashes resulting from the com- 
 bustion of the sea-weed, itself a minute fragment of the 
 enormous waste constantly poured into the sea from the rivers 
 upon which London and other great cities are situated. f In- 
 numerable have been the plans proposed by engineers and 
 men of science for the utilization of this vast waste of animal 
 products ; and the partial success already attained begins to 
 be shown in the increased productiveness of many fields and 
 gardens upon the confnes of London. 
 
 '■ " Sed tamon alteris facilis labor, arida tantuin 
 Ne saturare flmo pingui padeat sola, novo 
 
 Effetos cinorom immaudum jactaro per agros," 
 
 ' Georgicon, lib. i;. Hues 79-^31. 
 
 f From Horace's epithet " vilior algii," it is probable that the Romans 
 ■were not aware of the fertilizing properties of sea-weed. The stigma 
 implied can no longer apply to the source of so many valuable salts, and 
 of 90 much productiveness when used as a manure. 
 
With regard to bones, their employment as fertilizers cer- 
 tainly dates as far back as 1770 ;* and the supplies at present 
 required in England arc chiefly derived from Germany, 
 Prussia, and the Baltic coasts.f The catacombs of Egypt 
 have actually been ransacked for their supplies of bones ; 
 and the mummies of her kings and warriors, scrupulously 
 preserved for a thousand years, have at length been sold by 
 their descendants, to aid in the nourishment of far off lands,:}: 
 
 Of the enormous importations of guano, nothing need here 
 be said, except that their annual amount is said to be 200,000 
 tons, with a value of about 812,500,000. 
 
 The attention of English merchants was first turned to 
 purely mineral sources of manures by the statement, made 
 by Liebig, in 1840, that, by treatment with sulphuric acid in 
 certain proportions, they could be converted into soluble com- 
 pounds ;§ and, two years later, J. J3. Lawes obtained a patent 
 for the preparation of superphosphates from the mineral 
 apatite, instead of from bones, which had even then reached 
 a high price. II The supply of mineral phosphates was at first 
 drawn from the great deposits of Estramadura, in Spain, 
 {Vide table vi., for analysis of the phosphates from that 
 locality) ; but the better kinds of the mineral were soon, to 
 a great extent, exhausted, and the attention of manufacturers 
 was then directed to the coprolithic phosphates — or fossilized 
 exuviae of the tertiary strata of Suffolk, and the older rocks of 
 Cambridgeshire and North Wales, all of which are compara- 
 tively poor in phosphates, containing only from 30 to 50 per 
 cent, of phosphate of lime. In 1854, the value of the " super- 
 phosphates^* manufactured from mineral sources ui England 
 was as much as $8,750,000 ; and the demand for the cotton 
 
 * See the works of Arthur Youug, published about 1770. 
 
 t Tufc Richardson aud Watt's Chemical Techuology, vol. ii., article 
 " Soluble Phosphates." 
 
 X Had Shakespeare lived in the nineteenth century, there would have 
 been an awful sipnificance in the words — " Cursed be he that moves my 
 honet !' 
 
 $ Vide Liebig's Lectures on Agricultural Chemistry. 
 
 II Vide Specifications for British Patents, 1842. (No. 9,253, May 23rd.) 
 
10 
 
 lands of the Southern States of the American Union is now 
 probably fully one-third of that amount.* 
 
 The coprolites are fast becoming dearer and poorer, and, 
 consequently, owners of works iu England are becoming 
 every year more eager to satisfy themselves from foreign 
 scources ; of which those of Canada and South Carolina only 
 are of any considerable magnitude. 
 
 The South Carolina phosphates are very comparable in 
 character to some of the phosphatic beds of Great Britain ; 
 their quantity is apparently very great ; but they are by no 
 means rich, and average from 25 to 60 per cent, of phos- 
 phates. Large quantities, on the other hand, of the Lauren- 
 tian apatites, on the shores of L. Rideau, in Canada, can be 
 obtained, averaging from 60 to 85 per cent.; and the only 
 wonder is that (they have not been utilized long since, com- 
 prising, as they undoubtedly do, a source of much prosperity. 
 
 It is not the object of the present paper to describe the 
 mineralogical characters of the Canadian apatites : much in- 
 formation upon the subject will be found in xha Reports of the 
 Geological Survey of Canada, for 1863 and 1866 f; and as, 
 since those dates, many new localities have been discovered, 
 subsequent Reports will probably complete the description. 
 In this connection, the author would desire, in an especial 
 manner, to acknowledge his indebtedness to Dr. T. Sterry 
 Hunt, F.R.S., who has for many years past been periodically 
 making public, in a readily available form, the results of his 
 systematic and admirable researches in this branch of Chemi- 
 cal Geology, and, more particularly, in his valuable Reports 
 issued by the Geological Survey of Canada. Reference may 
 especially be made to the Reports of 1848, 1863, and 1866 ; 
 to an Essay written for the Exposition (Paris) of 1867, 
 and to the Report of 184 7-48 J where he mentions the first 
 
 " Richardson and "Watt's Cliomical Techuologj, vol, ii., Article 
 " Soluble Phosphates." 
 
 t Vide Geol. of Canada, 18C3, and Report of Dr. T. S. Hunt, for 1866. 
 
 t Reports of Dr. T, S. Hunt 1848, pape ; 18G3, page ; 18GC, 
 page 
 References to other labours in this subject will be found in tbe above- 
 
11 
 
 discovery hy himself, in 1847, of the Apatite of Ljiuark Co., 
 (Ontario, ami moreover, remarks on the j)robable vahie of tlic 
 dcposiis,aud their application to the manufacture of mineral 
 manures, — a bnuich of industry then but in its infancy. 
 
 A few remarks upon the geological portion of the subject 
 will be found in a ])aper read by the author at the Troy 
 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement 
 of Science,* in August last ; as well as in a note, shortly to 
 be laid before the Geological Society of Londonf : but the 
 history of these interesting deposits is by no means complete ; 
 and it is hoped to return to the subject in a future communi- 
 cation to this Society. 
 
 Facts upon the modus operandi of the j)hosphatic and 
 other mineral manures are more especially desirable ; and it 
 may be well here to briefly to discuss a few points connected 
 with their action upon arable lands. 
 
 With regard to the relation of phosphorus to plant-life, we 
 have, first of all, tlio well established fact that a deficiency 
 of that clement in the parent soils produces a corresponding 
 diminution in the weight of the crop, and renders it, more- 
 over, very liable to various diseases ; and that the addition 
 of phosphorus compounds, in a state fit for the nourishment 
 of the plant, always effects a great increase of fertility. But, 
 with regard to this increase, it has been found to be out of all 
 proportion to the actual requirements of the growing plant 
 with respect to phosphoric acid. The waters in contact with 
 
 mentioned Reports, but it will be desirable to quote from that of 
 1817-4'j, now, unfortunately, almost inaccessiblo : — 
 
 " The p.iosphate of lime is largely contained in wheat, and the cx- 
 hiutstion of this ingredient is one great cause of the sterility of our worn . 
 out wheat lands. In a grain-growing country like Canada, therefore, 
 the existence of such deposits as these will prove of great importance.'' 
 
 *• Under these circumstances, the limestone just described, which con 
 tains throughout it a large supply of this important substance, is cer- 
 tainly well worthy of the attention of our agriculturalists." 
 
 * Ou Apatites of Lanark Co., Ont., by Gordon Broome, F.G.S., Proc. 
 
 Amer. Assoc, 1870. 
 
 t Laurentian Apatites of Canada, by the same. Qaar. Jour. Geol. 
 
 Soc. circ. February, 1870. 
 
 2 • 
 
12 
 
 the roots may, and often do, contain a sufficiency of phos- 
 phates for maintaining unchanged tlic composition of the 
 plant, and yet the addition of phosphatic manures produce 
 a vastly increased yield. The only rational explanation of 
 these facts, and that which the researches of agricultural 
 chemists appear to corroborate, is that the phosphates, besides 
 forming important elements in the actual material of the 
 plant, are also able to act as carriers of the requisite nourish- 
 ment to the growing parts; and that, just as, in the animal 
 economy, certain substances, as, for example, the salts of 
 iron, give a tone to the system by aiding the powers of 
 secretion and cell-formation ; so, in the vegetable world, and, 
 more especially, in the important families of Gramiuaceaj and 
 Leguminoc, phosphoric acid stimulates the assimilative powers, 
 cxches an increase of vitality, and, in consequence, augments 
 the fecundity of the germ, and enlarges the proportional rate 
 of increase. The consideration of certain analyses of Woods, 
 published in the first volume of Dr. Percy's Metallurgy, and 
 also of a series in Emmons' Report on the Geology of South 
 Carolina for 1858, pp. 59-78, (and also the second series 
 of Table I., ante p. 8) has led me to this conclusion; for 
 such analysis shew that the twigs and leaves arc richer in 
 phosphates, and other mineral elements, than the bark or the 
 solid wood ; whilst, in the cotton-plant, Orace-Calvert has 
 shown that more soluble acid-phosphate of magnesia exists 
 in the pod, than in the husk or stalk.* 
 
 From Table I., it will be seen that, whilst the ashes of 
 solid oak contain 4*5 per cent, of phosphoric acid, the 
 quantity present in those of the young twigs amounts to 
 12*7 per cent., or more than 2-75 times the proportion 
 present in the wood. 
 
 Those parts, therefore, wliich are pre-eminently in a state 
 of rapid development, are the most abundantly furnished with 
 phosphates, doubtless, having their own peculiar functions to 
 perform in assisting the developmental process. 
 
 Ab to the manner in which plants derive their saline con- 
 
 * Brit. As-soc. Rep. 1869. 
 
i:5 
 
 stitucuts from the soil, there is still some degree of uncer- 
 tainty ; whether they imbibe those salts already existing in a 
 state of solution, and thus obtain the mattei- required for 
 their ^^rowth ; or whether they dissolve out certain elements 
 from the soil, l)y the solvent action of their own juices. 
 
 Eichhoni's results demonstrate that pure distilled tvater 
 can duisolve from the soil much more of mineral matter than 
 would be requisite for the supply of an ordinary crop.* The 
 solvent powers of waters are also in almost every case, nmch 
 augmented by the presence of carbonic acid, and occasion- 
 ally, doubtless, by the existence in them of dissolved organic 
 acids, t These acids do not, in all probability, exert any 
 very important influence in dissolving food for the plant, so 
 long as they exist in growing vegetation, but only on their 
 being eliminated by processes of I'atural decay. When thus 
 released, they arc probably very active in dissolving com- 
 pounds of sesc^uioxide of iron, and alumina ; as is, indeed, 
 abundantly proved by the occurrence in nature of such 
 minerals as beauxite, mellitc, pigotite and oxalite, com- 
 pounds in which scsquioxidc of iron or alumina, exist, com- 
 bined with Avater and an organic acid, J 
 
 The utility of decaying vegetable matters as a manure, 
 may, conseciuently, be due as well to the solvent action of 
 certain products of their decomposition, as to the fertilizing 
 properties of their several mineral constituents. 
 
 The absorptive powers of soils tend, moreover, to con- 
 centrate within their mass certain mineral constituents, 
 derived from small proportional (juantities of them existing in 
 infiltrating Avaters ; and this absorption is very marked 
 between phosphoric-acid compounds and soils of a clayey 
 character, which seem especially adapted for their retention. 
 
 For the sake of demonstrating this fact, an experiment 
 
 * Poggoudorf Annalen, No. 9, 1858, etc. ; also Johnson, in Sillimnu'ti 
 Journal, [vJ] xxviii., 1869. 
 
 t Vide Chemistry of Natural "Watertf, by Dr. T. Storrj Hunt, in 
 Sillinians Journal, 1865. 
 
 X Ibid. 
 
14 
 
 was made upon a gray, infusible i ire-clay, which proved, 
 upon analysis, to possess the following percentage com- 
 position : — 
 
 Q-i- • *«:i S combined silica 157 -y.) I ro.to 
 
 SihcicAc.d J iveo.ancl 20-50 ( ^'^ "^'^ 
 
 Alumina (Uy difforeuce) 'iG'7J 
 
 Iedh Cprotox.) triK'Of< 
 
 liiino 0- J2 
 
 Miipnesift truces 
 
 Soda 1 '•'!>} 
 
 Potassa 1 W 
 
 Olilorino, Ammonia, and Phosphoric Acid traces 
 
 Orfjanie matter (l-Od 
 
 Water (llygroscopic 1-3H) 11'47 
 
 lUOOO 
 
 One hundred grammes of this clay were washed upon a 
 largo filter, until the filtrate was quite free from solid matter, 
 and a solution (containing 10 grm. to 1 litre) of phosphate 
 of soda was then caused to filter slowly through the mass, by 
 a syphon arrangement, in about 2-1 hours. 
 
 The solution extracted a quantity of humic acid, dissolved 
 out by the action of the alkaline salt, and contained only 
 8'ol2 grammes of phosphate of soda, with a little alumina, 
 lime, and sesquioxide of iron. Such a clay being, practi- 
 cally a pure silicate of alumina and water, the large absorp- 
 tion is in a great measure due to a reaction between the 
 hydrated silicate of aliunina, or clay, and the phosphate of 
 soda, resulting in the formation of a phosphate of alumina, 
 and the fixmg of a portion of soda at the same time by the 
 aluminous silicate. 
 
 This power of clay was first explained by Way and Thom- 
 son ; * though it was, remarked by the Dean of Westminster 
 in 1849,t who suggests that it is shown by the concentration 
 of phosphates occurring in certain clayey nodules, termed 
 Septaria, common in the Lias of England. 
 
 It is probable, that the formation of many great phosphatic 
 deposits, of marine origin, including perhaps the Canadian 
 apatites, is most reasonably explicable by referring to these 
 
 R, AgrJc. Soc. Journ. Eng. (xi. 68-74 ; xii. 317-380 ; xiii. 123-140.) 
 t Brit. Assoc. Keport, 1849. 
 
15 
 
 absoii)tivc powers ; and this is rondcred the more likely by 
 the fact that all of the mineral Tvaters occurring in the 
 Paloeozoic rocks of Canada, which Dr. Hunt beautifully 
 designates as fos.^il sea-waters, * contain traces of phosphoric 
 acid, resembling in this respect the waters of modern seas. 
 
 The absorptive powers of soils are due to a combined 
 chemical and molecular action, the completeness of which is, 
 to a very great extent, dependont upon the mechanical 
 condition of the mass. 
 
 Soluble pho.^phatea of lime, when thrown over the surface 
 of the land, arc quickly converted into the insoluble tribasic 
 salt, by the action of carbonates and basic compounds ; but 
 the product, being in a state of extreme division, is readily 
 dissolved by water charged ^ith carbonic acid, and also, as 
 shown ])y Licbig, by solutions of ammoniacal salts, or of the 
 chlorides and nitrates of the alkalies. 
 • These modes of solution are exceedingly important from an 
 agricultural point of view, since they shew the advantage of 
 compound manures, formed by the addition of ammonia or pot- 
 ash salts to the ordinary "super-phosphates " In an experi- 
 ment, recently made by me, for the purpose of ascertaining the 
 solubility of apatite in carbonic-acid water, it was found that, 
 by digestion of the finely pulverized mineral for twenty-four 
 hours, at a temperature of CO"^ F., agitating frequently, a 
 saturated solution of carbonic acid is capable of dis- 
 solvmg if"-'.fT parts of the mineral. Similarly conducted ex- 
 periments ■with solutions of sal ammoniac, and of potassic 
 chloride, gave respectively, the proportions t>V- and nSi.j 
 
 Alkaline carbonates also dissolve apatite, with the forma- 
 tion of carbonate of lime and a phosphate of the alkali ; and 
 these reactions explain the existence of phosphate of lime 
 in sea-water, a fact long smce demonstrated by Clemm and 
 Forchhammcr. $ 
 
 t Tide Geology of Canada, 1863, pp. 561-564. 
 
 • Portions of a lino sca-grocu prismatic crystal of the iJurjrops 
 apatite wero used ia those trials. For its composition, kcc Analysis 
 on p. 18. 
 
 t J. fur Prakt. Chim. xxxiv.,185; also Berzclias, Jahresb, xi\v., HO:?. 
 
10 
 
 By means of sulphurous acid, also, in a state of ac^ueuus 
 solution, apatite may be dissolved to the extent of ahout 
 tAs parts, under tl e above conditions ; but this last reaction 
 has not such an important bearing upon the theory of agri- 
 culture as those already described. 
 
 The researches of Th<inard, upon the action of clays on 
 phosphate of lime in carbonic-acid solution, show that 
 insoluble phosphate of alumina is formed, whilst the solution 
 contains all the lime, as carbonate^ ; but, as the alumina in 
 clays is not in the free state, an acid silicate of alumina is 
 probably at the same time produced. 
 
 Th(:;nard also stated (loc. cit.^ that, by the action of an 
 aqueous solution of silicate of lime upon [)hosphate of alumina, 
 silicate of alumina is precipitated, whilst tribasic [ihosphate of 
 lime (separable by means of carbonic acid) is also produced. 
 By repeating Tliiinard's experiment, a solution was obtained, 
 containing .011 gm. of lime silicate to the litre of water, 
 which was com})letcly decomposed in the manner indicated 
 by Th(*nard, by long boiling with pure artificial ]»hosi)hate of 
 alumina, or with the clay previously used, which contains 
 some phosphoric acid. Since, however, heat is requisite to 
 the success of this reaction, it is more ])robable that, in 
 nature, double silicates of alkalies with lime or magnesia, play 
 the part hero assigned to solution of simple silicate of lime. 
 
 Deh(3rain || asserts that the reverse of this reaction results 
 between phosphate of sesqui-oxyd of iron and carbonate of 
 lime: and it is probable that the surrounding conditions, as 
 to temperature, relative amounts, and mechanical division, 
 determine the nature of the resulting chanure. This was notablv 
 the case in Eichhorn's remarkable experiments iq>on the 
 solubility of chabazite and natrolite in various saline solutions: 
 and, on the whole, it would seem that the numerous known 
 instances of departure from a regular order of affinities in 
 such reactions tend to show that the relations of many bodies, 
 with regard to their mutual affinities, arc disjwscd to vary in 
 
 " Conipt. Rond. de I'Acdd. den Scieiipos, FcIk 1, ISfi^. 
 + Qnutod by .IuIiuhou, iu the paper previously cited. 
 
17 
 
 obedience to changes in the physical conditions under which 
 they may be brought together. 
 
 Finally, in concluding this branch of our enquiries, it may 
 be stated that, reasoning from the researches of Th^nard, 
 Eichhorn, Way, and others, Johnson was led to conclude that 
 the efficiency of mineral manures is, in most cases, to be 
 abscribed to their indirect action, and not, as had been 
 previously supposed, to their direct influence as sources of 
 food to the growing plant. 
 
 We may now pass on to consider the manufacture of 
 *' superphosphates" from the mineral apatite, which is at 
 present in progress at but one factory in the Dominion of 
 Canada, namely, at the Brockville Chemical Works, under the 
 management of Mr. A. Cowan, to whose kindness I am 
 indebted for the sample of " superphosphate," the analysis of 
 which will be found below, as well as for valuable information 
 with regard to the process employed. An engine of about 
 fifteen-horse power suffices for grinding the mineral, for 
 turning the agitator during the digestion of the apatite with 
 crude oil of vitriol, and for supplying steam to the sulphuric- 
 acid chambers, which are adjacent to the mills. Tlie (juantity 
 of superphosphate of lime obtained does not, at present, exceed 
 six tons per diem, owing to the insufficient yield of the acid 
 chambers. The quality of the product will be seen from the fol- 
 lowing complete analysis recently made upon a frcbh sample 
 
 TABLE V. 
 
 ANALYBia OF " ScPERPHOSPnATE,'' OK LiME, 
 
 (From Brockville Chemical Works, November, 1870.) 
 
 Per cent. 
 Superphosphate of Lime 20 . 'M 
 
 = CaO,2HO. PO.,. 
 Tribnsic Phosphate of Lime 2 . 39 
 
 = sCaO, P0«. 
 Phosphate of Iron (Pe, O3) 2.23 
 
 AlniniDH . 43 
 
 Magnesia tr. 
 
 Dihyilrated Sulphate of Lime G3 . 81 
 
 (iyp8um=Ca 0. S O3 + 2 H 0. 
 Insoluble in Hydrochloric Acid, (principal!}' 
 
 Mica) 3..'-.;) 
 
 Chloride of Sodium . 4r. 
 
 Vater T) . fw) 
 
 Alkaline SalphatCR and loss 1.24 
 
 Total 100 . (M) 
 
 •V • 
 
18 
 
 Soluble Phosphoric Acid (P Os) 12 . 33 
 
 Insoable (anhydrous) 2.12 
 
 14.45 
 
 To produce this fertilizer equal weights of crude sulphuric 
 acid (of chamber strength,) and of the finely divided 
 mineral, are thoroughly mixed in a suitable vat, or tub, until 
 the conversion is deemed complete, when a trap h raised at 
 the bottom of the vessel, and the thick, j)asty mass allowed to 
 flow over the floor, where it soon becomes sufficiently con- 
 solidated to be packed in barrels. * English manufacturers 
 are in the habic of storing their " superphosphates" in pits or 
 cellars built for the purpose, and they thus obtain a fertilizer 
 contahiing a comparatively small quantity of water. They 
 also employ somewhat stronger acid, and agitato the mixture 
 in covered vessels. 
 
 Table III shows the composition of six apatites, represent- 
 ing the pure mineral of different districts ; the first analysis 
 being one made upon a crystal of pure translucent sea-green 
 apatite, from the " crystal vein," on lot 5, of the fifth 
 concession of N. Burgess, which had a specific gravity of 
 3.20y. 
 
 TABLE VI. 
 
 Comparative Analysis of Apatites and Phosphorite. 
 
 Phosphoric Acid. 
 
 Liinu 
 
 Almniiiii 
 
 C:ilcium 
 
 Iron (I'«, 0,,) 
 
 Silicic Acid 
 
 Chlorine 
 
 Fiuoriuo 
 
 "VV'utor (Air dried) . 
 T«.tals. 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 41.31) 
 41>.7U 
 
 4i.y5 
 
 53.84 
 0.38 
 
 43.01 
 ^5.24 
 
 41.1)!* 
 
 5ri.i).-> 
 
 37. U« 
 54.0 
 
 42.31 
 
 55.0H 
 
 4.18 
 
 tr. 
 
 tr. 
 
 38 
 3.58 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 Alks 
 
 0.17 
 
 .T.I 
 
 0.H2 
 
 4.1U 
 
 und. 
 
 0.42 
 
 O.Oi) 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 'l 1 '. 
 
 lint 
 
 
 1.70' 
 
 0.20 o.:m 
 
 2.1()i nud. 
 
 O.O.") 
 und. 
 
 0.01 
 4.20 
 
 
 
 ... 1 
 
 It 
 
 1U1.8J 
 
 yd.tju 
 
 iu2.i;. 
 
 y8.47 y7 80 
 
 1. lUn-fjios.^, C:uiudii.--IJn>onie. 
 II. Krafruroc. Norway.- -Volckler. 
 III. FaldiKi, Tyrol.— joy. 
 
 I.. II., III., find IV.. " iuor-Aiio- 
 tites. 
 
 IV. Tokovaia, Ural. — Pusircvski. 
 V. Kstramadura, Spain.-Daubcny. 
 VI. IIurdHtowi), N«\v Jersey, U.S. 
 — Jackson. 
 
 II. Cblor- Apatite. V. Phosphorite 
 
 * Eai'h ofwhicl- untains 2(-> lbs. 
 
• ; 19 
 
 jkpart from all associated matters, the apatite employed at 
 the Brockville works may be said to contain 92 per cent, of 
 phosphate of lime, and 7.2 per cent, of fluoride of calcium. 
 When such a mineral, commingled with its gangue of calcitc, 
 is digested with a proper proportion of sulphuric acid, three 
 separate reactions result : — 
 
 (a.) The tribasic phosphate yields up two- thirds of its 
 lime to the free acid, the remaining atom forming, with the 
 whole of the phosphoric acid present, the super-phosphate of 
 lime (acid phosphate of lime). 
 
 (J).') The calcite is wholly converted into gypsum, with 
 evolution of carbonic acid. 
 
 (<;.) The fluoride is decomposed, with foraiation of hydro- 
 fluoric acid and gypsum,* 
 
 These reactions may be represented as follows : — 
 
 (rt.) n Ca 0, PO, 1 2 no, S0,=2 Ca 0, SO, : Ca O, 
 HO, PO,. 
 
 (i.) Ca 0, CO^ + IIO, SO,=Ca 0, SO3 + 110 i CO/. 
 
 (c.) Ca F ! no, SO,=Ca 0, SO^ ; IIF\ 
 
 From the consideration of the atomic weights of these 
 substances, it will appear that 100*00 parts of phosphate of 
 lime (tribasic) will require r)l'01 parts of anhydrous acid 
 (SO3), to convert it completely into the acid phosphate ; 
 that lOO'OO i)art3 of iluoride of calcium requires OD'OO parts 
 of the same anhydrous acid (or, in round immbers, an ccjual 
 amount) to produce the reaction shewn in equation (c); and 
 that lOO'OO parts of calcspar will rc(iuire GG'OO parts of acid 
 for its complete decomposition. 
 
 One part of apatite, of the percentage indicated as repre- 
 senting the pure mineral of iJrockville works, will require 
 •92 + (•51()lX*07.)^-r)45 parts of anhydrous sulphuric acid 
 exactly to effect the desired changes. 
 
 The following table (Table No. vii.), compiled from thcso 
 
 • This irritates tho workmen'^ lunpa so preatly that they tro in the 
 habit of usinj? rudo reHpirat«)r8, formed of 8iM>iigc. It in much more 
 obnoxious in foppy, still wciitlior, than wlion any broczo is l»Iowinp> 
 which 800U frees tho worlds from tiio nuist ponutratinp and disagrceabio 
 odour. 
 
20 
 
 data, e.xliibits the amounts of anhydrous acid, and also of 
 acid, of specific gravity 1.712 (i.e., of the usual chamber 
 strength), necessary for the complete conversion of one hun- 
 dred parts, by weight, of mineral containing various percent- 
 ages of apatite, of the above composition, with a wholly 
 calcareous matrix : — 
 
 TABLE VII. 
 Acid iieqcired to chaxgg Apatites to " Sn>ERpnosPHATES." 
 
 lUO parts of Mineral 
 
 Acid I Acid 
 
 composed of 
 
 i Specific Gravity 
 
 
 Anhydrous. 1.712=134>^T. 
 
 Apatite. Calcite 
 
 
 100 
 
 ... 54.5 . 
 
 
 .... 90-8 .... 
 
 98 ... . 2 
 
 . . 55.0 . 
 
 
 • • • 
 
 . 91.7 ... 
 
 
 UG . . . . 4 
 
 . . . 55.5 . 
 
 
 < • • 
 
 . 92.5 . . . 
 
 
 94 ... . G 
 
 . . . .56.0 . 
 
 i ... 
 
 . 93.3 . . . 
 
 
 92 ... . « 
 
 . . . 5(5.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 94.2 . . . 
 
 
 90 10 
 
 ... 57.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 95.0 . . . 
 
 
 8S .... 12 
 
 . . . 57.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 95.8 . . . 
 
 
 86 .... 14 
 
 . . .58.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 96.7 . . . 
 
 
 84 .... 10 
 
 ... 58.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 97.5 . . . 
 
 
 82 .... 18 
 
 . . . .59.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 9S.3 . . . 
 
 
 HO 20 
 
 . . . r.9..'-. . 
 
 
 
 . i)9.l . . . 
 
 
 78 .... 22 
 
 . . . 60.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 100.0 ... 
 
 
 70 .... 24 
 
 . . . 00.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 100.9 ... 
 
 
 74 .... 20 
 
 ... 01.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 101.7 ... 
 
 
 72 .... 2S 
 
 ... 01.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 102.5 . . . 
 
 
 70 .... 30 
 
 . . . 02.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 103.3 . . . 
 
 
 08 .... a2 
 
 ... 02.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 104.2 . . . 
 
 
 00 .... 34 
 
 ... 63.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 105-0 . . . 
 
 
 04 .... TO 
 
 . . . 03.5 . 
 
 
 
 . 105.9 . . . 
 
 
 02 38 
 
 ... 04.0 . 
 
 
 
 . 106.7 . . . 
 
 
 CO 40 
 
 ... 64-5 . 
 
 
 
 . 107-5 . . . 
 
 
 The use of this table is that it ought to prevent any danger 
 of having free sulphuric acid in the product, or of proceeding 
 further than the complete conversion of apatite into soluble 
 phosphate. By means of a table of specific gravities, the 
 quantity of acid, of any required strength, may be easily 
 estimated for treatment of a given mmeral. 
 
 The conversion of apatite into acid phosphate of lime may 
 may also be effected by the use of hydrochloric acid, and, 
 under certain circumstances, this method may be preferable 
 to the use of the oil of vitriol. For 36*5 parts of hydro- 
 
21 
 
 chloric acid (HCl.) will convert the same amount of phos.. 
 phatc into a soluble form as 40' parts of sulphuric acid 
 (SO3) ; whilst in the case of an apatite, a farther amount 
 of vitriol 18 employed in the decomposition of fluoride of 
 calcium. By the employment of oil of vitriol to form 
 hydrochloric acid, by acting on common salt, and using the 
 product for the conversion of apatite, one part of vitriol may 
 be made to answer to 1*14 parts of vitriol applied by a direct 
 method ; and, in the decomposition of calcite, one part of 
 hydrochloric acid will answer to 1*096 parts of sulphuric 
 acid.* 
 
 The saving of the acid employed, by the adoption of this 
 method, would more than counterbalance the extra expense, 
 and the chance of further loss by a multiplication of the 
 operations ; and another advantage over the ordinary power 
 would result from the lime salt produced being the soluble 
 chloride, and not insoluble (comparatively) gypsum, which, 
 by mechanically protecting a portion of the apatite from 
 complete conversion, doubtless accounts for the presence of 
 2-39 per cent, of unmodified lime-phosphate in the product 
 analysed.! 
 
 The deliquescent properties of chloride of calcium have, 
 however, becr« found, by many English manufacturers, to 
 constitute a serious objection to the employment of hydro- 
 chloric acid : the product being apt to remain in a moist 
 unsaleable condition. 
 
 It will not, however, be diflBcult to understand, from the 
 remarks already made, that combined ammoniacal, or potassic, 
 and phosphatic manures possess many advantages over simple 
 " superphosphates," and that such composts are likely more 
 and more to replace the ordinary soluble phosphates. English 
 and German manufacturers are, indeed, fast learning to pro- 
 duce such compounds ; and numerous nitrogenous substances 
 have been utilized for this purpose, including products 
 
 • 40 parts of SOj will produce from Na. CI. 365 parts of U. CI. 
 
 t Corrosion of chambers or ressels, aod accessibility of tbo acid must 
 iu all cases bo tokeu into account. 
 
obtained from blood, or animal refuse, (as for example, the 
 •waste of the enormous butcheries at Chicago) ; others from 
 the refuse of tan-yards ; from the ammoniacal products of 
 gas-works ; and a number of the residua resulting from 
 various chemical manufactories. " Superphosphates," pro- 
 duced by the action of muriatic acid upon apatites, might 
 reaeily be dried up by these materials ; thus overcoming the 
 objections arising from the pastey condition of the product, 
 and, at the same time nearly doubling the value of the 
 fertilizer.* 
 
 Sulphurous acid, also, produced directly from the roasting 
 of pyrites, has been applied successfully for the formation of 
 " suphcrphosphates " from animal sources ; but further ex- 
 periments on the subject are necessary, to shew whether it 
 would, or would not, be appUcable for the conversion of 
 apatites or other mineral phosphates. 
 
 Before concluding the subject, one very ingenious process, 
 patented by MM. M. L. Henrionnct and L. C. Boblique, in 
 Nov. 18G0, t (see Patent Abridgements, in Appendix to 
 Richardson and Watt's Chemical Technology) may be 
 noticed, in which hydrochloric acid, generated during the 
 process itself, by the reaction taking place between steam, 
 silicic acid, and common salt, is employed in the manufacture 
 of soluble phosphates. 
 
 The finely pulverized apatite, mixed with 2-3rd3 parts of 
 common salt, and about 18 per cent, of silica, is heated, 
 in a current of steam, upon the bed of a reverberatory 
 furnace ; when the following reactions arc produced : 
 
 (a) Si 0, ! Na CI ;- li 0=H CI + Na 0, Si 0, 
 
 (b) 3 Ca 0, PO, ! 2 II Cl=Ca 0, 2 HO, PO5 + 2 Ca CI. 
 
 • Sawdust, previousl}' Batnrated with sulphuric acid, has boon 
 patented, by Messrs. Sugden aud Maryatt, for the absorption of am- 
 monia from coal-}:as. "When exhausted, it contains from 40 to CO per 
 cent, of sulphate of ammonia, and is valued at from ^^f) to $30 per 
 ton of 2,240 lbs. — Vide Report on Industrial Chemistry ("Paris Exposi 
 lion) 18(>7, by J. Lawrence Smith, U. S. Commissioner. 
 
 ♦ IJorzclius Jrthrcfjbcricbt, 1801. 
 
23 
 
 The process possesses considerable theoretical interest, and 
 tvould be, if practically cdectivc, exceedingly economical. 
 
 And here my remarks must, for the present, be drawn to 
 a close ; much that remains to bo said upon this comprehen- 
 sive subject being proposed for a future opportunity : but I 
 cannot conclude without giving expression to one thought, 
 strongly impressed upon my mind by the consideration of 
 these topics ; namely, that the comparatively doi mant state 
 of this, and many equally obvious sources of industry in 
 Canada, arizes from a gi-eat deficiency in a most important 
 division of our national education ; and that nothing, save a 
 liberal augmentation of the ordinary courses of instruction 
 in modern subjects, can ever prove cHcctual in dispelling the 
 immense existing cloud of ignorance and prejudice. It is, 
 therefore, sincerely to be hoped that the very able remarks, 
 recently made by Principal Dawson upon this question, may 
 have their desired effect ; and that Canada may speedily 
 obtain a share in the improvements that have, of late, almost 
 revolutionized the systems of education prevailing in the 
 universities of the mother country.