Turf or peat, obtained from morasses, consists of a multitude or congeries of vegetable fibres, partly in a decomposed state, and is frequently so inflammable as to inflame by a spark. Very extensive morasses are found in some countries from which the inhabitants are supplied with fuel. Some improvements in the manner of preparing turf for use, have been made; that of charring it in kilns is one. By this process it kindles sooner, burns with less air, and forms a moderate and uniform fire, without much smoke, though it is not so lasting as that produced by turf. The method of reducing turf to coal is still practised in some parts of Bohemia, Silesia, and Upper Saxony, which was first proposed in 1669, by John Joachim Becher, who also recommended, at that time, a process for depriving coals of their _sulphur_, by burning them in an oven, and the use of the oil procured from them. What are our modern patents on this subject? What are lord Dundonald's coke ovens and coal tar? Are they original? Boyle (_Usefulness of Natural Philosophy_,) speaks of Becher's invention. Anderson, (_History of Commerce_,) however, observes, that something of the kind was attempted before Becher's time; for in the year 1627, John Hacket and Octavius Strada obtained a patent for their invention of rendering coals as "useful as wood for fuel in houses, without hurting any thing by their smoke." With respect to turf, it appears that Hans Charles von Carlowitz, to save wood, introduced the use of it in Saxony, in the smelting houses, in 1708. Turf has been known for a long time. It was used from the earliest periods, in the greater part of Lower Saxony, and throughout the Netherlands; as is fully proved by Pliny's account of the Chauci, who inhabited that part of Germany. Pliny (_Hist. Nat. lib._ xvi, c. i.) observes, that they pressed together with their hands, a kind of mossy earth which they dried by the wind rather than by the sun, and which they used, not only for cooking their victuals, but also for warming their bodies. We also read that a morass in Thessaly, having become dry, took fire, and the same thing ensued in some part of Russia, where a morass burned several days and did much damage. Very dry turf is nearly as inflammable as spunk, and when prepared with nitre, has been used for the same purpose. See _Pyrotechnical sponge_. Ure (_Chemical Dictionary_) observes, that "turf has been charred lately in France, it is said by a peculiar process, &c." The truth is, that the _charring_ of turf is by no means a recent invention, as we stated above. Sonnini (_Journal_, &c.) says, that it is superior to wood. It kindles slower than charcoal of wood, but emits more flame and burns longer. In a gold-smith's furnace, it fused eleven ounces of gold in eight minutes, while wood charcoal required sixteen.