Water 6.10 6.28 3.03 Charcoal 5.05 2.19 2.02 Phosphates 79.20 71.10 88.55 Carbonate of lime 4.05 3.55 5.60 Alkaline salts 0.15 traces ... Sand 5.45 16.90 0.80 ------ ------ ------ 100.00 100.00 100.00 Bone ash has hitherto been almost entirely consumed as a raw material for the manufacture of superphosphates; but as it is sold at from L4: 10s. to L5: 10s. per ton when containing 70 per cent of phosphates, it is, in reality, a very cheap source of these substances, and merits the attention of the farmer as an application in its ordinary state. Of strictly mineral phosphates, a considerable variety is now in use, but they are employed exclusively in the manufacture of superphosphates, as in their natural state they are so hard and insoluble, that the plant is incapable of availing itself of them. _Coprolites._--This name was originally applied by Dr. Buckland to substances found in many geological strata, and which he believed to be the dung of fossil animals. It has since been given to phosphatic concretions found chiefly in the greensand in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, which are certainly not the same as those described by Dr. Buckland, but consist of fragments of bones, ammonites, and other fossils. Coprolites are now collected in very large quantities, and about 43,000 tons are annually employed. They are extremely hard, and require powerful machinery to reduce them to powder, and hence their price is considerable, being about L2: 10s. per ton. Their composition varies somewhat according to the care taken in selecting them, and the locality from which they have been obtained. A general idea of their composition may be derived from the subjoined analyses:-- Water 1.95 1.90 Organic matter 2.59 6.85 Phosphate of lime 55.21} 61.15 Phosphate of iron 3.84} Carbonate of lime 26.70 16.20 Sulphate of lime 1.97 " Alkaline salts 1.85 3.21 Sand 5.89 11.65 ------ ------ 100.00 100.00 Within the last two or three years, coprolites have been found in great abundance in France, but they are of inferior quality, and rarely contain more than 40 per cent of phosphates. _Apatite_, or mineral phosphate of lime, is found in large deposits in different places. It is particularly abundant in Spain, and occurs also in America and Norway. From the latter country it has been imported to some extent; and during the last year considerable quantities have been brought from Spain, and the importations will undoubtedly increase very largely as the means of transport improve in that country. Spanish apatite contains--