On most parts of the continent nitre is manufactured from what are called nitre beds, these consist of old mortar and other matters containing lime, as the dry rubbish from old building, &c., together with manure and other animal refuse. These beds are packed up and kept from the rain for a certain time, when a small part of the lime is found to be converted into nitrate of lime, this is the white substance frequently seen to exude from newly built walls in the form of crystals like snow. The whole mass of the nitre bed is next washed; the water used for the first portions being poured over the next, and so on till it is pretty rich in nitrate of lime, this is then mixed with carbonate of potash, which decomposes the nitrate of lime forming nitrate of potash, (nitre), and carbonate of lime, (chalk); this last settles down and leaves the solution of nitre clear, which is evaporated, and the nitre got pure. Nitre is used for making gunpowder and fireworks of different kinds, also for curing meat, especially pork and beef, to which it imparts a red color; it is also used for making nitric acid, in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, and as a medicine. BLACKLEAD. This substance, called by mineralogists “plumbago” and “graphite,” is found in small quantities in various districts, and in a very pure state in Cumberland. It is almost pure carbon, having but a very slight admixture of iron; it is used to make blacklead pencils; for coating the surface of iron, giving it a bright appearance and preventing it from rusting; it is also used to prevent friction in wooden machinery, and, mixed with tallow, as a lubricate for iron machinery; blacklead, mixed with clay, is also used to make crucibles for various purposes, these are especially adapted for melting glasses and enamels, and are known in the trade as blue pots. SPERMACETI. This substance is obtained from the oily matter contained in the head of the spermaceti whale, _Phyceter Macrocephales_, which consists of sperm oil and spermaceti. The latter crystallizes as the mass cools, and is afterwards purified. It is white and crystalline, is used chiefly for candles, or mixed with oil and wax, it forms an ointment. MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS. SUGAR. Illustration: (‡ SUGAR CANE FIELD.) Sugar, like starch, exists naturally formed in many vegetables, and has to be separated from the various foreign matters with which it is combined; the sugar used in this country is all extracted from the juice of the sugar-cane, _Arundo Saccharifera_, but in France a great portion is extracted from beet-root.