Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1775-07-24 00:00:00, page 1

To the Printer of the Pennsylvania Packet.
SIR,
X large Salt-petre work being efablifhed, under the
irfpedion of a Committee, and as Gentlemen in
the inters r parts of the country may be inclined
to ereT others, for their information you are desir
ed to repubtifo the Prccefs of making Salt petre,
revised, with new additions, by Dr. Rush,
who communicated the information, and one of
the Committee for that purpose.
[Country Gentlemen (exclusive of the public good)
will find an agreeable and profitable amusement
in ere Cling works of this kind.]
) T has long been an opinion among
^^/CXM^ chemists and natural historians,
^M J that Salt-Petre is a natural pra
du&ion. It has been said to be
<^^%M< found in large quantities on the
furface of the earth in Persia, In
dia, and China, where it is said to impart a cold
ness to the atmosphere ; but force late enquiries
give us reason to fufped that the whole of these
accounts are without foundation. They were
probably propagated by the natives of these coun
tries, only to preserve in their hands the manu
factory of so nfeful an article of trade. All the
falt-petre which is imported from the East-Indies
is made by art. I would not be understood to
mean, that this salt is never found in a native
state. It is sometimes found adhering to large
rocks. It is likewise found in a native state un
der the arches of bridges, and in vaults, or wine
cellers, but in these places it is found in such
small quantities, that we are seldom at the pains
of collecting it. Itis found in a larger quantity
in a native state in several plants ; but of this I
shall fay more hereafter.
The manufactory of falt-pere is now no longer
confined to the East-Indies, hut is carried on with
equal advantages in many parts of Europe, par
ticularly in Germany and France. I Ihall men
tion the several processes which are used for this
purpose in each of these countries.
Crammer, a German chemist of considerable
note, recommends the following method of ma
king falt-petre, which he fays is pradifed with
great success in many parts of Germany. He
orderslime, rubbish of all kinds, garden-mould,
and allies to be mixed together, and moittened
from time to time with urine, care being taken to
stir them frequently. They Should be all put in
to a small house, with a window towards the
porth-eaft. He does not dired, as some have
supposed, to leave this house open towards the
north-east, because the nitrous particles are
brought from that quarter, but because the winds
from the north-east in that country, are general
ly accompanied with that temperature of the air,
which is most agreeable to the formation of
the nitre.* In a month or two this mass will be
so much impregnated with nitre, that one pound
of it will yield two ounces of the salt.
The King of Prussia was early sensible of the
importance of a falt-petre manufactory in his do
minions, and has therefore for this purpose always
obliged his farmers to build their fences of com
mon earth, mixed with a quantity of straw and
dung. Thele substances corrupt in the course
of a few years. The fences are then shaved, or
wholly taken down, and afford a large quantity
of falt-petre.
The fweepiogs of the streets of a single village,
in Hanover, afford all the falt-petre that is used
in the whole of that Electorate. Dr. Franklin,
from whoa I received this piece of information,
assured me, that the manufactory of the salt from
the above materials was so simple, that it was car
ried on entirely by an illiterate old man and his
wife.—The greatest part of the falt-petre that
comes from India is obtained nearly in the fame
manner. It is prepared entirely from the offals
of the city of Patna.
Mr. La Roux of the academy of Rouen, in
formed me, that the following receipt had been
found to answer very well in many parts of
France for the manufactory of this salt. It is
taken from Glauber, a German chemist. I Ihall
deliver it in his own words.
" I will (hew a way to such as have no inheri
tance left them from their parents, nor have any
thing to come to them by marriage, by what
means they may, without labour or trouble, get a
treasure for their children :—■
“ First. Let such a one take care to have
some shade or hovel made, to join to that fide of
his dwelling, that lies in the middle betwixt the
north and east part of heaven, or some other more
convenient place, so as to admit the fun and air
to it, but to keep off the rain. Under this pent
house or hovel, let him dig a large pit, and with
* The north-east winds in North- America, are
generally accompanied with moifure, which render
them improper for the formation of falt-petre. The
house which contains our salt petre materials should
therefore, in this country, be expof&d to the nortb
weft winds.,
O R,
GENERAL
VOL. IV.
M O N D A Y,
the earth he digs out, let him make banks round
the pit's mouths, so that it may keep the rain off
on every fide. This done, let him each day, in
every year, or whensoever he can conveniently,
carry and throw into that pit these following mat
ters, so long till his neceflity foreeth him to dig
all out again, and fee how much treasure he has
got, even while he slept. Nowthefe matters are,
all flharp and bitter herbs, growing in by-places,
amongst bullies, and on the way-fide, arid such as
beasts feed not on, as efula, cicuta or hemlock,
henbane, fumotory, the thick stalks of tobacco,
that are thrown away in those places where it is
planted, the hard stalks of colwort, which the
beasts eat not of, and likewise all those things they
leave in their troughs; likewise fir tops or apples,
if you have them ?t hand; also the leaves that
fall from the trees in autumn are to be gathered ;
also pidgeons dung, hens dung, birds and hens
feathers; the allies which women generally make
their lees with, and other allies that is not fit for
that use, as also such out of which the lee is already
extracted; the foot of chimnies, hogs hair, the
horns of oxen and cows, and the bones the dogs
eat not off. Ail these matters may be thrown
into this pit, and that he may the sooner fill it, he
may gather as much as he can from all the bor
dering places, and throw it therein, so that in one
or two years time, he may, with all these things,
fill up his pit: Mean while, he must pour into
the pit the urine gathered in his house, and that
he may have enough, he must get as much as he
can from his neighbours, so as to keep the things
thrown into the pit in continual moisture, where
by they may the sooner putrify. In want of urine
common water may be taken; if sea water or other
salt water can be had, it will be better. Also
the brine of fifties pickle, and the salting or salt
water that flefh is macerated (or pickled in) ate
of good use; also the blood of oxen, cows, calves,
and sheep, which you may easily have at the but
chers; all these things, putrifying together, do put
on the nature and property of falt-petre.
" If now all these matters in your full pit shall
have well putrified, then cease from pouring on
any more moisture, and all the things are to be
left so long until they are dried—then if you
need money, let a falt-petre maker be fought for,
and bargain with him about the price of drawing
of your falt-petre by water, of making it and fel
ling it. This done, cast the remaining earth into
a pit together with the remaining lixivium, th^t
(hot not into nitre, and there leave it for a year
or two, and moisten it sometimes with urine, or
if you have not this, with common water. This
earth will again yield falt-petre, but not above
half so much ns at firft."
But the greatest quantity of falt-petre that is
consumed in France is prepared in Paris from the
ruins of old stone buildings, pidgeon-houfes, sta
bles, and all such putrid masses of vegetable or
animal matters as have been long covered f. To
these a quantity of lime or afh&s is added, which
is said to evolve the salt from the said ingredients.
Nitte, besides being obtained by the artificial
process we have described, may be obtained in a
considerable quantity ia a native state from certain
plants. The tobacco is strongly impregnated
with itfr Those plants which contain falt-petre,
always sparkle when they are thrown into the
fire. But there is another less equivocal method
of knowing whether a plan.t contains any quantity
f The earth under the floor of old fables is a
plentiful source of falt-petre. When this earth con
ffs chiefly of clay, a quantity of sand or gravel
Jhould be added to it. The gravel or sand ahis me
chanically, by dividing the c.ay in such a manner as
tof u ff er " e ^Mer which is poured on it to pervade
all its parts. All the composts which afford falt
petre, may be made to yield a frefo quantity of the
salt by expofng them for some months to the air.
^ Every one that has taken particular notice of
the stalks of Tobacco that has been well cured,
when burning, must have observed a deflagration or
flashing exafily fmiiarjo that exhibited by falt-petre,
when thrown upon coals. This phenomenon, after
1 had frequently for many years observed, at length
induced me at afeafon of leisure, to attempt making
nitre out of tobacco; which I did, and I own it was
with no small confidence of success, as I knew of no
substance but nitrous salts which deflagrated in that
peculiar manner. 1 made therefore a flrong decocti
on of tobacco stalks, which, by a number of experi
ments, I found replete with two kinds of nitrous
salts, viz. nitrous ammoniac and nitrous felenites,
the fame which are contained in the common mother
lee of nitre. In foort, notwithstanding I wafted a
considerable part of the deception by accidents and
experiments, out of half a pound avoirdupoife of dry
tobacco stalks, I obtained (by adding pure fixed ve
getable alkali, and disengaging the volatile alkali
and earth) about an ounce of true falt-petre: which
howev:r was brown by reason of the oily parts of the
stalks. Thus far I proceeded that tfne, but, for
want of leisure, have not as yet proceeded any far
ther. I beg leave however to recommend it to others,
who may think it worth their while to labour for an
D U N LA P's
^ O . ^-^ -x* TOh _— ^-^^^TOIIII- or
of this salt. Bruise the plant well and press the
juice from it. Put this juice into an earthen pot,
and place it in a cool cellar, firft pouring a little
sweet oil upon the furface of it to prevent its be
coming mouldy. If the plant contains any nitre
you will find it in the form of crystals on the sides
of the veflel in fix weeks or two months.,
The^nethod of extracting the falt-petre is near
ly the ^ame, whatever ingredients we may employ
for making it. Rhe ingredients are put into
tubs, barrels or hogsheads, perforated at their
bottoms. Rain, river, or very pure spring water
is poured upon them, which gradually dissolves
ail the lalt they contain, and conveys it drop by
drop into vefl'els provided to receive it. The ni
tre in this state contains a large quantity of com
mon salt. Before I explain in what manner this
lalt is to be separated from the nitre, it will be
necessary to premise that bare evaporation, by
boiling or otherways, will chryftalize common
fall, but that cold and rtf are necessary to chryf
talize nitre. The Lee (if I may so call it) made
from the materials which yield nitre, is put into a
large copper vessel, and is gradually boiled away,
till chryftals of common salt begin to form in it.
1 hefe are taken out with a large ladle as faft as they
form, and thrown into a large basket, which stands
directly over the vessel in which the liquor is
boiling when no more chryftals of common salt
can be found, the liquor is taken off the fire, and
emptied into a number of copper pans, in a cellar,
in which it soon shoots into chryftals of falt-petre.
The lalt has now undergone its degree of purifi
cation. As a quantity of common salt Bill ad
heres to the chryftals of nitre, it is necessary to
d.ffohe them in pure water, and boil them in the
manner we said before. A much less quantity of
common salt is obtained now than formerly—The
nitre,after its second chryftalization, is used chief
ly for the purposes of medicine, and curing pro
tfions. but there is a third degree of purifica
tion necessary, before all the common salt can be
completely separated from it. It is carried on in
the fame manner as the former ones were. The
fait-petre is now in its highest state of purity, in
,hich state only it is used for the manufactory of
Gunpowder. Ihe liquor which will not chryf
talize may be used for making Magnesia.
I cannot conclude this memoir without obferv
'ng, that the climate and productions of the mid
dle and northern colonies of America render them
extremely proper for the manufactory of falt-pe
tre' And the fucefs which has attended several
experiments in that way, give us reason to believe
that it may be carried on in this country, with as
great advantages as in France, Germany, or the
East-Indies.
improvement of this hint towards a falt-petre manu
faflory, aud 1 would particularly recommend it to
toe tobacco colonies, to confider whether it be not an
objeft worthy of their serious attention ; for 1 own
1 am Jo sanguine as to believe, that, by proper ma
nagement, they might even make falt-petre a staple
commodity., The impurity of the nitre I made was
undoubtedly ow ng to the incompleteness of the putre
faPlion, which proceeds to no g, eat length in the cur
i"g6f "' ,but if, under such circumstances eight
ounces of stalks will afford an ounce of impure nitre,
there seems reason to believe that, if the putrefacti
on were to be comp'eted in a bed of mould, till the to
bacco was reduced to ear^h, and proper substances
mixed therewith during the progress of putrefaction,
to fix the nitrous acid as it forms, a lixivium drawn
from such mould woudyield a much larger quantity
(with reffeß to the quantity of tobacco) of much purer
nitre, and probably much more than any other sub
stance known. Wire I therefore a tobacco planter,
Iwou'd certainly try what might be done with a bed
of mould made of refufe tobacco, and doubt not but it
would fully answer my expectations. However that
might prove, these bafl, and perhaps seasonable bints
are offered to the conjideration of his countrymen I,
afincere and faithflfriend to America.
*s4*s-s%,#ss-,s^
PAUL FOOK S,
Notary and Tabellion Publick for the French
and Spanish languages, Profeffor in the College
of this city, and sworn Interpreter for the fame",
CI IVES Notice that he has removed his Office
J from Second-street into Arch-street, at the
house in which Mrs. Peel lately lived, cppofite the
gate of Christ Church Burying-gi'ound, where he
continues to draw and tia/ slate French and Spanish
writings, as powers of attorney, contrails, ac
compts, &c. and to state them properly, agreeable
to the forms and usages of the refpedive countries
to which they are intended.
He also continues to teach the French and Spanish
languages in the greatest purity and elegance, at
his house morning and evening, and at the College
at eleven o'clock as usual.
CA M Eto the plantation of the sub
scriber, living in Union Township. Berks
County, on the izth of June lad, a BAY * lARE,
with a blaze down her face, three white feet, brand
ed with I. E. on both Shoulders. The owner is
desired to come, prove his property, pay charges
and take her away. MOSES JONES.
T HE
ADVERTISER.
J U L Y 24th, 1775.
Baltimore, Ju) 16, 1775..
THE partnership between John Wilson,
James Christie, junior, and Robert
Christie, junior, under the firm of John Wil
son and Co. is diflolved, and the business now car
ried on as formerly by John Wilson and Robert
Christie, jun. at Rock Run in Harford County ;
they have purchased James Christie's share of Goods
on hand and outstanding debts, and hope for their
iriends custom as usual. Those who are indebted'
to the old co-partnerfllip are requeued to make as
speedy payments as poffihle to John Wilson, who
will receive country produce in difeharge of the
debts at market price. They now have on hand a
variety of Goods, and have just received a quantity
of Coarse Salt, which will be fold on reasonable
terms by JOHN WILSON, and
_______ ROBERT CHRISTIE, jun.
JACKET PATTERNS.
AN elegant assortment of the new fafhion jacket
patterns, fit for summer wear, and printed
Meat this c ny 5 quite superior t® those imported front
England, to be sold very reasonable for cash, by
MOSES YOUN G,
At Mr. Joseph Dean's, merchant, in Front-street.
Philadelphia, July 13, 1775.
PROPOSALS
For Printing by SUBSCRIPTION,
THE PRUSSIAN EVOLUTIONS in
aftual engagements, both in platoons, sub
and grand divisions ; explaining all the different
evolutions and manoeuvres in firing standing, ad
vancing and retreating, which were exhibited be
fore his present Majesty, May 8, 1769, and before
John Duke of Argyle, on the Links of Leith, near
Edinburgh, in 1771 : with some additions since
that time, explained with thirty folio copper-plates.
Also an addition of three copper-plates, firft cf
surveying; second, fortification ; and the third con^
taming two figures, one of a gun, and the other of
a mortar, according to the delcriptions which will
be annexed. Likewise some feciets of the English
laboratory clearly difeuffed and explained.
N. B. The proposals were firft pnblifhed May
1775, b Y THOMAS HANSON, Adjura^
for the feeend battalion: It is expected said work
will be compleated in three or four weeks from this
date. The fubferibers names will be inserted, and
those that choose to fubferibe muff do it Ipeedily,
otherwise their names will not be in the book. ''
Subscriptions are received by John Dickefo,
F*q; Ikomas Mifltn, Esq; Daniel Roberdeau, mer
chant, John Cox, jun. merchant ; Samuel Meredith,
merchant; John Wi cocks, merchant; Mr. Bradford,
printer, Benjamin lowne, printer; John Dunlap',
printer ; by"the author, Thomas Hanson ; Thomas
Newell, at the sign of the Carpenters-Ball, Fourth
ftieet; Benjamin Loxley ; and Robert Bell, printer
and bookseller, in Third-street.
SIXTEEN DOLLARS REWARD.
RAN AWAY on the 13th i^ft. (July) from
the fubferibers, in Deptford Township, Coun
ty of Gloucester, New-Jersey, two indented servant
men, one named JOHN OLDEN, born in Ire
land, about five feet four inches high, stoops in
the (houlders, has a surly down look, swarthy com
plexion, blackilh hair, a fear over one eye, and
another fear on his left leg a little below the knee ;
had on and took with him, an old felt hat, a home
spun jacket, oznabrigs shirt and trowfers, a new
pair of Ihoes and plated buckles. The other named
WILLIAM KEIRNS, alias TAYLOR,
bo,n in Ireland, about five feet seven inches high;
a frefh well looking person, with black hair which
he is particularly careful to queue, very affable,
frnooth tongued and deceitful, can read, write and
cypher pretty well, and perhaps may forge a p^fs,
or change cloaths with his companion, the above
named John Olden ; he had on and took with him
a maccaroni hat, a black silk handkerchief, an old
check shirt, Russia sheeting trowfers, red ftiiped
coatee, half worn pumps with large square plated
buckles ; he also took a bundle of cloaths with hint
and perhaps may change his dress : He was lately
drummer in Philadelphia, in Capt. Smith's com
pany of militia, now Capt. Falconer's. Any per
lon that will secure the above two runaways in any
of his Majesty , gaols, so that their masters may
have them again, shall receive the above Reward,
or Eight Dollars for either of them, and tea
fonable charges, paid by
RICHARD CHEESEMAN
JACOB BIRCH.
TEN DOLLARS REWARD.
RANA W A Y from the fubferiber, living in
Accomack County, Virginia, on the 16th of
June last, a Negro man Have named D ANI £i
about five feet four or five inches high, aged abour
twenty years, of a yellow colour," stoops in b;
fhouiders, has a down (oft look, his back much
fear'd with former whippings, and the ha^r of hi*
head has been lately cut off excepting a row Itriou
the back part of his neck from each ear; had tn
when he went away a Virginia linen tow shirt, Vir
ginia cloth ffiort breeches, and an old be^rfkin
i acket i it is exp^fleu he will change his tame anl
pals for a freeman, and endeavour to get on bomd
lome veflel : 1 hereby forwarn all masters of vtm;s
from harbouring the said negro. The above Re
wardwill be given to any person that will apprehend
and secure the said negro so that I may get hul
again, if taken out of this government, and Eight
Dollars if taken in.
CLEMENT PARKER.
C~AR~T RTDGT"PAPE-
By the Ream or Quire, to be SOLD by
JOHN D V N LA P.
NUMB. ^6.