Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-03-20
nrnnnfneture OF anItpeler.

From the Mobile Register.l
The Richmond Enquirer contains a correspon,
dence between Gen. Tbos. J. Green. of North
Carolina, and President Garland and Prof Nal
lett, of the University of Alabama, on the sub
ject of the manufacture of saltpeter. Gen.
Green suggests the idea OF making it from TO
bacco, which contains a considerable portion of
the salt. Prof Mallet, in answer TO the sug-
gestion, says:
" The presence of nitro in tobacco is well
known, aud is one principal reason of the plant
proving so exhsusting to land. The nitre could
unquestionably be extracted, and used in the
manufacture of gunpOwder. Ia order to extract
it, 1t would only be necessary to chop or grind
up the tobacco, steep It for some time IN water,
(usipg the same water for several successive
portions Of tobacco and boil down the strained
land perhaps clarifed) liquid II an iron pot, I'M
til the nitTe crystslizes on cooling. But l fear
that tobacco Is altogether too costly a material
to be used for making nitre upon a large scale,
the quantity yielded by Je plant being relative
~ quite small, (about t~hree-fourths of one per
cent Of the dry tObaeco)
In view Of the objection urged, he advises that
recourse should be had in preference 20 mineral
and animal materials, the only objection being
that the process acquires several months for its
completion. Gen. Green, nevertheless, thinks it
better to turn the tobacco into nitre than to burn
it He is informed that the crop of the country
viii make powder sufficient for several cam
paigns. This is rather indefinite but, putting
the crop at 200, GOO, 600 pounds, it would furnish
nitre sufficient tor the manufacture of about one
thousand tuns ofpowder. 1t would hardly seem
ezpedient 10 attempt the manufacture of salt
peter from vegetable substances, yet several
plants besides tobacco are named by Urc as con
iaiag il a-ong whichis the sunfower.
OF the msnuiass~a Eo~ mineral substances,
Professor Mallett says:
Refuse animal matter, (or vegetable matter OF
certain kinds, containing nitrogen, Is mi1ed with
old plaster, Cor carbonate Of lime the mixture.
formed into banks OF mounds, protected from
rain, but exposed very freely to the air, and from
time to-time turned over. After several months
the mass is leached with water, potash wood
ashes) added, and the liquid boiled down until
the inter viii crystalize on cooling"
The principal supply of s~altpetar is at present
obtained from nitrous esrths, found in caverns IN
some countries. Such caverns abound III th,
limestone regions Of the South, and it is well
known that the manufacture from this source is
already in progress ia our own State. Besides
the ineXhaustible supply that can be obtained
from this source, it has the advantage Of the
materials being already in a state suitable for the
final process. But we DO not know at what time
we may be cut off from this resource, and tho
example Of France in the times of tine revolution
and in the subsequent wars Of Napoleon, is be.
fore US to teach Us what we can do from oul
home resources. Indeed, every man can be a
~saltpeter manufacturer on a small scale, or AZ
least some person or company in every city can
collect the materials and form ~saltpeter be Is
From UTe's Dictionary Of Arts, Manufacture
and Mines, we copy, with some abridgement
the following account Of the French process:
"n France, the greater partof the indigenous
~saltpeter is obtained by hXiviating the mortar.
rubbish of old buildings, especially of those
upon the ground floor, and IN sunk cellars
which are BY law reserved for this purpose. The
manufacturer having found materials rich enough
to be worth The trouble Of working, pound:
them coarsely, and puts them into large casks
open at top, and covered with straw at bottom
which are placed in three successive levels
Water is poured into the casks till they are full
and after twelve hours digestion it is run off by
a spiget at bottom. More water is then added
and drawn off after four hours; and this even
for q third or fourth time, but these weaker
liquors are used for hxiviatiug fresh rubbish
The liquor from the first is poured into the casks
of the second and again OF the third level, I'll
the lev indicates ten to twelve degrees OF BaUme
After evaperating to a or ater density, ley O
wood-ashes is added as long a. it forms a pre-
cipitate, thus converting the nitrates of lime anc
magnesia into nitrate Of potash. The liquor
dttci hbtttiABf % uidMn VI III Do44oN " ~
copper pan, the scum being carefully removed
During the concentration muriate Of soda forms
and is removed with cullender-shaped ladies'
At the density of eighty degrees Of Baume, tr
fire is Withdrawn, and the liquor, after settling
drawn off by leaden syphous into iron vessels Il
crystalize. The crystals, after draining, are re
dissolved and re crystalized."
Another process practiced in France, AM
also in Sweden, where every peasant is obligec
to have a nitre bed, is thus described
"The first measure is, to select a light, friabl,
earth, containing as much old mortar rubbish a
possible, pile alternate layers Of this and dung
FIVE or six inches thick, in a pyTamidal form un
der an open shed, and keep the heap moist B.
watering it from time to time. When the who.
appears to be deeomposed into q kind Of mold
f it is to be spread under sheds in layers from tw,
to three feet thick, which are to be wateTed coca
sionaly with urine and the DRAWINGS |ofdunghiA
keeping the mass always damp, but not so soak
ed as to be impermeable to air, turning and mix
ing it with the spade at least once a fortnight
and keeping the sides OF the sheds partially