The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-09-10

upon the subject, and 1t Is now q recognized
tact that a few feet beneath tie surface OF the
earth commences q bed Of mari over six hun
dred feetin depth, aud extending Tor many
miles along the coast and through the ''low
country" Of South Carolina. II Is OF o better
quality than the New Jersey mari, and Is easi-
" prepared for use either as o cement or as a
fertilizer by the application OF heat. Many OF
the analyses OF kr. Rnffin show 81 percentage
of over 30 parts carbonate of lime. as well as
10 to IL per cent. OF phosphate Of lime. DR..
st. Julian Ravenel, q well known chemlst OF
Charleston, has added largely to the general
fund of knowledge upon the subject, and both
before and since the war has done much for
its development. He Is now engaged IN min
ing and preparing the mari for market along
the line OF the South Carolina Railroad, six
teen miles from the city. But In order to
compete successfully in the market, the lime
must be sold at low rates, n TO an outside
observer 1t would seem that much OF Inc sue
cess OF the enterprise must depend upon the
action of the principal railroads of his State,
whose present high rates of transportation, If
continued, will effectualy choke of the deVel-
opment of the country along their lines.
But while the time Is coming when these
inexhaustible resources will be more fully
brought forward, they are overshadowed and
for the present held In allegiance oy the more
wonderful developments Of what Mr.. Rnf1n
called ''marlssone"-better known, however,
at the present day as phosphate rocks"
This phosphate rock Is found in the form Of a
stratum or upper crust everything the bed OF
maeff; In some places cropping out oa the sur.
face, and again falling to y considerable deplh.
Its chief characteristics are best given by a
writer upon tho subject in 1858. 'The bed"
he says, "varies from four to eighteen Inches
in thickness, sometimes, though rarely, In
creasing to TWO or three feet, and In SOM
places thine out to q few scattering nodnies
on or ne6r the surface. It consists essentially
Of indurated. %trregu'arly roanded t noaa H,a.
and sand. Sometimes, however, II exists IN
continuous beds or large Jumps, or conglome.
rates OF soft chalk consistency, as II It were
originally @ soft pasty mass OIL pnospnaClc
mud that has since become semi-consolldated.
Associated with these are a most wonderful
assortment of animal remalns-among which
bones of marine animals are 30 abundant as
to have induced Professor Agassiz, twenty
Years ago. to call it the fish bed Of the Charles
ton Basin,' Bones also of land and fresh
water animals, even those OF man, and relics
of his workmanship, are abundant. TRese
bones, especially those of now extinct AMI.
mails, retain 10 great measure Shelr peculiar
cellular structure, but seem In some cases 10
have materially increased In compactness and
weight by a kind Of internal segregation or
condensation Of phosphate OF lime, though no
trace Of animal phosphate OF lime has ever
been observed in them"
From the IOE6ROlDR IL WIZ uoFC uCSh Soou-
cred that the value Of these rocks or nouules
lies in the high percentage of phosphate OF
lime which they contain, and the reader may
or may not know that phosphate OF lime Is the
basis OF all fertilizlng manures, aud that there
is q yearly consumption OF this article In Inc
United States Of 75, 900 tons, and In Great Bril-
tain of 200, 900. When Il is also remembered
that the article previously brought to market
to supply this ''basls," commonly known as
Peruvian gusno, is now being exhausted, that
the supply Of phosphate rock Is practically In
exhaustible, that It Is a cheaper article aud
more satisfactory than any other, SOM idea
may be gained Of the importance OF the dis
coVery.
The question as to how these rocks came to
be thus laid away 10 layers underground
charged with the precious phosphate, Is not
less difficult to answer than the question as to
how their value remained undiscovered up to
the year 1867. Upon the first question the
doctors as usual disagree nearly every one
entertains q theory OF his Own, and no rec0g.
nized explanation seems to have been agreed
upon by all. One writer refers their " proba-
bic origin to the eXcrementltlous deposits of
various animals, among them BIRDS" Another
ILascribes - the formation to the deposition OF
bird guano, IS 1t ls DOW going on upon the
Moso1lto coast of the Caribbean Sea! A third
attributes stheir origin to the change Of the
carbonate of lime of the eocene mari INTO
phosphate of lime by q process Of 'pbospha-
tIzation' similar n all respects to the process
OF silfcation Of shelly masses as exhibited IN
the bubrstone formation"
Why the value OF these deposits should have
renamed 80 long undiscovered may be due 10
the fact that all the analyses made were with
q view TO the discovery Of carbonate OF lime,
and, although ten or even sixteen per cent.
of Inc phosphate had been found In the rocks,
no further research or practical utilization
seems to have been developed. This would
-~-@- III ~ q - nv. nnaNno nf fhn
attention attracted to the stratum on account
of its geological value.
Intermingled with these nodules. aud FORM
ing . pnrt of them, are found the boues aud
teeth Of the mastodon, megatherlum, dino
therium, elephant, horse, together with the
remnants OF whales, sharks, seals and other
marine animals. 1t was of these same relics
that Professor Agassiz wrote In 1858, when he
declared that "nothlng impressed me- 80 deep
ly for MANY years past as the sight OF these
bones. I consider their careful study In all
their relations as of the utmost Importance
for the progress of science. How does II hap.
pen that horses, sheep, bulls and dogs, not
distinguishable from our domestic species, ex-
listed upon this continent together with the
deer. the muskrat, the beaver, the hare, the
opossum, the tapir, which In our days are Pc
cullar to this continent, and not found IN the
countries where our domestleated animals
originated !"
Large quantities of sharks teeth of enorm'
ems size have been collected, together with
bones of all sizes from the mastodon down,
and many Of these have found their way into
private and public collections all over the
country. Those living in New York will do
well to view the specimens placed upon exhi'
bltion by Professor F. 8. Holmes, OF Charles.
ton. in the Museum of Natural History In Gen.
trai Park. Whatever may have been the
eause of the non.discoVery of the CONNER
Gsl value of these deposits, it is
certain tnat up to 1867 the opinion of Professor
Tuomey that they were unavailable fol
agricultural purposes was sd nnivsts the W Dus II II
charge OF the chemical department OF the G
s.. Nftre and Mining Bureau, and lately called
to q profeasorshlp of the University OF Vir
g%tnia-while engaged In the attempt to or
ganize 9, company for the manufacture OF ACIDS
and fertilizers in Charleston, came IN contac
with specimens of this phosphate rock, AMI
1poo {udnno6 m o1va fhom q car6fll aQaiVSlS