The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-29
built him a new house. using the old one

built him a new house. using the old one
for a barn
or course the rivers are continually car
rying vast quantities Of soil from the
land into the sea. and this can be pre-
vented only in a small measure. But IL IS
not wholly lost. The ocean is great sort
ing ground in which all such material
Is WinnOWed and separated into its COM
ponent elements. The carbonate OF lime
Is deposited in beds, or through the med
olum or animal life is transformed into
coral formations or into shells PhOsphorlc
acid is likewise sifted out into phosphate
deposits OF passed into the bodies Of ma
rlne animals These and other valuable
substances are thus conserved and put
into shape in which they may be returned
sooner or later 10 the use OF man.
It Is worth while 10 mention some Of
the ways pointed out through the re-
searches of agricultural chemists in which
these waste products are restored. One
IS disposed TO look upon the sea as devoid
OF vegetable life, but the gardens or the
ocean are no less fully stocked with eco
nomic plants than the gardens Of the
laLu Inc various SeaWeeds are constant
y separating valuable materials from the
waters and placing them again in avail
able shape for employment by man. In
the green state seaweed Is equal to stall
manure and farmers pay five cents
Bdsnel Tor II. 1t was used as a fertilizer
as early as the fourth century, and its
Importance for this purpose has been rec
ognized more and more IN modern days.
IN l6s1 SO, 900 worth of seaWeeds was
used In Rhode Island, while the value Of
that state was only $4,000.
Many varieties Of sea grass are used
for Milling mattresses and cushions. Other
species are burned, and their ashes are
employed for the manufacture of soda,
lOQln and brOmine. The gelaJinOus parts
OF seaweeds become very hard and elastic
on being dried, and have been nodded into
an sorts OF forms substitutes for horn
ana shell in making handles for knives,
Mes and other tools. In the Techno-Chem-
zeal Receipt Book, on page III, may be
found recipes for making artificial ebony
from charcoal obtained from seaWeeds;
also for making leather, soap and glue. Di-
rections, too, are given for the manufac-
lure OF transparent seaWeed leather,
Opaque seaweed leather and other inter-
esting articles.
The animals Of the ocean likewise col
lect the valuable materials and convert
them into such shapes as to be useful to
man. The fishes of the sea collect espe-
ciaily the two great elements of plant
food, nitrogen and phosphorus. Oysters
and other shell fishes gather not only
large quantities of phosphorus and nj
trogen, but also carbonate of lime. In
nshing districts the fish waste serves as
q precious fertilizing material. Some
nshes are taken, as the menhaden, chiefly
Tor their fertilizing value. As long ago
as 1919 the value of nitrogen derived from
the menhaden was estimated at about
$2,OOOOO In 1878 100000 tons of menhaden
were captured between Cape Henry and
the Bay Of Fundy The oil is first ex-
tracted from the FISH for commercial pur-
poses, and afterwards the residue is dried
anu sIuunu ana SOlu 10 farmers.
1t Is believed that the vast phosphate
deposits of Florida are of animal origin.
Ages ago that peninsula was under wa
ter On the bottom and swimming about
were millions Of mollusks. The shells
which they left behind when they died
formed banks Of lines Eventually these
banks were uplifted above the surface of
the ocean, and upon them sea birds in
vast numbers made their home, deposting
their droppngs for century after centu-
ry. Rains dissolved the dropings caus-
lag the manure to inhltrate the shelly
substance. Bird manure contains a large
percentage of phosphoric acid This acid
transformed the limy material into phos-
phate of lime. In streams of western
Florida are found phosphate deposits
composed largely OF the bones of masta-
dons, megatheriums, elephants, manatees,
muskrats and horses
The rainwater which descends upon the
earth is not pure. 1t brings to the soil a
certain amount of valuable plant food
Not only does II absorb and hold in sOiu-
ton ammonia and nitric acid, which may
perhaps be formed by electrical discharges
in the air, but 1t also collects and brings
with IL vast quantities of meteoric dust,
containing fertilizing principles. Prof
Wiley, to whom the writer is Indebted for
much of his information, says that, with
the aid of scientific agriculture, and the
help of the agricultural chemist a thou
sand million people will not so crowd the
United states as to make Nautilus more
than pleasing theorist. The death of
humanity is not to come from starvation,
but from freezing and many a geologic
epoch will come and go before this planet
dies of cold.