Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/70

BONE DUST BONET Phosphate of lime, with a little fluoride of calcium . . 57-85 Bone gelatine 88-80 Carbonate of lime ' Phosphate of magnesia 2-05 Soda, and a little chloride of sodium 8-46 100-00 The phosphate of lime of the solid bone, and the ammonia furnished by the organic matters connected with it, are particularly beneficial. So valuable is this substance regarded as a ma- nure in England, that in the report of the Don- caster agricultural association it is stated that one wagon load of small drill bone dust is equal to 40 or 50 loads of fold manure. Upon thin and sandy land it is particularly effective, and continues to act for several successive crops. It is best applied when mixed with earth and fermented, and at the rate of 25 bushels of fine bone dust and 40 of broken bones to the acre. It is also used as a top dressing, sown broad- cast and by the drill. Pasture and grass lands are greatly benefited by it; white clover springs up wherever it falls ; and the turnip crop is largely increased by its application. Bone dust is sometimes adulterated with the raspings and filings of the ivory nut. In this place the use of dissolved bones and other phosphates, first recommended by Liebig in 1840, may be noticed. The phosphatic mate- rials are first ground to a very fine powder by millstones ; the powder is then carried up by means of elevators and discharged continuously into a long iron cylinder, having agitators re- volving within it with great velocity.- A con- stant stream of sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1'66, en- ters the cylinder at the same end as the dry powder, and the mixture flows out at the other end in the form of thick mud, having taken three to five minutes in passing through the machine. The quantity turned out by such a mixing machine is about 100 tons daily. The semi-fluid mass runs into covered pits 10 to 12 feet deep, each of sufficient size to hold the produce of the day's work. It becomes tolera- bly solid in a few hours, but retains a high tem- perature for weeks, and even months, if left undisturbed. The composition of a superphos- phate of good quality, made partly from min- eral phosphate and partly from ordinary bone, may be stated as follows : Soluble phosphate 22 to 25 per cent. Insoluble phosphate 8 to 10 " Water 16 to 12 " Sulphate of lime 85 to 45 " Organic matter. 12 to 15 " Nitrogen 0-75 to 1-5 " If sufficient sulphuric acid were used to de- compose the whole of the phosphate of lime, the product would be too wet to be packed in bags, and would require either to be mixed with extraneous substances of a dry and porous nature or to be artificially dried. The manu- facture of manures from guano, from the Ash- ley river deposits of South Carolina (see Co- PHOLITES), and from the mineral apatite, has become an industry of great importance. The commercial superphosphates are so frequently adulterated that purchasers would do well to have the samples analyzed before contracting for large quantities. BONESET, or Thoronghwort, the herb eupato- rium perfoliatum, an indigenous perennial plant growing in moist places, distinguished by the perfoliate character of its leaves, each pair of which are at right angles to those immedi- ately above and below. It is a bitter weed or vegetable tonic, with a faint odor and a strong bitter taste. Hot water extracts its virtues, which are believed to reside chiefly in a bitter principle. The cold infusion acts as a mild, pleasant tonic ; the hot infusion as a diapho- retic, and, when very strong, as an emetic. Strong infusions of boneset leaves are used as a substitute for Peruvian bark in cases of ague, and sometimes with success ; but it is not al- ways to be relied on. A pint of boiling water is poured upon an ounce of the dried leaves, or Boneset a pint of cold water upon an ounce of the fresh leaves, and allowed to stand two hours ; it is then strained for use. A weak cold infusion is good for all cases of debility where tonics are prescribed. For ague as much should be taken as the stomach will bear, and it should be drunk warm. BONET, Juan Pablo, a Spanish instructor of the deaf and dumb, held by- some authors to have been the inventor of their first alphabet and means of communication, born in Aragon in the latter part of the 16th century. He was attached to the secret service of Philip III., but the greater part of his time was occupied by his efforts in behalf of the class in which he had become interested early in life. His sys- tem is explained in his work on the subject, Rediiccion de las letras y artes para ensefiar a hdblar d los miidos (Madrid, 1620). His claim to the actual invention of the first means of communication for the deaf and dumb is re- jected by the majority of writers, who give the credit to a Spanish Benedictine monk, Pedro Ponce, who lived some 50 years before Bonet. Ponce wrote nothing of the art, however, and