Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/381

359&#93; PEA plant, growing on walls ; in sandy and boggy situations ; in garden- walks, and paved courts : it flow- ers from May to August. — This elegant herb is one of the smallest produftions of the vegetable king- dom : its thread-like stem divides itself into many branches ; the leaves are slender and minute ; the blossoms greenish white ; and the M'i ole plant scarcely exceeds two inches in height. PEAT, a well-known inflam- mable fossil, which is used in va- rious parts of the world as fuel. There are two species of this re- markble substance : 1 . A yellowish - Irouni peat, found in Scotland, Holland, and Germany. It is composed, accord- ing to Mr. KiRWAN, of clay mix- ed with calcareous earth and py- rites, and sometimes contains a portion of common salt. When fresh, it is of a viscid consistence, but hardens by exposure to the air ; and, after seijarating the calcareous and stony matters, it is cut while soft, into oi)iong pieces, and thus sold for fuel. 2. Another species of a flark- irown colour, is dug up near New- bury, in the county of Berks, and consists of the branches, twigs, leaves, and roots of ti ees, together with grass, straw, plants, and weeds ; which, after having lain for a long .time in water, are con- verted into a soft mass, that may be cut through with a sharp spade. It is also principally employed as a substitute for sta-ioal, or wood. Independently of its utility as fuel, the ashes of peat atford a va- luable manure. Having already stated, in p. 126, of our first, and in p. 160, of the present vo- lume, the oi's, as well as the man- ner^ in which they may be most FEB fsi? bencficinlly employed, we shall only add a fort of great importance to the practical agriculturist. — Lord DuN'DoNALD, whose exer- tions for the public good we have had frecjuent occasion to mention, recommends peat mixed ivith salts, as a most excellent manure, but, where the latter are not easily to be procured, iie advises the urine of every kind of cattle to be sub- stituted. His Lordship farther sug- gests the propriety, and advantage, of incorporating lime with peat; and th'i patriotic Thomas Johxes, Esq. observes, that four parts of peat, and one of lime, make a very valuable compost. Such lime, how- ever, oug'it to be carefully slaked before it is added j as it will other- wise occasion considerable trouble to re-mix the whole. — For an in- genious and practical method of cultiating peat-mosses, see the ar- ticle MoSS-LAND. PEBBLES, a genus of fossils, comprising 34 species, which are again diviilcd into numerous va- rieties. They chiefly consist of si- liceous earth or flint, being insolu- ble in water and acids, except the fluoric ; while they are destitute (f ta^te, and fusible only by means of alkaline salts, with which they form i^lass. Pebbles, in general, are roundish stones, composed of crystalline matter that is debased by variou.? earths of the same kind ; in con- siequence of which ey become clouded, veined, and otherwise va- riegated. They are usually found at a considerable depth beneath the surface of the earth j and, being intermixed with sands, their strata serve as a natural drain to carry olF ju,ieriluous waters, and thus pre- vent the formation of bogs, mo- rasses, ike, A a 4 All