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East-Indies, is made by art. I would not be understood to mean, that this salt is never found in a native state. It is sometimes found adhering to large rocks. It is likewise found in a native state under the arches of bridges and in vaults, or wine-cellars; but in these places it is found in such small quantities, that we are seldom at the pains of collecting it. It is found in a larger quantity in a native state in several plants; but of this I shall say more hereafter.
The manufactory of Salt-petre is now no longer confined to the East-Indies, but is carried on with equal advantages in many parts of Europe, particularly in Germany and France. I shall mention the several processes which are used for this purpose in each of these countries.
Crammer, a German chemist of considerable note recommends the following method of making Salt-petre, which says is practiced with great success in many parts of Germany. He orders lime rubbish of all kinds, garden, mould, and ashes to be mixed together, and moistened from time to time with urine, care being taken to stir them frequently. They should be all put into a small house, with a window towards the north-east. He does not direct, as some have supposed, to leave this house open towards the north-east, because the nitrous particles are brought from that quarter, but because the winds from the north-east in that country are generally accompanied with that temperature of the air, which is most agreeable to the formation of the nitre[1]. In a month or two thismass
- ↑ The north-east winds in North-America, are generally
accompanied
