of no extraordinary quality at 2s. 6d. or 3s. per pint, or il or 11. 4s. per gallon.

It clearly appears from these facts, that 1s. 6d. per pint, or 12s. per gallon for the prime article wholesale, and at least 4s. per gallon for the inferior sort, would be an advantageous price for the purchaser, who would be able to retail it considerably under the current prices of these articles.

According to this estimate, the receipts upon 27i mingelen or quarts of the cold-drawr would amount to about 40%.; upon 102 quarts of the inferior to 51.; and upon 782 cakes at 11. per 100 to 7 10s.; total 521. 10s. for one morge, which would be after the ratio of 261. 5s. per acre, The expenses not exceeding 10l. per acre, would yield a clear profit of 167.

Should the oil of superior quality answer the description given of it, and be more palatable than the olive oil in common use, 12s. per gallon would perhaps be too low an estimate for our national character. For observation authorizes me to assert it as a serious fact, that nothing has a greater tendency with us to depreciate articles of nutrition, especially if they approach to luxuries, than to render them too cheap. And although we complain universally that such articles are extravagantly dear, we almost as universally suspect or despise whatever may be purchased at a very reasonable price. But as retailers are both able and willing to obviate this objection, the above statement for the vender in wholesale may be permitted to remain.

But there is another important point of view in which this subject may be considered. Successful attempts have lately been made to procure opium from the poppy, in no respect inferior to that imported from the

East; and it is asserted, that although it may be af forded at a very inferior price, the product would afford ample profits to the cultivator. As the opium issues from the rind, and the seeds have been proved not to partake of its narcotic properties, an important inquiry presents itself, Whether the poppy may not be cultivated with a view to both articles? This can only be determined by solving another question, Will the incisions made in the green and unripe capsulum and the exudation of its juices, prove injurious to the seeds in this advanced state of its growth? The argument from analogy, which is the only mode until we can obtain facts, appears to favour the negative of the question; not only as there is no immediate correspondence in the qualities of these two parts of the same vegetable, but as many experiments have proved that by checking the growth, or weakening the vegetative powers of one part of a plant, they are increased and improved in another.

Desirous of obtaining some information concerning this interesting subject, I sowed in the year 1804 about half a lug of garden-ground with the white poppy seed; and when the heads were advanced to a sufficient state of maturity, I scarified the external surface of one portion of them with a pen-knife, suffering the others to remain entire; and though the exudations were very ⚫ considerable, there was no perceptible difference in the colour, taste, or size of the seeds; excepting where the incisions passed through the whole integument, which frequently happened from the imperfection of the instrument, and my inexpertness. The seeds which lay

* See Transactions of the Society, instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, &c. on the mode and advantages attending the cultivation of Opium; Vols. XIV-XV. XVI, XVIII.; and former volumes of this work.

nearest

nearest to the openings were discoloured by the admission of external air; but the taste of the seed was not injured.

This little experiment served to convince me that the seeds of the poppy are peculiarly grateful to birds, rats, and mice. The first dexterously made large holes in the lower surface of the ball, through which the seed fell to the ground; and they thus materially injured a considerable portion of my crop while it was standing; nor were the latter less destructive, when the poppy heads were spread upon the floor of the summer-house in order to dry them. I was, however, indemnified for this loss, by observing that not a single instance of mortality presented itself to evince the noxious quality of the seed.

If future experiments should prove that both ob jects may be pursued by the same culture, scarcely any plan can be devised which would prove equally profitable to the cultivator, and more beneficial to the community.

I am not so sanguine as to expect that any person upon reading the above account will immediately resolve to cultivate the poppy to a great extent, as an article of profit. There is often a long repose between the acquisition of knowledge and the application of it to practical purposes; and in this case I allow that many difficulties are to be surmounted before the open and avowed consumption of this oil would be sufficiently extensive to make the production of it an object of sufficient magnitude. But the increasing demands for oils of all sorts in our extensive manufactories, and by the daily improvements in our provincial towns, the immense sums expended in the importation of foreign oils, and most probably of this very oil under a false name; and

the

the daily increase of their price, render a power in reserve most desirable. The time may arrive when the scarcity of oils for domestic use may increase to an alarming degree; in this case the general reluctance to the use of those which are now deemed of an inferior quality, may in great measure subside, and we may perhaps rejoice at being supplied at a cheaper rate with that very oil which passes smoothly among us under the the fictitious character of genuine oil of olives. I shall at least enjoy the satisfaction of putting it in the power of the public to assist themselves at some future period; and take encouragement respecting the success of my endeavours from the nature of this very plant, which is frequently known to lie for years in the soil in a state perfectly inert, until some favourable circumstances may have promoted a vigorous vegetation, to the surprise and alarm of the farmer, who has uniformly mistaken it for a weed.

N. B. It may be objected, that in the above estimate of the profits, mention is not made of the duties which may hereafter be imposed by government, and become considerable deductions. But this objection has no reference to our first essays. The duties will not become an object until the product of poppy oils shall sensibly diminish the importation of foreign oils; and in that case the wisdom of government will doubtless prevent their rising so high as to operate as a discouragement to a culture which would turn the balance of the oil trade in our favour; and should we be able to extend this culture so far as to export the article, a very moderate duty upon both home consumption and exportation may prove more than equivalent to the duties at present collected.

Since writing the above, I am informed by a person who deals largely in foreign oils, that letters from Leghorn announce an alarming deficiency in the last year's product; that the quantity is very small, and of a very inferior quality. This information should operate as an additional motive to the attempt recommended. The injury induced upon olive trees by inclement weather is frequently to such an extent that it can only be repaired by the slow growth of new plantations. This circumstance gives an astonishing advantage to a substitute, of which, by its being an annual product, the deficiency of the most unfavourable year cannot be equally extensive, and would probably be supplied by the increased abundance of the year ensuing,

The Bakerian Lecture, on some new Phenomena of chemical Changes produced by Electricity, particularly the Decomposition of the fixed Alkalies, and the Exhibition of the new Substances which constitute their Bases; and on the general Nature of alkaline Bodies.

By HUMPHRY DAYY, Esq. Sec. R. S. M. R. I. A.

(Concluded from Page 142.)

V. On the Properties and Nature of the Basis of Soda.

THE

HE basis of soda, as I have already mentioned, is a solid at common temperatures. It is white, opaque, and, when examined under a film of naphtha, has the lustre and general appearance of silver. It is exceedingly malleable, and is much softer than any of the common metallic (substances. When pressed upon by a platina blade, with a small force, it spreads into thin leaves, and a globule of the one-tenth or one-twelfth of an inch in diameter