THE USES OF IRISH PEAT. (Hansard, 27 July 1849)

The O'GORMAN MAHON

said, he wished to call the attention of the House to a valuable discovery which had been made, calculated to develop the resources of Ireland, and to aid in relieving the poverty of the country. The announcement he now made, might at first be listened to with incredulity by hon. Members; but, in support of his statement that a valuable discovery had been made, he would read to the House the following letter he had received from an English chemist:— I beg to acquaint you that a discovery has been made in Ireland which will materially enhance the value of landed property in that country. It consists in the aptitude of its millions of peat acres to produce at a trifling expense—little more than that of manual labour—oil, naphtha, naphthaline, muriate of ammonia, candles, pitch, tar, and other principles, by a new process of distillation. These several materials were submitted to me some months ago by Mr. Owen, and, from 1069 what I have seen and tested, I have no hesitation in pronouncing it one of the greatest discoveries of the age, and one which will become a source of unbounded wealth. I can easily lot you have a list of the several products derivable from th distillation; and you have my permission to give this most important matter whatever publicity you please. Some of the products have been seen by, I believe, the Marquess of Lansdowne and others here; and I know the Irish Court are already cognisant of the discovery. JOHN WATERS, M. D., South-crescent, Bedford-square. The most unequivocal testimony, both to the accuracy of the science involved in Mr. Reece's invention, and the facility of its practical application, had been furnished by M. Pellouse, of Paris—in whose laboratory the patentee made his preliminary experiments and perfected his discoveries—whose reputation combined the highest attributes of science with eminent skill in application. Similar testimony had been afforded by Professor Liebig, Dr. Hodges, Professor of Chemistry in the Belfast Institute, and many other eminent chemists, who had been consulted on the subject. Under the sanction of these authorities the capitalists who preliminarily undertook the investigation of Mr. Reece's invention, had, within the last three months, erected experimental works in Ireland on a scale of sufficient magnitude to test its merits. Their success had been complete in obtaining the products enumerated by the patentee, and in verifying the scientific testimony. It appeared that Irish peat was capable of producing oil of a superior quality, equal to spermaceti; and whereas spermaceti oil cost 90l. to 95l. per tun—the oil from peat could be produced for the sum of 40l. per tun. There would be an equal reduction of price in respect to every other article into which peat might be convertible. [The hon. Member here exhibited to the House a candle, which, he said, had been produced from a solid piece of peat, and which, he added, gave a light equal to the finest wax. The candle, which had all the appearance of a waxen one, was handed across the table to the Treasury bench, where it was inspected by the Members of the Government. It was subsequently lighted in the House, and burned very steadily and with great brilliancy.] The hon. Member proceeded to say that he had the guarantee of Mr. Owen, a gentleman who had already established a manufactory in Ireland, having amassed immense property in this country, and on the faith of whose word he would stake his character, that there was no foreign material 1070 in that candle, but that it was the produce of a piece of Irish peat. Under these circumstances, he thought he was conferring a great benefit on his country by calling the attention of the House to this matter, as, by so doing, he made known to the empire resources in Ireland which had hitherto been unknown. He trusted that the noble Lord the Member for Bath, who was acquainted with Mr. Owen, would favour the House with his testimony in reference to that gentleman's character.

§ LORD ASHLEY

, having been thus appealed to, would to only too happy to bear his testimony to the high character of Mr. Owen. In fact he would be most unwilling that the name of that gentleman should be mentioned in the House without his (Lord Ashley's) coming forward to give his full testimony that a more discreet, sober, generous, high-minded and religious man than Mr. Owen, it had never been his lot to meet. Mr. Owen was a trader who had long carried on a most extensive business; and a person more capable of undertaking operations such as those at present in question, as well as a person more incapable of making an exaggerated statement in reference to them, did not exist. His hon. Friend the Member for Ennis had given him notice that it was his intention this evening to appeal to him (Lord Ashley) upon the subject; and, accordingly, in order that he might be sure of his ground, he had that morning called upon Mr. Owen to ascertain from him the exact results of his experiments and operations. He would therefore state to the House the facts exactly as they had been stated to him, observing, however incredible these results might appear, that they were yet the fruit of actual experiment, of a course of experiments which had been going on for more than a twelvemonth, in which Mr. Owen had invested considerable capital, and from which he had already reaped considerable returns. The great value of the plan was, that Mr. Owen sought for no recompense or reward from the country. His object was to confer benefit upon Ireland, and to show that there existed in that country a profitable investment for money which had never hitherto been dreamed of. The statement which he had to make to the House was as follows. The extraction of 100 tons of peat in Ireland would cost 8l.; the labour of chemically converting it would cost about 8l. more; and the product would be the following substances:— 1071

	£	s.	d.
Carbonate of ammonia, 2,602 lbs., value	32	10	2
Soda, 2, 118 lbs.	8	16	6
Vinegar, 600 lbs.	7	10	0
Naphtha, 30 gallons	7	10	0
Candles—that was the stuff of which candles were constructed—600 lbs.	17	10	0
Camphine oil, 600 lbs.	5	0	0
Common oil, 800 lbs.	3	6	8
Gas	8	0	0
Ashes	1	13	0
Total	£ 91	16	4

It appeared, then, from this calculation, that for 16l. expended in raw material and labour—or, take a wide margin, and say 20l., a return of more than 90l. would be realised. And these were not mere theoretical results. Mr. Owen had already operated upon hundreds and hundreds of tons of peat, and he was ready to stake his character and his fortune upon the accuracy of his experiments. And the advantage was not confined to the extraction of the substances in question from the peat. When the superincumbent layer of that substance was cleared away, the soil beneath was found to be fruitful beyond all expression, having been for ages absolutely saturated with ammonia. He did not wish, entire as was his confidence in Mr. Owen, that the House should accept the statement which it had just heard without a certain degree of reservation; but if only one-half of the results which he had indicated were to be realised, the effect would be most extraordinary and beneficial; indeed, in such a case, 100,000 acres of Irish bog would be more valuable than all the gold regions of Calfornia.