ASH. Ashes (which see).
ASH-BALLS. The ashes of land-plants, especially ferns, damped and made into balls. Used as a substitute for soap in washing, and in cleaning paint.
ASH′ERY. [Amer.] A place where potash or pearlash is made or kept.
ASH′ES. (-ĭz). [Eng. pl.] Syn. Ash; Ci′nis, L.; Cendres (pl.), Fr.; Asche, Ger. The remains of anything burned. In antiquity, the remains of a body consumed on the funeral pyre; and hence, figuratively, the remains of the dead. The word, in English, has properly no singular; although ‘ash’ is very commonly heard; and is now almost exclusively used in composition, as in pearlash, potash, soda-ash, &c.
Ashes. In commerce, the residuum of the combustion of vegetable substances containing either carbonate of potassium (‘land-plants’), or carbonate of sodium (‘marine plants’), and from which the commercial alkalies are obtained. Their value depends upon their richness in ‘alkali,’ which is determined in the manner explained under ALKALIMETRY. The word is also commonly employed as a general term for the crude carbonates of potash of commerce (which see).
Ashes of Plants. See following page, on which will be found a table giving the chemical composition of the ashes of a few well-known plants used as food for men and animals. See also Manures, Plants, Vegetation, &c.
A careful determination of the ash of different substances is of great use to the analyst, by enabling him to detect adulteration; for instance, almost every plant on being burnt yields a very constant amount of ash, and not alone the quantity is constant, but the different proportions of the various components are also, within certain limits, tolerably unvarying. Many plants have the power of extracting from the soil certain elements; for instance, the ash of the tobacco contains lithium; tea, manganese; seaweed, iodine. It seems by no means improbable that by the examination of the ashes of plants by means of the spectroscope new elements may be discovered. Appended is a short list of the amount of ash, contained in a few important substances:—
| Total Ash. | |||
| Cayenne pepper, | from | 5 to 6 | per cent. |
| Chicory | ” | 5 | ” |
| Cocoa | ” | 3 to 4 | ” |
| Coffee | ” | 4 | ” |
| Flour | ” | ·7 to 1·5 | ” |
| Mustard | ” | 3 to 4·5 | ” |
| Pepper | ” | 4·3 to 5 | ” |
| Rice | ” | 5 | ” |
| Tea | ” | 5·6 | ” |
| Turmeric | ” | 5 to 6 | ” |
The ashes of plants are employed by the agriculturist according as the nature and proportion of the different salts they contain is suited to the soil and to the crops it is desired to raise. M. Soulange Bodin says that ashes hold the middle place between stable-dung and pasture manure. They act mechanically by dividing soils that are too compact, hygroscopically by absorbing moisture, and they appear to have an action similar to lime in accelerating the decomposition of the mould. They also probably exercise a stimulating
effect on the soil. In the case of low-lying lands they are particularly suited for very damp clayey soils. In Picardy the ashes of turf are made use of; in England, the low countries and the north of France, coal ashes are employed.