BOFFIN'S BOWER, in Dickens' Our Mutual Friend,) home of the Boffins. The name was given by Mrs. Boffin, who did not approve of its former name, °Harmon's Jail?) BOG, an Irish word, literally meaning soft, applied in Great Britain to extensive dis tricts of marshy land, such as we commonly call in this country swamps. They consist, in Europe, so universally of peat, that this substance is there generally regarded essen tial to a bog. As we use the word, it is in the sense of a quagmire; any soft and wet spot into which a man would sink in attempt ing to cross it, being called a bog. The true bog is most commonly found in northern latitudes, and in districts where great hu midity prevails. Their situation is not neces sarily low, nor their surface level. Some of the great Irish bogs present even a hilly ap pearance, which, perhaps, is the result of the spread of the mosses in their lateral growth from lower situations over intervening higher grounds. Bogs were formerly supposed to owe their origin to the destruction of forests, and in particular to the obstructions of drain age from fallen trees, causing lodgments of water, and favoring the growth of marsh plants. This theory can only be partially true. Fallen trees and also standing roots are frequently found in a state of great pres ervation in bogs, but the agency of felled trees in the production of bog has been com pletely disproved, six or seven feet of bog being found under the roots of remaining trees, showing the previous formation of the hog. The process of bog formation is thus described : When a shallow pool induces the formation of aquatic plants, they grad ually creep in from the borders to the deeper centre. Mud accumulates round their roots and stalks, and a spongy semi-fluid mass is formed, well suited for the growth of moss, particularly Sphagnum, which now begins to luxuriate, continually absorbing water, and shooting out new plants above as the old decay beneath; these are consequently rotted, and compressed into a solid substance, grad ually replacing the water by a mass of vege table matter. A layer of clay, frequently found over gravel, assists the formation of bog by its power of retaining moisture. When the subsoil is very retentive, and the quantity of water has become excessive, the superincumbent peat has sometimes burst forth and floated over adjacent lands. This happened near Killarney in 1896, and caused the loss of nine lives. Quagmires are caused by the decay of the roots of plants under neath. The plants thus detached from the bottom rise to the surface, and are kept floating in moisture. Elastic under light pressure, they yield suddenly to the weight of heavy bodies, their only strength consist ing in the interlacing of their decayed fibres.
Throughout the country, along the sea board to the Gulf of Mexico, bog-like swamps arc of frequent occurrence. Their outer portions arc sometimes wooded swamps, while within they present moss-covered heaths, stretching, like the Western prairies, farther than the eye can see, and dotted oc casionally with clumps or little islands of trees. In New England, the Northwestern
States and Canada, the bogs furnish genuine peat, and some of those bordering on the Great Lakes are of great extent. On Long Island, near New York, the bogs present a marked feature along the sandy coast.
British bogs are generally divided into two classes — red bogs, or peat mosses, and black bogs, or mountain mosses. The former class are found in extensive plains frequently running through several counties. The Chat moss in Lancashire, and the Allen in Ireland, are examples of this class. Their texture is light and full of filaments, and is formed by the decay of mosses and plants of different kinds. The color becomes darker, and density increases with the depth of the bog. The lower parts, being more entirely decayed, approach nearer to the nature of humus than the upper portion. They are also more carbonaceous, and consequently more valuable for fuel. The depth of the red mosses varies from 12 to 42 feet. The chief reasons of the unproductive ness of this class of bogs are the acids in which the plants composing them abound, and which are noxious to the higher orders of vegetation, and the circumstance that the decomposition of the plants takes place under water, where they are excluded from the action of the oxy gen and nitrogen of the air, and consequently deprived of the power of evolving carbon and ammonia. Black bog is formed by a more rapid decomposition of plants. It is heavier and more homogeneous in quality. It is common in Ireland and Scotland, but is usually found in limited and detached portions. In Ireland these frequently rest on calcareous subsoil, which is of great value for reclaiming them. The black bog is so frequently found at high elevations that its reclamation presents considerable difficulties, but when it is found in plains or gentle inclinations it may be re claimed with comparative ease. The soil in mountainous districts, being shallow, is not suited for cereals, but if the mistake of sow ing these is avoided, they may be made into good pasture land. The reclamation of the extensive red bogs found in various parts of the country, especially in Ireland, which has more than 1,500,000 acres of them, has long occupied attention; but the progress of im provement has been hindered by questions of land tenure, disposal of capital and other diffi culties external to the practicability of the de sired reformation. Many extensive experi ments have, however, been made with encour aging success, and while it is perhaps doubtful how far reclamation will repay the immediate improver, it appears from a national point of view to offer undoubted advantages.