466 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



Gun Factory, where masses of from thirty to fifty tons in 

 weight can have their amount ascertained within a small frac- 

 tion. 3 A, August 19, 143. 



OIL FEOil BIRDS. 



Our readers may be surprised to learn that the oil obtained 

 from several distinct species of birds possesses a decided eco- 

 nomical value, and that various sorts are recognized as ar- 

 ticles of trade in different parts of the world. In our own 

 domestic medicine goose-grease is known as an emollient, 

 and for other purposes. The penguins, petrels, mutton-birds, 

 frigate-birds, Mother Gary's chickens, etc., all ocean forms, 

 are sometimes killed, in immense numbers, for their oil, and 

 to such an extent is the destruction of penguins carried in 

 this connection, that while the fat of eleven penguins is re- 

 quired to furnish a gallon of oil, a single vessel has been 

 known to bring back, after a six weeks' campaign, twenty- 

 five to thirty thousand gallons, representing, of course, over 

 ten times that number of birds. This is taken to London and 

 used almost exclusively in currying leather. Ostrich fat has 

 much reputation in Africa as a remedy for rheumatism, and 

 is greatly sought after by the Arabs for this purpose. The 

 emu, or Australian ostrich, is hunted very much for a similar 

 purpose. A single bird will produce six or seven quarts of 

 a beautiful bright yellow oil. 



In South America a species of goat-sucker, known as gua- 

 charo (Steatornis caripensis), and remarkable for its excessive 

 fatness, is hunted in large numbers by the Indians, the young 

 birds especially. This species differs from the ordinary goat- 

 sucker in being almost exclusively a vegetable feeder, the re- 

 sult of which is the deposit of a large quantity of fat under 

 the skin. The oil is half liquid, transparent, and so pure that 

 it will keep more than a year without becoming rancid. In 

 many parts of North America the fat of the wild pigeon is 

 said to be collected by the Indians both as an oil for light 

 and as a substitute for butter. Very recently a trade has 

 sprung up in the Gulf States in oil obtained from the Ameri- 

 can pelican, which, we learn, is actually quoted in the market 

 of New Orleans at about a dollar and a half per gallon. A 

 fleet of small vessels is occupied in following up these birds in 

 their different haunts, and killing them, although the process 



