408 THE CHEMISTRY OF CREATION. 



sents us with a tabular view of the most recent 

 analysis of sea- water : 



1000 grains contained 



Water 964-745 



Chloride of sodium .... 27'059 



Chloride of potassium .... -766 



Chloride of magnesium . . . 3'6G6 



Bromide of magnesium . . . "029 



Sulphate of magnesia .... 2-296 



Sulphate of lime 1-406 



Carbonate of lime '033 



Traces of iodine, ammoniacal 

 salt, and organic matter. 



1000-000* 



From this it will be evident that sea- water 

 is a fluid containing a much larger number of 

 chemical constituents than have yet been dis- 

 covered in the atmosphere. In all probability 

 it is chiefly owing to the difiiculty of the 

 analysis that we are not yet able to detect 

 many ingredients in the air, which may be 

 present in minute quantities. While, however, 

 the analysis of sea-water, carefully conducted, 

 will generally exhibit the presence of these 

 ingredients, their proportion is subject to 

 variation under different circumstances : the 

 Mediterranean sea-water is considerably more 



* In a recent analysis by MM. Malaguti, Durocher, and 

 Sarzeaud, the presence of copper, lead, and silver has been 

 detected in sea-water, and to a larger extent silver was found 

 in the ashes of sea-weeds. 



