( 40 ) 



ment of multitudes of birds which congregate 



upon a number of small islands in the Pacific 



ocean, the coasts of Peru and Chili. Upon 



some of these islands it is found in deposits 



of sixty to seventy feet in thickness. Being 



an extremely valuable manure, it has become 



an article of commerce, and is imported in 



large quantities for the fertilization of the 



soil. Peru and Chili are indebted to it for 



their fertility. 



Fownes' analysis gave as its composition : 



Oxalate of Ammonia, ^ 



Uric Acid, ? 



Traces of Carbonate of Ammonia, ^ 66.2 

 Organic Matter, -^ 



Phosphate of hme and magnesia, 29.2 



Alkaline phosphates & Chlorides, "> .r. 

 Traces of Sulphate, 3 



100.0 

 Girardin found in guano 18.4 dry uric 

 acid, equal to 6.13 nitrogen, and 13.0 am- 

 monia, equal to 10.73 nitrogen, making in 

 all 16.86 nitrogen. Payen found in a speci- 

 men which he first dried, 15.73 per cent, of 

 nitrogen; in its normal state the sample had 

 only. 13. 95.* Other guanos gave but 6 to 7 

 per cent., and this discrepancy in composition 



* See the " Encyclopedia of Chemistry," for analyses 

 of all the different guanos. 



