MANURES — URINE. 258 



The bile which accompanied the fecal matter is secreted by the 

 liver, and is familiarly known as a viscid, bitter fluid bf a yellowish 

 green color and a peculiarly nauseous odor. According to M The- 

 nard, the bile of the ox contains : — 



Water 700 



Picromel* 69 



Fatty matter 15 



Soda, phosphate of soda, chlorides of potassium and > ,« 



sodium, sulphate of soda j ^" 



Phosphate of lime, oxide of iron 1 



Urine is a liquid secreted by the kidneys from arterial blood ; it 

 passes into the bladder by the ureters. Its composition varies ac- 

 cording to the animals which produce it. Urea is its most charac- 

 teristic principle ; and in the water which it always contains in large 

 proportion, various saline substances and animal matter, which is re- 

 garded as mucus of the bladder, are encountered. The urine of the 

 horse, according to M. Chevreul, contains carbonate of soda, of lime, 

 and of magnesia, sulphate of soda, chloride of sodium, hippurate of 

 soda, urea, and a red-colored oil. 



The urine of horned cattle has a similar compositon, with this dif- 

 fer ence, that it is much more watery. In the urine of our cow- 

 houses which had undergone change, I have ascertained the presence 

 of the alkaline carbonates, of common salt, and of the reddish oil 

 mentioned above. Having at various times had occasion to evapor- 

 ate considerable quantities of the urine of the horse, I always ob- 

 served that on coming to the boiling point, a quantity of azotized 

 matter which resembled albumen was coagulated. I also perceived 

 in the urine of herbivorous animals a volatile acid, to which its odor 

 is probably owing. 



In the urine of the camel, M. Chevreul found the carbonates of 

 lime and magnesia, silica, sulphate of lime, and oxide of iron, in 

 very small quantities ; chloride of potassium, carbonate of potash, 

 sulphate of soda, in small quantities ;* sulphate of potash, in large 

 quantity ; urea ; an alkaline hippurate ; and a reddish oil. 



The urine of the rabbit, according to Vauquelin, contains carbon- 

 ate of lime, of magnesia, and of potash, chloride of potassium, sul- 

 phate of potash, sulphur, urea, and mucus. 



The urine of birds is distinguished by the large proportion of uric 

 acid it contains. Food, however, has a great influence upon this 

 proportion ; highly azotized aliments increasing it considerably. 

 Wollaston observed that the excrements of a fowl which was fed 



* Picromel, discovered in the bile of the ox by M. Thenard, is colorless, and of the 

 consistence of sirup. It produces upon the tongue an acrid and bitter sensation, which 

 rapidly changes to a flavor slightly sugary. The recent researches of Messrs. Tiede- 

 mans and Gmelin have discovered in ox bile substances which had escaped the first in- 

 vestigations. These chemists found : 1st. a subst-ince having the smell of musk, and 

 which is probably one of the causes of the odor peculiar to the excrement of kine; 2d. 

 fatty substances ; 3d. biliary resin : 4th. a crystallized substance called taurine : 5th. 

 biliary sugar, of wliich azote forms one of the elements. According to Messrs. Tiedc 

 mann and Gmelin, the picromel of M. Thenard results from the union of sugar and 

 biliary resin. 



