ON THE CWANO. 32g 



From thefe fads it appears evident, 1, that the matter taken The acid of 



up by the boilinff water from Guano is an acid, partly fatu- ^i*f"° '^ "."*^ 



■ - . . It,- I t • • 1 • ^'^"^» forming 



rated with ammonia and a httie imie ; 2, that this acid is an about i of the 



annual produd, becaufe it yields ammonia and prudic acid, wiiole* 



when decern pofed by fire; 3, that the fame acid, according 



to all the known properties, muft be uric acid, fimilar to that 



contained in the excrements of aquatic birds; 4, that it forms 



about one fourth part of the Guano. 



The mother^waier which depolited the powder, whofe qua- Analyfisof th« 

 lilies bave been juft examined, is very acid ; potaih caufes a '"o^her-v.ater 

 copious difengagement oF ammonia: It contains, therefore, jjjg'^^,^^"^' ^ 

 an ammoniacal fait. Nitrate of barytas and of liiver an- It contains an 

 nounce the prefence of muriatic and fulphuric falls; which^"^""" - ' 

 are precipitated in white flakes by lime-water, and are rcrdif- 

 folved, though with difficulty, in muriatic acid. 



This f recif)itate caufed by lime water, is evidently formed 

 of two falls, both foluble in acids without effervefcence ; one 

 eafiiy, and witliout the affiftance of heat, the other with diffi- 

 culty, even with the aid of heat; the former refifts calcination, 

 the latter is decompofed by fire, and afterwards diflblves in 

 acids with effervefcence. The firft is phofphate of lime, the —and phofphatie 

 fecond cjialate of Jime. ^.'"^ o^al»t« ^^ 



Meifrs. Fourcroy and Vauquelin wifliied to feparate thefe 

 two falls, without iheir undergoing any alteration ; and witli 

 this view they made ufe of weak nitric acid, which diffblved 

 the phofplvate of lime, and left the oxalate untouched. The 

 latter fait, on being treated with a folution of carbonate of 

 putafli, yielded a precipitate that diflblved wilh effervefcence 

 in nitric acid : Tiiis folution djfplayed all the properties of ni- 

 trate of lime. The acid feparated from the lime was taken 

 up by the potaQi ; in fy&, the liquor pofieffed the charaders 

 of oxalate of potafti; it precipitated with lime-water, a very 

 divided powder, with fulphate of lime, in flajces, which would 

 not readily unite ; and with all the metallic folutions capable 

 of precipitation by oxalic acid. Sulphate of alymine cauf&d 

 no precipitate, as it would have done with honiftate of potafh. 



The potafti found in the mother-water, after its precipitar The mother- 



tion by lime-water, and the difengagement of ammonia, caufed ^^'f ""*^in$ 

 . , , , r oxalates, phoi- 



by the addition of potafh to the mother-water, prior to its de- phates, ful- 



compofuion by lin^e-water, fufiiciently fliew that thefe two I'.'^^'"'/"'^'"'*" 



IV 1- , ' , -1 ■ 1 • I , .nates of potafh, 



a!*alis latiirale the aciqs contaaied in the mother-water or and of 101^9- 

 V'OL. XflJ.— ApRit, ISOG. 4 ?i Guano: "'»• 



