250 Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1877. 
from a dozen bags, well mixed together, and the whole passed 
through a sieve. Of this well-mixed average sample about 
^Ib., which is amply sufficient for analysis, should be sent to a 
competent analytical chemist, whose certificate will show at once 
whether the bulk on delivery agrees fairly with the quality as 
represented by the analysis which every dealer in guano ought 
to be able to produce. 
Phosphatic guanos seldom find their wav into the hands of 
agriculturists, as they are greatly in demand by manufacturers 
of artificial manures, who find them peculiarlv well adapted for 
the production of concentrated superphosphates and similar 
manures. 
One of the most recent importations of an excellent phos- 
phatic guano is that from Lacepede Island, a small guano island 
in the South Pacific. 
The following partial analyses represent the composition of 
four cargoes of Lacepede guano : — 
Ko. 1. 
No. 2. 
No. 3. 
No. 4. 
Ma^esia, oxide of iron and alumina i 
16-32 
35-88 
42-22 
4-23 
1-35 
19-01 
34-04 
40-71 
4-49 
1-75 
21-15 
33 16 
40-29 
4-39 
1-01 
19-85 
33-87 
40-85 
4-41 
102 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
100-00 
• Equal to tribasic pliosphate of lime 
78-33 
74-31 
72-39 
72-94 
Lacepede guano, it will be seen, is rich in phosphate of lime, 
and closely resembles in its general character Maiden Island 
guano. 
It appears in the shape of a light-brown powder, which, on 
exposure to a strong heat in a platinum capsule, leaves a 
perfectly white ash. 
The brown colour is due to organic matter, varying to some 
extent in different samples. In virtue of the organic matter, 
Lacepede guano contains a small proportion of nitrogen, but no 
appreciable quantity of ready-formed ammonia. 
The following analysis shows the detailed composition of 
one of the best samples of Lacepede guano which has been 
brought under my notice : — 
