136
GUANO.
the granite, 1.60; of the concretions, 1-66; mean 1-63. Water digested on the for®portion is neutral to litmus, that on the latter is faintly acid. eI1
2. 100 parts lose 6-5 by the heat of boiling water, and exhale no ammonia. , r
digested and triturated with cold water, 30-5 parts dissolve, and 69-5 are obtained a \drying, at 212° F. Of those 30-5 parts, 6-5 are therefore water, easily separable; a24*5 parts are solid matter. . •o c d
3. 100 parts, mixed with 9 times their weight of water, and 50 of lime, being 4ist>
in an alembic connected with the live-globe condenser, &.C., afforded exactly 4"2 ° . Q fmonia. 20 grains in fine powder, along with 200 of a mixture, consisting of 2 P ar j
dry lime and 1 of hydrate of soda, were gently ignited in a combustion-tube conn _
with the ammonia-condensing apparatus, and they produced 4'25 grains of am® 0 ; aequivalent to 21-25 from 100 grains of the guano. Thus only 4-2 per cent, of a®®were ready formed; while 17-05 lurked, so to speak, in their azotized elements.
From its aspect, and its want of ammoniacal odor, this guano, the first caig j.ceived from Bolivia , was imagined by the importers to he of bad quality ; and, aC ^ giingly, my very favorable report of its analysis' surprised them not a little, and ra junsettled the little faith they at that time (January, 1843) had in chemistry.a fortnight after the date of my report they received a letter from Peru , appriz®^ r ;_of the excellence of that cargo of Bolivian guano, and of its being prized by thecans, as possessing fertilizing powers in a pre-eminent degree. I consider this otherefore, as a type of the substance in its best state. found
II. The soluble matter was analyzed, in the manner already detailed, and w aSto consist of—
1 .
_
5-00
2.
Sulphate of potash
-
7-90
3.
Chloride of sodium
_
5-00
4.
Biphosphate of ammonia
-
5-50
5.
Oxalate of ammonia
-
0-60
24-0
* rl
In these ammoniacal salts'there are only 1-65 parts of ammonia; hut. I obtaine g.ggrains in distilling the soluble matter of 100 grains of the guano. The remainiparts, therefore, must have proceeded from the partial decomposition of the u r f a a thethe long ebullition necessary to extract every particle of ammonia, in distiW ^guano along with lime.
III. The insoluble matter =69-5 parts, was found to consist of—
1 .
2 .
3.
4.
5.
Silica --------
Subphosphate of lime -
Phosphate of magnesia and ammonia -
Urate of ammonia ------
Undefined azotized organic matter, affording, with the 14 partsof uric acid, by ignition with hydrate of soda, 17-05 partsof ammonia -
2-25
9-00
1-25
15-27
41-73
69-50
This result as to the large proportion of organic matter in the dried insolu ^ out of
um was verified by igniting a given quantity of. it, when it was found to V or gan>^
69-5 parts, 57; corresponding to the 15-27 urate of ammonia, 41-73 of undlet in ur£l te an “matter, and 0-08 of ammonia, in the double magnesian phosphate. In _ t j ie otl‘ erdouble phosphate are 1-35 of ammonia, which, with the 2-55, make 3-9 P al s ’
0-3 parts may be traced to the urea. „ the analyst
As these results differ very considerably in many respects from those 0 van 8-
made by respectable German chemists, Z was careful to verify them by mations of the process, as follows :— f t i lC j3oli' r ^ a 5
1. The soluble matter, with acid reaction, of 100 parts of the lumps Q ' a nd
guano, was examined by per-acetalp of iron and ammonia, for phospi r,ylverul enafforded 4 parts of it, which is more than had been found in the neu ? ^
guano. After the phosphoric acid was separated by that method, ch or * ingave no cloud with the iiltered liquor, proving that no oxalic acid was P d^ 11 c
nodules. The washed insoluble matter, when gently ignited, and n0 0 xal 8te °nitric acid, afforded no effervescence whatever, and therefore showed mlime had been present, for it would have become a carbonate. oxide tn
It is necessary to determine from time to time the quantity oi er