the nature of the food and drink made use of. In many cases of disease there is a much
larger quantity of gelatine and albumen than nsnal in the urine, .and in diabetes it contains
sugiir. It is probable that the urine of tho same animal must likewise differ
according to the different nature of tho food and drink used ; and this will account for
discordances in some of the analyses that have been published on the subject. Urine is
very li.ablo to change, and to undergo the putrefactive process; and that of carnivorous
iiuim:xls more rapidly than that of graminivorous animids. In proportion as tiicrc is more
gelatine or albumen in xu-ine, so in propoition docs it pntrefy more quickly. As this
mauui’e is very strong, it should be mixed with sawdust, weeds, &c.; and if not mixed
witli solid matter, it should be diluted with xvater, as, when pure, it contains too large a
quantity of animal matter to form a proper fluid nourishment for absorption by the roots
of plants. The ammonia and carbonie acid which lu-e evolved daring the decay of
this species of maiuu-e, are produced in sncli quantities as to bo higldy injurious, as they
are far more than the plants require, and, indeed, more than they can absorb.
1280. Piiirid iirme abounds ill ammoniacal salts; and though less strong than fresh
nvine, is a very powerful manure. According to a recent analysis published by Berzelius,
1000 parts of urine are composed of, water 933 ; urea 30-1 ; uric acid 1 ; muriate
of ammonia, free lactic acid, lactate of ammonia, and animal matter 17-14. The
remainder ditferent salts, phosphates, sulphates, and muriates.
1281. Dung o f birds. Amongst excremontitions solid substances used as manures, one
of tlio most powerful is tho dung of birds that feed on animal food, particnlarly the dung
of sea-birds. The giiano, which is used to a great extent in South America, aud which
is the maiiui-o that fertilises the sterile plains of Pern, is a production of this kind. It
exists abundantly, as we are informed by Hnmboldt, on the small islands in the South
Sea, at Cliinehe, Ho, Iza, and Arica ; it has been also found abundant on the island
Ichaboo. Fifty vosscls are laden with it annually at Chinche, each of w-hich carries
from loOO to 2000 cubical feet. It is used as a mamu-e only in very small quantities ;
and particularly for crops of maize. Some experiments were made on specimens of
guano in 180,5. I t appeai-ed as a fino brown powd er; it blackened hy heat, and gave
off strong ammoniacal fumes; treated with nitric acid, it afforded uric acid. In 1806,
F-ourcroy and Vauquclin published an elaborate analysis of guano. They state that it
contains a fourth part of its weight of uric acid, partly saturated with ammonia, and
p.artly with potassa ; some phosphoric acid oombincd with the bases, and likewise
with lime ; small qiuantities of sulphate and muriate of potassa ; a little fatty matter ;
and some qiiartzose sand. I t is easy to explain its fertilising properties ; from its composition
it might be supposed to bo a very powerful maimrc. I t requires -ivater for the
solution of its soluble matter, to enable it to produce its full beneficial effect on crops.
The guano of South America, which was imported in such large quantities from 1842
to 1847, was the residue of the putrefiictioii of the excrements of sea-fowl, and consisted
“ chiefly of various salts of ammonia, inorganic compounds, and undecomposcd organic
matters.” “ The salts of ammonia,” continues Professor SoUy, “ dissolve easily in water,
and arc at once absorbed by plants, whilst the undecomposed organic matter, gradually
undergoing decomposition, continues for some time to yield a rcgulav supply of ammonia.”
“ In using guano as liquid manure,” he continues, “ it must be remembered
that the solution formed by pouring water over it only contains the ammonia and about
one quarter of the phosphates ; the rest of the phosphates, and the org.anio matter,
being nearly insoluble in water ; hence the residue is nearly as valuable a maimrc as
that which is dissolved; and in order to derive the whole benefit from the manure, the
insoluble part must, by agitation or other moans, be kept suspended in the liquid whilst
it is being spread over tlie ground.” (Solly’s Rural Chemistry, 2nd ed., p. 185.)
1282. The dung o f sea-birds has never till lately been much used as a mamu-e in this
country ; but it is probable that even the soil of the small islands on our coast much
fi-equentcd by them would fertilise. Some dung of sea-birds, brought from a rock on
the coast of Morionethshii-e, produced a powerful, but transient, effect on grass. The
rains in our climate must tend very much to injure this species of manm-e, where it is
exposed to them soon after its deposition ; hut it may probably he found in great perfection
in caverns or clefts in rocks haunted hy cormorants and gidls. Some recent
cormorants’ dung, when examined, had not at all the appearance of guano : it was of a
greyish-white colour; had a veiy fetid smell, like that of putrid animal matter ; when
acted on by quicklime, it gave abundance of ammonia ; treated with nitric acid, it
yielded uric acid.
1283. Night-soil, it is w d l known, is a very powerful manure, and very liable to
decompose. I t differs in composition; hnt always abounds in substances composed of
carbon, hydrogen, azote, and oxygen. From the analysis of Berzelius, it appears that a
part of it is always soluble in water ; and in whatever state it is used, whether recent or
fei-mented, it supplies abundance of food to pl.ants. The disagreeable smell of night-
soil may be destroyed hy mixing it with quicklune; and if exposed to the atmosphere
by Its absorbent powers, probably prevents, to a c e r tZ r o Z L r Z Z ' v
upon the dung, and likewise defends it from the effects of «fr of moisture
a state of powder, forms an article of in t e r a l o om Z L eL ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
the name of poudrettc; in London it is mixed w ith T lta Z xs known under
lapidly undeigoes putrefaction, and brings on tJie required cJiange in the ‘ikin ^ T)^ ^
E F s S « " -
1286. Rabbits’ dung has never been analvsed Tt i? ncovi xarun a
diemically examined by Einhof
« 7 ? - found that it contained matter soluble in ivatcr ■ and fli-it it o-nve ii,
v “"“ - I « - . . » . * 1 » , » , , 5 .
solution and evaporation, when examined, contain a veiy small
became greener in consequence, and grew more vigorously than gi-ass i ! other r e s S
unde the samo circnmstancos. The part of fhe dung of cattle, sheen and d c e T n Z
soluble 111 water appears to be mere woody fibre, and precisely analogoiS’ to the rc s id iiL
i T c S s “ ® ‘ “ ft“ ‘“ fty “ " f t frft™ V i v e d of aU tiiol. sM t a
Y2S9. The dung o f horses giYos a brown fluid, and this, when evapor.atcd vields «
of oxeTi ft'“ ' f™ “ “ ore copiously than that fi-om’the dung
1290. Street and road dung and the sweepings o f houses may be all regarded as com
posite manures ; the constitution of them is necessarily various, as they L e to iv ta froZ '
L Z n t e l ' " “' ““ ftft" “ ft'ft ” ™"ft® " ft -» ily aC T iiL ftw “ bM "
. .n l lZ f fta® fl“ " “ fo™ed fi-om the combustion of pit-coal or coal geneallj,
contmns likewise substances derived from animal matters. This is a veiy powerful
manmo. I t contains a large quantity of ammonia, and yields a brown exttaL to hot
JS E 2