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guano (GWAH-noh) - n., the dung of seabirds or bats, esp. when used for fertilizer.
[image omitted] It was especially in demand in the late 19th century because it was one of the few nitrogen-rich substances usable as fertilizer, which made guano mining on coastal islands and in caverns a major commercial concern (with major habitat destruction) until the invention of the Haber-Bosch process for fixing atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. From Spanish, from Quechua wanu, dung (of any type).
---L.
[image omitted] It was especially in demand in the late 19th century because it was one of the few nitrogen-rich substances usable as fertilizer, which made guano mining on coastal islands and in caverns a major commercial concern (with major habitat destruction) until the invention of the Haber-Bosch process for fixing atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. From Spanish, from Quechua wanu, dung (of any type).
---L.
