Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/73

 PARAGUAY 63 insoluble in water, soluble in ether and alco- hol, combines with alkalies, and burns with an illuminating flame. Chlorine gas decomposes paraffine, yielding hydrochloric acid. In medi- cine the preservative and protecting properties of paraffine are brought into frequent requisi- tion ; and in general, its chemically indifferent properties and permanent character render it one of the most useful products of industry. PARAGUAY, a republic of South America, ex- tending from lat. 21 57' to 27 30' S., and from Ion. 54 33' to 58 40' W., bounded K and K E. by Brazil, S. E., S., and S. W. by the Argentine Republic, and N". W. by Bolivia; area (exclusive of the triangular section of the Gran Ohaco lying mainly between the rivers Paraguay and Bermejo and the 22d parallel, one portion of which is claimed by Bolivia and the remainder by the Argentine Republic) variously estimated at from 57,000 (Almanack de Gotha, 1875) to 90,000 sq. m. The area was much larger before the war of 1865-'70, at the termination of which Paraguay ceded 1,329 sq. m. of its territory as a war indem- nity to Brazil, the limits being fixed, by the terms of the treaty of March 26, 1872, as fol- lows : " The bed of the Parand river from the mouth of the Iguazti (lat. 25 30' S.) to the Salto Grande (lat. 24 7'). From these falls the line runs (about due W.) along the highest divide of the Sierra de Maracayu to the termi- nation of the latter ; thence as nearly as pos- sible in a straight line (northward) along the highest ground to the Sierra de Amambay, fol- lowing the highest divide of that sierra to the principal source of the Apa, and along the bed >f that river (westward) to its junction with the Paraguay. All the streams flowing K and E. belong to Brazil, and those S. and W. to Paraguay." Paraguay was thus constrained to surrender the very portion of her territory so long claimed by Brazil, and the northern limit of which was the mouth of the Rio Blanco, 80 m. above that of the Apa. The computations of the population range from 100,000 to 1,300,- 000. A census ordered by Dr. Francia in 1840, and regarded as tolerably accurate, returned 220,000. The natural rate of increase till 1865 would have doubled this number (440,000) ; but in the subsequent five years' war the losses may fairly be estimated at half the population : 170,000 males by battle and disease (chiefly 635 VOL. XIII. 5