large
number of guanos, all of which were sold as first-class Peruvian.

Water 12.85 15.19 12.06 27.86 6.32
Organic matter and }
ammoniacal salts } 26.84 44.31 34.14 30.41 27.42
Phosphates 15.54 20.95 22.08 22.17 33.61
Sulphate of lime ... ... 11.08 ... 22.11
Alkaline salts 6.07 9.40 12.81 7.92 22.50
Sand 38.70 10.15 7.83 1.64 10.15
------ ------ ------ ------ ------
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Ammonia 9.34 13.90 9.77 8.64 9.76

In all those cases a very large depreciation in the value has taken
place, and several of them are worth considerably less than half the
price of the genuine guano, while they are generally offered for sale at
about L1 under the usual price. The adulteration is chiefly practised in
London, and cases occasionally occur which can be traced to Liverpool
and other places; but it always takes place in the large towns, because
it is only there that facilities exist for obtaining the necessary
materials and carrying it out without exciting suspicion. The
sophisticated article then passes into the hands of the small country
dealers, to whom it is sold with the assurance that it is genuine, and
analysis quite unnecessary. In other instances, adulterated and inferior
guanos are sold by the analysis of a genuine sample, and sometimes an
analysis is made to do duty for many successive cargos of a guano which,
though all obtained from one deposit, may differ excessively in
composition. In order to insure obtaining a genuine guano, it is above
all things important to deal only with a person of established
character, who will generally, for his own sake, satisfy himself that
the article he vends is genuine and of good quality; and it is always
important that the buyer should examine the analysis, and in all cases
where there is the slightest doubt, should ascertain that the bulk sent
corresponds with it. In the case of a Peruvian guano, a complete
analysis is not necessary for this purpose; but an experienced chemist,
by the application of a few tests, can readily ascertain whether the
sample is genuine. Where the difference in value between different
samples is required, a complete analysis is necessary, and this is
indispensable in the case of the inferior guanos. Many of these are
obtained from deposits