Annual Report of the Consulting Chemist for 1880. 21)3 
been of more or less practical utility to the senders of samples, 
and some ])resent general points of interest to agriculturists 
justifying a more detailed reference in this Annual Report. 
Peruvian Guano. 
In last year's annual chemical report reference was made to 
tlu! j)ractice of unscrupulous manure dealers in selling Peruvian 
(iuano of inferior (|uality at the top price at which high quality 
guano is usually sold. This practice does not appear to have- 
heen abandoned altogether, as the following two analyses will 
.show, which I made last spring for two members of the Society. 
Composition of Two Samples of Peruvian G uano. 
No. 1. No. 2. 
Moisture 17-15 .... 19-16 
'Org.anic matter and salts of 
ammonia 27-40 .... 22-03 
Pliosphnte of lime 15-OS .... 33-05 
fAlkaline salts, &c 18-27 .... 15-81 
Insoluble siliceous matter .. .. 22-10 .... 9-05 
100-00 100-00 
* Containing nitrogen .. .. C'29 .... 4-49 
Equal to ammonia .. .. 7-64 .... .5-45 
t Containing soluble phosphoric acid '2 -09 .... 4-38 
Kqnal to tribasic phosphate cf lime 5-87 .... 
Total phosphoric aci.l .. .. 9-UO .... 19-58 
Equal totribasicphosphatcoflimc20''.l(j .... 42-74 
Both guanos were sold at loZ. IO5., and No. 2 guano was stated 
to be as good as any imported. 
No 1, it will be seen, contained 22 per cent, of useless siliceous 
matter, and only 7^ per cent, (in round numbers) of ammonia, 
and 21 per cent of phosphates, whilst No. 2 contained twice as 
much phosphates, but only 5^ per cent, of ammonia. Both 
samples were damp and in a bad mechanical condition. 
I need hardly say that 13Z. 10s. per ton is an extravagantly 
high price for guanos which are scarcely worth lOZ. a ton. 
Inferior Artificial Manures. 
A good many samples of artificial manures passed through 
my hands in the course of last year, which were not nearly 
worth the price at which they were sold. In illustration of 
cases of that kind I select the following instances : — 
