We present a method to infer the approximate species mixture of neutral beam sources which accelerate positive hydrogen ions. An idealized neutral beam is specified by the accelerating voltage, the neutralizer thickness (molecules of hydrogen per cm2), and the currents of extracted H+, H+2, and H+3. These currents define two independent ratios which lie within a narrow parameter region and which can be determined by two independent measurements downstream from the source. The two suitable parameters are (1) the ratio of neutral beam to total beam power; and (2) the ratio of hydrogen produced by the neutral beam in the target volume to the hydrogen produced by the total beam. We give experimental results from the 10×10‐cm2120‐KeV test stand at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.