SCIENCE AND COMMERCE 
 
 itteir jfnjtimta 0n <wr l 
 
 A SERIES OF 
 
 STATISTICAL ESSAYS AND LECTURES 
 
 DESCRIBING THE PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERIES OF SCIENCE, 
 
 THE ADVANCE OF BRITISH COMMERCE, 
 
 AND THE CONDITIONS OF OUR PRINCIPAL MANUFACTURES IN THE 
 NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 BY 
 
 P. L. SIMMO1STDS, 
 
 EDITOR OF "THE JOURNAL OP APPLIED SCIENCE," 
 
 HONORARY AND CORRESPONDING) MEMBER OF VARIOUS FOREKJX ANT- 
 COLONIAL SOCIETIES. 
 
 LONDON : 
 ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY 
 
LONDON I 
 
 KELLY & CO., PRINTERS, 
 GATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, W.C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HAVING been solicited to publish some lectures 
 recently delivered on the Products of Commerce 
 (forming the Travers' Course) at the London Insti- 
 tution, have availed myself of the opportunity to 
 reprint at the same time, in a compact volume, a few 
 of the many articles I have contributed to the com- 
 mercial literature of the day on kindred topics during 
 the last twenty years. It appeared to me that there 
 was a want of a reliable handy-book of reference on 
 our commerce and manufactures, and some observa- 
 tions which I made in the preface to my " Commercial 
 Dictionary of Trade Products," published fourteen 
 years ago, are even more pertinent now. " The present 
 is essentially a practical, commercial, and industrial 
 age newspapers, lecturers, popular authors all lend 
 their efforts towards the diffusion of sound and useful 
 knowledge among the masses ; and the commercial 
 and industrial element has become the leading feature 
 of instruction. 
 
 " The reason of this is obvious, if we but glance at 
 the amazing siride^oi British Commerce, the wide 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 range of Products and Manufactures in which we are 
 interested, the constant and rapid intercommunica- 
 tion carried on with foreign countries, and the pro- 
 gress of settlement in our colonies. The trade and 
 commerce of all nations are now daily brought before 
 us prominently through the press ; new products are 
 continually introduced, new trades are established, and 
 the raw materials of commerce now imported are so 
 numerous, and so widely different from what they were 
 a quarter of a century ago, that it is difficult for those 
 who are not specially engaged in a particular trade to 
 keep pace with the general information necessary to be 
 acquired." 
 
 I have selected from my published articles only 
 those which bore specially on scientific discovery, 
 commerce and manufactures ; but although the volume 
 has swelled beyond the usual limits, I have been able 
 to include but a portion ; should the work, however, 
 meet with public approval, I may publish a second 
 volume of kindred papers and contributions to pub- 
 lications, many of which are now extinct or not 
 generally accessible. 
 
 Although my literary and professional engagements 
 have prevented me from re-writing and condensing (as 
 I could have wished) many of these treatises, I have 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 at least supplemented them, and brought down the 
 statistical and general information to the present time. 
 Therefore, all that the reader has to do in consulting 
 them is to bear in mind the original date of publica- 
 tion, which is given at the commencement of each 
 article. 
 
 It is not every one who has had such extensive 
 commercial experience and long facilities of research 
 and observation in the arrangement of Technological 
 Museums and International Exhibitions at home and 
 abroad, as I have, and possibly, therefore, some of the 
 remarks and information published in this volume may 
 prove useful for instruction and reference. 
 
 P. L. SIMMONDS. 
 
 29, Cheaps ide, London, E.G., 
 July, 1872. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 4- 
 
 PAGE 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE AND THE 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTS IMPORTED (TRAVERS' 
 LECTURE) 1 
 
 MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES ENTERING INTO 
 
 COMMERCE (TRAVERS' LECTURE) . . . 36 
 
 THE CHIEF MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF 
 
 COMMERCE . . * 70 
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING USES OF 
 
 SHELLS 105 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN THE 19TH CENTURY . 131 
 
 THE COTTON MANUFACTURE : 
 
 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON . 192 
 
 OUR COTTON SUPPLIES 220 
 
 THE COTTON TRADE 240 
 
 THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE 
 
 THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE AND THE INFORMA- 
 TION TO BE OBTAINED THEREON . . 265 
 
 WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE . . . 281 
 OUR WOOL SUPPLIES . . . . . . 300 
 COLONIAL WOOLS AT THE LONDON INTER- 
 NATIONAL EXHIBITION OF 1862 . . . 306 
 THE BRITISH WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES . . 314 
 A THE WORSTED MANUFACTURE . . 325 
 B THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE . . 328 
 C SHODDY FABRICS 330 
 
 THE SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE . ... 334 
 ON SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA 
 
 (A PRIZE ESSAY) 340 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF SILK , 370 
 
Vlii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE IRON MANUFACTURE 378 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL INDUSTRIES . .419 
 
 THE GLASS MANUFACTURE 427 
 
 EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY 443 
 
 DYES AND COLOURING STUFFS : 
 
 DYES OBTAINED FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 459 
 
 MINERAL COLOURS AND DYES .... 474 
 VEGETABLE DYES AND COLOURS . . . . 476 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF, AND TRADE IN, PRECIOUS 
 
 METALS AND FANCY ARTICLES . ... 499 
 THE GROCERY AND ALLIED TRADES . . . .514 
 
 THE COMMERCE IN GROCERIES . . . 524 
 
 THE LEATHER TRADE AND TANNING SUBSTANCES . 531 
 
 THE LEATHER MANUFACTURE .... 546 
 NEW PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS AND THE PROGRESS 
 
 OF THE PAPER MANUFACTURE . . . .551 
 ON NUTS ; THEIR PRODUCE AND USES (A PRIZE 
 
 ESSAY) . . 583 
 
 INDEX . 625 
 
 NOTE. The paragraphs within brackets and the appended 
 foot-notes have been added to bring down the information to 
 the present time. 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMEBCE; 
 
 THEIR INFLUENCE ON OUK MANUFACTUKES. 
 
 TRAVERS' COURSE.* 
 
 LEOffURE I. 
 
 OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE ; AND 
 THE VEGETABLE PKODUCTS IMPORTED.f 
 
 THE subject on which I have to address you comes 
 home directly to every one of us, for it ministers 
 
 * " The public services of the late John Travers having led 
 to the collection of a fund for the purpose of presenting to 
 him a testimonial, he determined that the money so raised, 
 instead of ministering to his own pleasure or aggrandisement, 
 should be set apart for some object of public utility, and 
 being placed in the hands of trustees, it was transferred to 
 this institution as the foundation for lectures on Commerce 
 and Commercial Law. These were commenced on May 21, 
 1856, and two lectures have been given each session in fulfil- 
 ment of this trust. Mr. John Young, Professor Fawcett, and 
 others have delivered these lectures, which, till this year, 
 have been more especially directed to the law of Commerce. 
 This year Mr. P. L. Simmonds has awakened much interest 
 by taking the Articles of Commerce as his subject." Intro- 
 ductory address of Mr. Thomas Piper, Hon. Sec., Dec. 7, 1871, 
 in "Journal of the London Institution,''' Jan. 16, 1872. 
 
 f Delivered at the London Institution, Finsbury Circus, 
 November 23rd, 1871. The lectures were illustrated by large 
 
Z SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 largely to our individual comfort, and contributes 
 greatly to our national wealth. Meeting, as we do, in 
 the hall of an old established scientific institution, 
 located within the business centre of this great com- 
 mercial capital, a city which comprises one-tenth of 
 the population of the entire kingdom, and by its 
 immense traffic with foreign and distant parts, its 
 interchange of commodities with every quarter of 
 the globe, is the busiest, most enterprising, and most 
 wealthy emporium of either ancient or modern times 
 it seems scarcely necessary to urge any plea for the 
 nature of the subject* 
 
 Here Commerce spreads on every sea her sail, 
 And ploughs the wave before each passing gale. 
 Here, 'mid the city's hum, the merchant stands, 
 And holds the thread connecting distant lands : 
 He speaks the word at his commanding will, 
 The thousand wheels of Industry are still ! 
 He speaks the word and at his will, once more 
 The sails of Commerce whiten every shore ! 
 
 and interesting collections of Trade Products, furnished by 
 various leading merchants and brokers, and from Mr. 
 Simmonds's own private collection in his Trade Museum, 29, 
 Cheapside. 
 
 * Mr. Piper, the Honorary Secretary of the Institution, in 
 a subsequent address, remarked : 
 
 " Science and Literature are common properties, and offer 
 wide fields for research and enjoyment, but the connection of 
 Science with Commerce seems more especially to belong to 
 an institution founded in the midst of a mercantile com- 
 munity. It especially occupied the thoughts of those who 
 originated this institution, and was the theme of the eloquent 
 inaugural address delivered by the Standing Counsel (Mr. C. 
 Butler), when the first stone of the building in which we are 
 assembled was laid." 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 
 
 Remember that we are an insular country, in a 
 temperate climate, and that our population in the 
 main prosperous and wealthy is fast outgrowing our 
 local means of subsistence. Picture to yourself for a 
 moment what would be our condition supposing this 
 island were subject to a blockade for a few months. I 
 do not say this is possible ; but we do know that in 
 adverse times we have had to encounter a famine in 
 Ireland, deficiencies of cotton from America, of 
 Russian supplies of tallow, hemp, and bristles, and a 
 dearth of silk from disease. But, if hemmed in^y 
 foes, how many supplies of the raw materials for 
 our mills, how many comforts indeed, what we now 
 term the necessaries of life, such as tea, coffee, cocoa, 
 sugar, tropical fruits, wines should we miss ; whilst 
 even our grain, dairy produce, and animal food supplies 
 would be found utterly insufficient for our wants.* 
 The products of the mine, the factory, and the farm 
 
 * How greatly the world would be benefited by unlimited 
 facilities for transportation and exchange of goods is shown 
 by the fact that, while the people of Persia are starving by 
 tens of thousands, the inhabitants of some of our Western 
 States are burning corn in their stoves in place of coal. 
 " Scientific American" January, 1872. 
 
 The following extract from the Hon. Edward Everett's 
 address before the New York State Agricultural Society, in 
 1857, is well worth reproducing : 
 
 " Strike out of existence, at once, ten days' supply of eight 
 or ten articles, such as Indian corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, rice, 
 millet, the date, the banana, and the bread-fruit, with half-a- 
 dozen others which serve as the forage of the domestic- 
 animals, and the human race would be extinct. The houses 
 we inhabit, the monuments we erect, the trees we plant, 
 stand in some cases for ages ; but our own frames the stout 
 
 B 2 
 
4 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 are concentrated in the warehouses of our docks. The 
 corn-fields of America and Europe, the rice-fields of 
 Asia, the sugar-cane pieces of the East and West 
 Indies, the coffee plantations and the spice groves of 
 the Tropics, the fleeces of the sheep of Africa, Aus- 
 tralia, and South America, of the alpaca of the 
 Andes and the goat of Cashmere, the gold of 
 America and Australia, the iron of Sweden and the 
 Black Forest, the copper of America and Australia; 
 the ship, the ironworks, the engine-makers' workshop, 
 the bazaar, the exchange, the market, all these, and 
 many more multifarious forms of industry and corn- 
 limbs, the skilful hands that build the houses, and set up the 
 monuments, and plant the trees, have to be built up, re- 
 created, every day ; and this must be done from the fruits 
 of the earth, gathered by agriculture. Everything else is 
 luxury, convenience, comfort food is indispensable. Then 
 consider the bewildering extent of this daily demand and 
 supply, which you will allow me to place before you in a 
 somewhat coarse mechanical illustration. The human race is 
 usually estimated at about one thousand millions of indi- 
 viduals. If the sustenance of a portion of these multitudinous 
 millions is derived from other sources than agriculture, this 
 circumstance is balanced by the fact that there is a great deal 
 of agricultural produce raised in excess of the total demand 
 for food. Let, then, the thoughtful husbandman who desires 
 to form a just idea of the importance of his pursuit, reflect, 
 when he gathers his little flock about him to partake the 
 morning's meal, that one thousand millions of fellow-men 
 have awakened from sleep that morning, craving their daily 
 bread, with the same appetite which reigns at his family 
 board ; and that if, by a superior power, they could be 
 gathered together at the same hour, for the same meal, they 
 would fill both sides of five tables reaching all round the 
 globe where it is broadest, seated side by side, and allowing 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. O 
 
 merce, are represented in our import and export trade 
 returns. In the words of Cowper : 
 
 The band of Commerce was designed 
 To associate all the nations of mankind ; 
 And if a bounteous plenty be the robe, 
 Trade is the golden girdle of the globe. 
 
 My lamented friend, Professor George Wilson, in 
 one of his lectures on Technology, well observes that 
 
 " One of the greatest services which Observational 
 Science is continually rendering to Industrialism is the 
 discovery of natural substances, mineral, vegetable, and 
 animal possessed of useful but latent properties. A ser- 
 vice not less great is then rendered by Transformational 
 Science, pointing out how to modify this gift of nature 
 so as to call into active existence hidden precious 
 qualities. Thus, to take a complex but striking ex- 
 
 eighteen inches to each individual, and that these tables are to 
 be renewed twice or thrice every day. Then let him consider 
 that, in addition to the food of the human race, that of all 
 the humble partakers of man's toil the lower animals is to 
 be provided in like manner. These all wait upon agriculture, 
 as the agent of that Providence which giveth them their meat 
 in due season ; and they probably consume in the aggregate 
 an equal amount of produce ; and, finally, let him add, in 
 imagination, to this untold amount of daily food for man and 
 beast, the various articles which are furnished, directly or 
 indirectly, from the soil, for building material, furniture, 
 clothing, and fuel. The grand total will illustrate the 
 primary importance of agriculture, considered as the steward 
 the commissary charged with supplying this almost incon- 
 ceivable daily demand of the human race and the subject 
 animals for their daily bread ; a want so imperative and un- 
 compromising, that death, in its most agonising form, is the 
 penalty of a failure in the supply." 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 ample, through Observational Science we may discover 
 a soil more or less fertile all the world over, but 
 Transformational Science must show us how to fence 
 and till it, how to drain or irrigate and manure it, 
 before it can be made a fruitful field. Geology, 
 striving ever to reach nearer to the centre of the earth, 
 finds coal for us ; Chemistry teaches us how to cook, 
 i.e., literally to cook, this raw material, and how to 
 distil it into naphtha and gas. Mineralogy selects iron 
 ores for us, Chemistry converts them into steel, and 
 Mechanics forges that into bars. Descriptive Botany 
 plucks a wild currant, Physiological Botany changes it 
 into a sweet grape, Chemistry ferments it into wine 
 and transforms that into ether. Descriptive Zoology 
 lays its hands on a caterpillar, Physiological Zoology 
 nurses it into a strong silkworm, Chemistry bleaches 
 and dyes the silk which it spins, and Mechanics weaves 
 it into velvet." 
 
 Dr. Yeats, in his recent popular work on " The Natural 
 History of Commerce," also truly remarks that 
 
 " Without a considerable knowledge of raw materials 
 and of their adaptations, we could not live ; and with- 
 out an unremitting application of such knowledge we 
 could not live in comfort. We may even measure a 
 country's civilisation by the extent and diffusion of this 
 important knowledge. The economic history of a nation 
 would be a record of the discovery of new raw ma- 
 terials, of new sources of supply, and of additional 
 applications. All such discoveries tend to our benefit, 
 while their result is occasionally to enrich the dis- 
 coverer, and to change the face of our social and 
 industrial life. 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. i 
 
 " We have only to contrast the present period of our 
 history with any former period, or the condition of any 
 one country with another to perceive the effect of such 
 knowledge upon human well-being. Every year adds 
 to oar list of useful animal, vegetable and mineral 
 substances, while the increasing consumption of those 
 already known calls forth, as a rule, increased pro- 
 duction. Thus, the importance of a knowledge of 
 raw materials cannot be overrated. It is a matter of 
 personal interest to everybody in every part of the 
 world." 
 
 What a field of investigation and research, what 
 opportunities for manufacturing industry and skill are 
 opened up in the enormous home and foreign com- 
 merce of this our little kingdom ! 
 
 In the commencement of the present century our 
 Foreign trade (imports and exports) was only to the 
 value of 60,000,000 sterling ; now it amounts to 
 487,500,000 the average figures of the last three 
 years. What a contrast are the imports of the United 
 Kingdom, now of the value of 327,000,000 (1871), 
 in comparison with those of the year 1354, when with 
 the customs' dues thereon they only amounted to 
 39,000 ! 
 
 The third quarter of the nineteenth century marks 
 an era in our commercial greatness to which many 
 causes have contributed. Among the principal of 
 these may be enumerated the following : The im- 
 portant gold discoveries of California and Australia, 
 which gave an amazing impetus to emigration and 
 colonisation, for since 1850 the registered emigrants 
 have numbered 4,250,000, exclusive of those by pri- 
 
8 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE, 
 
 vate passenger ships ; the repeal of our navigation 
 laws ; the free trade policy adopted ; and the removal 
 of almost all duties, except on a few principal articles 
 for revenue purposes. 
 
 I do not intend to enlarge on the laws which affect 
 Commerce, because this is a department which has 
 already been prominently dwelt upon in the Travers' 
 course of lectures. If I had time for this there are 
 very many points, however, which might be adverted 
 to, especially the repeal of the corn laws, the modifica- 
 tions of our bankruptcy law, the laws of partnership, 
 the patent laws and registration of designs act, and, 
 lastly, the protection of British trade marks abroad, 
 which with other important commercial concessions in 
 respect to duties, have been gradually introduced into 
 our successive treaties with foreign nations. 
 
 Since the first discoveries of gold in California, 
 Australia, New Zealand, and other quarters, at least 
 500,000,000 sterling of gold have been added to the 
 previous stock in circulation in the world. The value 
 of the gold coined at the British mint in the fifteen 
 years ending 1854 (that was just after the time of the 
 first gold discoveries) was 65,500,000, and in the 
 fifteen years ending 1869, 76,500,000 ; so that an 
 average of more than 4,500,000 of gold coin is 
 annually put into circulation in the United Kingdom, 
 exclusive of what is used in the arts and manufactures. 
 There is a balance of gold remaining in this country, 
 as shown between the officially-recorded imports and 
 exports for the fifteen years ending with 1870, of about 
 118,000,000. 
 
 Of the total mercantile marine of the world, 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 9 
 
 some 15,500,000 tons Great Britain possesses 
 about one-half; for by the latest official returns 
 there are owned in the United Kingdom 7,200,000 
 tons of merchant shipping, and, estimating this 
 at 12 per ton, it would give us a capital of over 
 86,000,000 as the aggregate value of our ship- 
 ping. The amount of capital invested in ships and 
 cargo, and the large number of persons directly 
 and indirectly employed therein, whether occupied in 
 the business of the carrying trade, or following pur- 
 suits dependent upon shipping, give to the shipping 
 interest an importance not shared by other pursuits. 
 The value of the ships and cargoes that annually 
 arrive at and leave our ports cannot be less than 
 600,000,000. 
 
 In estimating the carrying trade of the world, due 
 regard must be had to the difference which the increase 
 of steam vessels has effected in the speed of voyages, 
 and thereby shortening, as it were, previous distances. 
 
 Our steam tonnage has doubled even since 1860. 
 
 If England expects to manufacture for the rest of 
 the world, she must perforce bring her customers as 
 near to her as possible. If she is to continue to 
 supply population at the rate of 250,000 a year, to 
 colonise distant lands, she must render the passage of 
 the emigrants thither speedy, economical, and com- 
 fortable. 
 
 The steam shipping employed in our coasting and 
 foreign trade, has increased from 104,680 tons register 
 in 1850, to 1,000,000 tons in 1870. When we now 
 find that upwards of 18,000,000 tons of steam ship- 
 ping is employed yearly in our trade, the inference is 
 
10 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 plain that, steam vessels are superseding, to a great 
 extent, the slower sailing craft. The aggregate ton- 
 nage which entered and cleared at our ports in 1871, 
 was 35,500,000 tons. 
 
 The increase of railway facilities has also been a 
 great aid to the extension of Commerce. In the United 
 Kingdom we have more than doubled the mileage of our 
 railway lines in twenty years. In 1850 we had about 
 6,600 miles of railway open in the Kingdom, the traffic 
 receipts on which were under 13,250,000 ; last year 
 (1871 ) we had upwards of 15,000 miles of railway lines, 
 and the traffic receipts were 40,000,000 sterling. But 
 it is in North and South America, in India and Australia 
 that the railways, established since that period, have 
 most largely helped on traffic and commerce. 
 
 In India there are now about 5,200 miles of rail- 
 way open, which have been made at an expense of 
 88,000,000. 
 
 The rapidity of the improvements in Science, and 
 their application to our material wants, can be best 
 appreciated by an occasional comparison with former 
 times. It was in 1671, on the second reading of a bill in 
 the House of Commons for building a bridge over the 
 Thames at Putney, after a number of members had 
 delivered speeches in ridicule of the idea, that Sir H. 
 Herbert, just before the House divided, rose and said, 
 " I honestly confess myself an enemy to mad, visionary 
 projects ; and I may be permitted to say, that in the 
 late King's reign, several of these thoughtless inven- 
 tions were thrust upon the House, but were most 
 properly rejected. If a man, Sir, were to come to the 
 bar of the House, and tell us that he proposed to 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 11 
 
 convey us regularly to Edinburgh, in coaches, in seven 
 days, and bring us back in seven more, should we not 
 vote him to Bedlam ? Surely we should, if we did 
 him justice ; or, if another, that he would sail to the 
 East Indies in six months, should we not punish him 
 for practising on our credulity ? Assuredly, if we 
 served him rightly." 
 
 If we jump over a century and a half after these 
 words were spoken, when railroads and ocean steam 
 communication were beginning to astonish the world, 
 we shall still find that there were many alarmed at the 
 projects then on foot. The Quarterly Review for March, 
 1835, ridiculed the proposal of a railroad to Woolwich 
 with steam coaches to carry passengers, at the rate of 
 eighteen or twenty miles per hour. " We should as soon 
 expect," says the Keviewer, " the people of Woolwich 
 to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of Con- 
 greve's rockets, as trust themselves to such a machine 
 going at such a rate." We all know that a speed of 
 fifty miles per hour is now easily attained ! 
 
 It has been one of the great functions of railways 
 and steam boats, everywhere, to evoke branches of 
 traffic which no one ever dreamt of until they made 
 their appearance, and to draw on localities, supposed 
 beyond their reach, for commodities, hitherto deemed 
 immoveable, by reason of the cost of transport. 
 
 Cheap telegraphic communication and cheap postage 
 have also been great aids to commercial progress. 
 
 Another incentive to progress arose from the 
 several great International Exhibitions, originating 
 with that of 1851. New products have there been 
 brought forward ; new manufactures originated ; com- 
 
12 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 petition stimulated, and inquiry and investigation set 
 on foot. Our factories have largely increased. In 
 1855 the textile factories of the United Kingdom 
 were under 5,000, working 33,000,000 spindles and 
 370,000 power looms, and employing 600,000 opera- 
 tives. In 1870 they had increased to 6,708, employing 
 45,235,000 spindles and 584,000 power looms, and 
 giving employment to nearly 1 ,000,000 persons. 
 
 England has already done her best to clothe the 
 world. Other nations are doing their best to serve us 
 in return, by supplying cheaply and abundantly the raw 
 materials we require for our numerous and extensive 
 manufactures. 
 
 All the nations of the earth are now enrolled under 
 one banner, on which is emblazoned the words " Utility, 
 Art and Skill." 
 
 But it is not alone the textile ^factories ; our soap 
 and candle works, our paper-mills, our tanneries, our 
 oil-presses and our miscellaneous chemical works 
 require a large amount of raw material, for which new 
 supplies are being continually sought. 
 
 Extended scientific agriculture at home and abroad, 
 improved machinery, chemical discoveries, and cheaper 
 and improved means of transport, all help on these 
 supplies, and a freer interchange of products, by the 
 commercial treaties entered into with various countries, 
 has removed many obstacles which formerly stood in 
 the way of trade. 
 
 To develope the staples of Commerce, and to apply 
 them for the purposes of utility, Science in all branches 
 comes promptly and effectively into action, practically 
 to assist in promoting the happiness of mankind. 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 13 
 
 Astronomy and Magnetism lend their aid in securing 
 the transmission of the various productions of the 
 earth from one part of the world to another ; and no 
 sooner are vegetable and animal materials landed on our 
 shores, than Chemistry, Electricity, Pneumatics, Hy- 
 draulics and Mechanics, are put into active operation 
 to develope new qualities, to bleach or to dye, to spin 
 or to weave, to mould or to measure, to cleanse and 
 combine, to strengthen and appropriate, these various 
 articles, which the skill and ingenuity of man applies 
 in the most suitable manner for the promotion of his 
 convenience and comfort. 
 
 " Science not only gives man control over the physical 
 elements, and thus tends to emancipate him from the 
 curse of brute labour, but also serves to widen the 
 domain of his intellectual activities and enlarge the 
 sphere of his moral sympathies."* 
 
 The difference which results from the advance of 
 Commerce aided by Science, and that without it, has 
 been well compared to the progress of the man who 
 sees clear, and the blind man who gropes along in the 
 dark. 
 
 The direct dependence of many important branches 
 of industry upon chemical manufactures cannot be 
 questioned. It would be quite impossible to enumerate 
 a tithe of the benefits which Science has rendered to 
 Commerce and Manufactures. Let me cite a few of the 
 improvements which Chemistry has effected. Foremost 
 among these may be named the magnificent series of 
 coal tar dyes, the manufacture of the stearic acid candle, 
 
 * Professor Harvey, Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 
 tution. 
 
14 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the scouring of wool and woollen goods, the recovery 
 of the fatty matters from refuse soapsuds, the pre- 
 paration and employment of indigo and artificial ultra- 
 marine in calico printing, the steeping and rotting of 
 flax straw, the bleaching of rags, and the manufacture 
 of paper from barks, grasses, wood, and other sub- 
 stances. 
 
 We may almost now remove the word impossible 
 from our dictionaries, for what is incomprehensible to- 
 day may be thoroughly known to science to-morrow. 
 
 A prominent feature of our age in connection with 
 science is almost unlimited faith in science as a wonder- 
 worker, and along with this the cherished conviction 
 that every discovery and invention admits of a prac- 
 tical application to the welfare of man. To all is now 
 applied the utilitarian test. 
 
 " Is a new vegetable product brought to this country 
 from abroad, or a new chemical compound discovered, 
 or a novel physical phenomena recorded, the question 
 is immediately asked, What is it good for ? Is food or 
 drink to be got out of it ? Will it make hats or shoes 
 or cover umbrellas ? Will it kill or heal ? Will it 
 drive a steam engine or make a mill go ? And truly 
 this cut bono question has 'of late been so often satis- 
 factorily answered, that we cannot wonder that the 
 public should persist in putting it somewhat eagerly to 
 every discoverer and inventor, and should believe that 
 if a substance has one valuable application it will prove 
 if further investigated, to have a thousand."* 
 
 Take as instances the varied uses of the elastic gums 
 and of the coal tar products. 
 
 * " Edinburgh Review." 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 15 
 
 Chemistry has long come down from her atomic 
 altitudes and electric affinities, and now scours and 
 dyes, brews, bakes and cooks, and compounds drugs 
 and manures with contented composure. Electricity 
 leaves her thunderbolt in the sky, and, like Mercury 
 dismissed from Olympus, acts as letter-carrier and mes- 
 sage boy. Even the mysterious magnetism which once 
 seemed, like a living principle, to quiver in the com- 
 pass-needle, is unclothed of mystery, and set to drive 
 turning-lathes. The public perceives all this, and has 
 unlimited faith in man's power to conquer nature.* 
 
 * Mr. Piper, the Honorary Secretary of the Institution, in a 
 paper read after mine (December 7th), said : 
 
 " In 1805 Science had done much for Commerce, but per- 
 haps no period of the world's history so abounds with marvels 
 of Science enlisted on behalf of Commerce as the period that 
 has elapsed since then. 
 
 " Witness steam vessels, railroads, telegraphs, and all their 
 adjuncts and varieties ! Witness the wondrous manner in 
 which agriculture has become indebted to Science for its 
 numerous and valuable appliances. 
 
 " The winds no longer indefinitely detain the argosies of 
 our merchant princes ; in spite of wind or tide they reach 
 their destination. And not only in this does Science take the 
 elements of fire and water and bid them in their strife do her 
 behests, but she lays her road with mathematical precision 
 in iron lines, and yokes to her car the mighty loads of com- 
 mercial enterprise, and conveys them through the land with 
 the speed of the swiftest bird ; and that, not as a curious 
 philosophical experiment, but as a matter of daily business, 
 on which as certain trust may be placed as on any of the 
 regular phenomena of the material world. 
 
 " Franklin's point coaxed the threatening lightning from 
 the cloud, and took it quietly to earth. Now the very prin- 
 ciple itself is seized and enlisted in the service of Commerce, 
 
16 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Of all the great powers of tlie world, there is, per- 
 haps, no other which, from its position, circumscribed 
 space, peculiar climate, and large population, is so 
 dependent for many of its daily wants, most of its 
 luxuries, and all its commerce, upon distant quarters 
 of the globe as Great Britain. Almost every other 
 nation possesses some compensating balance of climate, 
 or contiguity to a neighbouring kingdom from whence 
 it can be supplied with those essential articles of which 
 it stands most in need, and can carry on an interchange 
 of commodities, unobstructed by the elements. Eng- 
 land, however, has to depend upon her ships to bridge 
 the waters which surround her, and to obtain the pro- 
 ducts of more favoured climes, which the necessities 
 of her population and the demands of their arts and 
 manufactures incessantly call for. 
 
 Without Colonies and without Commerce she would 
 sink to the condition of a petty fourth-rate State in 
 the scale of nations, instead of holding that proud and 
 honourable position which she has for so many years 
 maintained. 
 
 and thus the poet's fiction becomes a reality and bids us 
 annihilate both time and space, and ' put a girdle round about 
 the earth in forty minutes.' 
 
 " The monsters of the northern deep furnished a languid 
 flame to guide us through the night ; now Science takes the 
 black coal from the bowels of the earth, distils a light so 
 brilliant that it is as if night were turned into day, and when 
 it casts aside the refuse and the waste, Science comes again 
 and takes it in hand, and extracts from the rejected mass 
 dyes that will compare with Tyre's richest hues. 
 
 " Such instances might be almost indefinitely multiplied, 
 and what has been done is but the foreshadowing of what 
 may yet be to come." 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 17 
 
 The characteristic of an Englishman is plodding in- 
 dustry and indomitable perseverance. It is mainly 
 these qualities that have compassed those improve- 
 ments which have made us hitherto the purveyors of 
 all the solid and useful articles to other nations. Our 
 cotton and linen manufactures, our carpetings and 
 woollen goods, our machinery, our hardware and cutlery 
 are known and appreciated in the market in all parts 
 of the globe. 
 
 Let us take the opinion of a Frenchman Ledrn 
 Rollin : 
 
 " Who can deny," he says, " that England, in 
 a commercial and manufacturing point of view, has 
 become the first nation in the world, and the chief 
 moving power, the universal agent, the sovereign people 
 of credit, circulation, and commerce ? To overwhelm 
 any audacious comparisons England has only to ex- 
 hibit its fleets, its manufactories, its iron foundries, itg 
 markets, its harbours, its arsenals, its girdle of colonies 
 and fortresses encircling the globe comprising an 
 empire larger than ever obeyed the laws of Rome. In 
 its spacious docks the riches of every nation of the 
 world are arranged in perfect order, in gigantic maga- 
 zines, constituting of themselves entire cities. Never 
 has a people in the material world developed its indus- 
 try on such a scale of immeasurable grandeur. Tho 
 pen cannot describe the animation of its labours, the 
 activity of its commercial and manufacturing cities, the 
 extent of its rural industry. Figures alone can convey 
 an idea of its immensity." 
 
 Let me cite another opinion that of an American, 
 Senator Seward. In a speech in the United States 
 
18 SCIENCE AND (JOMMEllCE. 
 
 Senate made twenty years ago, he paid this compliment 
 to our flag and our commerce : 
 
 " Whatever nation shall put Commerce into full 
 employment, and shall conduct it steadily with adequate 
 expansion, will become necessarily the greatest of ex- 
 isting States ; greater than any that has ever existed. 
 Sir, you will claim that responsibility and that high 
 destiny for your own country. Are you so sure that 
 by assuming the one she will gain the other ? They 
 imply nothing less than universal commerce and the 
 supremacy of the seas. We are second to England, 
 indeed, but, nevertheless, how far are we not behind 
 her in commerce and in extent of empire ? I pray to 
 know where you will go that you will not meet the flag 
 of England fixed, planted, rooted into the very earth? 
 If you go northward, it waves over half this continent 
 of North America, which we call our own. If you go 
 southward, it greets you on the Bermudas, the Ba- 
 hamas and the Carribbee Islands. On the Falkland 
 Islands it guards the Straits of Magellan ; on the 
 South Shetland Island it watches the passage round 
 the Horn ; and at Adelaide Island it warns you that 
 you have reached the Antarctic Circle. When you 
 ascend along the south western coast of America, it is 
 seen at Gallipagos, overlooking the Isthmus of Panama; 
 and having saluted it there and at Vancouver, you 
 only take leave of it in the far North-west, when you 
 are entering the Arctic Ocean. If you visit Africa you 
 find the same victorious cross guarding the coast of 
 Gambia and Sierra Leone, and St. Helena. It watches 
 you at Cape Town, as you pass into the Indian Ocean ; 
 
OBLIGATIONS OF COMMERCE TO SCIENCE. 19 
 
 while on the northern passage to that vast sea it 
 demands your recognition from Gibraltar as you enter 
 the Mediterranean ; from Malta when you pass through 
 the Sicilian Straits. On the Ionian Islands it waves in 
 protection of Turkey ; and at Aden it guards the pas- 
 sage from the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean. Wher- 
 ever Western commerce has gained an entrance to the 
 continent of Asia, there that flag is seen waving over 
 subjugated millions at Bombay, at Ceylon, at Singa- 
 pore, at Calcutta, at Lahore, and at Hong Kong ; 
 while Australia, and nearly all the Islands of Poly- 
 nesia acknowledge its protection. 
 
 " Sir, I need not tell you that wheraver that flag 
 waves, it is supported and cheered by the martial airs 
 of England. But I care not for that. The sword is 
 not the most winning messenger that can be sent 
 abroad ; and Commerce, like power, upheld by armies 
 and navies, may in time be found to cost too much. 
 But what is to be regarded with more concern is, that 
 England employs the steam-engine even more vigor- 
 ously and more universally than her military force. 
 Steam vessels punctually departing and arriving be- 
 tween every one of her various possessions and her 
 island seat of power, bring in the raw material for every 
 manufacture, and supplies for every want. The steam- 
 engine plies incessantly there, day and night, convert- 
 ing these materials into fabrics of every variety, for the 
 use of man. And again, the steam-engine, for ever 
 and without rest, moves over the face of the 
 deep, not only distributing these fabrics to every 
 part of the globe, but disseminating also the 
 
 c 2 
 
20 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 thoughts, the principles, the language, and religion of 
 England." * 
 
 A very noticeable feature, and one that I would 
 have you bear in mind, is that the English language 
 is gradually taking possession of all the ports and 
 coasts of the world, making itself the channel of every 
 communication. It has spread over Australasia, and 
 is making its way over India, and Africa, and South 
 America. The great Anglo- Saxon family is pretty 
 equally divided between the two hemispheres. There 
 are now 40,000,000 in North America and the 
 adjacent islands who speak the English language. 
 The most intimate intercourse and extensive commerce 
 between the two branches of this vast family are felt 
 to be of incalculable importance to their best interests 
 and well-being. They are obeying this necessity by in- 
 creasing the means and motives of social and commercial 
 intercourse from year to year. We have laid, at great 
 expense, submarine cables for instantaneous commu- 
 nication, cheapened Transatlantic postage, introduced 
 the money-order system, and encouraged everything 
 calculated to extend Commerce. 
 
 The Englishman lives to move and to struggle, to 
 conquer and to build ; he is an architect to visit all 
 seas, to diffuse the genius of his character over all 
 nations. 
 
 The substance, the sinews, the arms and the strength 
 of England are not seen in the British Isles, although 
 these form the metropolis, the head quarters of legis- 
 lation, the entrepot of her commerce. 
 
 * From a speech of Senator Seward, on the Whale Fishery 
 question, in the United States Senate, July 29th, 1852. 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 
 
 21 
 
 " Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, 
 Survey our Empire and behold our home." 
 
 If there is any one thing on which the maintenance 
 of that perilous greatness to which we have attained 
 depends more than all the rest, it is on colonisation, 
 the opening of new markets, the creation of new 
 customers. 
 
 Large as our home production of food is, we are 
 yet dependent for much of our daily supplies on 
 Foreign nations, and this becomes gradually more so 
 as population and wealth increases. This is shown by 
 comparing our imports of vegetable food in 1850 and 
 1870. I will only enumerate, however, a few items : 
 
 IMPORTS OF VEGETABLE FOOD ARTICLES. 
 QUANTITIES. 
 
 1850. 1870. 
 
 Cocoa Ibs. 4,478,252 ... 14,793,950 
 
 Coffee 50,803,152 ...179,841,747 
 
 Corn 28,549,927 ... 51,000,000 
 
 Flour cwts. 3,819,440 ... 4,815,488 
 
 Apples bushels 467,629 ... 
 
 Oranges and Lemons ... 1,933,421 
 
 Currants and Raisins... cwts. 705,296 ... 1,175,749 
 
 Hops 6,479 ... 127,013 
 
 Potatoes 1,348,883 ... 772,003 
 
 Rice 785,451 ... 4,077,548 
 
 Spices Ibs. 10,897,194 ... 28,268,001 
 
 Spirits gallons 8,152,772 ... 16,851,981 
 
 Sugar, Raw cwts. 6,291,535 ... 12,784,912 
 
 Sugar, Refined 357,870... 1,710,442 
 
 Tea Ibs. 50,512,384 ...140,986,445 
 
 Tobacco 36,723,876 ... 48,522,902 
 
 Wine gallons 9,304,312 ... 15,168,304 
 
 Yeast, Dried cwts. ... 128,641 
 
22 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 VALUE OF THE FOOD IMPORTS IN 1870 
 
 Arrowroot 38,063 
 
 Cocoa 371,997 
 
 Coffee 4,942,769 
 
 Chicory '. 41,923 
 
 Corn, Grain, and Meal 34,169,644 
 
 Fruit of all kinds dry and raw 3,065,065 
 
 Hops 428,525 
 
 Liquorice, Juice and Paste 68,603 
 
 Onions 390,830 
 
 Potatoes 245,306 
 
 Rice 2,310,888 
 
 Sago 218,400 
 
 Spices 852,074 
 
 Spirits 3,218,387 
 
 Sugar and Molasses...., 17,597,657 
 
 Tea 10,097,619 
 
 Tobacco 2,169,053 
 
 Turmeric 44,639 
 
 Wines 4,817,294 
 
 Yeast, Dried 286,097 
 
 85,369;833 
 
 VALUE OF VEGETABLE PRODUCTS FOR MANUFAC- 
 TURES, &c. IMPORTED IN 1870. 
 
 Ashes, Pearl 148,238 
 
 Argol 36,165 
 
 Barks, Tanning and Cinchona 384,449 
 
 Yarn of Hemp, &c 173,991 
 
 Caoutchouc and Manufactures of 1,636,828 
 
 Camphor 59,792 
 
 Candles, Stearine 285,333 
 
 Coir of all kinds 215,850 
 
 Curried forward 2,940,646 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 23 
 
 Brought forward 2,940,646 
 
 Cork Bark and Corks 318,119 
 
 Cotton and Cotton Manafactures 54,759,407 
 
 Cutch and Gambler 468,388 
 
 Flax 5,979,127 
 
 Furniture and Cabinet Ware 91,871 
 
 Gums ,. 662,196 
 
 Gutta Percha 496,951 
 
 Hemp 2,063,377 
 
 Jute 2,388,474 
 
 Indigo 2,721,208 
 
 Linen Yarn and Manufactures 173,573 
 
 Madder, Munjeet and Garancine 707,193 
 
 Oil Nuts and Kernels 325,542 
 
 Oils 4,043,111 
 
 Oil of Turpentine 134,027 
 
 Oil Seed Cake 1,417,100 
 
 Opium 484,138 
 
 Orchil 112,693 
 
 Paper 713,046 
 
 Pitch and Tar 174,651 
 
 Platting 31,569 
 
 Rags,&c.,for Paper 1,201,574 
 
 Rhubarb 62,617 
 
 Rosin 373,918 
 
 Safflower .' 168,536 
 
 Seeds- 
 Oil, unenumerated 161,447 
 
 Cotton 1,091,132 
 
 Rape 1,737,227 
 
 Flax and Linseed 4,016,016 
 
 Agricultural 1,142,605 
 
 Sumach 228,431 
 
 Turpentine 30,272 
 
 Wood of all kinds 13,665,063 
 
 105,085,244 
 
24 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 We have heard lately much discussion about our 
 intemperate habits, but as I have only to deal with 
 Commerce properly so called and not with home 
 trade, I cannot go into comparative data as to the 
 quantity of beer and home-made spirits drank. Our 
 wine imports have risen in the last twenty years from 
 9,000,000 to 15,000,000 gallons, and the foreign spirits 
 from 8,000,000 to 1 6,000,000 gallons. But it is pleasing 
 to find that " the cup which cheers but not inebriates " 
 has made far greater progress in the same time, for our 
 imports of coffee have risen from 51,000,000 Ibs. to 
 192,000,000 Ibs. ; of cocoa, from 4,500,000 Ibs. to 
 17,500,000 Ibs., whilst tea has risen from 50,500,000 
 Ibs. to 171,000,000 Ibs., and the great bulk of 
 these imports is consumed here. 
 
 It was thought at one time that the Chinese would be 
 unable to supply any extraordinary demand made upon 
 them for this dried leaf when the duty was reduced ; 
 but it is satisfactory to notice that the culture is ex- 
 tending over the world. Tea is now produced largely 
 in Japan and in British India, and has been successfully 
 introduced into Brazil, California, and Australia. 
 
 The same important progress is shown in the in- 
 creased consumption of all the other great staple 
 products. Sugar has increased in consumption from 
 6,500,000 cwts. to 14,000,000 cwts.; spices from 
 11,000,000 Ibs. to 28,250,000 Ibs.; rice from 
 750,000 cwts. to 4,500,000 cwts.; dried fruits have 
 also nearly doubled, whilst the imports of tobacco have 
 risen from 36,750,000 Ibs. to 73,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 There is a class of commercial products which is of 
 great importance to us in many ways the gums and 
 

 PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 25 
 
 resins, so essentially useful in the arts and manu- 
 factures, and in medicine. Although by the chemical 
 manufacture of dextrine, we have found a gum sub- 
 stitute in our calico print works, and for our adhesive 
 stamps and labels, yet we cannot do without large 
 quantities of gum arabic, for we received in 1871, 
 74,711 cwts. Kowrie resin, animi and copal are a 
 necessity to the varnish maker ; and so wide is this 
 one field of investigation, that it afforded me the 
 subject for an evening's lecture many years ago at the 
 Society of Arts.* I may, however, point out to you 
 the great commercial progress made in the elastic 
 gums : 
 
 IMPORTS OF ELASTIC GUMS. 
 
 1850. 1870. 
 
 Caoutchouc 7,616 152,118 cwts. 
 
 Gutta Percha 11,130 33,517 
 
 VALUE OF THE IMPORTS IN 1870. 
 
 Caoutchouc and Manufactures of 1,637,828 
 
 Gutta Percha 496,950 
 
 In 1871 the imports of caoutchouc were even larger, 
 reaching to 161,588 cwts. There are 33 india rubber 
 and gutta percha manufacturers in the kingdom, em- 
 ploying about 6,000 hands, and it is difficult to say 
 what india rubber does not enter into now-^from water- 
 proof garments to submarine cables. Instead of the 
 supply of the elastic gums being exhausted, an impetus 
 has been given, by the increased demand and price, to 
 the search for them, and we now get supplies from 
 Africa, Australia and India, as well as from South and 
 Central America. 
 
 * "Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. iv, p. 13. 
 
26 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 I now pass on to another branch of raw materials, 
 those required for our textile manufactures, and how 
 important these have become a few figures will show. 
 
 At the close of the last century (in 1790) we received 
 the following foreign supplies : 
 
 Hemp 592,306 cwts. 
 
 Flax 257,222 
 
 Cotton... 27,300 
 
 In the year 1816 the imports of hemp and flax had 
 decreased considerably, but the cotton supplies had 
 trebled. How insignificant, however, are these figures, 
 when compared with the results of this year (1871), 
 when the hemp received was over 1,320,000 cwts., the 
 flax nearly 2,600,000 cwts., and the cotton nearly 
 16,000,000 cwts., besides jute and other fibres to the 
 amount of 3,500,000 cwts. more. 
 
 Some idea of the magnitude of the interests involved 
 in the textile industries of the United Kingdom may 
 be gathered from the fact I have already stated, that 
 the number of persons actually employed in the mills, 
 factories and works, now falls little short of 1,000,000, 
 and the larger number are females ; the cotton factories 
 employ one-half of the whole operatives engaged in 
 in textile industries. 
 
 In 1850 the value of our cotton manufactures and 
 yarn exported was 28,250,000; in 1860 it was 
 50,000,000, and this year (1871), it was more than 
 72,500,000, and this, be it remembered, is exclusive 
 of our home consumption, the value of which is nearly 
 as much more. There is also a large proportion of 
 cotton used up in the mixed fabrics, woollens, haber- 
 dashery, millinery, silk, apparel and slops exported. 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 27 
 
 The following is an aggregate statement of the 
 quantity and value of the principal vegetable fibres 
 we now import, taking the figures of 1870 : 
 
 cwts. 
 
 Cotton 11,931,979 51,000,000 
 
 Flax 2,373,528 6,000,000 
 
 Hemp 1,108,839 2,000,000 
 
 Jute 2,403,550 2,250,000 
 
 China Grass 951 4,000 
 
 Paper Materials 2,207,240 750,000 
 
 20,026,087 62,004,000 
 
 A remarkable instance of the rapid progress that 
 may be made in a manufacture, is afforded in the in- 
 stance of what is known as jute, or Indian hemp, a 
 fibrous substance, obtained from two plants of the 
 genus Cor chorus, exclusively cultivated in Bengal. It 
 was at first chiefly used for spinning into rope, and for 
 making the coarse packing material known as gunny 
 bagging, which is so largely used in America for 
 covering cotton bales. Now, Dundee has become the 
 chief seat of the jute manufacturing industry. It is 
 there woven into common carpets ; it is mixed with 
 cotton warps of cheap broadcloths, and also with silk, 
 and from its lustre, can scarcely be detected. 
 
 In 1853 the imports were only 275,000 cwts., while 
 this year (1871), we received nearly 3,454,386 cwts., of 
 the value of 4,103,736, and exported jute manufac- 
 tures valued at more than 1,000,000. 
 
 The silky-looking fibre, called China grass, is not a 
 grass at all, but is from a species of nettle, called Eheea 
 in most of the Eastern countries, the produce of Eoeh- 
 
28 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 meria nivea. Probably the name vas applied by the 
 Chinese, like rice-paper, for the purpose of obscurity 
 and deluding other nations. The plant is, properly 
 speaking, a frutescent or suffruticose shrub that is, 
 the stem at first is soft and herbaceous, and afterwards 
 becomes half woody, half herbaceous. 
 
 Certain practical difficulties in peeling off the outer, 
 and obtaining the inner bark, which yields the fibre,have 
 hitherto prevented it from being, to any large extent, 
 usefully and profitably employed. 
 
 The Indian Government have long offered a reward 
 of 5,000 for a machine capable of cleaning the stems 
 at a cost of 15 per ton, and admitting of selling the 
 fibre in the English market at 50 per ton; from 
 samples I have lately seen, and the attention given to 
 the subject here and on the Continent, I believe the 
 problem will soon be solved. 
 
 There are a large number of miscellaneous fibres 
 imported for various purposes, but to specify all of 
 these would take up too much time. I may, however, 
 enumerate one or two of importance. Cocoa-nut coir ; 
 New Zealand flax ; Matting, of which great quantities 
 come in from China and elsewhere ; Piassaba, a palm 
 fibre, from Brazil, and Mexican grass, so called, but 
 really from an Agave, for brushmaking. 
 
 I must not pass over the materials imported for our 
 paper mills. The demand for paper for printing has 
 increased so rapidly that the waste rags collected are 
 quite insufficient, and, for some years past, new 
 substances have had to be sought for. That which has 
 been obtained in the largest quantity, is a wiry kind of 
 grass growing wild on the Spanish and African coasts 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 29 
 
 of the Mediterranean, known as esparto. It was long 
 before our paper makers could be got to use it ; but now 
 they have found it such an effective substitute, that the 
 price is rising, and the imports have become enormous, 
 more than 100,000 tons a year. 
 
 If we look next at our foreign imports of vegetable 
 oils, and oil seeds, we find how great an impetus has 
 been given to trade by new supplies ; palm oil, cocoa- 
 nut oil, olive oil, and seed oils ; flax seed, rape seed, 
 and cotton seed, are all largely imported, and the aggre- 
 gate value of these, added to the oil cakes from them, 
 exceeds 10,000,000 sterling. 
 
 The palms are exceedingly prolific in oils and fats, 
 especially the oil palm of Africa, and the cocoa-nut 
 palm of Ceylon and the Tropics, which furnish the bulk 
 of the solid vegetable oils imported for soap and candle 
 making. Carnauba wax, from a Brazil palm, is an ex- 
 tensive article of local commerce, and a small quantity 
 reaches this country. 
 
 In the year 1808, 200 tons of palm oil were received 
 from Africa; in 1827 the quantity had increased to 
 4,700 tons. Some few years later it had risen to 
 14,000 tons. What do we find it now ? more than 
 50,000 tons. Palm oil has become one of the most 
 important articles of commerce from the West Coast 
 of Africa, especially to this country, although we are 
 not the only importers. The collection and shipment 
 of palm oil has done more than anything else to 
 suppress the slave trade. 
 
 The oil as manufactured for home consumption in 
 Africa, is slightly different from that prepared for 
 shipment. It is darker coloured, and is obtained by 
 
30 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 beating, pressing, and boiling the fruit (sarcocarp) ot 
 the palm. 
 
 Palm-nut oil is obtained from the seed or kernel by 
 roasting, beating, and boiling it. Formerly these 
 kernels were thrown away, but now they form an 
 enormous trade. 
 
 Another important aid to Commerce has been the 
 great attention given of late years to the utilisation of 
 residues from manufactures, and substances formerly 
 wasted. It is satisfactory to me to look back and find 
 that suggestions which I threw out ten and twenty 
 years ago in various papers and works " On the 
 Utilisation of Waste Substances," have resulted in 
 large profits to many, and originated, as it were, new 
 manufactures. Let me cite but a few instances. 
 
 The preparation of flax wool from the refuse of the 
 flax spinners has been profitably applied to the manu- 
 facture of cloths and blankets, &c. 
 
 There is a waste of nearly two ounces of cotton to 
 the pound in spinning, and formerly this residue was 
 of little or no value. Now, however, it is saved, and 
 applied to important industrial purposes. Some 
 60,000 tons of cotton waste, 20,000 tons of flax waste, 
 and the same quantity from rope and canvas, gives a 
 large total to be utilised. 
 
 I have placed before you specimens from a large 
 Lancashire mill of this cotton waste spinning. First, 
 the cotton waste as obtained, called " mixing," then 
 its various stages of process lap, refuse, carding, and 
 slubbing, till it is made into yarn. The article is used 
 in this state, after being sized, for backing of carpets. 
 When bleached it is made into counterpanes, candle- 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. ol 
 
 wicks, &c., and used for other manufacturing pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Nearly three-fourths of the cotton crop by weight 
 consists of seed, and there cannot, therefore, be less 
 in all the cotton growing countries than 2,500,000 
 tons of seed available. Formerly it accumulated 
 in offensive and noxious piles about the cotton gins, 
 or was only used for manure, now the oil made 
 from it for burning and eating, and the oilcake for 
 cattle, are greatly in demand. The residue, after re- 
 fining, is distilled, and with care produces a hard grease 
 or stearine fit for soap making, while the foots or tarry 
 substance forms a useful paint ingredient. 
 
 A curious application of a waste product is the 
 utilisation of the leaflets of pine trees, which are con- 
 verted on the Continent into what is called forest wool, 
 used for stuffing upholstery. Vegetable wadding and 
 hygienic flannel are made of it, said to be useful in 
 rheumatism and skin diseases. Cloth is woven from 
 it, and articles of dress, such as vests, hose, shirts, 
 chest preservers, and coverlets. An ethereal oil is 
 also obtained. The membraneous substance and refuse 
 are compressed into blocks, and used as fuel. From 
 the resinous matter they contain sufficient gas is pro- 
 duced for illuminating the factory. 
 
 Here are some few other examples of the number- 
 less applications of substances, formerly waste, or at 
 least of very limited use. 
 
 Silk cotton, from the seed capsules of the B.ombax, 
 which is now used in Holland under the name of 
 " kapok " for filling beds and pillows. 
 
 The Spanish cane, or " rattan," as it is called in 
 
32 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 commerce, is the curious creeping stem of some palms, 
 Calamus Rotang, &c., common in the eastern forests, and 
 which attain to a great length ; some were shown at 
 the last Paris Exhibition, from the Philippines, which 
 were more than 250 feet long. 
 
 Besides about 3,500,000 canes and sticks, worth 
 27,000, we import annually nearly 21,000,000 of 
 these rattans, which are worth 4s. per 100 or bundle, 
 and 40,000 in the aggregate. They are used chiefly 
 for caning chair bottoms, and replacing osiers in basket 
 work. On the Continent their use has attained within 
 the last four or five years very large dimensions. One 
 firm at Antwerp which gives employment to 2,000 
 people, imports 3,500 tons of rattans annually, and by 
 improved machinery has largely extended their indus- 
 trial applications. A chair on the Continent may be 
 caned with the split silicious bark for Qd. or 7<7., 
 whilst here we pay about Is., and for seats to chairs 
 they have almost entirely superseded straw and rushes, 
 and osiers in basket work. The cane dyed is now used 
 as a general substitute for whalebone and steel in the 
 ribs of cheap parasols and umbrellas, a set of ribs for 
 a parasol costing only d. or Id., and for an umbrella 
 8d. instead of 2s. Qd. or 3s. for whalebone. But it is 
 also used largely for matting, and the waste for filling 
 common sleeping mattresses, which are sold wholesale 
 as low as from 4d. to Sd. each, whilst it also replaces 
 hay and straw for packing purposes. 
 
 Time would fail me to enumerate a tithe of such 
 applications, showing the profitable utilisation of waste 
 substances, a topic which has served me for the theme 
 of many a commercial discourse. 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 33 
 
 For constructive purposes we must have timber and 
 wood, and but for the enormous supplies we draw from 
 the North of Europe and British North America, our 
 builders and engineers would be put to sad straits, for 
 although iron enters largely into building operations 
 now, we cannot do without timber. Wood is necessary 
 for the ship builder, the house builder, the cabinet 
 maker, the turner, and others. Exclusive of our home 
 supplies of timber we pay more than 12,000,000 for 
 foreign woods, independent of the dye woods. Within 
 the last twenty years many new ship building woods, 
 such as the greenheart of British Guiana, and the blue- 
 gum of Australia, have been adopted and recognised 
 at Lloyd's. 
 
 In 1801 we only imported 161,869 loads of foreign 
 timber. In 1840 the imports 'were 807,818 loads. In 
 1871 the import of wood exceeded 4,500,000 loads, 
 the largest quantity ever yet brought into this country 
 in one year ; and the aggregate declared value of woods 
 of all kinds and forest products received from abroad 
 is over 15,500,000 sterling. Largely as iron is now 
 used for constructive purposes, far from superseding 
 timber, it has led to additional uses for it, and given a 
 great impetus to Commerce. Although great changes 
 do from time to time take place, yet they are after all 
 rather beneficial than injurious. Machinery has dis- 
 placed manual labour in spinning and weaving ; but it 
 has greatly extended employment in the manufacturing- 
 districts ; and although railways have done away with 
 the old stage coaches, and many other carriers and road 
 conveyances, they have increased rather than diminished 
 the demand for horses. 
 
 D 
 
34 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In connection, with our timber supplies it may inci- 
 dentally be mentioned that at least four-fifths of the 
 imports are supplied by the single order of coniferous 
 trees ; and one-fifth of all the imports comes to the 
 Port of London. 
 
 Many new industries have been originated of late 
 years from forest products, such as the preparation of 
 wood pulp, the crushing of bamboos, and the collection 
 of fibrous barks, for paper making ; the manufacture 
 of fancy walking-sticks and the economic uses of leaves. 
 Forest products also yield to commerce tar, rosin 
 and turpentine, pearl and pot ashes, cork bark and 
 many other articles. 
 
 Some of the fancy cabinet woods are very beautiful 
 and much sought after, and the fine collection of 
 these shown by our colonies and foreign countries at 
 the various International Exhibitions have brought 
 many new kinds into Commerce. 
 
 Let us pass now to another class of products, which 
 are essentially necessary to the progress of our manu- 
 factures, and for which we pay nearly 7,000,000 
 annually. These are the dyewoods, colouring and 
 tanning substances, the bulk of which are obtained 
 from the vegetable kingdom. 
 
 The dyestuffs are furnished by various parts of 
 plants. The bulky ones are from woods, of which 
 South America and the West Indies furnish us the 
 Brazil and log woods, fustic and quercitron, Nica- 
 ragua and green ebony ; Africa, barwood, camwood 
 and Guinea wood ; and India, the sappan and red 
 sanders woods. 
 
 Then we have many seeds and fruits, as, for instance, 
 
PRODUCTS OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 3,') 
 
 what are known as yellow or Persian berries, myro- 
 balans from India, the wrinkled dividivi pods, and the 
 acorn cups of an oak from Turkey. 
 
 Roots furnish a very large portion, as in the madder 
 and munjeet of commerce, and turmeric ; whilst inspis- 
 sated extracts, like indigo, gambier, cutch, and gam- 
 boge, make up the remainder. 
 
 To particularise and dwell upon these would be 
 impossible ; but one remark may be made, and that is, 
 that the discovery of the brilliant coal tar dyes has 
 materially interfered with the commerce of many 
 foreign dye substances, and the fluctuations in some of 
 them have been considerable. 
 
 Another resulting benefit of Science is the economy 
 of freight, which has resulted from the concentration 
 of many of these bulky articles. Thus, although we 
 import 100,000 cwts. of madder and madder roots less 
 than we did in 1855, we receive about 20,000 cwts. 
 more of the concentrated powder garancine, which i,s 
 prepared from it. In chemical manufactories on the 
 Continent the concentrated colouring matter of the 
 dyewoods is now specially prepared and sent here 
 for the use of the dyer ; and extracts of bark are 
 also sent home from North America to the extent 
 of 40,000 cwts. The progress of our various manu- 
 factures is plainly shown in the great increase of 
 tanning barks and of valonia, which have doubled since 
 1855 ; of gambier and cutch, which have also doubled, 
 and of indigo, which has increased by 20,000. cwts. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 TRAVERS' COURSE. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 MINERAL PRODUCTS AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES 
 ENTERING INTO COMMERCE.* 
 
 IN my former lecture I gave you a slight sketch of 
 the enormous progress our Commerce has made, and as 
 a consequent result the great advance in our factories. 
 I showed you also the indebtedness and Obligations of 
 Commerce to Science, and I passed under review the 
 principal raw materials which we obtain from the 
 vegetable kingdom, and the progressive novel appli- 
 cations that had been made of them. 
 
 In these days no apology for scientific experiment is 
 required, for although the primary object of Science i 
 the discovery of truth, it is now universally admitted 
 that the contributions; applied to the arts of life are 
 among the most valued means by which our civilisa- 
 tion is advanced. In new countries the problem of 
 the utilisation of their resources opens the widest 
 opportunities for the adaptations of Science to practica 
 requirements. The supply of animal food affords an 
 example in illustration of this general assertion. 
 Countries like the republics of the River Plate and 
 the colonies of Australia have inexhaustible means of 
 supply, while in European countries flesh food is 
 becoming yearly scarcer. Any improved method of 
 animal food preservation, assisting its transport, would 
 
 * Delivered at the London Institution, Finsbury Circus, 
 November 30th, 1871. 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. of 
 
 be a vast accession to their means of wealth, and to 
 this end the facts of chemistry in relation to physiology 
 appear as affording the proper key. The case of food 
 supply is by no means a solitary instance ; the same 
 reasoning applies generally to the natural resources of 
 all new and extensive countries, like those named. 
 
 As Liebig well observes : " Science teaches us the 
 simplest means of obtaining the greatest effect with 
 the smallest expenditure of power, and with given 
 means to produce a maximum of force. The unprofit- 
 able exertion of power, the waste of force in agriculture, 
 in other branches of industry, or in social economy, is 
 characteristic of the want of true civilisation." 
 
 " No living being is entitled to claim perfection for 
 the arts useful to man. They are progressive in their 
 very nature ; and often when they are thought to be 
 carried to the very highest point of excellence an 
 unexpected discovery opens to them a new career."* 
 
 It is one of the characteristics of the present age 
 that commercial associations of private persons, receiv- 
 ing from the State no assistance except a sanction for 
 their union and employing their funds only in the 
 ordinary modes of Commerce, have been able to execute 
 works which scarcely any power in the State could 
 attempt, and incidentally to give to objects not con- 
 templated in their original enterprise an amount of 
 assistance which no direct action of the State could 
 give. The latter advantage has been experienced in 
 numerous instances affecting our social comforts and 
 our constructive arts; it has been felt with equal force 
 
 * Baron Dupin. 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 in our more abstract sciences. Of this, instances are 
 afforded in the readiness with which facilities were 
 grantecf by tlie Submarine Telegraph Company and 
 the Anglo-American Telegraph Company to deter- 
 mine accurately the difference of longitude between 
 the Observatories of Greenwich and Paris, and Green- 
 wich and Washington.* It is most honourable to our 
 great commercial bodies that they have practically 
 shown so much readiness to aid in enterprises of a 
 scientific character, that accredited men of science feel 
 uo difficulty in asking their assistance. We may 
 congratulate the world on the growing tendency 
 towards a closer union between Science and Com- 
 merce. The advantages to science in such instances 
 as I have alluded to need no further explanation. 
 The advantages to commercial bodies, though less 
 obvious, are equally certain. It is no small matter 
 that these associations are enabled, without any offen- 
 sive intrusion, to acquire the character of patrons of 
 science, and that the world is ready to acknowledge 
 it-elf their debtor for assistance not promised in their 
 original constitution. The exhibition of beneficial 
 power without any prospect of immediate pecuniary 
 advantage removes the mercenary element which might 
 
 * Two methods of making astronomical observations, first 
 introduced into work of the kind by the United States Coast 
 Survey, have drawn very flattering commendation from the 
 old astronomers and masters of survey in England and Europe 
 generally. They are that of determining the latitude with 
 the zenith telescope, and that of determining the longitude 
 with the aid of the telegraph. The accuracy obtained by 
 these methods is such that they have nearly superseded all 
 others. 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. oO 
 
 seem to be engrafted in their original formation, and 
 Commerce thus acquires dignity from its friendly 
 union with Science. Professor Airy. 
 
 As this kingdom mainly owes its industrial and 
 manufacturing industry to its great mineral wealth, 
 and the home products of these are generally well 
 known, I need not dwell to any extent on our 
 imports of minerals and metals, which are limited in 
 comparison with those of animal and vegetable origin. 
 I pointed out in my former lecture the value of the 
 trade in gold and silver coin and bullion, and I shall 
 now pass cursorily under review the several minerals 
 and metals we receive from abroad. 
 
 It would be difficult to mention a single branch of 
 human industry which for its present state of per- 
 fection is not more or less indebted to the use of 
 sulphuric acid. It may almost be said to be the 
 chemist's factotum, to so great a multitude of uses 
 in the arts is it applied. Its cheapness, its powerful 
 affinities, the concentrated form in which it may be 
 obtained, and other peculiarities render it by far the 
 most valuable agent in manufacturing operations 
 which we possess. Under the trade name of " brim- 
 stone " we import more than 50,000 tons of sulphur 
 from Sicily, at a price of about 7s. Qd. a cwt., but our 
 manufacturers have found it cheaper to import iron 
 and copper pyrites, as sulphur ores, to the extent of 
 450,000 tons, at a price of about 3 14s. per ton, 
 the yield being 40 to 50 per cent, of sulphur. We 
 obtain also about 76,000 tons of iron pyrites at home. 
 
 Of quicksilver we import variable quantities, and a 
 good deal is re-exported to the Continent and India. 
 
40 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In 1850 and 1851 we received only a few hundred 
 thousand pounds, this year (1871) nearly 3,000,000 Ibs. 
 were imported. 
 
 This metal, differing from all others in being semi-fluid 
 until subjected to an intense degree of cold, 39 below 
 zero, when it becomes solid, is extensively employed in 
 the amalgamation of the nobler metals, in water-gilding, 
 the making of vermilion, silvering mirrors, for baro- 
 meters, thermometers, and in medicine. Quicksilver 
 is a substance of paramount value to science. The 
 nitrate of mercury is employed for the secretage of 
 rabbit and hare skins, that is, for communicating to 
 the fur of these and other quadrupeds the faculty of 
 felting, which they do not naturally possess. Quick- 
 silver was formerly imported into this country in 
 sheepskins, from which the wool had been removed, 
 of several thicknesses. It has sometimes come from 
 China in the joints or internodes of the bamboo, about 
 a foot long and three inches across, closed with rosin. 
 These ready-made bottles, which held about 20 Ibs., 
 were covered with linen cloth, cemented on. Of late 
 years it is shipped in wrought-iron flasks, weighing 
 about 25 Ibs. which are made in England. These 
 iron bottles hold 76 Ibs. of quicksilver. 
 
 The two main sources of supply of the cinnabar 
 ores, from which quicksilver is obtained are the 
 Almaden mines of Spain and the New Almaden mines 
 of California. The produce of both these mines has 
 got into the hands of very wealthy individuals, who 
 have reduced the supply to increase the price. 
 
 Every year large additions are being made to the 
 number of mines requiring the use of quicksilver for 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 41 
 
 their exploration, while the different manufactures in 
 which this substance is ail essential requisite are also 
 more generally extended. 
 
 The use of ultramarine, which was at one time 
 almost as valuable as gold dust, has been so extended 
 and cheapened by the labours of the chemist, that its 
 artificial manufacture must be regarded as one of the 
 triumphs of modern science. We imported from the 
 Continent, in 1870, upwards of 34,000 cwts., valued 
 at 140,000. It comes principally from Holland, 
 although Belgium and Germany supply some. 
 
 Our imports of copper ore and regulus (a term given 
 to the crude metal separated from the ore) have been on 
 the average about 110,000 tons for some years past, 
 but of copper wrought and partly-wrought there has 
 been a great increase, the imports reaching now 
 600,000 to 700,000 cwts. against an average of about 
 100,000 cwts., fifteen years ago. Of iron, wrought 
 and unwrought, our imports are not large, scarcely 
 110,000 tons. Pig and sheet lead have, however, in- 
 creased largely, as we now receive about 58,000 tons 
 from abroad in place of 7,000 or 8,000 tons. Of 
 foreign tin we import an increasing quantity, 4,000 to 
 5,000 tons being required to supplement the 7,000 tone 
 obtained here. A small quantity of silver ore and about 
 80,000 tons of zinc in cakes or rolled, completes our 
 indebtedness to foreign countries for products derived 
 from the mineral kingdom. 
 
 The quantity of coal raised in the United King- 
 dom is now about 115,000,000 tons ; we export 
 5,500,000 tons, and consume the remainder in our 
 domestic hearths, our factories, work- shops, and steam 
 
42 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 engines. The coal exported and used for house con- 
 sumption may be yalued at 1 the ton, but a large 
 deduction has to be made in price for that used in 
 the localities near which it is produced. 
 
 The use of coal gas, of petroleum oils, of paraffine 
 and other mineral waxes has much interfered with the 
 commerce and employment, for illuminating purposes, 
 of whale oil, of colza oil, of tallow and beeswax. 
 
 The mineral oils now form an extensive article of 
 commerce, especially the American petroleum, paraf- 
 fine, and ozokerit. Of paraffine we imported 11,835 
 cwts. in 1870. 
 
 The American petroleum trade is a novel and 
 important one. The export has risen from 1,500,000 
 gallons in 1861 to 141,000,000 in 1870. The home 
 consumption is estimated to be equal to one-half of the 
 quantity exported, making an aggregate production in 
 the United States alone of 211,000,000 gallons annually, 
 and the Pennsylvania oil wells seem almost inexhausti- 
 ble. This enormous amount, reckoning the price at 
 an average of 20 cents per gallon, represents a value of 
 8,400,000 for the year, certainly a remarkable return 
 for a product unknown to commerce ten years ago. 
 Canada also now produces 300,000 barrels a year of 
 which half is exported. In the four years ending 1870, 
 1,000,000 gallons were used locally, and 7,000,000 
 gallons exported. Our supplies of petroleum oil vary ; 
 in 1863 there were 9,000,000 gallons imported, in 1870 
 we received under 7,000,000 gallons. But the imports 
 of 1871 were rather larger, nearly 36,000 tuns against 
 27,000 tuns in 1870. 
 
 In closing this part of my subject I append for 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 reference tables of the value of our export and import 
 trade in metals and mineral products. 
 
 COMPARATIVE VALUE OF BRITISH MINERAL EXPORTS 
 IN THE YEARS 1850 AND 1870. 
 
 1850. 1870. 
 
 Agricultural Implements 47,368 ... 223,815 
 
 Soda (Alkali) 375,351 ... 1,485,5% 
 
 Arms and Ammunition 98,124 ... 1,876,756 
 
 Cement 26,468 ... 366,199 
 
 Coals, Culm, &c 1,284,224 . . . 5,506,890 
 
 Earthenware and Porcelain ... 999,448 ... 1,692,395 
 
 Glass 307,755 ... 831,449 
 
 Hardware and Cutlery 2,641,432 ... 4,513,034 
 
 Machinery and Steam Engines 1,042,166 ... 5,286,503 
 
 Iron and Steel of all kinds ... 5,350,056 ... 21,080,494 
 
 Copper and Brass 1,978,196 ... 3,062,136 
 
 Lead, &c 492,277 ... 1,281,279 
 
 Tin and Tin Plates 1,052,893 . . . 3,006,054 
 
 Zinc 25,338 ... 141,282 
 
 Plate, Jewellery, Watches 296,078 ... 551,497 
 
 Salt 224,501 ... 381,127 
 
 TelegraphicWire andApparatus ... 2,522,403 
 
 16,641,675 53,808,509 
 
 VALUE OF THE IMPORTS OF MINERAL PRODUCTS 
 AND MANUFACTURES INTO THE UNITED KING- 
 DOM IN 1869 AND 1870. 
 
 1869. 1870. 
 
 47 ... 
 
 93,970 ... 121,028 
 
 37,487 ... 94,962 
 
 42,755 ... 47,377 
 
 82,911 ... 124,473 
 
 9,749 ... 8,913 
 
 Aluminium 
 
 Arms and Ammunition 
 
 Antimony Ore, Kegulus, &c. 
 Art, in Bronze and Marble . 
 
 Asphalte 
 
 Barytes, Sulphate of 
 
 Carried forward 
 
 266,919 
 
 396,753 
 
44 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 Bell Metal and Medals 
 
 Borax 
 
 Brass Manufactures 
 
 Brass, Old 
 
 Bricks 
 
 Brimstone 
 
 Bronze Manufactures 
 
 Bronze Powder 
 
 Buttons of Metal 
 
 Candles, Paraffine 
 
 China and Porcelain Wares 
 
 Cinnabar and Cobalt 
 
 Copper Ore, &c 
 
 Cubic Nitre 
 
 Emery Stone 
 
 Glass of various kinds 
 
 Gold, Leaves of !. 
 
 Hones 
 
 Ice 
 
 Iron 
 
 Iron, Old, &c 
 
 Jewellery 
 
 Lead Ore, and Lead of all kinds 
 
 Manganese Ore 
 
 Marble 
 
 Metal, Old, &c 
 
 Metal, Leaf 
 
 Metals, Unenumerated 
 
 Naphtha, Crude 
 
 Nickel Ore, &c 
 
 Ochre 
 
 Orsedew 
 
 Paraffine 
 
 Pencils, Slate, &c 
 
 Percussion Caps 
 
 266,919 
 
 27,957 
 
 52,985 
 
 53,402 
 
 3,065 
 
 860 
 
 388,723 
 
 41,052 
 
 4,146 
 
 6,487 
 
 3,277 
 
 180,626 
 
 15,971 
 
 4,263,779 
 
 702,055 
 
 20,634 
 
 921,524 
 
 80,128 
 
 950 
 
 96,305 
 
 1,025,577 
 
 88,507 
 
 79,092 
 
 1,872,382 
 
 236,892 
 
 113,197 
 
 139,964 
 
 49,241 
 
 24,894 
 
 39,115 
 
 12,658 
 
 8,966 
 
 3,567 
 
 28,450 
 
 30,894 
 
 3,584 
 
 396,753 
 
 15,550 
 
 34,802 
 
 38,550 
 
 1,634 
 
 1,022 
 
 386,660 
 
 23,037 
 
 5,186 
 
 3,310 
 
 150,347 
 
 26,915 
 
 4,095,722 
 
 881,080 
 
 34,113 
 
 931,467 
 
 68,528 
 
 540 
 
 81,218 
 
 1,793,874 
 
 83,212 
 
 155,885 
 
 1,244,416 
 
 154,059 
 
 159,748 
 
 66,589 
 
 42,443 
 
 32,191 
 
 212,648 
 
 16,153 
 
 6,652 
 
 4,775 
 
 36,804 
 
 33,377 
 
 776 
 
 Carried forward 10,886,825 10,390,036 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 
 
 45 
 
 Brought forward 10,886,825 10,390,036 
 
 Petroleum 442,858 ... 535,272 
 
 Plaster of Paris 12,361 ... 13,678 
 
 Plate, Gold and Silver, and 
 
 Plated Ware 25,919 ... 22,516 
 
 Platina 28,568 ... 39,147 
 
 Plumbago 187,111 ... 118,878 
 
 Pyrites 856,962 ... 1,095,151 
 
 Quicksilver 223,722 ... 284,503 
 
 Salt 26,149 ... 23,820 
 
 Saltpetre 307,764 ... 384,392 
 
 Silver Ore 178,398 ... 299,726 
 
 Smalts and Zaffres 3,935 ... 9,983 
 
 Stones, Mill, Lithographic, Pu- 
 mice, &c 68,757 ... 46,070 
 
 Terra Sienna and Umber 4,674 ... 2,445 
 
 Tin 699,262 ... 623,639 
 
 Tin Plates, &c 6,533 ... 4,498 
 
 Tobacco Pipes of Clay 5,871 ... 5,451 
 
 Ultramarine 130,719 ... 140,143 
 
 Verdigris and Vermilion 23,937 ... 27,963 
 
 Watches 199,207 ... 372,420 
 
 Wire, Gilt and Plated 20,570 ... 9,287 
 
 Zinc 860,339 ... 814,102 
 
 Zinc Manufactures 16,250 ... 17,847 
 
 15,216,691 15,280,967 
 
 If animals could speak, as ^5sop and other fabu- 
 lists make them seem to do, they would, I think, 
 declare man to be the most voracious animal in exist- 
 ence. There is scarcely any living thing that flies in 
 the air, swims in the sea, or moves o.n the land, 
 that is not made to minister to his appetite. 
 Fish, flesh, or fowl, all comes alike to his hungry 
 maw. But, numerous as the food substances of civi- 
 lised man already are, there is no doubt the li&t might 
 
46 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 be greatly extended, if people could be prevailed to 
 taste and try, setting prejudice and custom aside. 
 Make use of every material possible for food, remem- 
 bering that there are chemical affinities and properties 
 by which nutriment may be extracted from almost 
 every organic substance, the greatest art being in 
 proper cooking ; of this the French had ample proof 
 during the siege of Paris. 
 
 We consume a large quantity of fish, both fresh 
 and cured. Besides our coast fishery for mackerel, 
 herring, pilchard, &c., the Royal Commissioners 
 report that there are nearly 1,000 sail of trawlers 
 employed in and about the North Sea ; 5,000 seamen 
 are engaged in them, and about 300 tons of fish daily 
 sent to market, valued at 1,500 to 2,000. The 
 cured or salted fish we import now reaches about 
 31,000 tons annually. 
 
 With respect to supplies of animals and animal 
 food from abroad, protective duties long stood in the 
 way of Commerce. The importation of cattle and 
 sheep was prohibited until 1842. Bacon was only 
 admitted duty free in March, 1845, and foreign cured 
 hams in June, 1853. The duty on butter and cheese 
 was reduced in 1846 and in 1853, and abolished 
 altogether in March, 1866. The duties on other raw 
 materials of animal produce were removed in the 
 following years: Wool, 1844; silk and woollen 
 manufactures and tallow reduced in 1846; oil and 
 spermaceti in 1 849 ; and in 1860 the customs' duties 
 were entirely repealed on foreign butter, cheese, and 
 eggs, on boots, shoes, and gloves, tallow, and silk 
 manufactures. 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. 47 
 
 The live stock we slaughter annually in the United 
 Kingdom for food may be valued at 64,000,000, and 
 the dairy produce we consume butter, cheese, eggs, 
 and poultry at 25,000,000. 
 
 The imports of cattle and animal food products 
 have very largely increased in the last thirteen years. 
 
 The average imports for the three years ending 
 1858-60, and 1868-70, were as follows, taking round 
 numbers : 
 
 1858-60. 1868-70. 
 
 Cattle and Sheep ..head of 345,000... 760,000 
 
 Beef cwts. 217,000 ... 230,000 
 
 Bacon 210,000 ... 618,000 
 
 Pork 142,000 ... 200,000 
 
 Lard 137,000... 237,000 
 
 Butter 551,000 ... 1,172,000 
 
 Cheese 451,000 ... 964,000 
 
 Eggs number 150,500,000 ...419,000,000 
 
 Fish cwts. 301,000 ... 625,000 
 
 VALUE OF IMPORTS OF ANIMAL FOOD IN 1870. 
 
 Animals, Living 4,371,507 
 
 Bacon andHams 1,769,241 
 
 Beef 461,521 
 
 Butter 6,793,877 
 
 Cheese 3,274,331 
 
 Eggs 1,102,080 
 
 Fish 768,387 
 
 Lard 727,192 
 
 Meat, Salted and Fresh 96,042 
 
 Pork 799,508 
 
 Poultry, Game and Rabbits 158,482 
 
 20,322,168 
 
 As the butter produced in the kingdom is quite 
 insufficient for our consumption, we import 60,000 
 tons from abroad. The home consumption cannot be 
 
48 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 less than 180, 000 tons, allowing 1 Gibs, yearly for each 
 individual, of two-thirds of the whole population. 
 Taking an average price of Is. 3d. per pound for fresh 
 and salt, this gives a total of 17,600,000 paid for 
 butter alone. 
 
 VALUE OF EXPORTS OP ANIMAL SUBSTANCES AND 
 MANUFACTURES OF BRITISH PRODUCE, 1870. 
 
 Bacon and Hams 340,713 
 
 Beef and Pork 121,228 
 
 Candles 115,473 
 
 Cheese 110,330 
 
 Herrings 743,721 
 
 Other Fish 193,461 
 
 Horses 255,215 
 
 Boots and Shoes 1,143,192 
 
 Leather 299,559 
 
 Saddlery and Harness 326,711 
 
 Silk Yarn 1,154,046 
 
 Silk Manufactures 1,447,657 
 
 Wool 575,583 
 
 Woollen Yarn 5,175,757 
 
 Woollen Manufactures 21,650,460 
 
 33,053,112 
 
 Besides re-exports of Foreign Produce. 
 IMPORTS OF PROVISIONS. 
 
 1850. 1870. 
 
 Bacon and Hams ...cwts. 352,461 ... 579,199 
 
 Beef 135,414 ... 240,194 
 
 Pork 211,254 ... 220,533 
 
 Butter 330,579 ... 1,159,481 
 
 Meat, not otherwise 
 
 described ' ... 114,936 
 
 Cheese ..'. 347,803 ... 1,041,281 
 
 Eggs number 105,689,060 ...430,842,240 
 
 Fish cwts. 87,320 ... 582,380 
 
 Lard .. 229,614 ... 217,696 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 49 
 
 EXPORTS OF BRITISH PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES, 1870. 
 QUANTITIES. 
 
 Bacon and Hams cwts. 74,498 
 
 Beef and Pork 42,013 
 
 Candles Ibs. 3,349,983 
 
 Cheese cwts. 25,208 
 
 Herrings barrels 602,617 
 
 Other Fish value 193,461 
 
 Horses ..number 7,202 
 
 Leather, Boots and Shoes pairs 4,447,836 
 
 Leather Ibs. 1,392,896 
 
 Of another dairy article cheese we import about 
 the same quantity as of butter ; and, calculating that 
 the same proportion of the population use but half an 
 ounce a day, or 12 Ibs. per year, this gives a total con- 
 sumption of 112,500 tons. 
 
 We do not receive any very large supply of live 
 animals from abroad for food, and even these fluctuate 
 annually, according as the cattle disease prevails and 
 sanitary regulations are enforced. About 200,000 
 head of cattle, and 600,000 or 700,000 sheep are 
 imported yearly from the Continent ; but a good deal 
 of dead meat is also received. About 117,000 cwts. 
 of fresh, salted, or preserved meat was imported 
 in 1870, and as much as 300,000 cwts. in 1871. 
 
 The great consumption of butchers' meat in the 
 United Kingdom has become an important considera- 
 tion to the housekeeper, and especially in view of 
 a future adequate supply at more moderate prices, the 
 graziers being unable to meet the increasing demand 
 The large consumption arises from two causes, which 
 in all probability will continue to operate, namely the 
 
;>0 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 increase of population at the rate of 1,200 or 1,400 a 
 day, and the general improvement in the condition of 
 the operative classes, consequent upon the enormous 
 extension of our Commerce and Manufactures, and the 
 abundant employment thus created, and by railway and 
 other national works. The weight and quality of the 
 animals bred are widely different from what they were. 
 One hundred and fifty years ago, the average weight 
 of a beast at Smithfield Market was not above 350 Ibs. ; 
 now it exceeds 800 Ibs. 
 
 Large numbers of sheep are used by the meat-pre- 
 serving and boiling-down establishments, estimated at 
 200,000 in the single small colony of South Australia 
 in 1870. In New South Wales there were, last 
 year, no less than 48 boiling-down establishments, 
 as they are termed, for converting beef and mutton 
 into tallow. The price of cattle has been commonly 
 quoted at " boiling rates ; " in other words, fat cattle 
 would fetch no more from the butchers than could be 
 realised from their hides, horns, tallow, &c., for ex- 
 portation. Under the old and slovenly system of 
 sending cattle to the melting-pot, it is certain that 
 from one-fourth to one-half of what ought to have 
 been profitably turned to account was wasted. The 
 value of cattle and sheep must in future be measured 
 in the Colonies, not by the local demand for butchers' 
 meat, but by the price which can be obtained for the 
 various constituents of the carcase in the markets of 
 the world. The utilisation of this waste animal food 
 has received a large share of attention in the last 
 three years from various companies established to pre- 
 pare animal food in different forms, whether as extract 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 51 
 
 of meat, tinned provisions, or dried and smoked 
 meat. 
 
 The value of the meat imported here from Australia, 
 which was in 1868 but 45,000, had increased in 
 1871 to nearly 700,000. 
 
 The daily papers have within the last few weeks 
 been drawing attention very prominently to this subject, 
 and the correspondence and discussion that have ensued, 
 are likely to be beneficial. 
 
 The contrast between the prices we are paying here 
 for butchers' meat, and those given in the following 
 advertisement from a late Sydney paper, are very 
 striking. 
 
 PM < C A R R O L L. 
 
 
 GLORIOUS NEWS FOR THE PUBLIC. 
 
 TO CLUB HOUSES, HOTEL and BOARDING HOUSES, 
 
 and the PUBLIC at large. 
 
 GREAT REDUCTION IN THE PRICE OF MEAT. 
 
 LIST OF PRICES FOR CASH ONLY. 
 
 Per Ib. Per Ib. 
 
 Hind quarter of Mutton . ld. Fore quarter of Beef ... l|d. 
 
 Fore ditto ditto ...Id. Spice Beef od. 
 
 By the whole Sheep l|d. Round of Beef, cooked... 4d. 
 
 By half Sheep l|d. German Sausage 4d. 
 
 Mutton Chops 2d. Black Pudding 3d. 
 
 Rump Steaks 2d. Beef Sausages !<!. 
 
 Beefsteaks ld. Pork Sausages 4d. 
 
 Boiling Beef l*d. Legs of Pork 4d. 
 
 Corn Beef Id. Loins of Pork 4d. 
 
 Best Ribs of RoastingBeef 2d. Whole or half Pig 4d . 
 
 Chuck Ribs l^d. Veal 4d. 
 
 Sirloin ditto 2^d. Ox Tongues 2s. each. 
 
 Hind quarter of Beef ... l^d. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 I now give a tabular return of our commerce in 
 miscellaneous animal products, and shall proceed to 
 touch upon some of these as far as time will permit. 
 
 VALUE OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS IMPORTED IN 1870. 
 
 Bones 629,619 
 
 Bristles 366,767 
 
 Cochineal 581,956 
 
 Feathers, Bed 108,505 
 
 Ostrich Feathers 176,797 
 
 Galls 54,169 
 
 Grease 51,723 
 
 Guano 3,476,680 
 
 Hair, Goats', Horses', and Manufactures of 1,129,562 
 
 Hides, Raw and Tanned 4,609,500 
 
 Horns 179,969 
 
 Isinglass 83,022 
 
 Leather Manufactures and Gloves 1,382,887 
 
 Mother of Pearl 76,489 
 
 Animal Oil 42,785 
 
 Train Oil and Cod Liver Oil 954,710 
 
 Pearls 16,675 
 
 Silk and Manufactures 24,341,168 
 
 Skins and Furs 2,071,460 
 
 Sponge 160,162 
 
 Tallow ;... 3,292,215 
 
 Ivory, &c 439,839 
 
 Beeswax 127,511 
 
 Whale Fins 79,482 
 
 Wool, Sheep and Alpaca 15,812,598 
 
 Wool Manufactures 3,362,656 
 
 Woollen Rags 400,490 
 
 Woollen Yarn 1,635,154 
 
 Lac Dye and Shellac 250,371 
 
 Felt Hats and Bonnets 90,011 
 
 65,984,932 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 53 
 
 For soap-making, a large quantity of animal fat the 
 tallow of sheep and oxen is required ; our foreign im- 
 ports reaching to upwards of 76,000 tons, exclusive of 
 what is obtained from home-bred stock. And as an 
 evidence of scientific improvements, soap is prepared 
 at the candle manufactory for extensive use in the 
 woollen mills ; and grease prepared from the refuse 
 soapsuds of the wool mills is returned for the purposes 
 of the candle manufacturer. 
 
 At one time we were chiefly indebted to Russia for 
 tallow, now the largest supplies, at least two-thirds, 
 come from South America and Australia, where the 
 cattle and sheep have increased so rapidly, that in 
 many cases the carcases, as I have told you, are boiled 
 down solely for the tallow. 
 
 Notwithstanding the very general use of gas for 
 illuminating purposes, the candle trade is still an 
 extensive industry. In 1851 it was estimated that the 
 average make of tallow candles was 1,000 tons per 
 week, and of wax, sperm, .and composite, 6,000 tons per 
 annum ; but the manufacture, especially of the latter 
 kind, has enormously increased in the past twenty 
 years. Besides those used at home, we export about 
 4,000,000 Ibs. of stearine and composite candles. In 
 addition to the vegetable oils alluded to in my last 
 lecture, spermaceti, paraffine, ozokerit, and other sub- 
 stances have been brought largely into use. 
 
 The mohair of the Angora goat, the hair of the camel 
 and the alpaca, and the wool of the sheep, are drawn 
 upon extensively for our garments ; and even the 
 feathered tribe are made to contribute largely to our 
 luxurious demands for clothing and ornament. For 
 
> SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 instance, in London alone, there are more than 100 
 persons largely and specially interested in the trade in 
 feathers and hird-skins, either as feather merchants, 
 dealers, purifiers, plumassiers, naturalists, and such 
 like. The declared annual value of the foreign feathers 
 we receive is returned by the importers at nearly 
 400,000, and the feathers obtained at home for 
 bedding and ornamental purposes may be estimated at 
 about half that sum. 
 
 A light and trivial thing, certainly, does a feather 
 seem, and yet what a marvel of skill and beauty is 
 comprised in its mechanism and adaptation. How 
 little are these regarded by the thousands who wear 
 them, and throw them carelessly aside. Few, even, 
 have any idea of the extent of the trade and capital 
 involved in the collection, commerce, and application 
 of these extensive spoils from the feathered tribe. A 
 cursory walk through the Natural History rooms of 
 the British Museum will give us some slight notion 
 of the great variety and brilliancy of plumage of 
 numbers of birds which are now sought after by mer- 
 chants and traders, who pass their skins or feathers 
 into the hands Of the plumassier for the uses chiefly of 
 the ladies. 
 
 For the spoils from wild birds, many a fowler, 
 sportsman, hunter, and fisherman is ever on the look- 
 out, on land and on sea. If the various birds, annually 
 slaughtered for their plumage, could but be brought 
 before our gaze in one collective body, what a varied 
 and darkening flight would be presented to us ! From 
 the icy regions of the poles ; the storm-beaten islets of 
 the oceans ; the woods and forests of Asia and America ; 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 00 
 
 the groves of the Eastern Archipelago ; the sea-shores 
 of India and Africa ; the pampas of Patagonia ; the 
 deserts of Central Africa ; the plains of Australia, 
 and the poultry-yards of Europe the peckers, the 
 scratchers, the runners, the waders and stilt-birds, 
 the web-footed swimmers and divers, nearly all the 
 families of the great tribe Aves would be there in 
 flocks, as representatives of the numerous uses to which 
 man, in different countries, applies their integuments, 
 for quills and feathers in the arts and industry ; for 
 upholstery purposes; for decorative adornment of the 
 person, or more absolute clothing in warm garments. 
 
 Our foreign imports of bed-feathers only amount to 
 a few thousand cwts., but the annual quantity used in 
 the kingdom, has been estimated at 700 tons ; a very 
 large quantity, when the lightness of the substance is 
 taken into consideration : to fill a small-sized bedtick, 
 about 27lbs. are required. 
 
 The aggregate value of our foreign commerce in 
 feathers is larger than would be generally supposed. 
 Here are the import figures for 1869 and 1870: 
 
 1869. 1870. 
 
 Feathers for Beds 80,280 108,505 
 
 Ostrich Feathers 145,287 176,797 
 
 Othersorts 61,729 73,834 
 
 Quills 7,958 20,966 
 
 Down 7,239 10,369 
 
 390,471 
 
 The fashion of wearing plumes in ladies' hats, so 
 long continued, has given a great impetus to the trade 
 in bird-skins, leading to the introduction of continual 
 novelties. 
 
56 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 A new and very pretty ornamental application of 
 feathers is that of the entire head and plumage of some 
 birds for fans and fire-screens ; and the brilliant heads 
 of many of the humming-bird family, mounted as 
 necklets, ear-pendants, and brooches, form a novel 
 species of jewellery. 
 
 The elegance of the feathers of the ostrich, arising 
 from their slender stems and graceful barbules, has 
 caused them to be prized in all ages. They are the 
 dearest and most sought after of any feathers, in con- 
 sequence of their fineness and elasticity, and because 
 they can always be cleaned, dyed, and re-made into larger 
 and richer plumes, by patience and assiduity in the 
 attachment. Their average value, taking into account 
 quality and demand, in a series of years, has ranged 
 from 8 up to 55 the Ib. weight. We received 
 in 1869 upwards of 64,000lbs. weight, of which more 
 than half were black ostrich. In 1870 the imports 
 were 66,063 Ibs., of which upwards of 39,000 Ibs. were 
 black ostrich. 
 
 Vulture plumes, or bastard ostrich, egret, grebe and 
 swan skins, and cocks' feathers, are some of the other 
 large articles of commerce in feathers. 
 
 The general's plume is of cocks' feathers, white and 
 dyed red ; those worn by officers on the medical staff, 
 are dyed black and bronzed ; staff-officers and deputy- 
 lieutenants of counties, wear plumes of swans' feathers. 
 
 The universal steel pen has almost driven out of use 
 the old goose quill, and, like sealing wax and wafers, 
 they are fast passing out of the stationery trade. In 
 1855 we imported nearly 26,500,000 of foreign goose 
 and swan quills, valued at about 30,000; but in 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. O/ 
 
 later years we only took about 9,000,000, worth about 
 8,000. There was, however, a remarkable recovery 
 in this respect in 1870, for 27,500,000 quills were 
 imported, of the value of nearly 21,000. 
 
 Silk now forms one of the most important articles of 
 consumption for the purposes of dress and luxury, and 
 it is satisfactory to see this gay material becoming 
 every day the property of a wider circle of consumers. 
 Silk is both an agreeable and a healthy material. 
 Used in dress it retains the electricity of our bodies ; 
 in the drapery of our rooms and furniture-covers it 
 reflects the sunbeams, giving them a quicker brilliancy, 
 and it heightens colours with a charming light. It 
 possesses an element of cheerfulness of which the dull 
 surfaces of wool and linen are destitute. It also pro- 
 motes cleanliness, and will not readily imbibe dirt. 
 Grace and Beauty, even, owe something to silk. You 
 cannot stiffen it like thick woollen or linen, without 
 destroying all its gloss and value. The more silk 
 ribbons, silk kerchiefs and robes are used instead of 
 linen and wool, the more graceful becomes the outward 
 aspect of mankind. The quantity of silk now con- 
 sumed in Europe is four or five fold what it was at the 
 beginning of the century. The stiff brocade, the massy 
 velvet, the slight gauze and the beautiful blonde are 
 alike produced by the labour of the little silkworm. 
 
 Much of our silk trade has gone to the Conti- 
 nent. The number of operatives now engaged in the 
 factories 48,000 is scarcely as many as there were 
 in 1850; but the number of factories has risen in that 
 period from 277 to 696, the power looms from 6,000 
 to 14,400. 
 
58 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The quantity of raw and thrown silk imported in 
 1850 was 5,462,000 Ibs. weight, and the manufactured 
 silk, broad stuffs and ribbons was 687,451 Ibs. weight, 
 besides 751,877 pieces of Indian silk. The quantity 
 of raw and thrown silk imported in 1870 was 
 6, 566,907 Ibs. The manufactured silk received was 
 5,704,961 Ibs., being an increase of over 5,000,000 Ibs. ; 
 but the Indian silk pieces had declined to 99,565, an 
 enormous decrease. 
 
 The declared value of our silk manufactures and 
 yarn exported was, in 1850, 1,255,641 ; and in 1870, 
 1,447,657, so that, notwithstanding the increased 
 large home consumption, we have also been able to 
 send away larger supplies to the United States, to 
 our Colonies and the Continent. 
 
 A curious trade was carried on during the silkworm 
 disease on the Continent in silkworms' eggs from Japan, 
 and this is even still continued, to Europe, America, 
 and our Colonies, to some extent. These cards were 
 sent in well-ventilated cases by special steamers, about 
 220 cards in a case. 100 cards weigh on an average 
 23 Ibs. From 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 of these cards were 
 sent annually, the value being 600,000 to 1,000,000 
 sterling for this small article. Some were imported here.. 
 
 The woollen manufacture is the second in importance 
 of our great textile industries, giving employment to 
 more than 250,000 operatives. It is chiefly divided 
 into the woollen and worsted trades ; the former using, 
 for clothing, short or fine wool ; the latter combing, or 
 long wool. 
 
 I pointed out in my former lecture the increase of 
 our manufacturing industry, as shown by the consump- 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 59 
 
 tion of vegetable products in our textile factories. Let 
 us now see how the case stands as regards the progress 
 of fibrous materials derived from the animal kingdom. 
 The following were the raw materials used in the 
 United Kingdom in 1790 : 
 
 Wool Ibs. 3,245,352 
 
 Silk 1,253,445 
 
 Now let us trace the progress made in wool in the 
 nineteenth century 
 
 WOOL SHEEP AND LAMBS ONLY. 
 
 IMPORTS. CONSUMPTION. 
 
 1840 Ibs. 49,436,284 48,421,650 
 
 1850 74,326,778 59,938,104 
 
 1860 148,396,577 117,634,710 
 
 1870 259,361,963 166,819,579 
 
 1871 319,511,336 172,452,719 
 
 Why are all manufactured goods now more abundant 
 
 than in the early part of the century ? Because every 
 man works with better tools, and more manual skill 
 and dexterity ; because all modes of transit have been 
 improved, thus facilitating the transmission of goods, 
 either raw material or finished, thereby reducing one 
 great element of the price the cost of carriage ; and 
 because, further, the facility of transport has rendered 
 exchange practicable and easy, when formerly it was 
 impossible, thus actually creating new industries. 
 
 VALUE OF THE EXPOETS OF BRITISH WOOLLEN AND 
 WORSTED MANUFACTURES AND YARN. 
 
 1820 5,586,948 
 
 1850 10,040,330 
 
 1870 31,831,217 
 
 British Wool 580,570 
 
 1871 33,296,481 
 
 British Wool 824,524 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMENCE. 
 
 Iii 1851 the quantity of wool used in the United 
 Kingdom was 325,000,000 Ibs, the value of the manu- 
 facture over 30,000,000 sterling, and the persons 
 directly or indirectly dependent on the manufacture, 
 were computed at 1,500,000. 
 
 It is curious to trace the changes in the sources of 
 our supply. In 1840 we obtained the bulk of the wool 
 31,500,000 Ibs. for our factories, from Germany, 
 Spain, and other parts of Europe. Australia then 
 sent us under 10,000,000 Ibs. Now the proportions are 
 entirely reversed, for out of the 259,362,000 Ibs. which 
 we received in 1870, our Australasian colonies sent 
 us 175,000,000 Ibs., the South African colonies, 
 31,750,000 Ibs., and British India, 11,000,000 Ibs., 
 whilst Europe furnished us with but 23,500,000 Ibs., 
 or about one-third less than it did thirty years 
 ago. 
 
 In 1851 our imports of wool from Australia 
 were under 42,000,000 Ibs., in 1871 they exceeded 
 182,753,000 Ibs. 
 
 As an instance of rapidity in manufacture, I may 
 state a curious fact which is recorded, although only 
 one of many instances of a similar kind : 
 
 At Newbury, Sir John Throckmorton made a wager 
 of a thousand guineas that at eight o'clock on a 
 particular evening he would sit down to dinner in a 
 well-woven, well-dyed, well-made suit of clothes, the 
 wool of which formed the fleece on the sheep's backs at 
 five o'clock that same morning. Two sheep were shorn, 
 the wool was washed, carded, slubbed, rove, spun, and 
 woven, the cloth was scoured, fulled, tented, raised, 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 61 
 
 sheared, dyed, and dressed, the garments were made, 
 and at a quarter-past six in the evening Sir John sat 
 down to dinner, at the head of his guests, in a complete 
 damson-coloured suit thus made, winning his wager, 
 with one hour and three quarters to spare. 
 
 Besides sheep's wool, we import the fleeces and hair 
 of many other animals ; that of the alpaca of South 
 America has become an important article of commerce. 
 The staple is of extraordinary length, and of a singularly 
 soft and silky quality, and, when carefully managed, 
 loses nothing of its gloss in dyeing and finishing. 
 The use of it has rapidly extended in the worsted 
 factories of Yorkshire, especially by improved pro- 
 cesses. The quantity of alpaca wool imported from 
 1836, when Sir Titus Salt made his first purchase, to 
 1840, averaged 580,000 Ibs. per annum. In 1850 the 
 import had reached 2,000,000 Ibs. ; in 1870 it was 
 nearly 4,000,000 Ibs., and the price, which was at first 
 but lOd. per lb., has risen to 2s. 6d. per Ib. 
 
 Nearly contemporaneous with the introduction of 
 alpaca wool, was the bringing into general use in York- 
 shire of an article similar in many of its properties, 
 namely, mohair, or goat's wool. This article is of 
 very ancient use in manufactures, having been em- 
 ployed, as we are taught in the Book of Exodus, for 
 the furniture and covering of the Tabernacle. The 
 wool is grown in the neighbourhood of Angora, in the 
 centre of Asia Minor. Although many attempts have 
 been made to extend its growth beyond this immediate 
 district, especially in the Cape Colony and Australia, 
 they have, hitherto, generally failed. This wool is 
 
62 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 worked up in Yorkshire chiefly into cloth for ladies' 
 dresses, of great softness, lustre and brilliancy. Our 
 supplies fluctuate much ; the average, some twenty 
 years back, was 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 Ibs. ; a few 
 years ago it rose to 7,000,000 Ibs., and has since fallen 
 again to half that quantity. 
 
 TEXTILE FACTORIES IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1870. 
 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power Looms. 
 
 Operatives. 
 
 Cotton 
 
 2,871 
 
 36,304,958 
 
 411,336 
 
 4H/.I70 
 
 Wool . 
 
 1,550 
 
 2,193,324 
 
 37,356 
 
 100,640 
 
 Shoddy 
 
 120 
 
 133,793 
 
 2,690 
 
 3,816 
 
 Worsted . 
 
 599 
 
 2,058,876 
 
 63,445 
 
 103,514 
 
 Flax . 
 
 155 
 
 402,288 
 
 3,048 
 
 19,816 
 
 Hemp 
 
 30 
 
 4,173 
 
 77 
 
 2,333 
 
 Jute . 
 
 10 
 
 10,608 
 
 478 
 
 1,932 
 
 Silk . 
 
 692 
 
 2,017,798 
 
 12,135 
 
 47,311 
 
 Hair . 
 
 31 
 
 
 
 1,833 
 
 Lace . 
 
 223 
 
 
 
 8,268 
 
 Hosiery 
 
 126 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 8,995 
 
 Elastic 
 
 61 
 
 48,892 
 
 1,728 
 
 4,623 
 
 
 5,968 
 
 43,174,710 
 
 532,293 
 
 718,051 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. Power Looms. 
 
 Operatives. 
 
 Wool . 
 
 218 
 
 469,524 
 
 10,543 
 
 23,000 
 
 Worsted . 
 
 28 
 
 71,556 
 
 1,201 
 
 5,968 
 
 Flax . 
 
 191 
 
 330,599 
 
 17,419 
 
 42,917 
 
 Hemp 
 
 2 
 
 24,172 
 
 30 
 
 463 ! 
 
 Jute . 
 
 48 
 
 100,324 
 
 3,744 
 
 14,911 ! 
 
 Horsehair . 
 
 5 
 
 
 ... 
 
 485 ! 
 
 Silk . 
 
 4 
 
 12,643 243 
 
 813 
 
 Hosiery 
 
 3 
 
 ... ... 
 
 697 
 
 
 499 
 
 1,008,818 ' 33,180 
 
 .,,*. ; 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 
 
 IRE AND. 
 
 Cotton 
 Wool . 
 Worsted 
 Flax . 
 Hemp 
 Jute . 
 Hair . 
 Total : 
 IRELAND 
 ENGLAND 
 SCOTLAND 
 
 Total . 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power Looms. Operatives. 
 
 14 
 61 
 3 
 154 
 3 
 5 
 1 
 
 125,929 
 29,895 
 1,020 
 886,660 
 3,966 
 4,224 
 
 3,437 
 241 
 10 
 14,834 
 
 *"l08 
 
 4,157 
 1,490 
 75 
 55,039 
 354 
 727 
 21 
 
 241 
 
 5,968 
 499 
 
 1,051,694 
 43,174,710 
 
 1,008,818 
 
 18,630 
 532,293 
 33,180 
 
 61,863 
 718,051 
 89,254 
 
 6,708 
 
 45,235,222 
 
 584,003 
 
 869,168 
 
 Bristles the hard, strong, shining hairs, which form 
 the manes of wild boars and hogs are imported chiefly 
 from Russia for the use of brushmakers, shoemakers, 
 and saddlers, and are worth 3s. a pound. The annual 
 imports average from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 Ibs., 
 valued at about 300,000. During the war with 
 Russia the brushmakers were sadly inconvenienced by 
 the stoppage of supplies ; and, as I stated in my last 
 lecture, various substitutes were brought into use, 
 consisting of strong vegetable fibres and grasses, which, 
 having proved cheap and serviceable, still hold their 
 ground. The importance of suitable materials for 
 the brush trade will be understood when you are in- 
 formed that the value of this one article in all its 
 varieties is estimated to be over 2,000,000 sterling. 
 
 Of the hair of various animals we receive con 
 siderable quantities, especially horse-hair, goats' hair, 
 and camels' hair ; even human hair is of importance 
 in trade. The imports of human hair have largely 
 
C4 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 increased from the Continent. In 1861 we received 
 15,672 Ibs.; in 1870, 33,875 Ibs., valued at 27,098. 
 Now, as the average weight of the clip of a woman's 
 hair is only about 8 oz., this represents the spoils of 
 67,750 females who have deprived themselves of their 
 beautiful locks for the sake of gain to themselves 
 and profit to the hairdressers. 
 
 Aggregate quantity and value of hair of all kinds 
 imported in the years 1869 and 1870 : 
 1869. 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 Bristles or Hogs' Hair 2,004,9001bs 289,140 
 
 Camels' Hair 401,931 Ibs 10,650 
 
 Human Hair 22,199 Ibs 17,758 
 
 Horsehair 19,857 cwts 152,631 
 
 Cow Hair 65,799 cwts 399,179 
 
 Unenumerated Hair 33,286 
 
 Hair Manufactures ; 5,257 
 
 Goats' Hair do 64,413 
 
 972,314 
 
 1870. 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 Bristles 2,497,1221bs 366,767 
 
 Camels' Hair 155,921 Ibs 3,899 
 
 Human Hair 33,875 Ibs 27,098 
 
 Horsehair 14,134 cwts 127,145 
 
 Cow Hair 68,746 cwts 411,493 
 
 Unenumerated Hair 44,061 
 
 Hair Manufactures 6,670 
 
 Goats' Hair do 48,092 
 
 1,035,225 
 
 Among animal products of the sea which enter 
 largely into commerce are sponge, coral, mother of 
 pearl shells, cowry shells, pearls, tortoiseshell and 
 miscellaneous shells for various purposes. 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 65 
 
 The two great sponge fisheries are round the Bahamas 
 Islands, where the common sponge is obtained, and in 
 the Mediterranean, where the superior kinds are fished 
 for. In 1869 we imported 1,250,000 Ibs. of sponge, 
 valued at 157,000; in 1870, 837,159 Ibs., valued at 
 160,162 ; of coral, in 1855, only about 4,000 Ibs. 
 were imported; but, in 1869, 7,739 Ibs. were received, 
 valued at the high price of 18,834. Cowries are 
 imported chiefly to be sent to Africa for barter. We 
 received in 1869, 7,500 cwts., valued at 8,500. 
 Mother of pearl is imported to the extent of about 
 37,662 cwts., valued at 94,015; the pearls imported 
 range in value from 45,000 to 100,000 annually. 
 
 What is known in commerce as tortoiseshell is 
 strictly the thirteen horny scales or epidermal plates 
 which cover the carapace of the hawk's-bill turtle or 
 sea-tortoise, and one or two other species. The prin- 
 cipal consumption is in the manufacture of ladies' 
 back and side combs, dressing and pocket-combs ; the 
 minor uses, for optical purposes more particularly 
 for spectacles, eye-glasses, and frames for microscopic 
 lenses, and for the manufacture of fancy articles. The 
 value of tortoiseshell depends almost entirely on the 
 movements of fashion as regards the head dress of 
 ladies. Thus, the ungainly modes of wearing the 
 hair either loose, dishevelled over the shoulders in 
 artificial negligee, or thrown conspicuously over the 
 face by concealed horse-hair puffs or frissets, or sus- 
 pended behind in a netted bag, have completely super- 
 seded the neat and elegant styles formerly in vogue, and 
 their necessary appendages, side and back combs. At 
 the same time, the tortoiseshell dressing-comb, not 
 
 F 
 
C6 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 affected by this, was seriously injured by the new appli- 
 ances of india-rubber and gutta-percha. -It is, however, 
 now recovering, as the combs manufactured from those 
 two substances have not been found to answer so well as 
 was expected. In 1859 the import of tortoiseshell was 
 a little over 48,000 Ibs., of the aggregate value of 
 25,500. In 1870 it was rather more, the imports 
 being 49,332 Ibs., valued at 32,503, besides 
 5,703 Ibs. of inferior turtle shells, valued at 1,423. 
 
 Of insect products we receive, besides silk, some 
 important commercial articles, as, for instance : 
 
 Value. 
 
 Beeswax 125,163 
 
 Cochineal 579,547 
 
 Lac products : Shellac, stick lac and lac dye 282,251 
 
 Galls and some other . products are mentioned in 
 other sections of my discourse. 
 
 Of bones we import a large quantity for manufac- 
 turing purposes and for manure. In 1850 we received 
 27,198 tons ; in 1870, 94,923 tons. Of these, 4,056 
 tons were suited for manufacturing purposes, and the 
 rest for manure. 
 
 We import about 1,800 tons of buffalo horns 
 from India, valued at 50,000 ; and of deer horns 
 1,000 tons, worth 62,000; besides innumerable 
 horns and horn-tips and pieces 2,600 tons, worth 
 60,000 : so that we pay for bones and horns from 
 abroad 170,000. Besides the two chief varieties of 
 horn those of the ox and buffalo tribe and the stag 
 there is another which scarcely looks like horn at all, 
 and that is the horn of the rhinoceros, which is a mere 
 appendage of the skin, and formed of the hair matted 
 together. 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. C7 
 
 I incidentally pointed out in my previous lecture 
 what changes take place in commerce by the substitu- 
 tion of new articles for old, and of this, fish-oil and 
 whalebone form notable examples. Vegetable and 
 mineral oils have increased so rapidly as to have 
 greatly reduced the value of whale oil, and the ex- 
 pensive and hazardous fishery has been almost given 
 up by our merchants, and in America entails heavy 
 losses. Whalebone has been largely superseded in its 
 various uses by steel and cane. The whales have in 
 the place of teeth extensive rows of baleen plates, or 
 " blades," as they are commercially called, ending in a 
 fringe of bristles. Messrs. Bovingdon, Allen and Go., 
 of Fell Street, whalebone merchants, have kindly lent 
 a fine fin of the Greenland whalebone, Davis' Strait 
 fishing, from the Arctic whale, Balcena mysticetus, 
 measuring 12ft. long ; a fin of southern whale, Balcena 
 australis, and fins in clump from the bottle-nose or 
 humpback whale, Megaptera americana. 
 
 For ivory purposes we import on the average about 
 12,000 cwts. a year of the tusks of the elephant, called 
 in the trade returns " elephants' teeth," which they 
 are not, though the teeth or grinders are sometimes 
 used for knife handles and other purposes, but they 
 are brittle and faulty. The defences of the sea-cow, 
 or hippopotamus, the walrus or sea-horse (Trichecus 
 rosmarus), and the ivory protuberance of the narwhal 
 (Monodon monoceros) also come in for ivory. The ivory 
 of the sea-morse used to be preferred by dentists for 
 making artificial teeth, but has been much replaced by 
 composition mineral teeth. About half the ivory we 
 receive is sent to the Continent ;* the remainder is 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 chiefly worked up at Sheffield for knife handles and 
 fancy work. As we have imported since 1840, 13,342 
 tons, if we average the tusks at a quarter of a cwt. each, 
 there will have been slaughtered in that time nearly 
 500,000 elephants ; but some allowance must, perhaps, 
 be made for tusks shed or found. 
 
 ELEPHANTS' TEETH, SEA Cow, AND SEA HORSE, OR SEA 
 MORSE TEETH IMPORTED. 
 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Re-exports. 
 
 Computed Value 
 of Imports. 
 
 
 cwts. 
 
 cwts. 
 
 
 
 1840 
 
 5,469 
 
 1,494 
 
 
 1841 
 
 5,811 
 
 1,297 
 
 
 1842 
 
 6,429 
 
 1,482 
 
 
 1843 
 
 5,462 
 
 1,423 
 
 
 1844 
 
 5,229 
 
 1,701 
 
 
 1845 
 
 6,402 
 
 2,005 
 
 
 1846 
 
 5,394 
 
 1,200 
 
 
 1847 
 
 6,477 
 
 1,526 
 
 
 1848 
 
 5,146 
 
 955 
 
 
 1849 
 
 7,457 
 
 1,357 
 
 
 1850 
 
 9,396 
 
 2,743 
 
 
 1851 
 
 6,356 
 
 2,494 
 
 
 1852 
 
 9,515 
 
 3,673 
 
 
 1853 
 
 10,388 
 
 2,823 
 
 
 1854 
 
 9,299 
 
 2,510 
 
 230,420 
 
 1855 
 
 8,376 
 
 2,580 
 
 219,964 
 
 1856 
 
 9,866 
 
 2,942 
 
 343,517 
 
 1857 
 
 9,890 
 
 2,780 
 
 421,318 
 
 1858 
 
 12,279 
 
 3,016 
 
 410,608 
 
 1859 
 
 10,821 
 
 3,313 
 
 336,147 
 
 1860 
 
 10,854 
 
 3,463 
 
 332,166 
 
 1861 
 
 11,163 
 
 4,193 
 
 297,491 
 
 1862 
 
 11,605 
 
 4,821 
 
 262,962 
 
 1863 
 
 9,290 
 
 5,696 
 
 256,059 
 
 1864 
 
 11,497 
 
 5,738 
 
 361,384 
 
 1865 
 
 10,268 
 
 6,588 
 
 322,286 
 
 1866 
 
 11,982 
 
 6,143 
 
 445,335 
 
 1867 
 
 10,343 
 
 5,750 
 
 360,520 
 
 1868 
 
 9,909 
 
 5,985 
 
 337,403 
 
 1869 
 
 14,599 
 
 5,911 
 
 507,319 
 
 1870 
 
 12,590- 
 
 4,039 
 
 439,839 
 
 Total since 1840.. 
 
 279,56 
 
 >cwts. 
 
 
MINERAL AND ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 69 
 
 And now time warns me to conclude. 
 
 It may appear to you that I have dwelt too much 
 on figures, but Statistics in regard to nations have 
 been very appropriately compared to the ledger of a 
 merchant. Now, if a merchant suffer his ledger to be 
 carelessly or erroneously kept, or if he keep no ledger 
 at all, there is an axiom among commercial men that, 
 " some one else will take his business from him and 
 take care of it." So it will be with the country in 
 which a just and efficient mode is not adopted of 
 ascertaining the extent of its trade ; whether this 
 trade is profitable as a whole ; what particular parts 
 of it are most profitable ; what branch should be most 
 encouraged, and numerous other considerations, which, 
 in order to be profitably treated, must have just data 
 upon which they should be based. It is of primary 
 importance, then, that these data should not only 
 be at the fingers' ends of our statesmen and legis- 
 lators, but that the educated portion of the people in 
 general, and the commercial body in particular, should 
 be thoroughly acquainted with the different phases of 
 the trade and resources of the country. 
 
 In bringing my observations to a close, I can 
 but regret that my remarks have necessarily been 
 somewhat discursive and superficial, owing to the 
 wide range of subjects with which I have had to 
 deal. 
 
 It is, certainly, highly satisfactory to me to find such 
 large audiences attending, interested in acquiring sound 
 practical information. For a long series of years, in 
 various technical publications of my own, and before 
 different institutions, I have endeavoured to diffuse 
 
70 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 scientific and commercial information ; but it is only 
 very recently that the public generally has taken an 
 earnest interest in the acquisition of scientific and 
 technical knowledge : and the more this feeling is 
 developed and encouraged, the better will it be for our 
 individual and national progress. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 THE MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS OF 
 COMMERCE.* 
 
 I have been invited to address you upon a subject 
 so vast in its range, that not a short hour and a 
 single lecture, nor, indeed, a whole course of lectures, 
 could enable anything like full justice to be done to 
 it. When one has for a theme "The Mineral and 
 Vegetable Products of the World," he may well be 
 puzzled in what manner to treat it. In justice to 
 myself, therefore,' I may state that I should never 
 have chosen so ambitious and comprehensive a topic 
 for a dissertation, because, as you may well conceive, it 
 would be utterly impossible even to enumerate the 
 chief products in the brief time I can conveniently 
 trespass upon your patience, much less to describe 
 them. One product alone would have formed a most 
 difficult subject to do proper justice to in a lecture, 
 even if it were the commercial products of the cocoa- 
 
 * A Lecture delivered before the Birmingham Institute in 
 Jauwary, 1859. 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 71 
 
 nut, the sugar-cane, cotton or flax, coal or iron. To 
 attempt. to squeeze all, therefore, into the compass of 
 a short discourse would be like the resulting process 
 of passing the sugar-cane through the mill -rollers, 
 when you would obtain a little sweet juice and a great 
 deal of refuse or trash. I shall, therefore, take the 
 liberty of dealing rather with generalities than speci- 
 alities, confining myself to our own commerce, and 
 touching chiefly upon those most prominent articles 
 in which individuals of the British nation are prin- 
 cipally interested. 
 
 The nature of the subject to be discussed may 
 require, however, a further word of apology at the 
 outset. Those amongst you who are usually engaged 
 in the active pursuits of trade and commerce, may 
 feel inclined to protest against the revival in this 
 place of considerations which are the occasion of con- 
 tinued anxiety during many hours of every day. 
 Away from the counting-house or the mart, they 
 desire to forget those details which engage the mind 
 in such places, and they rightly determine to avoid 
 the intrusion of matters of business during the hours 
 appropriated to relaxation and enjoyment. 
 
 While another portion of my auditory will hardly 
 be disposed to take a different view of the subject ; 
 they hear the course .of daily business often spoken 
 of as " weary, flat, stale," and even sometimes " un- 
 profitable ; " they know nothing of these concerns, 
 and regard them as belonging to a department of 
 life with which they really have nothing to do ; it is 
 most true that they are deeply interested, as well as 
 ourselves, in the results of trade and commerce, and 
 
72 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 these daily labours ; but its peculiarities and conten- 
 tions, its details and calculations, are all unsuitable 
 to the female mind. But the unsuitableness of the 
 subject is more imaginary than real ; it includes the 
 products of almost every clime, and bears witness to 
 the industry and occupation of almost every nation. 
 Although I am shut out from noticing animal sub- 
 stances, my subject combines all the resources of the 
 vegetable and mineral world. And, did I possess the 
 wand of the enchanter to invoke them, I might array 
 before you the various productions which exist in such 
 wonderful profusion over the globe, and which are so 
 marvellously suited to our common wants, that in 
 them we see the most certain evidence that He who 
 has created man for existence in this world, hath 
 abundantly furnished it with everything which can 
 tend to his nourishment and support, the development 
 of his intellectual faculties, the civilisation and re- 
 finement of his character and feelings. 
 
 The cotton and flax from which our apparel is made, 
 the thousand nutritious aliments which support and 
 invigorate the body, the various materials used in 
 giving solidity and comfort to our habitations, and all 
 the visible sources from which our avocations, and 
 much of our enjoyments, are derived, come fairly 
 within the range of my lecture. 
 
 " The vast and boundless mineral treasures which, 
 drawn from the earth, have ever afforded occupation 
 to a large portion of its inhabitants, while they have 
 materially conduced to the common benefit of all 
 these, and ten thousand other products, appear in 
 the mind's eye before us, and along with them the 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 73 
 
 wants and necessities of man, not only as regards his 
 bodily requirements, but in much that tends to his 
 moral, intellectual, and social refinement."* 
 
 The scope of the subject comprehended under the 
 title of my discourse is so extensive that it is difficult 
 to know under what aspect it may be most tersely 
 and graphically sketched. It might properly be ar- 
 ranged under several groups, which would make it 
 more readily understood. Thus we could discuss : 
 1. The products of the soil, whether obtained by 
 the labours of the agriculturist, or the spontaneous 
 production of Nature. 2. The products of the mines. 
 We might examine the foreign products we receive 
 in several points of view, as articles of necessity, 
 articles of convenience, and articles of luxury, refine- 
 ment, or indulgence. Or we might view them under 
 another aspect, and investigate the economic and 
 commercial uses of the different parts of plants : 
 for instance, commencing with the roots, proceeding 
 to the stem, the sap, the bark, the leaves and flowers, 
 the fruit or seeds, and such like, and we should be 
 surprised in the progress of this investigation to find 
 how largely each of these contributed to the wants 
 and comforts of man, and what an extensive com- 
 merce is carried on in almost all of them. But I 
 cannot follow any of these systematic arrangements, 
 and must, therefore, be content to take a somewhat 
 discursive view of the subject in its several relations, 
 guided by the time at our disposal. My subject, 
 
 * From a Lecture on the "Commerce of London," by 
 Mr. Ho well. 
 
7-i SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 although not probably at first sight so interesting as? 
 some of those to which you have listened in pre- 
 vious sessions, is yet, as I have told you, of high 
 individual and national importance, and very varied 
 in its range and character. As we proceed with its 
 discussion it will be found to come home to the in- 
 dividual wants and comforts of each of us, and to 
 afford large scope for inquiry and reflection. When 
 we compare the present with the past, and see how 
 year by year our ease, health, and comfort are pro- 
 moted by Commerce, we must fain acknowledge our 
 vast indebtedness to the capital and enterprise of our 
 merchants. " There is probably," observes a high 
 commercial authority,* " no index of a general kind 
 by which the material condition of a country can be 
 more accurately tested than the extent of its foreign 
 trade. By whatever means the external commerce of 
 a nation is conducted, and by whatever laws it is 
 regulated, its imports must be limited in the long 
 run by its own surplus production. It is, therefore, 
 only in proportion as that surplus is great or small, 
 that a country is in a condition to command the 
 surplus products of other countries ; and it is the 
 extent of this ability to exchange that determines 
 the amount of its foreign trade." 
 
 The peasant or mechanic of to-day, whether we 
 regard his food, clothing, dwelling, or amusements 
 possesses far greater advantages than were enjoyed 
 by the monarch of a century or two ago. And to 
 what does he owe this 1 Is it not to the extended 
 and cheapened products of Commerce 1 
 
 * "Economist," January 15, 1859. 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. /O 
 
 Railroads, steam, the discoveries of Science, the 
 printing press, the electric telegraph, and the pro- 
 gress of colonisation have materially altered the 
 condition of society, even in the last quarter of a 
 century, and in no one feature is there so marked a 
 change as in the character and extent of British and 
 Foreign Commerce. Let us primarily look at the 
 aggregate value of British commerce. 
 
 A few figures will show its amazing strides at 
 decennial periods within less than fifty years. 
 
 Taking first the official value of our imports which 
 official value I may observe is an incorrect data, 
 founded on an antiquated standard of prices fixed on 
 commodities, all of which have varied materially we 
 find that the official value of imports was : 
 
 In 1820 30,792,760 
 
 1830 49,713,890 
 
 1840 65,873,411 
 
 1850 100,469,067 
 
 In 1857, the computed real value was 187,844,441 ; 
 in 1869, 295,460,214. 
 
 Now even by this criterion we find that the aggregate 
 value increased six fold in thirty-seven years to 1857. 
 Next we have the official value of our exports, and 
 these stand as follows : 
 
 In 1820 , 51,461,434 
 
 1830 71,429,005 
 
 1840 116,029,130 
 
 1850 197,311,310 
 
 1857 146,174,301 
 
 1869 189,953,957 
 
 These figures are also steadily progressive, almost 
 in the same ratio, except within the seven years to 1857 ; 
 
76 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 this difference arises from our having more precise 
 and reliable data in the computed real value of both 
 imports and exports, which are now assessed at their 
 true market values. 
 
 It is curious to trace the rapid growth of British 
 commerce even in the present century.. But how 
 does it compare with five centuries ago ? 
 
 In 1354 the total value of the imports into England, 
 with the Custom's duty added, was 38,872, and con- 
 sisted only of the following items : 
 
 1,831 pieces of Cloth, valued at 6 each 10,986 
 
 397 cwts. of Wax, at 2 per cwt., with the 
 
 customs 815 
 
 1,829^ Tuns of Wine, at 2 per tun, do. do. 3,842 
 Linen Cloth, Mercery, Groceries, and all other 
 
 Wares... .. 23,229 
 
 Total .....38,872 
 
 What a contrast in prices and quantity with the 
 import trade of the present day (1869), when the value 
 of the imports was 269,460,214 ! 
 
 In 1710 the imports and exports collectively 
 amounted in value to but 10,000,000 ; in 1800 to 
 69,000,000 ; in 1850 they had risen to 297,000,000 ; 
 and in 1869 to 532,500,000. 
 
 When you learn that the estimated average annual 
 products and manufactures of the United Kingdom 
 (home consumption, imports, and exports) amount in 
 bulk to 400,000,000 tons, and are valued at close 
 upon 1,000,000,000 sterling, you will the more 
 readily comprehend and appreciate the extent and 
 importance of the subject we are about to discuss. 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. // 
 
 We have been stigmatised as a nation of shop- 
 keepers ; hut there is certainly nothing petty in our 
 transactions, which are on a gigantic scale, and em- 
 brace the chief trade of the world. For we are their 
 carriers, their bankers, their manufacturers, their 
 warehousemen, and their purveyors. 
 
 Albert Smith in his interesting narrative before 
 a London audience used to tell us that statistics 
 are a great bore, and that the traveller on the Continent 
 cares as little to know whether a town has 200,000 
 inhabitants or 10,000, for the figures in the one case 
 or the other will find no resting-place. Now figures 
 are, no doubt, very often troublesome things to form, 
 to calculate, or to remember, and they may often 
 become tedious and wearisome, especially when unduly 
 quoted to a general audience. But I venture to 
 assume that there are many here who are seekers after 
 information ; and some who are desirous of storing 
 their memory with facts, whilst every one has not 
 the opportunity of searching voluminous blue books, 
 consular reports, trade circulars and returns which 
 appal those who first attempt to wade through them. 
 
 I cannot but agree with a recent author that 
 statistics in general are facts from which truth is 
 elicited, and the advantages derived from them are 
 incalculable. They exhibit the state of the world and 
 of nations ; they afford the greatest assistance in the 
 correction or confirmation of opinions, and influence 
 the progress of legislation. Without them the con- 
 ditions of society, the increase or decrease of popula- 
 tion, wealth, poverty, disease, or crime would be 
 unknown ; and any correct reasoning upon the renie- 
 
78 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 dies would be impossible. If we consider them 
 ariglit 
 
 " Every line furnishes a moral, 
 Every page a history." 
 
 Great Britain is truly 'the workshop of the globe. 
 Her Commerce stretches far beyond the bounds of 
 civilisation ; her dry goods are worn by all the tribes 
 of the earth ; whilst our hardware may be found in 
 the homes of almost all the members of the human 
 family. 
 
 To the preliminary facts already cited illustrative 
 of the commercial power of Great Britain, I may 
 add that the capitalists of this country own an im- 
 mense amount of foreign stocks, not only in Con- 
 tinental Europe and India, but all over the American 
 Continent. Of 50,000,000 of foreign capital in- 
 vested in North American securities, the great bulk 
 is owned by British capitalists. Is a loan wanted for 
 Turkey or Russia, for Buenos Ayres or Spain, John 
 Bull finds the funds. Is a Pacific railway, or a 
 submarine-cable, or an ocean line of steamers to be 
 formed, British capital is drawn upon. 
 
 Whatever our walk in life, we are all more or less 
 identified with, and interested in, Commerce, either as 
 dealers, producers, conveyors, or consumers. The 
 day has gone by when men scoffed at the trading or 
 manufacturing classes.* Our merchant princes, our 
 
 * Dr. W. B. Hodgson, Professor of Commercial and Political 
 Economy and Mercantile Law in the University of Edinburgh, 
 in one of his lectures well remarks that 
 
 " Trade is often spoken of as if it concerned only a portion, 
 and that the lower, of the community, though the more 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 79 
 
 shipowners, and our wealthy and intelligent manu- 
 facturers now take rank with the most noble of the 
 land, and are the leaders in every great movement of 
 progress or improvement. The pressure from within 
 
 numerous. We distinguish tradesmen from gentry, from pro- 
 fessional men, often even from merchants ; and a recent well- 
 informed writer speaks of 'uncommercial cities like Edin- 
 burgh, where men live by the learned professions only, and 
 scorn trade in the old sense of the word.' But ' trade ' means 
 simply exchange, and exchange (twin-sister of division of 
 labour) is the one universal and inevitable characteristic of 
 all society removed ever so little from barbarism. Thus, with 
 pardonable exaggeration, some propose to call economics ' the 
 science of exchange.' It is significant that the word trade 
 has largely absorbed into itself production as well as ex- 
 change. Thus, we often speak of weaving or baking as a 
 trade ; and the reason is that every producer must exchange ; 
 the shoe-vendor need not be a shoemaker, but the shoemaker 
 must be a shoe-vendor. Therefore do we speak of shoemaking 
 as a trade. Now, it is only by exchange of service that is, 
 by trade of some kind that any of us live. We do not all 
 literally keep shops, but in essence, in principle, we do. To 
 be a nation of shopkeepers is no disgrace. The disgrace 
 would be were we a nation of brigands, calling slaughter and 
 rapine glory, grudging the prosperity of other nations as an 
 insult and injury to ourselves, and hoping to profit by the 
 ruin of our neighbours. We are a nation of shopkeepers, and 
 must be if we would live honestly. ' The way to strip nick- 
 names of their sting is for good men to take them up and 
 wear them.' In no figurative or very remote sense, the 
 banker, the accountant, the lawyer, the physician, the artist, 
 the teacher, even the professor, all keep shops as well as the 
 grocer. They all live by selling the commodity in which they 
 deal. The landowner himself, through his tenants, or directly, 
 trades in the products of the soil ; his shop is the oldest of 
 known establishments, and is ' never removed.' Through 
 superficial distinctions the economist detects the central unity. 
 
80 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 lias sent out to distant lands thousands who, never- 
 theless, still cling fondly to the ties of the mother- 
 country, and who help on her progress and wealth, 
 while they at the same time advance their own posi- 
 
 He recognises no difference in dignity or utility between 
 wholesale and retail, between sugar in the hogshead and sugar 
 in the paper bag. In his eyes, as in Scottish phrase, the 
 humblest and most miscellaneous dealer is still a 'merchant.' 
 To him salary and fees and stipend, and even honorarium, 
 are only euphemisms for wages ; to him even the Prime 
 Minister is but a highly-skilled labourer, highly but not 
 exceptionally paid, a subject of what it is fashionable now 
 to call * wages- slavery.' The economist smiles at, while he 
 deplores, the superciliousness with which traders of one kind 
 look down upon traders of another ; at the delusion of those 
 who fancy themselves high-lifted up above all trade ; and at 
 the littleness of some who, having thriven by honest trade, 
 would fain hide the fact, as if they blushed for it, and so 
 ' turn their backs upon themselves.' No calling can degrade 
 the noble, or dignify the mean, for 
 
 * True gentrie standeth in the trade 
 
 Of virtuous life, not in the fleshly line ; 
 
 For bloud is brute ; but gentrie is divine.' 
 " The spirit thus expressed has much to hope from economic 
 teaching. Exchange is but the economic phase of human 
 brotherhood, of mutual dependence, each providing for others' 
 wants directly, and only indirectly for his own. The much 
 calumniated maxim, ' Buy in the cheapest and sell in the 
 dearest market,' means simply Take a thing from where it 
 is least, to where it is most, wanted, in return for something else 
 that is also more wanted by him who buys than by him who 
 sells. It is not inevitable, it is not desirable, that those who 
 conduct any portion of this doubly beneficent process should 
 be ignorant of the high utility which individually they sub- 
 serve, unable and indisposed to look one jot beyond their 
 own individual gain. This inability, this indisposition, it is 
 the clear tendency of economic studies to remove. 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 81 
 
 tion, and carve out fame and fortune by their honest 
 industry in those new lands which invite the enter- 
 prise of men who find the battle of life too stem for 
 them to contend with here. 
 
 The vast services which the merchant has rendered 
 to mankind, in relation to his material comforts, have 
 been sufficiently acknowledged ; but his agency in 
 the civilisation and moral improvement of his race 
 has hardly been properly considered. 
 
 That the educated, intelligent Anglo-Saxon mer- 
 chant, whether of the senior or junior branch of the 
 family, is a prime agent in the work of human civilisa- 
 tion no one will be disposed to deny. He penetrates 
 into every known region which is accessible to the 
 camel, the ship, or even to the human footstep, and 
 may say with the Ancient Mariner, that he passes 
 like "night from land to land," to exchange not 
 merely the productions of the lands of different and 
 distant people, but in some sort, the productions of 
 their minds also, their modes of thought and jnoral 
 culture. 
 
 Commerce has been personified as the handmaiden 
 of the Arts, the purveyor of human wants, luxuries, 
 and desires. She is all this and more. She may 
 with truth be designated as the precursor of civilisa- 
 tion ; the mother of geographical discoveries ; the 
 missionary of Christianity ; the minister of peace, 
 liberty, .and happiness ; in a word, the fast, active, 
 and powerful friend of man. 
 
 The office of Commerce has been to carry into effect 
 a law of nature, by aggregating individuals geo- 
 graphically divided; to increase our capabilities of 
 
 G 
 
82 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 enjoyment and happiness ; to multiply our wants and 
 desires, with the ability of gratifying them ; to subdue 
 hostilities ; to remove prejudices and antipathies ; 
 and to humanise, civilise, and Christianise the mind 
 and heart, and make them capable of enjoying to the 
 full all the blessings of a munificent Providence. 
 
 There is one truth that may prominently be placed 
 before you, and that is, that wherever Christianity 
 has thriven Commerce has thriven. 
 
 If Great Britain and America at this moment, 
 with an aggregate population of less than 70,000,000 
 of souls, own nearly all the shipping of the civilised 
 world, and if their energy and enterprise furnish an 
 example to all the nations under heaven, and if the 
 spirit of their commerce be literally infused into all 
 nations, the question very naturally arises, how did 
 these nations, bearing such a close blood-relationship 
 become so truly great, and what is the secret of all 
 their commercial power ? It is not found in the 
 numerical strength of their population. British India 
 would outnumber them threefold ; China possesses 
 five or six times their combined population. It is 
 not found in their legislation, for the two systems are 
 essentially different, the one being a monarchy and 
 the other a republic. The only fact, then, which 
 accounts for the triumphs of British and American 
 Commerce over that of all the other nations of the 
 globe, is, that Christianity has sanctified and ennobled 
 the enterprise of these two nations. Long may this 
 be the distinctive characteristic of our race ! Long 
 may it ennoble the death-struggle of the civilian or 
 the soldier in the battle-field of self-defence, or go 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 83 
 
 with the missionary consul to civilise the African 
 race ! 
 
 And now it is time to enter a little more into 
 detail upon the bearings of my subject, and, first as to 
 mineral products. 
 
 The coal trade of Great Britain for extent and 
 value is unparalleled in the annals of commerce, and 
 has gone on increasing year by year until the average 
 annual production has now (1858) reached 66,000,000 
 tons ; estimating this in value at ten shillings per ton 
 gives an annual value of 33,000,000 sterling for this 
 one mineral product.* 
 
 But although our own collieries are those which 
 are most largely developed for domestic purposes, 
 and for our manufacturing industries, the produce of 
 coal is not restricted to the British Islands, but is, 
 happily, very generally diffused over the globe, and 
 will in future years be more extensively drawn upon 
 for the wants of man than it is now. 
 
 * It was in 1870, 110,431,000 tons, valued at 27,600,000. 
 In the three centuries before 1800, it is computed that not 
 less than 850,000,000 of tons of coal were raised from the 
 coalfields of the kingdom. During the next fifty years there 
 was a constant and steady increase in the production, and 
 fully 2,000,000,000 of tons of coal were extracted. Up to this 
 time the records of coal produce were most imperfect, and it 
 was not until the year 1854 that reliable returns came into 
 existence. The average production in 1851, 1852, and 1853, 
 may be taken at 50,875,000 tons per annum. In the years 
 1854 to 1869, both inclusive, 1,343,793,705 tons were raised, 
 which, added to the figures above given, and taking the 
 return for 1870 at 110,000,000 tons, shows that we have 
 already drawn from our original stores, not less thr.it 
 4,456,000,000 tons of fuel. 
 
 o 2 
 
84 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The mineral produce of the United Kingdom in 
 1857 (exclusive of clays and stones) was valued at 
 26,000,000 sterling ; and the metals, as obtained 
 from the furnace, at the market prices of the year, at 
 18,000,000, making together a total of 44,000,000.* 
 These figures will convey some representation of the 
 important mineral industries of these islands in their 
 crude or rough state, Before they have acquired that 
 higher value which they receive when fashioned by 
 the hand of science and skill into the many useful 
 articles, from the tiny needle and pin or steel pen, to 
 the more massive and elaborate steam-engine, iron 
 ship or dwelling, f 
 
 * The figures for 1870 were 
 
 Minerals raised 37,142,194 
 
 Metals obtained from the Ores 18,486,802 
 
 Other Minerals not smelted 1,851,700 
 
 57,480,696 
 
 Exclusive of Slates, Common Clay, Building Stone, Lime, &c. 
 f There was a steady and rather considerable increase iu 
 our production of coal in 1870, which amounted to 110,431,192. 
 The manufacture of pig iron shows a corresponding increase ; 
 5,963,515 tons having been made, representing an increase in 
 the consumption of coal for this manufacture alone of not less 
 than 1,553,274 tons in 1870. The data for estimating the 
 actual quantity of pig iron which was converted into bar iron, 
 &c., are not readily obtainable ; but, in this manufacture, 
 3 tons 7 cwts. of coal are required for the manufacture of each 
 ton of finished iron, every operation included. We may, 
 therefore, estimate an increase of at least 600,000 tons in the 
 consumption of coal for this branch of iron manufacture. 
 Our exports of 1870 show an increase of 742,933 tons. These 
 quantities will very nearly account for the 3,000,000 of in- 
 crease shown. The iron ore appears to show an increase over 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 85 
 
 One of the? great features of the present age is the 
 triumph of practical science, and the bending of life- 
 less matter into the service of man. 
 
 Iron is every year made more and more to do the 
 work of flesh and blood, and that, too, not merely in 
 the rude department of physical force, but in tasks 
 which require the skill of practised workmen. One 
 species of machinery after another has been invented 
 to abridge human labour. We see it in our mills, our 
 workshops, and our factories. By the year 2000 it is 
 
 the production of 1869 to the extent of 2,862,129 tons. This 
 is not an actual increase. In the returns of former years, a 
 considerable quantity of calcined ore was reckoned as such, 
 whereas it has all now been computed into raw ore. The 
 relation between the ore raised and the pig iron made is thus 
 made to approximate much more nearly to the truth. There 
 are nineteen works in Great Britain which have seventy-five 
 Bessemer converters in use, the capacity of these ranging 
 from 3 to 10 tons ; and there are forty-four works in various 
 foreign countries using them. The returns of the tin plate 
 manufacture, which were first sought for in 1869, are not yet 
 so complete as could be desired, still the returns approach 
 more nearly to correctness, and the whole make of tin and 
 terne plates in the fifty-seven tin plate works of Great Britain 
 is estimated at 3,459,782 boxes. The number of mines yield- 
 ing tin was 147, and the produce of ore (black tin) 15,234 tons, 
 valued at 1,002,357. It may be incidentally mentioned that 
 the production of the Dutch tin mines in the East was rather 
 larger than usual in 1870 Banca having yielded 4,672 tons, 
 and Billiton, 2,858 tons. The number of copper mines worked 
 in Devonshire and Cornwall has been declining gradually of 
 late years, and the aggregate produce is also less. There 
 were about twenty works in action in 1870 for extracting 
 metal from Spanish and other coppery pyrites, the consump- 
 tion of burnt ore being 200,000 tons. Four or five firms make 
 
S(> SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 probable that manual labour will have* utterly ceased 
 under the sun, and the occupation of the adjective 
 " hard-fisted " will have gone for ever. We have 
 now steam-ploughs, steam-hammers, steam-saws, 
 steam spinning and weaving machines, sewing ma- 
 
 thcir precipitate into fine copper, the others sell it to the 
 copper smelters, and one or two works make sulphate of 
 copper direct from the ore. 
 
 About 10 per cent, of the oxide of iron known as " Purple 
 Ore " (which is the residue of the burnt pyrites after the 
 copper is extracted) is used in blast furnaces ; the remainder, 
 say 170,000 tons, is used as fettling ore for the puddling 
 furnaces, it being in a powder does not require grinding, the 
 same as Hematite ; the per-centage of iron depends on what 
 pyrites it is made from ; when Mason's pyrites are used it 
 contains about 67 per cent, metallic iron, when Tharsis about 
 62 per cent., and Bintron 66 per cent. 
 
 The imports of foreign pyrites in 1870 were 411,512 tons, 
 valued at over 1,000,000, of which 145,705 tons of cupreous 
 pyrites were imported in the Mersey, and 130,686 tons at 
 Newcastle. 
 
 The total quantity of iron ore raised in the United 
 Kingdom in 1870 was 14,870,654 tons, the foreign iron ores 
 imported, 208,310 tons. The total of iron ore smelted in 
 Great Britain, 14,578,964 tons. The number of furnaces in 
 blast, 664. 
 
 The pig iron produced in 1870 was, in 
 
 Tons. 
 
 England 3,735,627 
 
 Wales 1,021,888 
 
 Scotland 1,206,000 
 
 Total production 5,963,515 
 
 The number of works was 255 with 6,699 puddling fur- 
 naces, and 851 rolling mills. The shipments of kaolin, or 
 china clay, from Cornwall was 110,520 tons, and of china 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 
 
 87 
 
 chines, and a host of other contrivances to abridge 
 labour. 
 
 But in the United States they are far ahead of us 
 in this respect. In New Hampshire they have a 
 potato-digging machine, which, drawn by horses 
 down the rows, digs the potatoes, separates them 
 
 stone 32,500 tons ; from Devonshire 12,600 of china clay, and 
 of pipe and potter's clay 48,498 tons. Dorsetshire exported 
 67,579 tons of clay from Poole. 
 
 Of potter's materials, clay, flint, chert, &c., the Potteries 
 received 150,430 tons by rail and canal. 
 
 General Summary of Minerals raised in 1870 : 
 
 Quantities. Value. 
 
 Coal tons, 110,431,192 ... 27,607,798 
 
 Iron Ore 14,370,654... 4,951,220 
 
 Copper Ore 106,698... 437,851 
 
 Tin Ore 15,234... 1,002,357 
 
 Lead Ore 98,176 ... 1,200,209 
 
 Zinc Ore 13,586... 41,058 
 
 Iron Pyrites(sulphur ore) 58,428 ... 36,026 
 
 Arsenic 4,050 ... 17,739 
 
 Gossans, Ochres, &c 4,844... 4,261 
 
 Wolfram and Tungstate 
 
 of Soda 51 ... 653 
 
 Manganese 4,838 ... 19,499 
 
 Nickel A ... 27 
 
 Barytes 6,515 ... 3,771 
 
 Clays, fine and fire (esti- 
 mated) 1,200,000 ... 450,000 
 
 Earthy Minerals, various 
 
 (estimated) ... 575,000 
 
 Salt 1,489,450 ... 744,725 
 
 Coprolites (estimated)... 35,000... 50,000 
 
 Total value of the Minerals produced 
 
 in the United Kingdom in 1870 37,142,194 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 from the dirt, and loads them up into the cart, 
 while the farmer walks alongside, whistling " Hail 
 Columbia," with his hands in his pockets. 
 
 To such an extent has machinery progressed 
 among ourselves, that Great Britain, with its compa- 
 ratively small population, contains a greater amount of 
 dynamical resources than any other country in the 
 world. At the close of 1856 we had in the factories 
 of Great Britain, employed in spinning and weaving 
 alone, motive power in steam equivalent to 132,000 
 horses, and 21,000 horse-power moved by water, to say 
 nothing of the other great industries employing steam. 
 
 The average consumption of iron with us, exclud- 
 
 Mctals obtained from the Ores enumerated, &c., in 1870 : 
 
 Iron Dicr 
 
 tons c 
 
 Quantities. Value. 
 5,963,515 ... 14,908,787 
 10,200 ... 1,299,505 
 7,175 ... 551,309 
 73,420 ... 1,452,715 
 3,936 ... 74,096 
 784,562 ... 196,140 
 191 ... 750 
 ... 3,500 
 
 Tin 
 
 
 Copper 
 
 
 Jjcad . ... 
 
 
 Zinc 
 
 * 
 
 Silver , 
 
 , ounces. 
 
 Gold 
 
 
 Other Metals (estimated)... 
 
 Total value of Metals 18,486,802 
 
 Absolute total value of the metals and coal with other 
 minerals which are not smelted (excepting building stones, 
 lime, slates, and common clays) produced in the United 
 Kingdom in 1870 : 
 
 Value of the Metals produced 18,486,802 
 
 Value of the Coal 27,607,798 
 
 Value of other Minerals 1,851,700 
 
 Total value 47,946,300 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 80 
 
 ing the exports, and dividing the produce over the 
 population, is 180 Ibs. per head, to which has to be 
 added the other metals. We are daily producing 
 from the bowels of the earth a raw material, in its 
 crude state apparently of no worth, but which, when 
 converted into a locomotive-engine flies with a speed 
 exceeding that of the bird, and advances wealth and 
 comfort throughout the country ; and by the marine 
 engine or the electric telegraph, enables us amazingly 
 to shorten distances, and to communicate with far-ofl* 
 lands. These are the powers of iron, brought about 
 by the powers of man. There has been obtained 
 from the earth in England in the last quarter of a 
 century more rude stone than, when converted into 
 railway bars, would form an iron girdle round the 
 earth itself. 
 
 When we are drawn by iron horses on iron ways, 
 construct iron dwellings, stores, and palaces, build 
 iron ships, sleep on iron beds, sit in iron chairs, drink 
 from iron fountains, when those of us who have 
 money keep it locked in iron cash-boxes and iron 
 safes and strong rooms, and those who have none 
 are locked up in iron gaols, may we not with pro- 
 priety call this the age of iron ? 
 
 It is not much more than a quarter of a century 
 ago that a committee of the House of Commons was 
 appointed to examine into the state of steam naviga- 
 tion. The late Earl of Derby was chairman of that 
 committee, and on Mr. Robert Stephenson, the emi- 
 nent engineer, speaking of the probability of steam- 
 ships crossing the Atlantic, the noble lord rose from 
 his seat, and exclaimed, " Good heavens ! what do 
 
90 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 you say ? If steam-ships cross the Atlantic I will 
 eat the boiler of the first boat." There were, how- 
 ever, other sceptics besides Lord Stanley ; even Dr. 
 Lardner doubted the feasibility of the voyage ; and 
 yet" what do we find at the present day : the smoke 
 of the steamer is seen not only on the broad expanse 
 of ocean, but in every inland lake and sea of the 
 various quarters of the world the rivers of North 
 and South America, from the Magdalena and the 
 Paraguay to the Mississippi and the Columbia ; on 
 the Orange River and the Niger in Africa; the 
 Indus, the Ganges, the Irrawady, the Amoor; the 
 great rivers of China, and dozens of others in Asia, 
 and the Murray and its tributaries in Australia. 
 
 [At the close of 1869, the steam tonnage owned 
 in the British empire and the Colonies, numbered 
 3,545 vessels, and 1,032,015 tons, and the vessels 
 had doubled in number and in tonnage in ten years. 
 I mention these facts, although a little foreign to the 
 subject under discussion, because they have an im- 
 portant bearing on our Commerce, and steam vessels 
 are now the great ocean carriers for passengers and 
 light goods. 
 
 The total produce of pig iron in the kingdom is 
 about 4,000,000 tons. It was in 1870 nearly 6,000,000 
 tons, and the make is annually on the increase. 
 Scotland made in 1859,950,000 tons; and in 1871, 
 1,335,000 tons ; in the last twenty years the produce 
 there has been doubled. South Wales is the next 
 largest producing district, and then follows South 
 Staffordshire and Worcestershire. It is scarcely pos- 
 sible to form an estimate of the increased demand 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 91 
 
 that must arise for iron the use of which is the 
 great test of material advancement, inasmuch as it 
 enters into all work, agricultural and manufacturing, 
 buildings, railways, and shipping, whether for com- 
 merce or for war. 
 
 In 1869 there was exported from the United King- 
 dom upwards of two and a half millions (2,606,326) 
 tons of various descriptions of iron and steel, 54,857 
 tons of copper and brass, 51,688 tons of lead, and 
 103,064 tons of tin, wrought and unwrought. In 
 1871 the exports were 3,171,581 tons of iron and 
 steel, 42,821 tons of copper and brass, and 44,787 
 tons of lead.] 
 
 But there is another metal that is exercising a vast 
 influence on the affairs of the world, its commerce 
 jmd its inhabitants, and that is Gold, which has 
 created such revolutions within the past twenty years 
 as would scarcely have been credited had they been 
 previously predicted or theorised on. The gold dis- 
 coveries of California and Australia have almost 
 annihilated the former long and perilous voyages of 
 the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans ; have studded 
 the sea with fleet-winged messengers, and floating 
 hotels and palaces. This gold has attracted popula- 
 tion from every quarter of the globe, from every 
 people and language, until thriving States have 
 sprung up with a rapidity which throws all former 
 instances of Polonisation into the shade. Gold has 
 done more than this, it has led to the abolition of 
 transportation to our Australian settlements, and to 
 a foreign and colonial trade which is unparalleled in 
 the records of Commerce. Gold is now assisting the 
 
92 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 development of iron; and the same metallic agent 
 which is daily thinning our population by the emi- 
 gration which it induces, drawing myriads of our 
 countrymen to distant shores, is at the same time 
 stimulating our manufactures, and leading to exten- 
 sive foreign orders for our iron rails and machinery. 
 
 This would appear to be the golden era in a literal 
 sense ; and if we may judge from the discoveries 
 which have been made during the last twenty years, 
 the precious metal must be much more abundantly 
 diffused than .anyone could possibly have conceived. 
 
 The. star of California had scarcely arisen ere it 
 paled before that of Australia, and then followed 
 British Columbia, in the immediate proximity of 
 California. Whatever mines and placers may be found 
 in the north or the south, in the wastes of Siberia, 
 in the fields of Australia and New Zealand, or the 
 sierras of California, or in the diamond regions of 
 South Africa ; wherever the fountain of the golden tide 
 may gush forth, its streams will flow to the region 
 where educated intellect has woven the boundless 
 network of the useful and ornamental arts. 
 
 The fictitious El Dorado, so long sought for by the 
 Spaniards, has been found at last in the nineteenth 
 century, for we have veritable gold diggings in several 
 localities, where the auriferous dust or nuggets may 
 be exhumed by the sturdy labourer with his pick ; 
 and from the two regions situate on either side of the 
 Pacific, the world has derived, since their discovery, 
 additional wealth in gold of the aggregate value of 
 fully 163,000,000 sterling beyond the gold pre- 
 viouslv in circulation. Of this sum, 85,000,000 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 93 
 
 has been produced in Australia, and 78,000,000 in 
 California. This is merely the registered or officially 
 recorded amount shipped to 1858 ; but we might 
 almost add. one-third more as a reasonable estimate 
 for the quantities taken away unofficially, hoarded, or 
 minted into coin in those countries. 
 
 Rail as we may at our climate, our toil and its 
 poor reward here ; grumble as we will at our taxation 
 and political grievances, the condition of the meanest 
 among us is, after all, preferable to the hard work, 
 the precarious return, of the gambling chances of 
 success of the gold-seeker. For instance, the aver- 
 age find of gold per head to the 100,000 persons 
 employed in gold mining in Victoria in 1857 was 
 but 122 per annum ; and remember the difference 
 of price for every article of consumption : bread, Is. 
 the 41b. loaf ; milk, Is. a quart ; eggs, 4c?. a-piece ; 
 fowls, 6s. a-piece ; meat, Id. a Ib. ; and clothes, rent, 
 and other essentials in proportion. Now the value of 
 the yield of iron at the pit's mouth in the United 
 Kingdom, a year or two ago, supposing it to have 
 been equally divided among the persons engaged in 
 working the mines, would have given to each so 
 employed, 3G4, or about three times the individual 
 income of the gold digger, showing at least how much 
 more valuable iron is than gold in an industrial point 
 of view. 
 
 The land we live in, with all its faults, has many 
 special advantages which should not be lost sight of. 
 
 Labour, be it remembered, of some kind or other, 
 is the lot of every human being, whether he toil with 
 the hand or the brain ; or endure that worst of all 
 
94 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 toil, the labour of not knowing how to kill time the 
 irksomeness of being " used up," and seeking for 
 something new under the sun. 
 
 But those who live in old countries and civilised 
 lands, who have thousands ministering in some way 
 or other for their every-day wants, are, after all, even 
 if their lot be low, far happier than the slave to a 
 thirst for gold, which demoralises and debases hundreds 
 of heretofore moral, educated, and intelligent men. 
 
 A contemplation of the Book of Nature, and a 
 consideration of bygone events, will inevitably in- 
 spire a trustful confidence in that Providence which 
 has wrought so many marvels on our globe to fit 
 it for man's habitation. That supreme Being who 
 is guiding and directing man's intellect and industry 
 into so many novel and wonderful, but useful, channels, 
 will never cease to watch over man's happiness, will 
 withhold no good thing from him. 
 
 Abraham Cowley, a rhymer of no mean fame, who 
 flourished in the seventeenth century, and was the most 
 popular poet of his time, thus anathematises gold : 
 
 " A curse on him who found the ore ! 
 A curse on him who digg'd the store ! 
 A curse on him who did refine it ! 
 A curse on him who first did coin it ! " 
 
 But his maledictions are universally disregarded. 
 After all, it is a necessary evil, and if our Colonies 
 have got it in their streams, let it be sifted out ; if in 
 their rocks, let it be pounded out, " for money makes 
 the mare to go." And as in " The Taming of the 
 Shrew," it may in truth be said 
 
 " Peace thou know'st not Gold's effect." 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 95 
 
 Gold is a good thing when kept within proper 
 limits : when it is the servant and not the master ; 
 when held as a power for doing good, and not as a 
 god to be worshipped. 
 
 The poet Pollok alludes to the depraving influence 
 of this gold-seeking : 
 
 " Gold, many hunted, sweat and bled for, 
 Wak'd all the night, and labour' d all the day ; 
 And what was this allurement, do'st thou ask ? 
 A dust, dug from the bowels of the earth, 
 Which, being cast into the fire came out 
 A shining thing that fools admired, and called 
 A god ! " 
 
 So true it is, that men will sacrifice home, health, 
 comfort, friends, yea, and sometimes their very souls, 
 to gain this glittering bauble. 
 
 As the mysterious stranger in the " Arabian 
 Nights " said to Alie of Cairo, " This gold was pre- 
 served for thee by a talisman from ancient times ; " 
 so the rich auriferous treasures of the vast southern 
 and northern continents would seem to have been 
 kept hidden for the special behoof of our own busy 
 and pushing generation. 
 
 We have added to our gold coinage in this country 
 in the last eighteen years, 85,500,000 sterling value ; 
 but it would be somewhat difficult to estimate what 
 has been the quantity consumed in the same period 
 in manufactures for gold plate, jewellery, watches, 
 and other purposes. 
 
 These figures are enough to startle the most invete- 
 rate sceptics, and disturb the quietude of incredulous 
 minds, leaving reason powerless. The facilities and 
 
9G SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 simple modes in the present <^ay of obtaining "gold, 
 seem, indeed, to realise the words of our great bard 
 
 " Put forth thy hand 
 Keach at the glorious gold." 
 
 But the mere discovery and accumulation of this 
 gold is the least part of the benefit which the nations 
 of the world have derived therefrom. It is the 
 stimulus to Commerce ; the new fields of industry 
 opened up for honest labour ; the profitable marts 
 for British and foreign merchandise; the scientific 
 improvements in steam navigation ; in clipper sailing 
 vessels; in railroads, canals, and telegraphs; in the 
 navigation of rivers heretofore unknown ; in the spread 
 of civilisation into former desert regions; in the 
 multiplication of the press ; in the cities and towns 
 which have risen up in desolate wastes, and are 
 now peopled by thousands, gathered from various 
 countries. 
 
 These are some among the numerous benefits which 
 the world at large has derived from these powerful 
 incentives to emigration. 
 
 Salt may seem a very insignificant product, owing 
 to its present cheapness, but it is, nevertheless, a 
 most important industry ; the produce of the United 
 Kingdom reaching 1,250,000 tons, worth nearly 
 700,000, and the declared value of that exported 
 being nearly 500,000 sterling. 
 
 To the native of Africa, of India, and China, it is 
 a necessary seasoning of his insipid vegetable food. 
 The little negro in many districts enjoys a lump of 
 salt as much as our boys do a sugar-stick ; and there 
 are, doubtless, those who can remember the time when 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 97 
 
 salt being 6d. a pound in this country, was much more 
 prized and carefully used than it is at present. 
 
 I need not weary you with further details of mineral 
 products; but there is one, the new metal aluminium, 
 on which I must say a few words. 
 
 With the increasing scarcity of silver can nothing 
 be done by the enterprising and intelligent metal 
 workers, electrotypists, and others of Birmingham to 
 bring this new metal into extended use, with all its 
 advantages of cheapness, freedom from oxidation, &c. ? 
 It makes beautiful alloys. Would it not do for har- 
 ness and plating purposes ? 
 
 A Mr. Gerhard has announced a process by which 
 he can produce aluminium for sale at 4s. per ounce. 
 The main cost is the production of sodium, and this 
 by the usual process adopted in France, he can obtain 
 at a less cost than in that country, by reason of the 
 materials for its production being cheaper here than 
 there. 
 
 Information has reached me, which I believe to be 
 reliable, to the effect that sodium can be manufactured 
 at one-fourth its present cost, and if this be so, 
 aluminium may be sold at about Is. the ounce, an 
 extraordinary difference as compared with silver, 
 especially when we consider, too, the density of one 
 metal as compared with the other. Mr. Gerhard's 
 process differs from that of Deville, in using cryo- 
 lite instead of an artificial double fluoride of alu- 
 minium. The latter is expensive to make; whilst 
 cryolite is found in large masses in Greenland, and 
 is imported into this country at about 10 a ton, 
 or Id. per Ib. The price of aluminium in Paris, 
 
 H 
 
98 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 wholesale, is 6 sterling per kilogramme, i.e., 35 
 ounces. 
 
 Now let us pass on to a brief consideration of vege- 
 table products, and here the range is so wide that it 
 is difficult to know where to begin or what to select 
 for notice. If we take the important section of vege- 
 table oils, and oil seeds, &c., for crushing, we find 
 that our imports of linseed in 1869 were upwards of 
 1,355,000 quarters, valued at 3,556,000. Palm oil 
 was brought in from Africa to the value of 1,500,000 
 sterling; olive oil to 1,500,000; poppy and rape 
 seeds, 760,000 ; while adding earth-nuts and kernels, 
 cocoa nuts, castor oil, various oil seeds, and the oil-seed 
 cakes used for fattening cattle and manuring land, the 
 aggregate value is brought up to 11,000,000 ster- 
 ling. 
 
 Of dyestuffs, the value imported in 1869 was 
 indigo, 3,194,113; of madder, munjeet, and garan- 
 cine, 613,540 ; of sumach, 201,615 ; of safflower, 
 106,597; .of orchella weed, 101,239; and of tur- 
 meric, 65,218 ; of saffron, 36,596. 
 
 The principal vegetable fibres consisted of cotton, 
 of which we imported 545,000 tons. The exports of 
 cotton goods, yarn, &c., in 1869, reached 66,500,000 ; 
 while the home consumption of manufactured goods 
 was 24,000,000. Then we imported 77,000 tons 
 of flax, valued at 4,197,000, besides our own large 
 home produce ; and hemp, jute, and other foreign 
 fibres and cordage reached us to the value of nearly 
 4,500,000 more. I could have much to say, were 
 it possible to dilate on this important section, of 
 cotton, plantain fibre, china grass, cocoa-nut coir, 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 99 
 
 kittool, ejoo, and piassaba, and the strong cordage, 
 lashings, and such like, made from barks and grasses ; 
 of the delicate Dacca muslins and pine apple cambrics, 
 and the coarse gunny baggings of India. 
 
 If we turn next to food -supplies, to say nothing of 
 the corn, grain, and flour of foreign produce, we im- 
 ported rice and meal, &c., to the value of 2,000,000 ; 
 sago worth 167,000; fruit, dry and green, valued at 
 2,750,000 sterling ; even such an article as liquorice 
 reaches 46,000 in value. 
 
 The dietetic articles for beverages have gone on in- 
 creasing to an enormous extent, thus the value of the 
 sugar imported, in 1857, was 15,500,000 ; of tea, 
 69,000,000 Ibs., value 4,677,470. The coffee im- 
 ported reached 59,000,000 Ibs., 34,500,000 Ibs. of 
 which was consumed, of the value of 1,750,000 
 sterling. To this was added, for those who liked the 
 mixture, 93,500 cwts. of foreign chicory root, valued 
 at 49,500 ;. the cocoa and chocolate imported was 
 7,300,000 Ibs., the value of that entered for con- 
 sumption being 270,000. Among the spices con- 
 sumed were pepper, 3,656,000 Ibs. (out of a total 
 of 5,500,000 Ibs. received) the value being 111,000 ; 
 and 12,000 cwts. of ginger, valued at 42,000, and 
 some others which I shall presently enumerate. 
 
 There was another article of large consumption, 
 tobacco, valued at 4,000,000 sterling, which brings in 
 a handsome revenue to the Exchequer, as do a few 
 other foreign exciseable articles we now come to, namely, 
 6,601,690 gallons of wine, valued at 4,000,000; 
 1,300,000 gallons of brandy ; 26,000 of geneva ; 6,000 
 of unenumerated spirits ; and 14,000 of sweetened 
 
 H 2 
 
100 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 (spirits; the whole valued at 2,000,000 when im- 
 ported. This consumption is exclusive of gin, whisky, 
 British brandy, and other home-distilled spirits and 
 home-made wines, so that our consumption is, as the 
 Yankees would say, " pretty considerable " in this 
 line. 
 
 In the article of timber alone what a vast, what an 
 unlimited supply, can be obtained, and is obtained, 
 and of what endless varieties ! Timber capable of 
 furnishing materials for the requirements of every 
 class of our population : calculated for the formation 
 of the most stupendous works of utility, and the 
 most minute works of luxury and ornament that 
 will serve alike for the construction of the noblest 
 vessel that floats upon the ocean, and for the most 
 minute ornament in a lady's boudoir ; timber adapted 
 for every use, where wood of any description is re- 
 quired, for ships of war and ships of peace the 
 frigate and the merchant-clipper, the yacht and the 
 cargo-boat, ships of utility and ships of pleasure; 
 timber for machinery, for the wheelwright, for the 
 builder, timber adapted to railways, timber admirably 
 fitted for the uses of the turner, gunstock maker, 
 cabinetmaker and joiner, timber fitted for every 
 purpose above the earth, upon the earth, and below 
 the earth. 
 
 The quantity of wood of all kinds annually im- 
 ported into Great Britain is not much less now than 
 16,000,000 of cubic feet; it is, therefore, a question 
 of no small moment to know from whence we are to 
 obtain such an enormous quantity in future years ; 
 which are the best woods, and from whence we mny 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 101 
 
 expect to obtain them most economically, and with 
 the least risk of failure in the supply. 
 
 The aggregate average quantity of timber of all 
 sorts cut down yearly and used in the United Kingdom 
 for ship and house building, wagons, carts, dock gates, 
 and other marine works, props in mines, and all 
 descriptions of implements, exceeds even the above 
 large imports, being 2,500,000 loads or tons, which, at 
 an average of 30s., exhibits the value as 3,750,000, 
 irrespective of the imports of foreign and colonial 
 timber, which, in 1857, exceeded 2,500,000 tons, and 
 were valued at nearly 10,000,000 sterling. How 
 much room is there still for the exercise of ingenuity 
 and invention among our mechanics and artizane in 
 all that relates to wood and its manufactures ! 
 
 The dyewoods are too numerous to mention ; of 
 logwood alone we receive nearly 40,000 tons. Of 
 the valonia, or -large acorn cups, from Greece and 
 Turkey, used for tanning, we import 24,000 tons a 
 year, valued at 336,000. 
 
 Descending to the smaller products of the forest 
 reeds and canes and rattans how various and im- 
 portant are these in a commercial point of view ! 
 Why we imported 12,000,000 of these in 1857, at 
 the estimated value of 46,000 in the rough. 
 
 Few who look at sticks, probably, consider the 
 immense outlay invested in them, and their varied 
 uses. If such persons were but to make a tour of 
 inspection over the different floors of one cane ware- 
 house (Meyers and Davis) in Southwark Bridge Road, 
 and see the large capital lying dormant, invested in 
 these underlings of the forest, he would, indeed, be 
 
102 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 surprised, as I was. There are to be found the valu- 
 able Malacca and partridge canes, and Penang lawyers ; 
 the Calcutta glossy canes, and the Singapore canes 
 without gloss ; the supplejacks or wild vines of the 
 West Indies ; the dogheads of China ; the whangees 
 of the East Indies; the worty crabs; the white and 
 red dragon canes ; the sapling oaks, with knobs for 
 carvings ; the ground and common rattans ; the ash 
 for single sticks, of which the firm is bound by 
 contract to supply large numbers every month to the 
 Tower. There are bamboos and other canes for split- 
 ting; used for bonnets and for chair-seats, for whipping 
 naughty boys, for cane-brooms, and for the ribs of 
 umbrellas, in sets of eight. There they are, ranged 
 in huge piles and bundles of every shape, size, length, 
 and texture, enough, one would suppose, to stock the 
 whole world. 
 
 A traveller, among other narrations of wonders of 
 foreign parts, declared he knew of a cane a mile long. 
 The company looked incredulous, and it was quite 
 evident they were not prepared to swallow it, even 
 if it should have been a sugar-cane. " Pray, what 
 kind of a cane was it ? " asked a gentleman, sneer- 
 ingly ; " probably a hurri-cane." 
 
 But sceptical as persons may be on this head, these 
 long, twining stems do extend enormous lengths, in 
 the tropics, running along the ground, and interlacing 
 trees. Part of one was shown at the Paris Exhibi- 
 tion in 1855, which is stated, in the official catalogue 
 of the island of Ceylon, to have extended for more 
 than a mile. 
 
 Potash is collected on a large scale only in those 
 
MINERAL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS. 103 
 
 countries where wood is the principal fuel ; to pro- 
 duce it the ashes are collected. When there is a 
 sufficient quantity, they are mixed with water in a 
 large vat, until all the potash contained in them is 
 dissolved in the water. This water, containing the 
 potash in solution, is boiled down in cast iron pots 
 hence the name potash until the water has evapo- 
 rated, leaving the potash in a solid form. 
 
 This manufacture is carried on largely in some 
 parts of the United States and in Canada. And to 
 give you an idea of the extent of this manufacture, 
 the quantity of wood ashes imported into Great Britain 
 averages about 8,000 tons per annum. It is brought 
 over in barrels, weighing about 5 cwts. each, and is 
 chiefly used in the manufacture of alum, flint glass, 
 prussiate of potash, and soft soap. When the ashes 
 are heated in a furnace they become pearly white, and 
 are then called pearlash. 
 
 If we turn to spices and condiments, we find that 
 100 or 200 tons of cinnamon bark reach us, exclusively 
 from Ceylon; about half as much cassia bark, besides 
 cassia buds ; small parcels of clove bark, about 120 
 tons of nutmegs, a few tons of mace, the arillus or 
 envelope of the nutmeg; small quantities of canella 
 bark, about 300 tons of cloves, and more than 1,000 
 tons of pimento or allspice from Jamaica, and a few 
 hundredweights of the vanilla pod, constitute the 
 chief spices furnished. 
 
 Were we to go into a special consideration of the barks 
 and roots of trees, we should find how valuable these 
 are for various medicinal and manufacturing purposes. 
 
 The Peruvian bark, or cinchona, furnishes the 
 
104 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 important alkaloid quinine. Sarsaparilla lias come 
 into enormous use, although the Americans seem 
 to go-ahead in this as in other enterprises, for the 
 late Dr. Townsend, the original sarsaparilla man, 
 whose advertisements stare you in the face every- 
 where, built himself a palatial residence in New 
 York, with a chapel, gymnasium, picture gallery, and 
 offices, at a cost of over 40,000 out of his profits. 
 We pay upwards of 3,000,000 for barks of various 
 kinds for tanning purposes, 1,000,000 more for 
 other tanning substances and heavy dyewoods, be- 
 sides about another 250,000 for various extracts of 
 tannin, such as gambier, cutch, and kino. But we 
 paid in 1857, 300,000 for gums and resins ; and 
 another 300,000 for those very important elastic 
 gums, gutta-percha and caoutchouc, or india-rubber. 
 
 Lastly, we paid for doctor's stuffs, drugs derived 
 from the vegetable kingdom, opium, scammony, 
 sarsaparilla, sulphate of quinine, rhubarb, senna, &c., 
 nearly 500,000. 
 
 And now, having shown you by an abstract the ex- 
 tent of our Foreign Commerce, and our dependence upon 
 distant countries ; having carried you over the range 
 of our principal mineral products, and their useful 
 applications ; having stated to you the quantity and 
 value of some at least of the many things with which 
 you are fed, clothed, sheltered, and physicked ; having, 
 I fear, wearied you with the interminable details of 
 facts and figures necessarily incident to such a subject, 
 it is high time to release you, which I do by thanking 
 you for the polite attention you have accorded to these 
 desultory and dry details. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 105 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL AND MANUFACTURING USES OF 
 SHELLS.* 
 
 Shells, from their variety of structure and colour, 
 and their singular beauty, have always formed a fruit- 
 ful theme of description for the writer and the poet. 
 The works of most of our best authors teem with 
 lovely passages, many of which must occur to the 
 memory of any general reader. 
 
 " Their exquisite, fragile, and beautiful forms, 
 
 Are nursed by the ocean and rocked by the storms." 
 
 By young and old, savage and civilised, shells are 
 alike admired and coveted, either for personal decora- 
 tion, for the cabinet of the collector and naturalist, or 
 as simple ornaments in a room. 
 
 Unfortunately I am shut out from the poetical 
 aspect of the subject the title of my Lecture restricts 
 me to plain matters of fact, and I must confine myself, 
 
 * A Lecture originally delivered at the South Kensington 
 Museum in 1858, and subsequently at one or two other 
 institutions. 
 
 My friend, Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., having been announced to 
 lecture for the Department of Science and Art, and being 
 prevented by illness, suggested that, as I had paid some 
 attention to the subject in collecting and arranging objects 
 made from shells at the South Kensington Museum and for 
 the British Museum, I should take his place. The statistics 
 and information given have, however, been corrected to the 
 present time. 
 
106 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 therefore, chiefly to the applications of shells for per- 
 sonal decoration and manufacturing purposes. 
 
 This, be it remembered, is essentially a practical and 
 utilitarian age. Not that we by any means neglect 
 the pursuit of intellectual improvement, or fail to 
 appreciate the ornamental and elegant ; but to every- 
 thing the practical test is now applied. What is it 
 good for ? What can be done with it ? What can be 
 made of it ? What will it realise ? These are the 
 invariable questions now. 
 
 Thus I am brought down to the low level of the mere 
 industrial and commercial uses of shells, apart from their 
 distribution, formation, beauty, and variety of shape 
 and colour. I am even debarred from alluding to the 
 curious inhabitants of those marine dwellings which 
 are offered for sale to terrestrial purchasers, who ruth- 
 lessly destroy their original beauty and singular struc- 
 ture, and convert them frequently to very ignoble 
 purposes. 
 
 Like the lawyer in the fable, I may swallow the 
 oyster and hand you, my clients, the shells. 
 
 But I hope, at least, to be able with the shells to 
 afford you some slight statistical and general descrip- 
 tive information, which may furnish subject for after 
 reflection and at least serve to show that the uses to 
 which shells are applied is more extensive than is 
 generally supposed ; that the trade is growing year by 
 year into greater importance ; and that there is ample 
 scope yet for its extension with profit and advantage, 
 alike to the merchant and importer, to the manufac- 
 turer and vendor, and to the -general public who are 
 the purchasers. 
 
.SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 107 
 
 In considering the manufacturing and useful appli- 
 cations of shells, they may be conveniently ranged 
 under the following groups : 1. The nacreous shells 
 used for making pearl buttons and other useful and 
 ornamental articles. 2. The pearly and iridescent 
 shells, for ornamenting papier-mache work, making 
 cardcases, folios, jewel cases, &c. 3. Various small 
 shells used for making shell flowers and different fancy 
 articles of grouped shells, and for ladies' bracelets, 
 headdresses, &c. 4. The shells used for carving 
 cameos to set in brooches, bracelets, necklaces, scarf 
 pins, coat studs and sleeve links, and other articles 
 of personal decoration. 5. Shells used for spoons, 
 drinking vessels, lamps, handles for knives, and other 
 purposes of domestic economy ; for snuff boxes, pipes 
 and such like curiosities. 6. For making the purest 
 kind of lime when calcined ; for manure, in the form 
 of shell-sand and shell marl ; and for making pottery- 
 ware and glaze or enamel, when crushed. 7. Shells 
 are largely used for small monetary payments in North 
 America, India and Africa, and also as counters in 
 games of chance. Lastly, they serve as studies of 
 design, form and colour for the sculptor, painter, and 
 art manufacturer. 
 
 There are other uses besides the foregoing, but at 
 least these are the principal ones. 
 
 It will not be possible to adhere very closely to this 
 arbitrary arrangement, owing to the several uses to 
 which some shells are applied. 
 
 Before entering upon the uses of shells, it will be 
 necessary that I should explain to you their composi- 
 tion, or the nature of the material of which they are 
 
108 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 formed, so that you may be the better able to under- 
 stand their applicability to particular purposes, and the 
 mode of working them up. 
 
 I presume I need not do more than state briefly 
 (what, no doubt, is generally known to you) that the 
 principal types of shells are the univalve, of which 
 the periwinkle and the cowry are types ; the bivalve, 
 represented by the scallop, mussel, or oyster; and 
 the multivalve, of which the common barnacle is an 
 example. 
 
 All shells, how much soever they may differ from 
 one another in structure, agree in containing carbonate 
 of lime or chalk as their only earthy constituent ; and 
 an animal substance, nearly resembling, if not identical 
 with, horn or membrane, as their consolidating or 
 agglutinating ingredient. There is a class of shells, 
 comprising most of the univalves, which are harder 
 than other shells ; when broken they present thick, 
 parallel layers, the layers themselves having usually a 
 finely fibrous structure at right angles to the external 
 surface. These fibres may often be seen to be nothing 
 more than the transverse section of their transparent 
 parallel lamellae, which, when viewed on their broad 
 surfaces, often exhibit the usual natural joints of 
 calcareous spar. When such a fracture is viewed by 
 the naked eye, it has a good deal the appearance of 
 porcelain whence their name of porcellaneous shells. 
 
 Another class of shells is the nacreous, so called 
 from the varying and iridescent colours that they ex- 
 hibit, resembling those of nacre, or mother of pearl, 
 this very substance being, indeed, only a part of a 
 nacreous shell. When the calcareous matter has been 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 109 
 
 removed from these shells, there remains a series of 
 flexible, membraneous or semi-gelatinous lamella?, 
 lying parallel to one another and representing the form 
 of the entire shell. These lamellae have sometimes a 
 distinctly fibrous structure parallel to the surface of the 
 shell, and though quite flexible while moist, they 
 shrivel on drying, and become hard like horn a sub- 
 stance to which they bear the greatest possible 
 analogy. 
 
 The nacreous shells, therefore, are always very 
 finely lamellar in structure, and are represented by 
 some as composed of alternate layers of membrane 
 and carbonate of lime ; but the more probable opinion 
 is, that the calcareous matter is intimately mixed with 
 the membrane, rather than distinct from it. 
 
 These shells increase in size, in order to accommo- 
 date themselves to the growth of the animal, by the 
 deposition of new and larger layers from within, and 
 hence the external surface is covered by concentric 
 furrows or wrinkles, marking the outer margin of each 
 successive layer. 
 
 The well-known mother of pearl shell is the most 
 important of the commercial shells, from its extended 
 range, numerous applications, and general use. The 
 varieties of pearl buttons, studs, and links alone are 
 innumerable, and of every shape and device. This 
 shell is also worked up into ladies' waist buckles, 
 brooches, paper cutters and book markers, pen holders, 
 and a host of other fancy articles. 
 
 The beautiful tints of mother of pearl are depen- 
 dent upon its lamellar structure, the surface being 
 covered with minute grooves, cells, or depressions, so 
 
110 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 small that upwards of 3,000 are contained in an inch, 
 which decompose and reflect the light. The kinds of 
 pearly shell chiefly used for inlaying are three mother 
 of pearl, which is known by its clear white surface ; 
 aurora shell, which can readily be known by its 
 wrinkled appearance and various prismatic colours, 
 obtained from different species of Haliotis ; and what 
 is commercially known as the green snail, which can 
 be told by its glistening colours of light and dark 
 green, a soft yellow and a bright and beautiful pink, 
 blended together. 
 
 We import annually 1,500 to 2,000 tons of mother 
 of pearl shells, worth, in the aggregate, 80,000 to 
 90,000. There are five or six principal commercial 
 varieties of this shell, known as the white edge, that 
 most esteemed, brought from Manila ; the yellow 
 edge and pure white, from Egypt, and South America ; 
 South Sea Island black, and West Australian. 
 
 Prices, Jan. 1862, Prices, Jan. 1872, 
 
 per ton. per ton. 
 
 Manila 80 to 90 170 to 190 
 
 Bombay 20 to 50 58 to 167 
 
 Panama and Tahiti .... 40 to 50 22 to 44 
 
 Australian 140 to 150 150 to 235 
 
 But much depends upon quality. For they come in 
 bulk, without any attention being paid to the sorting 
 of keeping the dead and grubby or worm-eaten (of 
 which there is always a greater proportion among the 
 larger shells) separate. The medium and small sorts, 
 always being the cleanest, bring higher rates in com- 
 parison with the larger kinds ; they should also be of 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES 111 
 
 a bold, fine, good, clean white colour and substance, 
 and not broken. 
 
 These shells are again subdivided according to size 
 and quality. The smallest are the South American, 
 weighing about ^ Ib. per shell that is one valve, for 
 they never come in pairs. The Bombay and Egyptian 
 weigh about f Ib. ; the South Sea black 1 Ib., while 
 the largest are the Australian and Manila, weighing 
 on an average 1 Ibs. 
 
 The price of these shells, it will be seen, has much 
 advanced of late years, and the imports have not 
 increased in proportion to the extent of the consumption 
 and demand. The advance has been from 40 to 50 per 
 cent, generally, and in some cases much more. The 
 black, or South Sea shell, which was formerly little 
 valued, and of which it is said there are many tons 
 buried in the streets of Birmingham and Sheffield, 
 has also risen in price, since the change of fashion, 
 which has brought the large dark pearl buttons into 
 use for ladies' cloaks and paletots, and for gentlemen's 
 vests and shooting coats. These buttons are called 
 " smoked pearl " by some dealers, but from the same 
 shells white buttons are also made, when the part 
 nearest " the knot " or muscular impression is used. 
 
 The extreme edge or " skirt " serves to form the 
 black or dark buttons. To show how extensive is the 
 trade I may state that one firm alone at Birmingham 
 makes nearly half a million gross of pearl buttons 
 annually. 
 
 Mother of pearl was formerly more extensively used 
 than at present in the manufacture of " scales," as 
 they are technically termed, for the handles of dessert 
 
112 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and fancy knives and forks, and penknives. These 
 scales are the two flat pieces rivetted to a central plate 
 of the haft or handle. The only nacreous shells pos- 
 sessing sufficient thickness for Sheffield purposes are 
 those received from Manila and Singapore. The 
 smaller shells from Bombay, Panama, and other places 
 are used chiefly in Birmingham, and are there worked 
 into buttons and counters and paper cutters, or else 
 used for inlaying purposes in papier mache work, 
 ladies' portmonnaies, cardcases, working implements, 
 book covers, and such like. Small fancy devices for 
 inlaying are punched out of the shell. Button blanks 
 are cut out with the annular or crown saw fixed upon 
 a lathe mandril. Here is a shell which has been ope- 
 rated on for the purpose to drill out the blanks, these, 
 are then ground and cleaned. Next they are turned 
 into a pattern; after that " fanceyed" or an ornament 
 put on the face ; then the holes are drilled by which 
 it has to be attached with thread to the garment, and, 
 lastly, the button is polished. They are then sorted 
 and mounted on cards of a gross each, which sell at 
 from Is. 6d. to 85. I should state that the blanks are 
 split into two or more sections according to the thick- 
 ness of the button required. Pearl buttons are made 
 of all sizes, from the brobdignag ones for coats, costing 
 2s. or 3s. each, to the tiny button for mere ornament. 
 The superior articles made from this shell are com- 
 paratively dear, in consequence of the large amount 
 of labour spent in reducing or grinding the shell to 
 any given size or shape, a process which eventually 
 will, no doubt, be rendered more facile by the introduc- 
 tion of machinery. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 113 
 
 An extensive manufacture is carried on at Jerusalem 
 of small articles carved out of mother of pearl and on 
 the shells themselves. We often meet with these and 
 with crucifixes, wafer boxes, beads, &c., which are sent 
 in large quantities to the Catholic countries of South 
 America. The carving on some of these "pilgrim 
 shells," as they are termed, is often very good. 
 
 Kecently attempts have been made to bring mother 
 of pearl shells, when elaborately carved, into use as 
 dessert plates at the tables of the wealthy. The 
 Chinese carve very beautifully on this material. The 
 card counters, markers, &c., from China must be 
 familiar to most. 
 
 The Dyaks of Borneo wear pearl shells, polished, in 
 front of their corslets and shields. 
 
 At Manila they are set in a wooden frame-work of 
 small squares, forming windows or shutters, which 
 move on slides in the verandahs. They are strong and 
 durable, but not transparent. The Chinese, however, 
 employ a more thin and semi-opaque shell, popularly 
 known as the paper-oyster shell, for a like purpose in 
 glazing the windows of their junks and houses. These 
 are the Placuna papyracea, Anomia, and other shells. 
 
 Worthy of mention also is the cathedral and some 
 of the churches of Panama ; the upper portions being 
 studded with pearl shells give them a brilliant and 
 sparkling appearance. 
 
 Even the small true-pearl oyster shells from the 
 shores of Ceylon, which were formerly deemed worth- 
 less, have lately come into limited use for the nacreous 
 substance which they furnish, for although thin, the 
 shell serves for inlaying, and other like purposes. 
 
 i 
 
114 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The mention of this shell naturally leads me to a 
 product, in which ladies are sure to feel an interest ; 
 the gems obtained from the pearl oyster a subject to 
 do full justice to which would alone occupy an entire 
 lecture I must not, however, pass pearls over without 
 some mention, because they belong as it were to the 
 topic under notice. 
 
 The value of the pearls imported into this country 
 varies greatly ; in the five years ending with 1858, it 
 averaged but 55,000 ; in the four years ending 
 with 1862, the import of pearls reached nearly 100,000 
 per annum ; since then the annual value of those im- 
 ported has seldom reached 50,000 a year. 
 
 No doubt the splendid necklace of thirty-six fine 
 pearls presented to his bride by Prince Frederick of 
 Prussia, was the admiration and envy of many when 
 exhibited for public inspection. 
 
 The value of the pearls obtained in different quarters 
 of the world is considerable. Lieutenant Wellsted, in 
 his travels in Arabia, tells us that the value of the 
 pearls collected in the Persian Gulf fisheries is esti- 
 mated at 400,000, and they are said to form there . 
 the principal source of revenue of the Imaum of Muscat. 
 
 The finest pearls are procured from Ceylon and the 
 Gulf of Persia. Those from the West Indies, Cali- 
 fornia, and Otaheite, &c., are less perfect, and still less 
 so most of those from the rivers of Europe. But, 
 even among those, and in particular the pearls found 
 at Celle and in Livonia, there are a certain number of 
 uncommon beauty and perfection. 
 
 Pearls are also obtained in the Gulf of Mexico, and 
 Bay of Panama, arid in the Gulf of Maanar, between 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 115 
 
 the Island of Ceylon and the Continent of India, 
 yielding occasionally a large revenue to the Ceylon 
 Government for the right of fishing for the oysters. 
 
 The pearl is not valued for its silvery whiteness at 
 Ceylon, but for its golden hue, or rose colour. Besides 
 these three colours, pearls are found of a delicate blue 
 tint, and some have a yellow, and others a silvery hue. 
 Mr. Beresford Hope owns the largest known pearl ; it 
 weighs three ounces, being two inches long, and four-and- 
 a-half inches in circumference. The formation of pearls 
 is now fully understood to be the deposition of shelly 
 matter by the animal in an abnormal or unnatural 
 situation. 
 
 Pearls are obtained in several kinds of shells, and 
 like the shell itself, are always formed of a large num- 
 ber of concentric layers, and according to the position 
 they occupy, partake of the character of the shell near 
 which they are found. 
 
 Thus, the pearls in the centre of the nacreous shells, 
 are of the usually pearly structure of those shells, 
 while the pearl found on or near the outer coat of the 
 Pinna are of the same brown colour, and prismatic 
 texture, as that part of the shell, and those found on 
 that paj?t of the mussel shells are of a blueish hue. 
 The dark-coloured pearls are little esteemed ; in 
 general they are procured from the black mother of 
 pearl. 
 
 It was formerly believed that pearls were only 
 obtained from bivalve shells, and it was, therefore, 
 difficult to understand what shell it was that yielded 
 the pink pearl, for no known bivalve has such a 
 coloured inner surface. It is now ascertained that 
 
 i 2 
 
116 SCIENCE AND 'COMMERCE. 
 
 the pink pearl is the production of one of the por- 
 cellaneous or chank shells, the Turbinella scolymus. 
 
 All doubt on this head is set at rest by a specimen 
 of this shell in the British Museum, where a fine large 
 pink pearl has been caught, and embedded in the shell 
 near its aperture, just as it was about to escape. The 
 pearl is exactly like the internal surface of that shell. 
 [I had occasion to speak largely on pearls, in a Lecture 
 delivered before the Society of Arts, London, 
 January 19, 1870, on the Pearl, Coral, and Amber 
 Fisheries,* but time will not allow me to dwell upon 
 the subject now.] 
 
 I pass on to speak of the pearly and iridescent shells, 
 which are used for inlaying and ornamental work. 
 
 The green snail of the dealers, the Turbo olearius, is 
 very largely used for ornamental purposes. Slices of 
 this shell, ground down to a thin surface, are employed 
 for covering or inlaying various articles, such as 
 small stamp cases, little tablet covers, fancy boxes, 
 baskets with metallic handles ; buttons, earrings, and 
 other articles are made of it, very pretty ornamental 
 stands, which open with a spring, enclosing scent- 
 bottles, or cigar holders, and such like. Fine large 
 shells of this kind formed the drinking goblets of 
 the Scandinavian monarchs, and are often still met 
 with, very elegantly mounted and set with jewels. 
 
 Another shellof this genus, the Turk's cap (Turbo 
 sarmaticus), from the West Coast of Africa, is used for 
 smaller articles, caskets, scent-bottles, brooches, &c. 
 
 The ear shell of different species, principally the 
 green kind, Haliotis iris, and the common British, 
 * " Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. xviii, p. 173. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 117 
 
 Haliotis tuberculata, and some Japan and Californian 
 species, are much used, from their brilliant play of 
 colour, ground down for inlaying in papier mache 
 work, as well as for buttons, studs, links, buckles, and 
 earrings. Among other handsome species of ear shell 
 which are polished and used are, Haliotis rufescens, 
 Haliotis splendens, and Haliotis cracherodii. 
 
 In the' papier mache manufacture paper is first 
 steeped in oil, and dried in an oven ; then coated 
 with black varnish, and pieces of pearl embedded, 
 when it is again placed in the oven. The process is 
 repeated several times ; it is then pencilled with a 
 resist ; afterwards rubbed with pumice-stone ; then 
 etched out with nitric-acid, and flowers and patterns 
 are painted. The colours are rendered almost indelible 
 by a second coat of refined white varnish. 
 
 Having dealt with this section, I am now brought 
 to a large collection of small shells entering into trade 
 use, for making shell flowers and different articles of 
 grouped shells on boxes, &c. A great proportion of 
 these are British shells, collected freely on the beach 
 in many parts of our coasts, and most are sold by 
 dealers under the name of grotto shells. 
 
 The shells chiefly used for imitation flowers in form- 
 ing tulips, moss-roses, passion -flowers, anemones, 
 hops, &c., are parts of the valves of barnacles 
 (Lepas anatifera), Dentalium, Olivia oryza, Marginella, 
 Strigella pisiformis, Pholas daetylus and papyracea, 
 Tellinas, Cardium, and others. It requires only taste 
 in the selection and adaptation of suitable .shells or 
 parts of shells to form the petals of the flowers and 
 colour applied to the shell where necessary* 
 
118 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Mr. Mayhew, in his " London Labour and the London 
 Poor," tells us that there are about a million of the 
 commoner sorts of shells bought by the London street 
 sellers, at 3s. the gross. They are retailed at Id. 
 a-piece, or 12s. the gross, when sold separately. A large 
 proportion, as is the case with many articles of taste 
 or curiosity rather than of usefulness, being sold by 
 the London street folk on country rounds ; some of 
 these rounds stretch halfway to Bristol, or to Liverpool. 
 
 An important trade in shells, although purely local, 
 is the fishery off the coast of Coromandel, and other 
 parts of the Indian seas, for the Chank shell, as it is 
 termed in the East, the Turbinella pyrum. 
 
 These heavy massive shells, species of which from 
 their form have received the specific names of pear and 
 turnip shells, are often used as trumpets, and as oil 
 vessels or lamps in the Indian temples, being ornamen- 
 tally carved and mounted in metal for this purpose. 
 Specimens may be seen at the India Museum, Whitehall. 
 
 The manufacture of rings for the arms and ancles 
 from these Chank shells, is still almost confined to 
 Dacca ; the shells are sawn across for this purpose by 
 semicircular saws, the hands and toes being both actively 
 employed in the operation. The introduction of cir- 
 cular saws has been attempted by some European 
 gentlemen, but steadily resisted by the natives, despite 
 their obvious advantages. 
 
 In illustration of the rudeness of the operations re- 
 sorted to for glazing or smoothing linen, &c., in 
 Africa, a shell is used where we employ a mangle. I 
 may also mention the practice of the East Indians, who 
 use the Chank and other solid and heavy shells to 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 119 
 
 smooth the paper made in Nepaul, and the muslins and 
 cloths in other districts. 
 
 For the purpose of giving a fine glossy appearance to 
 sarongs and other cloths, the natives of Sumatra also 
 use a shell called kurup, in the aperture of which they 
 insert one end of a piece of split nebong, which is very 
 pliant and elastic ; the other end is inserted into a cross 
 piece of wood in the ceiling of the hut, and the nebong 
 being cut like a bow, the pressure on the cloth ig 
 heavy. A person continues rubbing the cloth for 
 several hours, until it has acquired a beautiful polish, 
 like glazing. 
 
 I pass on, now, to speak of the shells used for carving 
 cameos, and those employed to form articles of personal 
 decoration. 
 
 Of the quantities imported for this purpose here I 
 can obtain no reliable details. The shells come over 
 in bags, and every now and then the City brokers 
 announce a sale of bull's mouth, helmet shells, queen 
 conchs, &c., but no aggregate records are kept of the 
 numbers. 
 
 To show, however, the extent of the trade in shells, 
 here are the particulars of the sales advertised on one 
 day (October 10th, 1871), by various City brokers : 
 By Lewis and Peat 
 
 275 cases Bombay M.O.P.* 
 43 Egyptian 
 6 Gambia 
 232 Panama 
 45 of Cowries 
 81 packages Fancy Shells 
 195 cases Japan Ear Shells. 
 * The trade abbreviation for mother of pearl. 
 
120 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 By Ellis and Hale 
 
 140 cases and 6 casks of M.O.P. from Freemantle. 
 
 8 cases and 27 serons M.O.P. Bombay. 
 211 cases of Cowries. 
 24 tons of Japan Ear Shells. 
 
 By Price, Hickman and Co. 
 18 cases Bombay M.O.P. 
 
 By Bowyer and Bartlett 
 
 41 cases M.O.P. 
 6,000 Conch Shells. 
 1,400 Helmet Shells. 
 
 By Brooks and Faith 
 
 84 baskets, 13 bags, and 10,000 loose Green Snail. 
 230 packages and 10 tons of loose Japan Ear Shells. 
 12,000 Turbos. 
 
 By Donald Gray and Sons 
 
 39 cases Manilla and 51 cases Bombay M.O.P. 
 1 case Red Shank Shells. 
 
 By John Griffin and Son 
 
 194 cases Bombay M.O.P. 
 381 bags Maldive Cowries. 
 5 tons Japan Green Ear. 
 
 The word cameo, derived from an Arab word, signi- 
 fying bas-relief, was originally restricted to hard stones, 
 such as onyx, sardonyx, &c., engraved in relief; but 
 the name has been extended to gems cut on shell, lava, 
 and other substances. Shell cameos, some years ago, 
 were a good deal in fashion, and even now a well-exe- 
 cuted, artistic Roman shell cameo is an elegant work 
 of art. Genoa and Rome are the seats of the best 
 work, although many common ones are cut in France. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 121 
 
 In Home there are about eighty shell cameo cutters, 
 and in Genoa thirty, some of whom also carve on 
 coral. 
 
 The ordinary mode of procedure in cutting shell 
 cameos is to fix the piece of shell intended to be 
 carved upon a block of wood about three inches in 
 diameter, or of a convenient size to be grasped firmly 
 in the hand. The contour of the subject to be carved 
 is sketched out in pencil, and this pencil mark is 
 followed with a scratch point. Having removed the 
 surrounding white substance by means of files and 
 gravers, you proceed to develope the figure by the 
 use of smaller tools. * 
 
 In cameos the central layer forms the body of the 
 relief, the inner layer being the ground, and the outer 
 the third or superficial colour, which is sometimes used 
 to give a varied appearance to the surface of the figure. 
 In a paper read by Dr. J. E. Gray, F.R.S., before the 
 Society of Arts, some years ago, he thus speaks of 
 shell cameos : 
 
 The cameo cutter selects from the shells which 
 have the three layers : 1. Those which have the layers 
 strongly adherent together, for if they separate, his 
 labour is lost. 2. Those in which the middle layer is 
 thick. 3. Those in which the inner layer is of the colour 
 suited to his purpose. 
 
 The kinds now employed, and which experience has 
 taught him are best for his purposes are : 1. The bull's 
 mouth ( Cassis rufa), which has a red inner coat, or 
 what is called a sardonyx ground. 2. The black helmet 
 (Cassis madagascarensis), which has a blackish inner 
 coat, or what is called an onyx ground. 3. The horned 
 
122 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 helmet (Cassis cornutum], with a yellow ground ; and 
 4. The queen conch (Strombus gigas), with a pink 
 ground. The bull's mouth and the black helmet are 
 the best shells for the purpose, as the horned helmet 
 is apt to separate from the ground, or to " double," as 
 the workmen call it ; and the last, the queen conch, 
 has the two colours seldom distinctly marked from 
 each other, and the pink of the ground flies by 
 exposure to the light. The red colour of the bull's 
 mouth only extends a small distance in the mouth of 
 the shell, becoming paler as it proceeds backward, as 
 may be observed by the pale side generally to be seen 
 in such red-grounded cameos. H*ence the bull's mouth 
 affords only a single cameo large enough for a brooch, 
 and several small pieces for shirt studs, while the 
 black helmet yields on an average about five brooches 
 and several stud pieces. The queen conch yields only 
 a single good piece. The bull's mouth shells are 
 brought from India and Ceylon ; the black helmets 
 from the West Indies ; and all are supplied through 
 the London market. 
 
 Unset cameos, of the value of about 5,000, are 
 yearly received from France, to be mounted at Birm- 
 ingham ; and are either sent back to France, or 
 exported to America and the Colonies. A quarter 
 of a century ago the value of the shell cameos cut 
 in Paris was estimated at 40,000. The trade in 
 these, although still extensive, has lost much of its 
 interest, for neither in France or England are brooches, 
 earrings, scarf pins, &c., of shell cameos so much 
 appreciated as they formerly were. Fashion and novelty 
 lead to great changes in this as in other manufactures. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 123 
 
 The next sub-division the use of shells for spoons, 
 drinking vessels, lamps, handles for knives, and other 
 purposes of domestic economy or ordinary utility takes 
 in a very wide range. 
 
 The valves of the Anodonta escula are used as skim- 
 mers in Brazil, and the shells of the Ampullaria serve 
 to dip up the caoutchouc gum. The Africans on the 
 West Coast make much use of the large shells of the 
 Achatina snail, shaped into spoons. 
 
 Shells are still used for scoops, spoons, &c. In many 
 countries the melon shell and others are employed to 
 bale out boats ; to hold oil and a wick, suspended as 
 lamps ; to skim milk ; and, from some unexplained 
 custom, shells seem a necessary ornament or ap- 
 pendage in the window of the milk shop or dairy, in 
 the metropolis. 
 
 The less civilised inhabitant of coasts frequently 
 forms his knife, his hunting spear, and his fish-hook of 
 hard shell. In the latter instance it serves the secon- 
 dary purpose of a glittering bait. The Chinese grind 
 shells to powder, and use this powder in the way we 
 do flock on paper-hangings. 
 
 A small white bivalve shell (called Irego by the 
 natives of Western Australia), is used for sharpening 
 their spears when they cannot procure glass. 
 
 The Friendly Islander wears the scarce orange cowry 
 as a mark of chieftainship, and the New Zealander 
 polishes the Elenchus into an ear ornament more 
 brilliant than the " pearl ear-drop " of classical or 
 modern times. One of the most beautiful substances 
 in nature is the shell-opal, formed of the remains of 
 the ammonite. 
 
124 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In Caldera, Chile, a kind of scallop shell very 
 finely marked with a delicate pink, is frequently used 
 by the refined portion of the population, as a little 
 dish to hold soap on the toilet table, 
 
 Murex colosseus is used as a trumpet, and large 
 species of the genus Buccinum are still used by Italian 
 herdsmen in directing the movements of their cattle, 
 and a variety of sonorous sounds may thus be readily 
 produced. They are also often used in North Wales 
 by the farmers to call their labourers, and in Lithuania 
 and Muscovy by the herdsman to assemble his cattle. 
 In the West Indies the common fountain shell, a species 
 of Strombus, is also used to call in the negroes from 
 the sugar-cane fields the interval of " shell-blow," 
 as it is termed, being the dinner hour. In the East 
 Indies shells are used for the same purpose by the 
 Brahmin priests and others ; and the great Triton is 
 so employed by the Pacific Islanders. 
 
 Scallop shells (Pecten) were formerly worn by 
 pilgrims, on their hat or the cape of their coat, as a 
 mark of their having crossed the sea for the purpose 
 of paying their devotions at the holy shrine in Pales- 
 tine ; in commemoration of which, they are still 
 preserved in the armorial bearings of many families of 
 distinction, whose ancestors had performed that cere- 
 mony. From its use by cooks now, this shell has given 
 the name to " scalloped" oysters. In early times, 
 when plates and drinking vessels were not so plentiful 
 as they are now, the concave, or hollow valve of the 
 scallop served as a cup, and the flat valve for a plate. 
 The idea has even been carried out by our pottery 
 manufacturers, and plates and dishes have been 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 125 
 
 moulded after the forms of bivalve shells. I have 
 seen reticules, needle books, pincushions, and other 
 articles made with the scallop shell. 
 
 Of late, among the curious uses to which the Turbo 
 and some other shells have been applied here is for 
 pipe bowls. 
 
 Now, uncivilised tribes have been before us in this 
 application also ; for Mr. Adams, in his " Voyage of 
 the Samarang," states, that among the Bashee group, 
 and more particularly on the island of Ibayat, the 
 natives form very elegant and commodious pipes from 
 different species of shells, the columella and septa of 
 the convolutions being broken down, and a short ebony 
 stem inserted into a hole at the apex of the spire. Some 
 are formed from Mitra papalis and Mitra episcopalis, 
 others from Cerithium and Terebra. 
 
 The Mytilus or mussel shell has a few applications- 
 when polished, they are made into pretty needle books 
 and scent-bottle holders. They are mounted on marble 
 as paper-weights, and are used by artists as the 
 receptacle for gold and silver paint. The -New Zea- 
 landers employ mussel shells as tweezers to eradicate 
 the hair from their face. Some of the cockle shells 
 are made into pretty pincushions, and the shell-flower 
 maker uses them to form the hop and other imitations. 
 Common, cheap pincushions are made with the whelk, 
 and many other shells. 
 
 The shells of the cowry family next claim our 
 attention, a most extensive genus, distinguished, if 
 not for their elegance of form, yet for beauty of tints 
 and richness of polish. This polish is preserved by 
 the animal, while alive, enveloping the shell in the 
 
126 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 mantle or membraneous fold. They are in general 
 smooth, glossy shells of great brilliancy of colour, and 
 elegantly marked with dots, zig zag lines, undulations, 
 stripes, and so forth. They are all, excepting the 
 small British cowry, natives of the seas of warm 
 climates. Many of them are very highly prized by 
 collectors, and several are turned to use for ornamental 
 purposes. 
 
 The species of cowries principally used for bracelets 
 and links, or brooches and small charms, are C. undata, 
 C, felina, C. asillus, C. ziczac, C. cribarea, and 
 C. reticulata. I have seen cameos traced on the back 
 of the blue-back cowry (Cyprea moneta), and they 
 then make very neat bracelets. Cowries are sometimes 
 used for making an enamel for clock faces and a glaze 
 for plates. 
 
 Cowries are largely dealt in for exchange purposes 
 and are shipped in quantities to West Africa. They are 
 chosen for their bright enamel, small, even size, and not 
 being mixed with spurious shells. Maldive cowries 
 fetch at the present time (January, 1872) 12s. to 36s. 
 thecwt., Dacca and Cuttack cowries, 6s. to 22s. Gd. the 
 cwt., but common blue and dead shells, that is those 
 with no gloss or enamel, are only worth 3s. 6d. to 15s. 
 the cwt. 
 
 One of the most common and at the same time one 
 of the most beautiful species, the tiger cowry, is fre- 
 quently cut for snuff-boxes, made into ink holders, 
 and ring stands, salt cellars, &c., and has frequently 
 the Lord's Prayer, or sentences, engraved on it. I 
 have seen them mounted as punch ladles and spoon 
 bowls, and made into whistles and other fancy articles. 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 127 
 
 They are often shaped into grotesque imitations of 
 animals. 
 
 The skin jacket worn by some of the Bornean tribes 
 in war is ornamented with small shells placed over one 
 another, like scales or links in a coat of armour. The 
 Dyaks stick small white money-cowries in the eye- 
 sockets of the skulls of their enemies, which they 
 keep ; they look like a closed eye. In India these 
 shells are much used to ornament the trappings of 
 horses and elephants, and many of these cowry bands 
 may be seen in the India Museum. 
 
 Another shell requires to be mentioned for its vari- 
 ous uses, popularly known as the Dutchman's cockle, 
 a large species of clam, the Tridacna gigas of con- 
 chologists. It is the largest and heaviest shell 
 known, the pair of valves have been found in some 
 instances to weigh 500 Ibs. 
 
 In its full size it has a byssus like a cable, with 
 which it anchors itself, and which must be cut with an 
 axe. The large valves of these shells are principally 
 used for benitiers in Catholic churches, and for foun- 
 tain basins in gardens. I have seen the smaller shells 
 mounted as salt cellars, pincushions, and candlestick 
 holders. Cameos have also been carved from them, 
 but their dead white wants a relief of colour. The 
 hill Dyaks of Borneo wear broad armlets made of this 
 shell, which, when polished by length of use, resemble 
 ivory, but never acquire its yellow tinge, always re- 
 maining of the purest white colour. Two of these 
 valued shell-bracelets on each arm are the favourite 
 number with the women. 
 
 The pearly nautilus is sometimes used as a drinking 
 
128 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 cup, and I have also seen it mounted as a stand for 
 flowers on the mantelpiece or table. 
 
 Calcined shells furnish the purest lime, and it is 
 this which, under the name of chunam, is so largely 
 used in the East as an ingredient, with the areca nut 
 and betel leaf masticated. 
 
 For the purposes of the agriculturist shell-sand and 
 shell marl, when obtainable, are highly valuable as 
 fertilisers ; and crushed shells enter into use for 
 covering the paths in our parks and the walks 
 of gardens ; for making fine pottery, and other 
 purposes. 
 
 Lastly, the uses of shells as studies of design, form, 
 and colour to the sculptor, painter, architect, and art 
 manufacturer, may be seen in various parts of the 
 South Kensington Museum. 
 
 The subject has been often alluded to in the "Art 
 Journal ; " and some years ago I called attention to 
 it myself in the columns of the " Building News." 
 
 Lamarck long ago recommended to the attentive 
 study of the architect the extreme diversity of the 
 protuberant parts on the surface of shells, as well 
 as the regularity and elegance of their distribution. 
 There is no possible form of which Nature does not 
 offer examples. Architecture would find in many of 
 the species of the genus Cerithium, even to those of 
 Pleurotomes and spirals, a choice of models for the 
 adornment of columns, and these models would be 
 found very worthy of being employed. 
 
 Shells were the favourite objects of ornamentation 
 of the older wood carvers, as evidenced in the fire- 
 places of many ancient mansions. The famous garoon 
 
SHELLS AND THEIR USES. 129 
 
 pattern, so much used formerly by silversmiths, is said 
 to be derived from the edge of the trumpet shell (Triton 
 emorale), which is called the garoon shell. 
 
 There are many other industrial uses of shells, but 
 those I have enumerated may be considered the prin- 
 cipal ones. I could have wished to have brought 
 before you a larger and more varied collection of 
 articles made from shells ; but many of these are 
 somewhat costly, and brittle, when carried to a dis- 
 tance, and probably many are familiar to you in the 
 shops. 
 
 The aggregate value of the imports of foreign 
 shells, in the last few years, may be taken at 250,000. 
 It is somewhat difficult to arrive at any correctr esti- 
 mate on this subject, because shells are scarcely par- 
 ticularised in the Board of Trade returns. Classified 
 under the head of raw materials which come iu 
 " duty free" for the use of manufacturers, the officials 
 are verj indifferent as to the nature of the imports ; 
 and thus we have no account of the rough cameo 
 shells, the snail and ear shells, the Murices, and 
 others which are received in large quantities. When 
 shells were subject to an import duty, varying from 
 5 to 20 per cent., it was necessary that the entries 
 should be more specifically detailed. 
 
 Large quantities of shells, which are used for 
 different manufacturing purposes, come in under the 
 broad, general heading of " specimens of natural 
 history." The only specific mention of shells in the 
 Parliamentary trade returns are mother of pearl, 
 cowries, and cameos unset, besides pearls, the well- 
 known and valued product of the pearl-oyster. 
 
130 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The imports and value, as far as officially stated, in 
 1870 were: 
 
 Mother of Pearl, 26,197 cwts 76,489 
 
 Cowries, 6,1 18 cwts 6,347 
 
 Cameos, not set 3,446 
 
 Miscellaneous Shells for Collectors, 
 
 Dealers and Manufacturers, about .... 14,000 
 Pearls 16,675 
 
 116,956 
 
 These figures were much below the average. But 
 their use is not restricted to this country, shells are. 
 largely employed for manufacturing purposes in China 
 and Jndia, in France, Italy, Germany, and other parts 
 of the Continent of Europe, and also in North America, 
 so that the subject we have been considering takes 
 larger proportions than at first sight would appear. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 131 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE IN THE NINETEENTH 
 CENTURY.* 
 
 THE subject which I have undertaken to discuss 
 may, at the first glance, appear dry and uninviting 
 to a general audience, and yet, if viewed in its several 
 relations to the Arts and Manufactures, its bearings 
 upon Civilisation and Commerce, upon our every-day 
 comforts and the progress of the world at large, 
 no topic is more comprehensive and interesting, or 
 can be more important, or more worthy of our careful 
 consideration. 
 
 Science, to the scientific inquirer, to the thoughtful 
 investigator, is full of beautiful results, of progressive 
 discoveries, and of attractive features. There is 
 even much of romantic interest interwoven with the 
 history of the rise and progress of those wonderful 
 inventions which have now attained to such beauty, 
 simplicity, and perfection, and are looked upon by 
 men of the present day without either astonishment 
 or surprise. 
 
 What marvels have been achieved in the brief 
 period of sixty years ! within the lifetime of some 
 who hear me ; and what further wonderful improve- 
 ments may not be carried out before the close of the 
 present century ! if any of us shall be. spared to witness 
 
 *A Lecture delivered at the City of London College in 1861. 
 
132 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 them. How many, and how strange and wonderful, 
 have been the events and the discoveries since the year 
 1800 ! Firstly, let us look at the social position of 
 our country at the two periods. 
 
 In 1801 England was at war, now she is at peace ; 
 then a rebellion in Ireland had just been quelled, now 
 Ireland is enjoying the fruits of peace and prosperity ; 
 and although, through emigration, her population has 
 very little increased, yet the land under cultivation 
 has risen to 15,000,000 acres, and the value of her 
 live stock has been trebled ; while pauperism and 
 crime, on a large scale, are almost things of the past. 
 Then great political discord and a famine were raging 
 throughout the country, now all is peace at home ; 
 food is at a reasonable price, and there is fair em- 
 ployment for the people, who are contented, happy, 
 and united. 
 
 The old tinder-box and brimstone matches, such as 
 Guy Fawkes intended to patronise, were then in daily 
 use, for lucifers were not. The rapidity with which 
 these useful little articles are now made is really 
 astonishing; and the machinery used is among the 
 most ingenious ever invented. These lucifers are now 
 found in use in all parts of the world.* What, again, 
 
 * The invention of our present lucifer match was great be- 
 cause it was so small, and it now turns out that the production 
 of this most useful, but at the same time most dangerous, 
 firework, was due to a happy thought which flashed through 
 the brain of Mr. Isaac Holden, who so terms the idea in his 
 evidence before the Patent Committee. Mr. Holden had to 
 rise at four in the morning to pursue his studies in chemistry, 
 and experienced the gravest inconvenience from his tedious 
 efforts to obtain a light from flint and steel. He was giving 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 13o 
 
 should we do without pins and needles ? go back to 
 the days of clumsy skewers, or to the primitive fish- 
 bones of the South Sea islanders. The year 1800 
 was before the era of railways, when half the Midland 
 Counties people had no notion what the sea was, but 
 by name, and when our country cousins were content 
 to tarry at home, innocent of excursion trips. It 
 was before the penny post was established, and had 
 increased our correspondence to nearly 600,000,000 
 letters a year a quadruple advance even in a quarter 
 of .a century ; it was before we had india-rubber 
 macintoshes or gutta percha soles ; before steam had 
 been harnessed to the plough ; before clod-crushers 
 broke down the stubborn soil, or reaping machines cut 
 and gathered the golden corn ; it was before ships 
 were " screws," whatever the captains and owners 
 might have been ; before the electric telegraph was 
 invented, or gun-cotton exploded, or men's ugly 
 faces were disagreeably depicted in photographs by 
 daguerreotype or calotype processes. 
 
 lectures at this time to a very large academy. He goes on to 
 say " Of course I knew, as other chemists did, the explosive 
 material that was necessary in order to produce instantaneous 
 light ; but it was very difficult to obtain a light on wood by 
 that explosive material, and the idea occurred to me to put 
 under the explosive mixture sulphur. I did that and pub- 
 lished it in my next lecture, and showed it. There was a 
 young man in the room whose father was a chemist in 
 London, and he immediately wrote to his father of it, and 
 shortly afterwards lucifer matches' were introduced to the 
 world." Messrs. Bryant and May, the celebrated match- 
 makers, employ upwards of 3,000 hands, and turn out 
 2,600,000 matches per day. 
 
134 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The general aspect of the world has been entirely 
 changed during the present century. Practical Science, 
 aided by intellectual inquiry, has wrought wonders, 
 which it would fill volumes to relate, and which could 
 not even be barely enumerated in an hour's discourse. 
 
 There used to be stationary lands, there are none 
 now. The charms of caste no longer spell-bind the 
 spirit of innovation in India. There is no longer 
 any Company's monopoly restricting progress and 
 trade. Land is thrown open there now to purchase 
 and settlement. The natives share with us in -the 
 honours and offices of the Crown. They also n?ake free 
 use of the Indian railways and steamers, which are 
 connecting the interior with the coast. 
 
 The Great Wall no longer shuts out foreign influence 
 from China. Armstrong guns and Enfield rifles 
 oppose their matchlocks and long-bows, when it has 
 been found necessary to enforce respect to treaty. 
 
 The sealed empire of Japan, as well as the interior 
 of China, has been thrown open to our enterprise and 
 commerce. Chinese emigrants people our settlements 
 in the South, in the East and West, and learn from us 
 and we from them. Chinese become professors in 
 our universities ; and eastern potentates send their 
 ambassadors to the courts of Europe. The kings of 
 Siam build steamboats, and, like the Japanese, appre- 
 ciate them, and quickly learn to navigate them. The 
 steamboat is almost universal now in the interior 
 waters of Africa, America, Europe, Asia, and Aus- 
 tralia. Steam communication is maintained from 
 Hull to Iceland ; and the very whales are tracked in 
 the Arctic seas by steam. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 135 
 
 England is within ten days of America, and she 
 can speak to Continental Europe across the Channel ; 
 while the telegraph is slowly but steadily working- 
 its way from hence to the Far East. Electricity has 
 made a thousand miles as a hair's-breadth. 
 
 The Chinese peasant gathers tea for the Lancashire 
 girl, and the Lancashire girl weaves cloth for the 
 Hindoo ; while the woollen manufacturers send back 
 to the Tartar the Chinese wool wrought into cloth- 
 ing. Geography has touched the magnetic pole ; 
 Archaeology has disinterred Egypt and Nineveh ; 
 Astronomy has multiplied the planets ; Chemistry has 
 remodelled all arts, and surprisingly simplified and 
 cheapened manufactures ; while the feats of the 
 Mechanical Sciences can only be told by the hum of 
 the factories, the splash of the steam-ship, the roar 
 of the locomotives ; by the resonance of the tunnels, 
 the shafts, the viaducts, that owe their existence to 
 the science and skill of the nineteenth century.* 
 
 * Science, in its widest dimensions, has made more rapid 
 progress during the last fifty years than ever before. Has it 
 not, in all its ramifications, taken strides which have rendered 
 former discoveries, however important and however valuable 
 at the time, as the veriest prattlings of childhood ? Have not 
 new sciences, as attractive as Astronomy itself, and as replete 
 with lessons of the character of the Great Architect, sprung 
 into being ? Not content with tracing the relationships 
 existing amongst material substances and organised beings, 
 have not the sympathies between mind and mind been mar- 
 vellously exhibited through the phenomena of Animal Mag- 
 netism ? And who can tell where these investigations will 
 end ? But what are all those new discoveries, or inventions, or 
 methodical arrangements of things, in comparison with the 
 huge and prodigious strides which have, in these modern 
 
136 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In 1812 there was but one steamboat plying in the 
 United Kingdom, the " Comet," of three-horse power, 
 established by Mr. Henry Bell as a passenger boat 
 on the Clyde, to run between Glasgow and Greenock. 
 Now Great -Britain owns 2,000, exclusive of the 
 numbers belonging to other maritime countries. 
 
 In the commencement of the present century there 
 were no railways in operation, and very little internal 
 communication by water. But few canals were com- 
 pleted. Now the case is widely different. In the 
 United Kingdom there are about 125 separate canals 
 and branches ; these, with the navigable rivers, fur- 
 nish an extent of communication of about 5,000 
 miles, formed at a cost of 35,000,000 sterling. 
 
 There were employed in the yearly transit of Great 
 Britain with the world and with her own dependen- 
 cies, in imports only, in 1860, 38,374 sailing vessels, 
 
 times, been made in the application of Science to practical 
 purposes ; in the converting of all the elements of nature 
 into so many vehicles for the elevation of man in the 
 economic, social, and moral scale ; in the rendering of the 
 lust of the granitoid mass into what is infinitely more 
 precious than the gold of Australia ; in the bridging of old 
 ocean, and in making its hoary waves but the transport 
 of a speedier communication between one hemisphere and 
 another ; in the bringing together into one happy family all 
 the teeming millions of one vast Continent ; nay, in the 
 collecting into one dense assemblage all the civilised nations 
 upon earth, that they might see each other's handicraft, and 
 be stimulated to rival one another in all feats of skill and 
 genius ? What are all these but pioneers, fellow labourers, 
 in the propagation of the blessed evangel all over the world, 
 just as the invention of Printing formed a powerful auxiliary 
 of the Reformation in the sixteenth century ? 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 137 
 
 and 2,239 steam vessels. Calculating the value of 
 each ship and cargo at 5,000, we have an aggre- 
 gate value, for the vessels and their cargoes, of 
 203,000,000 sterling. 
 
 The railways now in operation in the United King- 
 dom extend over nearly 10,500 miles; their cost in 
 construction and capital sunk, is estimated at nearly 
 400,000,000. In 1860 they supplied means of con- 
 venient and rapid transit to 163,500,000 passengers, 
 and their receipts were about 24,500,000.* 
 
 Summarising the macadamised turnpike roads, rail- 
 ways, and canals, there have been not less than 130,000 
 and odd miles formed, at an aggregate outlay of 
 450,000,000. 
 
 If we add to this about 77,000,000 of capital 
 expended on our mercantile marine, we have a gross 
 total of 527,000,000 of money sunk in promoting 
 the travel and commerce of the country. 
 
 Such are the transit facilities of Great Britain in 
 the second half of the nineteenth century. With an 
 external commerce of about 350,000,000, and pro- 
 perty insured in Great Britain alone to the value of 
 1,200,000,000 a year, every such aid to speedy 
 transit and facile communication is of high im- 
 portance. 
 
 Montgolfier was one day boiling water in a coffee- 
 pot, the top of which consisted of paper folded in a 
 
 * It appears that there are now (1871) 450,000 miles of 
 railroad open in Europe, 180,000 in America, nearly 7,000 in 
 India, 5,000 in Australasia, and 30,000 miles of submarine cables 
 to different parts ; this gives a total of 672,000 miles, which 
 is increasing at the rate of about 100,000 miles per year. 
 
138 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 spherical form ; lie saw it swell, and thus gathered 
 the idea of a light machine, made buoyant by in- 
 flation. Soon after he constructed a machine of the 
 kind, and Montgolfier was thus the father of balloons, 
 which have now become so common, and so tractable 
 in the hands of our intrepid aeronauts, as scarcely to 
 excite surprise in their frequent ascents from our 
 public gardens during the season. When the boy, 
 James Watt, was playing, as Arago tells the story, 
 with the steam of the family tea-kettle, now marking 
 how its expansive force raised the lid of the utensil ; 
 and now, how, condensed into water, it trickled power- 
 lessly down the sides of the cold china cup which 
 he had inverted over it, who could have imagined that, 
 in these simple processes, there lay wrapped up the 
 principle of by far the mightiest agent of civilisation 
 which man has yet seen an agent that, in a century 
 after the experiment of the boy, would have succeeded 
 in giving a new character to the arts ? or who could 
 have surmised when, at nearly the same period, the 
 Philadelphian printer was raising for the first time 
 his silken kite in the fields, that there was an age 
 coming in which, through a knowledge of laws hitherto 
 unknown, but whose existence he was then determin- 
 ing, man would be enabled to bind on his thoughts to 
 the winged lightning, and to send them, with an in- 
 stantaneousness that would annihilate time and space, 
 across land and sea ? 
 
 Elihu Burritt, in his eloquent language, thus speaks 
 on the subject: 
 
 " There was a quiet thinker, some thirty years ago, 
 who ventured to propose, in one of the scientific 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 139 
 
 journals of the day, ' that a telegraphic communication 
 may be held, at whatever distance, without a moment's 
 loss of time in transmission, and equally applicable by 
 day or night, by means of the electric shock.' Great 
 was the ridicule and contempt cast upon this bold and 
 startling proposition. ' All very pretty in theory,' 
 was the general cry ; ' but absurd and Utopian when 
 you try to reduce it to practice.' ' Right enough in 
 principle, no doubt,' wrote learned men ; * but utterly 
 impracticable, when brought to the business-test of 
 experiment and application.' The world had its laugh, 
 and the quiet thinker died, with unwavering faith in 
 his great idea ; yet how little did even he venture to 
 think that scarcely should the green turf have rooted 
 upon his humble grave, ere those lengthening lines 
 of posts, which now fringe the great iron highways 
 of Europe, should rise, like a cloud of witnesses, 
 to justify his bold presentment of a mighty thought, 
 destined to revolutionise the world, in the best sense 
 of the word, to establish new relations between all 
 peoples, and to render thought and action more and 
 more simultaneous and common among mankind. 
 Nay, in this, as in a thousand other cases, reality has 
 outstripped conjecture. The bold predicator of 1825 
 did not presume to give unbridled license to his 
 imagination. In laying down his chart by which to 
 pilot 'the electric shock,' as the trained and obedient 
 Mercury of man, the utmost limit assigned, as the 
 probable extent of its controllable career, was the cir- 
 cumference of our own shores. But already such 
 narrow boundary is spurned. Across the foundations 
 of the deep sea the exulting messenger flashes its 
 
140 . SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 timeless course, and England, no longer divided from 
 the Continents, touches with her finger the pulsation 
 of all Europe and America, and yields back her own 
 responsive throb." 
 
 The locomotive will now travel in as many hours 
 a distance which, in the early part of the century, 
 required as many days to accomplish.* In 1800 it 
 took weeks to convey intelligence between the two 
 towns of Philadelphia and New Orleans, now it can 
 be accomplished in minutes through the telegraph, 
 which only had its existence in 1843. The extent of 
 telegraphs in the United States and Canada is in- 
 creasing every day. No one not familiar with the 
 subject can form an adequate idea of the immense 
 benefit which the electric telegraph confers upon the 
 people at large, or of the advantage which it is to 
 commercial and business men generally in a country 
 of great extent, like America in particular. By its 
 
 * " I love," says Elihu Burritt, " to see one of these huge 
 creatures, with sinews of brass and muscles of iron, start 
 forth from his smoky stable, and, saluting the long train of 
 cars with a dozen sonorous puffs from his iron nostrils, fall back 
 gently into his harness. There he stands, champing and 
 foaming upon the iron track his great heart a furnace of 
 glowing coals, his lymphatic blood in his boiling veins, the 
 strength of a thousand horses is nerving his sinews he 
 pants to be gone. He would drag St. Peter's across the 
 Desert of Sahara if he could be fairly hitched to it. But 
 there is a little sober-eyed, tobacco-chewing man in the 
 saddle, who holds him in with one finger, and can take away 
 his breath in a moment, should he grow restive or vicious. 
 I am always deeply interested in the man, for, begrimed as 
 he may be by machinery, he is the physical mind of that 
 large steam horse." 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 141 
 
 aid the Government at Washington can almost in- 
 stantaneously communicate with all parts of the 
 Republic. That vast country, 3,000 miles long and 
 3,000 broad, can be as easily communicated with by 
 the aid of the telegraph, as a single city. But the 
 telegraph system in the United States is only in its 
 infancy. It must increase with the growth of the 
 country ; -and already that Republic is covered with a 
 network of wires that embraces a distance of pro- 
 bably 50,000 miles.* In our Indian empire we have 
 now many thousands of miles of electric wires ; and 
 the antipodes enjoys its benefits. The velocity of the 
 electric fluid on the wires of the magnetic telegraph, 
 according to Professor Loomis's " Astronomy," ap- 
 pears to be 19,000 miles in one second, or in about 
 one second the globe would be passed around ; quick 
 enough, certainly, for ordinary purposes ! 
 
 Here is a specimen of telegraphic correspondence 
 as carried on on the other side of the Atlantic : 
 
 * In 1840 there was not one established line of telegraph. 
 In the United States, now, there are upwards of 4,000 tele- 
 graph offices, or at the rate of one for every 7,500 of the 
 population. Nearly every town and village has its telegraph 
 office. The total land extension exceeds 60,000 miles, and 
 nearly 300 miles of submarine cables were in full operation 
 in 1869. There are already stretched over the surface of the 
 earth more than 300,000 miles of telegraph wire, or sufficient 
 to surround 'the globe more than twelve times. The total 
 length of telegraph lines is nearly 100,000 miles ; so that on 
 an average each line works three wires. Frequently several 
 lines make use of the same telegraph poles ; and it is not 
 unusual to see in and between large cities as.many as sixteen 
 or twenty wires supported on the same series of poles. 
 
142 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 " Quebec, January 30. Dear Tom, I'm freezing. 
 How are you? Yours, Henry Smith." The reply 
 was, in the twinkling of an eye, " New Orleans. 
 Dear Henry, I'm melting ; send me ice by telegraph. 
 Yours, Thomas Haines." Ten years ago this fact 
 would have been put down as a Munchausen ! 
 
 At a banquet given on the occasion of the sub- 
 marine telegraph between England and France, Mr. 
 John Brett stated that it was over a cup of tea, early 
 in 1845, that his brother and he first discussed the 
 project, the successful completion of which they were 
 then celebrating; and in the month of July in the 
 same year, they drew up a plan for not only uniting 
 England and France, but Ireland and our distant 
 colonies in India. Some of the most eminent en- 
 gineers, he said, regarded the scheme as impractic- 
 able ; . but the jest of yesterday was the fact of to- 
 day. Mr. Brett mentioned the remarkable fact that, 
 in 1666, one Gilbert published a book, in which he 
 said that the day was not far distant when man would 
 be able to communicate from one end of the world to 
 the other by means of electricity. This prediction 
 may now be said to be in course of realisation, if not 
 actually realised ; not only Paris and Vienna, but 
 Constantinople, Calcutta, Pekin, and Melbourne will, 
 probably, in a few years be our next door neighbours.* 
 
 Previous to the introduction of steam, 11 sailing 
 b oa ts celebrated hoys used to convey passengers 
 to and from Margate, making the passage in twenty 
 
 * The following statistics of Electric Telegraphs open for 
 the use of the public in the United Kingdom in 1857 are 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 143 
 
 to thirty-six hours. In 1815 a steamboat commenced 
 running to Margate, reducing the passage to twelve 
 hours, which was considered a marvel ; the General 
 Steam Company's boats have since done it in four 
 
 interesting now that the whole have passed into the hands of 
 the Government : 
 
 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Miles of Tele- 
 firraph .. 
 
 5,637 
 
 3,441 
 
 301 
 
 9,379 
 
 of Wire... 
 No. of Stations 
 open for the 
 public 
 
 29,498 
 460 
 
 15,688 
 230 
 
 1,296 
 80 
 
 46,482 
 770 
 
 No. of Instru- 
 ments 
 
 2 938 
 
 574 
 
 141 
 
 3653 
 
 No. of Messages 
 sent by the 
 public 
 
 844 668 
 
 356 186 
 
 40309 
 
 1 241 163 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. Electric and International Telegraph Company. On the 
 1st January, 1858, this company had sixty-eight agreements 
 with railway companies and public offices for their business 
 messages. The number of such messages is not recorded, 
 but is estimated as amounting to three times the number of 
 the messages sent by the general public. This company also 
 furnished intelligence to 142 provincial journals and to fifty- 
 five different reading-rooms, but no record is kept of the 
 number of those messages. 
 
 2. The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company. 
 The number of messages to and from the Continent, trans- 
 mitted jointly by this company and the Submarine Telegraph 
 Company, and the number of messages for railway companies, 
 newspapers and news-rooms are not included with the mes- 
 sages for the public, but are estimated at about 250,000 
 messages per annum. 
 
 3. The South Eastern Railway Company's Telegraph. This 
 company has no working arrangements with either of the 
 
144 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 hours. In the same year a steamer ran from London 
 to Gravesend, the average passage being five or six 
 hours, and the fares 4s. and 2s. There were then 26 
 sailing passage-boats plying between London and 
 Gravesend, which were soon beaten off by the 
 steamers. In 1821 about 27,000 passengers travelled 
 between London and Gravesend; thanks to rail and 
 steam, the number is now about 2,000,000 annually.* 
 Nothing, now-a-days, is permitted to run to waste. 
 Science has taught us to collect and employ to profit 
 every description of refuse bones for pulverising and 
 
 electric telegraph companies. To show the progress that has 
 been made under Government management I may state that 
 in 1871, 6,098 telegraph offices were open throughout the 
 country, this number being nearly double those that were open 
 when the business was taken over by the State in February, 
 1870, and about 13,000,000 messages are sent annually. 
 
 * It is less than fifty years since George Stephenson opened 
 the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first line used for 
 passenger traffic, and already the whole country is covered 
 with a network of iron railways, and 10,000 locomotives 
 convey goods and passengers over thousands of miles of 
 British railway. It is calculated that 200,000 steam engines 
 are employed at present as the motive power of our mills, 
 mines and factories. Look at our ports and rivers ! We have 
 men among us who were alive when the shrewd Yankees 
 sneered in 1807 at " Fulton's Folly," as the first steam-boat 
 was called. Now we have steam vessels innumerable, from 
 the tiny tugs and penny boats of our rivers to the large mail 
 packets, or the gigantic Great Eastern ; and our gallant 
 merchants visit every port and traverse every ocean of 
 the globe. Look, again, at our farms ! In 1841 the first 
 portable engine was exhibited at Liverpool as a great 
 curiosity. We have now about 15,000 thrashing machines in 
 daily use amongst us. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TII CENTURY. 145 
 
 turning into manure ; the refuse of our gas works for 
 ammonia ; the sewerage of our cities for manure ; 
 our old rags for paper and new clothes, and the most 
 beautiful fabrics for our rooms. Indeed, there is a church 
 near Bergen, Norway, capable of holding a thousand 
 persons, made entirely out of old rags. The relievos 
 outside and the statues within, the roof, the ceiling, 
 the Corinthian capitals, are all of papier mache, ren- 
 dered waterproof by saturation in vitriol, lime water, 
 whey, and white of egg. 
 
 In the early part of the present century we were 
 glad to be content with quills for our correspondence, 
 and a crow-quill and a goose-quill were the only two 
 varieties of pen. Now we have pens of every size, 
 shape, and material, from steel and gold, to glass 
 and gutta percha, giving employment to hundreds of 
 women and young girls in their manufacture. Steel 
 pens have fallen in price from 7 4s. the gross, when 
 first made in 1821, to 2d. the gross, for which the 
 commonest are now sold. And of this small article 
 alone, at least 1,000,000,000 are annually made in 
 Birmingham ; whilst America has also gone largely 
 into the manufacture. 
 
 Three centuries ago a needle, or " neeld," cost one 
 shilling ; now, one hundred of the best are sent 
 through the post for the same money.* 
 
 " Our hands may not be idle, then, while the eajjth 
 Furnishes material and the universe a market." 
 
 Men are no longer the mere recipients of opinions 
 and antiquated theories ; they are thinkers, reasoners, 
 
 * See an Article on the Manufacture of Needles and Pins 
 in my "Journal of Applied Science," vol. ii, p. 103. 
 
 L 
 
146 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 inquirers. As an effect of this, our age is an age of 
 great discoveries in Science and Art. Hardly has the 
 mind time to recover from the wonder and amazement 
 with which some remarkable triumph of science or art 
 has filled it, than something stilj more wonderful and 
 marvellous is announced. 
 
 When Franklin first flew his electrical kite, when 
 Professor Volta first dissected his frogs, who would 
 have ventured to predict the almost miraculous deeds 
 which have since been performed by the controlled 
 agency of the subtle and invisible fluid which, as far 
 as we know, pervades all nature ? They who, with 
 any knowledge of the times in which we live, are dis- 
 posed to regard with an incredulous eye the scientific 
 projects which are constantly being launched forth by 
 enterprising and ingenious men, so long as they are 
 not positively ridiculous, deserve to have had their 
 lot cast in the darkest of the Middle Ages, when 
 they would have had no means of communication with 
 their fellow creatures residing at a distance, but those 
 furnished by a tardy courier or an uncertain carrier 
 pigeon. 
 
 The somewhat uncouth name of photo-galvano- 
 graphy has been chosen by the inventor at once to 
 designate and describe a very curious art, of which 
 the first published specimens were not long since 
 given to the world. It is a process for the produc- 
 tion, by the aid of light and electricity alone, and 
 without the aid of mechanical means, of a copper- 
 plate, from which impressions are struck off in the 
 ordinary manner. From first to last the hand of 
 man has nothing to do with the production of the 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 147 
 
 plate, except by setting in action the chemical forces 
 concerned in the work. 
 
 Look what Science has done in four great constructive 
 works alone. There are in the Britannia and Conway 
 bridges, and the Newcastle and Berwick viaducts, or 
 bridges, nearly 4,500,000 cubic feet of masonry, the 
 whole costing not less than 1,280,000. 
 
 The great engineering achievement of modern times 
 is, beyond question, the construction of a hollow beam 
 through which heavily-laden trains with their pon- 
 derous locomotive engine may pass 470 feet in 
 length, weighing 2,000 tons and the lifting of this 
 enormous mass to the height of 100 feet, at which 
 elevation the tubes now securely rest, uniting the 
 island of Anglesea with North Wales. There already 
 existed, within a short distance of the Britannia 
 tubular bridge, a remarkable structure the suspension 
 bridge erected by Telford. This elegant specimen of 
 engineering skill has a span of 580 feet ; is suspended 
 102 feet above the level of the sea, and has for thirty 
 years resisted the strain of storms, and continued to 
 form the coach road between the island and the main- 
 land, proving in every respect a national monument, 
 worthy of the master-mind by which it was conceived. 
 And what a masterly achievement was brought before 
 the eyes of all the world in the Glass Palace, which 
 was erected with such fairy-like celerity in our own 
 metropolis in 1851, and the equally beautiful permanent 
 building, now the fashionable resort at Sydenham. 
 
 In Canada we have one of the largest bridges in 
 the world, which spans the St. Lawrence, connecting the 
 Grand Trunk Kailway with the city of Montreal. Its 
 
 L 2 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 proportions are truly Titanic, and the piers upon which 
 it rests are of sufficient strength and solidity to defy 
 the force of the ice which floats down the St. Lawrence 
 in the spring in vast masses. This monster structure 
 is over a mile and three-quarters in length, and. rests 
 on twenty-four piers, and two solid abutments. It is 
 on the tubular principle. The principal span, that over 
 the deep or ship channel, is of the extraordinary length 
 of 330 feet, and at an elevation of 60 feet over the 
 summer level of the water, sufficient to allow of the 
 largest lake craft or steamers to pass under without 
 striking even a royal.* 
 
 Mechanics has increased the facilities for produc- 
 tion and the means of accomplishing an amount of 
 labour, which far transcends the ability of united 
 manual effort to accomplish. The triumphs achieved 
 in this last branch of discovery and invention are 
 prominent enough to mark the nineteenth century as 
 that which has contributed to augment personal com- 
 forts, enlarge the enjoyments, and add to the blessings 
 of man. By machinery Great Britain has increased 
 her power equal to a population of 400,000,000 
 of manual labourers. At the commencement of the 
 
 * The Sutlej bridge, which connects Lahore by railway 
 communication with Calcutta and Bombay, crosses one of the 
 most formidable rivers in India. The work occupied about 
 four and a half years in construction. The bridge is 6,468 
 feet long between abutments, and nearly a mile and a quarter 
 altogether, and is about the second longest bridge in the 
 world. It has fifty-eight girders, each 111 feet long. The 
 completion of the Mont Cenis Tunnel and the Suez Canal 
 are other great engineering and mechanical works charac- 
 terising the nineteenth century. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 149 
 
 present century, the domestic spinning-wheel began 
 to be superseded by the inventions of Hargreaves, 
 Arkwright, and Crompton, some time having elapsed 
 before the real value of these improvements were 
 appreciated to their full extent. More recently, the 
 finishing hand of Roberts dismissed the spinner/leaving 
 the machine to its own infallible guidance ; and now 
 several thousand spindles may be seen in a single 
 room, revolving with inconceivable rapidity, without a 
 hand to urge their progress, or to guide their opera- 
 tions ; drawing out, twisting, and winding up as many 
 thousand threads with unfailing precision, indefatigable 
 patience, and strength a scene as magical to the eye 
 which is not familiarised with it, as the effects have 
 been marvellous in augmenting the wealth and popula- 
 tion of our country. 
 
 In 1801 the quantity of raw cotton consumed in this 
 country was but 54,000,000 Ibs., and the British cotton 
 manufactures were valued at 5,000,000 sterling. In 
 1860 the consumption of cotton was 1,106,000,000 Ibs., 
 and the value of the British cotton goods exported was 
 52,000,000 sterling, besides our home consumption. 
 
 If the whole of the cotton used was spun into 
 what is termed 36's yarn, each pound would produce 
 30,240 yards of thread, and the whole quantity would 
 amount to 19,002,489,425 miles, or near 200 times 
 the distance between the earth and the sun ; and if the 
 same were woven into cloth, 36 inches wide (each piece 
 of 37-J- yards, and weighing 7 Ibs.), it would form a belt 
 that would encircle the globe 135 times. In the early 
 part of the century the price of the raw cotton was 
 3s. 6d. per Ib. ; it is now Qd. or Id. 
 
150 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The total number of cotton factories in Great Britain 
 is 2,500, containing 35,000,000 spindles, and 300,000 
 power looms. The moving power in these factories is 
 supplied by steam representing 90,000 horse power, 
 and water 9,000 horse power. 
 
 It was not till the year 1800 that any con- 
 siderable quantity of cotton was received from the 
 United States, the imports in that year being 
 16,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Maverick, of Pendleton, South Carolina, 
 who assisted in packing the first bag of cotton ever 
 sent from America to Liverpool, is still living ; and 
 now the United States exports more than 2,500,000 of 
 bales of cotton every year. The consignee of this lone 
 bag of cotton informed the shippers that he could not 
 sell it, that it was valueless, and advised them to send 
 no more. How little this faithful factor saw into 
 futurity ! If any one had said to him that in less than 
 sixty years, and during the lifetime of the boy who 
 had packed that very bale of cotton, millions of bags 
 would be annually sent across the Atlantic for sale in 
 England and France, he would have pronounced him 
 a madman or a fool. But it has been done, and 
 cotton has become the great means by which 
 civilisation is to spread over the earth. This cheap- 
 ness of cotton fabrics has taught the savage to 
 clothe himself, and exercise industry in obtaining 
 the means of purchasing this companion and evidence 
 of civilisation. 
 
 Millions of human beings are employed in the culti- 
 vation of cotton, hundreds of thousands in its manu- 
 facture, and the whole world are clothed in it. This, 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 151 
 
 too, has happened in the lifetime of one man still 
 living ! * 
 
 * When Commerce and Science open up paths of rapid inter- 
 communication throughout the world, the cost of transit of 
 raw material is diminished, and the intellectual superiority 
 of another nation far more than balances the possession of 
 raw material. Roads, railways, ships, and steamboats, aris- 
 ing in the march of science, can spread raw material every- 
 where, and enable nations to test their relative intellectual 
 powers applied to it. Let us take a case : cotton, being in- 
 digenous to Hindostan, calico was made at Calicut. Scon the 
 intellectual culture of the Arabians exceeded that of the 
 Hindoos. Calico was manufactured by them, and introduced 
 into Spain, where it flourished. Then came the great national 
 crime of Spain in the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 when 1,000,000 of the Moriscoes, who still possessed the expe- 
 rience in manufacturing industry, were suddenly expelled on 
 account of their doubtful Christianity. With them, cotton, 
 woollen, and silk manufactures were also ejected from Spain. 
 The 16,000 looms of Seville were thus reduced, to 300, and the 
 40,000 silk weavers of Toledo lost their subsistence as soon as 
 the intelligence and skill of the Moors passed to Tunis. In 
 process of time this country took up the cotton trade which 
 Spain flung away, and we made it our own by great mechani- 
 cal inventions. Not, be it observed, by manual labour, but 
 by the result of intelligence applied to machinery and loco- 
 motion. And look how much intellect now exceeds the 
 value of the raw material as a factor in production. Cotton 
 is grown in America, crosses the broad Atlantic as a bulky and 
 expensive freight, is seized hold of by our mechanical science 
 and manufacturing enterprise, crosses the Atlantic again as 
 calico, pays a heavy import duty, and yet undersells the pro- 
 ducts of the mills at Lowell. When the great American 
 people, through their rising colleges, and by a better under- 
 standing of the effects of restrictive tariffs, apply their in- 
 tellectual powers in this direction, such relative superiority 
 of manufacturing science will be impossible, in the presence of 
 
152 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 There is another branch of industry which I may 
 notice, the machine-made lace and bobbin-net manu- 
 facture of Nottingham and Derby a manufacture 
 which fifty years ago did not exist, but which now 
 produces fabrics of the annual value of upwards of 
 5,000,000 sterling. Thousands of complicated 
 machines are ever employed in creating those delicate 
 tissues and gauzy screens of fairy-like fabric which veil 
 beauty without eclipsing it, and give their perfect finish 
 to gorgeous robes of satin, silk, and velvet. At the 
 Great Exhibition of 1851 were to be seen on the lace- 
 machine, here plain unpretending net, there elaborately 
 woven lace, ready for the still richer adornments to be 
 lavished on it by the tambour workers. That iron can 
 do, and must do, much of what fingers were wont to 
 achieve, is not to be prevented, and not to be regretted. 
 
 In 1801 our imports of foreign and colonial wool 
 were about 7,250,000 Ibs. ; in 1860 they rose to 
 nearly 148,500,000 Ibs. 
 
 the raw material at the doors of their mills. More strange 
 still to see Switzerland, with no seaboard, and no coal, bring- 
 ing cotton from America, transporting it through the denies 
 of the mountains, then back again over land and sea in the 
 form of high-priced cotton goods, underselling America in her 
 own markets. What enables such a country to do this ? It 
 is not cheapness of labour ; it is intellectual or scientific 
 superiority in relation to the manufacture, which competes 
 successfully against local advantages. In human progress 
 it is a natural law that the sweat of the brow should be 
 lessened by the conception of the brain. The economy pro- 
 duced by the substitution of cheaper for dearer forms of 
 force is remarkable in all cases where it is applied. Dr. 
 Lyon Playfair. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 153 
 
 In 1801 our exports of British woollen goods 
 amounted in value to 5,000,000 sterling ; in 1860 
 the value was more than 16,000,000. The raw and 
 thrown silk imported into this country in 1801 was 
 but 1,000,000 Ibs. ; in 1859 it was more than 
 12,500,000 Ibs. 
 
 As lately as 1820, the value of British manufactured 
 silk goods exported, did not exceed 372,000 ; in 
 1860 their value was 2,500,000 sterling. 
 
 In 1860 the total value of the British linen manufac- 
 tures exported was more than 6,250,000, or treble 
 the value of the exports of 1801. These figures will 
 serve to give some idea of the products of industry 
 resulting from scientific improvements. 
 
 Who was not struck in the machine room of the late 
 Exhibition with the multiplicity of inventions for ac- 
 complishing in the most simple and effective manner, 
 a variety of purposes.* To say nothing of the large 
 
 * The prosperity of England depends, not only on the 
 produce of her soil and mines, but also greatly on the number 
 of self-acting machines she keeps at work. In proportion to 
 the increase of the latter has been her increase in wealth 
 and power. Our ancestors had very rude implements to work 
 with, but since the introduction of the steam engine the 
 machinists and engineers of England have gone on applying 
 new machines to every kind of industry, until we have arrived 
 at a time when we have an enormous wealth-producing power 
 at our command. The produce of our mines of coal and iron 
 is so abundant that we can convert the raw material we 
 obtain from other countries into an almost endless variety of 
 things, which add to the comforts of all. The wealth deriva- 
 ble from our mines and self-acting machinery goes on without 
 interruption. The progress that has been made by engineers, 
 during the last forty years has been very remarkable, parti- 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 sugar mills, centrifugal pumps, coining presses, and so 
 forth, what dexterity and skill were displayed in 
 machines for making needles and pins, aye, and for 
 sticking them on paper ; for sewing, for setting up 
 type, for polishing knives in a wholesale style, and for 
 cleaning boots and shoes. Then there were freezing 
 machines for the artificial production of ice, balloting 
 and voting machines for the modest elector ; calculating 
 machines ; and casks are also now made by machinery. 
 Science even contrives for us guard razors by which 
 the blind may shave themselves ; invaluable are they 
 to a nervous man on board a tossing ship. Then we 
 have comfortable gas stoves for our kitchens, and magic 
 spirit stoves with which to cook our chops at a pic-nic 
 on the Pyramids of Egypt, or the summit of Mont 
 Blanc ; and pocket kitchens, which contain all the 
 apparatus and utensils to cook for and dine a party of 
 20 or 30. A walking stick has been made to contain 
 
 cularly in constructing and making self-acting machinery. 
 12*. per foot was then paid for the labour of chipping 
 and filing surfaces of iron, which is now frequently 
 done on the planing machine for Id. By Mr. Bessemer's 
 admirable process, the cost of manufacturing some kinds of 
 steel has recently been reduced to one-half, and, in some 
 cases, to one- third what it used to be. The consumption of 
 coal for manufactures has been reduced more than one-half ; 
 the saving last year (1869) on the English railways by loco- 
 motive engines burning coal instead of coke was 1,200,000 
 sterling. Mechanical and civil engineers, chemists, and 
 scientific men are continually finding out new modes of pro- 
 ducing wealth, and the owners of self-acting machinery 
 generally go on improving and increasing their productions, 
 from which those who have fixed incomes derive great advan- 
 tage. Sir Joseph Whitworth upon Machinery. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 155 
 
 all our toilet apparatus when journeying, and a port- 
 manteau, the furniture and fittings for a couple of 
 rooms, while our pillow or mackintosh coat is converted 
 into a life-buoy or boat at sea. Alarum bedsteads make 
 the sluggard an early riser without his consent, by 
 pitching him out of bed nolens volens. 
 
 Here is the description of an ingenious invention for 
 early risers, A ' mechanic, residing at Hulme, has 
 constructed a little machine for the purpose of awaking 
 himself early in the morning. To a Dutch clock in 
 the kitchen he has attached a lever, from which a wire 
 communicates through the ceiling to the bedroom 
 above, in which he has fixed his novel invention. 
 Having set the lever to any hour at which he may 
 wish to be awakened, when the time arrives it is re- 
 leased by the clock, and the machinery up stairs, rings 
 a bell, then strikes a match, which lights an oil lamp. 
 This lamp runs upon four wheels, and is at the same 
 instant propelled through a tin tube on a miniature 
 railway, about five feet long, which is raised, by small 
 iron supports, a few inches above the bedroom floor. 
 Near the end of the "line" is fixed an elevated iron 
 stand, upon which a small tea kettle is placed, and 
 immediately under it, by the aid of a spring the lamp 
 is stopped, and its flame boils the water in the kettle 
 in twenty minutes, thus enabling him to have a cup of 
 tea or coffee prior to going to work. The machine 
 altogether is of a very neat appearance, the mechanism 
 being of polished iron. It combines utility with 
 economy, as the working of it does not cost more than 
 a halfpenny per week. 
 
 If we now turn our attention to the progress of 
 
156 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 chemical discovery, what important results do we not 
 see arising from the practical application of that 
 science to the arts and manufactures of our country. 
 Let me select a few instances out of the many that 
 might be cited, in which Chemistry has rendered 
 especial service. 
 
 Sulphur is the key of the operative chemist. "With 
 it he unlocks Nature's secret drawer, and exposes for 
 public benefit many of its invaluable treasures. Colour 
 making in its various branches, dyeing, paper making, 
 bleaching, the most valuable medical preparations, the 
 instruments of war, the electric telegraph, daguerreo- 
 type, and many other arts would scarcely be known but 
 for sulphur. A chemist first makes sulphuric acid, 
 having this, he can prepare nitric acid, hydrochloric 
 acid, and all their compounds ; also phosphorus, 
 chlorine, platinum, &c. These lead to a thousand 
 substances used daily in the arts of life. 
 
 We may truly judge of the manufactures of a country 
 and its comparative civilisation by the quantity of 
 sulphur that it consumes. In this particular Great 
 Britain stands pre-eminent, our foreign imports 
 amounting to 58,200 tons per annum. A nation will 
 never become commercially and politically great with- 
 out it can readily procure coal, sulphur, and iron; 
 take either of these away, and its power will sink into 
 insignificance. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century, the 
 price of sulphuric acid was 2s. 6d. per lb., and its 
 sale was comparatively limited. Now, thanks to the 
 improved processes of preparation, and to the researches 
 of Wollaston, who taught us how to form the metallic 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 157 
 
 grains of platinum into stills, and to dispense with 
 glass retorts, we are enabled to obtain this acid at the 
 low price of Id. per Ib. Upwards of 70,000 tons 
 of this acid are now annually manufactured in Great 
 Britain, and there is scarcely a branch of manufacturing 
 industry, which has not either directly or indirectly 
 been benefited by its reduction of price. " Other im- 
 mediate results of the economical production of 
 sulphuric acid, are the general employment of phos- 
 phorus matches, and of stearine candles that 
 beautiful substitute for tallow and wax. Twenty-five 
 years ago the present prices and extensive applications 
 of sulphuric and muriatic acids, of soda, phosphorus, 
 &c., would have been considered utterly impossible. 
 Who is able to foresee what new and unthought of 
 chemical productions, ministering to the service and 
 comforts of mankind, the next quarter of a century may 
 produce ?" Liebig. 
 
 Again, as regards soda, formerly we were dependent 
 for our supply of this alkali on Spain and Sicily for 
 barilla, and the Highlands of Scotland for kelp ; 6,000 
 tons per annum of the former were imported, and about 
 25,000 tons of kelp supplied from the Northern Islands, 
 &c., now the principal portion of the soda employed in 
 various manufactures (such as soap, glass, &c.), and 
 for domestic and other purposes, is obtained from sea 
 salt ; and our export alone of this article amounted in 
 1860 to 102,248 tons, of the declared value of upwards 
 of 1,000,000 ; whilst our import of barilla has di- 
 minished to about 900 tons. The total quantity of 
 soda annually manufactured in Great Britain cannot 
 be short of 300,000 tons ; and such is the low price 
 
158 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and good quality of this article, as compared with 
 barilla and kelp, that, comparing the relative prices 
 and qualities, a saving of 5,000,000 sterling per 
 annum is effected on the quantity at present made. 
 
 It is the low price of sulphuric acid which has occa- 
 sioned the cheapness of bleaching powder and soda 
 the cheapness of soda, which has enabled us to obtain 
 soap, glass, and other industrial products at a lower 
 rate, and thus our leading manufactures have all been 
 benefited to a considerable extent. In 1801 phos- 
 phorus was worth more shillings the ounce than it now 
 is per pound. Then we imported all that we required 
 (little though it was) from the Continent. Now we 
 have establishments in our own country for its manu- 
 facture in which 20,000 Ibs, weight are annually 
 made and sold at 6s. per Ib. It is estimated that 
 not less than 10,000,000,000,000 of lucifer matches 
 are annually made in this country, besides immense 
 quantities in America and Germany, a trade scarcely 
 dreamt of twenty-five years ago. 
 
 That beautiful pigment, ultramarine, which affords 
 the finest blue in the world, is of great importance to 
 our Fine Arts and Commerce, being extensively used by 
 printers, painters, varnishers, and for tapestry. In the 
 early part of the present century it could only be ob- 
 tained from that rare mineral lapis lazuli, and was 
 then worth five to seven guineas the oz. ; indeed a 
 very choice and genuine article would often fetch 
 twenty guineas the oz. But chemical investiga- 
 tion was set to work to produce a substitute, and in 
 1828 a French chemist succeeded in making an arti- 
 ficial ultramarine, which he could sell with profit 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 159 
 
 at 425. the Ib. Its manufacture has been now so 
 simplified that it is sold at from Wd. to Is. 3d. the Ib. 
 
 Even the most common and refuse materials are 
 being turned to account. Dr. Penny has recently disco- 
 vered that the soot from blast-iron furnaces contains 
 about fifty per cent, of potash salt ; and, as these salts 
 are of well known value, this discovery will prove of 
 considerable importance to those who are interested in 
 these commercial products, and also to ironmasters, 
 who will be enabled to convert such a substance to 
 practical use. 
 
 Prussiate of potash again furnishes an instance of 
 the application of Science to the arts. 
 
 Take another palpable instance of the benefits of 
 Science in the progress of candle making. Who cannot 
 remember the rushlights and dips and moulds of tallow, 
 with their feeble flame, guttering propensities, and vile 
 smell. How have these been replaced by the hard com- 
 posite and stearine candles, the night-lights, the 
 anti-guttering candles, as well as the camphine and 
 moderator and candle lamps, which have all been so 
 cheapened as to be brought into general use ! 
 
 Science has raised candle making from a clumsy, 
 offensive, mechanical trade into a first-class chemical 
 manufacture, one offering the widest field for appli- 
 cations of the highest chemistry. It is but fifteen 
 years ago that fatty distillation and its attendant 
 processes were put into practice, and now every day 
 some improvement is effected in the processes and in 
 their results. Our imports of the two principal vege- 
 table oils (cocoa-nut and palm oil) have more than 
 doubled. The imports in 1841 were 22,000 tons, and 
 
160 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 now they are more than 50,000 tons. Look at the 
 employment these discoveries have given to thousands 
 at home and abroad. One company in the metropolis 
 (Price's Candle Company) employs about 1,300 
 persons constantly.* 
 
 The syrupy body termed glycerine, which serves as 
 a base to the acids of which fat is composed, was for- 
 merly looked upon as a nuisance, to be got rid of at a 
 great expense, in the process of candle making. It is 
 now more valued, and sells at a higher rate than its 
 early-prized associate the stearic acid ; for it is a 
 useful medical agent, and can be applied to a number 
 of economic purposes. 
 
 Although Wohler obtained aluminium in 1827, it 
 is only of late years that the preparation of this metal 
 has been conducted upon a very large scale. Its 
 remarkable peculiarities are its low specific gravity 
 and its extreme sonorousness. The surface of this 
 metal takes a fine polish, is not acted upon by the air, 
 and is never tarnished. Hence its superiority to silver, 
 and its value in commerce and art, if it could be readily 
 and cheaply obtained. As has been well observed re- 
 cently, the oxide of aluminium* is perhaps of all bodies 
 that which is most universally diffused over the surface 
 of our earth. It is the base of all the clays, which 
 
 * The manufacture of paraffine candles has become an im- 
 portant industry, and there are single establishments in 
 Germany capable of turning out 240,000 candles daily. In 
 England and France, the industry has reached vast propor- 
 tions, and in the United States it has no mean significance. 
 Wagner estimates the production of paraffine candles in Prussia 
 alone, for the year 1870, at 11,000,000 Ibs. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 161 
 
 contain it in considerable proportions ; and the bulk of 
 the various soils is composed of it in varying quan- 
 tities, together with other earthy (saline and inorganic) 
 substances. What, then, in the course of years may 
 not be expected from this so widely-diffused metal ? 
 In centuries yet to come how many things may be 
 made of it, and how manifold may be its uses and ap- 
 plications in the ordinary household and the common 
 arts of life. It appears that we are bountifully provided 
 with a beautiful silvery metal in the very dust under 
 our feet, in the very clay of our roads, and in the soils 
 of our fields. We only wait the advance of metal- 
 lurgical and chemical science to enable us to obtain a 
 bright metal as cheap as dirt from the very dirt 
 itself.* 
 
 But perhaps the best way of realising to our con- 
 ceptions the actual progress of the last half century 
 would be to fancy ourselves suddenly transported back 
 to the year 1800, with all our habits, expectations, 
 requirements, and standard of living, formed upon the 
 luxuries and appliances collected round us at present. 
 In the first year of this century we should find our- 
 selves eating bread at Is. lO^d. the quartern loaf, and 
 those who could not afford this price driven to short 
 commons, to entire abstinence, or to some miserable 
 substitute. We should be grumbling at heavy taxes 
 laid on nearly all the necessaries and luxuries of life 
 even upon salt complaining bitterly at the high prices 
 of coffee, tea, and sugar, which confined these articles 
 in any adequate abundance to the rich and easy classes 
 of society ; paying twofold for our linen shirts, three- 
 * " Athenasum." 
 
 HI 
 
162 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 fold for flannel petticoats, and above fivefold for cotton 
 handkerchiefs and stockings ; receiving our newspaper 
 seldom, poverty-stricken, and some days after date ; 
 receiving Edinburgh letters in London a week after 
 they were written, and paying 13Jd. for them when 
 delivered ; exchanging the instantaneous telegraph for 
 the slow and costly process by chaise and four ; tra- 
 velling with soreness and fatigue by the " old heavy " 
 at the rate of seven miles an hour, instead of by the 
 Great Western at fifty ; and relapsing from the blaze 
 of light which gas now pours along our streets into a 
 perilous and uncomfortable " darkness made visible" by 
 a few wretched oil lamps scattered at distant intervals. 
 
 " Oh, the pleasant days of old, which so often people praise, 
 They wanted all the luxuries that grace our modern days ; 
 Bare floors were strewed with rushes, the walls let in the 
 
 cold; 
 Oh, how they must have shivered ! in those pleasant days of 
 
 old." 
 
 " A young man alive at this period," wrote Sydney 
 Smith, in a letter published in his collected works, 
 " hardly knows to what improvements of human life 
 he has been introduced, and I would bring before his 
 notice the following eighteen changes which have taken 
 place since I first began to breathe in it the breath of 
 life : Gas was unknown in his boyhood ; he was nine 
 hours sailing from Dover to Calais before the invention 
 of steam ; nine hours dawdling from Taunton to Bath 
 before the invention of railroads, instead of four hours 
 flying from Taunton to London ; bad roads in the 
 country cost him ten or twelve thousand severe contu- 
 sions every journey ; and bad pavements in London 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 163 
 
 cost him 15 a year for the repair of his carriage 
 springs ; he had no policemen to guide and protect 
 him through the streets, and no cabs to whisk him 
 along if he were tired or in a hurry ; he had no um- 
 brella in those days, and no macintosh, or waterproof 
 hats ; braces were unknown ; game could not be 
 bought. 
 
 " If I had the gout," he continues, " there was no 
 colchicum ; if I was bilious, there was no calomel ; 
 if I was attacked by ague, there was no quinine. 
 There were filthy coffee-houses instead of elegant 
 clubs ; quarrels about uncommuted tithes were endless ; 
 there were no banks to receive the savings of the poor ; 
 the poor laws were gradually sapping the vitals of the 
 country ; and whatever miseries I suffered, I had no 
 post to whisk my complaints for a single penny to the 
 remotest corners of the empire." 
 
 But the last half century has done for us much 
 more than this. 
 
 If a murder is committed, or a carpet bag left be- 
 hind, or a young lady elopes, a message is conveyed 
 from one country to the other in a few minutes. 
 Before the end of the month we know in London 
 what happened in Bombay in the beginning. Our 
 ideas fly about like magic. In these days men may buy 
 for a shilling a book that formerly cost them a pound. 
 The best literature of the world is within the reach of 
 the denizen of the homely cottage. The treasures of 
 the nation are open to him. The labourer and the 
 mechanic may see for nothing the best pictures and 
 the finest collections of curiosities and art manufac- 
 tures in the country. A single newspaper in these 
 
 M 2 
 
164 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 days contains more intelligence than did a month's file 
 at the beginning of the century. The printing machine 
 strikes off its tens of thousands in an hour, where the 
 old press struck off its fifties ; and the celerity with 
 which intelligence is brought to the printing-office 
 from the remotest regions of the earth, is only to be 
 equalled by that with which it is dispersed. There 
 are now about 1,200 newspapers in the United King- 
 dom, with a gross circulation of 221,500,000 copies 
 annually, of which the London newspapers issue about 
 119,000,000 ; and their cheapness places them in the 
 hands of everybody. The consumption of paper in 
 the Kingdom in 1860 was nearly 208,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 " The productions of the press may first be contem- 
 plated in the more permanent form of the l library,' the 
 settled form of ancient lore, established science, and 
 enshrined genius. It constitutes the entire treasury 
 of the world's standard intellectual wealth. The 
 library is, as it were, the world's great memory, con- 
 taining all it knows ; it is that cell in the world's 
 phrenology which holds its hoarded masses of fixed 
 thought ; it is reflection which has ceased to effervesce, 
 and has crystallised into solid cubic form. Modern medi- 
 tation is still adding, like the slow accretions of a coral 
 island, its immortal accumulations to the stupendous 
 pile. And of all it still knows, the world must forget 
 nothing. Genius and Science are the two producers 
 whose works are ever enlarging the library. Oratory 
 is pouring forth her syllables of wisdom ; Poetry is 
 weaving her spells ; History is reporting her events ; 
 and Romance is fabricating her mimic histories. In 
 the sphere of Science we behold the astronomer with 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 165 
 
 his telescope ; the chemist with his crucible ; the 
 geometer with his diagram ; the geologist with his 
 pick-axe ; each with his note-book in his hand, ready 
 to record his discovery that discovery forming but a 
 single line, yet that line a precious and immortal 
 volume. Each is glad to send his little specimen, 
 carefully labelled with his own name, into the great 
 alcoves. So goes immortal thought into Thought's 
 immortal repository. And thus the library, from the 
 spoils of the press, is ever living and ever growing." 
 
 What a sorry figure would the establishment of the 
 Sossii and Co. exhibit the crack publishing house of 
 Augustan Rome, with their few hundreds of unwieldy 
 volumes of rolled parchment, painfully transcribed 
 with a reed or iron pen beside our Cassell, our 
 Murray, or our Longmans, whose mere advertisement 
 catalogues would furnish more pages than all Augustan 
 Rome ever published. 
 
 But the glories of the modern press are yet to be 
 unrolled, when the whole continents of Australia and 
 America are overspread with their dense and living 
 civilisation ; when the Rocky Mountains shall, like 
 the back margin of a great book, demark but not 
 divide two great outspread pages of united empire an 
 empire that shall cover with a busy population the hills 
 and vales, the green river sides, and the broad'savannahs 
 of that young continent. 
 
 Only think, too, of the results which must inevitably 
 flow from the stream of emigration which has com- 
 menced to the western seaboard of the American 
 continent. The junction of the Pacific and Atlantic 
 oceans at the isthmus of Central America, which will 
 
166 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 speedily be effected, taken in connection with the 
 golden treasures of Australia and California, must soon 
 bring about a complete revolution in the state of the 
 world. 
 
 Those whose memory can reach to the early years 
 of the present century, must feel we have lived in an 
 age of wonders-. We have seen a substance, which our 
 ancestors proudly used to obliterate a pencil mark, so 
 moulded to our use as to make man almost an amphi- 
 bious animal ; a noxious vapour, from which they would 
 turn with disgust, made the means of brilliant light, 
 which enables the night almost to rival the day. We 
 have seen the surgeon's knife, to them an instrument 
 of necessary torture, divested of its horror by a 
 discovery, which gives a temporary insensibility to pain, 
 which enables the suffering patient to wake from 
 nothing more than a troubled dream, and find that 
 over, under which, without this, his fortitude might 
 have faltered, or his constitution sunk. 
 
 Two of the large, powerful, and ferocious grizzly 
 bears, in the menagerie of the Zoological Society, 
 were some time ago successfully operated upon for 
 cataract while under the influence of chloroform. And 
 our very poachers are bringing science to bear on their 
 marauding operations, for the " Perth Courier" tells us 
 that they are catching hares there by laying sponges 
 saturated with chloroform 'beside their food. We have 
 seen again a power which is inexhaustible so long as 
 the elements of fire and water remain, the effects of 
 which our grandmothers may have witnessed with a sigh, 
 when terminating by a sudden crash the serene music of 
 their tea-kettles, but which, by the combined efforts 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 167 
 
 of modern Science, has become the very hands and feet 
 of the world ; the great and almost universal manu- 
 facturer for man ; the great propeller by which we 
 rival the flight of the bird, and which so unites the 
 human family that degrees of latitude and longitude 
 are little more than milestones on the great highway 
 of the world. And further, we have seen that subtle 
 power which our ancestors recognised only in the 
 minute spark of the electric circle, transformed into 
 the faithful untiring agent of the human mind bear- 
 ing its thoughts from one end of a vast continent to 
 another with an accuracy which would be in vain looked 
 for in any other messenger, and with a speed which far 
 outstrips the action of the mind which formed them. 
 
 " Quick as thought " will not do now to express 
 the greatest speed, and " quick as lightning " has be- 
 come a practical, not merely a figurative expression. 
 Had it happened some two or three centuries ago that 
 some superior mind had discovered the expansive 
 powers of steam, or the rapid passage and magnetising 
 effects of electricity, and had at the same time the 
 mechanical genius for contrivance, to render those 
 properties available, as we now see them in daily and 
 hourly use, what would have been the probable result ? 
 It is not unlikely that, to the discoverer of such 
 wonders, the discovery might have been anything but 
 profitable. He would not then have been courted by 
 companies, or feted by shareholders ; neither riches 
 nor honour would have rewarded his labour and anxiety ; 
 but his discoveries might have been looked on as 
 miracles effected by no heavenly power, and the monu- 
 ment of his fame have been the faggot and the stake. 
 
168 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Even had no such fate awaited him, the benefit of 
 his discoveries would prohably have been confined 
 within narrow limits, to his own neighbourhood, his 
 own country. The genius of the time would have led 
 him to keep the means by which he produced such 
 astounding effects as secret as possible, for the sake 
 of mystery or profit. He would not have sought to 
 simplify or improve his own discoveries and con- 
 trivances by the assistance of others, and, as is supposed 
 to have been the case in ancient times with many dis- 
 coveries of vast importance, the secret of his art would 
 have died with himself. Different indeed is the case 
 now. Let any man, from the noblest in science to the 
 humblest mechanic, discover or contrive anything which 
 will open a new power to the world, or simplify the 
 most trifling operation in a manufactory, he is received 
 with considerate attention. His discovery is tested 
 in every way, and if found to be of scientific or prac- 
 tical benefit, his name becomes known to fame, and 
 his labours are faithfully rewarded. 
 
 There is now no compression of Science ; no crowding 
 it in colleges, or locking it up in laboratories; the 
 great object in our day is to discover as much 
 as possible ; to make all discoveries as practically 
 useful as possible ; to spread the knowledge of them 
 as widely as possible, and to make the means of ac- 
 quiring that knowledge as plain and as simple as pos- 
 sible. Knowledge, which was formerly enclosed in 
 heavy and expensive volumes, now flies abroad in a 
 lighter form, and offers her blessings at a cost so 
 reasonable as to exclude but very few, who desire it, 
 from a participation in them. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 169 
 
 The press of England, America, and the Continent 
 teems with productions, which, at the cost of a few 
 shilling!;, give sound practical information on all 
 branches of science ; and that, too, not mystified by 
 the cramped phraseology of Science, but given in lan- 
 guage as simple and intelligible as the nature of the 
 subject will allow. There are now 1,200 Mechanics' 
 Institutions in England and Wales, besides many 
 other philosophical institutions. In most places, too, 
 institutions, similar to that which works within these 
 walls, have been established, for the purpose of im- 
 parting knowledge in a pleasing and attractive form, 
 to those whose daily pursuits may exercise the powers 
 of the body more than those of the mind. Here then 
 we have the true commentary on the saying of Bacon, 
 that " Knowledge is power." Power not in those 
 who have it, to impose on those who have it not to 
 lead them as the blind instruments of a superior intel- 
 ligence as the mere machines by which the profit or 
 the glory of its possessor is to be attained; but power to 
 minister to the comforts and conveniences of mankind ; 
 to raise and improve the human character, individually 
 and generally ; to give men profitable employment 
 and recreation for their leisure hours ; to make them 
 feel they have minds as well as bodies ; to give them a 
 new sense in the contemplation of all around them ; 
 and to lead them, in all they see and all they know, to 
 trace the good and gracious workings of Him to whom 
 all things belong, from whom they came, and to whom 
 they must return. And after all the knowledge we 
 may have acquired by years of patient application and 
 laborious study, how deficient are we ! What said the 
 
170 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 great Newton on this subject, not long before he 
 passed away from this earth, whose noblest son he 
 was, thus leaving to the world a lesson of humility, 
 by which all men may profit, though they may not be 
 able to fathom the depths of those vast discoveries 
 which have made his name immortal. "I do not 
 know," said this truly great man, " what I may appear 
 to the world ; but to myself I seem to have been like 
 a boy playing on the sea- shore, and diverting myself 
 in now and then finding a smoother pebble, or a prettier 
 shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of Truth lay 
 all undiscovered before me." 
 
 One hardly knows which to admire most in this 
 the modesty of the man, or the beauty of the language. 
 
 Were it possible to call up the embodied wisdom of 
 antiquity from the dark profundity of the past, and 
 show them the modern progress on the real road to 
 Science, even in the discoveries of the present century ; 
 how great would be their amazement. Show them a 
 lengthened train of twice a hundred loaded carriages 
 or trucks, gliding smoothly on the iron rail with the 
 velocity of an eagles' flight dragged on like some 
 long, slim, snaky monster by its locomotive head, with 
 eyes of burning fire, snorting forth their heated respira- 
 tions, and at every evolutionary pulsation discharging 
 the refuse remnants of their motive power. 
 
 Show them a vessel, such a one as the Great 
 Eastern, or one of the Holyhead packets, propelled 
 through the ocean with a velocity of fifteen or twenty 
 miles an hour, without the aid of sails or wind. Show 
 them cities and their thousand streets, shops, public 
 edifices and private dwellings, at night lighted with 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 171 
 
 the brilliancy of noon-day by an invisible fluid that is 
 weighed and measured with the same precision as oil, 
 wax and tallow.* 
 
 Show them the miniature of a fine lady some 
 dashing belle, with all her resplendent finery, crinoline 
 included produced with the most accurate minuteness, 
 without a painter or a pencil, except the pencils of the 
 solar rays, merely by exposing the subject to the 
 refractive condensation of the rays of light, through 
 the medium of the camera obscura, imprisoning the 
 reflection on a silvered metal plate, on paper, or on 
 glass. 
 
 We almost hear them exclaim, as they shrink from 
 the future, " Hold ! let us return to the darkness of 
 the past, and be again shut up from the modern world 
 of witchcraft, magic and enchantment." Detain them 
 a few minutes and desire them to peep through Rosse's 
 or Craig's telescopes, while they take a sweep across 
 the firmament. They find the haze of distance dis- 
 solved ; the barriers to mortal vision vanished ; the 
 veil of the universe withdrawn ; the splendour and mag- 
 
 * In 1792, in England, William Murdock lighted his own 
 dwelling with gas ; in 1803, a machine shop, and in 1805, a 
 cotton factory at Salford were similarly lighted. He began 
 to lecture upon the subject, but not until 1810 could a com- 
 pany get a charter for its manufacture. In 1814, West- 
 minster Bridge was lighted, and in 1816, Guildhall. Gas 
 was then los. the 1,000 feet. There was great opposition 
 even from scientific men, and also great difficulties from want 
 of machinery to make and use the gas. Gun barrels screwed 
 together were used to convey it from place to place. Finally* 
 however, every obstacle was surmounted, and now there is not a 
 city of any size in the civilised world which is not lighted by gas. 
 
172 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 nificence of celestial scenery, with all its grandeur, 
 displayed to human understanding at a glance ; the 
 siderial fields of space, passing like a panorama of 
 suns and worlds, with their satellites and rings, bril- 
 liant orbs and opaque planets, on the majestic march 
 of time. 
 
 We imagine a spirit of uneasiness and a desire to 
 quit this lower sphere and ascend to planets that they 
 recognise as their local habitations in the spirit world 
 on the achromatic field. They may be persuaded to 
 stay and look upon the operation of the electric post. 
 
 A London correspondent demands from Paris, 
 Berlin or Vienna, the character of the Bourse, the 
 rise or fall of stocks, prices of exchange, &c., and whilst 
 gazing on the operator's motions, he reads the in- 
 stantaneous response. 
 
 Show them yonder hill obstructing the progress of 
 the grading operations of the labourers on a new 
 railroad. The rock -bound base is charged already, 
 and ignited by the merest movement of a tiny wire, 
 connected with alternate layers of zinc and copper 
 plates submerged in acid; a vast explosive sound 
 bursts upon their ears, and the mountain rocks are 
 flying in mid air. Present a similar explosion at 
 Spithead or in the port of Cherbourg, and the heaving 
 surge gives way and the submarine obstructions are 
 riven from their foundations, shooting upwards to the 
 zenith with volcanic force into the aerial space. 
 These are more than enough for them, yet we look 
 forward to more wonderful occurrences. 
 
 It was well observed, recently, by "The Times," that 
 "habit has so familiarised us with the marvellous 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 173 
 
 triumphs of Physical Science that we have ceased to 
 feel or express astonishment at results which, not so 
 many years ago, would have been dismissed from the 
 consideration of rational men as the visions of a 
 fantastic imagination. To run a railway train over 
 the surface of a country at the rate of a mile a 
 minute ; to cross the Atlantic in a steamship in eight 
 or nine days ; to communicate with any of the prin- 
 cipal towns of Europe in less time than is required to 
 put the words upon paper, and other results of the like 
 nature, have become so completely part of our daily 
 life that we have ceased to regard them as extra- 
 ordinary. That which is really worthy of note is the 
 rate of progression at which discoveries are made. 
 One miracle seems to beget another. It is Wheat - 
 stone and his electric telegraph one year it is the 
 Crystal Palace the next. One day we have the 
 monster steamship, another, Bessemcr's discoveries in 
 the method of working iron. This comes of living in 
 a Scientific age. We are as yet but stumbling at the 
 threshold of the cavern in which the secrets of nature 
 have lain hidden for so many years." 
 
 If you will but consider what improvements have 
 taken place in the ordinary dwellings, the furniture, 
 clothes and food of even the very lowest orders of 
 society, as compared with their condition a few centuries 
 ago, you will see how much is due to Skill, Science, 
 and Improvement, and find how greatly we are in- 
 debted to Commerce for the large addition to our 
 creature comforts. The wonderful inventions, im- 
 provements and discoveries of the nineteenth century, 
 form of themselves one of the most important chapters 
 
174 SCIENCE AXD COMMERCE. 
 
 in the history of the world, and mark in imperishable 
 records the progress and advancement of society and 
 civilisation. 
 
 The arts are like plants, proliferous, and like them 
 too, can only be improved by culture. Most of these 
 improvements spring from very humble and ignoble 
 sources. A fowling-piece, it has been well observed, is 
 a child's popgun elaborated ; the clay huts of the Hot- 
 tentot, and the snow houses of the Esquimaux, are the 
 germs of our marble mansions and our glass palaces ; 
 a ship is a ripened canoe ; and the steam-engine 
 itself may be traced to covers ejected from primeval 
 cauldrons. 
 
 The highest elegancies are descendants of very 
 homely progenitors. Our ladies adjust their shawls of 
 cashmere in front of silvered mirrors, supported by 
 Psyches ; primitive belles covered their shoulders with 
 skins of newly-slain animals, and admired their unctu- 
 ous faces in pans of water and polished stones. A 
 Jacquard loom is an Indian's weaving frame matured ; 
 and printed volumes and newspapers are deducible from 
 guippos and historical belts of wampum or papyrus. 
 The desire of improvement of progress is inherent 
 with us. 
 
 What are half the crimes in the world committed 
 for ? What brings into action the best virtues ? The 
 desire of possessing. Of possessing what ? Not mere 
 money, but every species of the beautiful which money 
 can purchase. A man lies hid in a little, dirty, smoky 
 room for twenty years of his life, and sums up as many 
 columns of figures as would reach round half the 
 earth, if they were laid at length ; he gets rich ; what 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 175 
 
 does he do with his riches ? He buys a large, well- 
 proportioned house ; in the arrangement of his furni- 
 ture he gratifies himself with all the beauty which 
 splendid colours, regular figures, and smooth surfaces 
 can convey ; he has the beauties of variety and as- 
 sociation in his grounds ; the cup out of which he 
 drinks his tea is adorned with beautiful figures ; the 
 chair in which he sits is covered with smooth, shining 
 leather ; his table-cloth is of the most beautiful 
 damask ; mirrors reflect the lights from every quarter 
 of the room ; pictures of the best masters feed his eye 
 with all the beauties of imitation. A million of human 
 creatures are employed in this country in ministering 
 to this feeling of the beautiful. It is only a barbarous, 
 ignorant people that can ever be occupied by the neces- 
 saries of life alone. If to eat, and to drink, and to be 
 warm, were the only passions of our minds, we should 
 all be what the lowest of us are at this day. The love 
 of the beautiful calls man to fresh exertions, and 
 awakens him to a more noble life ; and the glory of it 
 is, that as painters imitate, and poets sing, and sta- 
 tuaries carve, and architects rear up the gorgeous 
 trophies of their skill, and as everything becomes 
 beautiful, and orderly, and magnificent, the activity of 
 the mind rises to still greater and to better objects. 
 Thus do we find " wisdom, strength and beauty " com- 
 bined in all the works of the Great Artificer of the 
 Universe. 
 
 Let us glance now at what Science has done for 
 Navigation in the present century. Science has, from 
 careful observation, deduced laws by which the navi- 
 gator may escape the ravages of those devastating 
 
176 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 hurricanes, which occasionally bring destruction on all 
 within their reach, and has taught him by circle- 
 sailing how to make the passage round the globe in 
 something less than half the time formerly employed. 
 The advantages of Science in nautical affairs have 
 rarely been more strikingly illustrated than in a fact 
 stated in a late report of the American Navy De- 
 partment, that by means of the wind and current charts, 
 projected by Captain Maury (the late Superintendent 
 of the Naval Observatory at Washington), the passage 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific ports of that continent 
 has been shortened by about forty days. 
 
 Thanks to the recent important investigations, of the 
 Astronomer Royal and others, respecting the devia- 
 tions of the compass in iron ships, that instrument 
 may still, in great measure, retain its place as the 
 invaluable guide to the mariner in iron ships as it 
 was formerly in wooden ships. 
 
 It took several years to bring to maturity the con- 
 ceptions of the originators of ocean steam navigation. 
 At length the " Sirius " and " Great Western " 
 achieved the passage of the Atlantic just as Dr. 
 Lardner was demonstrating its impossibility, and 
 established transatlantic steam communication. Vessels 
 of all sizes and varieties of structure were laid down 
 by private individuals and public companies, unaided 
 by Government patronage, to try, in the open race of 
 competition, for mastery on the broad Atlantic. It 
 was an ennobling and heart-inspiring sight, the 
 way in which the energy and enterprise of the English 
 people, left to their own vigour and resources, rushed 
 into the field of ocean steam navigation. Numbers 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 177 
 
 might lose their money, time, and labour, as Kaleigh 
 and their forefathers had done before them ; but of 
 the ultimate successful result of that enterprise, which 
 has reduced the passage across the Atlantic from an 
 uncertain one of forty days to a certain one of ten or 
 twelve days, no one did or could entertain a doubt. 
 
 Less than a quarter of a century ago the foreign 
 and colonial mails were all conveyed by sailing packets. 
 At that period there was only a mail communication 
 with France four times a week, and with America once 
 a month. The mail passage to and from the latter 
 country was reckoned by weeks. With the East Indies 
 there was no mail communication whatever. The foreign 
 and colonial mails made up in London on a Wednesday 
 were dispatched from Falmouth (then the principal 
 packet station of the country) on the following Saturday, 
 three days afterwards, provided the wind and weather 
 permitted it. 
 
 England is now celebrated for the extent and per- 
 fection of her mail packet service ; in fact it may be 
 said that she carries the sea-borne correspondence of 
 the whole world. And how cheaply she does it ! A 
 letter is brought some 16,000 miles for 6c?., and a 
 newspaper for Id. From east to west, between China 
 and Chili, passing through the four quarters of the 
 globe, and from north to south, between Hamburg 
 and the Cape of Good Hope, her great mail packet 
 lines extend, and from them an immense number of 
 branch lines shoot out, many of which are thousands 
 of miles in length. From the experience of the past 
 it would appear that the Anglo-Saxon race who are 
 probably destined ultimately to people the principal 
 
178 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 portions of the globe are alone capable of keeping 
 a footing, as it were, on the great ocean pathways. 
 
 Formerly the whole of the sea-borne mail service was 
 performed by Government ; now it is performed almost 
 solely by private steam packet companies. There are 
 twelve of those companies which have contracts with the 
 Government for the conveyance of mails. The number 
 of steamers employed in conveying sea-borne letters is 
 nearly 100, the horse power of which is about 30,000, 
 and the tonnage 80,000. The value of these steamers 
 is not less than 3,000,000 sterling. The number of 
 miles which these packets traverse in the course of a 
 year is about 2,000,000. 
 
 At the present time all foreign and colonial mails 
 are conveyed in steam vessels. The postal communi- 
 cation with France is twelve times a week, and with 
 America four times a week. The mail passage to and 
 from the latter country is reckoned by days, and I 
 look as regularly for my American letters and papers 
 by the Cunard packets to the hour as I do my com- 
 munications from Ireland or Scotland. 
 
 There is now a mail communication with the East 
 Indies twice a month. Falmouth has ceased to be the 
 port of departure, and Southampton and Liverpool are 
 the chief packet stations in the country. Foreign or 
 colonial mails sent from Southampton are at sea in four 
 hours after they are made up at the General Post 
 Office, and those sent from Liverpool are at sea in 
 twelve hours after they have left London. In 1846 
 there were only eight steam packets plying between 
 Great Britain and North America ; now there are 
 thirty-one. 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 179 
 
 Our modern steam-moved fortresses, the giant 
 coursers of the ocean, have yet attained but to their 
 mid-growth. Steam, and the chemical agents that 
 will possibly supersede it, have many more tasks to 
 perform, than have yet been assigned to them ; and for 
 the structure of the vessels machinery is yet required 
 to change their construction from a state of compara- 
 tive handicraftry to the unerring work of self-acting 
 tools ; and they have yet to be made unsinkable and 
 incombustible, two things quite within reach of our 
 existing art. 
 
 The great Anglo-Saxon family is now pretty equally 
 divided between the two hemispheres. There are now 
 nearly 40,000,000 in North America and its adjacent 
 islands who speak the English language. The most 
 intimate intercourse and extensive commerce between 
 the two branches of this vast family are felt to be of 
 incalculable importance to their best interests and well- 
 being. They are obeying this necessity by increasing 
 the means and motives of social and commercial inter- 
 course from year to year. 
 
 Who can deny that we live in an age in which 
 ocean and earth present magnificent attractions ? an age 
 of velocity and progress? California and Australia 
 are attracting thousands to their golden sands, and 
 Britain, with her commerce, her ships, and her 
 merchant princes, commands the admiration of the 
 world ; her proud and formidable navy traverse the 
 ocean that highway of nations ; guard her remotest 
 colonies, and float like enchanted castles along her 
 sea-girt shores. 
 
 Britain's enterprising sons have steered for India, 
 
 N 2 
 
180 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and explored her burning plains ; have peopled 
 Australia and New Zealand ; have set up her standard 
 in the Eastern Archipelago, and on the very borders 
 of the Celestial Empire ; have wintered within the 
 Polar circle ; and, circumnavigating the globe, have 
 planted her missionaries here and there throughout 
 the lovely islands which dot the Pacific. Within the 
 past half century the navigators of Europe have dis- 
 covered rivers unknown to song ; new islands teeming 
 with population, and have borne to barbarous tribes, 
 civilisation, the bible, and the missionary. Truly our 
 age is one of navigation, discovery, invention, and 
 progress. 
 
 Turn now from the sea to the heavens above us. 
 
 Astronomy in the past half century has added a 
 number of new planets to the solar system, and within 
 the past few years has been advancing with rapid 
 strides. Scarcely a month passes that does not 
 bring to telescopic ken some hitherto undreamed of 
 celestial stranger. The ancient landmarks of heaven 
 have been removed, and the outskirts of the stellar 
 universe, ransacked, as it were, by the monster tube of 
 Lord Rosse,while stars of every magnitude " in number 
 numberless," have been rescued from the obscurity of 
 incalculable distance. Perhaps the most interesting 
 additions, however, to our astral knowledge are those 
 which have taken place within the comparatively 
 familiar boundaries of our own system. Newspapers 
 teem with accounts of comets of every degree of 
 eccentricity, and of every shade of caudal length and 
 brilliancy ; while a brief retrospective glance reminds 
 us that the sovereign sun has had one large and nine 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 181 
 
 small primary planets added to his train since we 
 made his scientific acquaintance at school, besides a 
 perfect host of secondaries. The past few years 
 have introduced three planets to our notice, and con- 
 ferred a third ring on the incomprehensible Saturn. 
 
 I can do no more here than remind you of the dis- 
 covery since 1800 of no less than nine of the smaller 
 asteroids ; of the wonderful series of calculations which 
 enabled two great astronomers simultaneously to affirm 
 the existence and to indicate the precise position of 
 a new and unseen planet, Neptune, placed at an 
 inconceivable distance on the very limits of our system, 
 and of its instantaneous discovery precisely in the 
 predicted spot ; of the enormous telescope constructed 
 by Lord Rosse, which has resolved so many nebulas, 
 ascertained the existence and structure of so many new 
 firmaments, and enabled us to map out the surface of 
 the moon almost as fully as that of the earth on 
 which we dwell. 
 
 Who shall assign a limit to the discoveries of 
 future ages ? What will the present half century 
 accomplish ? We may look for still greater dis- 
 coveries, for the intellect of man is awake, exploring 
 every mine of knowledge, and searching for useful 
 information in every department of art and industry. 
 Who can prescribe to Science her boundaries, or 
 restrain the active and insatiable curiosity of man 
 within the circle of his present acquirements ? 
 
 "We may guess," observes Dr. Chalmers, " with 
 plausibility at what we cannot anticipate with confidence. 
 The day may yet be coming when our instruments of 
 observation shall be inconceivably more powerful. 
 
182 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 They may ascertain still more decisive points of 
 resemblance between the planets and the earth. They 
 may resolve the same question by the evidence of 
 sense, which is now so abundantly convincing by the 
 evidence of analogy. They may lay open to us the 
 unquestionable vestiges of art, and industry, and in- 
 telligence. We may see summer throwing its green 
 mantle over those mighty tracts, and we may see them 
 left naked and odourless after the flush of vegetation 
 has disappeared. In the progress of years or of centu- 
 ries we may trace the hand of cultivation spreading a 
 new aspect over some portion of a planetary surface. 
 Perhaps some large city, the metropolis of a mighty 
 empire, may expand into a visible spot by the powers 
 of some future telescope. Perhaps the glass of some 
 observer, in a distant age, may enable him to construct 
 the map of another world, and to lay down the surface 
 of it in all its minute and tropical variations. But 
 there is no need of conjecture, and to the men of other 
 times we leave the full assurance of what we can 
 assert with the highest probability : that yon planetary 
 orbs which spangle the firmament are so many worlds ; 
 tli at they teem with life; and that the mighty Being 
 who presides in high authority over this scene of 
 grandeur and astonishment, has there planted the 
 worshippers of His glory." 
 
 I might allude to what Science has done in the 
 healing art to the long series of improvements in 
 medicine by which life is prolonged and pain assuaged ; 
 to the discoveries of iodine, cod-liver oil, and various 
 important remedial agents for the infirmities to which 
 flesh is heir to ; to the surgical skill now displayed, 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 183 
 
 the skilful operations which are conducted in our 
 hospitals, and the crowning discovery of chloroform by 
 which pain is banished or suspended at will. Then 
 to the various improvements in surgical instruments 
 we have even a mechanical leech to use when necessary. 
 By proper diet, proper clothing, and better medical 
 treatment, the chances of life in England have been 
 very nearly doubled within the last 60 years. And 
 what wonderful artificial limbs are now purchas- 
 able legs and arms, and eyes and teeth, and other 
 substitutes for losses ! One exhibitor in 1851, a Mr. 
 Palmer, wore an artificial leg of his own construction, 
 with which he walked and jumped and danced so 
 nimbly as to defy the oldest surgeon to detect which 
 was the true and which the false leg. The enamelled 
 surface is rivalled only by the mechanism of nature, 
 and a lady may wear silk hose and slippers without be- 
 traying the loss sLe has sustained. Possibly the 
 wonderful steam arm of the popular song, may become 
 ere long a reality. 
 
 Mr. Palmer has received extensive orders for his 
 patent in this country, and the public may soon expect 
 to see no more timber-toe'd veterans stumping about 
 Greenwich or Chelsea. The dentist who fills the 
 mouth of the beauty with a set of pearly teeth, and 
 the artist who dyes the grey head and covers baldness 
 with an artificial profusion of locks, have now added 
 to their amiable deceptions, those of the American 
 artificial leg, which may lead to awkward mistakes, but 
 it cannot fail to be regarded as a great boon to suffer- 
 ing humanity. 
 
 Near St. Sevier, there lives an old soldier with a 
 
184 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 false leg, a false arm, a glass eye, a complete set of 
 false teeth, a silver nose covered with a substance re- 
 scinding flesh, and a silver plate replacing part of his 
 skull. He served under the First Napoleon, and these 
 arc his trophies. 
 
 Religious men are no longer afraid of Scientific dis- 
 coveries, the general feeling now being, " Let Truth 
 emerge from the mine ; let it come from the laboratory 
 of the chemist ; let it descend from the observatory of 
 the astronomer, it will fall in with and not darken the 
 truths of the Gospel, for all truths are radii from the 
 infinite circumference, and all shall meet and mingle 
 and cluster in Christ the centre." It would indeed 
 give melancholy force to the saying, " Much wisdom is 
 much grief," if much wisdom were fatal to our faith, 
 and if he who increased his general knowledge must 
 forfeit his religious hopes. But whilst Science is fatal 
 to superstition, and fatal to lying wonders and monkish 
 legends, it is fortification to a scriptural faith. 
 
 The Bible coming from God, and conscious of nothing 
 but God's truth, awaits the progress of knowledge with 
 calm security. It watches the antiquary ransacking 
 among classic ruins, and rejoices in every medal he 
 discovers, and every inscription he deciphers ; for from 
 that rusty coin, or corroded marble, it expects nothing 
 but confirmations of its own veracity. In the unlocking 
 of an Egyptian hieroglyphic, or the unearthing of 
 some ancient implement, it hails the resurrection of so 
 many witnesses ; and with sparkling elation it follows 
 the botanist, as he scales Mount Lebanon ; or the 
 zoologist, as he makes acquaintance with the beasts of 
 the Syrian desert; or the traveller, as he stumbles 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 185 
 
 on a long lost Petra, or Nineveh, or Babylon : for in 
 regions like these every stroke of the hammer, and 
 every crack of the rifle, awaken friendly echoes, and 
 every production and every relic bring home a friendly 
 evidence. And from the march of time it fears no evil, 
 but calmly abides the fulfilment of those prophecies, 
 and the forthcoming of those events, with whose pre- 
 dicted story inspiration has already inscribed its page. 
 It is not light, but darkness, which the Bible depre- 
 cates ; and if men of piety were also men of Science, 
 and if men of Science would " search the Scriptures," 
 there would be more faith in the earth, and also more 
 philosophy. 
 
 Knowledge is essential to true enjoyment. He who 
 knows not, cannot enjoy ; hence the difficulty which 
 we find ever attends an effort to persuade those who 
 have not made proof of the fact for themselves, that 
 enjoyment is to be found in scientific pursuits. Let 
 us suppose two travellers passing through the same 
 country ; the one is ever complaining of bad roads, 
 execrable cooks, extortionate innkeepers, dreary 
 scenery, want of amusement, and constant weariness. 
 With him, from Dan to Beersheba, all is barren. The 
 other speaks as one who is journeying in fairy-land ! 
 Why this difference ? The former has not learned to 
 hold converse with Nature ; the latter has, and there- 
 fore he finds an old acquaintance in a flower here ; 
 makes a new friend in a shrub or even a lichen there : 
 rocks speak ; trees sing ; streams tune their voices ; 
 mountains utter welcomes ; the whole universe is to 
 him instinct with life ; and his heart leaps within him 
 while he essays to join the noble choir of all created 
 
186 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 things and beings in re-echoing the praises of their 
 maker God ! 
 
 The botanist in his daily walks ; the chemist in 
 his laboratory ; the astronomer at his night vigils ; 
 and the geologist while tracing out the order, arrange- 
 ments, and characteristics of rocks all find true 
 pleasure. He who will may find much relief from 
 cares and business pressure by devoting his spare 
 moments to the theoretical and practical study of 
 some Science. The means for pursuing such study are 
 within the reach of all, and are daily becoming more 
 easy of access. Those who have eyes, and use them in 
 reading Nature's book, may always rejoice that pure 
 enjoyment is theirs, while those onjy who refuse to 
 use their eyes shall be found complaining that life is a 
 burden. 
 
 There is a lesson which all men must learn, and 
 which it were well they should learn in time, and that 
 is, to be content to be ignorant of many things. One 
 who sets about acquiring universal knowledge will 
 find he has undertaken a task far beyond mortal 
 powers, which will end only in disappointment and 
 fruitless labour ; in his finding himself, perhaps, the 
 slave of all sciences, but the master of none. 
 
 The tastes and powers of the human mind are as 
 varied as the powers of the muscles, or the features of 
 the face ; and everyone who sets out with a real desire 
 for useful progress in knowledge, will very soon dis- 
 cover to which of the various paths the natural ten- 
 dency of his mind inclines. In that direction it were 
 best to turn his principal attention, making one parti- 
 cular subject his main pursuit, though he will neces- 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 187 
 
 sarily and surely acquire much knowledge on other 
 subjects by the way. In all the different Sciences there 
 is a bond of union, sometimes closer, sometimes more re- 
 mote, but all, more or less like the planets of our system, 
 throwing light on each other. The division of labour is 
 as essential and advantageous in scientific as in manual 
 occupations ; and it is to this, and the ready means of 
 communication between different men and distant coun- 
 tries, that much of the rapid progress in Science in 
 recent times may be attributed, and the application of 
 scientific knowledge, which was formerly matter of 
 learning and -curiosity, to matters of practical benefit 
 and use. It is not many years ago that the science of 
 Geology was in the former position. Then men 
 amused themselves by observing the position of the 
 different strata which composed the crust of the earth 
 how they occurred in the same order in different 
 parts of the world how in the same strata they found 
 the indented marks of shells, or plants, or trees, or 
 animals ; and these things led to speculative theories, 
 based on the unexplained facts discovered, but to little 
 practical benefit. When, however, the light of other 
 sciences was brought to bear on these facts when the 
 analogies of Natural History, Comparative Anatomy, 
 Botany, and Chemistry were called in aid, demon- 
 strative conclusions were drawn as to the antiquity of 
 the globe on which we live the different races of 
 plants and animals which it was fitted, at different 
 stages, to produce and support the changes of 
 climate the relative position of land and water and 
 the gradual changes which took place to render it the 
 fit abode of man. All these things not only tend to 
 
188 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 enlarge our ideas and increase our wonder and grati- 
 tude for the vast scheme of Providence, which has 
 been going on for countless centuries under the same 
 fixed laws, but bring the effect of these laws prac- 
 tically home to all of us, by facilitating the acquire- 
 ment and production of many things which are 
 common and necessary to all mankind. 
 
 Grovio remarks in his eulogium on Lebrija : " No 
 Spaniard was accounted noble who held Science in 
 indifference." The dying words of the great Goethe 
 were " open the shutters and let in more light." So 
 it should be the prayer of all true hearts to the 
 " Father of Light" more light ; more light ! 
 
 " Woe to all who uphold the wrong 
 
 Who love Darkness rather than Light 
 For Science has opened a broad highway 
 
 For Knowledge, and Truth, and Right. 
 And He sends forth His car to gather 
 
 The people of many lands, 
 Until the uttermost nations 
 
 Are grasping each other's hands. 
 
 And thus, when the people as one are joined, 
 
 And each to his fellow is known, 
 Invention, and Art, and Skill shall work 
 
 At the bidding of Science alone. 
 And who can tell of the greatness 
 
 The world may hope for then ? 
 For the faith that moveth mountains 
 
 Hath entered the souls of men." 
 
 Science is part and parcel of the philosophy of the 
 universe the interpretation of nature. Science is 
 necessary to the individual as well as to the com- 
 munity. Numberless have been its benefits, and every 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 189 
 
 one has been a gainer by its application. Whatever 
 lightens human toil sets free a portion of the intellect 
 to bask in the light of its native element, and relieves 
 some weak part of humanity from the stress of tempta- 
 tion. Its universality is one excellency of Science. 
 No one nation or age may claim it as exclusively 
 theirs. It is the common property of the species, and 
 should be a link of fraternity binding all men in one 
 brotherhood. 
 
 Science no longer burrows for the philosopher's 
 stone, but comes out into the glorious sunshine. She 
 pours a few drops of water into a syphon and raises a 
 hundred tons. Steam is a greater reformer than the 
 sword electricity than the cannon the printing press 
 than the forum. Sixty years in the present times, when 
 Science, aided and stimulated at every turn by her own 
 past inventions, and moving forward to fresh dis- 
 coveries with a momentum proportioned to the rapid 
 increase of mankind, has been sufficient to work 
 changes which centuries, cast in the old, sluggish, 
 mediasval mould, were altogether unable to bring about. 
 
 " Across the seas the sailless vessel flies ; 
 Throughout the land the steedless chariot plies ; 
 High o'er the wave the Menai wonder strides ; 
 While man walks dry-shod here beneath the tides. 
 Words speed like thought along the electric rod ; 
 Proud Science is abroad, in semblance of a God." 
 
 When we see what has already been effected by 
 means of the glorious press, the mighty steam engine, 
 and the wonderful power of electricity, we are, I 
 think, justified in concluding that by the powerful aid 
 of Science the different races of mankind will ulti- 
 
190 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 mately be united into one peaceful family, and ad- 
 vanced to the highest and most perfect condition we 
 are destined to attain in this world. 
 
 The progress of Scientific Discovery we see, then, has 
 been magnificent, and its application to the arts of life, 
 remarkable. It is, indeed, a privilege that we should 
 have our lot cast in the second half of the nineteenth 
 century, with the prospect of seeing further improve- 
 ments yet as the tide of time rolls on ; that we should 
 have witnessed such an advance in the elements of 
 material well-being as scientific vision never pictured. 
 In wealth, in the arts of life, in the discoveries of 
 Science, and their application to the comfort, the 
 health, and the safety of mankind; in private and 
 public morality, in the diffusion of knowledge, in 
 religious freedom, and in political wisdom the period 
 of the last sixty years has carried us on faster and 
 farther than any other period in modern times. The 
 Scientific Discoveries of the present century have done 
 more to promote political improvement, and to secure 
 public liberty, than all the revolutions that were ever 
 planned. 
 
 These are the sequences of modern progress the 
 knowledge of investigating Science and its multifarious 
 applications in new discoveries and inventions in the 
 laboratory, the workshop, and the kitchen ; but we 
 hope yet to see invention after invention chasing each 
 other like shadows over the plain, all tending to 
 greater improvements, prosperity, brighter hopes and 
 higher civilisation in our much favoured land. 
 
 Such are a few, a very few, of the wonders achieved 
 by Science in the present century. I have been able 
 
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OF 19TH CENTURY. 191 
 
 to take but a rapid sketch, a mere bird's-eye glance, 
 at some of the most prominent subjects for notice, 
 many of which have wrought the most important 
 changes in social economy and the world's history. 
 Each one of these offers a fruitful field for descrip- 
 tion ; and a good-sized volume might be written to 
 illustrate any one of the many topics I have been 
 able merely briefly to advert to ; but the simple fact 
 of my having directed your attention to them, and to the 
 beneficial purposes they have subserved, may, perhaps, 
 lead you to pursue the inquiry for yourselves, to be- 
 come better acquainted with the history and progress 
 of many of those remarkable scientific discoveries of 
 the past half century which in their results have been 
 fraught with such important benefits to yourselves, 
 and such general good to the world at large. Above 
 all, amid the many wonders which the lofty genius, the 
 inventive skill, and the persevering industry of man 
 have achieved, let us never forget that, if man's works 
 are wonderful, how incomprehensible must his Maker's 
 be, and how surpassingly wonderful is the might, the 
 majesty, and omniscience of the Great Architect of the 
 Universe, who directs and orders all, and whom all the 
 elements obey. 
 
192 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 THE COTTON MANUFACTURE. 
 
 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON.* 
 
 OF the numerous products of the soil, there are none 
 at the present day of greater importance to the civilised 
 world at large, than the downy fibre or wool-like 
 covering of the seeds of the tropical genus of plants 
 BO universally known under the name of Cotton. 
 
 The great injury which a short supply of cotton from 
 America would inflict on the most numerous and most 
 important body of our manufacturers and operatives, 
 on the prosperity of our Commerce, and on the stability 
 of the public revenue, gives to the subject great and 
 universal interest. Indeed, there is nothing except 
 food itself, which is of such material consequence to 
 the well-being of this country as an abundant supply 
 of Cotton, forming, as it does, the basis of so large a 
 portion of our Commerce, and of the employment of 
 our work-people. We know not how soon the 
 calamity thus foreshadowed may overtake this country, 
 and the imperative necessity becomes greater of miti- 
 gating its intensity by every present resource, and of 
 guarding against its recurrence by having recourse to 
 the soil and capabilities of many of our various depend- 
 encies for growing cotton. 
 
 On the supply of raw cotton does it absolutely 
 depend, whether the population of Lancashire shall, or 
 
 * Published in the " Merchants' Magazine," August, 1862. 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 193 
 
 shall not, be reduced to the state of the bulk of the 
 population of Ireland. The cotton plantations of New 
 Orleans feed the inhabitants of Manchester as 
 directly as the potato fields of Mayo or Galway feed 
 or starve the peasants of Connaught. For this supply 
 we are now almost entirely dependent on a single 
 market; of an annual consumption of 1,600,000 bales 
 above 1,200,000 bales come from America. "We are 
 not," observed ' The Times,' recently, " particularly 
 apprehensive that any political incidents can operate 
 materially in diverting this immense supply from its 
 usual channel. If Georgia and Florida grow 1,000,000 
 of bales, England will get her due share ; but, sup- 
 pose they should produce no such crop what is 
 then to supply our deficiencies ? Nor is such a sup- 
 position extravagant. The cotton crop is only a little 
 less liable than the potato crop to the influences of the 
 atmosphere ; frost or sun, floods or drought, storms or 
 blight, may effectually destroy the pod ; with the pod, 
 go the hopes of the Georgian planter; with his hopes 
 go the importations of the Lancashire spinner; and 
 with these importations, go the daily work and the 
 daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Englishmen." 
 
 In consequence of our being mainly dependent for an 
 adequate supply upon this one source, and the pre- 
 carious state of that supply, we are now paying, 
 probably, not less than 7,000,000 per annum more 
 than we ought to do, for the raw material a sum, 
 larger than that which is required for the support of 
 the whole civil establishment of this country. 
 
 If cotton were as exclusively the gift of the United 
 States, as cloves and nutmegs of the Spice Islands, 
 
 o 
 
194 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 there would be nothing further to be said, nor would 
 the case be mended by any artificial plantations for the 
 forced production of an unnatural and ungracious crop. 
 If there were but one reservoir for this material, that 
 would be all the more reason for keeping our com- 
 munication with it as open and unrestricted as possible. 
 But the facts are not 'so. At present, New Orleans 
 exports the best cotton in the world, and, therefore, 
 nearly monopolises the supply ; but the source of its 
 excellence lies in the people, not in the climate in 
 causes within our reach, not in circumstances beyond 
 our power. These gigantic plantations, which now 
 supply the materials for clothing half the civilised 
 world, have been created from nothing, within these 
 last sixty years, 
 
 Many years ago the senior editor of one of the 
 leading American papers, was informed by his venera- 
 ble friend, Samuel Maverick, Esq., of Pendleton, that 
 when a boy, as clerk in the house of his uncle, Mr. 
 William Turpin, of Charleston, he assisted in packing 
 the first bag of cotton ever sent to Liverpool from the 
 United States. Mr. Maverick is still living, and 
 North America now exports some 2,000,000 of bags 
 of cotton every year ! That packed by Mr. Maverick 
 was put up in the seed. This was long before 
 Whitney's invention of the cotton gin. The con- 
 signee of this lone bag of cotton informed the house 
 of Wadsworth and Turpin that he could not sell it ; 
 that it was valueless ; and advised them to send no 
 more. How little this faithful factor saw into futurity! 
 If any one had said to him, that in less than seventy 
 years, and during the lifetime of the boy who had 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 195 
 
 packed that very bale of cotton, millions and millions of 
 bags would be annually sent across the Atlantic, for 
 sale in England and France, he would have pronounced 
 him a madman or a fool. But it has been done, and 
 cotton has become the great means by which civilisa- 
 tion is to spread over the earth. The cheapness of 
 cotton fabrics has taught the savage to clothe himself 
 and exercise industry in obtaining the means of pur- 
 chasing this companion and evidence of civilisation. 
 Millions of human beings are employed in the cultiva- 
 tion of cotton, hundreds of thousands in its manufac- 
 ture, and the whole world are clothed in it. This, 
 too, has happened in the lifetime of one man, still 
 living. 
 
 We possess, in our own dominions, millions of acres 
 which might have been rendered just as productive, 
 and it is frequently asked, why we delay so desirable a 
 consummation. It is not a question of protection. It 
 is merely one of enterprise, perseverance, and example. 
 
 The gloomy accounts which are so frequently re- 
 ceived relative to the cotton crop of America, and our 
 almost total dependence on the Slave States, for the 
 supply of this important commodity, have caused 
 the manufacturers of Lancashire, and our legislators 
 and philanthropists, to turn with renewed interest, 
 this year, to the subject of cotton cultivation in India 
 and our colonies ; and once more we hear, as on many 
 former occasions, innumerable expressions of regret at 
 the apathy which the people of England have displayed 
 with regard to all the various modes proposed, from 
 time to time, for making us less dependent on North 
 America for the raw material of our staple manufacture. 
 
 o 2 
 
196 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Little more than half a century ago we imported 
 about as much cotton from our colonies in the West 
 Indies, as we did from the United States. 
 
 In 1820, out of 151,572,000 Ibs. of cotton wool im- 
 ported into Great Britain, 89,999,000 were from the 
 United States. In 1849, out of about 740,000,000 Ibs. 
 imported, not less than 640,000,000 Ibs. (nearly seven- 
 eighths of the whole quantity consumed) must have 
 been from the United States. 
 
 Had the increased production of cotton wool, in our 
 own colonies, since 1820, been going on at the same 
 rate as that of sheep's wool, we should now have been 
 importing only about 800,000 bales from America, in 
 addition to 1,200,000 bales from the East and West 
 Indies, Ceylon, Australia, Natal, and other colonies 
 favourable to its production. 
 
 In sixty years, this single branch of British manu- 
 factures has become of vital national importance. It 
 is interwoven with all that relates to the employment 
 of our population, of our capital, and of our shipping ; 
 and all that concerns our national credit, our solvency, 
 and our domestic peace, contentment and security. 
 Its rapid growth is wonderful; its magnitude is stu- 
 pendous ; and its connection with all that is precious 
 and important in the country is so close and insepar- 
 able, that the boldest and the most far-seeing minds in 
 the community cannot contemplate any serious vicissi- 
 tude befalling it, without the utmost alarm and 
 terror. 
 
 To show the extent of the trade, we give the quantity 
 of cotton received from America and the value of the 
 cotton manufactures exported from 1 844 to 1 85 1 . The 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 197 
 
 latter is exclusive of cotton yarn, to the extent of 
 6,500,000 sterling annually : 
 
 Date. 
 
 Cotton Manufactures 
 Exported from 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Cotton "Wool 
 Exported from the 
 United States 
 to Great Britain. 
 
 
 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 1844 
 
 24,979,577 
 
 486,729,222 
 
 1845 
 
 25,283,513 
 
 605,144,786 
 
 1846 
 
 24,780,631 
 
 346,158,667 
 
 1847 
 
 22,586,562 
 
 351,268,799 
 
 1848 
 
 21,955,402 
 
 572,003,127 
 
 1849 
 
 20,071,046 
 
 576,678,960 
 
 1850 
 
 21,871,930 
 
 365,234,430 
 
 1851 
 
 23,447,103 
 
 468,027,450 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing that the trade 
 between the two countries is immense. It amounts to 
 millions upon millions per annum. It is impossible 
 to form' anything like a correct estimate of the real 
 number of human beings who are dependent, directly 
 or indirectly, upon this great trade. But the fact that 
 the consumption has kept steady pace with the pro- 
 duction, notwithstanding the immense increase of the 
 latter, and despite the fact, too, that the prices have 
 been high for the last year or two, is well calculated 
 to show the immense increase of the business. This 
 may be readily seen wnen we state that, within about 
 twenty years, the average crop of the United States 
 has increased from 857,000 bales to 2,355,000 bales, 
 or nearly three-fold. 
 
 The cotton planters of the United States recently 
 held conventions at Tallahasee, Florida, and at Macon, 
 Georgia, the chief object of which was to secure a 
 
198 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 certain concert of action with reference to the produc- 
 tion of that staple. 
 
 Bales of American cotton taken for consumption in 
 Great Britain in twelve years : 
 
 1840 ... 
 
 1,251,300 
 
 1846 . 
 
 1,585,900 
 
 1841 ... 
 
 1,191,300 
 
 1847 . 
 
 1,157,800 
 
 1842 ... 
 
 1,160,400 
 
 1848 . 
 
 1,463,600 
 
 1843 ... 
 
 1,367,300 
 
 1849 . 
 
 1,590,400 
 
 1844 ... 
 
 1,428,600 
 
 1850 . 
 
 1,106,771 
 
 1845 ... 
 
 1,574,400 
 
 1851 . 
 
 1,418,265 
 
 The following statistics are embodied in the Report 
 of these meetings, showing the average annual prodtic- 
 tion, and average annual consumption of the world, 
 for each period of five years, from 1825 to 1850 : 
 
 PRODUCTION. 
 
 Average from 1825 to 1830 ... 1,231,000 bales per annum. 
 
 1830 to 1835 ... 1,450,000 
 
 1835 to 1840 ... 1,919,000 ,', 
 
 1840 to 1845 ... 2,561,000 
 
 1845 to 1850 ... 2,791,000 
 
 Total ... 9,952,000 
 
 CONSUMPTION. 
 
 Average from 1825 to 1830 ... 1,187,000 bales per annum. 
 1830 to 1835 ... 1,440,000 
 1835 to 1840 ... 1,943,000 
 1840 to 1845 ... 2,514,000 
 
 1845 to 1860 ... 2,869,000 
 
 Total ... 9,953,000 
 These results, multiplied by five, will show that 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 199 
 
 the whole production in twenty-five years has been 
 49,760,000 bales, and that the consumption in the 
 same time has been 49,765,000 bales, an excess 
 over the production of 5,000 bales, or 200 bales per 
 annum. Of course, perfect accuracy in such a matter 
 is not to be expected. 
 
 If arguments were wanting to operate as an in- 
 centive to the inhabitants of our colonies for increased 
 exertions in the re-introduction of cotton as one of the 
 chief staple articles of cultivation, the reasons set forth 
 below are of so conclusive a character that not even 
 the most sceptical can offer an objection : 1. That 
 our supply of cotton from miscellaneous quarters (in- 
 cluding the United States) has for many years been 
 decidedly, though irregularly, decreasing. 2. That 
 the United States is the only country where the growth 
 of cotton is on the increase ; and that there, even, 
 the increase does not, on an average, exceed three 
 per cent., or 80,000 bales annually, which is barely 
 sufficient to supply the increasing demand for its 
 own consumption, and for the continent of Europe. 
 
 3. That no stimulus of price can materially augment 
 this annual increase, as the planters always grow 
 as much cotton as the negro population can pick. 
 
 4. That, consequently, if the cotton manufacture of 
 Great Britain is to increase at all on its present footing, 
 it can only be enabled to do so by -applying a great 
 stimulus to the growth of cotton in other countries 
 adapted for the culture. 
 
 The increase of the Cotton Trade of this country is 
 one of the most remarkable incidents in our commercial 
 history. 
 
200 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In 1786 we obtained our supplies of cotton from 
 the following sources : 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 The British West Indies furnished 5,800,000 
 
 The French and Spanish Colonies 6,500,000 
 
 The Dutch Colonies 1,600,000 
 
 The Portuguese Colonies, Brazil 2,000,000 
 
 Smyrna and Turkey 5,000,000 
 
 Total 19,900,000 
 
 It was not until the year 1800 that any considerable 
 quantity of cotton was received from the United States, 
 the imports in that year being 16,000,000 Ibs.; the 
 first shipment of about 200,000 Ibs. having been made 
 only nine years previous. North America now fur- 
 nishes, as we have already shown, about seven-eighths 
 of the whole quantity we import. The crop of cotton 
 of the United States in 1847 was stated by the Com- 
 missioner of Patents, in his report to Congress, at 
 1,041,500,000 Ibs. While the production of this staple 
 has increased to such an extent in the United States, 
 in all other countries, with the exception of Brazil and 
 Egypt, it has decreased. 
 
 In 1841 our sources of supply were : 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Italy, and the Italian islands 681,649 
 
 Turkey -. 163,354 
 
 Egypt 8,071,218 
 
 East India Company's Territories, and 
 
 Ceylon 97,388,153 
 
 Carried forward... 106,304,374 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 201 
 
 Ibs 
 
 Brought forward... 106,304,374 
 
 British West Indies 1,533,197 
 
 Hayti 269,631 
 
 United States of America 358,240,964 
 
 Columbian Eepublics 1,408,560 
 
 Brazil 16,671,348 
 
 All other countries 3,564,281 
 
 Total 487,992,355 
 
 Of which we retained, for home con- 
 sumption 437,093,631 
 
 In 1845 the total imports of cotton into Great 
 Britain were upwards of 716,000,000 Ibs. ; in 1848 the 
 imports were 6,366,251 cwts., and in 1849 they had 
 increased to 6,745,259 cwts. 
 
 The cotton crop greatly fluctuates in amount from 
 year to year, but during average favourable seasons 
 the subjoined number of Ibs. has been realised : 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 Brazil 39,000,000 
 
 United States 700,000,000 
 
 Egypt 26,000,000 
 
 West Indies 13,000,000 
 
 Africa (exclusive of Egypt) 48,000,000 
 
 India 190,000,000 
 
 Eest of Asia 195,000,000 
 
 Mexico and South America (except 
 
 Brazil) 70,000,000 
 
 Elsewhere 18,000,000 
 
 Total 1,299,000,000 
 
202 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The cottonwool we imported and re-exported in 1847 
 was as follows : 
 
 Imports. 
 
 From America bales 870,278 .... 
 
 Bengal 110,139 ..., 
 
 ,, Egypt 20,670 ... 
 
 East Indies ... 222,797 .... 
 
 West Indies ... 6,451 ... 
 
 Total bales 1,231,035 207,775 
 
 Averaging 422 Ibs. per bale. 
 Equal to Ibs. 519,496,770 ... 93,167,050 
 
 The relative quarters from whence the supply was 
 derived in 1849, were : 
 
 American bales 1,477,251 
 
 Brazilian 163,445 
 
 Egyptian 73,034 
 
 West Indian, &c 9,104 
 
 East Indian 182,079 
 
 Total 1,904,913 
 
 Averaging 422 Ibs. per bale. 
 Equal to Ibs. 803,823,288 
 
 The manufactured articles, from the raw material, 
 amount to 50,000,000 yearly. 28,000,000, one- 
 half of the whole exports of British produce and 
 manufactures, consists of cotton goods ; while our 
 domestic consumption of it amounts, probably, to as 
 much more ; and, directly and indirectly, this tropical 
 gossamer gives employment to upwards of 3,000,000 
 of our people or one-eighth of the whole popu- 
 lation. 
 
 The appended figures show the capital employed, 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 203 
 
 the number of persons directly occupied in the manu- 
 facture of Cotton, and the bales of cotton required 
 annually to keep them in employ. 
 
 Bales Consumed 
 in 1849. 
 
 GreatBritain 1,819,422 ... 
 
 Other parts of Europe ... 983,943 ... 
 United States 620,000 ... 
 
 Hands Capital 
 
 Employed. Invested. 
 
 480,000 ...73,200,000 
 233,000 ... 36,600,000 
 160,634 ... 24,409,000 
 
 Total 3,323,365 873,634 134,200,000 
 
 Of this large consumption of cotton, 2,800,000 bales 
 were furnished by the Southern States of America, 
 and it supports, through the profits of its fabrication, 
 not less than 4,000,000 whites ; whilst the fabrics 
 produced furnish comfortable clothing to millions more, 
 who otherwise would suffer from want of it. 
 
 The following table gives the exports of cotton 
 from the United States, for a number of years ; also 
 the average price per Ib. : 
 
 Export. 
 Total Ibs. 
 
 1821 124,893,405 
 
 1822 '... 144,675,985 
 
 1823 173,793,270 
 
 1824 142,369,663 
 
 1825 176,449,057 
 
 1826 204,535,415 
 
 1827 294,310,115 
 
 1828 210,590,463 
 
 1829 264,837,186 
 
 1830 298,499,102 
 
 1831 376,979,784 
 
 1832 322,215^122 
 
 1833 324,698,604 
 
 1834 384,717,907 
 
 Value in 
 
 Average 
 
 dollars. 
 
 price per Ib. 
 
 20,157,484 
 
 ... 16-2 
 
 24,035,058 
 
 ... 16-6 
 
 20,445,220 
 
 ... 11-8 
 
 21,947,401 
 
 ... 15-4 
 
 36,846,649 
 
 ... 20-9 
 
 25,025,214 
 
 ... 12-2 
 
 29,359,545 
 
 ... 10-0 
 
 22,487,229 
 
 ... 10-7 
 
 26,575,311 
 
 ... 10-0 
 
 29,674,883 
 
 ... 9-9 
 
 25,286,492 
 
 ... 9-1 
 
 31,724,682 
 
 ... 9-8 
 
 36,191,105 
 
 ... 12-1 
 
 49,448,402 
 
 ... 12-8 
 
204 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Export. Value in Average 
 
 Total Ibs. dollars. price per Ib. 
 
 1835 387,358,992 ... 64,861,301 ... 16-8 
 
 1836 423,631,367 ... 71,284,925 ... 16'8 
 
 1837 444,211,537 ... 63,240,102 ... 14-2 
 
 1838 595,952,277 ... 61,556,811 ... 10'3 
 
 1839 413,624,212 ... 61,338,982 ... 14-8 
 
 1840 743,941,061 ... 63,870,107 ... 8-5 
 
 1841 530,204,100 ... 54,330,341 ... 10-2 
 
 1842 584,717,017 ... 47,593,464 ... 8'1 
 
 1843 792,297,106 ... 49,119,086 .. 6'2 
 
 1844 663,633,455 ... 54,063,501 ... 8-1 
 
 1845 872,905,996 ... 51,739,643 ... 5-9 
 
 1846 547,555,055 ... 42,767,341 ... 7'8 
 
 1847 537,219,958 ... 53,415,847 ... 10'3 
 
 1848 814,274,431 ... 61,998,294 ... 7'6 
 
 1849 1,036,602,269 ... 66,396,967 ... 6-4 
 
 1850 635,381,601 ... 71,984,717 ... 11-3 
 
 COTTON MANUFACTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Capital invested dollars 74,501,031 
 
 Cotton used bales 609,117 
 
 Coal consumed tons 121,099 
 
 Value of all the raw material dollars 34,835,056 
 
 Hands employed 102,287 
 
 Value of entire product dollars 61,869,184 
 
 Yards of sheeting, &c 763,678,407 
 
 The Cotton crops of the United States for the years 
 ending August 31, 1850 and 1851, were as follows : 
 
 1850. 1851. 
 
 New Orleans bales 781,886 ... 933,369 
 
 Alabama 350,952 ... 451,758 
 
 Florida 181,344 ... 181,204 
 
 Texas 31,263 ... 45,820 
 
 Georgia 343,635 ... 322,376 
 
 Carried forward . . . 1,689,080 1,934,527 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 
 
 205 
 
 1850. 1851. 
 
 Brought forward . . .bales 1,689,080 . . . 1,934,527 
 
 South Carolina 384,265 ... 387,075 
 
 North Carolina 11,861 ... 12,928 
 
 Virginia 11,500 ... 19,940 
 
 Reed, at N.York by Erie Canal ... 797 
 
 Total 2,096,706 ... 2,355,257 
 
 Crop of 
 
 Bales. Crop of 
 
 Bales. 
 
 1848-49 
 
 ... 2,728,596 
 
 1835-36 ... 
 
 1,360,725 
 
 1847-48 
 
 ... 2,347,634 
 
 1834-35 ... 
 
 1,254,328 
 
 1846-47 
 
 ... 1,778,651 
 
 1833-34 ... 
 
 1,205,394 
 
 1845-46 
 
 ... 2,100,537 
 
 1832-33 ... 
 
 1,070,438 
 
 1844-45 
 
 ... 2,394,503 
 
 1831-32 ... 
 
 987,477 
 
 1843-44 
 
 ... 2,030,409 
 
 1830-31 ... 
 
 1,038,848 
 
 1842-43 
 
 ... 2,378,875 
 
 1829-30 ... 
 
 976,845 
 
 1841-42 
 
 ... 1,683,274 
 
 1828-29 ... 
 
 857,754 
 
 1840-41 
 
 ... 1,634,945 
 
 1827-28 ... 
 
 720,593 
 
 1839-40 
 
 ... 2,177,805 
 
 1826-27 ... 
 
 957,281 
 
 1838-39 
 
 ... 1,360,532 
 
 1825-26 ... 
 
 720,027 
 
 1837-38 
 
 ... 1,801,407 
 
 1824-25 ... 
 
 609,247 
 
 1836-37 
 
 ... 1,422,930 
 
 1823-24 ... 
 
 509,156 
 
 The following table gives the cotton export from 
 the whole Union to foreign ports in the year ending 
 August, 1851 : 
 
 From 
 
 To Great 
 Britain. 
 
 To 
 France. 
 
 To North 
 Europe. 
 
 Other 
 Fr'n Ports. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 New Orleans.. . . 
 
 582,373 
 
 130,362 
 
 47,786 
 
 84,120 
 
 844,641 
 
 Mobile 
 
 249 897 
 
 45460 
 
 6084 
 
 20 336 
 
 321 777 
 
 Florida 
 
 56 167 
 
 7 805 
 
 6 575 
 
 
 70 547 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 
 2261 
 
 
 2 261 
 
 Georgia 
 
 136 143 
 
 11 826 
 
 2 993 
 
 1 685 
 
 153 647 
 
 South Carolina.. 
 
 203,970 
 
 25,608 
 
 13,159 
 
 25,281 
 
 268,018 
 
 North Carolina .. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Baltimore 
 
 206 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 75 
 
 481 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 2,691 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2,691 
 
 New York 
 
 184,815 
 
 80,297 
 
 48,713 
 
 7,970 
 
 321,795 
 
 
 1 003 
 
 
 1 721 
 
 128 
 
 2 852 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grand Total . . 
 
 1,418,265 
 
 301,358 
 
 129,492 
 
 13"9,595 
 
 1,988,710 
 
 Total in 1850.. 
 
 1,106,771 
 
 289,627 
 
 72,156 
 
 121,601 
 
 1,580,155 
 
 Increase in 1851 . 
 
 311,494 
 
 11,731 
 
 57,336 
 
 17,994 
 
 398,555 
 
206 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The home consumption for the year 1851 is thus 
 shown : 
 
 Total crop of the United States, as before 
 
 stated bales 2,355,257 
 
 Add 
 Stocks on hand 1st September, 1850 : 
 
 In the Southern Ports 91,754 
 
 In the Northern Ports 76,176 
 
 167,930 
 
 Makes a supply of 2,523,187 
 
 Deduct therefrom 
 
 The export to Foreign Ports 1,988,710 
 
 Less, Foreign included 1,077 
 
 1,987,633 
 
 Stocks on hand 1st September, 1851 
 
 In the Southern Ports. 89,044 
 
 In the Northern Ports 39,260 
 
 128,304 
 
 Burnt at New York, Boston, and Baltimore 3,142 
 
 2,119,079 
 
 Taken for home use bales 404,108 
 
 Quantity consumed by, and in the hands of, manu- 
 facturers north of Virginia : 
 
 1850-51 
 1849-50 
 1848-49 
 1847-48 
 1846-47 
 1845-46 
 1844-45 
 1843-44 
 1842-43 
 1841-42 
 1840-41 
 1839-40 
 1838-39 
 
 bales 
 
 404,108 
 487,769 
 518,039 
 531,772 
 427,967 
 422,597 
 389,006 
 346,774 
 425,129 
 267,850 
 297,288 
 295,193 
 276,018 
 
 1837-38 
 1836-37 
 1835-36 
 1834-35 
 1833-34 
 1882-33 
 1831-32 
 1830-31 
 1829-30 
 1828-29 
 1827-28 
 1826-27 
 
 bales 
 
 246,033 
 222,540 
 236,733 
 216,888 
 196,413 
 194,412 
 173,800 
 182,142 
 126,512 
 118,853 
 120,593 
 149,516 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 207 
 
 The estimate of the consumption of the South is as 
 follows : 
 
 Mills. Spindles. Quantity Consumed. 
 
 North Carolina 30 ...13,000 bales of 400 Ibs. 
 
 South Carolina- 16... 36,500... 10,000 
 
 Georgia 36... 51,400... 13,000 
 
 Alabama 10... 12,580... 4,000 of 500 Ibs. 
 
 Tennessee 30... 36,000... 8,000 
 
 On the Ohio, &c. ... 30... 100,000... 12,000 
 
 Total to September 1, 1851 60,000 bales. 
 
 1850 107,500 
 
 1849 110,000 
 
 1848 75,000 
 
 To which should be added the stocks in the interior 
 towns, &c., the quantity burnt in the interior, and that 
 lost on its way to market ; these, added to the crop 
 as given above, received at the shipping ports, will 
 show very nearly the amount raised in the United 
 States in the season of 1851 say, in round numbers, 
 2,450,000 bales. 
 
 If by any convulsion the supply of the raw material 
 should be cut off, how wide-spread would be the 
 resulting destitution and ruin to all nations! The 
 Northern States have rapidly increased of late years 
 in their ability to work up the cotton. Thus, in 
 1841-42, the growth was 1,683,574 bales, and the 
 United States manufacturers took 267,850, or 15 per 
 cent. The average growth of the two years 1850 and 
 1851 has been 2,500,000 bales, and 502,400 bales, or 
 20 per cent., has been wrought up in the United States. 
 Thus the national industry of the North is evolving 
 itself with a rapidity that, in a few years, will cause 
 
208 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 it to require the whole of the Southern production, to 
 the exclusion of European rivals. 
 
 If the consumption of cotton for the next twelve 
 years continues to increase in the same ratio which it 
 has done during the last twelve years all other 
 things being the same the cotton required will be : 
 
 By Great Britain bales 3,200,000 
 
 Continent of Europe 1,656,000 
 
 United States 954,000 
 
 Total 5,810,000 
 
 To be supplied from the United States, bales 5,055,000 
 From other sources 755,000 
 
 Total 5,810,000 
 
 A manufacture employing so vast an amount of raw 
 material, must necessarily be of immense importance. 
 In the year 1824 Mr. Huskisson considered the total 
 value of the cotton manufacture to amount to 
 33,500,000 this has since been considered too high 
 an estimate for that period. Mr. McCulloch, in the 
 year 1833, estimated its value to be 34,000,000 
 sterling, and the amount of capital employed in the 
 manufacture, to amount to about the same sum ; Mr. 
 E. Baines, who arrived at his result by a totally 
 different process, valued it at 31,338,693 in the 
 same year, and considered Mr. McCulloch's estimate 
 of 34,000,000, as the amount of capital invested in 
 the manufacture, to be very moderate. 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 209 
 
 The following is Mr. Baines' estimate : 
 
 Total value of the manufacture 31,338,693 
 
 Capital employed in the manufacture 34,000,000 
 
 Quantity- of goods exported in 1832 : 
 
 White or plain cottons 259,493,096 
 
 Printed or dyed cottons 201,552,407 
 
 461,045.503 
 
 Number of persons supported by the manu- 
 facture 1,500,000 
 
 of operatives in the spinning and 
 
 weaving factories in England... 200,000 
 
 Scotland... 32,000 
 
 Ireland ... 5,000 
 
 237,000 
 
 Wages earned by the factory operatives 6,044,000 
 
 Power moving in factories : 
 
 Steam horsepower 33,000 
 
 Water 11,000 
 
 44,000 
 
 Number of spindles 9,333,000 
 
 power looms 100,000 
 
 hand-loom weavers 250,000 
 
 Wages earned by ditto 4,375,000 
 
 The increase, however, in the manufacturing pro- 
 duction since then has been enormous. The following- 
 return shows the number of spindles working in cotton 
 mills in 1846 : 
 
 England and Wales 15,554,619 
 
 Scotland 1,729,871 
 
 Ireland 215,503 
 
 Austria and Italy 1,500,000 
 
 France 3,500,000 
 
 Belgium 420,000 
 
 Carried forward 22,919,993 
 
210 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Brought forward 22,919,993 
 
 Switzerland 650,000 
 
 Kussia 7,585,000 
 
 United States 3,500,000 
 
 States of the Zollverein 815,000 
 
 Total 35,470,000 
 
 According to an official return issued in 1851, the 
 total number of factories of all kinds in the United 
 Kingdom, was 4,330, containing 26,638,716 spindles, 
 and 298,916 power looms. The moving power em- 
 ployed was 108,113h.p. in steam and 26,104 in water. 
 The total number of children under 13 years of age, 
 employed in factories, who attend school, is 19,400 boys 
 and 15,722 girls. The total number of males em- 
 ployed between 13 and 18, is 67,864, that of females 
 above 13, is 329,577, and that of males above 18, is 
 157,806. The total number of persons of both sexes 
 employed in factories is 596,082. 
 
 The Cotton Trade employs not less than 2,000,000 of 
 the population of the United Kingdom, and an amount 
 of capital far greater than is to be found engaged in 
 any other trade. The consumption of cotton, at the 
 beginning of this century, was 50,000,000 Ibs. ; it is 
 now about 800,000,000 Ibs. Our supplies are drawn 
 from foreign countries in these proportions : The 
 United States, 78J percent. ; East Indies, 10J percent. ; 
 Brazil, 7 per cent. ; Egypt, 3J per cent. ; West Indies, 
 jL per cent. In 1838, the cotton crop of the United 
 States was 1,300,000 bales ; in 1848, it was 2,700,000 ; 
 in 1849, but 2,000,000 a falling off of 25 per cent. 
 The advance of Id. per Ib. last year (1851) made a 
 difference of price on the cotton consumed, of nearly 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 211 
 
 3,000,000 ; and an advance of 3d. per Ib. by reason 
 of the short crop of 1851, will cost between 8,000,000 
 and 9,000,000 to the manufacturer. 
 
 The cotton imported into Liverpool amounts to 
 more than seven-eighths of the consumption of this 
 material in all our manufactories ; one-eighth going to 
 the ports of London, Glasgow, Hull, and some few of 
 the minor ports. The whole quantity received in Liver- 
 pool, in 1850, was 1,573,202 bales, worth 12,000,000 
 sterling; imported in 250,000 tons of shipping, and 
 employing for wages, machinery, and interest of 
 capital invested in the cotton factories, at least 
 47,000,000 sterling a year, and paying not less than 
 17,000,000 annually in wages. Of the whole of the 
 cotton imported, five-sixths comes from the United 
 States ; the remaining one-sixth from Brazil, Egypt, 
 and India. 
 
 In sending bales to Liverpool, from New Orleans, 
 they cost each : 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 For bagging, rope and twine, per bale 2-50 
 
 For freight, insurance, commissions, and other 
 
 shipping charges, in New Orleans 2-50 
 
 For freight, insurance, duties, tonnage, and dock 
 dues, commissions, and other charges in Liver- 
 pool 14-00 
 
 For plantation expenses, which include clothing, 
 pork, farming utensils, horses and mules, &c., 
 which must be furnished every year, not less per 
 bale than 6'00 
 
 For overseers' wages, and necessary repairs of gin 
 
 and mill, not less per bale than 2 - 50 
 
 Making the aggregate expenses equal to, per bale.. 27'50 
 A bale of cotton averages about 400 Ibs. 
 
212 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In 1848, the whole quantity of cotton imported was 
 713,020,161 Ibs., of which 600,247,488 Ibs. were from 
 the United States and 112,722,673 Ibs. from all other 
 parts. In 1849, the total import was 755,469,012 Ibs., 
 of which 634,504,050 Ibs. were from the United States, 
 and 120,964,962 Ibs. from all other parts. In 1850, 
 the total amount imported was 663,576,861 Ibs., of 
 which 493,153,112 Ibs. were from the United States, 
 and 170,423,749 Ibs. from other parts. The quantity im- 
 ported from the British Possessions in the East Indies 
 was, in 1848, 84,101,961 Ibs. ; in the following year 
 it fell to 70,838,515 Ibs. ; and in 1850 it rose to 
 118,172,742 Ibs., or nearly one-quarter of the amount 
 imported from the United States. We believe that 
 increase to be attributable almost exclusively to the 
 higher prices which prevailed in 1850. Some small 
 portion of the increase may have been owing to the 
 improved culture with American seed, and the better 
 quality of native sorts, owing to an improved prepara- 
 tion. The quantity of East India cotton imported in 
 1840, was equal only to about 11 per cent, of that im- 
 ported from the United States; .but in 1850 it was 
 equal to nearly 25 per cent. From Brazil and the 
 Mediterranean, the imports were nearly equal to 1849 
 and 1850, but those years showed a great increase on 
 1848. The British West Indies and British Guiana 
 furnished us, in 1848, with 640,437 Ibs. ; in 1849, 
 with 944,307 Ibs. ; and in 1850, with only 228,913 Ibs. 
 The whole return shows the important fact, that our 
 dependence upon America for this most valuable staple 
 has been considerably diminished in the last two years ; 
 but whether this diminution will continue under a lower 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 213 
 
 range of prices than those of 1850 remains to be seen. 
 The declared value of the cotton manufactures of all 
 kinds, exported in 1848, was 22,681,200; in 1849, 
 26,770,135 ; and in 1850, 28,257,461, or about 40 
 per cent, of our whole exports. The declared value of 
 the cotton manufactures sent to the United States was, 
 in 1848, 1,713,024; in 1849, 2,055,286; and in 
 1850, 2,504,280. In 1848, the declared value of our 
 entire exports to the United States was 9,561,909 ; 
 in 1849, 11,971,028; and in 1850, 14,891,961, or 
 nearly one-fifth of the declared value of our exports to 
 all parts of the world. The official value of our im- 
 ports from the United States amounted, in 1848, to 
 23,916,844 ; and in 1849, to 26,554,941. Great 
 Britain and the United States, therefore, now inter- 
 change in a year produce worth above 40,000,000 
 sterling. 
 
 The largest consumer of cotton is the United States 
 England is the great work- shop, indeed, of the 
 world, but the actual consumption in America, exceeds 
 that of Great Britain and Ireland, and our Colonies, 
 including the exports to Gibraltar and India, where, 
 doubtless, large amounts are re-exported to Spain and 
 the islands of the Indian Archipelago. The " New York 
 Shipping and Commercial List," which is the highest 
 authority on this subject, gives 607,000 bales as the 
 American consumption for 1848 of this, 523,000 
 bales were delivered to the factories in the North, 
 and 75,000 bales the estimated consumption in the 
 South and West. Turning these bags into Ibs., 
 at 400 Ibs. each, the amount reaches 242,800,000 Ibs., 
 besides the large imports of cotton manufactures. 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The following figures from official sources, show the 
 annual consumption of cotton in Great Britain, with 
 the decline in the duty. 
 
 Ibs. Duty per Ib. 
 
 1801 33,630,390 
 
 1811 89,008,874 
 
 1821 113,896,651 3d. 
 
 1831 257,941,045 3d. 
 
 1841 442,270,413 3d. 
 
 1851 644,550,800 free. 
 
 The duty on cotton wool was reduced gradually 
 from 1 65. 6d. per 100 Ibs. levied in 1814, when 
 imported in foreign ships, and 16s. lid. in British 
 ships, until it was made free, in 1845. 
 
 Iii 1849, the quantity of cotton wool im- 
 ported was 654,288,607 Ibs. 
 
 Equivalent to 583,000,000 yards. 
 
 Worth, when manufactured, Is. 9f^. 
 
 Total value 52,227,500 
 
 In 1839, the quantity imported was 387,902,349 Ibs. 
 
 Equivalent to 342,826,571 yards. 
 
 Worth, when manufactured, Is. 9%d. 
 
 Total value 31,712,000 
 
 Exports-1839 ... 230,053,673 Ibs. value 17,462,286 
 
 1846 ... 351,290,749 23,475,941 
 
 1849 ... 379,819,550 26,321,719 
 
 Cotton yarn and piece goods exported and spun, in 
 Ibs. weight 
 
 Exported. Spun in England and Scotland. 
 
 1844 258,870,745 445,577,480 
 
 1845 268,352,474 494,766,487 
 
 1846 322,840,410 495,033,109 
 
 1847 288,233,241 386,578,359 
 
 1848 307,823,178 505,226,683 
 
 1849 379,819,550 568,921,433 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 
 
 215 
 
 Declared value of the exports of cotton manufac- 
 tures and cotton yarn, in the nine years ending 1851 
 
 Cotton Manufactures. 
 
 Cotton Yarns. 
 
 1843 
 1844 
 1845 
 1846 
 1847 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 16,254,000 7,193,971 
 
 18,816,764 6,988,584 
 
 19,156,096 6,963,235 
 
 17,717,779 7,882,048 
 
 17,382,293 5,957,297 
 
 16,770,868 5,927,956 
 
 20,188,874 6,701,920 
 
 21,871,930 6,380,948 
 
 23,447,103 6,631,896 
 
 VALUE OF EXPORTS OF TEXTILE GOODS AND YARN IN 1841, 
 1851, AND 1871. 
 
 Cotton manufactures 
 yarn 
 
 Woollen manufactures 
 yarn 
 
 Linen manufactures 
 
 yarn 
 
 Silk manufactures. . . 
 Thrown, twist and yarn 
 
 1841. 
 
 16,232,510 
 7,266,968 
 5,528,282 
 
 552,148 
 3,347,555 
 
 972,466 
 
 788,894 
 
 1851. 
 
 23,447,103 
 
 6,631,896 
 
 8,371,824 
 
 1,484,435 
 
 4,112,676 
 
 935,939 
 
 1,134,931 
 
 67,803 
 
 1871. 
 
 57,635,570 
 
 15,054,742 
 
 27,184,704 
 
 6,101,777 
 
 7,521,561 
 
 2,220,103 
 
 2,053,938 
 
 1,269,876 
 
 34,680,823 46,176,607 119,042,271 
 
 There is, therefore, an increase of no less than 
 74,361,448, in the declared value of our exports 
 of textile manufactures, since 1841, not including jute 
 and other textiles. 
 
 In Asia, and many parts of the continent of India, 
 as well as in several of the islands of the Indian 
 Ocean and Eastern Archipelago, cotton has been 
 cultivated from time immemorial. The plant is in- 
 digenous to Africa, and its cultivation has long been 
 
216 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 carried on with profit in Egypt, and the Barbary 
 States, Sierra Leone, and many of the old settlements 
 on the Western Coast of Africa. Recently, it has 
 become an object of attention in the Republic of 
 Liberia, in Natal, and the Cape Colony. 
 
 The island of Bourbon was long famous for the 
 quality of its cotton, and the Chinese have for a con- 
 siderable period cultivated it. The cotton plant was 
 grown at a very early period in Mexico. It is now ex- 
 tensively grown in Brazil, and in several of the central 
 and southern American Republics. In the United 
 States, so great has been the extension of its cultiva- 
 tion, that cotton now forms the most important export 
 of the Union. 
 
 In the various West India islands cotton was 
 formerly a chief article of export, but it has latterly 
 given place to other staples, and the exports have 
 decreased one-half within the last eight or ten years. 
 
 Europe has been and always must be dependent 
 upon other quarters of the world for a supply of 
 cotton. Her climate is generally too cold for the pro- 
 duction of this plant. Some small quantities have, 
 indeed, been produced in the southern parts of Spain 
 and Italy. The French Government, during the 
 reign of Buonaparte, attempted its culture in France ; 
 and, for that purpose, sent for seed to the United 
 States, and other countries, and offered a premium of 
 one franc for every kilogramme (2 Ibs.) of cotton, 
 raised and cleaned ready for shipping. The experi- 
 ment, however, failed. 
 
 Cotton is not only a national object with the 
 United States, as the means of paying for most of her 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 217 
 
 importations of foreign merchandise, and the interest 
 on her public debt to foreign holders, but is a national 
 object to Great Britain in supplying her immense 
 body of operatives with constant occupation who 
 could not find the means of support without American 
 cotton ; and also furnishing full employment for the 
 almost incalculable amount of capital invested, in her 
 towns and villages throughout the kingdom, in 
 machinery, manufactories, and buildings, as well as an 
 immense amount of shipping ; without which they 
 could not be sustained, and their present value, vast as 
 it is, would be almost annihilated. 
 
 It is also becoming a national object with France, 
 and more or less so, with other portions of the 
 continent of Europe. France, Spain, Belgium, 
 Holland, Germany -, Russia, and other European 
 countries, are now supposed to consume about 800,000 
 bales of American cotton ; and when we take into 
 view the cheapness with which this precious textile 
 staple furnishes clothing to the poorer, as well as the 
 higher, or richer classes of the population, and how 
 immensely the value of the article is enhanced by the 
 labour they bestow upon it in manufacturing may 
 we not consider it a national object to all Europe ? 
 One of the most important of the raw materials of 
 commerce, then, is Cotton. It is not particularly 
 attractive to the hasty observer, and is passed with 
 indifference by many. But not so by the careful 
 inquirer, the statesman, the manufacturer, and the 
 political economist. Millions of human beings on 
 both sides of the Atlantic are dependent, directly or 
 indirectly, upon the growth and manufacture of cotton, 
 
218 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and an amount of capital truly enormous is invested in 
 this business, in all its various ramifications. The 
 following summary account of the British importa- 
 tions and exportations connected with the cotton 
 manufacture in 1850 is taken from official sources, 
 and will convey an adequate idea of the vast magni- 
 tude of this branch of industry. 
 
 Imports : Raw cotton, 5,934,793 cwts. ; cotton 
 yarn, 905,966 Ib's., cotton manufactures not made up, 
 of the declared value of 97,561 ; East India piece- 
 goods, 175,010 pieces, of the value of 68,933 ; other 
 articles to the value of 297,176; cotton manufac- 
 tures wholly or in part made up, to the value of 
 44,315. 
 
 Exports : Foreign and colonial manufactures, 
 cotton manufactures not made up, East India piece- 
 goods, 145,895 pieces, of the value of 58,493 ; 
 other articles to the value of 93,605 ; of cotton 
 manufactures wholly or in part made up, to the value 
 of 23,667 ; cotton yarn, 777,957 Ibs., to the value of 
 81,014 ; British cotton manufactures (exclusive of 
 lace, patent net, sewing thread, and stockings), 
 1,358,238,837 yards, to the value of 20,528,150; 
 other descriptions to the value of 236,058; cotton 
 yarn, 131,433,168 Ibs., valued at 6,380,948. 
 
 The quantity of raw cotton consumed in the cotton 
 manufacture of Great Britain in the year 1850 was 
 584,200,000 Ibs. The total number of cotton factories 
 in Britain is 1,932, containing 20,977,017 spindles, 
 and 249,627 power looms. The moving power in 
 these factories is supplied by steam representing 
 71,005 horse power, and water 11,550 horse power- 
 
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF COTTON. 219 
 
 The total number of persons employed in these 
 factories amounts to 330,924. If to these we add the 
 persons not employed in factories such as hand-loom 
 weavers, calico printers and dyers, makers and re- 
 pairers of machinery, &c., a total of 700,000 would 
 be obtained. 
 
 The total value of the cotton goods and yarn 
 exported in 1850 was 28,252,878. The capital 
 employed in the cotton manufacture of Great Britain, 
 is now estimated at not less than 45,000,000. 
 
 Great Britain has imported during the three years 
 ending 1850, the following quantities of raw cotton: 
 
 1848. 1849. 1850. 
 
 From the United States 600,247,488 634,504,050 493,150,112 
 
 From the East Indies 84,101,961 70,838,515 118,872,742 
 
 From the West Indies 640,437 944,307 228,913 
 
 From all other parts 28,030,175 49,182,140 51,322,094 
 
 Total 713,020,061 775,469,012 663,576,861 
 
 The total import of cotton into Liverpool in 1851, 
 amounted to 1,748,899 bales ; being an increase, as 
 compared with 1850, of 176,444 bales ; and of 16,680 
 bales as compared with that of 1849. 
 
 The total deliveries, for home consumption, from 
 the ports of the United Kingdom, in 1851, were 
 1,661,377 bales ; being an average weekly delivery of 
 31,950 bales, against 29,103 bales in 1850, and 
 30,530 bales in 1849, The total export of manu- 
 factured goods in 1851 exceeded, by 175,000,000 
 yards, that of any year since 1843. The price of the 
 raw material, which averaged from January to June 
 per lb., for New Orleans, middling quality, 
 
220 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 receded, in the latter half of the year, to the average 
 price of 4Je?. This decline in price entailed a loss of 
 from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 sterling on specu- 
 lators. 
 
 OUR COTTON SUPPLIES.* 
 
 OF the four great textile materials which form 
 articles of human clothing Cotton, Flax, Wool, and 
 Silk not one is indigenous to Europe. The two first 
 are indigenous to America and Africa, and the others 
 belong to Asia. Yielding to many other fabrics in 
 beauty and texture, for health and comfort in the 
 coldest or the hottest regions the Cotton fabric is 
 invaluable. The use of cotton as a material for 
 clothing appears to have been one of the earliest in- 
 ventions of mankind. It is not our purpose to trace 
 back the history of cotton production and spinning to 
 the earliest records. Strabo, Pliny, Marco Polo, 
 Herodotus, and others have been often quoted' as fur- 
 nishing details respecting what was then known as to 
 the culture and use of the plant whose downy fibrous 
 matter now figures so largely in the commercial sta- 
 tistics of the world. Our business shall be with the 
 cotton trade of the present century ; to state in brief 
 terms the steps by which it has grown to its present 
 gigantic proportions. In connection with the raw 
 material we must incidentally notice the statistics of 
 the manufacture, forming, as it does, in the United 
 
 * From an Article published in the " Practical Mechanics' 
 Journal and Scientific Record of the International Exhibition 
 of 1862." 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 221 
 
 Kingdom alone, nearly a third of that commercial 
 enterprise which envelopes the globe. 
 
 There is no industry of the present day which has 
 attained such gigantic proportions as the Cotton Trade. 
 Fully three-fifths of the population of the globe, 
 estimated at 1,200,000,000, are directly or indirectly 
 interested in its production and use. After the cereals, 
 it is a product of the soil which employs more land 
 than any other in its growth, and more hands in its pre- 
 paration, transport by land and by sea, manufacture, and 
 sale. In the process of spinning, dyeing, and finishing, 
 it has afforded incessant scope for improvements in 
 mechanical skill, led to the employment of a great 
 amount of capital in factories and self-acting ma- 
 chinery, and given employment to an immense number 
 of operatives. 
 
 In all its applications to the wants of man, it has 
 rendered services which no one can overlook. On 
 whatever side we turn our eyes, we find it employed 
 in our dwellings, which it decorates in various ways ; 
 and it forms the clothing of both men and women. It 
 unites pliability with firmness, elegance with strength ; 
 it combines readily in various forms with almost all 
 other textile substances ; it takes all colours ; it can 
 be made into the most gauzy tissues suited to the 
 demands of the most opulent, or into the coarser and 
 cheaper fabrics required by the poorer classes. And 
 besides these qualities, it has attained a wide and 
 extended sale in the principal markets of the world, 
 which has already reached a magnitude unparalleled 
 and yearly increasing. Marvellous as has been the 
 increase of the production of cotton, and the increase 
 
222 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 of cotton manufactures in Britain, Europe, and North 
 America, each year adds a new increment to its 
 amount. 
 
 In Great Britain the importation of cotton wool in 
 1800 amounted to only 43,000,000 Ibs. ; in 1860 it 
 had reached 1,250,000,000 Ibs. The total consump- 
 tion of cotton on the continent of Europe in 1860 
 was 1,878,000,000 Ibs., and in North America 
 420,000,000 Ibs. Mr. T. Bazley, M.P., calculates 
 that not less than 5,000,000,000 Ibs. of raw cotton 
 are annually produced and consumed. " If," he says, 
 " 4c?. per Ib. be taken as a fair average price, the value 
 will be above 80,000,000 ; and if 3d., which would 
 be too low an estimate, the amount would exceed 
 60,000,000 sterling. And if the population of the 
 globe be 1,200,000,000, and that of the United King- 
 dom who benefit by cotton production is 30,000,000, 
 what an idea does it convey of the wealth, power, and 
 greatness of our country that this one-fortieth part 
 of mankind should import nearly one-fourth of all 
 the cotton which the whole universe produces ! " 
 
 The principal sources of supply of cotton to Europe 
 in 1860 were 
 
 North America Ibs. 1,580,790,000 
 
 Brazil 22,625,000 
 
 West Indies, &c 11,880,000 
 
 British India 201,740,000 
 
 Egypt 60,175,000 
 
 Total Ibs. 1,878,210,000 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 
 
 223 
 
 To Great Britain 
 
 North America Ibs. 1,115,890,608 
 
 Brazil 17,286,864 
 
 Egypt 43,954,064 
 
 British India 204,141,168 
 
 Other countries 9,666,048 
 
 Total Ibs. 1,390,938,752 
 
 The 12,419,000 cwts. of cotton imported into the 
 United Kingdom in 1860 were valued at 31,567,000, 
 and owing to the advance in price consequent on the 
 stoppage of supplies from the Southern States of 
 America, the 11,223,000 cwts. imported in 1861 were 
 valued at 35,940,000. About 2,500,000 cwts. were 
 re-exported.* 
 
 * The " Liverpool Albion " says : " In the subjoined table 
 we give the number of spindles (both spinning and doubling 
 in every year) in existence at various dates, and the total and 
 average weight of cotton consumed at the same dates. 
 
 Years. 
 
 No. of Spindles. 
 
 Cotton Consumed. 
 
 Average. 
 
 1849 
 
 20,977,000 
 
 629,900,000 Ibs. 
 
 30 Ibs. 
 
 1856 
 
 28,010,000 
 
 891,400,000 
 
 31* 
 
 1861 
 
 32,387,000 
 
 1,005,000,000 
 
 3H 
 
 1868 
 
 34,215,000 
 
 996,197,000 
 
 29J 
 
 1870 
 
 37,718,000 
 
 1,070,770,000 
 
 28f 
 
 1870 \ 
 Working } 
 
 35,541,000 
 
 1,070,770,000 
 
 30| 
 
 The factory returns gave the number of spindles " at work " 
 for 1870, but not for any previous year. It is manifest that 
 the whole of the spindles were not at work all the year round 
 in either 1849, 1868, or 1870. The highest average is for 1856, 
 when the consumption per spindle was 3 If Ibs. The figure 
 
224 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In the British Department of the Exhibition, the 
 Cotton Supply Association of Manchester show a case 
 with a large selection of cottons, evidencing the wide 
 extent of field from which supplies may be drawn. 
 
 Taking them geographically, we find here exhibited 
 samples from the following localities : 
 
 The Feejee Islands, New Caledonia and Tahiti. 
 
 In Australia Sydney, Wooloomooloo, Queensland 
 (Wide Bay), Northern Australia, and Southern Aus- 
 tralia. 
 
 Indian Islands, &c. Java, Peros, Bankos, Anda- 
 mans, Seychelles, Philippines, Japan and China, Siam, 
 Ceylon, Tenasserim Provinces, Assam, Indore, Pail- 
 ghaut, Dhollera, Berar, Oomrawattee, Inglehaut, 
 Chingleput (Sea island, American seed and fine 
 cotton), Dharwar (American seed), Kurrachee 
 (Egyptian seed). 
 
 From Africa there are specimens from Egypt, 
 Algiers, Shire Valley, Onitska, Soudan, Gambia, 
 Loanda, Gold Coast, Old Calabar and other parts of 
 the West Coast, from Natal and Kaffraria. 
 
 From Asia and Europe Georgia, Ispahan, Bagdad, 
 Khorassan, Mossul, Jaffa, Smyrna, Latakia, Constan- 
 tinople, Lanarka, Catania (Sicily), Enos, Attica, 
 Argoly, and Karsous. 
 
 From South America there are samples from Pem, 
 Payta, Callao, Bahia, Maranham, Maceio, Pernambuco, 
 San Paulo, Cuenca (Ecuador), San Luis, and Bolivar. 
 
 adopted by Sir Thomas Bazley, Henry Ashworth, Esq., 
 and Alexander Eedgrave, Esq. (factory inspector), is 3 If Ibs. 
 per spindle. The number of spindles at work this year 
 (1872), we estimate at 37,527,000." 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 225 
 
 Berbice and British Honduras also show their 
 cotton capabilities ; and there are samples of cotton 
 from Jamaica, St. Kitts, Tobago, and East Caicos. 
 
 From North America Edisto Island, New Orleans, 
 Mobile, Upland. 
 
 Although this collection is extensive, it by no means 
 represents all the cotton-producing localities ; and 
 from an Association which has especially devoted 
 itself to the collection of samples and the diffusion of 
 information as to cotton cultivation, which has also 
 large funds at command, a monthly -organ of publicity, 
 and has opened up correspondence, through mercantile 
 and official channels, with so many foreign countries, 
 we had looked for a better display, and more general 
 public information than is afforded in this case. There 
 is not an item of statistics appended, or a word of 
 guide as to comparative values and qualities of the 
 cottons, which would have been of use to many visitors. 
 The display might have been much more complete by 
 appending in all cases the pods, showing by scale the 
 length of staple, and adding some of the subsidiary 
 products obtained, such as crude and refined cotton 
 seed oil, oilcake, cotton waste for paper, the hulled 
 seed, and fibre from the bark of the plant. 
 
 The cottons of the Southern States of America are 
 chiefly classed into two groups New Orleans or 
 Upland, which is a short staple, of a mean length 
 of 1 to 1 J inch, and is grown inland ; and that culti- 
 vated upon the islets near the shores of South Carolina 
 and Georgia, termed " Sea island," which is of a long 
 staple, averaging 1J to 2J inches. The quality of 
 cotton is distinguished by the length, strength, and 
 
 Q 
 
226 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 silky fineness of its fibre, and by its mellow white 
 colour. 
 
 . The upland cotton of Georgia is also known by 
 the name of " bowed " cotton, owing to an operation 
 formerly practised of loosening the seed from the 
 cotton wool by striking the pods with a stringed 
 bow. 
 
 The finest of all fabrics is made from Sea island 
 cotton, such as muslins, sewing cotton, &c., and much 
 of it is used for mixing with silk, worsted, alpaca, &c. 
 From 300 to 400 hanks to the Ib. is as high as is 
 regularly spun of this kind of cotton ; but 1,050 hanks, 
 or 501 miles, to the Ib. was spun by special effort 
 for the Exhibition of 1851 by Sir T. Bazley. 
 
 New Orleans cotton is the great staple of the 
 spinning trade, and is used for making calicoes, 
 fustians, velvets, and almost every kind of cloth and 
 article that cotton is used for, being soft, white, of 
 medium staple, and clean. It is also used for mixing 
 with all other cottons. New Orleans is usually spun 
 from 6 to 30 hanks, or 14^ miles to the Ib. for 
 hosiery and other purposes, and from 30 to 80 hanks 
 for general purposes. 
 
 Egyptian cotton is used for making articles similar 
 to those for which Sea island is employed ; but 
 it is generally used for warp of a coarser kind than 
 the Sea island. The length to which Egyptian cotton 
 is usually spun is from 60 to 100 hanks to the Ib. 
 It is occasionally, however, spun both finer and 
 coarser. The length of staple is from 1 to 1| inches, 
 and it has a fine, easily-spun filament. 
 
 Nankeen cotton is of a very short fibre, from f to 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 227 
 
 1' inch long. It is not at all an article of commerce 
 here, but at Malta and other places it is so, and at 
 Tunis seems to be preferred to the white cotton of 
 that country, Smyrna, &c. It is only spun from 6 to 
 14 hanks to the Ib. 
 
 Brazilian cottons are in good repute, and receive the 
 different appellations of Pernambuco, Bahia, Maceio, 
 Maranham, &c. The Pernambuco enjoyed for a long 
 period the reputation of being superior to any other 
 than Sea island or Bourbon. Pernambuco is the 
 principal cotton - growing province. The interior 
 possesses inexhaustible fields where cotton grows wild ; 
 and, if proper roads could be formed, its production 
 might be greatly extended. Brazilian is principally a 
 warp cotton, and is used for inferior qualities and 
 coarser makes of ordinary goods. It is frequently 
 used with American ; the length of staple ranges from 
 1 to 1-| inches. The length to which it is spun is 
 usually from 40 to 80 hanks to the Ib., or 10 to 38 
 miles. From some of the Brazilian cottons yarn up to 
 number 250 may be spun. 
 
 Some of the cotton pods from Brazil are of a mag- 
 nificent quality, the fibres hanging pendant from 
 the capsule to the length of 6 or 7 inches. Cotton is 
 shown from ten out of the twenty provinces of this 
 empire namely, from Rio Janeiro, Pernambuco, 
 Alagoas, Amazonas, Ceara, Para, Parahyba, San 
 Catharina, San Pedro, and Bahia; it is also grown 
 in several of the others. Our supplies from Brazil 
 have been declining of late years, owing to the estab- 
 lishment of cotton factories in Bahia, Rio, and some 
 other provinces, and to the difficulty of transport to the 
 
 Q2 
 
228 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 coast from the interior, as cotton cannot be success- 
 fully cultivated near the coast. Some of the cotton 
 shown from Brazil is of a lightish yellow or buff, and 
 others of the nankeen colour. 
 
 In the Venezuelan Court samples are shown from 
 fifteen bales of cotton from Maracaibo, imported by 
 Messrs. Stotterfoht, Sons and Co. of Liverpool, and 
 sold to Thomas Bazley, Esq., M.P., of Manchester, on 
 the llth April, 1862, at 2s. 6d. per Ib. There are 
 thousands of acres in the provinces of Maracaibo, as 
 also in Guiana, Aragua, and other provinces in 
 Venezuela, where cotton of the best quality might be 
 produced in any quantity. Samples of this cotton in 
 various processes of manufacture are also exhibited by 
 T. Bazley, Esq., and raw cotton from many other parts 
 of Venezuela by sundry contributors. ' From the 
 British West Indian possessions there are cottons 
 shown from Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad, 
 Demerara, the Bahamas; and also from Hayti. 
 
 In Martinique the culture of cotton was never very 
 considerable. In 1779, when it was in its greatest 
 favour, it did not extend to 7,000 acres. It has 
 almost gone out of culture now, and only in a very few 
 localities is the cotton plant met with. There are three 
 or four exhibitors, however, of cotton now. 
 
 The Antilles have always been considered the ori- 
 ginal source of the long-stapled cotton. It formed a 
 portion of the tribute imposed upon the Caribs by 
 Columbus. The districts of San Franpois, of Bailly, 
 and other old settled parts of Guadaloupe and its de- 
 pendencies, of Desidare, the Saintes, and Marie Galante 
 for a long time furnished supplies to the European 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 229 
 
 markets. The culture attained its greatest elevation 
 in 1808, when the exports had reached 1,400,000 Ibs. 
 The wars of the First Empire ; the ignorance of the 
 planters, who permitted the best varieties to de- 
 generate, and introduced commoner but more pro- 
 ductive kinds, and the increasing demand for sugar, 
 led to a rapid decline. Meanwhile, immigrants from 
 the Bahamas carried the seed from Guadaloupe to 
 South Carolina, and thus established the element of 
 the commercial importance of the United States in 
 this staple, which led to the fall of the colonial pros- 
 perity. This was the origin of the famous " Sea island " 
 cotton. For several years past the French govern- 
 ment has endeavoured to revive cotton cultivation in 
 this favoured part of the Antilles ; and one of its 
 agents (M. Grellet-Balguerie) is endeavouring to re- 
 introduce and establish the kinds most esteemed, 
 the Sea island and Georgia long-stapled cottons. The 
 exports of cotton from Guadaloupe in 1861 were 
 33,680 Ibs. There are a large number of samples 
 shown, and some of the indigenous cottons produce 
 very fine yarn, as is evidenced by the tarlatans and 
 muslins manufactured from it at Tarare. 
 
 The culture of cotton long nourished in French 
 Guiana; but the deficiency of labour, the decline of 
 price in cotton, and the more remunerative rates ob- 
 tained for other products of the soil, led to its abandon- 
 ment. But, under the impulse of encouragement given 
 by the local government, it is beginning to revive, and 
 the specimens now exhibited prove the capabilities of 
 the colony for furnishing supplies of excellent quality. 
 The yield per acre on high lands is stated to be 
 
230 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 o50 Ibs. of seed cotton, and on the low lands 500 Ibs. 
 to 700 Ibs. of cotton. 
 
 If labour were but available, an inexhaustible supply 
 of cotton of every description might be produced in 
 British Guiana. All kinds of cotton, from the best 
 long staple down to the finest short staple, might be 
 cultivated there, as the kind which does not thrive in 
 one soil or climate could be produced in another. An 
 extent of sea-coast of 280 miles, from the River 
 Corentyne to the mouth of the Orinoco, would 
 produce cotton vieing with the best in the world. 
 At the commencement of the present century the 
 whole cultivated surface of the colony, from end to 
 end, was a large cotton field. In 1803 the exports 
 amounted to 46,000 bales, of about 350 Ibs. each. It 
 only requires some care and attention in collecting 
 seed in order to produce a fibre having the colour, 
 evenness, and strength of Sea island samples. Sir 
 Robert Schomburgk doubts the opinion that the 
 finest cotton will not grow at a greater distance than 
 twenty miles from the sea. " I have sent," he says, 
 " samples of the wild cotton from the interior of the 
 colony, which were admired by competent judges for 
 their fine long staple and silky appearance. No care 
 whatever had been bestowed upon the cultivation of 
 these plants, which grew at a distance of 300 miles or 
 400 miles from the coast." This opinion is borne out 
 by the fine cotton grown in the interior of Queensland 
 and New South Wales. 
 
 Cotton is shown from a large number of sources in 
 Africa from Liberia, Gaboon, Abeokuta, Natal, Sierra 
 Leone, &c. African cotton has only recently come into 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 231 
 
 use, but it is found to be excellent for hosiery and many 
 other purposes. As it cards and draws very well, it is 
 liked by those who have used it. It is from 1 to 
 1 inches long, and is spun from 6 to 30 hanks per Ib. 
 for hosiery purposes, and from 30 to 60 hanks for 
 general purposes. 
 
 The Commercial Association of Abeokuta have 
 forwarded samples of cotton called " akase," cleaned and 
 bowed, and in seed ; ordinary native cotton ; and 
 green, black, and brown seeded cotton, as well as 
 thread and coarse strong spun cotton, and cotton 
 cloths. The Association states that cotton is obtain- 
 able in any quantity, and is now grown extensively 
 throughout the Zambesi country. To obtain a largely 
 increased supply, it is only necessary to open roads 
 and bring money to the market. Upwards qf 2,000 
 bales were exported thence in 1861, and this quantity 
 would have been doubled or trebled if the country 
 had been at peace. The present local price is about 
 5flf. per Ib. Great quantities of cotton cloths are 
 annually made, finding their way to the Brazils and 
 into the far interior. 
 
 The local administration of the French colony of 
 Senegal sends some cotton (Gossypium punctatwn). 
 
 No place is more suitable for the culture of cotton 
 than Senegal, since it is found growing wild, is very 
 prolific, and extremely hard and durable. Notwith- 
 standing the obstacles which at present seem to stand 
 in the way of its systematic culture, there is hope that 
 it may be ultimately carried out with satisfactory 
 results. There is an immense extent of territory 
 between the two rivers which might be devoted to its 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 culture. The men of Cayor, Oualo, Fouata, and 
 Galam grow cotton to supply their own wants, but the 
 facility with which they can procure European cotton 
 goods, and the absence of any important demand 
 hitherto, has kept the production within narrow 
 bounds. Twisted by the hand, and woven in a rude 
 manner into narrow strips, mixed with silk or wool, 
 the indigenous cotton is converted into stuffs which 
 serve in the country for a medium of exchange, 
 and are known at Bakel and St. Louis under the name 
 of " pagnes soie." 
 
 The Government encouragement, and the increase 
 of price resulting from the American civil, war, have 
 directed commercial attention to this quarter for 
 supplies. But it is in Lower Senegambia and towards 
 Cassamance that the administrative efforts have been 
 chiefly directed. To meet the demands for cultivation 
 and to prepare the fibre, a complete stock of imple- 
 ments, gins, presses, &c., were imported, and the first 
 consignment of cotton transmitted from this quarter 
 has been received. The cotton of Senegal is fine, and 
 shorter than the ordinary cotton of the Confederate 
 States, but useful for replacing the medium kind. 
 The settlements of Gaboon and the Gold Coast also 
 show fair specimens of cotton. 
 
 The cotton plant grows readily in Natal. In 1861 
 about 2,000 Ibs. weight were exported, the first fruit 
 of small experiments. The six samples shown in the 
 Natal Court are specimens of this produce. The 
 main difficulty for the present in the way of success 
 seems to be the readiness with which the colonists find 
 more productive applications of their energies, and the 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 233 
 
 unwillingness with which the Kaffir enters upon any 
 system of work that ties him to the performance of a 
 certain task at a certain time. The Colonial Govern- 
 ment is at the present time making an attempt to en- 
 courage the Kaffirs to grow cotton. It would be prema- 
 ture to say much as yet of the prospects of this experi- 
 ment ; but cotton in the pod and in the seed is shown, 
 and also samples grown and ginned by the natives. 
 
 The splendid specimens of cotton from Algeria cannot 
 fail to command admiration, as they did at the Paris 
 Exhibition in 1855. Especially are the samples of 
 Georgia and Louisiana cottons deserving of notice, 
 and equal to any produced in other countries for their 
 colour, fineness, and strength of filament. Competent 
 authorities admit that the quality cannot be excelled, 
 and it only remains to produce it in quantity, for which 
 labour and capital are requisite. 
 
 In the French Colonial Courts a large collection of 
 cottons, the produce of Algeria and other colonial de- 
 pendencies, is shown in glass jars, and fine and exten- 
 sive branches of cotton with the bolls or capsules on 
 are arranged on the walls. 
 
 In the Italian Court there is a good collection of 
 native-grown cotton in the pod, cleaned and uncleaned, 
 with the seed, nankeen cotton, and Gossypium Siamense, 
 grown in Napoli. Malta also shows white and nankeen 
 cotton, and rough manufactures of it. 
 
 The East Indian cottons have been very much im- 
 proved by attentive culture and better cleaning of late 
 years, and have become largely in request to meet the 
 deficiency in supplies of American cotton, although 
 they cannot replace the qualities of superior American. 
 
234 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Within the last twenty years the general export 
 of raw cotton from India has more than doubled. 
 The imports into Great Britain alone have advanced 
 from 85,500,000 Ibs. to 204,000,000 Ibs. The 
 indigenous cotton of Berar is of an excellent quality, 
 and second to none that is grown in India. Madras 
 and Surat is the commonest of all cottons, being 
 used only for coarse cloths and other articles of great 
 bulk and little value, and for lowering the quality 
 of American, &c. The staple is from f to 1 inch long, 
 and it is usually spun from 6 to 14 hanks to the Ib. 
 Bengal cotton is more white and silky, and yields 
 yarn to number 50. 
 
 There is a very complete collection of cottons in the 
 Indian Gallery, and Dr. J. Forbes Watson has done 
 much to diffuse information as to the culture, character, 
 and extent of supply of Indian cottons. 
 
 In the French settlement of Pondicherry, cotton 
 factories have been in operation for some time, where 
 are produced muslins, pullicates, cambrics, and coarse 
 fabrics called " guineas." To M. Desbassyne, of Rich- 
 mond, Administrator-General from 1826 to 1828, is 
 due the first idea of a spinning and weaving factory. 
 Owing to the efforts of the first manager, M. Charles 
 Voulain and the Government, which granted large 
 subsidies, this industry has prospered here. One 
 factory under the management of M. Saint Pol, 
 has 16,000 spindles, and gives employment to 500 
 workmen. The production of thread is about 1,200 
 kilogrammes per day. Another establishment, that of 
 M. Potier, of Houssaye, supplies the looms of a great 
 number of native weavers. The weaving by machinery 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 235 
 
 is also conducted by M. Desbassyne, who is represented 
 at Pondicherry by M. Godefroy. 
 
 From Reunion or Bourbon there are five or six ex- 
 hibitors of cotton. Although the soil and climate are 
 well suited to the culture, the production has greatly 
 declined since the possession of the island passed into 
 the hands of the French in 1815. One of the principal 
 colonists, M. de Chaleaurieux, of St. Leu, has lately 
 made strong efforts to bring under cultivation with 
 cotton the waste lands in the lower part of the com- 
 mune, of which he is administrator. The Bourbon 
 cotton makes a great deal of waste, but it is very 
 uniform, pure, fine, silky, and may be spun to very 
 high numbers. 
 
 Specimens of cotton are sent from Siam, and it is to 
 be regretted that the Siamese cannot be induced to 
 cultivate it more extensively. Small quantities are 
 produced in the Lao country. The great distance, and 
 the difficulty of transport to Bangkok, added to the 
 scarcity of labour, have no doubt injuriously operated 
 in preventing the development of the trade. But for 
 these difficulties there is no reason why the alluvial 
 districts of Siam should not produce as fine cotton as 
 the United States, West Indies, or Guiana. Coverlets 
 manufactured in the Lao country from native cotton ; 
 cotton thread, coloured with native dyes from Tavoy, 
 and the spindle, usually employed for spinning cotton, 
 are shown in this collection, which is transmitted by Sir 
 Robert Schomburgk. 
 
 The production of cotton in Cochin China might be 
 rapidly extended on the high lands which border the 
 rivers to five or six miles in the interior, and at a 
 
236 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 future day this district may be made to supply the raw 
 material for a large portion of the French factories. 
 
 The subject of cotton cultivation appears to be 
 spreading throughout the British colonies, and there 
 can be but little doubt that ere long this article will 
 form a principal staple of export at places where it has 
 naver yet been cultivated. 
 
 The natives of Ceylon have raised crops sufficient 
 for their own use from time immemorial, and the native 
 cloth is strong and useful. The capabilities of this 
 island for producing cotton of fine quality and in large 
 quantity are unquestionable. The soil and climate 
 are considered to be superior to that of India for the 
 purpose, and it can be grown equal in quality and 
 cheaper in price than that of the United States. There 
 are at least 12,000 square miles of land admirably 
 suited for its cultivation, and if the production were 
 seriously entertained, in a few years 1,000,000 of bales 
 might be shipped from thence. 
 
 In the Indian collection a fine sample of Penang 
 cotton is shown. Cotton has never, yet been exten- 
 sively cultivated in the Straits settlements. It has, 
 however, been long introduced, and the staple of one of 
 the varieties now grown is of a very superior quality, 
 and begins to bear in six or eight months after plant- 
 ing. Bushes have been observed for six years or more 
 in constant bearing. The chief obstacles to the culture 
 there are stated to be the price of labour, and the sudden 
 vicissitudes of climate from wet to dry. 
 
 The cultivation of cotton in the new Northern 
 Australian colony of Queensland promises to be a 
 great success, and the samples sent to England on 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 237 
 
 this occasion have attracted great attention, and been 
 even thought worthy of notice in Parliament by Mr. 
 Bazley. At the local exhibition in the colony, pre- 
 liminary to the transmission of the collection to Eng- 
 land, no less than twelve samples of 10 Ibs. each of 
 clean Sea island cotton were brought under the inspec- 
 tion of the jurors, three of which obtained silver 
 medals. One sample of upland or New Orleans cotton 
 also gained a silver medal. Samples of cotton from 
 various other localities in the colony, hundreds of miles 
 apart, were also shown, proving that Sea island cotton 
 of fine texture and quality can not only be grown in 
 the neighbourhood of Brisbane, Maryborough, Glad- 
 stone, and Rockhampton, on the coast, but upon the 
 elevated table lands of the colony. One sample picked 
 from plants grown in a garden at Camboon upon the 
 Upper Dawson River, rivalled in texture that grown 
 upon the coast. The first local medal was awarded to 
 Mr. W. Cairncross, of Bunba, for a sample of 3 Ibs. of 
 cleaned Sea island ; the second to Mr. J. Pratter, of 
 Cooper's Plains, who sends 250 Ibs. ; and the third to 
 Mr. P. W. Thompson, of Norman's Creek. The 
 difference in the quality of the several samples was 
 barely perceptible. Mr. Pratter obtained from one 
 acre (less six rods) about 1,200 Ibs. of seed cotton, 
 which yielded something over 300 Ibs. of clean market- 
 able value. To illustrate the benefits to be derived 
 from the supply of cotton as well as sheep's wool from 
 Australia, a few dresses have been manufactured from 
 the beautifully-fine lace thread, number 250, spun by 
 Sir T. Bazley from Queensland cotton, and this blended 
 with fine yarn made from the wool of sheep of the same 
 
238 8CIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 colony, has furnished a fabric resembling cashmere in 
 softness and beauty. Some of the Queensland cotton 
 has been priced at 3s. 6c?. per Ib. 
 
 From New South Wales eight samples of cotton are 
 shown one grown on the Hunter River in 32 south 
 latitude. The Clarence and Richmond districts, in the 
 northern part of the colony, are stated to be well 
 adapted for cotton. One exhibitor, who speaks from 
 experience, having been in Charleston, considers the 
 climate and soil to be of the same character. Samples 
 of New South Wales cotton are the finest in the Ex- 
 hibition, and worth about 4s. per Ib. 
 
 In New Caledonia we find two varieties of cotton, 
 of which several samples are shown one obtained from 
 Florida which the Mission of Conception have put 
 largely into cultivation ; the other an indigenous 
 species, with a bluish tinge to the cotton wool. 
 
 In Tahiti, wild cotton (G. incuspidatum) is found 
 growing spontaneously. There are two exhibitors. It 
 has hitherto not received any attention, but planta- 
 tions are now seriously contemplated. G. indicwn and 
 G. vitifolinm have been introduced. This cotton is 
 long, soft, and of a clean white colour. The Govern- 
 ment, desiring to encourage this industry, has since 
 1858 offered a bounty on exportation of 20 per cent, 
 beyond the price at Papeiti. There is a wild species 
 (G. religiosum) found growing on the roads and plains 
 on the borders of the sea; of this there are two varieties, 
 one with a nankeen cotton, the other white, of an in- 
 ferior quality, and with diminutive capsules. The 
 cultivation of cotton in the Feejees might be ad- 
 vantageously carried on ; and we have received from 
 
OUR COTTON SUPPLIES. 239 
 
 Dr. Berthold Seemann beautiful specimens of cotton 
 grown in those islands, which it is desired to place 
 under British protection. 
 
 Some of the specimens sent from Trinidad were from 
 the Bocas Islands, which were formerly covered with 
 plantations, but abandoned during the last thirty-five 
 years. The present specimens are from the wild trees 
 still scattered here and there over the islands. 
 
 From the Bahamas samples of the cotton indi- 
 genous to, and now growing wild on, those islands and 
 cays, is sent. The American seed came originally from 
 the Bahamas. 
 
 In the Peruvian Court are several specimens of fine 
 cotton ; among others, samples from the estate of 
 San Xavier de la Nasca, situated about eighteen 
 leagues from a port of shipment. 500 bales of 
 Peruvian cotton came across the isthmus, and were 
 imported by one of the royal mail steamers. This 
 cotton is of a long staple, and about equal in value 
 to Pernambuco. The actual produce at present is 
 1,200,000 Ibs. annually ; but the estate is capable of 
 producing 3,000,000 Ibs. annually. 
 
 It has been demonstrated that cotton of the finest 
 quality can be produced in the eastern province of the 
 Cape Colony, but no effort has been made to test it 
 upon an exportable scale ; no catalogue has yet shown 
 the quotation of any bale or bales of South African 
 cotton sold in the home sales. Some of the amateur 
 growers have lost confidence, and urge that the high 
 winds destroy the plants. This is true of some kinds 
 of seed ; but the planters have yet to find out the sort 
 best suited to the soil and climate. The cotton shrub, 
 
240 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 indigenous to the colony, would, if cultivated, produce 
 a marketable and remunerative article, worth probably 
 lOd. per Ib. 
 
 Cotton grows in Cochin China spontaneously, and 
 France is looking forward to obtain supplies from 
 thence. It is termed in the country " short silk," and 
 is said to be nearly as good quality as New Orleans. 
 Its thread is long, soft, and silky, and its colour a 
 clear white. 2,000,000 Ibs. weight have been exported 
 from Lower Cochin in one year, half of which was 
 sold at Saigon. The soil of the entire country is 
 suited to its culture ; but the inhabitants do not much 
 attend to its growth, as they consider it too laborious. 
 The largest portion raised is spun and worked up by 
 the natives for local use. 
 
 THE COTTON TRADE.* 
 
 IT is not our purpose to trace the history of cotton 
 spinning back to the heroic ages, nor to cite Herodotus 
 as witness to the quality of the cotton fabrics of 
 India. Those of our readers who explore classic 
 authors, or who are given to historical research, may 
 read how the contemporaries of Strabo practised the 
 art of printing calicoes ; and Pliny will describe to 
 them the Gossypium plant, from whose " woolly down 
 was made the beautiful robes which the priests of 
 Egypt delighted to wear." Marco Polo will tell in 
 quaint phrases what progress the manufacture of cotton 
 goods had made in his day, in the far off Empire of 
 Cathay ; and in the " Precepts of Eben el Awan" may 
 be read all that was known to the Arabs of the culture 
 
 * From " The Technologist," vol. ii, p. 358, 1862. 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 241 
 
 and use of the plant whose products now figure so 
 largely in our commercial statistics. 
 
 Our business shall be with the cotton trade of the 
 present generation ; to relate in brief terms the steps 
 by which it has grown to its present gigantic propor- 
 tions to nearly a third of the commercial enterprise 
 of that great empire whose commerce envelopes the 
 globe. 
 
 Among the many wonderful developments of in- 
 dustrial enterprise, the growth of the cotton manu- 
 facture in Britain is, beyond comparison, the most 
 remarkable. In the first year of the present century 
 the cotton goods exported from the United Kingdom 
 were valued at 355,000. In 1860 their value was 
 declared to be 52,013,482 ; and those taken for 
 home consumption were estimated to be worth 
 40,000,000. 
 
 But great as is the contrast between the cotton 
 exports of the first year of the present century, and 
 the value of the cotton fabrics exported and taken for 
 home consumption in 1860, the figures fail to convey 
 anything like an adequate idea of the wonderful strides 
 that have been made in the productive powers of 
 British industry, skill, and enterprise. Valued at the 
 prices obtained prior to 1815, the cotton goods now 
 annually produced in Britain would be worth upwards 
 of 450,000,000 sterling. At the former period the 
 average value of a yard of manufactured cotton was 
 Is. 5^d., now it is only 3d. ; nor is this all, the 
 article produced at the latter price is greatly superior 
 in texture, appearance, and in durability to the more 
 costly fabrics manufactured prior to the inventions of 
 
242 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Hargreaves, Crompton, Arkwright, and others, to 
 whose ingenuity England is indebted for one of the 
 most important of her commercial interests, and the 
 world for putting within reach of the poorest labourer 
 luxuries that a century earlier could hardly be obtained 
 by the wealthiest noble. 
 
 If such figures inadequately represent the annual 
 productive value of the factories of Great Britain, at 
 what capital sum shall we rate the brain labour of 
 those men who have perfected the machinery where- 
 with such results have been achieved ? If England's 
 commercial supremacy is the chief element of her 
 greatness and glory; if Commerce is the best mis- 
 sionary of Civilisation, certain it is that the inventors 
 of those wondeifully productive agents are entitled to 
 a conspicuous niche amongst the benefactors of the 
 human race, and contributors to their country's great- 
 ness. 
 
 Having in mind the essential maxim of that excel- 
 lent matron, Mrs. Glass, we shall grow our cotton 
 before we spin it. To this end as an acre of land, 
 with the best management, will only yield 100 Ibs. of 
 the cleaned wool, we must have annually under crop, 
 to meet the current consumption of Europe and 
 America, not less than 19,000,000 acres ; and, to 
 ensure a proper rotation, not less that 57,000,000 
 acres of land are required for the production of the 
 1,871,000,000 Ibs. of cotton wool that feed the 
 spindles of the European and American manufactories. 
 It is probable that an equal quantity is necessary for 
 the Asiatic and African looms ; therefore it is for- 
 tunate that the Gossypium is indigenous to so large a 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 243 
 
 portion of the earth's service, and that it has been found 
 capable of naturalisation in latitudes extending thirty- 
 five degrees on each side of the equator. It has been 
 cultivated in Italy, in Sicily, and in the south of 
 France. Egypt and Brazil supply large quantities of 
 a superior quality, and recently it has been cultivated 
 in Australia and at the Cape. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wide range over which the 
 cultivation of this plant may be extended, embracing 
 the most important colonies of Britain, it is a singular 
 fact that the attention of British capitalists has not, 
 until recently, been directed to the promotion of its 
 cultivation, and the vast interests involved in the 
 manufacture of its products have been almost entirely 
 dependent on the American plantations, so much so 
 that, in 1856, it was boasted by a writer in a New 
 Orleans periodical, that "of the 4,000,000 bales 
 annually consumed, 3,500,000 were produced in the 
 Southern States of the Union." 
 
 When the Russian War seriously interfered with the 
 supply of hemp, India supplied its place with " jute " 
 and u sunn;" when British forests were found in- 
 sufficient to supply the dockyards with timber, India 
 gave them " teak," and now, when the folly and pre- 
 sumption of man threatens to interfere with the ac- 
 customed supply of cotton, India is looked to for 
 the means to fill the threatened gap. Nor will she 
 fail. In that vast region, embraced by the Indus and 
 the Himalaya Mountains, and bounded by the Indian 
 Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, there exists a popu- 
 lation closely approximating upon 200,000,000, fully 
 two-thirds of whom are subjects of the British Crown; 
 
 R 2 
 
244 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 these, from a period anterior to historic record, have 
 been clothed in cotton. The total quantity of cotton 
 grown in India, according to Dr. Watson, amounts to 
 upwards of 2,400,000,000 Ibs. per annum, and demands 
 for its culture certainly not less than 24,000,000 
 acres. 
 
 Great as is the acreage above indicated nearly 
 three times that of the American cotton fields it is 
 but small in comparison with the vast extent of British 
 India. The cotton tract in the valley of the Godavery 
 alone is said to be of greater extent than the whole 
 American cotton field. Guzerat, under the present 
 demand, is expected to send forward, during the current 
 year, no less than 300,000,000 Ibs., and this district is 
 not one-hundredth part of India. It has been said, on 
 what may be deemed good authority, that more cotton 
 is annually wasted in India than is grown in America ; 
 and there is no doubt but that, by stimulating the pro- 
 duction, not only will the culture be extended over a 
 greater area, but the productive power of the land will 
 be materially increased. If to the completion of the 
 works of irrigation already in progress and the con- 
 struction of railways, is added the stimulus of high 
 prices in Liverpool, it seems reasonable to conclude 
 that the supply of cotton from India will rapidly in- 
 crease. 
 
 A recent writer justly observes that, " up to the 
 present, the supply from India has been entirely in- 
 fluenced and over-awed by that from America. Omit- 
 ting years like 1855, when New Orleans cotton was 
 selling at 10d., and Surats (or East India) at l\d. ; 
 and coming down to later days, when American cotton 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 245 
 
 was selling in Liverpool nearly as low as 4c?., 
 and Surats at 3d., we shall see reason to conclude 
 that the development of the power of India to 
 compete with America is, in one respect, a question 
 of price." 
 
 Indian cotton is often delayed for months at the 
 place of its growth by want of transport, during which 
 period it is subject to a deterioration of at least %d. 
 per Ib. The cost of growing it is estimated at l^d. 
 per Ib. ; it costs another l^d. to carry it to Bombay 
 (or other port of export), and the freight to Liverpool 
 adds another Id. per Ib. ; hence it cannot be sold in 
 England at less than 4d. per Ib. 
 
 In 1845 the largest crop ever produced (up to that 
 date) in America was brought to market, and the 
 price of the superior grades fell to a point which com- 
 pelled the holder of Indian cotton to sell at 3d. per 
 Ib. This inflicted an actual loss of Id. per Ib., and 
 purchasers for the European market withdrew their 
 agents from India. As a consequence, the exports 
 during the following year fell to about one-half their 
 previous quantity. On the other hand, when in 1856 
 the price of American cotton in Liverpool had risen 
 to Qd. per Ib., and Indian to 4fd, there was im- 
 ported in the succeeding year the large quantity of 
 250,000,000 Ibs., and last year (1861) this quantity 
 was increased nearly 50 per cent. 
 
 In 1788 the efforts of the East India Company 
 were first directed to the promotion of the growth of 
 cotton, and to the improvement of its quality. In the 
 same year was made the first shipment of Indian 
 cotton to England. In 1814 the exports to England 
 
246 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 amounted to 4,000,000 Ibs., and they have since 
 increased in the following ratio : 
 
 1831 Ibs. 25,805,153 
 
 1838 40,217,734 
 
 1845 58,437,426 
 
 1851 84,923,022 
 
 1861 369,040,448 
 
 Next after India we may refer to the gradually 
 increasing production of cotton in Egypt. Its culti- 
 vation was first promoted by Mahmoud Pacha, who 
 no sooner became convinced of the fitness of the soil 
 and climate, than he set about the prosecution of the 
 enterprise with such vigour and sagacity, that within 
 two years he exported nearly 6,000 bales of a superior 
 quality- to England. In 1858 this quantity had been 
 advanced to 38,248,112 Ibs., and in the same year 
 France obtained 7,434,300 Ibs. from the same 
 source. In 1855 the total quantity exported was 
 55,874,300 Ibs., and the home consumption was 
 estimated at from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 England also receives large quantities of cotton 
 wool from Brazil. In 1849 the quantity approximated 
 closely upon 31,000,000 Ibs., and though it hardly 
 reached 17,000,000 in 1860-61, this falling off is 
 attributed to competition with American supplies, and 
 to the fact that in Brazil cotton cannot be successfully 
 cultivated near the coast : the difficulty of transporting 
 it from the interior adds so much to its cost as to 
 render it unprofitable. The Brazilian government has 
 offered encouragement for the construction of railways, 
 by guaranteeing interest on the outlay, and lines are 
 in process of construction by British capitalists. Their 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 247 
 
 completion will remove the main difficulty to the 
 increase of the cotton culture, and the exports will un- 
 questionably be largely increased. 
 
 India, Egypt, and Brazil are not the only sources to 
 which the British manufacturer can resort for his raw 
 cotton. At the present moment importations of 
 cotton arrive in Liverpool from five distinct regions of 
 the earth the United States, India, Egypt, Brazil, 
 and the West Indies. Samples have also been pro- 
 duced from the western parts of Africa, as well as from 
 Australia and Natal, of excellent staple and general 
 good quality. Indeed, samples from Queensland 
 and New South Wales, shown at the International 
 Exhibition of 1862, were valued at 3s. 6d. to 4s. per Ib. 
 The quantity as yet obtained is small. But let us 
 call to mind the rapidity with which the American 
 supply has reached its present importance : less than 
 seventy years ago the exports of cotton from the 
 United States were nil ; in 1794 they exported but 
 5,340 bales of 300 Ibs. each, which embraced the 
 entire crop. If such small amounts have expanded 
 to the present enormous production, who shall say 
 that Africa, with its teeming population and genial 
 climate, will not speedily increase its modest con- 
 tribution of 21 bales in 1859, to an amount which, if 
 not equal to that sent from America, may yet startle 
 us by rapidity of increase. It appears from the 
 narratives of Clapperton and Landers, that cotton is 
 grown very extensively in all parts of Africa. Dr. 
 Livingstone tells us of vast ranges of country suitable 
 for the cultivation of the plant. In one place he 
 says : " The markets are well supplied with provisions 
 
248 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 by great numbers of women, every one of whom is 
 seen spinning cotton, with a spindle and distaff 
 exactly like those which were in use amongst the 
 
 ancient Egyptians The cotton was 
 
 brought to the market for sale, and I bought a pound 
 for a penny. This was the price demanded, and pro- 
 bably double what they ask from each other. We 
 saw the cotton growing luxuriantly all around the 
 market-place from seeds dropped accidentally. It is 
 
 seen also about the native huts We 
 
 met on the road natives passing with bundles of cops 
 or spindles full of cotton thread, and these they were 
 carrying to other parts to be woven into cloth." 
 
 In a country so congenial to the production of the 
 staple, with a population naturally docile, though fond 
 of display, there requires but the opportunity and the 
 knowledge that they can at once exchange the raw 
 material, so easily obtained, for the fabric they so 
 highly prize, to induce them to apply themselves to 
 cultivating and collecting it at such points as may be 
 selected by the European traders for making the 
 exchange. 
 
 Summing up the supplies obtained from all quarters 
 we find that England in 1859 received 1, 226,000,000 Ibs. 
 of cotton wool, of which 962,000,000 Ibs. were from 
 the United States, and the remaining 264,000,000 Ibs. 
 from all other countries. In 1860 this enormous 
 quantity. had increased to 1,391,000,000 Ibs. ; but in 
 1861 it fell back again to 1,257,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 Such facts, showing as they do the vast pre- 
 ponderance of the supply obtained from one source 
 over that obtained from all others, have not failed to 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 249 
 
 produce their effect on the public mind here. We 
 find Mr. J. B. Smith holding the following language 
 in a paper read before the Society of Arts in 1857 : 
 " It is much to be desired that our supplies of the 
 raw material for so great a manufacture should be 
 derived from a variety of sources, that we may, as far as 
 possible, be thus protected from the fluctuations in prices 
 incident to good or bad seasons ; but, unfortunately, 
 
 they are chiefly derived from one sou'rce 
 
 But not only are we exposed to the danger of being 
 limited chiefly to one source of supply, but to a still 
 greater hazard namely, that this supply is the pro- 
 duction of slave labour. It may be that the institu- 
 tion of slavery, although condemned by all civilised 
 nations, may yet exist for ages in the United States ; 
 or it may happen that occurrences may any day 
 endanger its continuance. The alarm created by 
 recent symptoms of discontent among the slaves in 
 that country, is evidence that their owners themselves 
 are not without apprehensions of danger ; and it is 
 impossible for those interested in the cotton manu- 
 factures of this country to contemplate with un- 
 concern the insecurity on which this vast manufacture 
 rests. This is not a local question, it has become a 
 great national question, and must be forced upon the 
 attention of statesmen of all parties. To me it 
 appears the importance of the subject can scarcely be 
 over-rated." 
 
 With such motives to action so forcibly expressed 
 by one who had the ear of those most interested five years 
 ago it is not likely that our manufacturers are so 
 unprepared as the Americans imagine. With the 
 
250 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 necessity of dealing promptly with this great question, 
 so prominently brought home to them by the present 
 disturbances in the United States, and the blockade 
 of the cotton ports in the Southern Confederacy ; 
 with so wide a field for action before them, we may 
 be sure that the commercial enterprise of Britain will 
 not sleep. 
 
 The quarrel which was arrogantly assumed to be 
 the precursor of the downfall of the commercial 
 supremacy of Great Britain, bids fair to be the im- 
 mediate cause of largely increasing and cheapening 
 the world's supply of the raw material, and of giving 
 a greater impulse to the productive powers of the 
 British looms than anything that has happened since 
 the inventions of Hargreaves, Arkwright, and Watt. 
 
 As with many other branches of manufacture, that 
 of Cotton was driven into England by the tyranny of 
 continental rulers. It first took root in Manchester 
 about the beginning of the seventeenth century, where 
 it was encouraged by the municipal authorities grant- 
 ing to the political and religious refugees (who 
 brought the art with them) valuable privileges for a 
 nominal consideration, such as the privilege of cutting 
 timber for their looms in the extensive forests owned 
 by the Warden and Fellows of Manchester College. 
 The industrious immigrant was also encouraged by 
 privileges from the Crown. " The Provident Eliza- 
 beth," says 1'Abbe de Smet, " did not confine her 
 views to the relief of her religious partisans, but 
 sought to transfer into her kingdom those prosperous 
 trades of the Low Countries which adjoining States 
 had looked upon with invidious eyes." 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 251 
 
 At this time the operative weaver had usually his 
 residence in the country, where, in his garden plot, he 
 eked out his earnings by the cultivation of his small 
 holding. This was a necessity. The uncertainty of 
 procuring a regular supply of material for his loom 
 rendering his legitimate work exceedingly precarious. 
 
 The fly shuttle was invented by Kaye, of Bury, in 
 1750, and in 1760 James Hargreaves had perfected 
 important improvements in the carding processes. In 
 1762 the father of the late Sir Robert Peel erected 
 one of his improved machines at Blackburn, which did 
 not materially differ from those now in use. In 1757 
 the same James Hargreaves invented the spinning 
 jenny, and, after several unsuccessful attempts, suc- 
 ceeded in producing a machine with which he could spin 
 eight threads at once. He speedily improved on his 
 first attempt, and constructed a jenny to run eighty 
 spindles. This may be considered as the leading step 
 in that march of discovery which has improved every 
 branch of the manufacture. 
 
 Like other benefactors of the human race, Mr. 
 Hargreaves was not destined to reap much advantage 
 from his discoveries. He was hunted from his native 
 place, and settled in Nottingham, where he shortly 
 after died if not in great poverty, as has been asserted, 
 certainly in very indifferent circumstances. 
 
 About the same time, Mr. Arkwright, of Preston, 
 in Lancashire, gave his attention to the improvement 
 of spinning machinery. He was brought up to the 
 humble occupation of a barber, but seems to have 
 been endowed with a rare combination of inventive 
 talent, and a capacity for business. His want of me- 
 
252 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 chanical skill was compensated by ardour and per- 
 severance ; and he succeeded, after many struggles 
 with adverse circumstances, in perfecting that rare 
 piece of mechanism called at first the ''water frame," 
 and subsequently the " throstle," which performs of 
 itself the whole process of spinning, leaving to the 
 workman only the duty of supplying it with material, 
 and of piecing such threads as are accidentally 
 broken. 
 
 In partnership with Mr. Strutt, a man of great me- 
 chanical ability, Mr. Arkwright erected a mill at Not- 
 tingham for spinning yarn with his machinery. In 
 1771 he removed to Cromford, where he erected 
 another mill, and where he continued to follow up his 
 first great invention, with many important, though 
 subordinate improvements. He was not, however, to 
 enjoy the fruits of his invention without dispute. 
 Like Hargreaves, he was first persecuted as an inno- 
 vator ; then, when the value of his invention was 
 demonstrated by the work they produced, his patents 
 were contested, and, had it not been for his business 
 tact, his inventions would have been pirated by the 
 very men who had ridiculed them and persecuted 
 him. 
 
 It is commonly believed, and often appealed to as 
 a fact by the advocates of Protection to home manu- 
 factures, that the factory system of Great Britain 
 was fostered into existence by protective duties. So 
 far as this branch of the system is concerned, nothing 
 can be more erroneous. It fought its way in the face 
 of adverse laws. No sooner had Arkwright and his 
 partner surmounted the mechanical difficulties that 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 253 
 
 lay in their path, than they discovered that they 
 were doomed to ruin, unless they could command 
 sufficient wealth and influence to obtain the repeal of 
 preposterous legislative enactments. It was not until 
 1774 that Parliament was pleased to recognise the 
 propriety of permitting genuine cotton fabrics to be 
 made and sold, and then only under vexatious excise 
 restrictions. The sapient lawgivers had previously 
 considered it a necessary stroke of policy to ensure the 
 consumption of home-grown material by requiring that 
 a certain proportion of every fabric should be com- 
 posed of linen yarn. It required no small degree of 
 energy, and involved very great expenditure of time, 
 to beat down the influence wielded by the defenders of 
 home productions. 
 
 About 1792 Samuel Crompton learned to spin with 
 one of Hargreaves' Jennys, and, being dissatisfied 
 with the quality of the yarn produced, he set about 
 improving it. His efforts resulted in the mule. With 
 his machine which, not being a mechanic, he had 
 elaborated under great difficulties he produced a 
 superior article, which excited the public mind, and he 
 was so beset by the prying curiosity of the country 
 people, that, in order to get rid of the vexation, he 
 exhibited his invention to those who chose to subscribe 
 a guinea each. In this way he raised about 50, 
 with which he constructed a superior and larger 
 machine. He took out no patent, but subsequently 
 received 500 from Parliament. 
 
 When Arkwright's patents were cancelled, and the 
 use of the nice preparatory processes became general, 
 the full value of Crompton's inventions became known, 
 
254 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and the use of the mule jenny marked an important 
 era in the history of the cotton manufacture. 
 
 The enormous productiveness of the spinning ma- 
 chinery could never have been utilised, had the con- 
 version of the yarn into the woven fabric depended on 
 the hand-loom weaver. It needed another important 
 element to complete the series of automatic machinery, 
 and this was supplied by Cartwright, who, in 1784, 
 invented the germ of the power loom. In 1787 
 he completed his invention and erected a factory, 
 which, probably by reason of his want of business 
 habits, was not successful as a pecuniary investment. 
 Numerous subsequent improvements were made by 
 Bell, Monteith, Horrocks, Sharp, and Roberts, and a 
 host of other inventors, who have improved this 
 machine until it may be said to be perfectly self-acting 
 in all its operations. 
 
 Having thus briefly glanced at the successive steps 
 by which the inventive genius of the last century 
 supplied the mechanism, we will now, with similar 
 brevity, examine the industrial structure which capital 
 has raised with the tools thus placed within its 
 reach. 
 
 About the time Crompton completed his invention, 
 he received 14s. sterling per Ib. for spinning and 
 preparing number 40 yarn, and shortly afterwards he 
 was paid 25s. sterling for number 60. To show how 
 fine a grist he could spin, he produced yarns as fine 
 as number 80, for which he obtained 42s. per Ib. 
 More perfect mechanism and improved, skill enabled 
 the spinners to work still finer grists for lower prices, 
 and in 1793, only 8d. sterling per Ib. was paid for 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 255 
 
 number 100. Notwithstanding, "however, this ex- 
 traordinary diminution of price, by aid of the improved 
 machinery, superior judgment in the selection of suit- 
 able cotton wool, and greater skill in working, the 
 spinners can with less labour earn more money than 
 they did when the prices were high. 
 
 Nor is the saving effected by the power loom in 
 weaving of much less importance than that due to the 
 spinning machinery. The invention of the fly shuttle 
 by John Kaye, doubled the productive power of the 
 hand loom ; but even as compared with the loom in 
 this improved state, the mechanism wherewith a girl 
 is enabled to produce from 300 to 400 yards of four- 
 fifths cloth per week, is as great an economical 
 triumph as is the invention of the spinning, frames 
 that produce the yarn. 
 
 Applying the great saving in the details of the cost 
 of production to the quantities annually worked up, 
 we have the key to the wonderful expansion of this 
 branch of industry, and we are enabled to understand 
 the means whereby the manufacturer is enabled to 
 place within reach of the multitude those fabrics that 
 contribute so much to the civilisation with which we 
 are surrounded. 
 
 We have alluded to the probable increase in the 
 supply of raw material from regions which hitherto 
 have not contributed at all, or only in a small degree, 
 supplies of cotton to the manufacturer. It is well that 
 these regions are so widely spread, and that they have 
 a capacity to yield bountifully, for manufacturing 
 power has increased, and, indeed, is still increasing at 
 a rate which has no parallel in the records of industrial 
 
256 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 enterprise. The quantity of cotton annually consumed 
 by each spindle in the United Kingdom is 31 j Ibs. ; 
 and it is estimated by those best acquainted with the 
 case, that in 1860 the rate of increase in the number of 
 spindles was not less than 45,000 per week, represent- 
 ing an increase in the consumption of cotton of upwards 
 of 74,000,000 Ibs. per annum. As the average con- 
 sumption of cotton per hand employed has been 
 2,351 Ibs., this increase indicates an annual increase 
 of 31,600 in the factory population of Britain. It is 
 noteworthy that, notwithstanding this extraordinary 
 increase in production, the supply of the manufactured 
 article does not keep pace with the expansion of the 
 markets, the scarcely perceptible reduction in price 
 being entirely due to the steady improvement in 
 the machinery used. 
 
 The following table will give some i(Jea of the 
 periodical increase of this branch of business and of 
 the enormous values involved : 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 
 
 257 
 
 oo oo oo oo oo oo oo 
 
 S S g ^ g 5 
 
 Year. 
 
 I-" OS I**- tO 
 
 tf^ t-> Crc Oi 
 
 ,O JW J<l W O 
 
 Ol tO 3 OS 
 
 I-" O tO tO 
 
 O >*> CO Ct 
 
 P O 
 
 2 p 
 
 S g 
 
 co 
 o tt 
 
 a? 
 
 o 
 
 
 o o 
 
 to * 
 
 _pT JW 
 
 "en "to 
 
 O OS 
 
 o to 
 
 tO I i 1-1 
 
 CTJ wl 4*. 
 
 "O "h-i "or 
 
 SO? O 
 
 co to 
 
 28,25 
 
 S 2 
 
 ite 
 
 0> 2. P= 
 H - (t) O 
 
 M 2.2. 
 
 ue o 
 oo 
 fro 
 
 o 
 ds 
 om 
 m. 
 
 el 
 
 > 
 
 x a 
 S 
 
 w 7 
 
 B S 
 
 Q H 
 
 w o 
 
 W H 
 
 o 
 
 Js3 JS ;> 
 
 O GO ^i 
 
 H- tO H-l 
 
 GO to ci 
 
 to to 01 
 
 ** jS ' Jt 3 
 
 W*^ ( o-j-j, CCICr C!i- 
 
 Average price 
 per yard. 
 
 i ' tO *. 
 
 oo o cc 
 
 oehi ico ecjco 
 
 Average price 
 of Yarn per Ib. 
 
 Average price 
 
 of bowed Cotton 
 
 per Ib. 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 We may add that, at the present time (1862) the 
 total number of spindles employed in the cotton ma- 
 nufactures of Great Britain is estimated at nearly 
 36,000,000, and that the cotton industry of the rest 
 of the world is assumed to be, collectively, equal to 
 that of the United Kingdom. 
 
 We have the history of the rise and progress of the 
 various branches of manufacture in the manufacturing 
 districts of Great Britain to warrant us in the conclusion 
 that priority of selection other things being equal 
 exercises an enduring influence in permanently 
 locating a particular branch of industry. We have 
 noticed how Manchester early became the seat of the 
 manufacture of textile fabrics, by reason of the en- 
 couragement given by the municipal authorities, and 
 we have seen how that branch of industry has clung 
 to the place of its birth through succeeding gene- 
 rations. Other instances might be cited. Glasgow 
 was the genial birthplace of successful power-loom 
 weaving, and still retains a pre-eminence in that 
 branch. Nottingham was the refuge of the first 
 promoters of the stocking frame, and of the sub- 
 sequent inventors of bobbin-net lace manufacture, and, 
 with the adjacent county of Derby, is still the chief 
 seat of those industries. Undoubtedly, there were 
 important considerations which influenced selection, 
 and which could not be overruled by favours within 
 the gift of localities. When power-spinning and 
 weaving were first successfully introduced, sites other- 
 wise inconvenient were selected which offered con- 
 siderable water power. Watt relieved the cotton 
 spinners from the necessity of seeking power at the 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 259 
 
 expense of other advantages then the extensive 
 employment of steam induced the establishment of 
 factories where coal is abundant. The improvements 
 that have been made in the steam engine, and the 
 consequent economy of fuel, has rendered this con- 
 sideration even of minor consequence : one ton of coal 
 can now do as much work as three tons did some years 
 ago. Notwithstanding, however, the opposing circum- 
 stances here mentioned, the early establishment of 
 any branch of industry in a locality has exercised an 
 important influence. How else shall we account for 
 the eminence of Sheffield in cutlery, Birmingham in 
 hardware, Bradford in worsted, and Leeds in the cloth 
 trade ? 
 
 As a measure of progress it is a striking fact that 
 whilst in the year 1760, according to Dr. Percival, the 
 entire Cotton Trade of Great Britain did not return, for 
 materials and labour, more than 200,000, in 1860 the 
 returns of our Cotton Manufacture were estimated by 
 Mr. (now Sir T.) Bazley, M.P., at the sum of 
 85,000,000; and that whilst in 1764 the weight of 
 raw cotton imported was 3,870,000 Ibs., in 1860 the 
 quantity of raw cotton consumed in this country wfis 
 1,083,600,000 Ibs. The figures we have quoted above 
 show that, we have in this brief period increased by 
 more than four hundred times the value of the cotton 
 products, and that we are consuming in the operation 
 two hundred and seventy times as much weight, 
 of raw cotton as was consumed a century ago. They 
 also confirm the fact that, owing to the comfort and 
 cheapness obtained by cotton for clothing and other 
 purposes, these fabrics have become the most popular 
 
 8 2 
 
260 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 among the masses of the people in all countries. 
 And, lastly, they denote the prodigious increase 
 of cotton cultivation, whereby the planters who 
 produce this raw material, in the United States or 
 elsewhere, have become possessed of a most lucrative 
 industry. By way of illustrating the extent and per- 
 fection attained in the Cotton Manufacture, it has been 
 stated that in this country we employ as many as 
 36,000,000 of spindles, and that in one minute we can 
 spin a length of cotton yarn which would wind four 
 times round the earth. Every day 10,000,000 yards 
 of cotton fabrics come out of our looms ; and it seems 
 to baffle our power of calculation when we say that, 
 after having supplied the wants of our own population 
 most abundantly, we have 100,000,000 Ibs. of yarn 
 and 2,000,000,000 yards of plain and printed goods 
 to spare, which we export to supply the wants of 
 the people of other nations. With abundance of 
 labour at our command, and by the use of economic 
 appliances, the cost of production and the selling price 
 of every article of cotton manufacture has been greatly 
 reduced. 
 
 In the year 1786 the price of cotton yarn, number 42, 
 was 10s. lie?, per Ib. ; in 1860, lid. per Ib. In the 
 year 1786 the price of cotton yarn, number 100, was 38s. 
 per Ib. ; in 1860, 2s. Qd. per Ib. 
 
 In proof that an appreciable amount of the advan- 
 tages of cheapness has reached the consumer, we may 
 state that in the year 1790 the mother of an eminent 
 manufacturer still living purchased a white cotton 
 dress at 6s. a yard ; while in 1860 the same quality of 
 fabric was obtainable at from 2^d, to 3d. per yard. As 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 261 
 
 compared with fabrics of wool or flax the economy of 
 cotton is very striking. Taking the cost prices as 
 they existed in 1860, the relative value of the three 
 fabrics was as follows : A garment of 1 Ib. weight, 
 made of flannel, cost 3s. Id. ; of linen, 2s. 4d. ; of 
 cotton, Is. 
 
 The Cotton Manufacture is no longer confined within 
 the limits of the county of Lancaster, as at its com- 
 mencement ; it is now extensively carried on in parts of 
 Yorkshire, in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lanarkshire, and to 
 some small extent in Ireland and in Wales. Lanca- 
 shire is, however, still pre-eminently distinguished as 
 the home of the cotton trade, and retains a sort of 
 monopoly in the extent of its productive power. 
 
 According to a Parliamentary return issued in 1862, 
 Lancashire possessed nearly 80 per cent, of the total 
 number of factories of England and Wales. 
 
 England and Wales. Lancashire. 
 
 No. of Factories 2,715 ... 1,979 or 72 percent. 
 
 Spindles 28,352,125 ... 21,530,532 75 
 
 Power looms... 368,125... 306,423 83 
 Hands directly 
 
 employed ... 407,598 ... 315,620 77 
 
 Nearly 500,000 persons are thus directly oc- 
 cupied in this single industry ; but to these must be 
 added engineers, builders, machinists, bleachers, 
 printers, and other auxiliaries. Since, however, the 
 number of hands actually employed appears compara- 
 tively small for the results produced, it will be neces- 
 sary to bear in mind that the greatest operators are 
 the machinery and the steam engine. Other estimates 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 show that the entire number of persons directly em- 
 ployed in, or indirectly dependent upon, the cotton 
 trade is about 4,000,000, or as much as 20 per cent, of 
 the population of England and Wales. The import- 
 ance of the cotton manufacture, in its individual 
 character and in a national point of view, can only be 
 estimated by comparing it with the various other 
 branches of industry. 
 
 By reference to the Board of Trade tables of the 
 exports of British and Irish produce and manufacture 
 in 1860, we find that upwards of 40 per cent, of the 
 total exports of the country consisted at that date of 
 cotton goods exclusively; the three other textile 
 branches having constituted 20 per cent. ; whilst the 
 remaining 40 per cent, consisted of all the other 
 articles of commerce exported from this country. 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 TEXTILE COTTON BRANCH. 
 Exports of cotton goods, yarn, hosiery 
 
 and lace 52,012,000 
 
 Add to the above the proportion of two- 
 thirds the value of haberdashery and 
 
 slops 4,108,000 
 
 56,120,000 
 
 TEXTILE OTHER BRANCHES. 
 
 Woollen goods, hosiery and yarn 16,000,000 
 
 Linen goods, lace, thread and yarn 6,606,000 
 
 Silk goods, thrown silk and yarn 2,413,000 
 
 Add proportion of one-third of haber- 
 dashery and slops 2,054,000 
 
 27,073,000 
 
 Carried forward 83,193,000 
 
THE COTTON TRADE. 
 
 263 
 
 Brought forward 83,193,000 
 
 VARIOUS MANUFACTURES. 
 Beer, boots, cabinet work, candles, 
 cordage, earthenware, glass, plate, 
 leather, oil, paint, soap, soda, spirits, 
 stationery, sugar, &c., &c 12,158,000 
 
 NATURAL AND WROUGHT-UP PRODUCTS. 
 Coals, copper, hardware, iron, lead, 
 tin, salt, steam engines, mill-work, 
 machinery, &c., &c 29,000,000 < 
 
 NATURAL PRODUCTS AND VARIOUS OTHER ARTICLES. 
 Butter, cheese, wool, fish, pickles, and 
 many other articles not enumerated 11,540,000 
 
 52,698,000 
 
 Total value of Exports of all kinds in 1860... 135,89 1,000 
 
 It will be observed from this statement how large 
 has been the contribution of the Cotton Manufacture 
 to the entire sum of our exports, and how marked 
 must be the effect of its influence on the commercial 
 prosperity of the kingdom. 
 
 From the latest official returns on Factories and 
 Workshops, on the motion of Mr. E. Baines ordered 
 to be printed in August, 1871, it appears that the 
 following were the statistics of the Cotton Factories 
 in the United Kingdom : 
 
 
 England. 
 
 Scotland. 
 
 Ireland. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Spinning Factories 
 Weaving 
 
 1,085 
 649 
 
 20 
 36 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 1,108 
 693 
 
 Spinning and Weaving 
 Other Factories . 
 
 513 
 124 
 
 17 
 25 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 532 
 150 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 2 371 
 
 98 
 
 14 
 
 2 483 
 
 
 
 
 
 
264 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The number of carding machines in these factories 
 was 65,960 ; of combing machines, 1,906 ; of spinning 
 spindles, 32,749,743 running, and 1,945,478 standing ; 
 of doubling spindles there were 3,291,749 running, 
 and 231,788 standing; of power looms, 405,122 run- 
 ning, and 35,554 standing. The number of power- 
 loom weavers was 1 65,341. The moving power employed 
 was 300,480 horse power steam and 8,390 water. The 
 number of persons engaged in the factories was 449,087, 
 of whom 271,690 were females. 
 
THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 265 
 
 THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE, AND THE INFORMA- 
 TION TO BE OBTAINED THEREON.* 
 
 The Wool Series the second of our great staples 
 is one of the most important raw materials of our 
 commerce, since the imports of wool average some 
 360,000 bales yearly (in 1854, 106,000,000 Ibs.) Our 
 home clip of wool is further about 200,000,000 Ibs., 
 and the value of the woollen manufactures exported 
 (exclusive of home consumption) nearly 10,000,000 
 sterling. 
 
 Without entering further into the statistics of the 
 trade, which has already been fully gone into by Mr. 
 Henry Forbes, before this Society, by Mr. Thomas 
 Southey, and others without touching upon the im- 
 mense extension of sheep and increased production of 
 wool in the Cape Colony, Australia, and South America 
 without going into particular descriptions of the Al- 
 paca, the Angora goat, and ordinary goat's wool I shall 
 content myself with entering somewhat fully into the 
 practical detail of the qualities of sheep's wool, the 
 points to be studied, and the information to be gleaned 
 from an examination of the results of experience and 
 
 * Published in the "Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. iii, 
 p. 677, August, 1855. 
 
266 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 judgment in the chief wool-growing countries. Of 
 course, any such remarks must necessarily be discur- 
 sive and general, both from the large field to be 
 traversed, and the channel through which they have 
 to appear the objects aimed at by the Society of 
 Arts being rather the promotion of mechanical and 
 practical improvement than agricultural and pastoral 
 occupations. 
 
 The sheep, perhaps, of all domestic animals, except 
 the dog, is most easily modified in its form, size, 
 quality of fleece, and other properties, to suit it to 
 various situations and purposes for which it is intended 
 by man. We have, accordingly, at one end of the 
 scale, the coarse wool of the Leicester, Cotswold, 
 and other long-woolled breeds, furnishing what is 
 called by manufacturers " combing" wool, and employed 
 in making blankets, rugs, and coarse worsted goods, 
 chiefly in Yorkshire and in Scotland; at the other 
 end of the scale we have the short fine wool of the 
 Merino sheep, fitted for spinning into the finest threads, 
 of which the most beautiful superfine cloth is manu- 
 factured in the West of England. 
 
 Upon examining these two classes of wools under 
 the microscope, a further and very curious difference is 
 observed, viz., that whereas the fibres of the combing 
 wools are mostly round and smooth, those of the 
 clothing wools are jagged or imbricated at the sides. 
 There are intermediate qualities adapted either for 
 combing or clothing, but this last-mentioned property 
 is essential in a wool intended for the manufacture of 
 cloth, the threads of which require to be felted together 
 in the fulling mill, by which a closer texture is pro- 
 
THE WOOLS OP COMMERCE. 267 
 
 duced than could ever result from separate threads, 
 however closely they may be woven together.* 
 
 Corresponding to the varieties of fleece possessed by 
 different breeds of sheep, there are varieties in the 
 form and size of the carcase, and in the disposition of 
 the animal. Whilst some breeds are adapted to rich 
 and succulent lowland pastures, and are of a quiet and 
 lazy disposition, inclined to fatten at an early age, but 
 of tender constitution, others are suited to pick up 
 a living by travelling over a wider range, and to endure 
 the rigours of exposed hills and mountains. 
 
 Now, it will be evident that in introducing a breed 
 of sheep into a new country it is of the utmost im- 
 portance to select that one which experience has 
 proved to be best adapted by its constitution and 
 habits to the soil and climate in which it is desired 
 that it should thrive. It would be as reasonable, for 
 instance, to take a fat Leicester sheep from his shel- 
 tered and succulent pastures, and expose him on the 
 bare short herbage to the sweeping blasts and snow 
 storms of the Cheviot or the Lammermuir hills, as it 
 would be to transport a city alderman to the back- 
 woods, and bid him get his own living with the rifle of 
 the American Indian. 
 
 The progress made in sheep farming in various 
 countries the comparative increase in the weight and 
 profits on wool the modes of tending, shearing, 
 washing the fleece, baling, taking to market, relative 
 
 * See an interesting Article by Mr. N. Burgess, an expe- 
 rienced wool broker, in the " Journal of the Quekett Micros- 
 copical Club," for 1868, p. 23, on " The Wools of Commerce, 
 Commercially and Microscopically considered." 
 
268 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 yield of wool, modes of boiling down the carcase and 
 steaming for tallow, all these points are deserving of 
 notice and attention, and reliable information upon 
 them would be of great interest to many. 
 
 The Americans, who are always ingenious in over- 
 coming difficulties, have recently been adopting india- 
 rubber cotton floaters for enveloping and packing bales 
 of cotton, a number of which, thus united and enclosed, 
 are floated down shallow rivers, when the stream is 
 too low to be navigated by boats or steamers. One 
 of these gum-elastic wrappers costs about 2 10s. ; 
 two or three bales of cotton on a raft only draw about 
 a foot. Might not this plan be worthy of trial on the 
 Murrumbidgee, the Lachlan, the Darling, and other 
 tributaries of the Murray river in Australia, where the 
 wool could be thus forwarded from the distant inland 
 sheep stations to the shipping port with great economy ; 
 and the point is also worth the attention of the Dutch 
 Boers on the Orange river in Africa, and perhaps of 
 some of the settlers on the tributaries of the River 
 Plate, and the interior rivers of South America. 
 
 Our Society has already directed great attention to 
 the production and improvement of wool, and to an 
 investigation of the progress of wool manufactures. 
 Indeed, it is a source of satisfaction to know that the 
 various subjects discussed, and the information elicited 
 through its " Transactions," its premium lists, its 
 lectures, discussion meetings, and " Journal," have re- 
 sulted in great benefit to the arts and commerce, and 
 originated many important productive and manufac- 
 turing improvements. 
 
 It is both instructive and gratifying to find the high 
 
THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE. 269 
 
 price of wool, occasioned by the increased demand 
 for manufactures in France, Germany, and America, 
 forcing a part of mankind back, as it were, to the 
 most primitive pursuits, and the successful prosecution 
 of trade stimulating the cultivation of the land in 
 new and distant countries. The produce of our flocks 
 at home, for want of correct agricultural statistics, can 
 only roughly be computed by estimate, but the im- 
 ports from abroad are clearly ascertainable from the 
 trade returns.* The demand for wool is fast becoming 
 greater than the annual supply, and to our own 
 agriculturists we must look, as well as to our own 
 colonies and foreigners, for an increase. 
 
 As in tillage land the same acre of ground may be 
 made to produce from 30 to 50 per cent, more than its 
 usual yield, by the aid of fertilisers, so may a flock of 
 sheep be made to shear from 30 to 50 per cent, more 
 of wool by adapting their food to the especial forma- 
 tion and growth of wool. One of the constituent parts 
 of wool is albumen, hence those cereals which contain 
 the largest percentage of it make the most wool 
 when fed to sheep. Wheat and rye contain large 
 proportions, peas and beans 29 per cent., oats only 10^ 
 per cent. 
 
 It has been ascertained by actual experiment -that 
 the following are the results of feeding different kinds 
 of roots and grains for the production of wool : 
 
 l,0001bs. of Potatoes, raw, with salt, make 6lbs. of wool. 
 Ditto Mangold Wurtzel, raw 5| 
 Ditto Wheat 14 
 
 * Since this was written 'official annual agricultural returns 
 are issued. 
 
270 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 l,0001bs. of Oats make lOlbs. of wool. 
 
 Ditto Rye, with salt 14 
 
 Ditto Rye, without salt 12 ,. 
 
 Ditto Barley 12 
 
 Ditto Peas 16 
 
 Ditto Buckwheat 10 
 
 These results show that peas, wheat, and rye, pro- 
 duce the greatest increase of wool, and give about 
 twice the number of pounds of wool that roots do in 
 equal weight. Indian-corn meal, oil-cake, and such 
 gross substances, are the proper feed when fat mutton 
 and tallow are the objects; but the careful flock- 
 master, whose main object is the wool, must rely on 
 good hay and water, and a daily moderate allowance 
 of those grains, with some potatoes or carrots as green 
 food, for the attainment of his object, viz., the greatest 
 amount of good wool, and that in the very best 
 condition. 
 
 The points to be treated, as respects the quality of 
 wools, were thus defined by the Jurors of the Great 
 Exhibition, 1851 : " The fineness and elasticity of 
 the fibre ; the degrees of imbrication of the scaled sur- 
 face of the fibre as shown by the microscope; the 
 quantity of fibre developed in a given space of the 
 fleece ; the comparative freedom of the fleece from 
 extraneous matters ; and the skill and care employed 
 in preparatory processes, such, for example, as that 
 termed " scouring " the fleece, upon which depends its 
 liability, or otherwise, to mat at the bottom of the 
 staple." 
 
 The qualities most valuable in regard to the fleece 
 are thus pointed out by a colonial correspondent of 
 great experience and judgment: 1. Fineness. 2. 
 
THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE. 27 L 
 
 Fullness. 3. Freeness. 4. Soundness. 5. Length. 
 6. Softness. 
 
 1. Fineness of the fibre of the wool can be judged 
 of by practice when a lock of it is laid on the cuff of a 
 coat of a dark colour. A deficiency in this quality 
 will show itself by an abrupt falling off in fineness 
 either in the neck or breech of the animal, or in both. 
 The difference in fineness between these parts and the 
 rest of the fleece should be so gradual as to be almost 
 imperceptible. The settler cannot exert himself too 
 much to breed close up, as it is called (i.e., to make the 
 whole fleece as nearly as possible equal throughout), 
 otherwise the character of his flock as good breed will 
 never be established, and the wool will invariably 
 prove bad in the manufacture. No hair must be any- 
 where visible on the animal, especially under the fore- 
 legs. 
 
 2. Fullness means the closeness with which the 
 staples or locks of wool grow together on the skin. 
 Upon opening the wool of a sheep possessing this 
 quality in perfection, only a thin line of skin, as fine 
 as a pencil-stroke, will appear round each staple, but, if 
 deficient, a space almost bare. This is a point in 
 which the Australian sheep are generally deficient, and 
 of course the weight of the fleece suffers most mate- 
 rially. Some of the German sheep have great rolls or 
 puckers of skin under their necks and on other parts, 
 which give them a singular appearance, but the extent 
 of wool-bearing surface is thereby increased. 
 
 3. Freeness means that the separate staples, or locks 
 of wool, and also the separate fibres of each staple, are 
 distinct, and by no means entangled together, or what 
 
272 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 is called " smushy," like cotton wool. A deficiency in 
 this quality shows itself most plainly along the ridge 
 of the back. In a well-bred sheep the wool, on being 
 opened, should fall apart under the hands as clear and 
 broken as the leaves of a book. A want of knowledge 
 of this quality has caused infinite mischief in Australia 
 from people having mistaken an absence of freeness 
 for fullness or closeness of growth, which I have 
 already explained. 
 
 4. Soundness, or strength of fibre, is a quality in 
 which New Zealand wool, like its native flax, is said 
 to be pre-eminent. Along the ridge of the back there 
 is a sort of division between the wool of each side. 
 Tenderness, i.e., deficiency in soundness, invariably 
 shows itself there. Take out a staple from this part, 
 and give it a strong steady pull, holding one end in 
 each hand. If this proves sound, depend upon it that 
 the whole fleece is so too. This is an indispensable 
 quality in a combing wool, such as New Zealand is 
 fitted to produce, as the process of combing tries the 
 soundness especially. It is one also in which the 
 Australian wool is liable to be deficient, arising from 
 a check to the growth of the wool from the sheep 
 having been half-starved by drought, an affliction to 
 which those colonies are so often liable. For though 
 the wool begins to grow again as soon as the sheep 
 recovers his flesh, there is always a weak place in that 
 year's clip at the point where the growth recommenced, 
 by which it is materially damaged, for combing pur- 
 poses at least. 
 
 5. Length of fibre must be carefully regulated by 
 the nature of the pasture and climate ; for any, the 
 
THE WOOLS OP COMMERCE. 273 
 
 least, excess will cause a proportionate deficiency in 
 soundness, by which the wool will be depreciated for 
 clothing, and rendered utterly useless for combing. 
 If the length of the wool be too great for the nature 
 of the country, it will be known by the twisting of the 
 wool into hard bands, like pieces of twine, which break 
 almost like rotten thread. It is an error as mischievous 
 as the short cottony wool, and cannot be too carefully 
 avoided. To judge of the length of the staple in a 
 fleece, the best part to examine is the division along 
 the ridge of the back, as it is there usually somewhat 
 shorter than in other parts. 
 
 6. Softness sufficiently explains itself. A want of 
 this quality is most conspicuous between the points of 
 the shoulders and up the neck. 
 
 There is an oily matter natural to the wool of merino 
 sheep, an excess or deficiency of which is equally ob- 
 jectionable, but there seems to be no definite term to 
 express the different kinds of oil, yolk, or gum, as they 
 are alternately called. Probably those sheep should 
 be chosen whose fleeces abound in what may be termed 
 transparent oil within the fleece, which, flowing to the 
 end of the staple, there forms a yolk or gum, which by 
 combining with dust, gives the surface of the wool a 
 dark look. There can be no doubt that this yolk pre- 
 serves the fleece from dead ends, and the deleterious 
 effects of stormy weather, that it greatly facilitates the 
 growth of the wool, and much increases its strength, 
 softness, and elasticity. Manufacturers, I believe, will 
 be found to prefer a fleece well supplied with the yolk, 
 after it has been thoroughly washed, to a dry fleece 
 with dead ends, as they acknowledge that the wool 
 
 T 
 
274 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 from oily sheep is manufactured with much less waste, 
 is easier worked, and will make handsomer and more 
 lasting cloth than the wool of sheep quite destitute of 
 oil. But there is another kind of gummy matter, 
 quite different in its appearance and effects from the 
 above. This may be observed in yellow, thick, pitchy 
 particles within the fleece, and does not circulate freely 
 to the end of the wool, consequently the fleece has a 
 light-coloured surface, with dead ends, and as the wool 
 cannot be freed from this thick adhesive gum, by a 
 common cold-water wash, such fleeces will show a 
 larger percentage of shrinkage in cleansing than any 
 others. The German fleeces are much fuller of yolk than 
 the spout-washed Australian wool ; on this account a 
 considerable allowance of weight must be made when 
 comparing the weight of the former with that of the 
 best-conditioned flocks of Australia. 
 
 The weight of the fleece obtained from various kinds 
 (both the maximum and the average), is a matter 
 highly desirable to be known. 
 
 We have a great number of breeds in Great Britain, 
 from the Shetland, yielding only about 1J Ibs. of fine 
 cottony wool, and various short and long woolled 
 sheep, ranging from 2 to 10 Ibs. the -fleece ; but there 
 are other breeds scattered over the globe, of the pecu- 
 liar characteristics of which we know little. 
 
 Among the sheep peculiar to Turkey and Asia, and 
 hitherto unknown in Europe, is a breed called the 
 Karamanlia, generally met with in the neighbourhood 
 of Broussa, where large flocks of them are bred, and 
 where they are in high estimation for their flesh and 
 their wool, but more particularly for their tails, which. 
 
THE WOOL6 OF COMMERCE. 275 
 
 when boiled down, yield as much as 15 Ibs. of excellent 
 fat. This fat keeps good much longer than butter, 
 and replaces it in case of need. 
 
 The Bengalee sheep is small, lank, and thin, and 
 the colour of three-fourths of each flock is black or 
 dark grey. The quality of the fleece is worse, if pos- 
 sible, than its colour ; it is harsh, thin, and hairy in a 
 very remarkable degree. The breed on the Coromandel 
 coast is of a still more inferior quality, both in fleece 
 and carcase. Their coarse hair and their incompact 
 form, suggest an affinity to the goat or deer. Two or 
 three may in some places be bought for a rupee (2s.), 
 and yet are an unprofitable purchase. 
 
 There are in Bengal a few sheep with four horns, which 
 are superior in size and better proportioned than the 
 common kind. The Cabool sheep readily fatten ; they 
 have a large excrescence on the rump, far exceeding 
 that of the Cape sheep ; it is of a semicircular form, 
 and nearly half as large as the whole body. The 
 fleece of the Indian sheep ordinarily weighs but half a 
 pound. In Coimbatore there is a small compact breed 
 of sheep, called the Curumbar, modelled very much like 
 the Southdown, but on a reduced scale, and with a 
 head shaped like the Merino. The animal fattens 
 readily, and its flesh is close grained and well flavoured. 
 The wool is thick and curly, and almost entirely free 
 from hair. The fleece is generally white and the head 
 black. The sheep are shorn twice a year. 
 
 Measures have lately been taken to improve the 
 quality of the Punjaub wool, in which there is now a 
 brisk export trade, via Kurrachee, including 30,000 to 
 40,000 maunds, of about 75 Ibs. It has increased 
 
 T 2 
 
276 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 about 90 per cent, over previous years. The wool- 
 staplers of Khorasan, and the producers of wool on 
 the hills north of Cabool, Ghuznee, and various parts 
 of Central Asia, bring it down by caravans to the 
 frontier, and as the navigation of the tributaries of the 
 Indus become developed, a further increase of the pro- 
 duce brought down may be looked for. 
 
 It is impossible for a stranger to conceive the extreme 
 care and attention paid to the production of fine wool 
 in Germany, where immense flocks are reared for their 
 wool alone, kept during the greater part of the year in 
 large barns, and so carefully tended that neither dew 
 nor rain is allowed to fall upon them. In the King of 
 Saxony's flock wethers are kept to the age of nine or 
 ten years, solely for the 2 Ibs. of wool which they 
 annually yield. If subjected to a varying temperature 
 or checked perspiration, a knot is formed in the staple, 
 which can be seen under a very strong magnifying 
 power, and which very materially deteriorates from the 
 value the Germans attach to the article. Next to 
 equality, fineness of texture is the great desideratum, 
 and a beautiful machine has been invented by Mr. 
 Jeppe, of Rostock, for the admeasurement of the 
 thickness of the wool, and the proof of its strength, 
 which unites the accurate workmanship and delicacy of 
 watchwork. By this instrument 100 hairs of each 
 fleece, selected from nine different portions of the body, 
 forming an average of fineness, are subjected to a given 
 pressure, which is registered on a very minute index. 
 The result of one experiment was that an Austrian 
 fleece had been produced of which twelve hairs only 
 equalled in thickness one Leicester ! 
 
THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE. 277 
 
 In the Museum at Stuttgardt there are said to be 
 samples of every wool in the known world, comprising 
 those even of our most recently- established colonies, 
 carefully washed, weighed, and sorted, with such descrip- 
 tive remarks appended as are necessary to illustrate the 
 subject. 
 
 So important is the proper selection of breeding 
 animals considered in Germany that the best flock- 
 masters there do not trust to their own judgment, or 
 that of their shepherds, but employ persons called "sheep 
 classifiers," who make it their special business to attend 
 to this part of the management of several flocks, and 
 thus to preserve, or, if possible, to improve, the best 
 qualities of both parents in the lambs. 
 
 The ordinary flocks in Saxony produce very fine wool, 
 but much less in quantity than those of the improved 
 breed; the first yielding from 2 to 2 Ibs., worth from 
 25. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per lb., whilst the flocks of M. 
 Gadegast, and a few others, yield from 2J to 3f Ibs., 
 worth from 3s. Gd. to 4s. 4d. per lb. Thus whilst the 
 yield of an ordinary sheep of the country would be 
 worth on an average 6s. per annum, the yield of an 
 improved sheep would be as much as 10s. a year. 
 This large difference in the produce of each sheep in 
 a flock of some thousands would of course amount to 
 something well worth the extra care and expense. 
 
 There are flocks of the Negretti breed in Mecklen- 
 burgh and Pomerania of undoubted blood, which 
 average 4 Ibs. per fleece, worth 3s. Qd. per lb., and 
 many rams are to be found yielding from 8 to 10 Ibs. 
 of washed wool. This weight is also often reached in 
 the Cape Colony and in America. 
 
278 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The Merino race ought as much as possible to be 
 kept pure in France; and the flesh of the French 
 breed of sheep would be improved for food by a cross 
 with the English breed. 
 
 M. de Lavergne, a recent French writer, from careful 
 enquiries, estimates the number of sheep in France and 
 the United Kingdom severally at 35,000,000, but 
 while the English sheep are supported upon 77,000,000 
 acres, those of France live upon 132,000,000.* Scot- 
 land, in spite of all her endeavours, can maintain only 
 about 5,000,000 sheep, and Ireland, which from its 
 pasture ought to rival England, reckons at most only 
 
 * The following are the latest returns up to 1870 of sheep 
 in the United Kingdom, her principal colonies, and in various 
 Foreign Countries : 
 
 United Kingdom 31,403,500 
 
 The Australian Colonies 51,294,241 
 
 South African Colonies 10,168,997 
 
 North American Colonies 2,434,689 
 
 Russia 45,130,000 
 
 Sweden and Norway 3,244,473 
 
 Denmark 1,875,052 
 
 Prussia 22,262,087 
 
 Wurtemburg 656,000 
 
 Bavaria 2,040,000 
 
 Saxony 304,000 
 
 Holland and Belgium 1,513,004 
 
 France 30,386,233 
 
 Portugal 2,717,049 
 
 Spain 22,054,967 
 
 Italy 11,040,339 
 
 Austria 20,103,395 
 
 Switzerland 445,400 
 
 Greece 2,539,538 
 
 United States .,,,,.., , 40,853,000 
 
THE WOOLS OF COMMERCE. 279 
 
 3,000,000, upon 200,000,000 acres. [The number of 
 sheep in 1871 was, in Scotland, 6,882,000 and in 
 Ireland, 4,238,000.] 
 
 Estimating the value of our flocks, we shall find : 
 
 35,000,000 sheep at, say 2os. average, worth 43,750,000 
 The fleece, at a low average of 4 Ibs., say at 
 
 Wd. the Ib 5,833,333 
 
 Total 49,583,333 
 
 The average return of an English sheep farm is fully 
 six times greater than a French one. 
 
 In Canada the number of sheep, in round numbers, 
 is 1,600,000, and the average weight of the fleece 
 2 Ibs. 10 ozs. The increase of wool there in nine years 
 has been 64 per cent., and that of sheep 33 per cent., 
 showing an improvement in the weight of the fleece of 
 not far from 30 per cent. The proportion to popula- 
 tion in the United States and Canada is about the 
 same, nine sheep to every ten inhabitants. 
 
 About one-fourth of the French sheep of the present 
 day consists of Merinos and half-Merinos, the rest have 
 at the same time improved both in carcase and wool, 
 simply by means of more skill in their management. 
 
 England has proportionately three times more sheep 
 than France. To this numerical difference has to be 
 added a no less important difference in quality ; and 
 the reason for this is, that in France wool has been 
 looked upon as the principal product, and meat the 
 accessory ; in England, on the contrary, the wool has 
 been looked upon as the accessory, and meat as the 
 chief production. About 10,000,000 head of sheep 
 are slaughtered annually in the British Isles of which 
 
280 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 8,000,000 belong to England alone yielding, at the 
 average weight of 80 Ibs. of nett meat, 800,000,000 Ibs. 
 In France there are about 8,000,000 slaughtered, 
 which at the average weight of 40 Ibs. nett meat, 
 equal to one-half the weight of the English sheep, 
 gives 320,000,000 Ibs. So that while the 35,000,000 
 of French sheep are equal in wool to the same number 
 of sheep in England, they are deficient in meat in the 
 proportion of one-half.* 
 
 The Americans, although importing wool largely for 
 their manufactures, are, nevertheless, paying great 
 attention to the increased weight of the fleece on their 
 sheep. While the number of sheep between the two 
 last decennial censuses increased but 20 per cent., the 
 aggregate weight of the fleeoe was augmented 46 per 
 cent. In 1840 there were 19,311,374 sheep, yielding 
 35,802,114 Ibs. of wool, equal to but lf& Ibs. per head. 
 In 1850 the average weight of each fleece was 2 fa Ibs., 
 from which it would appear that such an improvement 
 had taken place in the various breeds of the American 
 sheep as to increase their average product about 32 
 per cent, throughout the United States ; and a 
 critical examination of the returns of sheep and wool 
 proves not only that the breeds are capable of much 
 improvement, but that improvements are steadily 
 taking place. The Americans, indeed, assert that 
 they can outrival the world in wool as in cotton. For 
 while Spanish sheep, yielding naturally wool 2,000 lines 
 to the inch, carried to England, degenerated to 900 
 
 * These remarks, published more than fifteen years ago, 
 must be qualified by the later statistics of sheep at the 
 present time. 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 281 
 
 to the inch, when brought to the United States, they 
 recovered to 2,100, a finer class of wool than the 
 original. 
 
 The woollen fabrics used in the United States 
 according to the Secretary of State's last Report, 
 consumed 800,000,000 Ibs. of wool, of which in 1853, 
 60,000,000 Ibs.were raised in the country,2 1 ,000,000 Ibs. 
 imported in the raw state, and 119,000,000 Ibs. im- 
 ported in manufactured fabrics. In the year ending 
 1853, 3,669 sheep and 216,472 Ibs. of wool were 
 exported from the States. The high price of wool and 
 mutton has given an increased impetus to sheep hus- 
 bandry in America. Texas is destined to be a great 
 sheep as well as stock-raising State. The average 
 price of wool in America for ten years previous to 1853 
 was 28 cents (14d.) per Ib. ; in 1853 it rose in Penn- 
 sylvania to 40 cents., and in Ohio to 50 cents. 
 
 In Norfolk, the average price of half-bred Down and 
 Leicester hogget-wool for 32 years ending with 1853 
 was 39s. 3d. per tod of 28 Ibs. The highest point 
 reached was 60s., in 1834 ; the lowest, 24s., in 1848. 
 
 WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE.* 
 
 " It should never be forgotten," observes Mr. Thomas 
 Southey, one of the most experienced of the wool 
 brokers, " that sheep's wool is the second staple of 
 British manufacture, and that with the expansive 
 industry and increased consumption at home, coupled 
 with the progressive demand abroad for textures made 
 with it, and even for the raw material itself, upon the 
 
 * Published in the "Merchants' Magazine," June, 1852. 
 
282 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Continent, of which our ports have now become a kind 
 of entrepot adequate supplies are absolutely neces- 
 sary. Upon these the bread of many thousand families 
 depends, besides a commensurate remuneration to the 
 capitalists and manufacturers who employ them. The 
 woollen manufactures form a most important item of 
 British industry ; for the value of the various woollen 
 and worsted fabrics and yarn, which we exported last 
 year (1851), was close upon 10,000,000 sterling." 
 
 The following table exhibits the progress that has 
 been made, both in the colonial produce and the wool 
 trade generally. The figures show the annual averages 
 for five years, and represent so many millions of 
 pounds weight. 
 
 Annual Averages of 
 Five Years. 
 
 Foreign Wool. 
 
 Colonial Wool. 
 
 Total 
 Importations. 
 
 1826 to 30 
 
 25 
 
 2 
 
 27 
 
 1831 35 
 
 34 
 
 4 
 
 38 
 
 1836 40 
 
 44 
 
 10 
 
 54 
 
 1841 45 
 
 36 
 
 22 
 
 58 
 
 1846 50 
 
 30 
 
 39 
 
 69 
 
 The annexed figures mark the progressive increase 
 in our imports of wool, during the first half of the 
 present century, in decennial periods : 
 
 Years. 
 
 1796 
 
 
 
 Bales. 
 17,244 
 
 1801 34,668 
 
 1811 24,206 
 
 1821 62,252 
 
 1831 97,371 
 
 1841 219,003 
 
 1851 317,881 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 283 
 
 If we average these bales at 2-J cwts. each, which is 
 pretty near the mark, we shall find that while in 
 1796 we received but 4,828,320 Ibs. of foreign wool, 
 in 1851 we imported 89,006,680 Ibs., and this, added 
 to about 275,000,000 Ibs. of home-grown wool, places 
 annually at our command the enormous quantity of 
 364,000,000 Ibs. ; which is just about half the amount 
 of cotton wool we work up. 
 
 Our Colonial wools are now derived almost solely 
 from three regions of the world India, Southern 
 Africa, and Australia, including in the latter territory 
 the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand. 
 Australia now furnishes nearly the half of all our im- 
 ports, and promises, in this respect, to be still more 
 important in her prospective than in her present 
 position in the comparative scale, if the injurious con- 
 sequences likely to arise from the present gold dis- 
 coveries can be averted. The open, grassy and pastoral 
 character of her boundless territory, the mildness and 
 salubrity of the climate, and the slight obstruction 
 offered by the handful of her aboriginal population, are 
 all circumstances that favour the present rapid develop- 
 ment of her resources. Her distance from the mother 
 country and her scarcity of labour must always, to some 
 extent, restrain this natural progression. At the 
 Cape, but more particularly in India, native labour is 
 rendered available; in Australia, this has never 
 been the case, excepting in a few individual instances. 
 
 We received no wool from India till 1833, when the 
 importation was but 3,721 Ibs. ; in 1841 we received 
 3,008,664 Ibs. ; and British India now sends us over 
 4,000,000 Ibs. 
 
284 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In 1826, we received only 1,250,000 Ibs. of wool, 
 from our own Possessions; in 1841, they supplied us 
 with 16,500,000 Ibs. In 1831, the total quantity of 
 sheep and lamb's wool imported from all parts was 
 31,652,0201bs.; in 1841, it amounted to 56,179,641 Ibs.; 
 and in 1851, it had reached 81,063,679 Ibs. 
 
 From a tabular statement of the imports of sheep's 
 wool (including goat's, &c.) into the British ports, in 
 the four years ending 1851, it appears that the total 
 number of bales imported from all parts of the world 
 was, in 1848, 273,037; in 1849, 285,190; in 1850, 
 278,022 ; and in 1851, 307,085. 
 
 Thus, the imports of 1850 exceeded those of 1848, 
 by more than 5,000 bales, and fell short of those of 
 1849, by more than 7,000 ; or, at the rate of 2 per 
 cent. Whilst the import of 1851, increased over the 
 previous year by 29,063 bales. 
 
 The importance to us of our Colonial supplies will 
 appear more striking, if we compare the imports from 
 the Australasian colonies with those of Germany and 
 other places. 
 
 1848. 1849. 1850. 1851. 
 
 Germany 48,478 45,889 30,491 26,514 
 
 
 ' 
 
 ' 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 Australia 
 
 162,096 
 110,941 
 
 159,458 
 125,732 
 
 139,343 
 138,679 
 
 162,705 
 144,320 
 
 Total bales . 
 
 273,037 
 
 285,190 
 
 278,022 
 
 307,025 
 
 From this we see that the imports from Germany 
 fell off largely in the last three years ; whilst those 
 from Australia, show a considerable advance, for from 
 thence we now draw nearly one-half of our supplies. 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 285 
 
 Increase from Australia. Decrease from all other Places. 
 
 Years. Bales. Per Cent. Bales. Per Cent. 
 
 1849 above 1848 ... 14,791 = 13'3 below 2,638 = 1-6 
 
 1850 1849 ... 12,947 = 10-3 20,115 = 12'5 
 
 1850 1848 ... 27,738 = 25-0 22,753 = 14-0 
 
 Here are results most remarkable. Whilst, during 
 the two years ending 1850, the quantity of wool im- 
 ported from other places had fallen off at the rate of 
 14 per cent., the quantity imported from Australia had 
 advanced in the immense ratio of one-fourth ! 
 
 The percentage proportion which the imports from 
 Australia bear to the whole quantity imported, is 
 worth noticing 
 
 1848. 1849. 1850. 1851. 
 
 Australia 40'6 44'1 49-9 47'0 
 
 All other places 59-4 55-9 50'1 53-0 
 
 . 100 100 100 100 
 
 Iii 1806, we imported but one bale of wool from 
 Australia ; in 1850, we derived three-fourths of our 
 colonial supplies from New South Wales and Port 
 Phillip alone. 
 
 In 1846, we received nearly 22,000,000 Ibs. of wool 
 from our Australasian settlements, in the following 
 proportions, viz. : from 
 
 New South Wales Ibs. 16,363,158 
 
 Van Diemen's Land 3,589,076 
 
 South Australia 1,472,769 
 
 Western Australia 340,267 
 
 New Zealand 24,076 
 
 Ibs. 21,789,346 
 At Is. Qd. per Ib. worth 1,634,194 
 
286 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The rate at which the production of wool has in- 
 creased in the colony of New South Wales, from 1825 
 to the present time, is as follow s : 
 
 Average Export per Annum. Ratio per head. 
 
 Ibs. Ibs. 
 
 1825 to 1829 640,000 12 
 
 1830 1834 1,559,000 28 
 
 1835 1839 4,965,000 56 
 
 1840 1844 10,535,000 67 
 
 1845 1849 21,431,000 102 
 
 There is little doubt that, but for the abstraction of 
 labour from the sheep pastures, in consequence of the 
 gold mania, the aggregate exports from New South 
 Wales and Victoria, during the five years from 
 1850 to 1854, would have shown an average of about 
 50,000,000 Ibs. annually; and in 1860 the yield will 
 probably have exceeded 100,000,000 Ibs., worth 
 7,500,000. 
 
 England can now import wool from Australia, a 
 distance of 16,000 miles, as cheaply as from Ham- 
 burgh, distant but 160 miles, and the immense number 
 of emigrant ships which will have to ship return cargo, 
 will still further cheapen the freight on wool. 
 
 In 1810 New South Wales had 25,888 sheep. In 
 1846 there were 7,000,000 sheep in New South Wales 
 and Port Phillip, and they were found to increase at 
 the rate of 20 per cent. 
 
 In 1849 the number in all Australia was 15,087,903, 
 distributed as under : 
 
 New South Wales and Port Phillip 12,102,540 
 
 South Australia 1,088,400 
 
 Western Australia 144,000 
 
 Van Diemen's Land 1,752,963 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 287 
 
 In 1870 the number of sheep in the Australasian 
 colonies was returned as follows: 
 
 New South Wales 15,080,625 
 
 Queensland 8,921.714 
 
 Victoria 9,923,663 
 
 Western Australia 648,683 
 
 South Australia 4,400,655 
 
 Tasmania 1,531,187 
 
 New Zealand 8,418,569 
 
 Total 48,925,096 
 
 The weight of the fleece averages 2J Ibs., but some- 
 times reaches 2f Ibs., which taken at Is. 3d. per lb., 
 every sheep yields annually 3s. worth of wool ; the 
 usual calculation is a net profit of 100 per annum 
 from a thousand sheep, exclusive of the carcass. 
 
 In the Australian colonies, owing to the vast in- 
 crease of the sheep and the difficulty of obtaining 
 labour, the flock-masters have been obliged to reduce 
 their flocks, by converting them into tallow. 
 
 In 1842 the boiling-down establishments in Aus- 
 tralia were 47 ; and the sheep slaughtered in that 
 year, for melting, 217,797 ; and horned cattle, 20,148 ; 
 producing 48,758 cwts. of tallow. In 1849 the boil- 
 ing-down establishments had doubled, being 96 ; the 
 sheep slaughtered in that year were 743,513, and 
 horned cattle 45,050, yielding 160,099 cwts. of tallow. 
 From 1844 to 1849, both inclusive, the number of 
 sheep slaughtered in New South Wales and Port 
 Phillip was 1,565,752, and horned cattle 184,064, 
 producing 440,186 cwts. of tallow. 
 
288 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 At one establishment near Sydney (the Argyle), in 
 1850, the following was the result of 4,032 sheep, the 
 property of W. Bradley, Esq. : 
 
 624 toothless Sheep gave each Ibs. 
 
 567 
 
 376 Rams 
 
 1,029 Ewes... 
 
 778 Wethers 
 
 598 
 
 171 
 134 
 
 22 
 24i 
 
 Averaging nearly 20 Ibs. of tallow each sheep. 
 
 The relative supplies of wool from each of the 
 Australasian colonies in 1850 and 1851 were as 
 under : 
 
 Sydney 
 
 Port Phillip 
 
 New South Wales 106,841 
 
 South Australia 11,822 
 
 Van Diemen's Land 
 Western Australia and 
 
 New Zealand 2,548 ... 1-9 ... 2,783 
 
 Total 138,679 100 144.320 
 
 1850. 
 
 
 1851. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Proportion. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 51,463 
 
 ... 37-1 ... 
 
 48,564 
 
 35,378 
 
 ... 39-9 ... 
 
 63,427 
 
 106,841 
 
 ... 77-0 ... 
 
 111,991 
 
 11,822 
 
 ... 8-5 ... 
 
 12,268 
 
 17,468 
 
 ... 12-6 ... 
 
 17,278 
 
 So that, of the total quantity imported from Aus- 
 tralia, more than three -fourths came from New South 
 Wales. 
 
 The rapidity of increase in the export of Australian 
 wool will readily be seen by the following short state- 
 ment : 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 289 
 
 1816 Ibs. 13,611 
 
 1821 175,433 
 
 1831 2,641,206 
 
 1841 12,399,090 
 
 1851 48,492,520 
 
 [The imports into the United Kingdom were, in 
 1861, 68,506,000 Ibs. ; in 1871, 182,753,585 Ibs.] 
 
 According to the " Sydney Herald" the clip of 1851 
 fell below the amount of the preceding year by 1,500 
 bales whether owing to lightness of fleece, or boiling- 
 down establishments, does not appear. It may perhaps 
 be accounted for by the difficulty and lateness in 
 shearing, for the computation of the exports from 
 New South Wales ends the 30th of October. The 
 returns give upwards of 48,000 bales as exported. If 
 we take 50,000 bales as the estimate, it will be worth 
 about 1,250,000 ; tallow and hides may be reckoned 
 at 100,000 more. This sudden augmentation of the 
 resources of the colony from which, however, is to be 
 subtracted the enhanced cost of labour imposed upon 
 the other avocations and industrial pursuits of the 
 colony, as well as the previous value of the labour that 
 has been withdrawn to the diggings cannot fail to 
 have, in the course of a brief period, a most important 
 effect upon the value of property. At present the 
 sheep farmer suffers more than he will gain from any 
 enhanced value which his stock may have acquired in 
 the market. The price of labour is higher, and gold 
 has now become so staple an article of export, as 
 in some degree to supersede wool for a remittance ; 
 in consequence of which, bills on England with the 
 hypothecation of the produce, cannot be negotiated 
 
290 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 at less than 6 per cent., which formerly sold at par. 
 This loss falls on the producer. The value of produce 
 is of course proportionally diminished. 
 
 There is a great improvement recently in the cha- 
 racter of the Australian wools. The principal ob- 
 jection to it formerly was the burr, and as this has so 
 often been pointed out, growers will no doubt take 
 care to guard against it as much as possible. 
 
 The wools from the western and southern ports still 
 reach England in very bad order, while from Port 
 Phillip, Portland Bay, and Van Piemen's Land, they 
 come to hand in sound merchantable condition. 
 
 This arises from three causes 1st, the quantity 
 and size of the bags used ; 2nd, from the mode of 
 pressing them before shipment ; and 3rd, (in some 
 cases) from much screwing on board ship. As 
 respects the bags, it is observed by experienced 
 brokers that too much care cannot be taken to secure 
 them of good material, which will admit of the bales 
 being press-packed, without breaking ; the size best 
 adapted is 4 feet 9 inches in length. When packed, 
 these bales measure about 3 feet 6 inches, being 
 lapped over at one end. Nearly all the wools from 
 Port Phillip and Van Diemen's Land are packed thus. 
 With regard to the pressing of bales before shipment, 
 we may remark that when pressed from the sides, as 
 is usually the case at Swan River and Port Adelaide, 
 the bags almost invariably burst at the ends, however 
 strong they may be ; while those from other ports are 
 pressed from the ends without bursting, forming 
 almost square packages, which reach England nearly 
 as sound as when shipped, except in cases of sea 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 291 
 
 damage, which is in a great measure obviated by good 
 packing. The advantage of this latter mode to the 
 shipper, is obvious, as it secures to him both the 
 quantity and the quality of the wool shipped, which 
 can never be the case when bales are delivered in a 
 torn and broken state, with loose wool and rubbish 
 indiscriminately stuffed into them during the discharge 
 of the ship. The practice has been gaining ground of 
 making the bales larger. Formerly the average weight 
 of the bales was a little over 2 cwts. ; now, it is about 
 3 cwts. 
 
 From the Cape Colony we derive our next largest 
 supply 5,250,000 Ibs. Cape wools have not hitherto 
 met with that attention which they have deserved. A 
 proper discrimination between the superior clips and 
 the inferior has seldom been practised; and this staple 
 export, although for some years steadily advancing in 
 quality as well as in quantity, has continued to suffer, 
 like the Cape wine, from its unfortunate name. At 
 the local show of articles from the Cape, intended for 
 the Great Exhibition of 1851, two bales of wool 
 received prizes of 15 and 10, respectively, and 
 these, when afterwards put up at auction, in London, 
 realised 2s. 3d. and 3s. per Ib. an evident proof 
 that superior wool will always fetch the best prices 
 from our brokers, from whatever quarter it may come. 
 
 From the Cape Colony the imports in 1831, were 
 47, 868 Ibs. only ; in the next two years they increased 
 more than twenty-three-fold, and we now receive 
 5,250,000 Ibs. from thence. The Cape wools are much 
 more carefully got up than formerly, and are likely to 
 become a favourite article. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 There were in the Cape Colony, in 1849, 4,700,000 
 sheep, distributed as follows : 
 
 Spanish Sheep. African Sheep. 
 
 Western Province 451,449 412,449 
 
 Eastern Province 1,917,641 1,921,009 
 
 Total 2,369,090 2,333,458 
 
 The African sheep were valued at 65. 9c?. to 7s. 6d. 
 each; the Spanish at 10s. 6d. to 13s. Qd. [In 1866 
 there were 9,836,065 sheep in the Cape Colony.] 
 
 The following return shows the increase in the 
 imports of wool since 1833, and may help to convince 
 the financial economists that the Cape Colony is, in 
 itself, worth something to a country which supplies 
 half the world with woollen manufactures. 
 
 
 Cape Town. 
 
 Port Elizabeth. 
 
 Total*. 
 
 1833 ... 
 
 Ibs. 73,324 
 
 ... Ibs. 39753 
 
 ... 113,077 
 
 1840 ... 
 
 509,597 
 
 .... 401,521 
 
 ... 911,118 
 
 1849 ... 
 
 1,567,212 
 
 ... ,,3,457,734 
 
 ... 5,024,946 
 
 [In 1871 we imported from our South African 
 Colonies 32,643,785 Ibs. of wool.] 
 
 Mr. Thomas Southey, in his recent supplementary 
 work on Wool, goes into full details in order to 
 ascertain, as nearly as possible, the number of sheep 
 in the United Kingdom, and the average annual 
 weight of shorn and skin wool, available for the 
 purposes of the woollen and worsted trades. From 
 careful enquiries in the best-informed quarters, he 
 arrives at the result, that we annually clip 40,000,000 
 of sheep, whilst the fleeces of 15,000,000 more, 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 293 
 
 slaughtered, pass through the hands of the fell- 
 mongers. The basis of the manufacture, then, would 
 be about 275,000,000 Ibs. of home-grown wools. 
 
 Our woollen manufacturers are fast losing their 
 trade with the United States. The German, French, 
 and Belgian manufacturers are taking the lead in fine 
 cloths and kerseymeres ; the Americans are super- 
 seding them in coarse and middling qualities of cloths 
 and kerseymeres, and in mousseline-de-laine, flannels, 
 blankets, carpets, &c. The United States census of 
 1840 gave the number of sheep in the Union at 
 about 20,000,000, and the product of wool at 
 36,000,000 Ibs. A very large proportion, probably 
 over three-fourths, of these sheep, were fine-woolled, 
 that is, improved by the Merino and Saxon blood sheep, 
 and their wool, therefore, would be worth from Is. to 
 2s. per Ib. The census returns for 1850, estimated 
 the capital invested in the woollen manufacture of 
 the States, at 28,000,000 dollars, and it gives employ- 
 ment to 39,152 hands. Nearly 71,000,000 Ibs. of 
 wool are annually consumed, and the value of the 
 product is over 43,200,000 dollars. The capital 
 invested is only about one-third of the amount em- 
 ployed in the manufacture of cotton, in the United 
 States ; but the value of the product is more than 
 two-thirds that of the cotton manufactures. The 
 wool produced in the United States, in 1850, was 
 52,422,797 Ibs. that manufactured, 70,862,829 Ibs. ; 
 showing a deficiency of production of 18,440,032 Ibs. 
 
 The woollen manufacture is receiving, in America 
 much more attention than formerly, and wool-growing 
 is, in consequence, on the increase. The supply of 
 
294 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 wool in the United States has been so much smaller 
 than the demand, for the last seven or eight years, 
 that the importation, which in 1844 was but 
 3,500,000 Ibs., reached, in 1851, 18,609,000 Ibs., 
 valued at 1,681,000 dollars. The principal wool- 
 growing States of the Union, are now (1851) 
 
 Ohio Ibs. 10,089,607 
 
 New York 10,021,507 
 
 Pennsylvania 4,784,367 
 
 Vermont 3,492,087 
 
 Virginia 2,850,909 
 
 Indiana 2,502,763 
 
 Kentucky 2,246,168 
 
 
 
 These States raise more than two-thirds of the whole 
 quantity. 
 
 The manufacturers of Boston and its vicinity, in 
 their memorial to Congress, prior to 1843, stated the 
 amount invested by woolgrowers of the United States 
 to be 240,000,000 dollars ; and Ex-Governor Slade, in 
 Congress, 1842, said the whole amount invested in 
 sheep had barely, in the States, exceeded 200,000,000 
 dollars. If we suppose the flocks to have increased 
 10 per cent, per annum, since 1840 the number of 
 sheep in the United States, would be 40,000,000 at 
 least, in 1850, worth 80,000,000 dollars ; and the last 
 annual clip, which was 90,000,000 to 100,000,000 Ibs. 
 of wool, may be estimated at 30,000,000 to 35,000,000 
 dollars. The imports of wool have been decreasing in 
 proportion to the local production. In 1844, the 
 whole amount of wool imported, was 23,800,000 Ibs. ; 
 in 1845, 28,800,000 Ibs.; in 1849-50, according 
 to the official tables of commerce and navigation, the 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 295 
 
 import of wool to the United States was something 
 over 18,600,000 Ibs. obtained from the following 
 countries 
 
 From the Argentine Kepublic (Buenos Ayres) 10,176,966 
 
 Turkey (including Morocco) 3,132,722 
 
 England 1,927,403 
 
 Chili 1,031,260 
 
 France (on the Mediterranean) 1,017,666 
 
 Canada 467,284 
 
 Brazil 374,206 
 
 Miscellaneous 541,272 
 
 Total Ibs. 18,638,679 
 
 In 1840 Canada produced only 321,441 Ibs. of 
 wool, but, according to the foregoing return, a con- 
 siderable increase has since taken place. The number 
 of sheep, in the Province of Canada, in 1848, was 
 about 1,500,000; of which 833,807 were in Upper 
 Canada, and 602,821 in Lower Canada. [The number 
 in the Dominion of Canada in 1862 was 2,399,799.] 
 
 In 1846 we imported 5,231 bales of Angora and 
 Cashmere goats' wool; in 1850, the imports had more 
 than doubled, having risen to 12,884 bales. This wool 
 has come into extensive use, for making into light 
 paletots and over-coats, which have the properties of 
 repelling wet ; it is also made into plash coats and 
 decorative laces, &c. 
 
 The wool from the South American States has 
 increased from one or two bales, in the commencement 
 of the century, to 49,038 bales in 1851. The Peru- 
 vian sheep and alpaca wool imported now ranges from 
 46,000 to 56,000 bales annually. In 1848, the quantity 
 
296 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 of alpaca wool imported, rose to 1,521,370 Ibs. of which 
 15,174 Ibs. were re-exported to Holland, 19,000 Ibs. to 
 Belgium, and 300 Ibs. to the Hanseatic Towns ; the 
 remainder being consumed in our own towns. In 
 1849, 1,655,800 Ibs. were received, and 126,082 Ibs. 
 re-exported; in 1850, the imports were 1,652,295 Ibs. 
 [In 1870, they were 3,888,536 Ibs.] 
 
 In 1836, alpaca wool became an important article of 
 commerce, having been brought into extensive use by 
 Mr. (now Sir) Titus Salt, of Bradford. Whilst in the 
 five years, from 1836 to 1840, the exports averaged but 
 560,000 Ibs. per annum, in 1851 they had risen to 
 2,186,480 Ibs., and the price has advanced from Wd. 
 in 1836, to 2s. 6d. per Ib. in the present year (1851). 
 The introduction of mohair or goat's wool, an article ot 
 similar properties and' of extensive application for 
 ladies' dresses, lining of carriages, &c. followed close 
 upon this, and soon came into very general use the 
 exports having increased from 1,000,000 Ibs. in 1841, 
 to nearly 2,000,000 Ibs. in 1851. [And 8,672,631 Ibs. 
 in 1871.] 
 
 Mr. Beaumont, in his " Travels in Buenos Ayres," 
 says : " Sheep were formerly only regarded for their 
 wool, and to save trouble the carcass was left to rot, 
 or to be devoured by other animals, leaving the wool 
 to be gathered at leisure. Even until lately I am 
 assured that the flayed carcasses of sheep, dried in the 
 sun, were piled up in stacks, for fuel, like firewood ; 
 the bricks and lime were burnt with these carcasses, 
 and there is a law extant, to forbid, for the future, the 
 practice of driving the sheep alive into the kilns, to 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 297 
 
 save the trouble of killing them previously." Three- 
 pence each was for many years about the current price 
 for sheep; and, in 1825, 4,000 sheep were bought by 
 the Rio la Plata Company, at 2s. a head. 
 
 At the close of 1849, there were 875 factories in 
 England and Wales engaged in spinning wool, of 
 which 532 were in Yorkshire ; these employed 
 784,054 spindles, giving occupation to 30,552 persons. 
 The total number of woollen factories (spinning, 
 weaving, &c.), were returned at 1,306 ; the spindles, 
 at 1,356,691 ; power looms, 9,170 total persons em- 
 ployed 64,426. The return of worsted factories, was 
 493; the number of spindles, 864,874; and power 
 looms 32,617 employing 79,000 persons. The 
 total number of factories in the worsted trade in 1850, 
 was 501 ; of spindles, 875,830 ; of power looms, 
 32,617 and the moving power employed was equal to 
 11,515 horses. 
 
 In a lecture delivered in May, 1852, by Mr. Henry 
 Forbes, of Bradford, before the Society of Arts, 
 London, " On the Rise, Progress, and Present State 
 of the Worsted, Mohair and Alpaca Manufactures 
 of Great Britain," he estimated the yarn spun at 
 about 57,000,000 Ibs. weight per annum, which would 
 require a consumption of 100,000,000 Ibs. of fleece 
 wool. Of this quantity, about 9 per cent, was long 
 wool, and 16 per cent, short wool, extracted from 
 the long in the process of combing, both of which 
 were passed forwards for clothing or strictly woollen 
 purposes. The remainder, 75,000,000 Ibs., would be 
 divided into 
 
298 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 60,000,000 Ibs. English Sorted Wool at Is. 2d. 
 
 perlb 3,500,000 
 
 15,000,000 Ibs. Colonial and Foreign at Is. 9d. 
 
 perlb 1,312,500 
 
 Add other raw materials used in the manufacturers 
 
 Cotton, Silk, Dyewares, &c 1,500,000 
 
 Direct Wages paid , 3,000,000 
 
 Indirect Wages, as Kent, Wear and Tear of 
 Machinery, Coals, Soap, Oil, Interest of 
 Capital, &c., &c 3,187,500 
 
 Total 12,500,000 
 
 This lie estimated to be distributed throughout 
 the country in something like the following proper 
 tions : 
 
 West Riding of Yorkshire, Goods and Yarns... 8,000,000 
 
 Lancashire, De Laines and other Light Fabrics 1,500,000 
 
 Leicestershire, Worsted Hosiery 1,200,000 
 
 Norwich Goods, Irish Stuffs, Devonshire Long 
 
 Ells, &c 1,300,000 
 
 Scotland Worsted Stuffs (not including 
 
 Shawls) 500,000 
 
 Total 12,500,000 
 
 Of the goods thus produced a very large proportion 
 was destined for foreign consumption. In the Trade and 
 Navigation accounts there was then no proper classifica- 
 tion made of the various fabrics produced from wool. 
 The nearest approximation that could be made was 
 to take from the returns of exports the following 
 items, viz., 
 
 Stuffs, Woollen andWorsted, which in 1851 were 3,819,755 
 
 Woollens and Cottons mixed 1,781,220 
 
 Worsted and Woollen Yarn 1,484,435 
 
 Worsted Hosiery 188,701 
 
 Total 7,274,111 
 
WOOL AND THE WOOLLEN TRADE. 299 
 
 The exports, therefore, of worsted goods would 
 appear to be about 50 per cent, on the total produc- 
 tion, and one-tenth of the whole exports of the United 
 Kingdom. They were chiefly sent to Germany and the 
 United States of America. After deducting these 
 exports, there would still remain for the whole female 
 population of Great Britain and Ireland, from the infant 
 in the nurse's arms to the " oldest female inhabitant," 
 a dress of worsted stuff each year, seven yards in 
 length. 
 
 To sum up the facts connected with this important 
 subject ; in 1820 the entire import of foreign wool into 
 this country from all quarters was 9,775,000 Ibs., of 
 which only 99.,415 Ibs. was from Australia, the re- 
 mainder consisting almost altogether of Spanish and 
 German wools. In 1851 the quantity of wool imported 
 had risen from 9,775,000 Ibs. to no less than 
 81,063,000 Ibs., of which the enormous quantity of 
 51,993,463 Ibs. consisted of the production of British 
 possessions out of Europe. Of this 51,993,463 Ibs., 
 more than 40,000,000 Ibs. was the growth of the 
 Australian colonies. The official accounts, giving 
 the exact distribution of the imports of 1850, are suffi- 
 ciently recent to show the great change which in a 
 few years has taken place, not only in the quantity of 
 wool imported, but also in the sources from which it 
 has been derived, and more especially the great im- 
 portance of Australia. For this purpose it will be 
 sufficient to quote the imports at intervals of ten years. 
 The following table shows the progress of the trade 
 from 1820 to 1870: 
 
300 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 IMPORTS OF WOOL. 
 
 
 1820. 
 
 1830. 
 
 1840. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Australia 
 South Africa.. 
 India 
 
 Ibs. 
 99,415 
 13,869 
 8 056 
 
 Ibs. 
 1,967,309 
 
 33,407 
 
 Ibs. 
 9,721,243 
 751,741 
 2 441 370 
 
 Ibs. 
 39,018,000 
 5,709,000 
 3 473 000 
 
 Ibs. 
 175,081,427 
 32,785,271 
 11 143 148 
 
 Germany .... 
 
 5,113,442 
 3 536 29 
 
 26,073,882 
 1 641 773 
 
 21,812,664 
 1 266 905 
 
 10,500,000 
 489 000 
 
 I 54,276,417 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total from all 
 parts .... 
 
 9,775,000 
 
 32,265,000 
 
 49,436,000 
 
 74,326,000 
 
 319,511,336 
 
 Here, then, we have two remarkable facts established 
 first, the enormous production of wool in Austra- 
 lia ; and second, that whereas in former times it formed 
 but a small and unimportant portion of our entire foreign 
 supply, it now represents nearly one-half of the whole 
 But the value of Australia to the woollen trade is no1 
 confined to the mere quantity of wool which it pro- 
 duces ; its quality is in many respects quite as essential, 
 For many branches of the trade it has become an abso- 
 lute necessity. 
 
 OUR WOOL SUPPLIES.* 
 
 THE manufacturers are crying out for larger supplies 
 of raw material. "Wool is not so abundant in the 
 market, as could be wished, great as has been the pro- 
 gress of production in our colonies of late years. We 
 have learnt to utilise all descriptions of Wool, from 
 the long silky fleece of the Angora goat to the low 
 common wools of China and India. But yet the 
 manufacturers cannot keep pace with the demand foi 
 worsteds and woollens at home and abroad. Other 
 nations also press for supplies of wool, and compete 
 
 * Leader in "Mark Lane Express/' 1861. 
 
OUR WOOL SUPPLIES. 301 
 
 svith us in the markets of the world. Already about 
 10,000,000 a year are required to purchase foreign and 
 jolonial wools, and we shall be ready to greatly 
 increase this sum if we can obtain additional supplies 
 it moderate prices ; but there has been a gradual 
 upward tendency in prices, owing to increased foreign 
 iemands and limited supplies. A leading firm of 
 Liverpool brokers thus speaks of the matter : " The 
 position of the Woollen and Worsted Trades throughout 
 the manufacturing world is such as to bespeak grave 
 reflections, and ought to command an active sympathy ; 
 they are not extending in the same ratio as other 
 branches of industry, and are precluded from doing so 
 for want of adequate supplies of tne raw material. 
 The cry of scarcity which has oeen sounded for the 
 last eight or nine years has produced no practical 
 effect, the small increase of growth having been 
 absorbed without any relief. In England economising 
 expedients have been resorted to on an enlarged scale. 
 The use of cotton in woollen and worsted fabrics has 
 been vastly augmented, and the manufacture of rag 
 wool (which consists of old worn-out woollens torn 
 and ground up) has been developed into quite an 
 important branch, of business under the name of 
 ' shoddy ' or ' mungo.' " The rag wool is now utilised 
 to the extent of at least 50,000,000 Ibs. annually 
 (equal to more than one-third of our yearly importa- 
 tions of colonial and foreign wools) for the purpose of 
 mixing with or adulterating wool in its manufacture, 
 to the great complaint of consumers and buyers of 
 manufactures. This trade, both as regards collection, 
 distribution, and manufacture, is attaining gigantic pro- 
 
302 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 portions. Instead of consigning old woollen rags to 
 the soil as manure for hops and other plants, every 
 shred is carefully collected and sorted ; and as an 
 article of import, the samples may be seen in city 
 brokers' offices as often, if not to the same extent, as 
 raw wool. So in Leeds, and in other towns of Yorkshire, 
 the business of the rag grinder has become most 
 important, for in Leeds alone there are a dozen or 
 more factories, which produce about 4,000,000 or 
 5,000,000 Ibs. of this rag wool annually. The pieces 
 or patches of cloth are forcibly torn asunder, and 
 remodelled into raw material again, to be once more 
 used by the first customer. The mania for cheap 
 goods has no doubt something to do with this branch 
 of the trade, but deficiency of foreign supply is a 
 main cause. Yet with these enormous aids, the prices 
 of wool, when not checked by adverse extraneous 
 influence, ever gravitate to. an extreme range such, 
 in fact, as effectually to limit the consumption. 
 
 Looking to the Continent for any probable additional 
 supplies of wool, we find that Russia, with all her large 
 flocks, can spare us but little, and there is a decrease 
 rather than an increase in our imports from thence. 
 Germany wants all she produces. The imports of 
 wool and woollen yarn in Prussia have been doubling 
 each five years, and the number of sheep decreasing. 
 France is now a large consumer of foreign wools, in 
 addition to her own home supply and the production 
 of Algeria. Four or five years ago her foreign im- 
 ports of wool were upwards of 83,000,000 Ibs., and 
 she supplies woollens to the value of 1,000,000 
 yearly to Switzerland. The consumption of foreign 
 
OUR WOOL SUPPLIES. 303 
 
 wools in Belgium has been largely on the increase. 
 From the Continent we have little, therefore, to ex- 
 pect in the way of increased supplies. Looking back 
 at the last five years, we find that there has been a 
 considerable decrease in our import of German wools, 
 a small increase from Spain and Portugal, a decrease 
 from Iceland and Russia, and stationary supplies from 
 South America generally. 
 
 The imports of wool into Liverpool in the last 
 eleven years show a remarkable progression, and yet 
 the supplies are quite insufficient to meet the wants 
 of the manufacturers. In 1850 only 63,774 bales 
 of foreign and colonial wool were received at Liver- 
 pool ; in 1855 the supply had increased to 113,098 
 bales, and in 1860 it reached 200,382 bales. This 
 forms a large proportion of the entire imports of the 
 kingdom, which in 1860 were 487,580 bales. 
 
 It is true that our aggregate imports of foreign 
 wool have gone on increasing, but so have our ex- 
 ports of wool and woollen manufactures. Last year 
 (1860) our exports of home-grown wool exceeded 
 11,250,000 Ibs., besides the 30,750,000 Ibs. of colonial 
 wool re-exported. 
 
 Unless we receive additional supplies from India, and 
 our southern colonies, we know not where more wool 
 is to come from. The production of Victoria can 
 scarcely be largely extended at present. Tasmania, 
 New South Wales, and Western Australia will hardly be 
 able to send forward more wool as yet ; nor can New 
 Zealand do much, unless with additional labour. 
 Increased supplies might be obtained ere long from 
 the new colony of Queensland, in the north, if 
 
304 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 labourers for sheep-tending were available, as there 
 are yet boundless plains of pastoral land unappro- 
 priated. In British Kaffraria, and the more northern 
 districts of Southern Africa, there is ample scope for 
 increased wool production, although there are difficul- 
 ties in bringing it forward for shipment. The wool- 
 production of the Cape Colony has already doubled 
 every five years. From India we have been drawing 
 large supplies of low, coarse wools, and there is an 
 increased field for material of a peculiar class, fitted at 
 least for some purposes. But, as Messrs. Littledale, 
 of Liverpool, well observe: "Our present customers 
 are evidently taking all that we have the raw 
 materials to make ; and as the high prices of 1853, 
 1857, 1859, and 1860 have palpably failed to influence 
 anything like a proportionate increase of supply, the 
 present scarcity must for all practical purposes be con- 
 sidered absolute ; ergo, all business in woollen and 
 worsted goods to new customers must necessarily be 
 so much abstracted from all the old ones ! This is a 
 most unwelcome conclusion to arrive at. To men of 
 the world, having the word l progression ' eternally on 
 their lips, it sounds incredible ; but who can gainsay 
 it 1 Better ask, Where can we look for help ? What 
 we want is more wool, for which we can give a good 
 price 50 per cent, above what was considered pro- 
 fitable to grow it ten years ago ! We might point to 
 Canada as especially capable of assisting our growth 
 of long wool, to South Africa for an increase of fine 
 colonial, and to India for a larger supply of low wools ; 
 but if the stimulus for excessive price has proved 
 insufficient to effect the desired purpose, we are at a 
 loss for a stronger inducement." 
 
OUR WOOL SUPPLIES. 305 
 
 The unusually severe weather experienced during 
 the winter and spring of 1860 caused a great falling 
 off in the production of home-grown fleeces, and 
 consequently led to an increased enquiry for all 
 foreign wools that could in any way be adapted as 
 substitutes. As this deficiency is in a very important 
 item of our supply, and is likely to be again experi- 
 enced this season, it becomes a serious question how 
 the demand is to be met, supposing consumption to 
 progress at the present rate. Messrs. Ronald, the 
 wool-brokers, one of our own correspondents, state : 
 " The position of our market seems at present to be this ; 
 there is an increase in the imports of wool, accord- 
 ing to the official trade returns, of 10 per cent., from 
 which must be deducted an increase in the export of 
 wool of 9 per cent., thus leaving a surplus of 1 per 
 cent. only. Against this, however, there appears an 
 increase in the exports of manufactured woollen goods 
 and yarns of 8 per cent., which, added to the defi- 
 ciency in the home-growth of 15 per cent, last year, 
 leaves the supply of wool 22 per cent, short of that of 
 1859." 
 
 There is great room for improvement both in 
 growing and preparing wool for English markets ; and 
 some useful hints have lately been thrown out on this 
 subject by brokers. Many countries, particularly 
 North Africa, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, Portugal, and 
 the East Indies, possess breeds of sheep, the wool of 
 which, by the introduction of suitable rams, or by 
 judicious crossing with the best of what they already 
 have, might be vastly improved, and rendered adapt- 
 able for many additional purposes. Care should be 
 
306 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 taken to eliminate those sheep whose white wool is 
 spoiled by a sprinkling of dark-coloured hairs. The 
 wool should be sent to market more free from burrs, 
 seeds, and tilth ; and the matted, inferior and coloured 
 fleeces should be packed separately from the good white 
 ones. At the same time an indiscriminate growth 
 of long wool is not at all desirable for the climate and 
 the herbage of some countries, which eminently favour 
 the Merino and Mestizo breeds, but that would prove 
 altogether unsuitable to a larger kind. 
 
 COLONIAL WOOLS AT THE LONDON EXHIBITION 
 OF 1862.* 
 
 The demand for Wool is increasing very rapidly in 
 all countries ; but the production is at present insuf- 
 ficient to meet the demand. The United Kingdom 
 itself produces a larger amount of wool than any other 
 country in the world, but sheep are kept here more for 
 the supply of meat than of wool. The home produc- 
 tion of wool is estimated at fully 200,000,000 Ibs. ; 
 and the imports of all kinds of foreign and colonial 
 wool were in 1860, more than 148,000,000 Ibs., of 
 which quantity about 31,000,000 Ibs. were re-ex- 
 ported. Notwithstanding our large imports and home 
 production, various expedients and substitutes have 
 been resorted to on an enlarged scale. The use of 
 cotton in woollen and worsted fabrics has been vastly 
 augmented, and the manufacture of rag wool (which 
 consists of old worn-out woollens torn up), has been 
 developed into quite an important branch of business. 
 
 * From an Article in the " Scientific Record of the Inter- 
 national Exhibition of 1862." 
 
COLONIAL WOOLS. 
 
 30? 
 
 At least 50,000,000 Ibs., of this shoddy is worked up 
 annually, and the foreign imports of woollen rags to 
 be torn up and used as a substitute for wool amounted, 
 last year (1861), to more than 17,000,000 Ibs. 
 
 The British woollen manufacture engages upwards of 
 33,000,000 of capital, and constitutes a fourth part of 
 our textile manufactures, giving employment to about 
 900,000 persons. The sources of supply of wool of 
 all kinds to the United Kingdom have been as follows, 
 in bales : 
 
 COUNTRIES. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1860. 
 
 Germany 
 
 Bales. 
 30491 
 
 Bales. 
 12710 
 
 Bales. 
 14 600 
 
 Australia. 
 
 138 679 
 
 163,182 
 
 184 000 
 
 Cape ... 
 
 19,879 
 
 38,272 
 
 56,356 
 
 Spanish . .... 
 
 2,105 
 
 213 
 
 4 183 
 
 Portugal 
 
 7,361 
 
 4,522 
 
 24,503 
 
 Peruvian and Alpaca. . . 
 East India and China.. 
 Russian 
 
 39,731 
 9,701 
 
 9758 
 
 42,070 
 43,167 
 1,006 
 
 69,075 
 62,651 
 21 445 
 
 Mediterranean Ports... 
 Buenos Ayres 
 
 13,432 
 3 841 
 
 12,066 
 6338 
 
 18,162 
 
 5058 
 
 Sundries 
 
 3,041 
 
 5,986 
 
 15,650 
 
 Goat's Wool 
 
 13 139 
 
 14 154 
 
 11 897 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total bales 
 
 291 161 
 
 343 686 
 
 487 580 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 Of the whole of the Australian colonies, New South 
 Wales takes the lead in pastoral industry, although 
 Victoria now approaches it closely. When the census 
 returns were taken last year (1861) there were in the 
 colony upwards of 6,000,000 sheep, or at the rate 
 of 1,700 sheep to every hundred of the population. 
 Victoria had at the same time 5,794,000 sheep ; 
 Queensland, 3,450,000; South Australia, 2,825,000; 
 Western Australia, 250,000; and Tasmania, 1,701,000. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 From New South Wales the flocks and herds of all 
 the other Australian colonies derive their origin. In 
 1797, Captain John Macarthur, of Camden (a name 
 which must ever occupy the first rank in the annals 
 of Australian progress), being struck with the remark- 
 able effect of the climate of New South Wales on the 
 fleeces of the sheep which had been imported into or 
 bred in the colony, obtained from the Cape of Good 
 Hope three rams and five ewes of pure Spanish merino 
 blood, and crossed all his coarse-woolled ewes with 
 the Spanish rams. This result exceeding his most 
 sanguine expectations, he took an opportunity whilst 
 in this country in 1803, of bringing under the notice 
 of the Government the importance of encouraging the 
 growth of fine wool in the colony, by making grants of 
 unoccupied lands to the flock-masters. The conclud- 
 ing words of his statement laid before Lord Hobart 
 (then Secretary of State for the Colonies) in 1803, 
 are worth recording : 
 
 " Captain Macarthur is so convinced of the practic- 
 ability of supplying the country with any quantity 
 of fine wool it may require, that he is earnestly solicitous 
 to prosecute this, as- it appears to him, important 
 object ; and, on his return to New South Wales, to 
 devote his whole attention to accelerate its complete 
 attainment. All the risk attendant on the under- 
 taking he will cheerfully bear; he will require no 
 pecuniary aid ; and all the encouragement he humbly 
 solicits is the protection of Government, and permission 
 to occupy a sufficient tract of land to feed his flocks." 
 
 In 1796 the number of the sheep in the colony was 
 only 1.531, and from this stock has sprung the vast 
 
COLONIAL WOOLS. 309 
 
 flocks which were feeding on the natural grasses of 
 Australia in the close of 1860, numbering in all more 
 than 20,000,000. 
 
 The exports of wool from Sydney in 1860, amounted 
 to nearly 13,000,000 Ibs., of the estimated value of 
 1,124,000. Besides this a considerable quantity 
 crossed the Murray river for shipment at Melbourne, 
 or was sent down the Darling for shipment at 
 Adelaide. In the last ten years there have been ex- 
 ported from Sydney not less than 159,000,000 Ibs. 
 of wool, of the estimated value of upwards of 
 11,000,000. 
 
 The broadcloths, merinos, shawls, elysians, poplins, 
 and other fabrics from New South Wales show 
 the high character of the wools of this colony. 
 
 Passing to another wool-producing colony, Queens- 
 land (formerly constituting the northern portion of 
 New South Wales, but in 1861 erected into a separate 
 colony), we find the export of wool from thence in 
 1860, was upwards of 51,000,000 Ibs., valued at an 
 average of 2l^d. per lb., and the number of sheep is 
 close on 3,500,000. 
 
 Although there is a present demand for clothing 
 wool, the Australian sheep farmers would be very 
 wrong to direct their attention to the production of 
 coarse wool, instead of the finer wool for which the 
 climate is so especially adapted. The farmers of 
 Germany, who labour under disadvantages, and who, 
 in many cases, have to protect their sheep from the 
 inclemency of the weather, might, on the contrary, 
 produce clothing wool on a more extensive scale to 
 the advantage of their population, who would gain in 
 
310 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 food by the larger carcass ; while the Australian 
 colonists might be left to supply the fine wools 
 required for broadcloths, and for which their climate 
 and pastures are so well suited. 
 
 Victoria makes a great display in this, one of its 
 most important staple products, in a couple of trophies 
 in the front and rear of their court, built up entirely 
 of bales and samples of Port Phillip wool. 
 
 Victoria has always been celebrated as a pastoral 
 country from the first date, when (about a quarter of 
 a century ago), the early settlers from Van Diemen's 
 Land landed with their flocks and herds at Port Phillip 
 to seek new pasturage. Since that period the colony 
 has furnished upwards of 300,000,000 Ibs. of wool to 
 the markets of Europe, worth more than 20 ) 000,000 
 sterling. Notwithstanding the counter attractions of 
 the gold fields, the clip of wool has not declined, but 
 sheep farming is pursued as steadily and profitably as 
 ever. The shipments of wool from the colony in 1860 
 exceeded 24,250,000 Ibs., and the number of sheep 
 owned there is about 6,000,000. 
 
 Among the choice wools exhibited are portions of 
 sixteen bales sent by Messrs. Clough and Co., and wool 
 with the mark " J. B." in a circle, the growth of Mr. J. 
 Bon, Devil's River, who has 15,000 sheep. The other 
 chief exhibitors are Mr. W. Skene, who owns 25,000 
 sheep ; the estate of Benn Bank, 30,000 ; Ardachy, 
 20,000; Waurrough, 20,000; Gray, 25,000; and 
 Winter Brothers, 50,000. 
 
 Eight glazed cases of Victoria wools are deserving 
 of special notice, as each contains twelve fleeces of 
 the following characters of wool with their specified 
 weight : 
 
COLONIAL WOOLS. 311 
 
 1. Greasy merino, grown by J. S. Currie, Lasec- 
 Cressy, of first-class quality. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 22 6 
 
 3 Wethers 29 13* 
 
 3 Hoggetts 22 13 
 
 3 Lambs 14 11 
 
 2. Washed merinos, by the same grower. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 11 7 
 
 3 Wethers 17 15 
 
 3 Hoggetts. 12 5 
 
 3 Lambs 7 1 
 
 3. Washed merinos by T. McKellar, Kanawalla, 
 Hamilton. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 9 13 
 
 3 Wethers 11 12 
 
 3 Hoggetts 12 15 
 
 3 Lambs 8 8 
 
 4. Washed wool, by G. A. Browne, Mount Emeu. 
 This farm contains 25,000 sheep. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 13 10 
 
 3 Wethers 16 12 
 
 3 Hoggetts 13 8 
 
 3 Lambs 6 13 
 
 5. Sundry prize samples of wool, exhibited by J. 
 H. Clough and Company, wool brokers, Melbourne. 
 
 IbS. OZS. 
 
 3 Fleeces each of Negretti 14 5 
 
 3 12 144 
 
 1 Hoggett Fleece 3 5 
 
 1 Ewe and 1 Lamb Fleece, each 2 6 
 
312 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 6. Twelve fleeces of greasy wool, grown by T. and 
 S. Learmouth, Ercildoun, Bommbeet, which obtained 
 the highest reward for merit at the local Exhibition 
 in the colony a double first-class certificate : 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 20 3 
 
 3 Wethers 23 13 
 
 3 Hoggetts 22 8 
 
 3 Lambs 11 10 
 
 7. Twelve fleeces of washed wool, by the same 
 grower. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 12 1\ 
 
 3 Wethers 14 1\ 
 
 3 Hoggetts 13 Oi 
 
 3 Lambs 5 U 
 
 8. Twelve fleeces of merino in the grease, grown by 
 Mr. Wilson, Rokewood, weighing respectively. 
 
 Ibs. ozs. 
 
 3 Ewes 23 7 
 
 3 Wethers 25 11 
 
 3 Hoggetts 17 
 
 3 Lambs 10 
 
 Tasmania sends but a small quantity of wool. 
 
 There is a very fine washed fleece, an average of 
 100 bales, from the estate of Lord Talbot de Malahide, 
 and a fine specimen of lamb's wool, with the mark of 
 the Isle of Man arms. 
 
 Western Australia has only forwarded two or three 
 samples. The commencement of sheep-keeping in 
 this colony on any scale dates from the opening of the 
 York district in 1822, when Messrs. Bland and 
 Truman drove a flock to the district consisting chiefly 
 
COLONIAL WOOLS. 313 
 
 of merinos. These, however, degenerated, and meat 
 being an object, were thought too small. Cotswold 
 rams and Southdown ewes were subsequently intro- 
 duced, and found suited to the wants of the colony, as 
 they combined pureness of quality with length of 
 staple and large carcass. Additions have also been 
 made of rams of the Komney Marsh breed. 
 
 New Zealand, which is a rising wool-producing 
 colony, sends samples of various mixed-breed wools, 
 crosses between the Merino, Cotswold, and Leicester. 
 Wellington, Nelson, and Auckland, each contribute 
 wool ; but Canterbury and the other provinces do not 
 seem to exhibit. 
 
 As the Cape Colony is unrepresented on the present 
 occasion, Natal wools are the only samples of South 
 African produce, and they are by no means of a good 
 quality, having received but little care. The sheep 
 thrives in many parts of the Natal uplands, and in 
 the Free States beyond, and is now gradually intro- 
 duced into the lower region around the capital with 
 varying degrees of success. Gentlemen who have had 
 large experience in the management of sheep in other 
 lands are turning their attention to its care, in the 
 conviction that where proper attention and skill are 
 devoted to the object, where the sheep are hurdled 
 and fed on the hill tops, and kept clear from scab, 
 which has hitherto been entirely disregarded in the 
 colony, mutton and wool will be remunerative, even 
 in those lower localities. In the year 1861 about 
 650,000 Ibs. of sheep's wool, worth 33,000, were 
 exported from Natal, much of it, of course, being the 
 produce of the Overberg States. There are only 
 
314 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 about six samples of colonial-raised wool shown, and 
 these compare, of course, unfavourably with the finer 
 wools of New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria 
 in the adjoining courts. 
 
 There are many samples of Indian wool shown in 
 the East India Government collection in the north-east 
 gallery. The imports of Indian wool have largely 
 increased of late years, averaging in the past two years 
 20,000,000 Ibs., or more than the receipts from South 
 Africa. Although most of the wool received from 
 India is of a very coarse and kempy character, it comes 
 into use for common purposes. 
 
 OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES.* 
 
 THE second great textile industry of the kingdom, 
 that of Wool, although of late years outstripped by 
 Cotton, was in earlier days our most important manu- 
 facture. There are more than 250,000 operatives en- 
 gaged in the factories, while the total number of 
 persons directly dependent upon the trade may be set 
 down at fully 1,000,000 (including the operatives), 
 there being a larger number of dependent workers in 
 its auxiliary trades than in connection with any other 
 manufacture. 
 
 If we look minutely at the export trade of British 
 wool and woollens, we find it now constitutes one-sixth 
 of the total value of our exports, cotton forming one- 
 fourth and iron one-sixth. 
 
 Value of Woollen Manufactures British 
 
 and Tarns Exported. Wool 
 
 1850 10,040,332 
 
 1856 9,744,469 986,523 
 
 * Published in "Kelly's Post Office Guide to London, 1871." 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 
 
 315 
 
 1860 
 1865 
 1870 
 
 Value of "Woollen Manufactures British 
 
 and Yarns Exported. Wool. 
 
 16,000,448 877,082 
 
 25,534,234 901,660 
 
 26,659,202 580,570 
 
 The value of the foreign and colonial wool imported 
 averages more than 16,000,000 sterling, and of 
 foreign woollen manufactures we import to the value 
 of 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 annually. 
 
 The Statistics of the Woollen Industry of the 
 United Kingdom were thus given in the Census 
 returns of 1861 : 
 
 Division and Counties. 
 
 Woollen 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power 
 Looms. 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES : 
 Yorkshire . 
 
 924 
 
 1,296 190 
 
 11 405 
 
 Devonshire 
 
 16 
 
 12,585 
 
 255 
 
 Gloucestershire 
 
 49 
 
 59986 
 
 618 
 
 Lancashire 
 
 101 
 
 277,655 
 
 6,377 
 
 Montgomery 
 
 43 
 
 20,920 
 
 262 
 
 Somersetshire 
 
 26 
 
 31,401 
 
 401 
 
 Wiltshire 
 
 32 
 
 44,825 
 
 549 
 
 
 265 
 
 103,288 
 
 477 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 1,456 
 
 1,846,850 
 
 20,344 
 
 SCOTLAND : 
 Aberdeen 
 
 25 
 
 17,510 
 
 93 
 
 Clackmannan 
 
 15 
 
 38,311 
 
 214 
 
 Peebles . . . 
 
 7 
 
 51 142 
 
 101 
 
 Perth 
 
 16 
 
 16,353 
 
 
 Roxburgh 
 
 21 
 
 60747 
 
 300 
 
 Selkirk 
 
 16 
 
 46,368 
 
 158 
 
 Stirling 
 
 23 
 
 32 950 
 
 64 
 
 Other Counties 
 
 61 
 
 53,804 
 
 373 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 184 
 
 317,185 
 
 1,303 
 
 IRELAND 
 
 39 
 
 18 574 
 
 1 9 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total United Kingdom ... 
 
 1,679 
 
 2,182,609 
 
 21,770 
 
316 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The great progress made in the manufacture of late 
 years is shown by the following official figures (the 
 latest available), and the increase of factories and 
 machinery indicates the activity of the trade. 
 
 1868. 
 WOOLLEN, WORSTED AND SHODDY FACTORIES. 
 
 Division. 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power Looms. 
 
 England and Wales.. 
 Scotland 
 
 2,211 
 207 
 
 6,512,590 
 436 134 
 
 118,755 
 3 529 
 
 Ireland 
 
 47 
 
 28 104 
 
 215 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 2,465 
 
 6 976 828 
 
 122,499 
 
 
 
 
 
 OPERATIVES EMPLOYED. 
 
 England and Wales 233,535 
 
 Scotland 18,174 
 
 Ireland 1,378 
 
 Total 253,087 
 
 The Cotton factories (2,549) in the United King- 
 dom employed in the same year 401,064 operatives. 
 The total number of persons employed in the woollen 
 and worsted factories in England and Wales in 1868 
 was in 
 
 WOOLLEN FACTORIES. 
 
 Spinning 16,510 
 
 Weaving 2,284 
 
 Spinning and Weaving 75,659 
 
 Finishing 5,160 
 
 Other descriptions of Work 2,325 
 
 101,938 
 
 Shoddy Factories 3,187 
 
 Carried forward 105,125 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 317 
 
 Brought forward 105,125 
 
 WORSTED FACTORIES. 
 
 Spinning 42,983 
 
 Weaving 17,601 
 
 Spinning and Weaving 66,689 
 
 Other descriptions of Work 1,137 
 
 128,410 
 
 Total 233,535 
 
 An estimate of the woollen and worsted trade of 
 the United Kingdom was furnished to the Rivers 
 Commission in the course of their inspection of the 
 West Biding of Yorkshire for the year 1864. From 
 these returns the wool produced in the United King- 
 dom in that year was stated at 152,000,000 Ibs., of 
 which more than 7,000,000 Ibs. were exported, leaving 
 nearly 145,000,000 for home consumption. It was 
 estimated that in the year 1864, in this kingdom, the 
 produce and imports of wool and similar material 
 amounted to 447,445,889 Ibs. ; and 63,254,102 Ibs. of 
 wool being re-exported, there remained 384, 19 1,787 Ibs., 
 of the value of 31,698,120. This vast amount of 
 raw material was worked up thus : 35,500,000 Ibs. 
 of English wool exported as yarn, of the value 
 of 5,000,000, and the following quantities manu- 
 factured into tissues of the values undermentioned, 
 namely : 110,000,000 Ibs. of English wool into 
 tissues of the value of 22,000,000; ' 150,500,000 Ibs. 
 of foreign wool into tissues of the value of 22,600,000 ; 
 4,900,000 Ibs. mohair into 1,200,000 ; 4,500,000 Ibs. 
 of foreign yarn into 1,800,000, and 79,500,000 Ibs. of 
 shoddy and extracts contributed to the extent of 
 4,000,000 to the value of the tissues ; the whole pro- 
 ducing worsted and woollen yarns and tissues of the 
 
318 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 value of 57,100,000. To this has to be added cotton 
 yarn and other materials for mixing, not above enume- 
 rated 7,300,000 bringing the whole value of the 
 products to 64,400,000. Another analysis gave the 
 following estimate ; 140,500,000 Ibs. worked up 
 into worsted and woollen goods exported, or exported 
 as yarn, together of the value of 23,948,800; and 
 the other 243,700,000 Ibs. were worked up into 
 worsted and woollen goods for home consumption, of 
 the value of 40,451,200. 
 
 According to the latest official return, the woollen 
 and worsted trades of the kingdom gave direct employ- 
 ment respectively to the following : 
 
 Factories. Operatives. 
 
 Woollen 1,658 118,004 
 
 Shoddy 104 3,187 
 
 Worsted 703 131,896 
 
 Total 2,465 253,087 
 
 In a paper read by Mr. Archibald Hamilton before 
 the Statistical Society of London, in December, 1870, 
 on " Our Wool Supply," he stated that 
 
 " The importations of wool during the last fifty 
 years have increased with such marvellous rapidity, 
 that this material now ranks second in importance 
 as regards our textile industry ; and has this pecu- 
 liarity, that, whereas cotton and silk are produced only 
 in certain latitudes and in comparatively few coun- 
 tries, wool is produced, more or less, in all countries. 
 Another characteristic is the great variety of qualities 
 comparing the produce of one country with another, 
 or even of different districts in the same country 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 319 
 
 each fleece, indeed, contains several ' sorts ' adapted for 
 various purposes so that there is, perhaps, no single 
 article of commerce that gives rise to so many deal- 
 ings as wool : interchange of their produce takes place 
 even between manufacturing countries ; for example, 
 we import from Germany 7,000,000 Ibs. annually, and 
 the German manufacturers take 2,500,000 Ibs. of 
 English wool, in addition to yarn spun from the same 
 material. 
 
 " Again, wool is so much preferred to any other 
 material for nearly all clothing purposes, that the use 
 of woollen and worsted goods has hitherto been 
 restricted only by the cost the consumption ex- 
 tending readily as the price of wool becomes less 
 and notwithstanding the extraordinary increase in the 
 imports, there has been as yet no accumulation of 
 wool in stock, if we except the present year, when the 
 natural course of things has been interrupted by the 
 war." 
 
 London is largely interested in the woollen manu- 
 facture, as the bulk of the foreign wool imported 
 comes to London. Out of 880,000 bales received in 
 1870, 711,000 came to London, and were distributed 
 to the home and foreign manufacturers at the colonial 
 wool sales held in London. Liverpool received about 
 148,000 bales. There are in London 5 wool ware- 
 house-keepers, 33 wool-brokers, 29 wool-merchants, 
 and 18 woolstaplers, to say nothing of the 163 woollen 
 warehousemen, and the large array of woollendrapers 
 who supply the customers of the metropolis. 
 
 We are mainly dependent on our southern colonies 
 in Australia and Africa for our supplies of wool. 
 
320 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Germany furnishes small quantities of the finer kinds, 
 and the River Plate districts are increasing their 
 exports, although the quality is not so good as the 
 Australian. The rapid progress in the woollen trade 
 is best illustrated by the increasing supplies of foreign 
 and colonial wool of all kinds used up as shown in the 
 following quinquennial figures, in Ibs. : 
 
 Countries. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1860. 
 
 1865. 
 
 1870. 
 
 BRITISH POSSESSIONS. 
 
 49 142 000 
 
 59 166 000 
 
 109 734 000 
 
 175081,427 
 
 India . 
 
 14 283 000 
 
 20 214 000 
 
 17 105 000 
 
 11 143 148 
 
 South Africa 
 FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
 
 11,075,000 
 G8000 
 
 16,574,000 
 1 000 000 
 
 29,220,000 
 115 000 
 
 32,785,271 
 
 
 6 128*000 
 
 9*292*000 
 
 6 858 000 
 
 23 686 039 
 
 Other European States . 
 
 8,119,000 
 7 106 000 
 
 28,570,000 
 8 950 000 
 
 27,693,000 
 17 867 000 
 
 
 Other Countries 
 
 3 379 000 
 
 4 630 000 
 
 3'614'oOO 
 
 | 16,666,078 
 
 Total Imports 
 
 99,300,000 
 29 453 000 
 
 148,396,000 
 30 761 000 
 
 212,206,000 
 82 445 000 
 
 259,361,963 
 92 542 384 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Left for consumption . . 
 
 69,847,000 
 
 117,635,000 
 
 129,761,000 
 
 166,819,579 
 
 The computed nett value of the sheep's wool, and 
 woollen rags (torn up to be used as wool) in 1871 
 was nearly 18,000,000, and of foreign woollen manu- 
 factures and yarns imported upwards of 5,500,000, 
 making a total of about 23,500,000 paid for foreign 
 and colonial woollen raw material and manufactures. 
 
 Our home supply of British grown wool Ibs. 
 
 has been carefully estimated at 160,000,000 
 
 Our imports, Foreign and Colonial, of 
 
 sheep's wool in 1871 were 319,511,000 
 
 The skin wool from imported sheep is 
 
 estimated at 2,400,000 
 
 Making a total of 481,911,000 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 321 
 
 Total, brought forward 481,911,000 
 
 Foreign and Colonial 
 
 re-exported 92,542,000 Ibs. 
 
 Domestic wool ex- 
 ported 12,400,000 
 
 104,942,000 
 
 Leaving for home consumption 320,709,000 
 
 Besides some 40,000,000 Ibs. of shoddy, or rag wool, made at 
 home, and 51,500,000 Ibs. imported. 
 
 The gross value of worsted and woollen yarn and 
 British-made goods exported in 1870 was made up of 
 the following items : 
 
 Worsted Stuffs 13,788,798 
 
 Hosiery, &c 265,856 
 
 Small Wares 388,872 
 
 Carpets 1,393,279 
 
 Flannels and Blankets 1,078,983 
 
 Woollen Cloth, &c 4,749,165 
 
 Woollen and Worsted Yarn 4,994,249 
 
 26,659,202 
 British Eaw Wool 580,570 
 
 27,239,772 
 
 These details will serve in some degree to point out 
 the real magnitude and value of the woollen manu- 
 facture which have hitherto been most imperfectly 
 known. 
 
 We know the quantity and value of the manufac- 
 tured goods exported, but we have no guide to the 
 precise amount consumed by our own large and well- 
 conditioned population in these islands ; this some of 
 our most experienced merchants estimate to be three- 
 fourths of the whole manufacture. If we allowed but 
 
322 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 1 a year for woollen goods for every head of the 
 population, this would give us fully half the manu- 
 facture, which cannot certainly be set down in value of 
 annual production at less than 70,000,000. 
 
 Why are all manufactured goods more abundant, 
 relatively to the population, now than in 1700 ? First, 
 because every man now works with better tools, and 
 more manual skill and dexterity ; because all modes of 
 transit have been improved, thus facilitating the trans- 
 mission of goods, either raw material or finished, and 
 thereby reducing one great element of the price, the 
 cost of carriage ; and because, further, the facility of 
 transport has rendered exchange practicable and easy, 
 when formerly it was impossible ; thus actually 
 creating new industries. And to whom or to what do 
 we owe the more perfect appliances of the present 
 day ? Unquestionably and primarily to such men as 
 Watt and Arkwright, Crompton and Hargreaves, Kaye 
 and Cartwright, in the department of mere mechanical 
 appliances the steam engine, the carder, the mule, 
 and the power-loom being the great types of this 
 department ; and subsequently to our Brindleys and 
 Stephensons, our Sharps and Fairbairns in the depart- 
 ment of transit the canal, the railroad, and its great 
 king the locomotive engine, the steamboat, the railway 
 tunnel, and the viaduct being its chief types. Nor 
 should injustice be done to a thousand other names in 
 every, department of productive art, whom it would 
 fill a volume merely to enumerate. 
 
 What, then, has progress in the woollen and 
 worsted trades done for the land of Great Britain ? 
 It has speaking generally doubled its production 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 323 
 
 of wool in proportion to population, and probably 
 quadrupled the proportion of sheep since 1700, for the 
 sheep of the present day is a very different animal in 
 weight and value to that of the seventeenth century. 
 It has quintupled the rental of England, although 
 much of the land has been monopolised for railways, 
 mines, quarries, towns, mills, &c. Within the last 
 century and a half implements which retained the 
 closest resemblance to those used by the earliest 
 nations of the world the people of Central and 
 Western Asia have been displaced by the prodigious 
 power of steam, the mule and spindle, and the power- 
 loom. The progress of this industry has given 
 activity and occupation to thousands in Australia, 
 in South Africa, and South America. It has freighted 
 tons of shipping annually, and fostered Commerce, and 
 yet population during the displacement has gone on 
 with a geometric ratio of increase, and there appears 
 no limit to the progress either of the population or of 
 manufacturing art, but the limit of the earth's surface 
 to supply food. 
 
 The proportion of the fleece of one sheep per head 
 to the population kept in the kingdom, does net 
 furnish enough wool for our own use, irrespective of 
 the export demands made for our woollen manu- 
 factures ; hence our factories are such excellent cus- 
 tomers to the sheep breeders of the Cape, Australia, 
 and the River Plate. 
 
 The woollen manufacture begins with the stapler, 
 who buys the wool of the farmer or broker, and ends 
 with the merchant. It is divided into three principal 
 processes, which are again subdivided. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 First, there is what is called the manufacturer ; 
 secondly, the finisher ; and thirdly, the rag grinder. 
 The first manufactures the raw material into cloth ; 
 the second finishes it, or gives it its appearance as it 
 is ordinarily worn ; the third takes the manufacture 
 of the two former processes when thrown aside by the 
 wearer, cuts it into pieces, which he forcibly tears 
 asunder, and then remodels them into raw material 
 again, to be once more used by the first customer. 
 
 Of so much consequence is this last process to the 
 trade, that the rag machines of the town of Leeds 
 alone are capable, in full work, of adding to the 
 annual stock of wool the equivalent of the fleeces of 
 600,000 sheep, averaging 7 Ibs. each. 
 
 From a parliamentary return issued in 1868, the 
 number of woollen factories was 1,658, with 1,109 
 combing machines, nearly 4,200,000 spinning spindles, 
 167,248 doubling spindles, 46,294 power looms, 
 33,270 power-loom weavers, about 1,100,000 billy 
 spindles, 1,370 condensers, 2,670 gigs, and 3,879 
 fulling stocks. The moving power was 38,800 steam, 
 and 10,624 water power. The total number of persons 
 employed in the woollen factories was 118,904, of 
 whom 59,771 were males, and 58,233 females. 
 
 The woollen trade of the kingdom is divided into 
 three great sections, comprising A. What is known 
 as worsted fabrics made from combed wool. B. 
 Woollen fabrics made from carded wool. And C. 
 Shoddy fabrics, made chiefly from old woollen rags, 
 the wool extracted from mixed fabrics, and re-worked 
 up with a little new. 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 325 
 
 A. THE WORSTED MANUFACTURE. 
 
 THE worsted manufacture, though for some centuries 
 it had its chief seat in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, 
 has now obtained a remarkable concentration in the 
 West Riding of Yorkshire. Out of 131,896 factory 
 operatives in the worsted trade of the United King- 
 dom, 121,978 are in Yorkshire. 
 
 The town of Bradford is the principal centre of the 
 worsted manufacture, and the great market for the 
 disposal of its productions. There are also large 
 numbers engaged at Halifax, Keighley, Bingley, and 
 Wakefield, besides others, distributed over adjacent 
 villages and other counties, such as Leicester and 
 Norfolk. To these must be added a large number of 
 persons employed in Lancashire in the manufacture 
 of mousseline-de-laines and other light worsted fabrics, 
 and who in the Factory Returns are included in the 
 department of cotton. It should also be borne in 
 mind that besides the hands employed within the 
 factories there are numbers of wool-sorters, combers, 
 hand-loom weavers, dyers, &c., employed out of the 
 factory, and these, at a moderate calculation, may be 
 reckoned at fifty per cent., or one workman employed 
 out for two in. 
 
 The worsted factories in 1868 were 687, of which 
 293 were employed in spinning, 2 being in Devon, 1 
 in Durham, 3 in Lancaster, 4 in Norfolk, 2 each in 
 Somerset and Westmoreland, 7 in Worcester, and 
 272 in York ; 213 exclusively employed in weaving, 
 of which 1 in Durham, 5 in Lancaster, 3 in Warwick, 
 24 in Worcester, and 180 in York, besides which there 
 
326 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 were 165 employed both in spinning and weaving, all 
 in Yorkshire, except 1 at Worcester. There were 
 besides these, 16 factories not included in the above 
 descriptions, 1 being in Durham, 2 in Lancashire, 3 
 in Middlesex, and 10 in Yorkshire. 
 
 A distinguishing feature in the worsted trade is the 
 variety of fabrics produced, and the diversity of pur- 
 poses to which they can be applied. Thus, we have 
 fabrics composed entirely of wool, of wool and cotton, 
 of wool and silk, of wool, silk, and cotton, and of 
 alpaca and mohair mixed with cotton and silk. The 
 first division includes the old fabrics called says, 
 serges, shalloons, lastings, and other stout and heavy 
 articles largely consumed in the export trade. It also 
 includes damasks for furniture and hangings, made 
 chiefly at Halifax, and single-twilled merinos, which, 
 up to the year 1836, was the main article sold for 
 ladies' dresses. Under the second head are comprised 
 the two fabrics known as Cobourg and Orleans cloths, 
 the production of which is immense. The silk warp 
 and worsted weft goods are rich and durable, and 
 include the elegant productions of the Norwich looms. 
 The alpaca and mohair manufactures are carried on 
 chiefly at Bradford and Bingley, and are used largely 
 for ladies' and children's dresses, for coatings, vestings, 
 linings, umbrella and parasol cloths, &c. 
 
 In 1787 the average rate of wages paid in the 
 worsted trade in fifteen counties was 3s. 3d. per week. 
 A little later 5s. a week for a weaver was accounted 
 a great payment ; and this be it remembered, when 
 a stone of flour weighing 16 Ibs. cost the work- 
 ing man from 3s, to 3s, Qd. At the present time, 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 327 
 
 with flour at 2s. to 2s. 6d. per stone with other 
 articles of provision reduced in proportion, with articles 
 of clothing one-third at least of their former price 
 the average wages at Bradford of all factory workers, 
 men, women, and children, is 10s. to 12s. a week; nor 
 is the amelioration in their social condition less real. 
 
 After deducting the export of worsted goods, there 
 will still remain for the whole female population of 
 Great Britain and Ireland, from the infant in the 
 nurse's arms to the " oldest female inhabitant," a 
 dress of worsted stuff each year seven yards in 
 length. 
 
 In Bradford and its neighbourhood the rate of 
 wages paid to persons employed in the worsted manu- 
 factures is as follows : 
 
 Wool sorters 28s. per week to men and 12s. to lads 
 and boys ; to wool washers, men, 17s. 6d. ; dyers, 
 men, 20s., boys, 8s. to 12s. ; machine wool-combers, 
 men 15s., lads, 8s. 6d., women, 9s. 6d. ; drawers, 
 reelers, and weavers, women, 10s. to 12s. ; overlookers, 
 80s. ; assistant overlookers, 10s. to 28s. ; engine 
 tenters, 28s. to 35s. ; engine feeders and stokers, 20s. 
 
 In Halifax and its neighbourhood the weekly wages 
 are : Wool sorters, men, 18s. Qd. to 28s., boys, 12s. ; 
 wool washers, men, 12s. to 22s. ; wool carders, women, 
 9s. to 9s. Qd. ; machine wool-combers, men, 12s. to 
 15s., women, 9s. to 9s. 6d., girls, 9s. to 9s. Qd. ; 
 makers-up, boys and women, 9s. to 10s. ; dyers, men, 
 14s. ; drawers, women and girls, 8s. to 10s. ; spinners, 
 women (full time), 6s. Qd. to 8s., boys and girls (short 
 time), Is. 3d. to 4s. ; twisters, girls, 8s. to 10s. ; 
 reelers, women and girls, 9s. to 14s. ; oilers, boys, 9s. ; 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 jobbers, boys, 8s. to 10s. ; bobbin setters, boys, 5s. ; 
 doffers, boys, 6s. 3d. ; weavers (piece work), girls and 
 women, 14s. to 18s. ; overlookers, 18s. to 25s. ; 
 assistant overlookers, 13s. 6d. to 16s. ; engine tenters, 
 2L>.. to 30s. ; feeders and stokers, 14s. to 18s. 
 
 B. THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. 
 
 THE West Riding of Yorkshire and the West of 
 England are the chief seats of this extensive industry. 
 Leeds is the most important centre, and may be con- 
 sidered the metropolis of the woollen trade. Hudders- 
 field, with its neighbourhood, is the second in 
 importance, and is famed, in addition to the production 
 of broad cloths, for its large trade in fancy trouserings. 
 In the West of England, Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, is 
 the centre of a large district which produces fancy 
 goods and light cloths of many descriptions ; and 
 Stroud, in Gloucestershire, is celebrated for its scarlet 
 and other bright-coloured cloths, a celebrity which it 
 derives from the peculiar fitness of its waters for the 
 dyeing processes. 
 
 The woollen manufacture, with its various branches, 
 is very extensively diffused, and not concentrated like 
 cotton. According to the last factory returns, it pre- 
 vailed in 23 counties of England, 10 of Wales, 25 
 of Scotland, and 12 of Ireland. 
 
 More than one-half of the operatives employed in 
 the woollen factories were in the county of York 
 57,843 out of 101,938. 
 
 The Scotch goods, tweeds, tartans, &c., are generally 
 of a beautiful soft character and permanent dye. 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 329 
 
 Blankets, which are also included in this class, are 
 made chiefly at Witney, in Oxfordshire, and at Dews- 
 bury, in Yorkshire. 
 
 Flannels are produced in Wales chiefly by hand 
 labour, and Rochdale and district is now the centre of 
 the English branch of this trade. Felt druggeting is 
 made in the Yorkshire districts, and is largely used in 
 England as a cheap substitute for carpets. 
 
 The woollen factories employed in spinning, in 
 1868, were 549, distributed as follows : Anglesea, 13 ; 
 Brecon, 9 ; Cardigan, 30 ; Carmarthen, 22 ; Car- 
 narvon, 21 ; Chester, 5 ; Cornwall, 1 ; Cumberland, 8 ; 
 Denbigh, 11 ; Derby, 4 ; Devon, 3 ; Durham, 1 ; 
 Flint, 2 ; Glamorgan, 35 ; Lancaster, 8 ; Leicester, 22 ; 
 Lincoln, 1; Monmouth, 16; Montgomery, 23; Nor- 
 folk, 2 ; Nottingham, 2 ; Oxford, 8 ; Pembroke, 18 ; 
 Salop, 4 ; Somerset, 8 ; Westmoreland, 9 ; and York, 
 263. 
 
 There were 42 employed specially in weaving, 
 located in the following counties : Chester, 2 ; Lan- 
 caster, 2 ; Pembroke, Salop, and Somerset, each 1 ; 
 and York, 35. 
 
 The number employed in spinning and weaving, 
 conjointly, was 635, located as follows : Carmarthen, 
 2 ; Carnarvon, 1 ; Chester, 10 ; Cornwall, 1 ; Cumber- 
 land, 2 ; Denbigh, 5 ; Derby, 9 ; Devon, 9 ; Dur- 
 ham, 3 ; Gloucester, 62 ; Hereford, 2 ; Lancaster, 81 ; 
 Monmouth, 5 ; Montgomery, 9 ; Northumberland, 9 ; 
 Oxford, 2 ; Pembroke, 1 ; Eadnor, 1 ; Somerset, 11 ; 
 Westmoreland, 3; Wilts, 25; and York, 382. Of 
 factories employed only in finishing, there were 34 in 
 Lancashire and 96 in York; and besides these were 
 
330 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 64 factories not included in either of the above de- 
 scriptions, situated 5 each in Chester and Devon, 1 
 each in Leicester, Middlesex, and Northumberland, 9 
 in Somerset, and 42 in York. 
 
 C. SHODDY FABKICS. 
 
 THE number of shoddy factories, in 1868, was 23 
 in Lancashire and 81 in Yorkshire. These gave 
 employment to 3,187 persons, about half males and 
 half females. Old or second-hand materials are ex- 
 tensively used in the manufacture of the lower classes 
 of woollen goods ; these are shoddy, mungo, and ex- 
 tract wool. At one time the name of shoddy was 
 sufficient to excite prejudice, if not disgust ; but that 
 time has passed away, and the useful properties of 
 shoddy, when judiciously applied, have long since 
 been recognised, for at present the industry of whole 
 districts depends upon it; its value and importance 
 in a commercial point of view being second only to 
 that of wool. The annual production and consump- 
 tion of rag wool, or shoddy, is now equal to one-sixth 
 of the amount of our foreign supplies of wool. 
 
 Shoddy is of three kinds: 1. Shoddy, manufac- 
 tured from soft woollen rags as flannels, blankets, 
 stockings, carpets, c. 2. Mungo, manufactured from 
 hard and fine woollen rags, and new cloth cuttings, 
 &c. 3. Extract wool ; that is wool extracted from 
 mixed cotton and woollen rags by a chemical process, 
 which consumes the cotton, leaving the wool intact. 
 The two former sorts are held in the greatest estima- 
 tion as possessing better felting properties. 
 
CUE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 331 
 
 Batley is the chief seat of the manufacture of 
 shoddy. This is the famous rag capital, the tatter 
 metropolis whither every beggar in Europe sends his 
 cast-off gentility of moth-eaten coats, frowzy jackets, 
 worn-out linen, offensive cotton and old worsted stock- 
 ings ; this is their last destination. Reduced to fila- 
 ment and greasy pulp by mighty " swifts " or re- 
 volving toothed cylinders, the much vexed fabrics 
 re-enter life in the most brilliant forms from solid 
 pilot cloth to silky mohair and glossiest tweed. Thus 
 the tail coat rejected by the Irish peasant, the gabar- 
 dine too foul for the Polish beggar, are turned again 
 to shiny uses, reappearing, it may be, in the lustrous 
 paletot of the sporting dandy, the delicate riding habit 
 of the Belgravian belle, or the sad, sleek garment of 
 her confessor. It is an ascertained fact that rag 
 machines were in use in London prior to their being 
 so in Yorkshire, and that they were employed in 
 making flocks from rags for saddlery and upholstery 
 purposes. 
 
 In addition to the quantity of home-made rag wool, 
 there is a large importation of foreign constantly 
 going on, the average imports of the three years 
 ending with 1871 being 19,000 tons a-year. More 
 than 100 firms and individual tradesmen in Yorkshire 
 are engaged in the preparation and sale of rags, 
 shoddy, and mungo. Exclusive of the people employed 
 at the rag grinding and shoddy factories, there are 
 probably 500 female rag sorters or pickers. 
 
 In the woollen manufacture a considerable portion 
 of the raw material is scattered as waste ; but there 
 are a number of " waste merchants " in different parts 
 
332 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 of the country who buy up everything like wool, and 
 send it to Leeds, Dewsbury, and Batley to be made 
 into shoddy or mungo. Being mixed with some new 
 wool it is spun into yarn, and made into broadcloth, 
 doeskins, pilot cloths, druggets, and coarse carpetings. 
 The reproduction of a woven fabric from material 
 formerly regarded as entirely waste and useless for 
 such purposes, is a striking illustration of the adaptive 
 ingenuity of the present day. 
 
 Besides the woollen rags collected at home, others 
 are imported. These are all torn up by machinery, and 
 their fibrous material entirely separated ; it is then 
 spun into " low numbers " and made into a coarse 
 description of woollen cloth, used for baize, table 
 covers, &c. 
 
 EXPORTS OF BRITISH WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES, 
 
 Year. 
 
 Flannels. 
 
 Blankets. 
 
 Carpets and 
 Druggets. 
 
 Shawls 
 and Rugs. 
 
 Worsted 
 
 Stuffs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1862 
 
 .. 
 
 
 671,215 
 
 
 5,881,789 
 
 1863 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 810,783 
 
 
 8,336,957 
 
 1864 
 
 M 
 
 
 861,499 
 
 
 10,800,521 
 
 1865 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 861,453 
 
 
 13,360,527 
 
 1866 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 1,217,682 
 
 
 13,294,059 
 
 1867 
 
 415,881 
 
 361,775 
 
 1,101,986 
 
 287,208 
 
 12,144,998 
 
 1868 
 
 431,845 
 
 452,902 
 
 1,099,882 
 
 264,555 
 
 13,075,773 
 
 1869 
 
 404,890 
 
 694,409 
 
 1,466,758 
 
 265,918 
 
 15,130,340 
 
 1870 
 
 343,641 
 
 713,342 
 
 1,393,279 
 
 267,772 
 
 13,788,798 
 
 1871 
 
 397,187 
 
 631,751 
 
 1,650,773 
 
 
 17,953,992 
 
 HOSIERY, STOCKINGS, AND OTHER SMALL WARES. 
 
 1867 390,609 
 
 1868 371,036 
 
 1869 696,978 
 
 1870 654,728 
 
 1871 982,383 
 
OUR WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. 
 
 333 
 
 EXPORTS OF WOOLLEN AND WORSTED YARN AND 
 MANUFACTURES. 
 
 Yarn. 
 Years. 
 
 1862 3,852,998 
 
 1863 5,087,293 
 
 1864 5,417,377 
 
 1865 5,429,504 
 
 1866 4,742,162 
 
 1867 5,822,996 
 
 1868 6,364,011 
 
 1869 5,538,295 
 
 1870 4,994,249 
 
 1871 6,101,777 
 
 Woollen Manufactures. 
 Years. A 
 
 1862 4,425,122 
 
 1863 3,964,910 
 
 1864 4,533,519 
 
 1865 4,023,954 
 
 1866 5,303,602 
 
 1867 5,327,375 
 
 1868 3,760.961 
 
 1869 4,275,858 
 
 1870 4,749,165 
 
 1871 5,568,618 
 
 One-third of the manufactures exported is mixed goods, and 
 the remainder all woollen. 
 
334 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 THE 
 
 SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE.* 
 
 SOME idea may be formed of the importance of 
 the Silk Trade of the United Kingdom from the 
 fact that our average annual import of raw silk in 
 the eight years ending with 1859, was nearly 
 1,500,000 Ibs. exclusive of more than 3,500,000 Ibs. 
 of waste silk and knubs or husks. In 1860 and 1861 
 the import averaged 9,000,000 Ibs. of raw and thrown, 
 and last year (1861) 290,627 cwts. of waste was 
 received. The sources of supply have much changed 
 of late years. Italy and Syria now furnish us with 
 very little, the supplies from France fluctuate, and we 
 are chiefly dependent on the coarse silks of the East. 
 There are nearly 500 silk factories in Great Britain, in 
 which 5,176 horse power is engaged, and a capital of 
 about 50,000,000 sterling embarked, which gives 
 employment to nearly 1,000,000 persons.f In the 
 
 * From an Article in " The Scientific Record of the 
 International Exhibition of 1862." 
 
 f PROGRESS OF THE SILK TRADE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM' 
 FROM 1845 TO 1870. 
 
 
 1845. 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 1850. 
 Quantities. 
 
 1855. 
 Computed 
 Value. 
 
 A 
 
 609,183 
 313,285 
 4,584,733 
 908,571 
 
 1,524,343 
 
 1870. 
 
 Computed 
 Value. 
 
 Imports of European silks, 
 exclusive of lace, mit- 
 tens, and ribbons Ibs. 
 India silks pieces 
 
 341,441 
 782,782 
 4,354,696 
 511,832 
 
 766,405 
 
 698,716 
 766,941 
 4,942,407 
 469,527 
 
 1,255,641 
 
 
 
 15,096,327 
 146,592 
 8,696,598 
 599,651 
 
 1,450,397 
 
 Raw silk ... . Ibs 
 
 
 British silk manufactures ex- 
 ported, including thrown 
 and twist, declared value 
 
THE SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE. 335 
 
 Eastern Annexe, we have one exhibitor of British 
 raw silk, in G. Mason, of Yateley, Hants, who shows 
 fine cocoons, hanks of raw silk, and fabrics made 
 of it, and the waste for spinning. Lady Dorothy 
 Nevill, of Dangstein Park, Petersfield, has lately 
 been giving great attention to the introduction of 
 the Alianthus silkworm (Attacus Cynthia) into this 
 country, and has translated and published here the 
 treatise of M. Guerin de Meneville on the subject. 
 
 The production of silk is an important branch of 
 industry open for future skill and exertions in many 
 of our colonies. In Victoria copious plantations, 
 recently formed, of the quickly-growing Chinese mul- 
 berry tree, testify that many of the colonists are per- 
 suaded of the great importance of encouraging this 
 branch of rural economy. Queensland, New South 
 Wales, South Australia, Mauritius, and Natal con- 
 tribute small samples of silk, evidencing what might 
 be done by pains and attention at some future day. 
 
 Silk culture in Austria is confined to the Southern 
 and Adriatic provinces of the empire, having reached 
 its highest development in the Venetian Provinces 
 and Southern Tyrol. Trials made in the other 
 provinces have not as yet been attended with much 
 result. The annual average production of cocoons 
 amounts to from 270,000 to 300,000 cwts., of which 
 in 1860 there were sent to other countries 6,000 cwts. 
 The number of persons permanently employed in the 
 silk industry, and temporarily for a month or two after 
 the collection of the cocoons, is about 100,000. The 
 collective exhibition of the Vienna silk manufacturers 
 is a very interesting study. 83 spinning establish- 
 
336 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 ments with nearly 4,000 boilers, steam power for 
 heating and mechanical motion, are at work in Austria. 
 
 Italy has long been famous for its silks, and although 
 the silk growers and manufacturers do not make so 
 good a display here as was done on their own soil, in 
 the Florentine Exhibition in 1861, yet the practised 
 eye cannot but be struck by the splendid specimens 
 shown in the Italian Court by 133 exhibitors. The 
 annual productions of the silkworm in Italy were 
 recently estimated by Mr. T. Winkworth at upwards 
 of 12,000,000 sterling: 4,232 tons of raw silk are 
 produced ; and there are 984 tons of refuse silk after 
 reeling worked up; 1,970 tons of native silk are 
 thrown into organzine and tram, and half as much 
 Chinese and Italian silk. 
 
 The number of exhibitors of silk from France is 
 very large, and includes individual and collective ex- 
 hibitors, as well as those of many societies. There 
 are also many exhibitors from the French colonies, 
 whom it would be impossible to enumerate in detail. 
 There are fine yellow cocoons and silks from Cochin 
 China, shown by Vice-Admiral Charnier. The Horti- 
 cultural and Acclimatisation Society of Montauban ex- 
 hibits 16 varieties of improved cocoons with the raw 
 silk. M. Tessier du Cros has an interesting collection 
 of cocoons comprising the following varieties : 
 yellow, from Smyrna ; white, Adrianople ; white, 
 Lefhra, Anatolia ; saffron, Archipelago ; white, Me- 
 hemet Effendi ; green, Archipelago ; yellow, of 
 France (old Melanie breed) white (old breed) ; white, 
 Montauban ; white, Cahors ; white, Adrianople ; yellow, 
 Valuchon. This exhibitor has carried off nine medals 
 
THE SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE. 337 
 
 from the Society for the Encouragement of National 
 Industry. 
 
 In the collection of the Imperial Acclimatisation 
 Society of Paris, there was shown a very interesting 
 collection of silk moths, cocoons, and their products, 
 comprising 11 species namely, the silk moth of the 
 Japan mulberry, of the castor-oil plant of India, 
 (Bombyx arrindia\ of the Ailanto of China (Attacus 
 Cynthia), the wild silk moths of the oaks of China, of 
 India, and of Japan (Antheroea Pernyii, A. mylitta, and 
 A. yama-mai) ; A. cecropia of North America ; A. 
 aurota and A speculum of Central America, and Attacus 
 Atlas and Actias Selene of India. 
 
 From Pondicherry M. Perottet sends raw and waste 
 silk and cocoons of the larva of the handsome Bombyx 
 mylitta. For several years past he has transmitted 
 living cocoons of this moth to France, and the worms 
 have fed well on the oak leaves of the forests. He 
 also exhibits fine cocoons of another Bombyx of great 
 beauty, the name of which is not known ; the worm 
 feeds on the leaves of the Rhus Odina. Raw white 
 silk is also shown, obtained from the eighth generation 
 of the worm of the Bombyx mori at the experimental 
 establishment of Pondicherry in 1859. The silk, 
 which is spun from 5 to 6 cocoons, is about 11^ to 12 
 deniers fineness, and sells at Lyons at from 75 to 95 
 francs the kilogramme. 
 
 Bengal silk is not much esteemed in this country. 
 For some years foreigners were the largest consumers 
 of the better classes, but now they seem to have 
 enough of their own silks, aided perhaps by Japan silk, 
 for their restricted consumption ; and the lower class 
 
 z 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 qualities have been effectually kept out of consumption 
 by the abundance and moderate prices of the common 
 classes of China and Japan silk. 
 
 In 1850 we received 346,847 Ibs. of Indian silk, 
 but in the last two years the average import has been 
 only 110,000 Ibs. The interesting case of Indian silk 
 moths, cocoons, and other products, arranged by Mr. F. 
 Moore in the Indian Gallery, deserves special notice by 
 all interested in silk culture. [It is now in the India 
 Museum, Whitehall.] 
 
 Since the opening of the ports of Japan a large 
 quantity of silk has been received from thence. At 
 first it realised from 15s. to 30s. The quality has not 
 been found equal to the expectations formed at its 
 early introduction ; like China silk, its character has 
 deteriorated, and it is now inferior in quality and 
 much more mixed. The total imports here in the last 
 three years have been 17,295 bales of 103 Ibs. nett, of 
 which 14,709 bales were taken by manufacturers. 
 Lord John Hay shows raw Japanese silk, and Messrs. 
 Remi, Schmidt and Co. have an interesting collection of 
 the silks and cocoons of Japan. In the case of the latter, 
 there are some very curious wild cocoons from Japan, 
 especially a reticulated cocoon which appears to be 
 undescribed, and the large green cocoons of the 
 Anthercea yama-ma'i the caterpillar, moth, and co- 
 coon, of which have been figured and described by M. 
 Gruerin de Meneville, in the Paris " Revue et Magazin 
 de Zoologie for 1861." The value of the raw silk im- 
 ported into this country from Japan in 1860 was 
 90,115, and the value of that received last year (1861) 
 was higher, notwithstanding the decline in price. 
 
THE SILK TRADE AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 339 
 
 The following is an approximate estimate of the 
 production of silk in Japan computed by Mr. F. 
 Howard Vyse, the British Consul at Kanagawa : 
 
 Provinces. 
 
 Bales. 
 
 Disposition. 
 
 Sinchion 
 
 20,000 
 5,000 
 45,000 
 
 Half of this is sent to 
 Miako market. 
 The greatest part is sold 
 at Kanagawa. 
 Three-fourths of this is 
 sent to Miako, the re- 
 mainder to Kanagawa. 
 Three-fourths sent to 
 Miako. 
 Almost all to Miako. 
 All to Miako. 
 
 All to Osaka and Miako. 
 
 Three-fourths to Miako. 
 Almost all to Miako. 
 One-fourth is sent to 
 Miako. 
 The greatest part is sold 
 at Kanagawa. 
 Ditto. 
 A part of this is sent to 
 Nagasaki, the remain- 
 der is used at the place, 
 or sent to Miako. 
 All to Miako. 
 Three-fpurths to Miako. 
 
 Dj ossi on 
 
 Aussion 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 5,000 
 5,000 
 
 6,000 
 
 6,000 
 3,000 
 3,000 
 
 3,000 
 
 2,000 
 10,000 
 
 2,000 
 10,000 
 
 Etssion 
 
 Kan~a 
 
 Tanba, Tango and 
 Tadzma 
 Deva 
 
 Itchizein 
 
 Itchingo 
 
 Kossion 
 
 Boussien 
 
 Tchigondzein, Chin- 
 go, Tchikungo, 
 Cnizein and 
 Oseumi 
 Noto 
 
 Shida 
 
 
 135,000 bales, 67,500 piculs. 
 
 Incidental mention may here be made of a col- 
 lection of manufactured articles transmitted by Sir 
 R. Schomburgk, British Consul at Bangkok. These 
 are made, principally of silks, in the tributary states of 
 Siam, the Lao country, which lies to the north of 
 Siam proper, and borders the southern provinces of 
 China, as Kiang-tung and Yunnan. The dress of the 
 
 z 2 
 
340 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 men and women in the Lao country approaches more 
 the Burmese than the Siamese. The women wear 
 petticoats in lieu of merely the piece of cloth which is 
 wrapped from the loins to the knee of the Siamese, 
 leaving, with the exception of a shawl to cover the 
 breast, the other parts exposed ; and the men of the 
 Laos tribes, generally speaking, are likewise clad in a 
 more substantial manner than the Siamese. 
 
 The petticoats of the Lao are manufactured by 
 women of the raw Chinese silks brought by caravans 
 from the South of China. They are embroidered with 
 gold thread and coloured silk, and are woven by 
 hand looms in the most primitive manner ; so rude, 
 indeed, are they that the supports or posts of the 
 machine are fixed into the ground under the shed, 
 which at the same time serves as the principal habita- 
 tion, or as an outbuilding. Here the woman sits 
 before the loom, and guides the horizontal thread by 
 means of the shuttle, with her hand. The same process 
 is followed as regards the manufacture of the waist 
 cloths for men, and the coarser cotton fabrics, as 
 blankets or coverlets, hammocks, shirts, &c. The 
 head cushions used are made of a softer substance 
 than the head stool of the ancient Egyptians. They 
 are sometimes richly ornamented. 
 
 ON SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA.* 
 
 I have been asked to open up the subject of Silk 
 Cultivation and Supply in India by a few remarks, 
 
 * Read at the Conference of the India Committee of the 
 Society of Arts, April 2nd, 1869, Dr. J. Forbes Watson, M.A., 
 M.D., F.L.S., Reporter on the Products of India to the 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 341 
 
 but when there are so many much more intimately 
 acquainted with the subject than myself, I can 
 scarcely tell .why I have been selected to start the 
 discussion of this very important question. It is one, 
 at least, to which I have long paid attention, for it 
 will be seen by reference to the " Journal " of this 
 Society, that fourteen years ago in this room I spoke 
 at some length on the subject of Indian silk produc- 
 tion,* when Mr. Dickins read a most exhaustive paper 
 on " The Commercial Consideration of the Silkworm 
 and its Products." Strangely enough that gentleman 
 and myself, who have not been thrown together since, 
 are now associated as the active agents in a Silk 
 Supply Association recently formed in London 
 which has for its object the endeavour to stimulate 
 and extend the production of that important raw 
 staple, on which not only depends the prosperity of 
 thousands in this country and on the Continent, but 
 also the comfort and well being of operatives and 
 labourers in far distant lands. 
 
 In 1808, at a meeting of the silk trade, held at 
 Weavers' Hall, it was unanimously resolved " that 
 Bengal silk has become highly necessary in many 
 branches of manufacture, and that from experiments 
 lately made it is found fit for purposes to which it 
 had not before been thought suitable." 
 
 Secretary of State in Council, in the chair. For this Paper, 
 which was translated and extensively circulated in the scien- 
 tific journals of France, especially the " Eevue des Cours 
 Scientifique " of 31st July, 1869, and the " Bulletin of the 
 Zoological Society of Acclimatisation of Paris," the Council of 
 the latter Society voted me their Silver Medal in 1870. 
 * See the " Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. iii, p. 203. 
 
342 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Although our extended commerce with China and 
 Japan has brought in largely-increased supplies from 
 those eastern countries, and the production of silk on 
 the Continent has been greatly stimulated, the demands 
 for the civilised world are such,* that Bengal silk is 
 
 * M. Quatrefages, in the " Reports of the International Jury 
 for the Universal Exhibition at Paris in 1867," published under 
 the direction of M. Michael Chevalier, vol. xii, p. 430, fur- 
 nishes some interesting statistics. I may insert here a table 
 on the production of cocoons in various countries, given by 
 M. Dumas in his " Report on the Process of Seed Production of 
 M. Andre Jean," with the qualification that the figures in 
 several instances are much below the truth, for however pre- 
 cise they might have been in 1857, they are widely different 
 now. The figures represent millions of francs. 
 
 France 108,600 
 
 Italy 281,500 
 
 Other States of Europe, especially 
 
 Spain 24,600 
 
 Total for Europe 414,700 
 
 China 425,000 
 
 India, 120,000 
 
 Japan 80,000 
 
 Persia 23,000 
 
 Other Countries of Asia 54,800 
 
 Total for Asia 702,800 
 
 Africa 1,100 
 
 Oceania 600 
 
 America .. 500 
 
 Total 1,119,700 
 
 The estimate for America must be considered much too 
 small when we take into consideration the attention that 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 343 
 
 more and more enquired for, and has materially im- 
 proved. Much, however, yet remains to be done, 
 both as to quantity and quality. Our total imports of 
 silk last year (1868) were nearly 7,000,000 Ibs., but 
 this is 1,250,000 Ibs. less than was received in 
 1858. 
 
 The silk of Bengal was originally inferior in quality 
 and very carelessly wound. The East India Company, 
 in 1757, sent a Mr. Wilder to improve the winding of 
 silk, and in the year 1769, other Europeans as 
 drawers, winders, reelers, and mechanics. The plan- 
 tations were all in Bengal, and to the southward of 
 26 of north latitude, for the North-west Provinces 
 were stated by Dr. Royle to be much too hot and dry 
 for the silkworm. 
 
 Experiments were for many years made on the 
 western side of India to introduce the culture of the 
 silkworm, under an Italian, Signor Mutti, but they 
 were abandoned, for want of success. Some excellent 
 silk is, however, produced in Mysore, and it is probable 
 that the culture might easily be carried on in the 
 
 has been given to silk production in North America, especially 
 in Canada and California, and also in the tropical parts of 
 South America, according to the reports made by M. Ant. 
 Gelot to the Society of Acclimatisation, and facts furnished 
 by M. Gomes de la Torre, respecting Ecuador. 
 
 With respect to Asia, we also agree with M. Quatrefages 
 that the production is under-estimated ; and in California, ac- 
 cording to information furnished by the " San Francisco 
 Herald," (quoted in the " Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. 
 xvii, p. 378), the production of cocoons was, in 1868, 1,350,000, 
 equal to 1,917 Ibs, calculating 704 cocoons to the lb., re- 
 presenting 3,676 dollars ; to which has to be added 10,800 
 dollars for seed eggs sold. 
 
344 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 valleys of the Himalayas, and to these points I shall 
 draw attention hereafter. 
 
 The Jury on Silk of the Paris Exhibition of 1855, 
 remarked in their Report, " that the art of silk cultiva- 
 tion extended over the extreme portions of the Indian 
 Empire. There skilful cultivators, seconded by large 
 capital, had established for some years past improved 
 establishments for reeling the silk from the cocoons." 
 The silk shown among the other varied products of 
 the East India Company, excited the warm attention 
 of the Commission, and evidenced the great progress 
 that had been made in reeling Bengal silk, previously 
 thought impossible, by reason of the difficulties in 
 the way of introducing the discipline necessary for the 
 introduction of improvements in those distant regions. 
 Looking at this progress, who can predict the future 
 of silk in the East. China will soon have no barrier 
 to oppose the pacific civilising conquests of European 
 industry. 
 
 Messrs. Eaton and Sons inform me that the one 
 great drawback hitherto attending Bengal silk is being 
 rapidly decreased namely, the manipulation of the 
 cocoons by the natives. Now, on all sides, planta- 
 tions worked by Europeans are starting up, and the 
 natives, instead of winding off the cocoons which they 
 produce, sell them to the proprietors of the plantation, 
 and these being reeled upon the Italian system, silk 
 is turned out fit to compete in many respects with 
 that of the European production ; but the cocoon 
 being naturally a poor little thing, will never yield 
 silk equal in nerve to the other sorts. Something 
 may, however, be done by introducing new seed from 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 345 
 
 Japan which, in all countries, seems to prosper 
 well.* 
 
 In their last annual statement, Messrs. Durant and 
 Co., speaking of Bengal silk, say : " The delivery is 
 fully equal to last year, and this with a reduction of 20 
 per cent, in the supply ; hence a considerable reduc- 
 tion in the stock, and comparatively full support of the 
 improved prices for all the finer and better classes ; the 
 lower classes are at present almost unsaleable." 
 
 The average monthly delivery of Bengal silk during 
 the last three years was over 641 bales. The average 
 nett weight of a bale of Bengal silk is 150 Ibs., but 
 small bales weigh only 105 Ibs.f 
 
 The late Mr. T. Winkworth, in his " Eeport to the 
 Society of Arts on the Italian Exhibition at Florence 
 in 1861," stated that there was received there from 
 India and China (but principally from the former), 
 and always in cocoons, about 984 tons annually, which 
 at 2s. 4irf. the lb., would be worth about 241,0004 
 
 * I do not speak only of the ordinary silkworm (Bombyx 
 mori), but also of other silkworms from Japan. Thus, nu- 
 merous successful experiments have been made with the 
 oak silkworm (A. yama-mai), in France, in Germany, in 
 'Switzerland, in Spain, &c. The raw silk produced by this 
 worm is exported every day from Japan, and has commenced 
 to be introduced into France in considerable quantities. On 
 the silks of Japan and the commerce in silkworms' eggs, 
 articles may be consulted in my " Technologist," vol. iii, p. 188, 
 and the " Journal of the Society of Arts," vol. xvii, p. 60. 
 
 f See Dr. Forbes Watson's " Classified and Descriptive 
 Catalogue of Indian Products," p. 100. 
 
 J The " Journal of the Society of Arts " has some interesting 
 details on the trade in silk between France and Italy, vol. xvii, 
 p. 94, and on the production of silk in Italy in 1868, vol. xvi, 
 p. 853. 
 
346 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 If we trace back the annual supplies of Indian silk, 
 commencing with 1820, we find that the imports into 
 the United Kingdom in that year were 1,206,722 Ibs., 
 0r nearly one-half the total quantity received. The 
 highest import reached was 2,116,596 Ibs. in 1829. It 
 subsequently averaged about 1,250,000 Ibs. (with one 
 or two exceptional years) until 1853, when there was a 
 great fall to 586,662 Ibs., and the later years, up to 
 1859, were not very much higher, except 1854, 1855, 
 and 1858, which years averaged about 1,000,000 Ibs. 
 But this has to be explained by the entries made 
 through Egypt, which swell the imports of Indian silk 
 to from 3,000,000 to 5,000,000 Ibs., or one-third to 
 one-half of the total supply from all quarters. 
 
 lu 1851 the quantity of silk exported from all India 
 was 592 tons, value 619,318 ; 31 tons being ship- 
 ped from Bombay, and all the rest from Bengal. Nearly 
 all this was sent to England, a very little to France 
 and the Arabian and Persian Gulfs. 
 
 In 1861 the total quantity exported was 873 tons, 
 value rather more than 1,000,000 sterling. France 
 received about 213,000 Ibs. weight of this. Bombay 
 and Bengal were still the only two exporting presi- 
 dencies. 
 
 The value of the manufactured silk goods exported 
 from India has largely declined. In 1851, 634,024 
 pieces, valued at 355,223, were shipped, nearly all to 
 the United Kingdom. In 1861 only 211,542 pieces, 
 of the value of 122,787, were exported; and in 1865 
 the value of the silk goods exported had dropped to 
 106,612. The principal seats of silk manufacture in 
 India are the cities of Peshawur, Lahore, Umritsur, 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 347 
 
 Mooltan, and the capital of the neighbouring state of 
 Bhawnlpore. The silks of the latter place are con- 
 sidered the best, and the next those of Mooltan. 
 
 The value of the silk manufacture in the Punjaub was 
 estimated twenty years ago at over 130,000, nearly 
 half of that sum being expended on the raw material. 
 At Umritsur there were 2,200 shops of all descrip- 
 tions interested in the silk manufacture, the fabrics 
 turned out being valued at 40,000. At Lahore there 
 were nearly 1,000 shops, and the value of the manu- 
 factures was 20,000. In the Mooltan and Bhawul- 
 pore districts above 30,000 worth of silk goods were 
 made, and nearly as much more in the Jullund- 
 hur and other districts. Little or no raw silk appears, 
 however, to be produced in the Punjaub, a circumstance 
 that seems singular, considering the apparent fitness of 
 the soil, country, and climate, for the cultivation of the 
 mulberry. The raw material employed at Lahore is 
 chiefly brought from Bokhara or Afghanistan. TJie 
 raw silks of Bengal and China are also made use of, 
 the latter being procured from Bombay. 
 
 It is not improbable that the lower districts of the 
 Punjaub were formerly silk-producing countries, as we 
 know that in the time of Justinian silk was produced in 
 Pirhind. A series of experiments was made a few 
 years ago by the Government of the Punjaub, with a 
 view of ascertaining whether silkworms could be suc- 
 cessfully reared in the plains ; but the experiment was 
 a failure, the heat and want of sufficient moisture 
 having rendered the worms nearly unproductive. 
 
 Notices regarding the extension of silk cultivation 
 in the Punjaub have, from time to time, appeared in 
 
348 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 India, and attracted considerable attention. The cul- 
 tivation was originally commenced in 1862, at the 
 suggestion of the then secretary of the Agri-Horti- 
 cultural Society of the Punjaub, and most liberally 
 fostered by the local and supreme Governments. Rea- 
 sons (on which it is unnecessary to dwell) led to the 
 experiments being given up. Shortly afterwards Mr. 
 H. Cope, of Umritsur, brought the fact to notice that 
 a native had successfully carried on silk cultivation 
 in the Goordaspoor Zillah for years. This fact in- 
 duced Mr. Cope to renew his attempts in 1860, when 
 he obtained 3^ matinds of cocoons. Lord Canning 
 sent the silk to England, where it attracted much at- 
 tention. In 1862 the Punjaub Government again 
 came forward; gave Jaffer Khan 500 rupees and 10 
 acres of land ; also a grant of 2,000 rupees to Mr. 
 Cope, to aid him in further attempts. He made a 
 vigorous attempt in 1863, but failed for several reasons, 
 none of which had any reference to climate. He 
 persevered in 1864, and succeeded in obtaining 8J 
 maunds of cocoons, or nearly 700 Ibs. At the same 
 time other parties had been similarly successful. Mr. 
 Scarlett's silk company at Peshawur obtained 1,200 Ibs. 
 of cocoons; other parties in various parts of the 
 Punjaub, including the military stations at Gogama 
 and Shahopere, succeeded in rearing silkworms, and 
 the result was most encouraging. These experiments 
 were subsequently carried on, and efforts were made 
 to extend sericiculture to other localities, with fair pro- 
 mise of ultimate success. Mulberry trees were sent 
 out in 1865 from Lyons at the request of Dr. Forbes 
 Watson. 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 349 
 
 For more than thirty years Mr. J. Bashford, of 
 Surdah, Bengal, has devoted his attention to the reel- 
 ing of silk, and so successful have his efforts been in 
 inproving the quality that the Society of Arts accorded 
 him their medal. Although superior to much of the 
 China reeled, yet it falls far behind the finest qualities 
 of French or Italian silk. Animated with the desire 
 of improving the cocoons in a country so abundantly 
 furnished with mulberry trees, and every facility for 
 breeding silkworms, Mr. Bashford introduced a quan- 
 tity of the best eggs from France, Italy, and China, 
 to cross with the poor races of Bengal, which breed 
 all the year round. He did not desire to introduce 
 an annual species, because that seemed destined by 
 nature for cold climates, where the mulberry trees 
 yield only one crop of leaves in the year, whilst in 
 India the best trees shoot vigorously after pruning, 
 and give, in five or six weeks, an abundant yield of 
 fresh leaves. Although he has not yet had very great 
 success in his experiments, he perseveres. The natives 
 are, unfortunately, in the habit of stinting the worms in 
 their food, and allowancing the leaves in such a man- 
 ner as to injure the cocoons. Quantity of produce with 
 them suffices ; they give little attention to quality. The 
 eggs are not sold in India as in Europe, but cocoons 
 are bought for breeding from. Good and bad are pur- 
 chased alike ; no choice is made, and they are not 
 rich enough to lose any ; this is their reasoning. The 
 houses in Bengal where the worms are raised have walls 
 of earth or of matting, with thatched roofs. They are 
 usually very small, and, notwithstanding the excessive 
 heat, have neither windows, ventilators, nor anything 
 
350 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 to give light, except a fine grating, which answers for 
 a door. They pay no attention to light or temperature, 
 and there is one good reason for this without the pro- 
 tection of trellis-work the flies would enter and destroy 
 the worms in two or three days ; and, even with this 
 protection, they do occasionally enter by millions, 
 and penetrate into the chamber at the hour when 
 the worms are fed. More than one collection of 
 cocoons, which looked excellent at night, has been 
 found destroyed in the morning by the worms 
 escaping. In the times of extreme cold there may 
 now and then be seen a fire at the door of the houses, 
 but very rarely ; and it is doubtful if even this is 
 useful in buildings so badly ventilated. The varia- 
 tions of temperature are very considerable in Bengal 
 during the year, and even in the twenty-four hours it 
 is frequently 20. There is no effort made to equalise 
 the temperature in these houses, filled with worms, 
 without necessary air, and giving out a pernicious 
 odour. 
 
 In the words of a recent writer, Mr. P. R. Cola, 
 in his essay, " How to Develope Productive In- 
 dustry in India :" "It may be conceded that the 
 production of raw silk is an important branch of in- 
 dustry open for future skill and exertions in many 
 parts of India, and the duty of the English Govern- 
 ment is to go on encouraging it by every possible 
 means, as they are doing in France." 
 
 Messrs. Durant and Company, in their annual Silk 
 Circular, give the statistics for a long series of years, 
 from which I deduce the following figures, showing the 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 
 
 351 
 
 progressive imports of Bengal silk into the United 
 Kingdom : 
 
 Vp AT>C 
 
 
 PRICES. 
 
 
 
 Common. 
 
 Superior. 
 
 
 
 s. d. s. d. 
 
 s. d. s. d. 
 
 1830 
 
 8,726 
 
 10 to 12 
 
 14 to 16 
 
 1840 
 
 7,409 
 
 13 16 
 
 18 , 21 
 
 1850 
 
 10,295 
 
 6 10 6 
 
 12 , 15 
 
 1860 
 
 11,629 
 
 11 15 
 
 16 , 26 6 
 
 1870 
 
 13,543 
 
 13 17 
 
 23 , 29 
 
 1871 
 
 18.098 
 
 13 17 
 
 22 , 25 6 
 
 The decennial progress of our total imports of raw 
 silk into the United Kingdom is shown by the fol- 
 lowing figures : 
 
 Ibs. 
 1821 2,641,866 
 
 1831 4,621,874 
 
 1841 4,966,098 
 
 1851 6,597,178 
 
 1861 8,835,255 
 
 1862 10,434,350 
 
 Since then the total has dropped three or four 
 
 million Ibs. The imports in 1868 from the East, 
 including China and Japan, were but 5,300,000 Ibs. 
 In 1870 they recovered to 6,307,000 Ibs.f 
 
 * The average weight of the bales of Bengal silk is now 
 150 Ibs. nett ; from 1858 to 1860 it was 100 Ibs. nett. 
 
 f The annual Reports of the Chamber of Commerce of Mar- 
 seilles furnish the following statistics of the imports of silk 
 and cocoons into France, for the six years ending 1867 : 
 
 Silk, bales. Cocoons, kilos. 
 
 1862 19,693 728,900 
 
 1863 24,502 743,400 
 
352 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Indian silk is classed into two kinds namely, the 
 rainy and the dry weather bunds ; the name being 
 derived from the season in which it is obtained. The 
 inferior qualities of silk are generally used by local 
 manufacturers ; the better qualities are almost wholly 
 shipped to Europe. This most valuable staple is 
 capable of great extension and improvement. If its 
 production were more carefully attended to it might 
 rival the finest silks of Italy. There is no doubt that, 
 with continued attention, the Punjaub would soon rival 
 Bengal in the production of this important staple. 
 The raw silks from Burmah, and some from Assam, 
 are of a peculiar coarseness, yet the length and 
 strength of the thread are such as to render this silk 
 peculiarly adapted for the manufacturing of fringes. 
 Experiments made in France with this silk will no 
 doubt lead in a short time to the exportation of large 
 quantities to Europe. 
 
 The worms, being badly fed, bred in quantities, in 
 ill- ventilated houses, with little care bestowed on them, 
 it can scarcely be expected that good cocoons would be 
 obtained. There are, however, a few intelligent and 
 careful breeders who obtain improved results, and 
 15 Ibs. of their cocoons, or about 9,500 in number, will 
 
 Silk, bales. Cocoons, kilos. 
 
 1864 23,888 542,000 
 
 1865 39,542 654,000 
 
 1866 29,491 745,000 
 
 1867' 32,000 579,000 
 
 The spread of the silkworm disease in the Levant, in 
 Persia, and Damascus led to the fluctuations in the imports of 
 silk and cocoons. Since 1865 the seed eggs have been prin- 
 cipally obtained from Japan. 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 353 
 
 yield 1 Ib. of very good reeled silk. The native 
 breeders are generally very poor, and few raise more 
 than 100 Ibs. of cocoons each. Many produce far 
 less, and often they exceed their means and starve 
 their worms to arrive at this result. The produc- 
 tion rests entirely with the natives, and the pur- 
 chase of cocoons for winding is made by agents- from 
 house to house. 
 
 All the worms which produce silk in Bengal yield 
 several crops of cocoons during the year, except one, 
 an annual species of unknown origin, and which is 
 dying out fast. 
 
 The principal kind, known under the name of Dessie, 
 or Dasee, signifying " country," worm, is assumed to 
 be an indigenous species. This furnishes nearly all the 
 cocoons of the principal harvest of November, or that 
 of the cold season, in Bengal, and yields the best silk. 
 The cocoons are, however, small. In some districts 
 the produce of the best quality is estimated at about 
 10,500 cocoons to 1 Ib. of silk. The worm succeeds 
 best in the cold season, and the cocoons are better than 
 those of the succeeding gathering ; but they continue, 
 more or less, in different localities during all the year. 
 The interval between the hatching of the egg and the 
 formation of the cocoon is about thirty-six days in the 
 cold season, but the time sensibly decreases as the heat 
 increases. 
 
 The next species in order of importance is the 
 Madrassee, and as this name signifies " brought 
 from the sea," it may be concluded it is an imported 
 species. It is very hardy, and is easily raised. The 
 produce is slightly better than that of the Dessie worm, 
 
 A A 
 
354 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 since it takes only about 10,000 good cocoons for the 
 pound of silk. The fibre is, however, less strong and 
 brilliant, but it produces a very fine thread if wound 
 with .care. This worm passes so rapidly through its 
 several stages, that twenty-five days suffice from the 
 hatching of the egg to the full development of the 
 cocoon. It will thus be seen that there are two distinct 
 species of worm, suited by the wisdom of Providence to 
 the different seasons. 
 
 The large worm known as Boroo Poloo is annual, 
 and of unknown origin, for it existed when the East 
 India Company sent out Italian eggs, all of which 
 latter failed. It is principally met with now in the 
 district of Radnagore. The silk it yields is excellent, 
 and double that from the other kinds of Indian worms. 
 But after frequent failures in the crop, irregular hatch- 
 ings, and very expensive cost in breeding besides being 
 an annual worm the natives have taken an aversion to 
 it, and it is likely soon to be as rare at Radnagore as it 
 is now in other districts. 
 
 We have seen that it takes at least 10,000 of the 
 best Indian cocoons to produce a pound of silk, while 
 in France about 2,500 will produce the same quantity. 
 This great disproportion between the yield of Bengal 
 cocoons and those of Europe must necessarily arrest 
 attention, and the idea which naturally presents itself 
 is that if India could produce cocoons equal in size to 
 those of France and Italy the quantity of worms at 
 present raised might supply the silk required by all 
 Europe. 
 
 I may now summarise the principal silk-producing 
 moths of India, and this I can well abridge from an 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 355 
 
 able paper by Mr. Frederick Moore, of the India 
 Museum, published a few years ago in my scientific 
 journal " The Technologist." * 
 
 * Mr. Frederick Moore, in his " Notes on the Silk- producing 
 Insects of India and its adjacent Countries," (Technologist, 
 vol ii, p. 410), Messrs. J. T. Ewing and Stutzer in their commu- 
 nication, " On the Cultivation of Silk in Tasmania," and Cap- 
 tain Button in his " Memoir on the Silkworms of India," in- 
 clude not only the silk -producing insects met with in British 
 India, but study also those of the adjacent countries, such as 
 the French and Dutch Possessions of the East, China, Japan, 
 c. They pass successively under review the Bombyx mori, 
 Bombyx sinensis, Bombyx Crcesi, Bombyx fortunatus, Bombyx 
 arracanensis, Bombyx textor, Bombyx Huttoni, Bonibyx 
 religiosfs, Bombyx bengalensis, Bombyx Horsfieldii, Bombyx 
 subnotata, Ocinara dilectula, Ocinara Moorei, Ocinara lactea. 
 Ocinara comma, Actias Selene, Actias mosnas, Actias sinensis, 
 Anthercea Papliia (Saturnia Mylitta), Anthercea Assama. 
 Anthercea mezanhooria, Anthercea suraharta, Anthercea 
 Pernyi. Anthercea Roylei, Anthercea yama-mai, Anthercea 
 Perrotteti, Anthercea Helferi,Antherccajana, Anthercea FritJii, 
 Anthercea Larissa, Saturnia pyretorum, Saturnia Grotei, 
 Lcepa Katinha, Neoris Huttoni, Caligula Thibeta, Caligula 
 Simla, Caligula japonica, Salassa Lola, Cricula Trifenestrata, 
 Attacus Atlas, Attacus Edmardsii, Attacus Cynthia, Attacus 
 ricinus and Attacus insularis. 
 
 Those who would study with care the family of the Boniby- 
 cidcB should consult, among others, the "Notes on the 
 Indian Bombycidse," by Captain Hutton, in which he divides 
 this family into three groups ; the group Tussah, the group 
 Eria, and a third group containing the genera Lcepa, Saturn la, 
 Cricula, Salassa, and, perhaps, Brahmora, which may pro- 
 bably be again sub-divided later into three or four groups. 
 In these notes Captain Hutton examines with care the charac- 
 teristics of the genus Attacus, passing under review A. Cyn- 
 thia, A. ricinus, and A. Edmardsii. It is to India that we 
 owe A. Papliia or Mylitta and the Attacus ricinus, which has 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The common mulberry silkworm (B. mori), doubtless 
 introduced from the northern provinces of China, pro- 
 duces only one crop annually, but spins the largest 
 cocoon and the best silk, of a pale yellow. 
 
 There is another species (B. sincnsis), the small 
 Chinese monthly worm, introduced into Bengal about 
 thirty or forty years ago, but now fast disappearing, 
 being very delicate. 
 
 The Madrassee, or Nistry worm (B. Crcesi), yields 
 in Bengal and China nine crops of a good golden yel- 
 low silk. Introduced into India about 1780, it is 
 degenerating by reason of carelessness and improper 
 management of the worms. Cocoons monthly be- 
 tween November and June, if attention be paid, but 
 more generally from January to May. 
 
 The Dasee, or country worm (B. fortunatus), yields a 
 golden yellow silk, and produces several crops annually 
 stated to cocoon five times in the year, at periods 
 from forty to a hundred and ten days. 
 
 been so much experimentalised upon in France. From other 
 parts of Asia France has introduced Attacus Cynthia, the 
 Alianthus silkworm, the Antlieroea Pernyi or oak silk- 
 worm of China, and the A. yama-mai, or oak silkworm of 
 Japan. But it is not only from Asia that we should seek to 
 obtain auxiliaries to the common silkworm, and other countries 
 may be explored with advantage. North America could offer us 
 the Bombyx Laocoon, A. luna, A. Selene, A. ceanothi, A. Pro- 
 metheus, A. Polyphemus, and A. Cecropla. This last species 
 has already been submitted to many trials. South America can 
 furnish A. aurota, and A. hesperus. Madagascar has its 
 Borocera Cajanus and other species little known, among 
 which are found cocoons like those formed by Bombyas pro- 
 cessionea, contained in great silk purses, serving as nests for 
 whole colonies of caterpillars, 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 357 
 
 The Arracan silkworm (B. arracanensis) yields an- 
 nually several crops of silk, superior to that produced 
 in Bengal. 
 
 The Boroo Poloo (B. textor) produces a pure white 
 cocoon, spun in March and April. The life of the 
 worm is from forty-two to fifty days, and the cocoon 
 lasts from ten to fifteen days. 
 
 A wild mountain species (B. Huttoni), found abun- 
 dantly feeding on the indigenous mulberry in the forests 
 of the North Western Himalayas, produces decidedly 
 good silk, and in considerable quantities, which would 
 be valuable. The worm, however, has hitherto proved 
 so intractable that it cannot be reared in the ordinary 
 way in the house, and thrives only upon the trees in 
 the open air. 
 
 The caterpillar of Actias Selene feeds on many wild 
 plants, and can be easily domesticated. The cocoons 
 in Pondicherry are softened in a solution of wood 
 ashes, taken out, picked, and immediately spun, with- 
 out being either combed or carded, the silk being 
 exceedingly strong, tenacious, elastic, and brilliant. 
 Four broods can be produced annually. 
 
 The Tussah (Antheroea Paphia) is one of the most 
 common in use of the native wild silkworms. It is 
 found in abundance over Bengal and the adjacent pro- 
 vinces, and has afforded to the natives from time im- 
 memorial an abundant supply of a most durable silk. 
 Millions of the cocoons are annually collected in the 
 forests and taken to the silk filatures near Calcutta, but 
 the principal place of manufacture is at Bhagulpore. 
 Tussah silk is everywhere used as clothing by the 
 natives, and even by Europeans, while considerable 
 
358 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 quantities of woven Tussah are imported into 
 England. 
 
 Tussah silk has been thrown with some success in 
 England. In the Indian Department of the London 
 Exhibition of 1862 some goods manufactured from 
 this silk were shown, which were very fine in texture ; 
 but being woven from the raw material they do not 
 take the dye well, and hence cannot compare with the 
 silk of the Eombyx mori. 
 
 Tussah moths are hatched twice in the year, in May 
 and August. The larvse go into the chrysalis state in 
 September, remaining so till the May following ; 
 whilst those that enter the chrysalis state in July 
 come out in three weeks. Many of the females lay 
 eggs in eight or ten hours after quitting the chrysalis ; 
 others, again, do not until the following night, or 
 longer. In ten days the young larvse make their ap- 
 pearance, and feed on the Asseen and Saul trees. 
 In about three weeks from the time of the exclusion 
 from the egg they attain their full size, and in eight 
 or ten days more prepare for their transformation into 
 the chrysalis. The caterpillar commences its opera- 
 tions by drawing a few leaves slightly together, as if 
 to screen it from observation. It then spins a strong 
 cord, composed of many threads, altogether about the 
 thickness of a crow-quill at the end of which it weaves 
 the cocoon. This is so transparent for the first six- 
 and-thirty hours that the larva may be distinctly per- 
 ceived at work in the interior. After that time the 
 cocoon gradually acquires consistence by the continued 
 industry of the caterpillar, and becomes quite opaque, 
 from the addition of a glutinous liquid with which it 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 359 
 
 moistens the whole. When that dries, the cocoon 
 appears as if covered with white powder, and in the 
 course of a couple of days becomes perfectly hard. 
 The moth generally deposits its eggs within a few 
 yards of the cocoon ; these the villagers collect and 
 keep in their houses till the young caterpillars come 
 forth, when they are placed on the Asseen trees in the 
 jungles, the proprietors remaining to protect them 
 from the birds, and to bring home the cocoons when 
 perfect. The people who rear these silkworms are of 
 the Sontal and Bhouree castes, and practise many 
 superstitious ceremonies while tending them in the 
 jungles. 
 
 From the experiments of M. Perottet, of Pondi- 
 cherry, it would appear that the statement that this 
 moth cannot be domesticated is fabulous, as he suc- 
 ceeded in inducing it to breed in a state of captivity, 
 and obtained sound and productive eggs. He managed 
 during a period of abundant rain, and when there was a 
 continued damp atmosphere, to obtain four generations 
 of these worms during the year. M. Perottet for- 
 warded to France living cocoons of this species, and 
 several generations were reared there, being fed on the 
 leaves of the common oak, which were greedily eaten 
 by them. During the early part of 1859 he sent five 
 different despatches of living cocoons of this worm to 
 France, which arrived safely and were doing well. 
 
 The cocoons found upon the Terminalia are always 
 considered stoutest and strongest, while those on the 
 jujube are the weakest. 50 cocoons obtained from 
 the former tree will weigh one French Ib. These 
 cocoons are exceedingly rich in silk ; they reel by 
 
360 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 means of an alkali or any other solvent with great 
 facility, and to the very end. The silk they produce 
 is most elastic and of singular brilliancy, but dark in 
 colour. 
 
 There has been some discussion as to the distribu- 
 tion of this species of moth in India ; the difficulties 
 having arisen mainly from the existence of allied 
 species in Darjeeling and other remote localities. 
 
 Dr. Roxburgh, in the seventh volume of the " Lin- 
 nsean Transactions," has described the preparation of 
 the Tussah silk ; and Colonel Sykes, hi the third 
 volume of the " Transactions of the Royal Asiatic 
 Society," has a paper on the cocoons of the Saturnia 
 Paphia, or Anthercea Paphia. 
 
 Tussah silk could be obtained in large quantities in 
 the wild tract of country to the eastward of the 
 Godavery river. The breeding worms in the cocoons 
 are there preserved in the houses. At the proper 
 season, the young caterpillars are taken to the jungle 
 and placed on wild trees, where in time the cocoons 
 are formed. Demand would encourage supply to an 
 unlimited extent. If this coarse kind of silk would 
 sell in Europe the whole jungle would unfold its 
 treasure, and a very large quantity might be brought 
 into the market annually. 
 
 The Tussah cocoons brought from Cuttack vary 
 much in size and colour, and there is also a very per- 
 ceptible diversity in the texture and glossiness of the 
 raw silk, which, most probably, depends on the species 
 of tree on which the caterpillar may happen to have 
 fed. The same variety is observable in the female 
 moths, which are of three or four different sizes and 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 361 
 
 colours. The mode of winding off the thread does not 
 differ from that pursued in the case of the ordinary 
 silkworm proper. The Tussah silkworm feeds indis- 
 criminately on the teak, the jujube, the mulberry, and 
 other trees. In some places it is an annual only, but 
 in Bengal it has at least three broods in the year. 
 
 The Moonga silkworm (Anthercea assama) feeds 
 also upon several wild trees, among others Tetranthera 
 Diglotia and Tetranthera macrophylla ; it is often cul- 
 tivated by the natives, and can be reared in houses, 
 but is fed and thrives best in the open air and upon 
 the trees. There are five broods in the year. The 
 silk forms one of the principal exports of Assam, and 
 leaves the country generally in the shape of thread. 
 
 The Mezankooree, a closely allied worm (A. mezan- 
 kooria), also feeds on a species of Tetranthera in Assam. 
 The silk is nearly white, its value being fifty per cent, 
 above that of the Moonga, and it constitutes the dress 
 of the higher classes in Assam. The oak-feeding silk- 
 worm of North West India (A. Roylei) feeds on the 
 common hill oak (Quercus incana). The cocoon is 
 large and very tough, and the silk is pronounced as 
 promising, and worth cultivation. An allied species 
 (A. Pernyii), has been introduced into France from 
 China. 
 
 The Atlas moth (Attacus Atlas), the caterpillar of 
 which feeds on the leaves of Falconeria insignis, 
 Bradleia ovata, &c., is stated to produce the Tussah 
 silk of China. It is easily reared in a state of domes- 
 tication, producing a cocoon well stored with a fine, yet 
 strong silk, of a greyish colour. 
 
 The Attacus Canningii is the wild sub-Himalayan 
 
362 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Eria silkworm, feeding on Coriaria nepalensis, Xantho- 
 phyllum hasttle, and Ricinus communis. In its native 
 country, the lower Himalayas, it is an annual. It was 
 discovered in its wild state at Mussooree in 1844 by 
 Captain Hutton. 
 
 Attacus ricinus is the commonly cultivated Eria or 
 Arindy silkworm, which, in Bengal, yields four or 
 five crops annually, and is reared over a great part of 
 Hindostan in houses in a domestic state, feeding on 
 the leaves of the castor-oil plant. It gives a cloth of 
 seemingly loose texture, but of incredible durability, 
 the life of one person, it is stated, being seldom suffi- 
 cient to wear out a garment made of it. The thread 
 is woven like cotton, and the cloths are mostly used 
 for home consumption by the poorer classes at all 
 seasons, and by the highest for winter wear. Fabrics 
 made of these wild silks were shown in the Indian 
 section of the London Exhibition of 1862. (See 
 " Descriptive Catalogue of Indian Products," p. 217.) 
 
 These wild silkworms may be thought by many 
 unworthy of notice, as they do not yield that kind of 
 silk most valued in commerce, but they are more im- 
 portant than they at first appear to be. We must 
 remember that the culture of some in the forests, and 
 the collection of all, affords employment to consider- 
 able numbers of the natives in the parts of districts 
 least productive of useful occupation. They afford 
 also clothing for many of the inhabitants. In one 
 district alone, that of Azimghur, it was stated that, 
 in 1837, 318,772 pieces of Tussah silk were turned 
 out annually from the looms. 
 
 The enquiry as to which is the tree best adapted in 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 363 
 
 India or elsewhere for the production of good silk, 
 although apparently a very simple one, is in reality 
 not easily answered, since much must depend upon the 
 species of worm under cultivation, as well as upon the 
 climate itself; and the difficulty is enhanced by the 
 fact that every one who, possessed of much zeal but 
 little knowledge of the subject, essays to rear silk- 
 worms, appears to think it necessary to extol some 
 particular species of mulberry, and to pronounce it for 
 the time the ne plus ultra of silkworm diet. One 
 while it is the white-fruited mulberry only that can 
 enable the insect to elaborate "good silk ; and anon, for 
 some inexplicable whim, the white is discarded, and 
 another tree adopted in its stead. The purple-fruited 
 species is unhesitatingly denounced; and yet the 
 white mulberry is found to be nothing more than an 
 albino variety of the purple-fruited tree. 
 
 In the Eeport of the Agri-Horticultural Society of 
 Calcutta, for 1866, notice is taken of the experiments 
 in various parts of Bengal with the varieties of the 
 Japan silkworm, which are stated to yield a much 
 superior silk to the monthly worm of Bengal, and 
 samples raised from this stock at Ghotal were con- 
 sidered by Mr. Turnbull as infinitely superior to the 
 general run of Radnagore silk and not far short of 
 Italian. In consequence of this favourable result 
 further supplies of eggs were ordered, and the experi- 
 ments continued. 
 
 The cultivation of the silkworm in Oude is believed 
 to be capable of great extension, as the mulberry 
 abounds throughout the province, and the climate 
 appears to be favourable to the rearing and thriving 
 
364* 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 of the worms. Of silk from Oude shown at the 
 London Exhibition in 1862, Messrs. Durant reported 
 that it was, in some respects, better than the silk of 
 Bengal, inasmuch as it had more nerve and less of the 
 fluffiness which, more or less, seems to be an inherent 
 condition of even the best of the European filatures of 
 that country. 
 
 In 1861 Dr. Bonavia commenced the cultivation of 
 various kinds of mulberry trees in Lucknow, distribut- 
 ing cuttings to the officers of all the districts in Oude, 
 and energetically induced the natives to rear silkworms. 
 After repeated trials, 'he stated in 1865 that his 
 experiments were given up, for it was found that 
 multivoltine varieties required more care than any 
 native would be inclined to give them, in a climate 
 like that of Oude, where the contrasts of temperature 
 between different seasons are so great. The univol- 
 tine, or annual variety, also, did not succeed sufficiently 
 well to give much encouragement. He further states, 
 that if silkworm breeding is ever to succeed in Oude, 
 it must be some hardy annual variety, feeding on the 
 native mulberry. 
 
 The cocoons of Oude and Umritsur are said to have 
 degenerated in one season 56 per cent, below the Cash- 
 mere standard. Cocoons raised at Lucknow, in Oude ; 
 by Dr. Bonavia, required 5,200 to the Ib. of silk. 
 At Candahar, in 1849, the Affghans reckoned about 
 4,500 to the Ib. of silk ; while in France, previous 
 to the late epidemic, 2,500 cocoons were, on the testi- 
 mony of Mr. Bashford, equal to a Ib. of silk. Here, 
 then, we have positive evidence that the climate of 
 the Punjaub and other parts of the plains of India 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 365 
 
 is injurious to the health and general well-being of 
 the insect. 
 
 The political resident at Munnipore, writing in 
 1864, states that there can be no doubt of the suit- 
 ability of the climate of that locality to the growth of 
 the finest quality of silk. 
 
 With the sanction of Government, an experiment 
 was instituted by Captain Thomas Hutton, at Mus- 
 sooree, in the North Western Himalayas, in 1850, 
 having for its object the eventual cultivation of the 
 wild Himalayan silkworm, known as Bombyx Huttont, 
 and for this purpose he was instructed to form a 
 plantation of the indigenous mulberry trees, three 
 years being granted in which to finish the work. 
 Subsequent trials proved unfavourable to the chance 
 of future success with this species. Captain Hutton, 
 however, represents that experiments tried with the 
 domesticated Cashmere and Bengal Madrassee worms 
 has proved, beyond a doubt, not only that these worms 
 throve well in the climate of Mussooree, but that there 
 was also a ready and remunerative market for the silk. 
 
 " Is it not," asks Captain Hutton, " a well-under- 
 stood and long-established fact that, whether among 
 animals or plants, an occasional renewal of seed, and 
 reinfusion of the original stamina is found to be abso- 
 lutely necessary for the preservation of health and of 
 that particular standard of perfection which it is 
 thought desirable to maintain? And yet, with the 
 domesticated Bombyx mori, this necessary precaution 
 has been uniformly neglected for 400 or 500 years. 
 What wonder, then, that under the combined effects of 
 bad and scanty food, want of sufficient light and venti- 
 
366 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 lation, too high a temperature, and with the constant 
 and unvarying interbreeding of a debilitated stock, the 
 insect should have become subject to a multitude of 
 maladies, and threaten, at no distant period, to become 
 extinct." 
 
 As early as the year 1791 experiments for the intro- 
 duction and culture of what succeeded so well in 
 Bengal, were made in the Presidency of Madras, and 
 continued for several years, but without any permanent 
 results; as in the year 1854 only 1,666 Ibs. of silk 
 were exported. This is probably owing to the climate 
 of the Madras Presidency being generally unsuited to 
 the culture; for, in the more elevated climate of 
 Mysore experiments have been continued to the present 
 time, and some very good specimens of silk were sent 
 to the Exhibitions both of 1851 and 1855 ; also to the 
 Exhibition held at Madras in 1857, when it was stated 
 as probable that the culture might be successfully 
 carried on in the valleys of the Neilgherries. The silk 
 produced in Mysore is required for the manufacture of 
 the silk shawls of that province. 
 
 In the same way experiments were made in the 
 Bombay Presidency about the year 1755, repeated 
 again in the Deccan in the year 1830, and persevered 
 in for ten years, under the superintendence of an 
 Italian, Signor Mutti, but without eventual success, as 
 was always anticipated by Dr. Gibson, in consequence 
 of the heat and dryness of the climate. 
 
 Though these instances may appear to put limits to 
 the extension of silk culture in India, and to a supply 
 of raw material from that country ; they only do so 
 in the districts having the climate which has been 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 367 
 
 indicated. In the valley along the foot of the 
 Himalayas, in North Western India, there is a less 
 arid soil, a more temperate climate, and species of 
 mulberry appear indigenous and flourishing. This is 
 still more the case in the lower hills which bound the 
 Punjaub and in many parts of the Punjaub itself. 
 Here, indeed, a most successful experiment has been 
 commenced, of which the results were shown in the 
 Paris Exhibition of 1855. 
 
 Experiments were for some time energetically carried 
 on by the late Mr. Cassamajor and by Major Minchin. 
 Silk from Italian worms was successfully reared at 
 Katy, and silk was produced of good quality on the 
 estate of Mr. F. Lascelles on the Neilgherry hills. 
 Quantities of silk may be looked for yet from these 
 localities ; from Assam, Bokhara, and Affghanistan, 
 whilst the dry and equable climate of Scinde is 
 especially favourable to silk culture. 
 
 The cultivation of the mulberry in connection with 
 the manufacture of silk has been carried on for many 
 years in the talooks lying in the vicinity of Bangalore, 
 Mysore, and Seringapatam, where are chiefly congre- 
 gated the Mussulman communities, to whom this 
 branch of industry is almost wholly confined. Devoid 
 of energy, and unaided by the capital which could 
 enable them to import varieties, both of the mulberry 
 and the silkworm, they have been content to eke out a 
 bare subsistence, and, indeed, from the rapid deteriora- 
 tion which has been going on in both respects, the 
 local trade has been for some years in a languishing 
 state. The establishment, however, of a Silk Filature 
 Company, conducted .by an Italian gentleman at 
 
368 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Kengari, near Bangalore, and the introduction of new 
 breeds of silkworms, as well as of improved kinds of 
 mulberry, promise to inaugurate a new era in the silk 
 manufactures of Mysore. The increased demand thus 
 occasioned has given a stimulus to the production of a 
 better kind of silk, and, in order further to promote 
 this object, arrangements were made, in 1865, with 
 Signer de Vecchi for the importation of silkworms' eggs 
 from Japan, for distribution to those who were willing 
 to rear them with care, and to give the experiment a 
 fair trial. The only kind of silkworm hitherto reared 
 in the Mysore country is the China variety. 
 
 These worms yield cocoons which are described as 
 being much inferior to those of China and Japan ; the 
 silk is not closely woven, and is internally flossy, 
 though the quality of the thread, when reeled by 
 European processes, is found to be good. The inferior 
 quality of the native-reeled silk is evidenced by the 
 value. The best samples, which are worth on the spot 
 4 or 5 rupees (8s. or 10s.) a seer (equal to three-fifths 
 of a pound), would not in Europe obtain a higher 
 price than 13s. or 14s. per Ib. 
 
 Some singular religious notions stand in the way of 
 the extended production of silk by the natives of the 
 East. Thus, Mr. Wright, of Peradenia, near Kandy, 
 Ceylon, after making exertions to extend the culture 
 of the silkworm, and forwarding 500 or 600 cocoons 
 to be distributed among the natives, called the head- 
 men to assist, but they doubted whether the priests of 
 Buddha would sanction the cultivation of the silkworm. 
 The high priests were convened, and came to the 
 meeting in their large yellow silk shirts their sacer- 
 
SILK CULTIVATION AND SUPPLY IN INDIA. 369 
 
 dotal dress ; but nothing could induce them to recom- 
 mend an occupation which involved the destruction of 
 life. " Why," said the agent, " you come here, 
 wrapped in the spoils of the worms that are killed by 
 the strictest Buddhists in China and Siam ! " But 
 they would not sanction a practice which involved 
 the destruction of the worm, although they them- 
 selves gave the greatest encouragement to it by the 
 use of silk. 
 
 Silkworms are common in many parts of the 
 province of Burmah. In the district of Sandoway 
 the eggs are hatched by the ordinary heat of the 
 weather throughout the year, and a supply thus 
 kept up, but the silk procured, not being good at all 
 times, it is not until December that the silk for sale is 
 obtained. In that month the worm is largely bred, 
 and the cocoons are formed in February. No selection 
 is made of the best silk, but it is sold indiscriminately, 
 and used in the district in the manufacture of native 
 dresses. 
 
 Silkworms are also extensively reared in the northern 
 and western parts of Toungoo. Attempts have been 
 made to introduce a better breed of worms, by im- 
 porting eggs from Moorshedabad in Bengal. 
 
 I have now somewhat hastily skimmed over the 
 extensive subject of silk production in India. 
 
 Imperfectly as this has been done, I trust it will open 
 up a field of inquiry and provoke discussion which may 
 result in benefit hereafter to that great and important 
 dependency of the British Empire, as well as in sup- 
 plying the urgent wants of the factories of Europe. 
 The Society of Arts has long devoted its best energies 
 
 B B 
 
3/0 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 to this subject, and it is to be hoped that this appeal, 
 made for further detailed information, and for useful 
 suggestions as to the best mode of stimulating the pro- 
 duction and improving the quality of Indian silk, may 
 not have been made in vain. 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF SILK.* 
 
 THE silk trade in Europe generally is languishing, 
 owing to the long-protracted effects of the disease in 
 the silkworm. Up to 1824, the period of the removal 
 of prohibitions by-Huskisson, and after many ages- of 
 protection, the silk industry in England may be said 
 to have merely vegetated ; and the number of looms 
 for weaving ribbons and stuff never exceeded 24,000. 
 Six years after the removal of the prohibitions, viz., 
 in 1830, there were 50,000 ; and in 1855 the number 
 exceeded 100,000. In 1862, judging by the quantity 
 of silk taken for consumption, there were more than 
 150,000, producing manufactures of the value of 
 12,000,000, of which the sixth part only was 
 exported. 
 
 Raw silk has advanced in price enormously of late 
 years. There are no sumptuary laws now in existence 
 restricting the use of silk to any class, and it is worn 
 more or less by all ranks of society in most countries ; 
 indeed, with the spread of wealth, its more extended 
 use is only retarded by the extravagantly high prices. 
 
 The stagnation and decline in our own factories is 
 
 * Published in the " Journal of the Society of Arts,'' 
 November 26, 1869, vol. xviii, p. 26. 
 
THE PRODUCTION OF SILK. 
 
 371 
 
 shown by a comparison of the two last official returns 
 of the Factory Commissioners. At the close of 1861 
 there were 771 silk factories at work in the United 
 Kingdom, with 1,338,544 spindles and 10,709 power 
 looms, giving employment to 52,429 hands, of whom 
 about 37,000 were females. At the end of last year 
 (1868), there were but 591 silk factories, with 1,159,706 
 spindles, and 14,625 power looms ; these employed 
 41,017 hands, of whom about 29,000 were females. 
 Many of these factories have since been closed ; and 
 we thus find more than 12,000 persons, formerly 
 profitably engaged, have been thrown out of employ, and 
 180 factories closed in the past seven years.* This tells 
 terribly upon the great centres of the silk industry 
 Macclesfield, Coventry, Manchester, &c. ; but the Con- 
 tinent, which gives more attention to silk manufacture, 
 is suffering equally with ourselves from a deficiency in 
 the supplies of this important trade material. Silk 
 production has been sorely tried also in France during 
 
 * SILK FACTORIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AT THE 
 
 CLOSE OF 1861. 
 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power Looms. 
 
 England and Wales ... 
 Scotland 
 
 761 
 8 
 
 1,305,910 
 31,452 
 
 10,635 
 60 
 
 Ireland 
 
 2 
 
 1,182 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 771 
 
 1,338,544 
 
 10,709 
 
 There were then 7,279 power-loom weavers. The amount 
 of power was 6,186 steam and 864 water. The number of 
 persons employed was 52,429, of whom 36,899 were females. 
 
 B P. 2 
 
372 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the last twelve years. In the greater number of the De- 
 partments, where the rearing of the mulberry formed 
 considerable riches, there reigns a general desolation. 
 
 Of the various countries which give attention to silk 
 production, Italy and France stand in the first rank, 
 and their winding and throwing establishments have 
 rapidly increased, each country contesting which can 
 turn out the best productions. Austria follows in the 
 movement ; Turkey and Russia are not strangers to 
 progress ; while Spain also produces silk of a good 
 quality. 
 
 The quantity of silk produced by France and 
 Italy is much more considerable than that of all 
 the other States of Europe ; but attention has of late 
 
 There were 249 spinning factories and 423 weaving factories. 
 Parliamentary Return, February, 1862. 
 
 SILK FACTORIES, 1868. 
 
 
 Factories. 
 
 Spindles. 
 
 Power Looms. 
 
 England and Wales ... 
 
 587 
 2 
 
 1,148,408 
 11,298 
 
 14,511 
 
 108 
 
 Ireland .. ... 
 
 2 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 591 
 
 1,159,706 
 
 14,625 
 
 There are now 6,329 power-loom weavers. The moving 
 power employed is 5,879 steam and 649 water. The total 
 number of persons employed in the factories is 41,017, of whom 
 28,840 were females. 196 factories were engaged in spinning ; 
 316 exclusively in weaving ; 56 combined spinning and 
 weaving ; and there were 23 not included in either of these 
 descriptions. 
 
THE PRODUCTION OF SILK. 370 
 
 years been much directed to the seats of production 
 in Eastern Russia, Turkey, and Japan, which have 
 not been attacked by the fatal disease which has proved 
 so injurious to the silkworms of parts of Europe. In 
 1853 the production of cocoons in France was about 
 26,000,000 kilogrammes (of 2 Ibs.). This repre- 
 sented at. least 2,000,000 kilogrammes of raw silk, of 
 the value of 150,000,000 francs. In 1854 and 1855 
 the production began to decline to under 20,000,000, 
 the disease called pebrine having manifested itself in 
 the worms. In 1856 the evil increased ; the rains 
 were heavy; the crop of cocoons did not exceed 
 8,000,000, and the price reached the unheard-of figure 
 of 71 to 7} francs per kilogramme. From 1857 to 1860 
 the production stood at about 9,000,000 kilos. In 
 1861 and 1862 the production again fell, and so con- 
 tinued, notwithstanding the introduction of new seed 
 from Japan ; until in 1865 it had declined to about 
 5,000,000 kilogrammes of cocoons, and the price rose 
 to 7 francs and 9 francs the kilogramme. Prices have 
 since then even gone higher, 8 francs and 10 francs 
 being asked and paid. 
 
 In 1866 all the efforts of Europe were turned to 
 the introduction of healthy seed from Japan, more 
 than 2,500,000 ozs. of eggs having been shipped from 
 there to various countries. Unfortunately, a very 
 mild winter brought forward the eggs too soon, and 
 a J great loss was sustained, so that instead of the 
 production anticipated, the crop in France did not ex- 
 ceed 10,000,000 or 11,000,000 kilogrammes of cocoons. 
 In 1867, about 2,000,000 cards (each card contains on 
 the average 25 grammes) of silkworms' eggs were 
 
374 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 shipped from Japan, of which three-fourths were for 
 Italy, and the rest for France. The amount of insurance 
 effected on these while in transit was something 
 enormous. Considerable loss and inconvenience were 
 experienced at first by extensive frauds perpetrated. 
 The eggs of Chinese silkworms were sent over to 
 Japan and there re-packed under the seal of the 
 French Consulate, fraudulently obtained or imitated, 
 and this was sent off to Europe as pure and healthy 
 Japanese seed. 
 
 The import and export figures speak prominently 
 and forcibly as to the importance of the silk in- 
 dustry in France. The average annual value of the 
 silk imported into France from 1837 to 1846 was 
 60,000,000 francs, from 1847 to 1856, 122,333,333. 
 In 1860 it was 260,500,000; in 1865, 429,000,000; 
 and in 1866, 383,000,000. The raw silk exported was 
 to the value of 45,000,000 francs in 1859, and 
 107,000,000 in 1865. 
 
 The value of silk goods of all kinds exported was 
 1,347,000,000 francs, average 1837 to 1846; 
 2,747,000,000 from 1847 to 1856; 4,548,000,000 in 
 1860; and 4,677,000,000 in 1866. In 1862 the 
 value of the silk manufactures, &c., locally used, 
 was set down at 220,000,000 francs, and of those 
 exported at 440,000,000; making a total of 
 660,000,000 francs. The products of the French silk 
 manufacture can now scarcely be estimated at less than 
 40,000,000 sterling. The value of our imports of 
 French silk manufactures has increased 6,250,000 
 since 1860. There are stated to be about 2,000,000 
 
THE PRODUCTION OF SILK. 
 
 375 
 
 workpeople directly or indirectly interested in silk 
 production and manufacture in France. 
 
 The quantity of raw silk produced in Italy, before 
 the outbreak of the silkworm disease, was 3,710,000 
 kilogrammes ; since then it has yearly decreased, and 
 in 1868 it only reached 1,900,000 kilogrammes, or 
 little more than half. But this is not all. About 
 10 to 10J kilogrammes of si4k used to be obtained 
 from 100 kilogrammes of cocoons in Tuscany ; now 
 it is with difficulty that 7 to 7-| kilogrammes of 
 silk are obtained from the same quantity.* 
 
 * The following tables show, A, the total yield of cocoons 
 in Lombardy in 1869, with the highest and lowest prices of 
 the different qualities per myriagramme (22-04 Ibs. avoir- 
 dupois), in Italian lire (26 to the ) ; and, B, the produce of 
 silk in Italy and the Tyrol in 1868 and 1869, compared with 
 the annual production before the outbreak of the silkworm 
 disease. 
 
 TABLE A. 
 Provinces. 
 
 Total quan- 
 tity of cocoons 
 produced, in 
 myria- 
 grammes. 
 
 Price of Cocoons. 
 
 Annual. 
 
 Bivoltine. 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Lowest. 
 
 Highest. 
 
 Milan, with Lodi. 
 Como 
 
 240,000 
 360,000 
 i. 300,000 
 240,000 
 
 60,000 
 120,000 
 240,000 
 120,000 
 
 1. C. 
 
 45 
 60 
 50 
 40 
 
 52 50 
 35 
 37 50 
 40 
 
 1. C. 
 
 71 50 
 75 
 65 
 62 50 
 
 70 
 60 
 52 50 
 55 
 
 1. 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 
 30 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 
 1. 
 40 
 40 
 40 
 40 
 
 40 
 30 
 30 
 30 
 
 Bergamo 4 
 
 Brescia 
 
 Valtellina (Son- 
 drio) 
 
 Pavia 
 
 Cremona 
 
 Mantua 
 
 Total 
 
 r 1,680,000 
 
 35 
 
 75 
 
 10 
 
 40 
 
 The yield composed of two-thirds Japanese eggs imported 
 direct, and one-third reproductions in Italy. 
 
376 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 In Russia, the total production of silk fabrics ex- 
 ceeds 2,500,000 sterling. In Switzerland two or 
 three small cantons employ about 60,000 looms, and 
 export silks and ribbons to the value of 4,000,000 
 sterling to England and North America.* 
 
 The German Customs' Union is, however, closed to 
 foreign silk manufacturers, since they possess factories 
 which work from 10 to 15 per cent, cheaper. 
 
 Although the production of silk extends in China 
 over all the zone comprised between the 37th and 
 
 TABLE B. 
 Provinces. 
 
 Total Quantity of Raw Silk in 
 Kilogrammes. 
 
 Before out- 
 break of 
 silkworm 
 disease. 
 
 In 1868. 
 
 In 1869. 
 
 Piedmont, Liguria, Sar- 
 dinia 
 
 515,000 
 1,310,000 
 32,000 
 43,000 
 
 1 205,000 
 
 140,000 
 353,000 
 163,000 
 700,000 
 250,000 
 
 247,000 
 788,000 
 10,500 
 16,000 
 ( 22,500 
 < 32,500 
 ( 5,000 
 40,500 
 58,000 
 34,000 
 453,000 
 193,000 
 
 360,000 
 917,000 
 12,000 
 18,500 
 27,000 
 39,000 
 6,000 
 46,500 
 58,000 
 34,000 
 462,000 
 170,000 
 
 Lombardy 
 
 Parma, Piacenza 
 
 Modena, Reggio, Massa . 
 Romagna 
 
 Marches 
 
 Umbria 
 
 Tuscany 
 
 Neapolitan Provinces ... 
 Sicily 
 
 Venetia 
 
 Tyrol 
 
 Total 
 
 3,710,000 
 
 1,900,000 
 
 2,150,000 
 
 * The silk manufacture of the United States in 1871 was 
 represented to be as follows : The capital invested, 25,000,000 
 dollars. It afforded employment for 16,000 operatives, three- 
 fourths of them women and young persons, for whom such em- 
 ployment is specially adapted, being clean, light and healthy. 
 The wages paid these operatives amounted to 7,200,000 dollars 
 per annum, being a weekly average for women of 7 dollars, 
 and for males 12 dollars. 
 
THE PRODUCTION OF SILK. 377 
 
 23rd degrees, and more especially between the 33rd 
 and 29th, no part produces it so abundantly as the 
 province of Tche-kiang, which is equal to that of all 
 the rest of the empire. If, in a good average year, 
 China produces 120,000 bales, it may be said that Tche- 
 kiang furnishes 60,000. But as it is the depart- 
 ments in the north of the province, and those which 
 approach to Shanghae, that produce the largest part 
 of this silk, there comes to Ning-po only what is 
 raised in the plains of Shaachin, which before the 
 rebellion, yielded 10,000 bales. In 1863, the export 
 was but 50 piculs; in 1864, 949 ; and in 1865, 1,914. 
 A part of this silk, of too inferior a quality for Europe, 
 is used up for native fabrics. The silk manufacture 
 constitutes one of the principal industries of Tche- 
 kiang, and especially of the capital, Han-tcheou. There 
 was exported in 1865, to the value of 1,794,000 
 francs, against 102,000 francs only in 1864, a proof of 
 the increase of prosperity of the silk industry in Tche- 
 kiang. 
 
378 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 THE IRON MANUFACTURE.* 
 
 IRON enters into such general use in every occupation, 
 and in all countries advanced beyond the first step 
 of civilisation, that it may well take rank with us 
 amongst the necessaries of life.f In no country of the 
 
 * Published in Lawson's " Merchants' Magazine," London, 
 1852. 
 
 f " There could be no effectual civilisation without iron. 
 From the moment that a people acquires the art of making it 
 malleable, they cease to be savages, and, in proportion as they 
 acquire skill in its fabrication, they may be said to be civilised. 
 Fortunately for mankind, therefore, iron is the most abundant, 
 the most widely diffused, and the cheapest of all the metals. 
 It is at the same time the most difficult to reduce from the ore 
 to the metallic state, and yet, with the exception of the 
 savage tribes of America, of Australia, and of the islands of 
 the Pacific, the art has been in possession of nearly all the 
 other peoples of the world for at least 3,000 years in posses- 
 sion of some who could neither extract a saccharine matter 
 from vegetables, nor a spirit from grain. 
 
 Let us try and furnish our readers with a popular sketch of 
 the history of that metal, from which is fashioned the lady's 
 needle, the sheet-anchor and chain-cable of a first-rate, the 
 steel pen, the steam-engine, the Menai bridge, a saucepan, 
 Mr. Kussell's great steam-ship of five times the burden of a 
 first-rate, and lastly, the needle of the compass that will 
 enable that monster steamer to cross the broad Atlantic or 
 broader Pacific. 
 
 Except in meteoric stones, in some of which it has been 
 found, according to Humboldt, in the proportion of 96 per 
 cent., there is no such thing in nature as iron in the metallic 
 state. All of it is made from rough stones, nearly useless 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 379 
 
 world has the iron manufacture been carried to such a 
 degree of perfection as England; in no quarter of the 
 
 for any other purpose, and, in reference to agriculture, mere 
 indications of sterility in the soil. Iron ores either consist of 
 oxide of iron, or they are made to consist of them by calcina- 
 tion, and these oxides are combined with more or less of 
 earthy matter, consisting chiefly of alumina or clay, and of 
 silicon or the earth of sharp sand. The calcined ore placed 
 in the blast furnace* in alternate layers with carbon or char- 
 coal and with lime, yields iron by the union of the carbon with 
 the oxygen of the ore, and of the lime with its earthy matters. 
 The metallic product obtained is the unmalleable, intractable 
 material, appropriately called pig or cast iron, and this by 
 analysis is proved to consist of ninety-five parts of iron and 
 five of carbon. By getting rid of four parts out of the five of 
 the carbon, we have steel, and by getting rid, as far as practic- 
 able, of the whole of the carbon, we have malleable iron the 
 two substances with which man has subdued the world. 
 
 But, besides carbon, all iron ores contain two other sub- 
 stances destructive of the quality of malleable iron and steel, 
 namely sulphur and phosphorus, and these must be got rid of 
 from the cast iron. This, whatever be the process pursued, is 
 effected by causing all the inflammable matters in the cast 
 iron to combine with the oxygen of the atmosphere. This is 
 comparatively easy when the ore is pure and the fuel wood- 
 coal ; but with us who work with an impure ore and with 
 coke, or charred mineral coal, both of them containing phos- 
 phorus and sulphur, the process is tedious and difficult. The 
 molten metal is first placed in the refining, and thence con- 
 veyed to the reverberatory furnace, after which it is subjected 
 to the operation of what is technically called " puddling." 
 This consists in raising the half -molten metal on the end of 
 an iron bar, so as to expose as much of its surface as possible 
 to the air, in order to the consumption of its carbon, sulphur, 
 and phosphorus, by combining them with oxygen. The opera- 
 tion is performed by workmen nearly naked, who, when engaged 
 in their hard toil, present very much the appearance of naked 
 
380 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 globe has it been so extensively practised, or its pro- 
 duction so largely desiderated. In every portion of 
 the peopled earth are to be found its machinery or its 
 articles of domestic use representatives of some one 
 of its infinite varieties or modifications from an iron 
 skewer or a pin to an elaborate steam engine. 
 
 The iron trade especially deserves pre-eminence in a 
 consideration of our industrial arts ; for great and 
 mighty interests are involved in the continued ad- 
 vancement and prosperity of this important branch of 
 manufacture. Not only the subsistence, but the 
 physical condition, of our integral population depends 
 mainly on the progress of our metallic industry. To 
 this continuance and success civilisation must owe its 
 greatest advances, its mightiest enterprises ; for our 
 country's genius is purely mechanical, and by her 
 steam, her iron, and her machinery inventions and 
 contrivances to save the sinews and muscles of man is 
 she working out, not only Britain's redemption, but 
 the redemption of the world from political slavery, 
 and social and moral degradation. Our Iron Trade 
 
 savages, with firebrands in their hands, dancing at night round 
 a fire in the performance of some diabolical rite. 
 Ferrum txercebant vasto Cyclopes in antro, 
 Brontesque, Steropesque, et nudus membra Pyrachmon. 
 One might almost fancy that Virgil had seen the operation of 
 puddling. By the invention of Mr. Bessemer, the whole of 
 this tedious and barbarous proceeding, from the time the metal 
 comes from the blast furnace until it is subjected to the hammer 
 and roller, is superseded. By a furnace of his own invention 
 he causes a stream of atmospheric air to pass through the mass 
 of molten metal, as it comes from the blast furnace, and it is 
 at once converted into malleable iron. " Examiner." 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 381 
 
 especially is entitled, then, to a prominent position, 
 as of the greatest importance to our future advance- 
 ment in commercial relations, political connections, 
 and domestic happiness. 
 
 If we considered merely the extent and importance 
 of our hardware manufactures, we should obtain a 
 tolerable idea of the great value of iron ore to this 
 country, but this forms scarcely a tithe of its con- 
 sumption. For ship-building and architectural pur- 
 poses it is now largely in demand ; and for bridges, 
 viaducts, houses, railways, gas and water pipes, &c., 
 we are greatly indebted to iron. 
 
 Other nations, at the Great Exhibition (1851), 
 showed us their strength in the raw material, as well 
 as in the manufacture of iron and steel ; but in our 
 various descriptions of hardware, particularly cutlery 
 and edge tools, machinery, implements, and railroad 
 iron, we came off superior to most competitors ; and 
 the number of prize medals awarded to Great Britain 
 and her Colonies, clearly proved that we maintain our 
 ancient reputation for the excellence and abundance of 
 our iron and steel. 
 
 Iron is revolutionising the world. The iron rails 
 and the iron wires of the telegraph, stretched over the 
 land or submerged in the water, have brought towns 
 so near to each other, that a country has become but 
 one vast city. And they are even bringing distant 
 countries nearer to each other, and binding them into 
 one common interest. 
 
 Deposits of iron are to be found in almost every 
 country, and, from various sources, it appears incon- 
 trovertible that the ancients were acquainted with 
 
382 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 its uses and properties to a very great extent, and 
 could produce it nearly equal in quality to the iron 
 of the present day. 
 
 Independently of sacred testimony to the fact that 
 there were workers in metals at the early period of 
 the world, 3,876 years before the commencement of the 
 Christian era, we have continued mention of metallic 
 productions both in the writings of poets and sages. 
 We are not exactly aware at what period iron was 
 discovered in this country, or when the art of working 
 it was made known, but there appears to be little 
 question that to the Romans we owe our first acquaint- 
 ance with this metal, and the processes of its manu- 
 facture. They seem to have introduced iron foundries 
 into the Silurian district, near Monmouth, and other 
 places. 
 
 In Persia there are said to be very credible evi- 
 dences of the mines near Tabreez having been worked 
 from the remotest antiquity ; large quarry -like exca- 
 vations, thickly surrounded by immense tumuli of iron- 
 sand and small pieces of iron ore, apparently thrown 
 out in the course of the working, still existing, to 
 mark the millions of feet of ironstone which have 
 been here excavated. It is difficult to ascertain 
 whether a knowledge of iron manufactures spread 
 from Persia to Rome; or whether the latter empire 
 received it from some other nation or discovered it by 
 its own application, and, bringing it into a high state 
 of perfection, subsequently introduced it into Britain. 
 The departure of the Romans from this country, 
 leaving it to internal distractions, was followed by a 
 general suspension of the iron works. From the 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 383 
 
 time of the Conqueror to the death of John, iron and 
 steel were both largely imported into England. In 
 1543 the iron manufacturers, on application, were pro- 
 tected by act of Parliament, which imposed duties on 
 imported iron articles. To Holland we are indebted 
 for the adaptation of iron, about the thirteenth cen- 
 tury, to articles and productions of domestic usage, and 
 its application to the more useful arts. In 1547 a 
 person named Owen, in this country, first cast iron 
 guns, and to the invention of England is owing the 
 great advances made in iron manufacture by the blast 
 furnace for the production of pig iron. The manufac- 
 ture of the metal increased to the time of Elizabeth. 
 About that period the wood in the vicinity of the 
 works was falling short, being used as fuel, and in 
 many places iron works were in consequence prohibited. 
 In 1558, particularly, there was a great scarcity of 
 fuel, and in the times of James I. and Charles I. a 
 great number of furnaces were stopped. In 1635 it 
 appears that royalty possessed three blast furnaces and 
 two forges in the Forest of Dean, which shows the 
 importance attached to iron manufacture at that period. 
 Attempts were made in 1713 to use pit coal as fuel in 
 them, but the result was not then satisfactory. Im- 
 provements having been subsequently made in ma- 
 chinery, it was again resorted to, and found to answer 
 better ; still there continued to be a decrease in the 
 quantity produced. In 1740 there were only 59 
 foundries at work, producing 17,350 tons of iron. But 
 when the use of the steam engine became general the 
 improved effect began rapidly to show itself. The 
 trade increased to 1830. when 112,647 tons of iron 
 
384 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 were prepared. The success of the trade attracted the 
 inquisitive eyes of the then Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer, who endeavoured to put a tax on the produce. 
 This was not done, however, but the duty on imported 
 iron was, about 1826, fixed, on the motion of Mr. 
 Huskisson, at 30s. per ton. 
 
 Probably no nation has greater advantages than 
 ours with respect to this branch of production. Not 
 only have we an abundant and almost inexhaustible 
 supply of ironstone, coal, and limestone, &c., beneath 
 the surface of our island, but we have them in such 
 close proximity to each other that nature seems, by a 
 geological deposition, to have determined this portion 
 of the world as the spot, par excellence, on which the 
 processes of iron manufacture should be experimen- 
 talised and perfected. 
 
 The principal sources of the iron of commerce are 
 the oxides of that metal, which, mixed with variable 
 quantities of siliceous and earthy matters, are abun- 
 dantly met with in the United Kingdom.* The red 
 
 * This is the most generally distributed metal in existence. 
 There is scarcely a thing in nature which does not contain the 
 metal in some degree ; even the human body contains iron in 
 considerable quantity. The principal English iron works are 
 in South Wales, and the ore is chiefly supplied to them from 
 that neighbourhood. Staffordshire, Shropshire, Lancashire, 
 and the most southern counties of Scotland also produce 
 large quantities of iron ore, which are in nearly every case 
 smelted upon the spot. The most plentiful iron ores are the 
 carbonate, oxide and sulphuret, the latter being also largely 
 used for making sulphuric acid. Some of the richest ores 
 (oxide) will produce 80 per cent, of metallic iron. The specific 
 gravity of the metal is 7'80. Next to gold, silver and 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 385 
 
 hematite, which also frequently receives the name of 
 specular iron ore, is, in its various forms, a very im- 
 portant and valuable mineral for the purposes of the 
 iron smelter ; m its pure state it contains 69 per 
 cent, of iron. Brown hematite is another very im- 
 portant ore of iron. Granular iron ore is, in many 
 countries, one of the most plentiful and valuable ores 
 of iron ; and it is that which, in the oolitic form, 
 supplies the greater number of French iron works. 
 When washed, for the purpose of separating the 
 lighter impurities, it yields an excellent material for 
 the manufacture of iron. Another kind is that com- 
 monly known as magnetic iron ore, which contains 
 the large proportion of 71^ per cent, of metal. No 
 ore of iron is more universally diffused than this 
 magnetic oxide, which is inferior to none for the 
 manufacture of that metal. Nearly all the Swedish 
 iron is prepared from this ore, which also occurs in 
 great abundance in the Island of Elba, and in some 
 of the States of America. The ores treated for 
 
 platinum, iron is the most ductile metal ; its malleability is 
 however much inferior. It is needless to mention the uses 
 of metallic iron. It may be called the most useful metal in 
 existence. It may be prevented from rusting by coating it 
 with either tin or zinc the latter process being termed 
 galvanising. It is the only metal (except platinum) which 
 can be " welded," and surpasses all other metals in tenacity. 
 The sulphate of iron (commonly called '.' green copperas ") is 
 largely used for dyeing purposes ; and a purified sulphate is 
 used for photography. The oxide commonly called "col- 
 cothar," is a fine powder used by jewellers, &c., for polishing, 
 and the citrate, tartrate, carbonate, iodide, and tincture of the 
 sesquioxide, are used in medicine. " The Metals in Every Day 
 Use," by Johnson and Sons. 
 
 c c 
 
386 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 metallurgic purposes are always more or less impure, 
 and usually yield from 24 to 35 per cent, of metallic 
 iron. 
 
 There are two distinct qualities into which this 
 metal is commonly divided, namely, pig iron and mal- 
 leable or bar iron ; the second being the result of an 
 extension of the processes necessary for the production 
 of the first kind. The first process is that of reducing 
 the iron stone or ore, technically called " the mine," into 
 a metallic state by means of fusion. This operation is 
 conducted in a blast or smelting furnace. These fur- 
 naces cost about 3,000 ; blast engines, about 4,000 ; 
 and heating apparatus, pipes, &c., about 2,000. 
 Each furnace will produce nearly 200 tons of pig iron 
 per week by hot blast, or 80 tons by cold ; and by 
 calcining the ore on the spot, fully 25 per cent, is 
 saved in its carriage, and about two tons produce one 
 ton of pig iron. 
 
 Steel is iron passed through a process called " cemen- 
 tation," the object of which is to impregnate it with 
 carbon. Carbon exists more abundantly in charcoal 
 than in any other fusible substance ; and the smoke 
 that goes up from the charcoal forge is carbon in a 
 fluid state. Now, if you can manage to confine that 
 smoke, and heat a piece of iron at the same time, it 
 will become steel. Heating the iron opens its pores, 
 so that the smoke or carbon can enter it. The con- 
 version of the iron into steel is known by the blisters 
 on the bars, and the process occupies from eight to ten 
 days. The bars of steel, when taken from the furnace, 
 are either sold as blistered steel, or drawn to a con- 
 venient size, and called tilted steel. German steel is 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 387 
 
 made out of this blistered steel by breaking the bars 
 into short pieces and welding them together, drawing 
 them down to a proper size for use. 
 
 A singular illustration of the ductility and tenacity 
 of iron is the fact that it may be rolled so fine, by 
 proper machinery, as to resemble writing paper ; 
 7,040 square feet of what may be called leaf iron have 
 been rolled from a hundredweight of metal. At the 
 Prussian Industrial Exhibition, Count Renard, a large 
 proprietor of iron works, exhibited sheet iron of 
 this degree of tenacity ; a bookbinder of Breslau made 
 an album of it, the pages of which turn as flexibly as 
 the fabric of linen rags. A similar book was shown at 
 the Hyde Park Exhibition, 1851, from the Crown 
 Iron Works of Mr. G. Downing, of Smethwick. The 
 book was neatly bound in red morocco, and contained 
 forty-four of these iron leaves, the whole being only 
 the fifteenth of an inch thick. 
 
 A large manufacture is carried on of galvanised iron 
 and tinned plates. Thin plates of iron dipped into 
 molten tin, which completely covers the iron, are 
 manufactured in South Wales and Staffordshire, to the 
 extent of 900,000 boxes annually; their weight is 
 56,000 tons, valued at 1,500,000, and affording em- 
 ployment to 20,000 persons. [The make is now over 
 2,500,000 boxes of tin plates ; about one-fourth of 
 which are black or terne plates.] 
 
 The whole imports of metals in 1850 were but 
 17,000 tons. The Prussian manufacturers take our 
 iron, which is better suited for casting. The cast iron 
 productions of Berlin are justly held in repute, and her 
 iron jewellery is also much esteemed. In the pro- 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 duction of iron, Austria stands foremost on the Conti- 
 nent, both as to the quantity and quality of its ores, 
 and the antiquity of its mines. Its iron, and par- 
 ticularly its " Milan steel," as it is termed, are 
 acknowledged to be of excellent temper ; and, therefore, 
 ; ts scythes, sickles, and other steel articles, are held 
 m high estimation, all over Europe and America. 
 Sweden produces annually about 130,000 tons of iron, 
 (in 1865, 235,000), of which she consumes less than 
 half, the remainder being exported. We formerly 
 took much of her ore for the manufacture of our 
 fine steel, and about 4,000 tons of bar iron from 
 Russia; but, owing to the improvements which have 
 been made in this manufacture, we have become more 
 independent of other countries, and the importation 
 has decreased. The iron and ores of Norway are also 
 exceedingly good ; but not equal, for manufacturing 
 purposes, to the Swedish. 
 
 The value of the iron and steel produced in France, 
 in 1841, was about 5,600,000. In 1840, the pro- 
 duction of iron was 447,000 tons, and in 1864 upwards 
 of 1,200,000 tons by 430 furnaces. 
 
 Prussia, in 1854, produced 230,000, in 1860, 370,000, 
 and in 1865, 772,000 tons of iron. From 75,000 to 
 100,000 tons of iron are annually raised in Nassau, 
 of which the half is smelted there in the high furnaces 
 worked by charcoal. 
 
 To show the wide range of our foreign supplies of 
 iron, it may be incidentally stated here, that a cargo 
 was recently imported from Canton, consisting of 
 1,526 bars and pigs, and 496 parcels of iron ore ; and 
 another vessel brought 100 tons of pig iron back from 
 Shanghai. 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 389 
 
 Several of our colonies contain vast deposits of this 
 valuable product. From the north shore of Lake 
 Huron, to some distance below Quebec, large masses 
 of iron ores have been found. Some of the beds range 
 in thickness from 6 to 200 feet. Nova Scotia and 
 New Brunswick also abound in iron; and Lower 
 Canada is remarkably rich in this metal. Some masses 
 of iron ore from Montreal, yielding 70 per cent, of 
 pure metallic iron, were shown at the Exhibition of 
 1851. One specimen was taken out of a bed 48 feet 
 in thickness, traced to the extent of a mile ; and 
 another from a bed 100 feet in thickness. 
 
 On the banks of Moose River, in Nova Scotia, a 
 valuable bed of iron was discovered some years ago ; 
 and, in 1825, an association, consisting of 100 share- 
 holders, was formed, and called " The Annapolis Iron 
 Mining Company." Sufficient capital being raised, in 
 the colony, to commence the smelting and manufac- 
 ture of the ore, mineral lands, to the extent of 2,000 
 acres round the Annapolis basin, were purchased, and 
 the mining rights of the company extended over a still 
 greater area. Several thousand tons of ore were 
 smelted, and castings made to a considerable amount. 
 Bar iron was also produced, which, as well as the 
 castings, proved to be of excellent quality. After 
 expending, however, about 30,000, owing to some 
 unfortunate disagreements among the members, the 
 whole enterprise was abandoned, and the establishment 
 sold. 
 
 Nova Scotia would receive great advantage from the 
 manufacture of her own iron which she now imports 
 to the value of 20,000. The ores are very rich and 
 
390 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 abundant round the Annapolis basin, and the Coquebid 
 Mountains. In the neighbourhood of Moose Kiver, the 
 ore consists of a stratum, which outcrops at the surface 
 of the earth, and is nine feet thick ; the ore yields from 
 35 to 40 per cent, of cast metal. 
 
 At Nictau there is also a bed of ore 6J feet thick, 
 of superior quality ; the quantity of carbonate of 
 lime contained in it being also sufficient for its flux. 
 There is a great want of smelting furnaces, where the 
 inotal may be extracted, in the British North American 
 Colonies, for pig iron could very profitably be exported 
 to the United States. There is a blast furnace at the 
 village of Normandale, on Lake Erie, for smelting bog 
 niv, which has been in operation since 1828. As much 
 as 4,000 tons of ore have been found there within the 
 space of a few acres ; the ore averages 27 per cent, of 
 iron. The townships of Marmora and Madoc, in 
 Western Canada, are also noted for the excellency of 
 their iron ore, which is said to yield 75 per cent, of iron, 
 of the best quality, and so abundant as to be sufficient 
 for the consumption of the whole of British North 
 America. An iron mine is working at Fitzroy (Berrima ), 
 in New South Wales, the ore of which has the peculiar 
 property of turning into pure steel when smelted. 
 Very excellent specimens were sent from various parts 
 of India, particularly the Tenasserim provinces. 
 
 Some few years ago, the mineral wealth of Spain was 
 estimated at 38,600,000 ; but the Peninsula itself is 
 falling off in its mineral produce, and it is chiefly her 
 transatlantic possession of Cuba that is now valuable. 
 
 The United Kingdom, in this department of 
 mineralogy, received at the first Exhibition thirteen 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 391 
 
 prize medals for iron, steel, &c., of which three were 
 awarded to her foreign possessions, viz., to the East 
 India Company, for its Wootz steel and specimens of 
 iron manufactures to Canada, for the quality of its 
 iron and to Nova Scotia, for its cast iron ; the 
 exhibitor, in this last instance, asserting the capacity 
 of that province to produce steel and charcoal iron 
 in quantities sufficient to supply the whole British 
 Empire, and in quality equal to the best foreign 
 articles, but at greatly reduced prices. The collection 
 of specimens of our cutlery and steel was certainly 
 very fine. The specimens of folded and twisted iron, 
 in coils, shown by Mr. Ferrier, from Canada, were 
 very creditable proofs of extra high temper, and 
 superior workmanship. The prizes carried off by our 
 miners and manufacturers were for iron and rod iron, 
 tubes, and enamelled iron, and in Class 22, for quality 
 of steel and iron, and fine iron-wire rope. Prize 
 medals were also awarded in this class for a collection 
 of maps and models of the mineral fields and work- 
 ings, and a very varied and beautiful collection of the 
 metals and their compounds, of the United Kingdom. 
 Let us now see how other nations came off in the 
 friendly contest. 
 
 The hardware and cutlery, &c., manufactured in 
 the United States, amount in value to about 
 6,500,000 dollars. In 1840 there were 804 furnaces 
 at work, producing 287,000 tons of cast iron; and 
 about 800 forges turned out 198,000 tons of bar iron. 
 In 1844, the value of the iron and manufactures of 
 iron imported into the United States was but 
 5,250,000 dollars; while, in 1851, it had increased to 
 
392 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 16,500,000 dollars. The railroad building, in that 
 country, has added greatly to the consumption of iron. 
 The chief increase in the imports of America took place 
 *oon after the tariff of 1846 came into operation. 
 Prize medals were awarded to the United States for 
 pig iron, boiler plates, and hammered bar iron, iron- 
 wire rivets, &c., of fine quality ; ores and bars of iron, 
 and cast steel.* 
 
 * The number of hands employed in the primary produc- 
 tion of iron in the United States is now roughly estimated at 
 140,000 ; 58,000 of whom work in rolling mills, 42,000 in pre- 
 paring ore and fuel, 25,000 in preparing fuel for rolling-mills, 
 12,500 in blast-furnaces, and 2,500 at forges and bloomeries. 
 Add the 800,000 engaged in manufacturing articles of iron, and 
 we have a total of 940,000. The approximate value of the pig- 
 iron manufactured in 1870 was 75,000,000 dollars. Adding 
 to this the product of the rolling-mills and forges, the amount 
 is 138,000,000 dollars. Adding again the value of articles manu- 
 factured of iron, and the value of the iron manufacture of the 
 country for the year is 900,000,000 dollars. Of rails we produced 
 in 1853 but 87,000 tons, and in 1869 the amount had risen to 
 580,000 tons. Of steel rails we laid in the latter year 50,000 
 tons, 15,000 tons of which were of domestic manufacture, and 
 it is further estimated that the quantity of steel rails laid in 
 1870 will reach 150,000 tons. The annual importation of 
 foreign rails has varied between 358,794 tons in 1853, and 
 10,186 tons in 1862, while in 1869 the amount again exceeded 
 300,000 tons, or more than half of the whole British export. 
 We have enormous deposits of both coal and iron in close 
 proximity, inviting the grandest development of iron industry 
 the world has ever known. Figuratively speaking, we find 
 our mineral resources gathered in a mighty elliptical bowl, 
 the outer rim of which skirts the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of 
 Mexico, and thence, crossing the Mississippi Valley, runs 
 northward with the plains lying at the eastern base of the 
 Rocky Mountains, and around by the great lakes to the 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 393 
 
 Belgium received eight prize medals ; viz., for the 
 fine quality of its cast iron, for moulding and refining ; 
 for sheet iron, prepared with wood ; for six ingots of 
 cast iron, for gun barrels ; for sheet iron and sheet 
 steel, for locks and hardware ; and for the quality of 
 bars of iron adapted for gun barrels, war arms, &c. 
 In 1864, there were 52 blast furnaces in operation in 
 Belgium, 153 iron manufactories, and 150 foundries. 
 
 Prussia particularly distinguished itself for the 
 character and quality of its steel, having received the 
 Council medal for rolled and forged cast steel, remark- 
 Atlantic coast again. The rim of this basin is filled with 
 exhaustless stores of iron ore of every variety and of the best 
 quality. From the Hudson river to the heart of Georgia the 
 outcrop of magnetic ore extends one thousand miles in length, 
 traversing seven States in its course. Parallel with this is 
 the great limestone valley, which lies along the margin of the 
 Appalachian coal-fields, in which lie buried masses of brown 
 hematite, the abundance of which, especially in West Virginia 
 and Virginia, staggers the imagination. We have here the 
 splint, cannel, and bituminous coal of the Kanawha. Through 
 the heart of this region, rich in iron ores, railroads will be 
 built. Within the coal basin itself is a stratum of red fossili- 
 ferous iron ore, beginning in a thin seam in New York, and 
 expanding in Alabama to a breadth of one hundred miles, 
 with beds often fifteen feet in thickness. West of the Missis- 
 sippi is traced through Arkansas and Missouri a range of red 
 oxide of iron. Crossing the Mississippi this range culminates 
 in ore-beds which have excited the wonder of the world. 
 Along the Adironacks are beds of iron of the same character. 
 In consequence of the strikes in the coal districts there has 
 been a falling off in the iron production of our country this 
 year (1870) of 250,000 tons, at the lowest estimate, and the 
 price of pig-iron has advanced seven dollars per ton on 
 American and five dollars per ton on Scottish. " New York 
 Evening Post." 
 
394 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 able for its purity and toughness ; and prize medals 
 for samples of steel. 
 
 Russia carried off two of the prize medals for iron, 
 one being awarded to the Messrs. Demidoff, and the 
 other to one of the public iron works, for sheet, 
 oxidised and boiler-plate iron. The old Russian 
 Stobel iron has always maintained a high rank in the 
 estimation of our manufacturers. The Russian col- 
 lection of minerals, though not large, contained some 
 very fine iron ores. 
 
 Switzerland obtained a medal for fine iron wire, 
 suitable for making pattern cards. 
 
 Spain, Nassau, and Sweden and Norway, had also 
 each a prize ; the first for iron and steel from the 
 Asturias ; the second for its large and valuable collec- 
 tion of raw produce and metallurgy ; and Sweden and 
 Norway for the first-rate quality of its iron. 
 
 Austria came in for a liberal share of reward. She 
 had prizes for ores, bar and pig iron, and the quality 
 of her steel ; for cast iron and steel ; for hoop and 
 cylindrical iron and plates of hard iron for cementing ; 
 a selection of Brescian steel ; sheet and bar iron ; hard 
 and soft iron and several varieties of steel ; rolled bar 
 iron and iron wire, and sheet iron for tin plates. 
 
 Bavaria obtained a prize medal for iron and steel, 
 and a Council medal for her iron of superior quality 
 and manufacture, the prepared sheets being so thin, as 
 to be called " iron paper." 
 
 Tuscany had a prize medal for her collection, illus- 
 trative of the mineral and metallurgic series. 
 
 France received three medals ; one for steel, 
 adapted for springs, and other purposes ; another, for 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 
 
 395 
 
 the quality of its iron, known as Bigny iron, especially 
 suited for edge-tools, ironmongery, machine, and 
 carriage building; and the third, for iron tubes, suited 
 for hollow iron furniture, as bedsteads, &c., &c. 
 
 From a recent publication, by Mr. Oechel Lawson, 
 Secretary of the Association of Iron Producers in the 
 Zollverein, we find that the consumption of iron per 
 head, within the Customs' Union, had largely in- 
 creased in the period between 1834 and 1850. 
 
 Production. Per 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 1834-5 . . 2,225,661 
 1836-8 . . 3,042,462 
 1839-41 .. 3,406,653 
 1842-44 . . 3,428,851 
 1845-47 . . 4,085,567 
 1848-50 . . 4,177,297 . . 14 . . 2,124,245 . . 351,507 . . 4,950,035 . . 21f 
 
 The imports within the last few years into the 
 United Kingdom include the following : 
 
 Bar Iron. Steel. 
 tons 23,869 cwts. 348 
 
 Per 
 
 
 
 Consump- 
 
 'Per 
 
 head. 
 
 Import. 
 
 Export. 
 
 tion. 
 
 head. 
 
 10^ 
 
 . . 524,466 
 
 . . 287,391 . 
 
 . 2,492,736 
 
 .. 11 J 
 
 10} 
 
 . . 623,510 
 
 . . 347,913 . 
 
 . 3,324,059 
 
 .. 14 
 
 23 
 
 .. 1,456,666 
 
 . . 396,096 . 
 
 . 8,467,222 
 
 ..18* 
 
 13* 
 
 . . 3,548,673 
 
 . . 351,761 . 
 
 . 6,629,763 
 
 ..25* 
 
 15* 
 
 .. 3,153,900 
 
 . . 449,411 . 
 
 . 6,793,066 
 
 & 
 
 1848 
 1849 
 1850 
 1851 
 
 29,396 ............ 
 
 34,066 ............ 
 
 40.279 ............ 
 
 1,013 
 
 49 
 
 1,085 
 
 The exports in the same years of foreign and 
 colonial iron, &c. were : 
 
 Bar Iron. Steel. 
 
 1848 tons 3,432 cwts. 
 
 1849 5,036 
 
 1850 5,996 tons 
 
 1851 
 
 4,813 
 
 9,779 
 24,151 
 649 
 879 
 
 Value of our hardware and cutlery exported : 
 
 1848 1,860,150 
 
 1849 2,198,597 
 
 1850 2,641,432 
 
 1851 2,826,132 
 
 [1871 4,022,582] 
 
396 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The total value of our exports of iron and steel 
 manufactures now (1851) is about 6,000,000 a year. 
 Oar shipments of mill-work and machinery exceeds 
 another 1,000,000. Parliamentary returns show, 
 that since the readjustment of the tariff, the importa- 
 tion of foreign manufactures, coming into competition 
 with those of Sheffield and Birmingham, has not 
 increased, but is rather declining. Whilst the exports 
 of iron manufactured goods increased in 1850 by 
 1,000,000 over the previous year, the aggregate 
 value of all foreign metallic manufactures consumed 
 in these dominions, does not rival the transactions of 
 a third-rate Birmingham merchant. 
 
 EXPORTS OP BRITISH PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURES 
 OF IRON. 
 
 Machinery and mill-work, 
 steam engines, and parts of 
 engines, declared value . . 
 
 1848 
 
 234,182 
 583,474 
 
 1849 
 
 154,707 
 554,364 
 
 1850 
 
 423,977 
 618,189 
 
 1851 
 
 393,613 
 771,320 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 817 656 
 
 709 071 
 
 1,042,166 
 
 1 164 933 
 
 Xfrtnlq 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pig iron . Tons 
 
 175 650 
 
 162 539 
 
 141,973 
 
 201 062 
 
 Bar, bolt, and rod .... 
 Wire 
 
 338,688 
 1 913 
 
 398,007 
 3399 
 
 469,434 
 4,034 
 
 539,877 
 4,603 
 
 Cast 
 
 19371 
 
 16472 
 
 21,093 
 
 24,137 
 
 Wrought of all sorts . . 
 Steel, un wrought .... 
 
 83,606 
 6,913 
 
 121,935 
 8,133 
 
 136,296 
 10,593 
 
 139,276 
 11,894 
 
 Total Tons 
 
 626,141 
 
 710,485 
 
 783,423 
 
 920,849 
 
 The aggregate value of the products of iron we ship 
 annually will be seen by the annexed statement, and 
 the increase has been progressive. 
 
 The declared value of the British iron and steel and 
 their manufactures exported was in : 
 
 1848. 1849. 1850. 1851. 
 
 Iron and Steel 4,777,965 4,967,643 5,350,056 5,830,370 
 
 Machinery and mill-work .. 817,656 709,071 1,042,166 1,168,611 
 
 Total .. . 5.595,621 5,676,714 6,992,222 6,998,981 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 397 
 
 The entire quantity of pig iron made in 1750 was 
 below 30,000 tons. It may now be estimated at 
 2,500,000 tons, a progressive increase of 100,000 tons 
 per annum. The exports of all kinds from the United 
 Kingdom during the past four years have been as 
 follows 1848, 657,005 tons; 1849, 729,164 tons; 
 1850, 808,262 tons; and 1851, about 913,655 tons ; but 
 during the same period there has been a falling off, as 
 compared with the two or three previous years, in the 
 home demand, an inevitable consequence of the near 
 approach to completion of our internal lines of railway, 
 extending at the present moment over 7,000 miles. 
 
 The progress of the iron manufacture in this country 
 has been astonishing. The quantity of iron made in 
 Great Britain in different years was : 
 
 In 1740 17,350 
 
 1750 '. 22,000 
 
 1788 by 85 furnaces 68,000 
 
 1796 121 125,000 
 
 1806 169 250,000 
 
 1820 400,000 
 
 1827 284 690,000 
 
 1849 2,000,000 
 
 1851 2,500,000 
 
 The production by different districts in 1827 was : 
 
 Furnaces. Tons. 
 
 Staffordshire 95 216,000 
 
 Shropshire 31 78,000 
 
 South Wales 90 272,000 
 
 North Wales 12 24,000 
 
 Yorkshire 24 43,000 
 
 Derbyshire 14 20,500 
 
 All Scotland 18 36,500 
 
 Total 284 690,000 
 
398 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The annual out-put per furnace was in : 
 
 Tons. 
 1750 Average production per furnace 294 
 
 1796 1,033 
 
 1827 2,429 
 
 1840 3,473 
 
 1849 6,106 
 
 In 1830, Great Britain produced, by 376 furnaces, 
 677,417 tons; in 1840, by 402 furnaces, nearly 
 1,400,000 tons, as follows : 
 
 Furnaces. Tons. 
 
 South Wales 132 505,000 
 
 Staffordshire 123 427,650 
 
 Shropshire 24 82,750 
 
 Yorkshire 25 56,000 
 
 Derbyshire 13 31,000 
 
 North Wales 12 26,500 
 
 Forest of Dean 4 15,500 
 
 Northumberland 5 11,000 
 
 All Scotland 64 241,000 
 
 Total 402 1,396,400 
 
 By 1 62 hot blast furnaces tons 625,000 
 
 240 cold blast 771,400 
 
 402 1,396,400 
 
 The importation of iron at the beginning of this 
 century amounted to about 40,000 tons annually, and 
 the quantity made at home was under 150,000 tons. It 
 was given in evidence by Sir John Guest, before the 
 Committee of 1840, on import duties, that, in the year 
 1806, the quantity of iron made in the kingdom had 
 increased to 258,000 tons ; in 1823, the quantity pro- 
 duced was 452,000 tons; in 1825, it had reached 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 399 
 
 581,000 tons ; in 1828, the quantity was 703,000 tons. 
 At this point the manufacture remained stationary for 
 a few years, but in 1831 it again began to advance; 
 and, in 1835, the quantity made was estimated, on 
 good grounds, at 1,000,000 tons. In the following 
 year it was 1,200,000 tons ; and, in 1840, was said to 
 have reached 1,500,000 tons, including Ireland ; while 
 it is now 1,000,000 tons in excess of the latter 
 total quantity. 
 
 The quantity of nearly 2,000,000 total tons in 1848 
 was thus made up : 
 
 England tons 735,800 
 
 Wales 722,800 
 
 Scotland 539,968 
 
 Total 1,998,568 
 
 The near approach of Wales to England in produce 
 is remarkable, and shows how rapidly the iron manu- 
 facture of South Wales must have been extending. In 
 1848, the total number of furnaces in blast was 623. 
 
 In 1851, the iron manufactured in this country 
 amounted to 2,500,000 tons ; of which 750,000 tons 
 were made in South Wales ; 775,000 tons in Scotland ; 
 600,000 tons in South Staffordshire and Worcester, 
 and 400,000 tons in other districts one-third of the 
 produce being employed in castings, and two-thirds in 
 malleable manufactures. In order to obtain this extra- 
 ordinary quantity, 7,000,000 tons of ore, 2,700,000 
 tons of limestone, and 13,000,000 tons of coal had to 
 be extracted from the bowels of the earth ; while, in 
 addition to steam power, the labour of from 650,000 
 to 700,000 individuals, directly or indirectly employed, 
 
400 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 was required. These statistics sufficiently illustrate the 
 extensive scale upon which the manufacture is con- 
 ducted ; the immense demand for the article, both at 
 home and abroad ; and the value which Providence has 
 stored in an unattractive mineral substance, scarcely 
 distinguishable by the vulgar eye from an ordinary 
 stone upon the roads. Nor ought it otherwise to be 
 regarded than as a proof of wise and beautiful design, 
 that the valuable ingredients are so combined with the 
 worthless in the ore, and so deposited in nature as to 
 tax the utmost ingenuity and industry of man to de- 
 velope a useful product, for hereby the opportunity is 
 afforded him, with high incentives to use it, actively to 
 exercise his powers and improve them by cultivation. 
 Four hundred specimens of British iron ore appeared in 
 the Great Exhibition (1851). They are emphatically 
 geins of the country, immensely more precious than the 
 pearls and diamonds which formed the "wealth of 
 Ormuz and of Ind," for they furnish occupation, with 
 the means of subsistence, to hundreds of thousands of 
 the population, while contributing to the social advance 
 and foreign commerce of the kingdom, by the endless 
 variety of important objects to which hardwares are 
 applied. 
 
 The price of bar-iron at the close of the undermen- 
 tioned years was as follows : 
 
 s. 
 
 1840 8 10 
 
 1841 6 10 
 
 1842 6 10 
 
 1843 5 
 
 1844 6 10 
 
 Best iron, angle iron, rail iron, sheet iron and hoop 
 
 iron all exceed the above prices by from 5s. to 40s. per 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 
 
 401 
 
 ton. The highest price of pig iron since 1830 has 
 been 6 15s. per ton, and the lowest about <2.* 
 
 PRICES OF IRON IN STAFFORDSHIRE DURING THE LAST 20 YEARS. 
 The following statement as to the masters' selling prices of iron and rates 
 for puddling during the last 20 years, is furnished by Mr. G. J. Barker, the 
 Chairman of the South Staffordshire Ironmasters' Association : 
 
 
 January 
 Quarter. 
 
 April 
 Quarter. 
 
 July 
 Quarter. 
 
 October 
 Quarter. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Ba - Si 
 
 Bars. 
 
 Pud- 
 dling. 
 
 Bars. 
 
 Pud- 
 dling. 
 
 Bars. 
 
 Pud- 
 dling. 
 
 
 & s. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 s. 
 
 s. iL 
 
 1851 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1852 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 8 6 
 
 1853 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 1854 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 1855 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1856 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1857 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 1858 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 1859 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 1860 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 1861 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 C 
 
 1862 
 
 7 
 
 7 C 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 1863 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 1864 
 
 9 10 
 
 10 6 
 
 9 10 
 
 10 6 
 
 9 10 
 
 10 6 
 
 9 10 
 
 10 6 
 
 1865 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 1866 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 1867 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 1868 
 
 7 10 
 
 8 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 1869 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 1870 
 
 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 8 
 
 8 *6 
 
 1871 
 
 8 
 
 8 6 
 
 8 
 
 86 8 10 
 
 9 6 
 
 10 
 
 10 6 
 
 This statement makes it appear that the average price of iron for the 
 last 20 years has been 8 25. ; and the rate for puddling 8*. Id . 
 I may add, for comparison, the later value of the exports of iron : 
 
 
 18 
 
 31. 
 
 18 
 
 n. 
 
 Machinery and Mill- work . . 
 Pig Iron 
 
 Tons. 
 
 388 004 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 4,213,670 
 1 044 304 
 
 Tons. 
 1 061 004 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 5,942,357 
 3 70 406 
 
 Bar, Angle, Bolt, and Hod . . 
 Railroad Iron 
 
 258,074 
 377 565 
 
 1,882,275 
 2 906 359 
 
 349,12(i 
 970 017 
 
 2,925.242 
 8 065 867 
 
 Wire 
 
 11 811 
 
 205 479 
 
 26 057 
 
 444 640 
 
 Hoop, Sheet, &c 
 Tin Plates* 
 
 158,940 
 
 1,551,160 
 
 007 947 
 
 201,219 
 119 755 
 
 2,398,267 
 2 900 61 
 
 Wrought Iron, &c 
 
 97170 
 
 1 973 612 
 
 244 327 
 
 3 '598*807 
 
 Old Iron 
 
 9 320 
 
 36 001 
 
 138 831 
 
 (i(i(; ''<;<) 
 
 Steel 
 
 21 810 
 
 726 956 
 
 39 170 
 
 1 199 107 
 
 Manufactures of ditto 
 
 1,322,694 
 
 11,234,763 
 
 12,975 
 3,162,481 
 
 670.021 
 32,091 ,493 
 
 Quantities not specified in the official entries before 1862. 
 
 I) D 
 
402 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 [The following tables show the progress of the 
 Scotch Iron Trade, and the range of prices since the 
 foregoing was written] : 
 
 TIG IRON WORKS IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 FURNACES 
 28th Dec. 1871. 
 
 PKOPUIETOUS. 
 
 WORKS. 
 
 In blast. 
 
 II 
 
 O& 
 
 1 
 
 William Baird aud Co 
 Ditto 
 
 Gartsherrie ... 
 Eglinton 
 Lugrar 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 4 
 3 
 3 
 7 
 4 
 6 
 12 
 7 
 8 
 7 
 7 
 5 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 16 
 8 
 4 : 
 3 
 6 
 9 
 5 
 6 
 12 
 8 
 9 
 8 
 8 
 6 
 4 
 5 
 8 
 4 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 4 
 4 
 2 
 4 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Muirkirk 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Portland 
 
 Alcrry and Cunninghame 
 
 Glengarnock. . 
 Ardeer 
 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 Coltness Iron Co 
 
 Carnbroe 
 
 Coltness 
 
 D'lhncllington Iron Co. 
 
 Dalmellington 
 Monkland 
 Langloan 
 Summerlee ... 
 Clyde 
 
 Monkland Iron and Steel Co. 
 Robert Addie and Sons 
 
 
 James Dunlop and Co 
 Colin Dunlop and Co 
 
 Quarter 
 Go van 
 
 William Dixon .Esq 
 
 Ditto 
 Shotts Iron Co , 
 
 C alder 
 
 Shotts 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Castlehill .... 
 
 Wishaw Iron Co. 
 
 Wishaw 
 Kinneil 
 
 George Wilson and Co 
 
 Lochgelly Iron Co 
 | A. Christie and Co 
 Carron Iron Co 
 
 Lochgelly 
 Lumphinnans. 
 Carron 
 
 James Russel and Son 
 
 Almond 
 
 C and A Christie 
 
 Gladsmuir ... 
 Bridgeness ... 
 
 Ditto 
 
 1 
 126 
 
 Total 
 
 154 
 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 
 
 403 
 
 On 31st 
 December. 
 
 Furnaces 
 in Blast. 
 
 Make. 
 
 Shipments and 
 Home Consump- 
 tion. 
 
 Stock. 
 
 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 1845 
 
 88 
 
 475,000 
 
 390,000 
 
 245,000 
 
 1846 
 
 98 
 
 570,000 
 
 666,000 
 
 149,000 
 
 1847 
 
 100 
 
 510,000 
 
 579,000 
 
 80,000 
 
 1848 
 
 103 
 
 580,000 
 
 562,000 
 
 98,000 
 
 1849 
 
 112 
 
 690,000 
 
 578,000 
 
 210,000 
 
 1850 
 
 105 
 
 595,000 
 
 535,000 
 
 270,000 
 
 1851 
 
 112 
 
 760,000 
 
 680,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 1852 
 
 113 
 
 775,000 
 
 675,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 1853 
 
 114 
 
 710,000 
 
 950,000 
 
 210,000 
 
 1854 
 
 117 
 
 770,000 
 
 860,000 
 
 120,000 
 
 1855 
 
 121 
 
 825,000 
 
 847,000 
 
 98,000 
 
 1856 
 
 128 
 
 832,000 
 
 842,000 
 
 88,000 
 
 1857 
 
 123 
 
 915,000 
 
 843,000 
 
 160,000 
 
 1858 
 
 132 
 
 945,000 
 
 810,000 
 
 295,000 
 
 1859 
 
 125 
 
 950,000 
 
 915,000 
 
 330,000 
 
 1860 
 
 131 
 
 ,000,000 
 
 903,000 
 
 427,000 
 
 1861 
 
 121 
 
 ,035,000 
 
 927,000 
 
 535,000 
 
 1862 
 
 125 
 
 ,080,000 
 
 970,000 
 
 645,000 
 
 1863 
 
 134 
 
 ,160,000 
 
 1,105,000 
 
 756,000 
 
 1864 
 
 134 
 
 ,160,000 
 
 1,156,000 
 
 760,000 
 
 1865 
 
 136 
 
 ,164,000 
 
 1,272,000 
 
 652,000 
 
 1866 
 
 98 
 
 994,000 
 
 1,136,000 
 
 510,000 
 
 1867 
 
 112 
 
 1,031,000 
 
 1,068,000 
 
 473,000 
 
 1868 
 
 121 
 
 1,068,000 
 
 973,000 
 
 568,000 
 
 1869 
 
 129 
 
 1,150,000 
 
 1,098,000 
 
 620,000 
 
 1870 
 
 123 
 
 1,206,000 
 
 1.161,000 
 
 665,000 
 
 1871 
 
 126 
 
 1,160,000 
 
 1,335,000 
 
 490,000 
 
 Price of Bars, December, 1871, 9 10*. @ 10 per Ton ; 
 Plates, 11 10s. @ 12 ; Rails, 8 @ 8 10*. ; Railway 
 Chairs, 4 5*. @ 5 ; Cast Iron Pipes, 5 5*. @ 6. 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 I*.; 
 
 
 CO O t~ <N CO .-I I 05 
 
 t- t- so to u> >o ; w 
 
 7.S 
 
 i>- 
 
 L-5 O 
 
 O 
 
 
 III, 
 
 ! _J 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 
 
 405 
 
 NET CASH AVERAGE PEICE, &C. (Continued.) 
 
 
 1863 
 
 1864 
 
 1865 
 
 1866 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 1871 
 
 s. d. 
 
 *. d. 
 
 *. d. 
 
 j. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 g. d. 
 
 *. d. 
 
 i. d. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 January . . . 
 
 54 6 
 
 64 10 
 
 49 8 
 
 66 4 
 
 54 4 
 
 52 2 
 
 55 1 
 
 56 4 
 
 51 6 
 
 February . . 
 
 54 
 
 60 7 
 
 50 4 
 
 71 1 
 
 53 9 
 
 52 5 
 
 55 1 
 
 54 8 
 
 52 3 
 
 March 
 April . . 
 
 52 5 
 50 9 
 50 8 
 51 5 
 53 10 
 54 
 
 57 9 
 59 2 
 59 2 
 57 8 
 58 6 
 58 2 
 
 50 9 
 53 9 
 54 
 54 9 
 54 7 
 54 9 
 
 77 2 
 78 2 
 57 
 53 10 
 52 10 
 52 4 
 
 52 G 
 51 11 
 53 3 
 53 6 
 52 11 
 53 5 
 
 52 10 
 52 3 
 52 2 
 52 1 
 52 8 
 52 9 
 
 53 2 
 52 9 
 51 4 
 50 9 
 50 11 
 52 2 
 
 54 3 
 57 2 
 57 5 
 60 3 
 55 1 
 51 3 
 
 53 7 
 55 1 
 56 8 
 
 57 
 59 
 62 
 
 May. 
 
 June 
 July 
 
 August .... 
 
 September . . 
 
 57 8 
 
 58 3 
 
 57 5 
 
 54 6 
 
 54 3 
 
 53 8 
 
 53 
 
 51 7 
 
 60 7 
 
 October 
 
 61 3 
 
 51 10 
 
 57 9 
 
 54 2 
 
 54 11 
 
 53 
 
 53 1 
 
 51 4 
 
 61 8 
 
 November . . 
 
 62 6 
 
 51 
 
 58 
 
 53 5 
 
 54 1 
 
 53 5 
 
 54 6 
 
 51 1 
 
 67 9 
 
 December .. 
 
 Average of 
 the years .. 
 Aver.price of 
 Bar Iron in 
 
 65 7 
 
 50 2 
 
 61 9 
 
 54 4 
 
 52 8 
 
 53 7 
 
 57 
 
 51 3 
 
 70 
 58 11 
 
 55 9 
 
 57 3 
 
 54 9 
 
 60 6 
 
 53 6 
 
 52 9 
 
 53 3 
 
 54 4 
 
 7 7/6 
 
 812/ 
 
 7 15/ 
 
 7 15/ 
 
 7 2/6 
 
 6 15/ 
 
 6 15/ 
 
 7 15/ 8 O/ 
 
 We are on the brink of a revolution in this, one of 
 the leading manufacturing industries of the country, 
 by the introduction of Banks' rotary puddling fur- 
 nace, which has been working successfully in America. 
 The problem involved is a successful application of a 
 mechanical process for the puddling of iron, which 
 has so long engaged the attention of iron manu- 
 facturers, and would appear to be satisfactorily solved 
 at last. A commission sent over to America by the 
 Iron and Steel Institute, to enquire into the working 
 of this system, has reported favourably on it as a 
 success. It is impossible to over-estimate the changes 
 which the general adoption of this invention may 
 produce in the iron trade. For years and years there 
 
406 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 has been the greatest difficulty in - obtaining good 
 p tiddlers. As is well known, the work is very severe 
 and trying, even to the strongest of men, and the 
 trade has of late had more and more reason to regret 
 the paucity of skilled and able-bodied workmen. The 
 new process is reported to be very perfect, better 
 results in many respects being obtained than by 
 ordinary hand puddling. Mr. Frederick A. Paget, 
 C.E., in a paper recently read before the Society of 
 Arts, stated "There are more than 7,700 puddling 
 furnaces erected in Great Britain. As each furnace 
 costs about 130, the whole number represents an 
 invested capital of more than 1,000,000 sterling. 
 Supposing that only 6,500 of these are actually at 
 work, and each turning out only 700 tons per annum, 
 this would mean an annual production of more than 
 4,500,000 tons of puddled bar. At the present 
 average price of 7 10s., this represents a money value 
 of nearly 34,000,000 sterling. At each of these 
 furnaces two puddlers and two underhands or assistants 
 are employed; thus making up an army of 26,000 
 men at work, for twelve hours daily, at the most 
 laborious and arduous occupation in the whole range 
 of manufacturing industry. For each ton of puddled 
 bar at the very least an equal weight of coal is con- 
 sumed. This amount is notoriously exceeded in 
 almost every puddling furnace, except Mr. Siemens', 
 by more than 25 per cent. We may, therefore, safely 
 assume that the total weight of fuel consumed is at 
 least equal to that of the iron produced, or 4,500,000 
 tons of coal. 
 
 Now if, without in any way altering the mode of 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 407 
 
 firing of these furnaces, we could, say by any me- 
 chanical aid, accelerate the puddling process by only 
 25 per cent. that is to say, if the 4,500,000 tons of 
 puddled bar could be produced in nine months instead 
 of twelve, one quarter of the 4,500,000 tons of coal 
 would be saved. At the present price of coal of 1 
 per ton, this would amount to a saving of 1,137,500, 
 the puddlers themselves being also allowed to earn in 
 the nine months the same amount they would other- 
 wise make unaided in twelve, and no regard being had 
 to other advantages to the masters and men."* 
 
 * At the annual meeting of the Iron and Steel Institute, 
 held in London, in March, 1872, under the presidency of Mr. 
 Henry Bessemer, further supplementary reports were read 
 by Mr. J. A. Jones and Mr. Lester, two of the commis- 
 sioners who had been sent to the United States. The 
 former did not confine himself entirely to the results obtained 
 at the Cincinnati works, but went on to show what Banks' 
 machine will probably do in the future. Two plants were taken. 
 On the one hand a works equal to producing 600 tons of 
 puddled bars per week, with 50 puddling furnaces, had its 
 cost put down, on a basis of 50s. per ton for pig iron, at 
 33,000 ; on the other hand, the cost of a Banks' plant, having 
 precisely the same object in view, was set at 34,000, Mr, 
 Jones adding that it is thought that twelye of Banks' furnaces 
 will puddle as much iron in a given time as fifty ordinary 
 furnaces, and that no fewer than ten heats, if not more, 
 of 10-cwt. charges, are expected in twelve hours. Two 
 estimates were also given of the relative cost in production 
 between the ordinary and Banks' systems, the cost of puddled 
 bars in the Cleveland district being put at 4 lls. 2d. per ton ; 
 that of the same from the Banks' furnaces being expected to be 
 not more than 4. Os. 6d., giving a margin of 10s. Sd. per ton. 
 Reference was then made to the remarkable yield procured by 
 this furnace ; how it reduces the fettling in place of melting 
 
408 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 THE IRON INDUSTRY OF GREAT BRITAIN.* 
 
 THE Great Exhibition of 1851 did much good 
 by stimulating the foreign demand for our Iron 
 Manufactures. At the Paris Exhibition, in 1855, 
 we were not so well represented in this respect ; but 
 at the International Exhibition next year (1862), on 
 
 it out, being in that respect the most perfect machine that has 
 ever appeared before the public. Mr. Lester in his report 
 explained the practical method of charging and working the 
 Danks' furnace, and expressed the opinion that the puddling 
 was better done than by hand labour. The operation was so 
 much better for the men, that puddlers may be engaged upon 
 it until fifty or sixty years of age. The manufacture was 
 easily learnt, and the process decidedly a success. It is stated 
 that an agreement has been entered into between Mr. Danks, 
 the inventor of the new puddling machine, and a combination 
 of iron manufacturers representing the different districts, 
 whereby the latter undertake to have 200 furnaces on his plan 
 put up within six months, and in consideration of his permis- 
 sion to do so, to pay him 50,000 at that time, whether the 
 furnaces are in operation or not. In most cases this will 
 represent an extension of the puddling power, seeing that the 
 general body of the firms are not going to remove their old 
 hand- puddling furnaces, and this will be equal to an additional 
 make of 300,000 tons per annum. It is intended, on payment 
 of a further sum, to erect 260 more ; and this, with the 40 
 before arranged for, will make something like 500 furnaces 
 added to the producing power of the country in a year or two. 
 This is such a revolution as has never before occurred in the 
 history of this branch of industry, and the more is it to be 
 wondered at when it is remembered that, till July, 1871, it 
 was thought that hand- puddling must for ever continue, every 
 machine to do away with it having, before that, entirely 
 failed. 
 
 * Published in the "Mining Journal," October 2, 1861. 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 409 
 
 our own ground, judging from official advices and 
 private reports, Great Britain will be well represented 
 in every department illustrating the raw material and 
 its products. On the Continent we have little to fear 
 in the way of competition, and the civil disturbances 
 in the American Republic will materially retard the 
 progress of their iron industry. 
 
 In 1850 the quantity of iron produced was about 
 2,380,000 tons; last year the make reached 3,500,000 
 tons. The value of the enormous quantity of pig 
 iron produced in 1860, estimated at 50s. per ton, 
 would give as the proceeds of the rough iron smelted 
 in that year a sum of 8,750,000. The value of the 
 material after the further application of skill and 
 labour is, of course, very considerably increased. An 
 estimate of the value of the manufactured iron may 
 be obtained from the exports as shown in the Board 
 of Trade Returns. Thus, in 1860, the exports of iron 
 and steel, cast and wrought, of all descriptions, ex- 
 clusive of tinned plates, &c., amounted in quantity to 
 1,441,067 tons, of the value of 12,158,355, being at 
 the rate of upwards of 8 8s. per ton in previous 
 years it averaged about 9 per ton. If we estimate 
 the whole of the iron manufactured in this country at 
 the latter rate, it would give as the total value of the 
 iron manufacture of the kingdom 31,500,000. This, 
 however, does not include machinery and mill-work, 
 and the finer portions of the manufacture involved in 
 the production of hardware and cutlery, the collective 
 exports of which alone amounted, last year (1860), to 
 7,597,386 (exclusive of that employed at home, and 
 the large manufacture of rifles, &c.). It will probably, 
 
410 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 therefore, be a fair approximation to estimate the 
 entire value of the British iron manufacture at a sum 
 of 40,000,000. 
 
 The declared value of the exports of British iron 
 and iron manufactures has risen from 8,594,961 in 
 1851 to 21,254,422 in 1860. An industry which 
 in its export branch alone has made such an advance 
 in ten years despite casual difficulties must, with the 
 incidental advantages of new markets, reduced foreign 
 tariffs, stimulated demands, and new and important 
 uses for the metal, go on steadily progressing, and 
 give active and remunerative employment to capital 
 and labour. 
 
 Of the entire quantity of iron made in Europe and 
 America, Great Britain manufactures fully one-half; 
 the United States about 1,000,000 tons; France, 
 700,000; Russia, about the same; Austria, 600,000 ; 
 the Zollverein States, 400,000 ; and Belgium, 250,000 
 tons ; the Northern States of Sweden, Norway, and 
 Denmark, about 200,000 tons together; and Spain 
 and Italy, about 100,000 tons. The rest of the world 
 furnishes too little to be worth notice. France does 
 not produce enough for its own consumption, and now 
 draws largely from our furnaces; and we also send 
 many thousands of tons yearly to Germany, Holland, 
 Italy, and the Peninsula. 
 
 One of the great features of the present age is the 
 triumph .of Practical Science and the binding of lifeless 
 matter into the service of man. Iron is every year 
 made more and more to do the work of flesh and 
 blood, and that, too, not merely in the rude depart- 
 ment of physical force, but in tasks which require the 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 411 
 
 skill of practised workmen. One species of machinery 
 has been invented after another to abridge human 
 labour, and to such an extent has this been done 
 amongst ourselves that Great Britain, with its com- 
 paratively small population of 26,000,000, contains a 
 greater amount of dynamical resources than probably 
 any other country in the world.* The employment of 
 
 * When Coal was first an object of commerce it was trans- 
 ported on the backs of men from the pit's mouth to the sea 
 coast. A man in this way might carry a load of half a 
 hundredweight, but after a time a pack-horse was substituted 
 for the man, and carried about three hundredweight. As 
 Science progressed, the pack-horse was attached to the wheel 
 cart, into which its load was put, and it pulled along sixteen 
 hundredweight. Then, as industry progressed, tramroads were 
 laid down between the pit and the coast, and the same horse, 
 drawing a waggon, carried forty hundredweight. Finally 
 came the great triumph of Science, when coal was employed 
 to pull itself. The , smoking, snorting iron horse, fed with 
 coal and water, drags along the railroad two hundred tons. 
 The conversion of coal into force which produces this great 
 result, is, in point of cost, scarcely greater than that of the 
 human beast of burden, or the pack-horse originally used for a 
 scant result ; and yet our engines are so imperfect that they 
 only use one-tenth and waste nine-tenths of the available force 
 in coal. The importance of the transformation may be better 
 understood if you view the force of coal as expressed in men's 
 power ; just as we do in speaking of an engine as having so 
 many horse power. If human force were alone used in this 
 country, the sum of production must be limited by the number 
 of inhabitants. In such a case the United Kingdom could not 
 produce more than the product of the labour of its thirty 
 millions of inhabitants of all ages. But the coal excavated 
 annually in this country represents in actual attainable work 
 almost exactly the sum of the force of the whole population 
 of the globe, viewed as adults. So that the use of a natural 
 
412 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 steam power has become so general throughout the 
 kingdom that the number of steam engines in use in 
 factories, on farms, and on railways, besides marine 
 engines, is very considerable. In agriculture alone 
 there are about 30,000 steam engines employed ; the 
 locomotives on our railway lines must number fully 
 6,000. Ten years ago there were estimated to be 16,000 
 stationary engines in the kingdom working mines, 
 iron works and rolling mills, factories, flour mills, and 
 various other manufactories ; and with the industrial 
 progress and extended foreign commerce of the 
 country these have, of course, greatly increased. The 
 motive power in the various textile factories of the 
 kingdom was returned in 1856 at 137,711 horse 
 power. 
 
 If we glance at steam vessels, the greater part 
 of which are constructed of iron, we find that 
 while on January 1st, 1851, the number of merchant 
 steamers registered in the United Kingdom was 
 1,181, of 167,398 nett tonnage; on January 1st, 
 1861, the number had risen to 1,863, of 429,474 
 tonnage, exclusive of engine room. The effective 
 horse-power of these is nearly 200,000 horses, and of 
 this number upwards of 1,000 are built of iron. On 
 the average of some years past, 200 steamers have 
 been built and registered annually, besides many built 
 specially for, and others sold to, foreigners. In the 
 
 force, in substitution of human power, augments vastly the 
 productive resources of our small insular kingdom, and 
 enables it not only to supply its own wants, but also to export 
 to other countries its superfluity of production. Sir W. 
 Armstrong. 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 413 
 
 British Royal Navy there are now nearly 500 steam 
 vessels, with about 150,000 horse power. The de- 
 mands for iron for various uses at home and abroad 
 are incessant and progressive. The number of miles 
 of railway open in the United Kingdom exceeds 
 10,300 miles, and about 1,000 miles more are in 
 course of construction. At least 3,000,000 tons of 
 iron must have been used for these, and about 300,000 
 tons are annually required to keep them in repair. 
 In our own Colonial possessions many lines are open, 
 and others are in course of construction in Canada, 
 India, South Africa, Australia, and the West Indies. 
 In British India there will be nearly 2,000 miles 
 open by the close of this year. In the United States 
 there are about 28,000 miles of railway in operation. 
 The rails, locomotives, stations, &c., of all these have 
 consumed large quantities of iron. But there are 
 hundreds of other extensive demands for iron. Huge 
 anchors and chain cables are forged for leviathan 
 ships, boiler plates have been made weighing one or 
 two tons each, engine shafts of several tons, and cylin- 
 ders up to 30 tons. Thousands of miles of electric- 
 wire and submarine cables are manufactured ; tons of 
 gas and water pipes are required at home, and shipped 
 to every country and colony in the world. Iron bridges, 
 tunnels, and viaducts span rivers, straits, or valleys, 
 while iron dwellings/ churches, and stores spring up 
 in many directions. The demand for iron for ship- 
 building, now that timber is becoming scarce, is greater 
 than ever, both for the Royal Navy and mercantile 
 marine. 
 
 A writer in the " Westminster Review," commenting 
 
414 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 upon the Exhibition of 1851, thus spoke of a want 
 which in most respects has been since supplied in the 
 Great Eastern, a vessel which, notwithstanding all its 
 past commercial casualties, may yet become a profit- 
 able speculation, and a feeder to the International 
 Exhibition of 1862 : 
 
 " Amid the models of vessels of all kinds we miss 
 the practicable future an iron ocean steamer, of ten 
 or more thousand tons burthen, that shall still the 
 heave of the waves afloat, as Plymouth Breakwater 
 does on shore, and make the salt water the home of 
 the Celt, without the heaving of his diaphragm in 
 sea sickness ; built of iron scantlings that shall bear 
 a proportion to its size, rolled and fashioned by the 
 dock side from the iron ingots by tools of giants, 
 one sole heat sufficing to give it permanent form in 
 the structure ; built in sufficient compartments that 
 shall defy leakage, though riddled as a colander ; 
 strong as Atlas to crush the rocks on which it may 
 strike ; swift as the salt-sea shark, with artist fins of 
 metal work ; laughing to scorn, like an ocean monarch, 
 the irate cachalot that sometimes sinks the whaler in 
 his fury ; mocking at fire, like the iron horse of the 
 rail ; coated with rust-proof enamel ; furnished with 
 apparatus to change the salt wave into the mountain 
 water ; provided with iron cellars, to arrest the decom- 
 position of fresh food for all time ; furnished with 
 hermetic gardens, with machine music, with books, 
 paintings, and sculpture with warmth and coolness 
 at will, with armed strength to bid all ocean-rovers 
 defiance an ocean palace, moving over the face of the 
 waters whithersoever its ruler listeth. It were a 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 415 
 
 worthy source of pride to be the builder of a craft 
 like unto this." 
 
 Though we have no data to calculate the increase in 
 the consumption of iron at home for various purposes, 
 in the improvement and extension of mills, bridges, 
 and other erections, we know that every year sees a 
 vast quantity used up for beams and girders, pillars, 
 lighthouses, agricultural implements, conservatories, , 
 wire-rope, and other minor purposes. 
 
 In the words of Mr. Warington W. Smyth, " Enriched 
 in a wonderful degree by Nature, and favoured by the 
 energy of her people, Great Britain maintains, as she 
 has done since the end of the last century, a surpass- 
 ing pre-eminence in the production of the ordinary 
 classes of iron, which, after all, form the great bulk of 
 what is demanded by Commerce. In magnitude of 
 production and lowness of price we are at present un- 
 rivalled, and the task for the ironmaster in future will 
 be to endeavour, by scientific treatment of his subject, 
 to produce a superior article at the same or at a less 
 expense." 
 
 While on the subject of iron we cannot conclude 
 without some incidental notice of the iron ores of our 
 Colonies. Although not very largely utilised yet, iron 
 ore abounds in very many of the British Possessions. 
 The Acadian iron ore of Nova Scotia is well known, 
 so is the magnetic, specular, and bog iron ore from 
 Canada. Iron ores are met with in many parts of 
 British India. At the different local Exhibitions at 
 Madras, iron from various parts of Southern India 
 was shown. Thus iron ores exist ahd are worked in 
 the native forges of Masulipatam ; iron sand is met 
 with in the beds of rivers and gullies in Mysore, and 
 
416 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 native iron and iron ores are also found ; there are 
 iron ores in Pondicherry, from which pig iron and rails 
 are made; iron ores and metallic iron were shown 
 from Madura by the Rajah of Poodoocottah ; and iron- 
 stone was sent from Goondalapully and Toomaragod, 
 in Guntoor ; iron ore is found in many districts of 
 Travancore, but only in that of Shencottah is there 
 .any extensive smelting conducted. About 250 tons of 
 iron bloom is annually manufactured in the several 
 districts of Travancore. This manufacture, if scienti- 
 fically conducted and properly managed, could, it is 
 stated, be improved so as to meet the wants of the 
 country. This is not the case at present, for a better 
 and cheaper article is imported. At the Paris Ex- 
 hibition iron ores from various parts of India, from 
 Chota-Nagpore, and from the Himalayas, and Wootx 
 steel from different localities, were shown. The iron 
 sand of Taranaki, New Zealand, has recently attracted 
 much notice at home, from the excellent cutlery made 
 from it, and a neglected abundant product has now 
 come into commercial demand. 
 
 In various parts of Australia iron ores are met with. 
 In Tasmania clay ironstone is found in nodules, alter- 
 nating with coal and shale, at the Douglas River, on 
 the east coast of the island. Red hematite, an iron 
 ore yielding 90 per cent, of metal, is found on the 
 Tamar River. Anglo-Saxon industry, enterprise, and 
 capital, will, no doubt, ere long, develope their capa- 
 bilities. There is no question whatever, that several of 
 the Australian colonies possess iron ores of great rich- 
 ness. It is estimated that 2J tons of the ironstone of 
 Tasmania will yield 1 ton of good pig iron. But with 
 that fact demonstrated, the practical question will yet 
 
THE IRON MANUFACTURE. 417 
 
 remain undeterminedwhether the island can send its 
 iron into the market of India, of the neighbouring 
 colonies, or of any other part of the world where there 
 is a demand for it, and sell it there on terms that will 
 defray the cost of production, and leave a profit over. 
 
 Good iron ore is not a scarce article in England, 
 where labour and fuel are much cheaper than they are 
 at, the antipodes ; and in the colossal smelting works 
 of South Wales and Staffordshire an economy of pro- 
 duction has been reached which is only attainable where 
 enterprise is carried on on a gigantic scale. Unless 
 Tasmania can smelt its iron, and turn it into forms fit 
 for practical uses at a less cost than is done in England, 
 or else produce a material very much superior in 
 quality, so as to command a special market at a high 
 price, it can have no hope of superseding in any 
 direction the use of British iron. Even in supplying 
 the neighbouring colonies, they would have to pay as 
 much for the freight of the iron to Melbourne or 
 Adelaide as it costs to bring the metal from England. 
 Unless experiments prove that the ore will yield a 
 metal of surpassing excellence, there is very little 
 promise of success in this respect for the colonists. 
 
 At Bendigo, in Victoria, iron ore has been met with, 
 and late accounts state that some 6 or 8 cwts. of it 
 were smelted at Messrs. Langland's foundry, Mel- 
 bourne, which yielded iron of a very fine quality. The 
 assays are expected to give from 65 to 70 per cent, 
 of pure metal. 
 
 It was stated some years ago that iron ore in strata 
 was to be found in the colony of Western Australia to 
 any extent, and experiments were made which showed 
 
 E E 
 
418 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 that it yielded a larger per centage of metal than the 
 average of ores in England. In the neighbourhood of 
 the Williams' iron ore is met with in small cubical 
 and, in other instances, in spherical masses, black, and 
 very hard. In several other parts of the Colony iron 
 ore is found lying on the surface. 
 
 In New South Wales the Fitzroy Iron Mine is situ- 
 ated at Mittagong, on the Goulburn road, seventy-five 
 miles from Sydney, at an elevation of 2,053 feet above 
 the sea, from which it is distant, at Wollongong only 
 twenty-one miles. The actual extent of the mine is 
 supposed to be about a hundred acres. This iron 
 field offers to the ordinary observer some remarkable 
 features. The ore lies scattered on a surface of 
 gentle inclination in huge blocks, the intervals being 
 in many places occupied by a rich red oxide. The 
 investigations of Mr. Keene, the Government mine- 
 ralogical surveyor in the vicinity, having satisfied 
 him that the iron ore had been protruded through 
 a coal field, this mineral was searched for success- 
 fully a short distance beyond the edge of the iron 
 field, and found in seams from 3 to 3J feet in thickness. 
 The iron produced from this ore possesses remarkable 
 qualities ; it requires no flux in smelting, and the metal 
 when smelted is made perfectly malleable with very 
 little labour. The specimens at the Paris Exhibition 
 in 1855 were calculated to show the facility with which 
 it can be applied to work requiring the finest descrip- 
 tions of iron. It appears to exist in quantities prac- 
 tically inexhaustible, sinkings to the depth of twenty- 
 eight feet having been made, the whole way through 
 an unbroken mass of ore. Formations of similar 
 character abound in many parts of the Colony. 
 
PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL INDUSTRIES. 419 
 
 THE PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL 
 INDUSTRIES.* 
 
 THE trade, commerce, and material progress of Great 
 Britain are mainly founded upon her mineral and 
 metallic wealth, and the vast industries and manu- 
 factures which they give rise to. Steady and con- 
 tinuous as has been the advance of mining and 
 metallurgic operations in the kingdom, the strides 
 made in the last ten years have been gigantic, and the 
 results springing therefrom highly beneficial, whether 
 regarded in an individual or national point of view. 
 Let us merely examine, in the first instance, our foreign 
 commerce in Minerals and Metals in 1850 and 1860, 
 (apart from the larger question of the entire home pro- 
 duction), and we shall find immense expansion. We 
 will take first the imports. 
 
 In 1850, we imported 665,269 cwts. of brimstone or 
 sulphur no copper ores ; 34,066 tons of iron in bars 
 no steel; 11,876 tons of lead, pig and sheet; 
 355,079 Ibs. of quicksilver ; 18,626 tons of zinc; and 
 33,711 cwts. of tin. We take the year immediately 
 preceding the Great Exhibition of 1851, as affording 
 a correct index of the position of our trade at that 
 time. And now what do the import tables of last year 
 show us, even with respect to these few items ? an 
 increase in all instances of 75 to 100 per cent. In 
 I860, we imported 1,007,503 cwts. of sulphur ; 109,070 
 tons of copper ore, regulus, &c. ; 54,061 tons of iron 
 
 * Published in the "Mining Journal," April 20th, 1861. 
 
 E E 2 
 
420 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 bars ; 3,788 tons of steel ; 22,171 tons of lead ; 
 2,966,588 Ibs. of quicksilver ; 23,481 tons of zinc or 
 spelter; and 58,220 cwts. of tin. 
 
 But it is in the value of our metallic exports that 
 the greatest progress is shown ; for, exclusive of our 
 large demands for coal, iron, machinery and mill-workj 
 hardware, &c., at home, the value of our exports has 
 nearly doubled ; and much of this increased trade is 
 mainly owing to the opening up of fresh markets, new 
 customers obtained through our national display IE 
 1851, and to the modifications' of adverse foreigr 
 tariffs since brought about by international congresses 
 iVc. With the extension of steam ships and stean 
 navigation, our export of coal has increased in the ter 
 years from 3,351,880 tons to 7,348,328 tons, and thii 
 without trenching upon our increased home consump 
 tion. The following comparative figures show th< 
 declared value of British produce and manufactures 
 mineral and metallic, exported in the two periods : 
 
 1850. 
 Brass and Copper, wrought 1,978,196 
 Coals, &c 1,284,224 
 Hardware and Cutlery ... 2,641,432 
 Iron and Steel 6,350,056 
 Lead and Shot 387 3<u 
 
 1860. 
 ... 3,001,992 
 ... 3,321,539 
 ... 3,772,025 
 ... 12,158,355 
 699,648 
 ... 1,230,628 
 358,090 
 363,469 
 ... 1,498,681 
 
 Machinery and 
 Salt 
 
 Millwork 1,042,167 
 224 501 
 
 Tin unwrouffht 
 
 124 798 
 
 Tin Plates &c 
 
 944 940 
 
 Total 
 
 
 . . . . 13 977 708 
 
 26,404,427 
 
 
 
 That some benefits have accrued, in a national poir 
 of view at least, from the magnificent collection ( 
 
PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL INDUSTRIES. 421 
 
 British mineral produce, metals, machinery, and manu- 
 factures shown in 1851, all will, we think, admit. 
 
 At the Paris Exhibition, in 1855, British mineral 
 produce, as a whole, and mining operations generally, 
 were very imperfectly represented, and this, we think, 
 was bad policy. Although there were a few good 
 collections, yet there were scarcely more than 50 ex- 
 hibitors in all from the United Kingdom. The class 
 of " Mines and Metallurgy " was divided into nine 
 sections. Under the 1st, " General Statistics and 
 Plans," there were two or three topographical and 
 geological maps and sections shown, with some few 
 statistics. Under the 2nd Section, " Modes of 
 Working Mines," there were two models only of coal 
 mines. Under Section 3, " Modes of Preparing 
 Metals," nothing whatever was shown. Section 4, 
 " Coals and Combustible Materials," contained fair 
 representations of the fossil fuels which are so im- 
 portant an element in our manufacturing industry, our 
 navigation, and our export trade. A collection of the 
 various qualities of coal suitable fordomestic purposes, 
 steam generation, the production of gas, furnace use, 
 and general manufacturing purposes ; with samples of 
 locomotive and foundry coke, patent coal, and patent 
 fuel, was made at the instance of the Department of 
 Science and Art, to which the various collieries, coal- 
 owners, and patentees responded readily by small 
 samples. In Section 5, "Iron," a very good collection of 
 ores and metal was contributed by Messrs. Wm.Bird and 
 Co. for the general iron trade, but in the next Section, 
 " Other Common Metals," the articles shown were poor 
 in the extreme, comprising only a few samples of 
 
422 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 copper, lead, and white blende. Section 7, " Precious 
 Metals," afforded more scope for exhibition from Great 
 Britain, but there was only a collection by Mr. Sopwith, 
 some silver-yielding ores, and a machine for crushing 
 ore. Section 8, " Coins and Medals," was a sub- 
 division out of place among raw materials, and belongs 
 properly to another division. There were only two 
 British exhibitors Mr. B. Wyon and Messrs. Lincoln 
 ;md Sous. The 9th and last Section embraced " Non- 
 metallic Mineral Productions," and here there was a 
 very paltry display of fine salt, potter's earth, sands, 
 and clays. Looking at the large national outlay 
 (40,000) voted to render the collection creditable, 
 certainly as regards the mineral industries, it was by 
 no means such a representation as was calculated to 
 raise us in the estimation of Continental countries. 
 
 Great Britain, then, the nation of metallic industry, 
 par excellence, at Paris played a part insignificantly 
 subordinate to several of the European countries. In 
 the words of Mr. Warington Smyth, in his subsequent 
 official report to the President of the Board of Trade 
 " A single glance at the 1st Class 'of the British 
 part of the Exposition sufficed to show a marked 
 difference from that of 1851. The gigantic masses of 
 fossil fuel the spring of our commercial greatness 
 were absent ; those huge blocks of coal, in some cases 
 illustrating only the peculiar cleavage and character of 
 certain seams, in others, reconstructing at the surface 
 the pile of successive layers worked in the depths of 
 the earth, were so costly to the exhibitors in Hyde 
 Park as to preclude, unless some special reason 
 existed, their being thus extracted for a second occasion. 
 
PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL INDUSTRIES. 423 
 
 Still more was it observable that there was scarcely a 
 trace of the bold rocks of metallic ore which, in 1851. 
 represented with a sort of rude grandeur, although 
 not always with scientific meaning, the varied and 
 abundant mineral treasures which enrich our island. 
 Nothing like the monster crystals of galena from 
 Snailbeach and Laxey, nothing equal to the section of 
 the Duke of Devonshire's lode at Grassington, nothing- 
 recalling the fine blocks of Cornish tin ore, caught 
 the eye on the first entrance ; and closer examination 
 made it evident that, as regarded our raw materials, 
 Britain was most inadequately represented" 
 
 Now, the italics here are not ours, but those of Mr. 
 Smyth, and if so competent and eminent an authority 
 admits the discreditable fact, there can be no disputing 
 it. If, then, we were not duly represented at the short 
 distance across the Channel, let there, at least, be an 
 effort made that we shall show well on our own 
 ground, and not be distanced by foreigners, as far as 
 regards minerals, metals, and machinery. 
 
 If we can read correctly the prevalent feeling current 
 as to the matter in hand, it seems quite clear that the 
 special department with which we are chiefly interested 
 will be duly represented in 1862 by British contributors, 
 both at home and in the Colonies. That we shall have 
 a noble display of minerals and metals from the 
 Colonies is quite clear, from the systematic way in 
 which our Possessions are going to work. On the last 
 occasion they had not fair play, or due notice for pre- 
 paration. Everything was done in 1851 hurriedly and 
 in confusion, with no experience to guide them. Now 
 the matter has been more calmly and systematically 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 undertaken, without the necessity of agitation and ex- 
 planations ; now the Colonies, having had a clear 
 year's notice, have been able to obtain large Colonial 
 grants from their Legislatures, and to form competent 
 local committees to carry out the arrangements of col- 
 lection, transmission, &c. Moreover, the Eoyal Com- 
 missioners evidently contemplate some permanent trade 
 museum hereafter ; for in their recent circular letter 
 to the Governors they invite exhibitors to furnish, 
 when practicable, duplicate specimens, as, besides the 
 aggregate collections, they wish to classify colonial 
 raw produce, bringing all minerals, textile materials, 
 and so on, into one general comparative view. Such 
 an arrangement, although it has been much carped 
 at, will greatly facilitate reference and comparison by 
 those specially interested in particular products. Such 
 persons may study closely and collectively a group of 
 objects, noting locality, quality, price, and other details, 
 without having to wander all over the huge building to 
 pursue their investigations. This will in no way inter- 
 fere with special and geographic collections, but is 
 rather intended to supplement them by stimulating 
 enquiry and the examination of finer samples in the 
 particular complete collection. 
 
 The British Possessions of 1862 are very different 
 both in character, population, and wealth, to what they 
 were in 1851 ; several new and important colonies 
 have been formed, including Victoria, Queensland, 
 British Kaffraria, and British Columbia. The gold 
 discoveries in Australia were only in their infancy in 
 1851, now they have become an established fact ; while 
 the gold-bearing districts of California have been sup- 
 plemented by those of British Columbia, 
 
PROGRESS OF OUR MINERAL INDUSTRIES. 420 
 
 The copper and malachite of South Australia and 
 Western Africa are now articles of commerce, so is the 
 antimony of Borneo. New sources of sulphur have 
 been opened up, and new metals discovered. The 
 practical researches of the chemist have largely de- 
 veloped the uses of minerals; while iron, as a con- 
 structive material for use on land or on sea, has added 
 greatly to the industry of the nation, and supplied the 
 wants which the deficiency of ship-building timber had 
 created. 
 
 The taste for geological and mineral investigations 
 has been greatly promoted in an educational point of 
 view of late years ; lectures by professors, evening 
 classes, geological tours, cabinets and collections for 
 schools and public institutions hare been made, which 
 have largely extended a knowledge of soils, strata, and 
 minerals, and which cannot fail to be eminently useful 
 to the rising generation, whether their future opera- 
 tions be carried on at home or abroad. 
 
 There are many incidental topics and suggestions 
 that will arise out of the consideration of this great 
 subject, connected more or less with mining and metal - 
 lurgic operations. At Paris, in 1855, the Commissioners 
 of Sewers of the Seine exhibited a subterranean atlas of 
 Paris, intended as a guide for the operations of ex- 
 tensions, repairs, &c., which are continually going on 
 underground in that capital. Now, such a plan pre- 
 pared and shown by our Commissioners of Sewers and 
 Board of Public Works would be of great utility in 
 many points of view, for the public in general have no 
 conception of the extent, direction, and ramification of 
 the sewers of this great metropolis. It would guide 
 
426 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 many building operations, and greatly facilitate col- 
 lateral works carried on above and below ground. 
 The geological and topographical surveys of England 
 have also made great progress since 1851, and the 
 public will be able to see from the labours of the officers 
 of the School of Mines the important duties that have 
 been slowly but assiduously prosecuted by that depart- 
 ment in Jerrnyn- street, the Ordnance Survey, &c. 
 
THE GLAB8 MANUFACTURE. 427 
 
 THE GLASS MANUFACTURE.* 
 
 The constructive purposes for which Glass is used 
 are very numerous. The principal kinds are, of course, 
 crown glass and German sheet glass the best window 
 glass ; broad glass, or common window glass ; plate 
 glass, and rough plate for conservatories, skylights, 
 and for floors ; coloured glass, glass tiles and slates, 
 and glass pipes. 
 
 Window glass is subdivided into three descrip- 
 tions : 
 
 1st. Crown glass, blown into the shape of large 
 globes, and afterwards opened but into circular flat 
 plates. 2nd. Sheet glass, blown into the shape of 
 long cylinders, and afterwards opened out into square 
 flat plates. 3rd. Plate glass, cast on large iron tables, 
 used, in the rough state, for skylights and railway 
 station and other roofs, and, when ground and polished, 
 for shop-fronts, windows, mirrors, glazing prints, &c. 
 
 Mr. George Shaw, Professor of Chemistry in 
 Queen's College, Birmingham, and Mr. Henry Chance, 
 in lectures delivered before the Society of Arts, have 
 each given very interesting details as to the manufac- 
 ture of glass. The paper of the last-named gentle- 
 man, read on the 13th February, 1856, "On the 
 Manufacture of Crown and Sheet Glass," was essen- 
 tially practical. But neither of these gentlemen have 
 favoured us with any facts or figures calculated to con- 
 
 * Published in the " Building News," in 1855. 
 
428 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 vey a notion of the trade in window glass for the 
 purposes of the builder, the shop-fitter, glass for the 
 upholsterer, print-framer, &c. We purpose, therefore, 
 placing, in a collected form, some scattered official and 
 other data which may serve to show the extent and 
 importance of the manufacture of glass for purposes 
 in which the architect and builder are most interested. 
 
 Crown glass and German sheet are manufactured for 
 windows, hothouse roofs, skylights, &c. 
 
 1,000,000 of square feet, weighing 400 tons, were 
 used for glazing the Great Exhibition building in 
 1851, and a larger quantity for the Crystal Palace at 
 Sydenham. Crown glass, being made in a circular 
 form, called " tables," is generally packed in a nar- 
 row triangular-formed crate, containing 18 tables, 
 divided=36 sides, weighing 2-J cwts. ; but extra thick 
 is in crates of 12 tables. German sheet glass is 
 usually packed in small square boxes ; and rough 
 plate glass in strong heavy cases. The aggregate 
 manufacture was about 12,000 tons in 1850, and the 
 value 250,000. 
 
 The production of plate glass, polished, for win- 
 dows, and looking-glasses, and for cabinet furniture, 
 was estimated by competent parties in 1850 at 
 1,750,000 superficial feet, weighing 2,300 tons, of the 
 value of 260,000. This was exclusive of 400,000 
 feet 1,000 tons of rough plate glass, worth 20,000 
 more. Flattened crown squares and crown squares 
 are sold, cut to size, at per foot. 
 
 The weight of plate glass averages 3 Ibs. per super- 
 ficial foot polished, and 6 Ibs. rough. 
 
 There are six companies concerned in the manufacture 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 429 
 
 of plate glass three at St. Helen's in Lancashire, one 
 at Birmingham, one at Newcastle, and one in London. 
 These are the British Plate Glass Company at River- 
 head, the Union Plate Glass Company, and the London 
 and Manchester Company, at St. Helen's ; the Birming- 
 ham Plate Glass Company ; Swinburne and Co., South 
 Shields ; and the Thames Plate Glass Company at 
 Blackwall. The aggregate make of these companies 
 was 350,000 square yards that of France being 
 380,000; of Germany, 120,000; and of Belgium, 
 100,000. Thus twelve companies or firms, with sixteen 
 works, produce about 1,000,000 square yards of plate 
 glass, of the value of 1,120,000. The average 
 value of the square yard of polished glass may 
 be taken at the present time at 22s. 6d. In the last 
 twenty years the cost price has been reduced 60 per 
 cent, which has largely developed production and con- 
 sumption. To the British production must be added 
 70,000 superficial yards of rough glass and 400,000 
 yards of rolled plate glass. 
 
 About one-half of the quantity made in the pro- 
 vinces is despatched to London, for the supply of 
 the metropolis and for distribution in the southern 
 parts of the kingdom. The capital employed in the 
 plate glass manufacture exceeds 1,000,000 sterling, 
 giving employment to about 2,000 hands. 
 
 Stained glass of various colours is sold at per foot, 
 in sheets and squares. 
 
 In a lecture by Mr. James Hartley, the extensive 
 glass manufacturer, of the Bishopwearmouth Works, 
 Sunderland, speaking of the progressive increase in 
 the manufacture of crown and sheet glass, he stated 
 
430 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 that in 1844, the last year of the duty, there was made 
 by the fourteen companies then existing 6,700 tons 
 of crown and sheet glass, paying 500,000 duty ; 
 there are now ten companies, working 40 furnaces, with 
 284 pots, making 35,500,000 feet, annually, equal to 
 15,000 tons, valued at 225,000, being an increase of 
 considerably more than cent, per cent., and at a charge 
 to the public of less than one-half of the former duty. 
 In polished plate there are six companies, being the 
 same as existed in 1837, and consequently their number 
 has remained stationary since the repeal of the duty, 
 but their production is estimated to have doubled. 
 They now make 3,000,000 feet of polished plate an- 
 nually, equal to 5,500 tons, valued at 450,000. Of 
 Hartley's patent rough plate the quantity now manu- 
 factured annually is 2,240,000 feet, of 2 Ibs. to the 
 foot, valued at 30,000. 
 
 In Hartley and Co.'s glass tariff there are 7,329 
 figures, also 17 descriptions of glass, with 51 thick- 
 nesses. Messrs. Hartley's warehouse, or depot, at 
 Sunderland, for the complete produce of their great 
 works, 270 feet long by 75 feet wide, is glazed 
 over its whole extent with their patent rough plate, 
 one-eighth of an inch thick, and weighing 2 Ibs. to 
 the foot, the kind now almost universally used for 
 conservatory and railway station roofs, and which was 
 supplied by Mr. Hartley to Messrs. Fox, Henderson 
 and Co. for the latter purpose, in the 'instance of the 
 immense roof erected at the Great Western Paddington 
 Station the first building so roofed after the Crystal 
 Palace, in Hyde Park. Hungerford Market, and the 
 new baths at Buxton, were also glazed with this 
 material. The size of the squares is 76 inches by 20. 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 431 
 
 They amount to no less than 1,560 in number, equal 
 to 16,400 superficial feet, and yet to no more than 
 14 tons in weight ! an extraordinary lightness, if we 
 contrast it with the glass roofing of the Great Northern 
 Railway Station in London, in which the plates are 
 half an inch thick, and consequently enormously 
 heavier. In equal areas, in. fact, of roofing, the dif- 
 ference between this glass and the rough plate of 
 Messrs. Hartley would be between 14 tons and 56 tons ! 
 It has been proved by the great tests of practice and 
 experience that the thickness one-eighth of an inch 
 is amply sufficient to resist the force of any casualty, 
 while it is free from liability of self-breakage after 
 glazing. Now, on the other hand, the half-inch thick- 
 ness renders the plates extremely apt to fly across, as 
 it is. called, partly from their weight and rigidity, and 
 partly from their unequal contraction and expansion 
 under varying atmospheric temperature. Nor should 
 it be forgotten that this extra and certainly superfluous 
 cost of thicker glass involves of necessity greatly in- 
 creased strength in every part of the building so 
 roofed a very serious consideration with both pro- 
 prietors and architects. 
 
 The abolition of the excise duty on glass and of the 
 assessed tax on windows gave a great impetus to the 
 enlarged use of glass in buildings, and the number 
 of windows in dwelling-houses ; and the construction 
 of green-houses ' to new buildings has been greatly 
 extended. 
 
 The produce of the little kingdom of Belgium the 
 greatest glass-producing country in the world is 
 50,000,000 feet of sheet glass annually, equal to 22,300 
 tons. Of this quantity 85 per cent, is exported. 
 
432 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 6 per cent, comes to England, and they retain 
 15 per cent, for home consumption. The production 
 and value of the principal kinds of glass exported from 
 Belgium in 1865 were as follows : 
 
 Value, frs. 
 
 Window Glass, square metres 7,491,000 ... 9,712,000 
 Bottles and Phials, number... 9,945,000... 1,003,000 
 Plate Glass, square metres... 100,000 ... 2,700,000 
 
 Total 13,415,000 
 
 There are about fifty -four glass works, with 72 
 furnaces, in the different branches of manufacture, 
 employing 6,764 workpeople. The aggregate value 
 of the glass of all kinds made was 18,250,000 francs. 
 
 M. Bontemps, in his introduction to the French 
 section on Glass, at the Paris Exhibition of 1867, 
 states that the goods made involve eight separate 
 processes of manufacture. 1. Crystal glass, with 
 frasis of lead for table services, lustres, candelabra ; 
 ornamental and fancy crystal glass, cut and plain, 
 white and coloured, threaded, gilt and painted. 2. 
 Fine and common table glass, articles for restau- 
 rants and cafes, mineral water bottles or syphons, 
 retorts, and other chemical apparatus. 3. Glass for 
 mirrors and windows, moulded glass for lighthouses 
 and paving, rough glass, channelled and plain for 
 glazing conservatories, &c. 4. Window glass, plain 
 and coloured ; cylinders, globes, and shades of various 
 shapes, glass tiles. 5. Bottles for wine and mineral 
 waters, bell glasses for gardeners, &c. 6. Flint and 
 crown glass for optical purposes. 7. Enamel in block 
 and in tubes, for jewellers, enamellers, &c. 8. Stained 
 glass. 
 
 These products are chiefly manufactured in tho 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 433 
 
 departments of the Nord, Aisne, tlie Seine, the 
 Meurthe and the Moselle, the Rhone, the Loire, 
 and the Allier. The raw materials of the glass 
 manufacture principally comprise silica, which, in 
 the shape of sand, forms one-half the bulk of flint 
 glass and three-fifths of other kinds of glass ; oxide 
 of lead, which forms one-third part of the composition 
 of crystal glass ; carbonate of lime, which represents 
 one-fifth of the composition of common glass, and 
 sulphate and carbonate of soda, which also form a 
 fifth of the composition. With the exception of the 
 lead, these materials are all of home produce ; the 
 lead is derived from Belgium, England, and Spain. 
 
 The fusion is performed in crucibles, heated by coal 
 or wood ; but the substitution of the former for the 
 latter fuel is becoming universal. The glass manu- 
 facture depends principally on the skill of the work- 
 men machinery plays but a secondary part. It is 
 only in the case of plate glass that machinery is 
 indispensable. 
 
 Glass making is carried on in houses provided with 
 furnaces, glass-cutting, dressing, and polishing shops. 
 The workmen generally work by the piece, and there 
 are no middlemen employed. The glass houses 
 employ few women, but the number of children 
 engaged about the furnaces is nearly equal to that 
 of the men. Paris is the chief market for flint, table, 
 and plate glass, as well for home consumption as for 
 exportation. Window glass is sold to wholesale 
 dealers, who retail it to the glaziers. The bottle 
 makers sell to the wine producers, bottlers of mineral 
 waters, and wholesale dealers. 
 
434 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The annual production of flint glass has risen since 
 1862 from 9,000,000 to 11,000,000 or 12,000,000 
 francs. Ordinary table glass is extensively manu- 
 factured in France, and the importance of this trade 
 is at least equal to that of flint glass. The production 
 of plate glass is estimated at 350,000 to 400,000 
 square metres per annum, and the trade at 12,000,000 
 or 13,000,000 francs. The quantity of window glass 
 produced may be set down as 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 
 square metres, of the value of 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 
 francs. The number of bottles is estimated at 
 100,000,000 to 110,000,000, of the value of 
 18,000,000 to 20,000,000 francs. The glass trade 
 is increasing in all parts of the country, and it is 
 probable that the glass stainers of France will 
 speedily rival the skill of the old masters. Finally, 
 the value of the whole industry reaches about 
 75,000,000 francs, one-third of which represents the 
 salaries of 35,000 men, women, and children.* 
 
 * M. Bon temps, in " An Historical and Practical Treatise on 
 Glass Making," recently published in Paris, gives the fol- 
 
 lowing statistics of the glass trade in France : 
 
 Value. Weight of produce. 
 
 Francs. Kilogrammes. 
 
 Window Glass ... 12,500,000 31,000,000 
 
 Looking Glass ... 13,000,000 ... 18,800,000 
 
 Bottles (110,000,000) 14,000,000 ... 100,000,000 
 
 Crystal Glass ... 14,000,000 ... 11,500,000 
 
 Drinking Glasses 
 
 (Gobleterie) ... 10,000,000 21,000,000 
 
 Total ...... 63,500,000 ... 182,300,000 
 
 The weight of raw materials used is 220,250,000 kilo- 
 grammes, and of combustible fuel, 557,500,000 kilogrammes. 
 The number of workmen employed is 19,700, pretty equally 
 divided among the five branches of trade, and they receive 
 Tc-ao-ps nrnoiintincr to n. total of 18. 000.000 francs. 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 435 
 
 Amongst the recent improvements introduced into 
 the glass trade must be mentioned a new method of 
 fusing glass, by means of a combination of com- 
 bustible gases derived from coal, wood, or peat, with 
 the aid of special apparatus. This transformation, 
 which promises important results, is the most remark- 
 able fact in the glass trade. 
 
 According to the Census of 1861 the number of 
 persons engaged in the glass trade in the United 
 Kingdom was 16,525, of whom 15,229 were males. 
 
 The following extracts from a report by Mr. H. 
 Chance to the British Association at Birmingham, in 
 1865, will show the importance of some branches of 
 this industry. The weekly produce of plate glass then 
 made was about 100,000 feet. There are seven 
 manufacturers of crown and sheet glass, three of whom 
 make 75 per cent, of the whole quantity produced. 
 The number of workmen employed in these three 
 works is stated to be 2,500, and the quantity of 
 glass produced 17,000 tons. There are no complete 
 statistics of the manufacture of flint glass. The annual 
 production of this description of glass in the Tyne and 
 Wear district is estimated at 10,000,000 Ibs., of which 
 Birmingham produces about 5,000,000 Ibs., and 
 Stourbridge 3,500,000 Ibs. annually. The make of 
 glass bottles in the Tyne and Wear district in the 
 year 1862, was stated by Mr. Swinburne to have been 
 about 4,230,000 dozens. The subjoined table gives a 
 complete account of the several descriptions of glass 
 imported into the United Kingdom in 1865 and 
 1870: 
 
43 r; 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Window Glass (except plate) 
 Flint Glass, cut, coloured, or 
 
 1865. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Quantities 
 cwts. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantities 
 cwts. 
 
 Value. 
 
 
 264,056 
 
 32,961 
 23,039 
 28,631 
 1,699 
 17,113 
 
 12,650 
 
 211,246 
 
 172,405 
 32,254 
 133,613 
 10,700 
 8,984 
 
 60,773 
 
 422,957 
 
 26,209 
 30,826 
 35,298 
 2,060 
 
 29,488 
 
 64,538 
 
 296,072 
 
 148,983 
 35,966 
 164,725 
 12,979 
 11,784 
 
 260,958 
 
 Ditto plain, including bottles 
 Plate Glass 
 
 Silvered Glass, or Mirrors 
 Bottles of green or common 
 Glass 
 
 Manufactures, uuenumerated 
 Total 
 
 380,149 
 
 629,975 
 
 611,376 
 
 Ibs. 
 2,112,081 
 
 931,467. 
 
 iJuads and Bugles of Glass . . 
 
 Ibs. 
 3,365,221 
 
 
 
 178,310 
 
 
 
 124,183 
 
 Although many European markets are closed to the 
 British producers of glass by the import duties levied, 
 it will be seen from the following figures that our 
 export trade has made great progress during the last 
 twenty years : 
 
 i 
 QUANTITIES IN CWTS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Flint Glass. 
 
 Window Glass. 
 
 Common 
 Bottles. 
 
 Plate Glass. 
 
 1851 
 
 25,900 
 
 16,459 
 
 329,025 
 
 See Value 
 
 1855 
 
 39,295 
 
 21,537 
 
 513,140 
 
 below. 
 
 1860 
 
 79,544 
 
 33,408 
 
 629,511 
 
 
 1865 
 
 99,314 
 
 50,955 
 
 622,496 
 
 
 1870 
 
 101,755 
 
 77,022 
 
 614,288 
 
 
 VALUE. 
 
 
 e 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1851 
 
 110,666 
 
 22,223 
 
 174,318 
 
 20,743 
 
 1855 
 
 141,890 
 
 33,659 
 
 279,471 
 
 52,312 
 
 1860 
 
 222,380 
 
 44,063 
 
 324,189 
 
 62,566 
 
 1865 
 
 302,105 
 
 60,857 
 
 310,245 
 
 71,387 
 
 1870 
 
 253,723 
 
 90,270 
 
 306,763 
 
 145,509 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 437 
 
 The greater proportion of glass is made by hand 
 labour, assisted by mechanical contrivances. The 
 pressed glass manufacture is, however, chiefly carried 
 on by machinery. Steam is also very generally em- 
 ployed in the processes of cutting, grinding, &c.,in the 
 flint glass trade. 
 
 Mr. Swinburne states that, " as regards glass pro- 
 cesses generally, it cannot be denied that they present 
 a great field for improvement." Much progress has. 
 however, been made in many branches of the trade, 
 amongst which may be specially noted the increase in 
 the size of plates, sheets, &c. ; the improvement in 
 the colour of glass, and the advance of the " pressed " 
 glass manufacture. The introduction of goods of this 
 latter class has cheapened flint glass to such an ex 
 tent, that almost the poorest of the population may be 
 supplied with elegant articles of domestic use, which a 
 few years ago were far beyond their reach. 
 
 The progress of the glass trade is mainly due (as 
 has been before stated) to the repeal of the duties, 
 which formerly hampered its transactions. On the re- 
 moval of those duties, a great fall in the price of glass 
 took place, and a vastly increased consumption was the 
 result. The following prices of the leading descrip- 
 tions of glass before the repeal of the duty, and at the 
 present time, as stated by Mr. Chance, afford an in- 
 teresting proof of the benefits that have been derived 
 from the abolition of the duty, and of the advance of 
 the glass industry generally. A mirror of plate glass 
 50 x 40 inches in 1844 cost about 10 ; in 1865, less 
 than half the amount. Good crown glass per crate 
 
438 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 in 1844 cost about 12; in 1865, 2 8s. ; ordinary 
 sheet glass per foot in 1844, Is. 2d. ; in 1865, 2d. 
 
 Had the glass duties existed in 1851, a Crystal 
 Palace would have been almost an impossibility ; on 
 the other hand the repeal of the window tax has led to 
 an extended use of glass in buildings of every descrip- 
 tion, and has materially added to the comfort and health 
 of the population.* 
 
 The kinds of glass imported have been as follows: 
 
 1861. 1871. 
 
 Flint Glass cwts. 79,204 66,853 
 
 Window Glass 35,732 421,613 
 
 Common Bottles. &c. 546,216 105,598 
 
 Plate Glass 38,919 
 
 Cwts 661,152 632,983 
 
 Value of Importsf 341,9-74 998,873 
 
 The declared value of the exports of British glass in 
 the same years was as follows : 
 
 1861. 1871. 
 
 Plate Glass 46,347 160,824 
 
 Flint Glass of all kinds.... 218,512 258,495 
 
 Bottles, &c. of green or 
 
 common Glass 277,460 317,657 
 
 Window and other Glass 47,557 144,094 
 
 Total value of Exports ... 589,876 881,070 
 
 * Statistical Introduction to the " Official British Catalogue, 
 Paris Exhibition, 1867." 
 
 f Exclusive of the value of bottles of green or common 
 glass. 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 439 
 
 The window duty brought in a revenue to Govern- 
 ment of, in 
 
 1820 2,578,581 
 
 1830 1,244,128 
 
 1840 1,350,930 
 
 1850 1,770,608 
 
 1851 1,878,800 
 
 The number of houses charged with duty in Great 
 Britain was, in 
 
 1820 968,008 
 
 1830 371,427 
 
 1840 . 394,036 
 
 1850 492,833 
 
 In 1825 the duty was repealed on all houses having 
 not more than seven windows, and in 1851 the window 
 duty was abolished, and an inhabited house duty 
 imposed instead. 
 
 In 1845 the excise duty on glass, which yielded 
 600,000 to 700,000 to Government was given up, 
 and since the remission of the duty the home use of 
 glass and the export have largely increased ; while the 
 value of all descriptions of glass exported in 1850 
 only amounted to 308,346, the value of the glass 
 exported in 1871 was 881,070. The abolition of 
 the duty has, however, produced a somewhat para- 
 doxical effect, which is thus stated by Mr. Chance : 
 
 " While the quantity of glass made has increased in 
 the proportion of three to one, the number of manufac- 
 turing firms has diminished in the proportion of one 
 to two. In 1844 there were fourteen companies enga- 
 ged in the manufacture. In 1846 and 1847 following 
 the repeal of the duty the number had increased 
 to twenty-four. The glass trade, after the removal 
 
440 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 of the heavy burden imposed upon it, seemed to offer 
 a fair opening for money-seeking investment. The 
 demand for glass was so great that the manufacturers 
 were in despair. Glass-houses sprung up like mush- 
 rooms ; joint-stock companies were established to 
 satisfy the universal craving for window panes. And 
 what was the result ? Of the four and twenty 
 companies existing in the year 1847, there were left, 
 in 1854, but ten. At this time there are but six in 
 the whole United Kingdom. Two established in 
 Ireland have ceased to exist. In Scotland the 
 Dumbarton works, once famous, were closed, in 1831, 
 by the death of the partners ; afterwards re-opened, 
 and again closed. The six now existing are all 
 English." 
 
 The increase in the production of glass in Great 
 Britain is shown by the following statistics : 
 
 1820. 1830. 1840. 1850. 
 
 Plate cwts. 8,855 ... 14,296 ... 33,623 ... 66,000 
 
 Crown 97,309 ... 98,287 ... 141,864 ... 240,000 
 
 Broad . 7,253 .., 5,635 v ... 9,051 ... 
 
 Total 113,417 ...118,218 ... 184,538 ... 306,000 
 
 EXPORTS OF BRITISH MANUFACTURE. 
 
 Window Glass. Plate Glass. 
 
 1848 cwts. 19,708 value 15,242 
 
 1849 17,386 13,303 
 
 1850.. 15,518... 18,335 
 
 1851 16,460 20,929 
 
 1852 22,168 21,866 
 
 1853 39,158 48,730 
 
 1854 35,514 59,294 
 
 1855 60,832 52,312 
 
 I860 112,952 62,566 
 
 1870 107,942 145,509 
 
THE GLASS MANUFACTURE. 441 
 
 In 1854 we imported 31,639 cwts. of window glass 
 (nearly all from Belgium), of which 27,127 cwts. 
 were retained for home consumption ; this, at the com- 
 puted value of 14s. per cwt., was valued at 22,147. 
 It paid 2s. Qd. per cwt. duty after 4th June, 1853. 
 The quantity of plate glass, cast or rolled, whether 
 silvered, polished, or rough, imported in the same 
 year, was 794,194 Ibs. At the average price of 9d. 
 per Ib. fixed for the value, this was worth 29,782, 
 and it comes in free of duty. The great bulk of this 
 glass 514,322 Ibs. came from France; nearly all 
 the rest from Belgium, Holland, and the Hanse 
 Towns. This seems principally to have been taken for 
 re-export. 
 
 The total value of the imports of foreign-made glass 
 of all kinds in 1870 was 931,467. 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 Window Glass. Plate Glass. 
 
 1848 cwts. 31,037 sq. feet 90,442 
 
 1849 25,557 68,106 
 
 1850 21,015 122,394 
 
 1851 12,298 174,448 
 
 1852 17,100 150,162 
 
 1853 27,577 221,304 
 
 1854 31,639 Ibs. 838,982 
 
 1855 25,420 749,151 
 
 1860 141,468 
 
 1870 602,371 cwts. 37,358 
 
 The French are very much in advance of other 
 countries in the manufacture of mirrors. The process 
 of casting glass for that purpose was invented in the 
 year 1685, by A. Thevart, a Frenchman. The first 
 establishment for the manufacture of the article was 
 the Royal manufactory of St. Gobain, commenced in 
 1691, during the reign of Louis XIV., and con- 
 
442 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 tinued ever [since, with constantly-increasing facilities 
 for the prosecution of the business. There are at 
 present two other manufactories in France those of 
 St. Quiver and Cirey, both of which belong to one 
 company. The capital invested in this branch of 
 industry is 32,000,000 francs, and it gives constant 
 employment to about 12,000 men; indeed, the work- 
 men are so numerous as to constitute, with their 
 families, large villages, which have grown up around 
 the respective factories. 
 
 The casting only is done at these establishments, 
 the polishing and silvering being carried on at the 
 extensive depot of the companies in Paris. 
 
 The only place where the plates thus manufactured 
 are sold, and in which the companies are all united 
 in one interest, is the depot in Paris, and its only 
 branch, formed exclusively for the supply of the trade 
 in the United States, is located in New York. From 
 the well-known superiority of the French glass, their 
 mirrors extend over the whole world, even to countries 
 where similar manufactories exist. 
 
 All classes in this country, and in most wealthy 
 countries, from the millionnaire down to the day- 
 labourer, are patrons of mirrors and looking-glasses.' 
 The humble but tidy housekeeper buys the article in 
 its least expensive form, as one of indispensable neces- 
 sity. But with the wealthier classes, while it, in 
 countless ways, subserves this purpose, it is also made 
 to minister to the splendour of the drawing-room, the 
 ball-room, or the saloon, not only as in itself a superb 
 decoration, but imparting effect, by its reflection, to all 
 other embellishments. 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 443 
 
 EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY.* 
 
 WHAT (remarks Mr. W. R. Sullivan) can be more 
 simple than the art of the Potter? No tools of 
 bronze or iron are required ; the hands alone being 
 capable of fashioning the prettiest-formed vases, whilst 
 the materials employed may be found in abundance in 
 every part of the globe, and require but a few readily 
 shaped pieces of wood to prepare them for use. 
 Hence we find vessels and other articles made of clay 
 have been in use among the oldest nations of the earth 
 not alone among the Assyrians, Greeks, and Romans, 
 but even among the old Celtic and Scandinavian 
 nations, and the aboriginal races of America and 
 Africa of which many of the European museums pre- 
 serve striking examples. It is probable that the first 
 articles fashioned were drinking vessels ; indeed, the 
 word ceramic is derived from the Greek word for horn, 
 apparently the first drinking vessel used in all coun- 
 tries ; whilst the word pottery is derived from the 
 Latin potum, a drinking cup. Another early appli- 
 cation of the potter's art, though one which must 
 undoubtedly have originated at a much later period 
 than that of the manufacture of drinking vessels and 
 other objects for domestic use, was to funereal pur- 
 poses vessels of clay for holding the ashes of the 
 dead. The production of articles in terra cotta, or 
 baked earth, may be considered to mark the first era 
 
 * Published in " Kelly's Post Office Guide to London, 1871." 
 
444 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 in the Ceramic Arts, because it was only then that 
 they acquired sufficient durability to call for the pro- 
 duction of fine forms, or the application of ornament. 
 According to the classification of Brougniart, Pottery 
 may be conveniently divided into two great divisions: 
 1. Pottery, properly so called ; and, 2. Porcelain. 
 The sub-divisions of the first class are : 
 
 Soft Pottery 
 
 Unglazed Lustrous Glazed Enamelled. 
 
 Hard Pottery 
 
 Fine Earthenware Stoneware. 
 
 Soft pottery is composed of clay, sand, and lime, a 
 mixture which would be represented by a common 
 marly clay ; it is easily scratched with a knife, very- 
 fusible, and hence the term " soft," applied to it. 
 The subdivisions are founded upon the presence or 
 absence of a glaze, and its nature ; thus the garden 
 pot represents the first subdivision, which would in- 
 clude bricks and tiles, and jars moulded or vases turned 
 upon a lathe, whether pale-yellow, red, ashy-grey, or 
 black. The ancient utensils and vases of Egypt, the 
 old Roman water jars, the Spanish tinajas, alcarazzas, 
 and some common pitchers, pans, and crocks, are 
 examples of the first named colours ; while Egyptian 
 mummy cones, many bottles, and amphorse of ancient 
 Greece and Rome, and of Peru and India, chimney 
 pots, milk pans, &c., are red ; the old Celtic cinereal 
 urns are examples of the grey ; and the vases of 
 Etruria and Volterra, among the ancients, and the 
 black ware of Staffordshire among the moderns, repre- 
 sent the fourth colour. The second subdivision, or 
 lustrous soft pottery, are simply the last mentioned 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 445 
 
 kinds covered with a very thin glassy coating, such as 
 many of the Egyptian, Tyrrhenian, Etruscan, Greek 
 and Roman vases of the finer kinds. The third sub- 
 division consists of vessels made of the same materials 
 as the first and second class, but covered with a thick 
 varnish or glaze, produced by dusting the object over 
 with lead ore, or with a mixture of lead ore and clay, 
 sometimes coloured with oxides of other metals, as 
 iron and manganese. The common glazed pottery of 
 all the world affords examples of this kind. The 
 fourth class, or enamelled soft pottery, is formed of 
 much the same body as all the varieties mentioned, 
 but is generally of a lighter cojour, and is covered 
 with an opaque enamel, consisting of a glaze made of 
 sand and oxides of tin and lead. The opacity of the 
 glaze, which depends upon the oxide of tin, hides the 
 colour of the body or bisque, and admits, therefore, 
 of this kind of ware being decorated with painting. 
 The Moresco-Spanish and Catholic Spanish Azulejos, 
 the articles made by Luca Delia Robbia, Majolica 
 or Faenza ware, Pallissy ware, Delft, Majolica of 
 Nuremburg, &c., are examples of this kind of soft 
 pottery. 
 
 Hard pottery is the intermediate stage between the 
 soft clay wares and porcelain ; its hardness and 
 slightly vitrified appearance, distinguish it from the 
 former, and its opacity from the latter. It is sub- 
 divided into two kinds : 1. Fine earthenware, in 
 which the body is more or less white, and the glaze a 
 lead-glass, of which Wedgwood ware was an example ; 
 and, 2. Stoneware, which is formed of more or less 
 coloured clays, sometimes unglazed, or covered with n 
 
446 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 soda-glass produced by the decomposition of common 
 salt. Common jars, sewerage pipes, &c., are examples 
 of this kind of ware. 
 
 Porcelain differs from earthenware by being trans- 
 lucent, being, in fact, an opaque paste of clay per- 
 meated by a kind of glass, exactly as paper is by wax 
 in wax-paper. The body or paste is always hard, 
 generally of a pure white colour, and, relatively to soft 
 pottery, very infusible ; and is, perhaps, in all in- 
 stances, made of kaolin, derived from decomposed fel- 
 spar. The glaze is formed of undecomposed felspar 
 and quartz, with sometimes gypsum, boracic acid, &c., 
 but never lead or tin. 
 
 There are three distinct kinds of porcelain, depend- 
 ing chiefly upon their relative fusibility, and conse- 
 quently upon their composition. First, true, or porce- 
 lain with a naturally hard paste, composed of kaolin, 
 and glazed with felspar containing quartz, which is 
 hard and translucid, the glass not being liable to be 
 scratched by a knife. Chinese, Japanese, Berlin, 
 Dresden, and other German porcelains, and modern 
 Sevres (since 1769), are examples of this kind.* 
 
 The second kind of porcelain is much more fusible ; 
 the glass may be scratched with a knife. The body or 
 paste is said to be naturally soft, and it consists of 
 substances which may be fused with comparative 
 facility. Modern English china which contains gyp- 
 sum, bones, &c., is of this kind ; so is old English 
 china, such as Chelsea, Derby, Bow, and Worcester. 
 The third kind is composed of difficultly fusible 
 materials, but rendered fusible by the addition of salts, 
 an example of which may be given in the case of 
 
 * " Inst. Industries. 1853." 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 447 
 
 old Sevres, which is the typical example of this kind 
 of porcelain, and hence said to be formed of a paste 
 artificially soft. The celebrated Capo di Monti porce- 
 lain, from near Naples, and that known as Buen 
 Retire, from Madrid, are also examples of this kind. 
 
 Mr. Shaw, in his " Chemistry of Pottery," thus 
 enumerates the successive inventions which were intro- 
 duced into the manufacture of Staffordshire ware, and 
 which led to the present unrivalled position of this 
 great and important trade : 
 
 " In this succession I find the common brown ware 
 till 1680; then the Shelton clay (long previously used 
 by the tobacco-pipe makers of Newcastle) mixed with 
 grit from Baddeley Hedge, by Thomas Miles ; of 
 coarse white stone-ware and the same grit and can- 
 marl or clunch of the coal-seams, by his brother, into 
 brown stone-ware. The crouch-ware was first made 
 of common potter's clay and grit from Moel Cop, and 
 afterwards the grit and can-marl by A. Wedgwood, of 
 Burslem, in 1690 ; and the ochreous brown clay and 
 manganese into a coarse Egyptian black in 1700, by 
 Wood, of Hot-lane. The employment of the Devon- 
 shire pipe-clay, by Twyford and Astbury, of Shelton, 
 supplied the white dipped and the white stone-ware, 
 from which the transition was easy to the flint-ware, 
 by Daniel Bird, of Stoke ; the chalk-body ware, by 
 Chatterly and Palmer, of Hanley ; and the Queen's 
 ware, of the celebrated Josiah Wedgwood. Mr, 
 Thomas Toft, introduced aluminous shale or fire-brick 
 clay ; Mr. William Sans, manganese and galena 
 pulverised ; Messrs. John Palmer and William Adams, 
 common salt and litharge ; Messrs. Elers Brothers, 
 
448 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 red clay or marl, and ochre; Mr. Josiah Twyford, 
 pipe-clay ; Mr. Thomas Astbury, flint ; Mr. Ealph 
 Shaw, basalts ; Mr. Aaron Wedgwood, red lead ; Mr. 
 William Littler, calcined bone earth ; Mr. Enoch 
 Booth, white lead ; Mrs. Warburton, soda ; Mr. Kalph 
 Daniel, calcined gypsum ; Mr. Josiah Wedgwood, 
 barytes ; Mr. John Cookworthy, decomposed white 
 granite ; Mr. James Ryan, British kaolin and 
 petuntse ; Messrs. Ladler and' Green, glaze printing ; 
 Mr. Warner Edwards, biscuit painting ; Mr. Thomas 
 Daniel, glaze enamelling ; Mr. William Smith, 
 burnished gilding ; Mr. Peter Warburton, printing in 
 gold; Messrs. John Hancock, John Gardner, and 
 William Hennys, lustres ; Mr. William Brooks, en- 
 graved landscapes and printing in colours ; Mr. 
 William Wainwright Potts, printing by machine and 
 continuous sheets of paper ; and the same gentleman, 
 with Mr. William Machin and Mr. William Bourne, 
 for printing flowers, figures, &c., in colours, by 
 machine and continuous sheet of paper." 
 
 The earthenware is generally ornamented by print- 
 ing, some of the prints being filled with enamelled 
 colours. It may be printed from copperplates, with 
 one or many colours, as effected by Mr. Pratt, of 
 Friston. It may be also printed in flat and varied 
 tints, as in Mr. Minton's manufactory, by a process 
 similar to that employed for polychromatic printing. 
 " The Ceramic," observes M. Arnoux, " is one of 
 those choice manufactures which requires from those 
 who devote themselves to it a great amount of know- 
 ledge ; in the present day a potter ought not only to 
 be an artist to decide which is the best shape to be 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 449 
 
 given to the piece used for decorative or domestic 
 purposes, but he must also be well acquainted with 
 geology, chemistry, and natural philosophy ; for he 
 will have to sort out his materials from the bosom of 
 the earth, to combine clays and colours, and make 
 subservient to his will air, water, and fire. This is 
 the reason why great potters were so scarce when 
 these sciences were in their infancy." 
 
 A very limited number of countries can supply 
 themselves with earthenware or china those precisely 
 in which the arts and sciences are the most advanced. 
 The immense continent of America has not produced 
 to this day anything of the kind worth mentioning ; 
 and, if we put aside the Chinese, we shall not find 
 more than three nations who can export pottery to 
 any extent England first, then France, afterwards 
 Germany ; but the last to a much smaller degree. 
 
 Nature has taken care to provide England largely 
 with all the materials necessary for the potter's work. 
 Clay, flint, kaolin, and felspar exist here in abundance ; 
 and to fire these we have mineral fuel sufficient for 
 several centuries. 
 
 The Census of 1861 gave, among the occupations 
 of the people, 38,072 as engaged in the earthenware 
 manufacture in England and Wales, and 31 others 
 working or dealing in it ; 59 of these were clay 
 merchants, and 2,912 labourers in clay. There were 
 l/l flint grinders, 53 encaustic and mosaic tile 
 makers, 80 making parian, and 28 terra cotta. In 
 Scotland there were also at the taking of the Census 
 "2,517 operatives engaged in the earthenware and por- 
 celain manufactures, and 108 in Ireland, but there are 
 
450 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 probably 750,000 men, women and children employed 
 iu the various departments of the trade. 
 
 The value of British earthenware and porcelain 
 exported from the United Kingdom was in : 
 
 1850 999,448 
 
 1855 1,000,738 
 
 1860 1,450,644 
 
 1865 1,442,697 
 
 1870 1,637,026 
 
 In 1852 the annual production of the English pot- 
 teries was estimated at 2,000,000, 185 factories 
 being then engaged in this important branch of the 
 national industry ; 52 were scattered over the country 
 at Leeds, Stockton, Sunderland, Glasgow, Bristol, 
 Swansea, &c., and 133 in North Staffordshire, where 
 60,000 persons were all, more or less, engaged in this 
 manufacture, forming the district usually called " The 
 Potteries." The aggregate population now engaged 
 in the manufacture, or dependent on it, is about 
 150,000, and the population of the parliamentary 
 borough of Stoke-upon-Trent is 120,000 ; but it is 
 spread in long, thin strips over a large area, of about 
 eight miles in length and of about half the distance 
 in width. Here is not one huge conglomerate, but at 
 least six towns Longton, Fenton, Stoke-upon-Trent, 
 Hanley, Burslem, and Tunstall. There are at least 
 in this district 18,000 men potters, in the receipt of 
 high wages, of whom more than half have by care 
 and industry purchased their own freehold, and are 
 now living in their own houses. There are also about 
 11,000 women and children employed in the lighter 
 branches of this beautiful manufacture. 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 4f)l 
 
 There are a large number of rooms, and only a very 
 few operatives in each. Each potter works indepen- 
 dently. There is a great demand for fineness of touch, 
 sense of form, and manual dexterity, and but little use 
 of machinery, beyond the potter's wheel that most 
 ancient tool of man's industry. The steam-engine 
 is scarcely anywhere employed, except in the primary 
 process of mashing the clays and grinding the flints. 
 The clay is ground between two stones, just as the 
 grain is in a flour mill. The potter deals with the 
 dough of clay just as the baker or confectioner deals 
 with the dough of flour. When the ball of dough 
 receives its motion of rapid rotation on the wheel, 
 then the " thrower," as he is called, by the exquisitely 
 fine touches of his thumb and fingers and palm, shapes 
 the plastic clay to its destined form, to be afterwards 
 completed by the hands of the turner, who also works 
 at a wheel by a process exactly similar to that of a 
 wood- turner at his lathe. Another class of ware is 
 formed by moulding. It is a work of individual skill. 
 Years are required to make a good thrower, and a 
 very short cessation from the work impairs the 
 extreme fineness of touch which is essential. Th- 
 hand for any considerable time out of the employ- 
 ment would lose its pliancy and contract a coarse- 
 ness. One cannot help looking at the potter's 
 wheel with a degree of veneration. There you see 
 it whirling before you just as it did in the infancy 
 of the human race, just as small and simple as 
 it was then, and contributing as powerfully as ever 
 to the daily wants of mankind. Those wants it 
 always satisfied, but now the Ceramic Art has reached 
 
 G G 2 
 
452 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 a splendour which makes it one of the joys of daily 
 life. 
 
 The great progress that has been made is evidenced 
 in the general adoption and high improvements of 
 terra cotta. The beautiful works shown by the 
 Watcombe Terra Cotta Company in vases and jars, 
 brackets, busts, and figures, have commanded general 
 admiration, both for their good taste and excellence 
 of finish, and led to an extensive home and foreign 
 demand. 
 
 The raw materials used in the manufacture are 
 chiefly produced in this country in the counties of 
 Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. According to the 
 official returns, the production of clay and china stone 
 in the year 1865 amounted to 374,358 tons; 751,566 
 tons of fire clay were also raised in the counties of 
 Stafford, York, Derby, &c. In 1870 the production of 
 clay and china stone in Cornwall and Devon was 201,000 
 tons. The quantities of prepared clay annually con- 
 sumed in the Staffordshire potteries is stated to be about 
 1 60,000 tons, and the quantity of fine and fire clay raised 
 is estimated officially at 1,200,000 tons, of the value of 
 450,000. The shipments of kaolin or china clay 
 and china stone from Cornwall were, in 1869, 134,200 
 tons ; from Devonshire, 56,200 tons ; from Dorset, 
 60,210 tons of clay. The wages paid in Worcester 
 and its neighbourhood in the porcelain manufactures 
 in 1868 was clay makers, men, 24s. (per week) ; 
 throwers, men, 40s. (per week, piece work), lads and 
 boys, 14s. ; turners, men, 40s., lads and boys, 7s. 6d. ; 
 handlers and pressers, men, 30s. to 40s. (per week, 
 piece work) ; figure makers, men, 30s. to 50s., lads 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 453 
 
 and boys, 10s. ; modellers, 40s. to 63s. (per week) ; 
 moulders, 30s. to 36s. ; saggar makers, 30s. (per 
 week, piece work) ; biscuit firemen, 40s. ; biscuit 
 placers, 18s. to 20s. ; glost firemen, 42s.; glost placers 
 and kiln firemen, 25s. ; painters, 30s. to 80s. (piece 
 work) ; gilders, 25s. to 36s. (piece work) ; enamellers, 
 women, 10s. to 14s. (per week) ; girls, 2s. to 5s. ; 
 burnishers, women, 8s. to 12s., girls, 2s. to 5s. ; en- 
 gravers, 25s. to 30s. ; 11 hours per day. There are 
 in Cornwall 100 porcelain clay works; and in Devon- 
 shire, of porcelain and Teignmouth clay 10, of Poole 
 clay works 11 ; and of Stourbridge clay in Stafford- 
 shire 16. 
 
 The annual consumption of coals in the potteries 
 and brick works of Staffordshire may be stated at 
 675,000 tons. To stain the clay and print the ware 
 about 70,000 Ibs. of oxide of cobalt is used and about 
 1,200 tons of borax and boracic acid to glaze it, and 
 12,000 ozs. of gold are required to gild and embellish 
 the same. The amount of calcined bone used in the 
 manufacture of china is about 4,500 tons per annum, 
 obtained principally from South America. 
 
 There are about 25 'potteries in the Newcastle dis- 
 trict (on the Tyne, Wear, and Tees) ; of which on the 
 Tyne, 6 manufacture white and printed ware ; 4, white, 
 printed and brown ware ; and 3, brown ware only ; 
 employing 1,200 people, and manufacturing yearly 
 about 12,000 tons of white clay and 3,000 tons of 
 brown clay, and consuming in the process of manu- 
 facture about 34,000 tons of coals : on the Wear there 
 are 2 potteries, manufacturing white and printed ware ; 
 2, white, printed and house ware; and 2, brown ware 
 
154 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 only ; employing about 500 people ; manufacturing 
 yearly about 4,000 tons of white clay, 1,500 tons 
 of brown clay, and consuming in the manufacture 
 14,000 tons of coals : on the Tees there are 4 potteries, 
 manufacturing white and printed ware, employing 500 
 people, manufacturing 5,000 tons of white clay, and 
 consuming 13,000 tons of coals : 2 potteries at Norton, 
 manufacturing brown ware. The potteries in this dis- 
 trict being situated upon navigable rivers have great 
 advantages over their inland competitors, Staffordshire 
 and Yorkshire. 
 
 The expenses on clay from sea freight and inland 
 carriage average 13s. per ton to Staffordshire, and 5s. 
 per ton to the Northern district ; and in flints the 
 advantage is still greater, in Staffordshire the average 
 being 195. per ton against 4s. Qd. per ton in the* North. 
 Coals are a little dearer, but much superior in quality 
 to Yorkshire or Staffordshire. 
 
 About twelve years ago, Messrs. Skinner and Co. 
 of Stockton-on-Tees, first applied Needham and Kite's 
 patent filtering press for expelling the surplus water 
 from the slip, which had formerly been done by 
 evaporation. This is a much cleaner and better pro- 
 cess than the old system, and is now adopted by thirty 
 or forty potteries in England and Scotland. 
 
 With the exception of three potteries in the Northern 
 district and at Glasgow, machinery has been very little 
 applied to the manufacture of earthenware, and, even 
 at those works, not nearly to the extent to which it is 
 capable of being profitably adopted. One manufactory 
 on the Tyne, the Ford Pottery, having the best ma- 
 chinery, supplies at least 80 per cent, of the jars used 
 
EARTHENWARE AND POTTERY. 455 
 
 by confectioners for marmalades and jams, &c., in 
 England and Scotland. The description of goods 
 manufactured in the North is that used by the middle 
 and working classes, no first-class goods being made 
 there. 
 
 The Lambeth potteries make principally stoneware, 
 such as bottles, jars, pans, drain and water pipes, &c. 
 
 There is also a large manufacture of fire-clay goods 
 in the kingdom,which are made principally at Newcastle 
 and Stourbridge. At the former, upwards of 90,000,000 
 fire bricks are now made per annum, 12,000 to 15,000 
 fire-clay retorts for gas works, and 175 miles of glazed 
 pipes from 3 inches to 15 inches in diameter. About 
 300,000 tons of clay, and 150,000 tons of coal, are 
 required in the manufacture, and nearly 4,000 men 
 and boys are employed. Repeated attempts have been 
 made to apply machinery to the production of fire 
 bricks, but as yet without success. The wages in 
 the fire-clay manufacture at Newcastle and neigh- 
 bourhood is for brick makers, men, 185. to 24s. per 
 week of 55 hours ; clay retort makers, men, 24s. to 
 '27s., women, 5s., labourers, 10s. to 18s., lads and boys. 
 Is. Qd. per day. 
 
 The plastic nature of the fire clay, with the charac- 
 ter and variety of the articles made from it, renders the 
 application of machine power difficult, and the ad- 
 vantages derivable from its application comparatively 
 trifling. Machinery has, however, been very ex- 
 tensively and successfully applied to the preparation of 
 the raw material. Indeed, had it not been for the 
 improved mode of grinding and pugging the clay 
 which machinery has supplied, it is doubtful whether 
 
456 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the trade could have developed in the way it has 
 done. 
 
 The average rates of wages paid to operatives in the 
 Staffordshire district in 1866 ranged for males, from 
 Is. 6d. to 7s. per day, for females, Is. Qd. to Is. Sd. 
 per day. At Worcester, for males, 16s. to 50s. per 
 week, for females, 10s. 6d to 14s. At Newcastle, for 
 males, 10s. to 30s., for females, 10s. per week. In the 
 earthenware manufacture at Newcastle, the weekly 
 wages in 1868 were for clay makers, men, 3s. Qd. to 
 5s., women, 9s. to 10s. (piece work) ; throwers, men, 
 22s. to 28s. (piece work), women, 9s., girls, 4s. Qd. ; 
 turners, men, 20s. to 24s., women, 8s. ; handlers, men, 
 22s. to 24s., lads and boys, 4s. ; pressers, men, 24s. to 
 32s., lads and boys and girls, 3s. 6d. to 5s. ; modellers, 
 men, 27s. ; moulders, 30s. to 36s. ; saggar makers, 
 men, 20s. to 24s., lads and boys, 4s. 6d. ; biscuit fire- 
 men, 24s. to 30s. ; biscuit placers, men, 24s., lads and 
 boys, 10s. to 15s., women, 8s. ; printers, men, 20s. to 
 25s., ditto transferrers, women, 10s. to 12s., girls, 3s. 
 to 4s. ; glost firemen, 24s. to 30s. ; glost placers, men, 
 24s., women, 8s. (hours of labour, 59 per week); 
 painters, 20s. to 24s. ; transferrers, women, 10s.; bur- 
 nishers, 16s. 
 
 Declared value of the Earthenware and Porcelain 
 exported in the last ten years : 
 
 1862 1,220,247 
 
 1863 1,341,069 
 
 1864 1,422,014 
 
 1865 1,422,197 
 
 1866 1,650,019 
 
 1867 1,635,216 
 
 1868 1,642,550 
 
 1869 1,725,274 
 
 1870 1,637,026 
 
 1871 1,728,914 
 
DYES AND COLOURING STUFFS. 457 
 
 DYES AND COLOURING STUFFS.* 
 
 OF the several classes of materials collected at the 
 International Exhibition in Hyde Park (1851), few 
 possessed so much importance in the eyes of the textile 
 and leather manufacturer and chemist, as the different 
 products used in the arts and manufactures for colour- 
 ing and tanning purposes. These were in a great 
 measure lost sight of by the public at large ; being 
 scattered about over the building in a great number 
 of directions ; and, from the small samples shown, were 
 in many instances overlooked altogether. The object 
 of the present paper is to bring them collectively 
 into view, and to furnish a few new and general statis- 
 tical facts, which, besides proving interesting, may 
 serve to draw attention more prominently to some 
 which are at present little known or appreciated. 
 
 Colouring substances for staining and dyeing are 
 obtained indifferently, from the animal, mineral, and 
 vegetable kingdoms, but it is to the last named 
 that we would principally call attention. The import- 
 ance of a more careful consideration of this subject 
 will be admitted, if we consider how much the pros- 
 perity and progress of our cotton, silk, woollen, and 
 leather manufactures depend on a liberal and cheap 
 supply of dyes and tannin, to give beauty and colour 
 to the fabrics. Even oil colours, for painters' pur- 
 
 * Published in Lawson's "Merchants' Magazine/' 1853. 
 
458 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 poses, which scarcely come within the scope of our 
 remarks, form an item in our yearly exports of the 
 value of 250,000,* and when we consider the large 
 jimount of cotton, silk, and wool worked up, most of 
 which requires various colouring agents, gums, starches, 
 and mordants that nearly 33,000 tons of hides are 
 imported exclusive of those obtained from our own 
 slaughterhouses, besides seal skins and that the 
 export of our various manufactures of cotton, linen, 
 silk, and leather in 1850 exceeded in value 45,000,000 
 sterling, we shall be able to form a better estimate of 
 the importance of the various substances we are about 
 to notice. 
 
 Great Britain does not pay less than 600,000 
 annually for the dried carcasses of the tiny cochineal 
 insect, while the produce of another small insect, that 
 which produces the lac dye, is scarcely less valuable. 
 Then there are the gall nuts used for dyeing and 
 making black ink. Upwards of 3,000,000 is paid 
 for barks of different kinds, for tanners' use; about 
 1,000,000 for other tanning substances and heavy 
 dye-woods, besides about 200,000 for various ex- 
 tracts of tannin, such as gambier, cutch, and kino. 
 The aggregate value of the dyestuffs and gums it is 
 difficult to estimate. f 
 
 The beautiful specimens of dyed fabrics, &c., im- 
 ported from China, India, New Zealand, the Continent, 
 and other countries, and shown at the Exhibition, 
 prove to us that we have yet much to learn from other 
 
 * In 1871, it was over 1,000,000. 
 
 f See statistical returns at the end of this paper for 
 official figures. 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFFS. 459 
 
 nations in the art of fixing colours and obtaining 
 brilliant dyes. The French are much our superiors in 
 dyeing and the production of fast and beautiful 
 colours. Their chemical researches and investigations 
 are carried out more systematically and effectively 
 than our own. 
 
 Dyestuffs are usually divided into two classes: 1st, 
 Substantive, such as are capable alone of imparting 
 fast colours, among which are indigo, catechu, and the 
 metallic oxides. 2nd, Adjective, those which require 
 the intervention of a mordant, as madder, cochineal, 
 and yellow berries. 
 
 ' DYES OBTAINED FKOM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 
 
 THE fine Tyrian purple dye, now as in former days 
 celebrated for the singular brightness of its red colour, 
 is obtained in the Mediterranean from Murex purpura, 
 a species of mollusc, and from Purpura persica ; the 
 Norwegians procure the dye from Buccinum lapillus. 
 The colouring matter, when first obtained and applied 
 to linen, silk, or paper, with a hair pencil, becomes of 
 a bright yellow and gradually changes to pale green, 
 afterwards assuming a deep and brilliant purple. 
 
 The renowned Tyrian dye was taken from a white 
 vein in the throat of the Purpura. It was of a dark- 
 red colour, resembling a deep rose. The purpuras of 
 the best description were chiefly found on the rocks of 
 Tyre on the coast of Asia ; they were also caught at 
 Meninge on the Graetulan shores in Africa ; and on 
 the coast of Laconia in Europe. The colours varied 
 according to the locality in which the molluscs were 
 taken. Those from Pontus and Galatia, being in the 
 
460 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 north, produced a black dye ; in the equinoctial 
 regions a violet hue predominated; whilst in the 
 south, as at Rhodes, the colour was of a richer red. 
 These purple shell-fish were also called "pelagia;" 
 and they were distinguished by the district as well 
 as by the food which the locality supplied. Two 
 hundred buccince were added to one hundred and 
 eleven pelagice, to make the purple colour so much 
 eulogised by Pliny, and one of the three shades of 
 purple recorded by the ancients. Vegetable colours, 
 kennes, and other mixtures, were also resorted to for 
 additional splendour and variety. To make a purple 
 dye they mingled several kinds of fish, adding, at one 
 period, nitre, urine, water, salt, and fucus. But the 
 dye from the Buccinum required only pure water. 
 Linton, " On Ancient and Modern Colours." 
 
 With the destruction of the ancient city of Tyre, 
 the beautiful art of dyeing this peculiar colour was 
 lost for centuries, until it was again recovered by the 
 scientific men of our country. Mr. Cole, in the 
 " Philosophical Transactions," has given an account of 
 the method by which it was obtained. The discovery 
 would probably have been of great value to our 
 commerce had not the use of it been rendered un- 
 necessary by another natural history discovery, namely, 
 the cochineal insect. By the use of the dead car- 
 casses of this insect we can produce colours, such as 
 crimson and scarlet, of a more beautiful and permanent 
 description even than those which were in the greatest 
 repute among the ancients. 
 
 Murex brandaris and truncatus, other purple shells of 
 the ancients, are found on the coast of the Pacific, 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFFS. 461 
 
 especially along the shores of Upper California and in 
 the bays of Tehuantepec and San Francisco. The 
 Indians avail themselves of the colouring matter to 
 dye cotton. Helix janhana, which occurs in the 
 Mediterranean, Atlantic, and South Seas, affords a 
 similar fluid. Sepia, the dried ink bag of the Sepia 
 ojficinalis, may be mentioned, although scarcely a com- 
 mercial article. 
 
 There are no other dyes obtained, that I am aware 
 of, from fishes or inhabitants of the sea, certainly none 
 deserving of particular mention here. The insect 
 tribes furnish several, the most remarkable of which 
 are the lac and cochineal dyes, and galls, principally 
 used in tanning and chemistry. 
 
 Lac, in its various commercial forms, is the re- 
 sulting product of the punctures of Coccus ficus or 
 C. lacca. The colouring substance obtained from stick- 
 lac, affords a rich scarlet dye, little inferior to cochi- 
 neal, and it is in general use for dyeing in the East. 
 The lac insect is found chiefly on hilly parts of Hindos- 
 tan, on both sides of the Ganges. A white, wax kind 
 of lac has lately been found near Madras. Lac is a 
 staple production of the wild tract of country to the 
 eastward of the Godavery river. Within a round of 
 twenty miles of Mahadrapore alone, some thousands of 
 rupees' worth is yearly produced. By making advances 
 to the Goands, a writer in the " Bombay Times " states 
 that he collected large quantities of it for the Hydera- 
 bad market, and a great deal more for the same place 
 was carried away by others. If it were an object to 
 encourage the supply of this article, which is met with 
 wild in every part of this vast tract, without any 
 
462 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 artificial aid whatever, very considerable quantities 
 might be collected annually. The native process of 
 preparing it is very rude, and in consequence, perhaps, 
 much of its value is deteriorated : under European 
 superintendence that would be soon rectified. 
 
 About 9,500 cwts. of stick-lac are annually exported 
 from Siam. According to Crawfurd, the lac insect 
 exists in most of the forests of the Indian Islands, but 
 especially in those of Sumatra and the Malayan 
 Islands. Its produce is, however, inferior to that of 
 Bengal, and especially of Pegu, which countries chiefly 
 supply the large consumption of the markets of China ; 
 while the lac of the Indian Islands is principally used 
 locally. The quantity of lac dye entered for home 
 consumption, in 1850, was 11,541 cwts., besides 6,600 
 re-exported. The basis of lacquers is a solution of 
 seed-lac or powdered shell-lac in spirits of wine ; the 
 colouring substances used being gamboge and arnotto. 
 
 The lac dyes are prepared by extracting the peculiar 
 colouring matter of the stick-lac of commerce ; this 
 latter is a resinoid substance, the result of a secretion 
 of several different plants the Ficus indica, F. religiosa, 
 Croton lacciferum, and others, occasioned by the punc- 
 tures made by a small insect for the purpose of 
 depositing its ova ; the branches become encrusted 
 with a reddish-coloured concretion, which consists of 
 the inspissated juice of the plant, imbued with a 
 peculiar colouring matter, derived from the insect ; the 
 preparation of them is usually carried out in India, 
 the remaining substances, seed-lac and shell-lac, being 
 also articles of commerce. 
 
 " Lac dye " is a term commercially applied to the 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFFS. 
 
 463 
 
 colouring matter extracted from stick-lac; the latter 
 is considered to be the resinous secretion of a tree, on 
 being punctured by an insect common in many dis- 
 tricts of Eastern India. This insect is found in enor- 
 mous numbers in the forests of the mountains on the 
 sides of the Ganges. The insect, when about to 
 deposit its eggs, attaches itself to the branches of 
 trees, and soon becomes enveloped in a layer of gummy 
 matter, which hardens on exposure ; the insect dies, 
 and its body shrivels into an oval bag, containing a 
 minute drop of red fluid ; this is extracted from the 
 lac, and when formed into small masses, becomes the 
 lac dye of commerce. In 1848, 1,221,308 Ibs. were 
 imported into the United Kingdom.* 
 
 Kermes, another insect of the same family ( Coccus 
 ilicis, Linnaeus, CViemtfs vermilio, Noble), is common in 
 the south of Europe, upon the Quercus coccifera, Q. 
 ilex and its varieties ; it is met with in Spain, France, 
 Greece, and the Levant. f The Spanish kermes (which 
 must not be confounded with the kermes mineral) is 
 preferred to the French. About Seville they dry the 
 gall-shaped nests of this insect's eggs on mats in the 
 sun. The dust which arises from stirring it about is 
 considered the most valuable part, and, when mixed 
 with vinegar, is called " pastel," being used as a 
 carmine. 
 
 * A Paper on the " Natural History of the Lac Insect," by 
 W. J. Carter, F.R.S., will be found in vol. i. of my "Techno- 
 logist," p. 196, and " Some Remarks on Shellac, with an 
 Especial Reference to its Present Commercial Position," by 
 John Mackay, in the same vol., p. 204. 
 
 f Dr. Gustave Planchon has published a good monograph 
 lately, " On the Kermes of the Oak." Paris : Savy, 1864. 
 
464 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Although cochineal and lac dye have now quite 
 superseded the use of kermes as a tinctorial substance 
 in England, yet a short notic 1 of this dyestuff is 
 worth placing on record, for the information of those 
 who may not have facilities for reference, and are never, 
 perhaps, likely to see the insect product.* There are 
 several varieties of the insect Chermes vermilio, 
 Emeriti, Bauhini, Coccus Gramuntii, fyc. They were long 
 taken for the seeds of the tree on which they lived, and 
 hence called " grains " of kermes. The coccus occurs 
 as a parasitic insect, having all the appearance of a 
 berry or seed, exhibiting not the slightest indication 
 of its insect nature, being immovably affixed in 
 clusters to the branches of the oak (Quercus coccifera) 
 upon which it subsists, by introducing into the substance 
 of the stem a long and delicate haustellum. The oak 
 is a low, bushy, evergreen shrub, much resembling 
 a holly in miniature. It is only at the close of its 
 existence, however, that the coccus assumes the form of 
 a seed. Although the insect is provided with two legs, 
 and when young possesses locomotive powers, yet, after 
 impregnation, it greatly increases in size, and the eggs 
 are deposited beneath the body, so that, by degrees, 
 as the eggs are excluded, the two surfaces of the body 
 come together, and form a covering for the eggs ; 
 hence, it will be observed, that it is only the females 
 which are collected for traffic ; the males, in the perfect 
 state, being minute, active, two-winged flies, totally 
 unlike their insect partners. In the natural state, the 
 kermes are of a shining appearance, and of the colour 
 
 * Published in "The Technologist," vol. ii, p. 178. 
 
ANIMAL DYE8TUFF8. 465 
 
 of a plum, covered with a whitish bloom. In the 
 condition in which they are brought to market, they 
 appear of a dull, reddish brown, which is not, of 
 course, the natural colour of good kermes, but is im- 
 parted to them by steeping in vinegar. They com- 
 mence to hatch about the middle or towards the end 
 of May, when each insect is found reduced to a skin, 
 covering its brood of eggs to the number of 1,800 or 
 2,000. The crop of kermes is more or less abundant, 
 according to the mildness or severity of the preceding 
 winter. When, therefore, there has been little or no 
 frost, and the weather has been generally mild, a good 
 yield is expected (which is not obtained every year) ; 
 and, as there is no trouble in planting or otherwise 
 attending to the management of the trees after they 
 are once established, and no other instruments are 
 required for collecting the kermes than the finger- 
 nails, it may be reasonably supposed that the harvest 
 is an inexpensive one. The kermes are usually col- 
 lected in the morning, before the dew is off the oaks, 
 as at that time the leaves and prickles inflict les* 
 injury to the hands. An experienced person will thus 
 pick two pounds each day. It is stated that the 
 price of the kermes decreases considerably according 
 to the period in which they are gathered. Those 
 earliest collected are the most valued, and the later 
 ones less, in consequence of being lighter than those 
 first obtained, owing to the young ones having escaped. 
 The merchants who purchase the kermes immediately 
 steep them in vinegar, and then expose them to the 
 action of heat, sufficient to destroy any remaining 
 vitality in the young ; this process changes their 
 
 H H 
 
46G SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 colour to a bright red hue, for wliicli they Lave s( 
 long been celebrated. 
 
 It was known to the Phoenicians before the tim< 
 of Moses under the name of thola, to the Greeks 
 by the appellation of Coccus baptica ; hence the origii 
 of the word " coccinati," the persons who wore robe; 
 that were dyed with the kermes. Previous to the dis 
 covery of America kermes was employed to a grea 
 extent in dyeing a very rich blood-red, which is of sc 
 permanent a nature that the old tapestries of Brussels 
 and other parts of Flanders, although manufacturec 
 more than two centuries ago, have lost none of theii 
 richness of tint. Since the settlement of America ii 
 has been supplanted, in a great degree, even in Europe 
 by cochineal. 
 
 The kermes, nevertheless, is still extensively pre- 
 pared in some parts of Spain as well as in the East 
 Bancroft states, in his " Permanent Colours " that 
 with a solution of tin, which is used with cochineal 
 the kermes is capable of imparting a scarlet quite as 
 brilliant as that dye, and perhaps more permanent 
 At the same time, however, as ten or twelve pounds 
 contain only as much colouring matter as one pound 
 of cochineal, the latter, at its ordinary price, is more 
 economical. At present it is chiefly used at Tunis 
 and other parts of the Barbary coast, for dyeing the 
 scarlet skull-caps (fezes), so much used in the Levant, 
 In the department of the Bouches-du-Rhone, one-hall 
 of the kermes crop is dried. It amounts annually tc 
 about 60 cwts., and is warehoused at Avignon. From 
 the middle of May to the middle of June the egg-case.* 
 are collected, and exposed to the vapour of vinegar tc 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFFS. 467 
 
 prevent incubation. A portion of the eggs is left. on the 
 tree for the maintenance of the brood. The species of 
 oak on which the kermes insect is found abounds in 
 Algeria, principally in the provinces of Algiers and 
 Oran ; but neither the tree nor the insect are an object 
 of any careful attention. The Arabs, -however, collect 
 the insect in June, and the price at which they dispose 
 of it has ranged of late years from five to ten francs 
 the kilogramme. The exports of kermes from Algeria 
 are about 4,000 Ibs. annually, which, at the official 
 price of 4s. per lb., gives a total value of 800. It 
 is used to dye stuffs red, instead of cochineal, for 
 colouring distilled waters, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical 
 preparations. Coccus polonicus makes similar nests for 
 its eggs on the roots of the Polygonum cocriferu/n, 
 Scleranthus perennis, Lycopodium complanatum, and 
 other plants in sandy soils in France and the Ukraine. 
 The kermes called Coccus frag aria is found principally 
 in Siberia, on the root of the common strawberry. 
 The Coccus Uva-ursi, which occurs in Russia, is twice 
 the size of the Polish kermes, and dyes with alum a 
 fine red. Good kermes is plump, of a deep red 
 colour, of an agreeable smell, and a rough and pungent 
 taste. Its colouring matter is soluble in water and 
 alcohol ; it becomes yellowish or brownish with acids, 
 and violet or crimson with alkalies. Sulphate of iron 
 blackens it. With alum it dyes a blood-red; with 
 copperas and tartar, a lively grey ; with sulphate of 
 copper and tartar, an olive green ; with tartar and salt 
 of tin, a lively cinnamon yellow ; with more alum and 
 tartar, a lilac ; with sulphate of zinc and tartar, a 
 violet. Scarlet and crimson dyed with kermes were; 
 
 H H 2 
 
468 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 called grain colours, and they are reckoned to be more 
 durable than those of cochineal. Hellot says that pre- 
 vious to dyeing in the kermes bath he threw a handful 
 of wool into it, in order to extract a blackish matter 
 which would have tarnished the colour. According to 
 Wolfe one pound of kermes is capable of dyeing ten 
 pounds of wool ; but Hermstadt could not obtain a 
 pure colour, although he employed five times as much 
 of it as of cochineal. The colour does not take well on 
 silk. The Turks, Armenians, and Cossacks, dye with 
 kermes their morocco leather and cloth, as well as the 
 manes and tails of their horses, and the females the 
 nails of their fingers. 
 
 A second species worthy of attention, which feeds 
 on a Poterium, was formerly much used by the Moors 
 in dyeing their wools and silks. A diminutive mite, 
 the Trombidium tinctorium, of Fabricius (the Acarus 
 tinctorius, Linnaeus), occurs in Guinea and Senegal, 
 and yields a valuable dye, in common use amongst the 
 native tribes. Monsieur Caillaud (" Voyage a Meroe ") 
 met with it in Sennaar. 
 
 The next dye for consideration is the beautiful 
 crimson or scarlet, furnished by cochineal. 
 
 Cochineal, the Coccus cacti, which infests the 
 Opuntia coccinellifera, and other species of cactus, 
 yields the cochineal of commerce. The insect was 
 formerly confined to Mexico, where the culture was 
 carried on by the Indians, and afterwards the Spanish 
 settlers derived an immense profit from the export of 
 the dye. About the year 1778 the French Govern- 
 ment managed to introduce the insect, and the peculiar 
 species of cactus on which it flourishes, into their 
 
ANIMAL DYE8TUFF8. 469 
 
 West India colonies. Large grants were made for 
 promoting the culture, and the import from St. 
 Domingo was at one time considerable. Within com- 
 paratively few years the production of cochineal has 
 been so successfully carried out in various parts of the 
 Old World, that the quantity annually produced now 
 rivals the whole amount obtained from Central America. 
 Soils unfit for other cultivation will readily support 
 the cactus on which the insect feeds, and the produce 
 is less precarious than that from the silkworm. In 
 1831 the culture was commenced in the Canary Islands, 
 and in 1849 the imports to France and England had 
 reached the large amount of 800,000 Ibs. The French 
 Government have commenced plantations in Algeria, 
 where they promise to succeed admirably, and speci- 
 mens of cochineal already exported have been pro- 
 nounced superior to the finest Mexican.* Attempts 
 have been made to rear cochineal in the Mauritius, 
 and the island abounds with the true cactus , but a 
 small bird which preys on the insect has been found a 
 fatal destroyer. 
 
 About eight years since the cochineal insect was 
 introduced into Curacoa through the exertions of the 
 Governor, Von Raders. The expenses of the Govern- 
 ment plantations on that island, and its appendages 
 of Bon Ayre and Amba, were repaid by the produce, 
 and a profit yielded of 20,000 to 30,000 dollars by the 
 exports in 1849, so that private individuals are now 
 following the Government example. 
 
 * A good descriptive article, by M. Simonnet, on the modes 
 adopted of rearing and breeding the insect in Algiers, 
 will be found in the " PhannaceuticalJournal/' vol. iii, p. 581. 
 
470 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The cochineal cactus was introduced" into Java by 
 the Dutch Government in 1830; and although the 
 culture is only carried on at a few Residencies, yet so 
 rapid has been the progress that 173,000 Ibs. were 
 raised in the island in 1851. 
 
 Ibrahim Pasha successfully introduced the insect 
 into the vicinity of Tripoli, where the Cactus opuntia 
 thrives remarkably well. After Bombay, Guzerat, 
 the Concar, and the Persian Gulf seem to be the chief 
 places of consumption of cochineal in the East, and 
 China appears latterly to have come into the market. 
 It is somewhat singular that a people so remarkable 
 for their skill in the manufacture of colouring matters 
 should not supply cochineal for themselves, and I 
 C;IH only conclude that, like cotton, they find it cheaper 
 to purchase than to produce, when agricultural in- 
 dustry can be turned to a better account in other 
 directions. The climate of Japan and China being 
 similar to Mexico, the culture will, doubtless, be intro- 
 duced there before long, as cochineal is so indispensable 
 an article for dyeing silks of scarlet and crimson 
 colours. 
 
 At the close of the eighteenth century, through the 
 instrumentality of Sir Joseph Banks, the East India 
 Company set on foot experiments for the produc- 
 tion of cochineal in the East. A nopalry was esta- 
 blished at Madras, under the management of Dr. 
 Anderson and Dr. Berry, and in three years 2,000 
 Opuntia plants were in a flourishing condition. The 
 native cactus (0. Dillenii), however, was found to be 
 the only plant on which the imported insects throve. 
 When the harvest came to be gathered, it was dis- 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFFS. 471 
 
 covered that a sad mistake had been made ; the insect 
 introduced and diffused over the country at such 
 expense was found to be the wild cochineal, and not 
 the real grana fina of Mexico. Thus both the im- 
 ported insect and cactus were discovered to be inferior 
 species ; and though a reward of 2,000 was offered 
 bj the Indian Government for the introduction of the 
 true Mexican insect, it was never claimed. The wild 
 insect occurs very generally on the Cactus indicus 
 throughout India, and is found in great abundance, 
 particularly in the North West Province. It takes, 
 however, four times the quantity of this insect to pro- 
 duce the same amount of colour as the cultivated 
 species. Dr. Royle (" Productive Resources of India") 
 thus accounts for the abandonment of the culture in 
 India. " The experimental culture in India was as 
 successful as could be expected with the materials at 
 that time obtainable, and sufficient was learnt to 
 satisfy every one that the true cochineal insect would 
 thrive well in the districts where the wild kind had 
 spread with such amazing rapidity. The Government 
 patronage, though liberal enough to have established 
 the culture even of the true insect, had only a temporary 
 effect upon that which was so inferior, as the increased 
 employment of lac, and the diminished price of 
 cochineal, combined their efforts in discouraging the 
 culture-." 
 
 The imports of cochineal have rapidly increased 
 within the last few years, and our home consumption has 
 become larger. While we imported only 14,600 cwts, 
 in 1847, in 1850 the imports had reached 22,500 cwts., 
 of which we retained about 12,500 cwts. The best 
 
472 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 accounts of cochineal culture will be found in Dunlop's 
 " Travels in Central America," Stephens's " Incidents 
 of Travel," and in a rather scarce work published 
 in French, at Port-au-Prince, many years ago, by 
 M. Thierry de Meneville, the Government botanist 
 of St. Domingo. 
 
 A few years ago Mr. David Riz, of Kingston, 
 Jamaica, made experiments to obtain from the cactus 
 plant artificially what nature accomplished in the 
 insect, and at length succeeded by inspissating the 
 delicate ripe juice of the succulent fruit. After a 
 number of experiments, he found one process which 
 communicated a crimson colour to silk and wool 
 superior to that given by cochineal. He came to 
 England, and trials of the same were made before a 
 number of the principal dyers in and about London, 
 at the Museum of the Royal Institution. He also dis- 
 covered two other processes, which promised, with 
 very little alteration in their manufacture, to produce 
 the colouring dyes of scarlet and purple. Upon a 
 moderate calculation it was found that this colour 
 would go further than three times the quantity of 
 cochineal, which he accounted for by remarking that 
 there is a great part of the insect, as its skin, &c., 
 which affords no dye ; but that the whole of his process 
 yielded genuine colour, with little or no impurity. 
 Notwithstanding the advantages that might be derived 
 from this gentleman's discovery, he met upon the 
 whole with very little encouragement to prosecute his 
 manufacture and pursue his investigations, although 
 the sums annually expended in the purchase of cochineal 
 from foreigners are very large, and thousands of acres, 
 
ANIMAL DYESTUFF8. 473 
 
 now waste in our West Indian and other colonies, 
 might be cultivated with the cactus plant at very 
 little trouble and expense, and a quantity of dye 
 obtained fully adequate to the home demand. The 
 fruit of the Opuntia when eaten gfives a red colour to 
 the urine. Mr. Warren de la Rue undertook a series 
 of careful investigations of the colouring matter of 
 cochineal in the Royal College of Chemistry, but could 
 not in any way connect the red colour of the insect 
 with that produced by the fruit. 
 
 The beautiful pigment, carmine, is a result of the 
 precipitation of an infusion of the cochineal insect 
 (Coccus cacti) in water by means of alum. The car- 
 mine of commerce is so costly an article that it is 
 seldom to be met with in a state of purity. Pure 
 carmine dissolves in ammonia. 
 
 The insect by the puncture of which oak galls 
 are formed, is the Cynips quercusfolli. Galls are 
 shipped in considerable quantities from Messina in 
 Sicily, and from Smyrna, for the English, German, 
 and French markets, the two former, however, being 
 the largest consumers ; for England, the blue galls are 
 those principally sent. The annual produce of all 
 sorts is about 5,500 quintals, of 125 Ibs. each. A 
 very curious gall has lately been imported from China 
 by Mr. Morson, F.L.S. This, which is principally 
 composed of gallic acid and tannin, has, been par- 
 ticularly described in a volume of the " Phar- 
 maceutical Journal," where the insect is figured. 
 Gallic acid is of extensive use for dyeing, as it con- 
 stitutes one of the principal ingredients in all the 
 shades of black, and is employed to fix or improve 
 
474 SCI KNOB AND COMMERCE. 
 
 l other colours ; it is also used as a chemical 
 agent, and in the manufacture of black ink. Nut galls 
 contain about 40 per cent, of their weight of tannin. 
 About 280 tons of galls were imported into Liverpool 
 last year (1852). ' 
 
 The peasants of Thrace and Macedonia collect the 
 galls, which grow on the leaves of the male terebinth, 
 about the end of June. They are then about the 
 size of a small hazel nut, but, if left a sufficient 
 time, would become bow-shaped, and about six inches 
 long. About 6,000 Ibs. of these galls are annually 
 sold at a high price, being in much local demand 
 to dye fine silks in the town of Brussa. Galls are also 
 obtained from the pistachio, growing in Cabool, 
 Bokhara, and Persia. 
 
 MINERAL COLOURS AND DYES. 
 
 THE earthy and mineral substances used for colours 
 are, white lead, zinc, red lead, umber, ochre, ultra- 
 marine, sulphate of cobalt, manganese, copper, iron, 
 arsenic, and some other substances, the careful pro- 
 portioning and compounding of which come mostly 
 within the province, in the first instance, of the 
 chemist. Prussian blue and chrome yellow are also 
 metallic compounds. In 1850 we imported 78,950 Ibs. 
 of prussiate of potash (worth about 6,000), to form 
 Prussian t}lue ; and from France, in 1851, 8,148 Ibs. 
 Hundreds of tons of the sulphates of ores are used by 
 various manufacturers, the sulphate of manganese to 
 give a brown colour in calico printing, the sulphate of 
 copper for emerald and Brunswick greens, the sulphate 
 of iron for Prussian and other blues, and the sul- 
 
MINERAL COLOURS. 475 
 
 phuret of arsenic is also a valuable pigment. About 
 1,000 tons of argol, the deposit from wine casks, 
 which is used as a mordant, are imported annually 
 from the wine-producing countries. 10,000 to 
 12,000 cwts. of various ochres, valued at 8,000 to 
 9,000, are supplied to us annually by France, for the 
 use of painters and paper stainers, &c., which might, 
 in some measure, be procured from our colonies, as 
 good specimens were shown at the Great Exhibition, 
 in 1851, from Singapore, Patna, and Canada, &c. 
 Carbonate of ammonia is also much used in colour- 
 making and dyeing. 
 
 The oxide of cobalt gives an intense and beautiful 
 blue colour to earthenware and glass ; when fused with 
 silica and potash, under the name of smalts, it is 
 extensively used for dyeing linen, paper hangings, &c. 
 The phosphate of cobalt, with alumina, furnishes 
 nearly as beautiful a blue as ultramarine. 
 
 Zaffres is a sort of regulus of cobalt, which is im- 
 ptfrted to the extent of about 80 tons ; when smelted 
 over again, mixed with potash and siliceous earth, it 
 forms smalts ; this, when ground fine, is called powder 
 blue. About 200,000 Ibs. of smalts are annually 
 imported. 
 
 Polychromate, or chrysammic acid, a new dye, was 
 shown at the Exhibition by Mr. P. Sants, of Utrecht, 
 with specimens of silk coloured with it. 
 
 Ultramarine, one of the most valuable pigments, by 
 the application of science and the analysis of its com- 
 ponent parts, has been now so materially cheapened 
 that it has come into general use for the purposes 
 of the painter, printer, and varnisher. For preparing 
 
476 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 artificial ultramarine, a Council Medal was awarded by 
 the Commissioners of the Exhibition of 1851 ; and 
 nine other medals were given for beautiful specimens of 
 ultramarine shown. Austria exhibited the pigment 
 in all its various shades. Very many medals were 
 also awarded for oxides of minerals, and preparations 
 of colours and dyes. We imported from France, in 
 1848, 17 cwts. of ultramarine, worth 252; in 1849, 
 20 cwts., worth 213; in 1850, 375 cwts., worth 
 3,322; in 1851, 335 cwts., worth 3,377. 
 
 [The imports of ultramarine had in 1870 reached 
 34,427 cwts., valued at 140,143, and of zaffres and 
 smalts, 1,093 cwts., value, 9,983.] 
 
 VEGETABLE DYES AND COLOURS. 
 
 THE next grand division of our subject embraces all 
 the dyes and colours obtained from the Vegetable 
 Kingdom. The bark and roots of the berberry are 
 used in the East to dye yellow ; the colour is best 
 when boiled in ley. Some of the species of Symplocos, 
 as S. racemosa, known as lodh about the Himalaya 
 Mountains, and S. tinctoria, a native of Carolina, are 
 used for dyeing. The scarlet flowers of the Dhak tree, 
 Butea frondosa, and B. superba, natives of the Indian 
 jungles, yield a beautiful dye, and furnishing a species 
 of kino (Pulas kino) are also used for tanning. Althea 
 rosea, the parent of the many beautiful varieties of 
 hollyhock, a native of China, yields a blue colouring 
 matter equal to indigo. Indigo of an excellent quality 
 has been obtained in the East from a twining plant, 
 Gymnema tingens or Asclepias tingens. 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 477 
 
 The yellow unripe fruit of Rhamnus infectorius, 
 catharticus, and virgatus, known as Turkey, French, 
 and Persian berries, is used for dyeing leather yellow. 
 When mixed with lime and evaporated to dryness, it 
 forms the colour called sap-green. A great quantity 
 of yellow berries are annually shipped from Constanti- 
 nople. It is a subject of surprise that the common 
 betel-nut of the East has never been introduced for 
 dyeing purposes. The roots of the al tree of Malabar 
 and other parts of India, Morinda tinctoria, found 
 abundant in all the Asiatic islands, are extensively 
 used as a dyestuff for giving a scarlet colour. The 
 colouring matter resides principally in the bark of the 
 roots, which are long and slender, and the small pieces 
 are the best, fetching 85. to 10s. a maund. It is ex- 
 ported in large quantities from Malabar to Guzerat, 
 and the northern parts of Hindostan, but seldom finds 
 its way to Europe. 
 
 The wood and roots of another species, Oldenlandia 
 umbellata, known in the eastern islands as "Mangkudu," 
 are used extensively for their red dye, in Celebes and 
 Java. Specimens of all these, and of the Lopisip 
 bark, bunchong bulu wood, and the gaju gum (from 
 undescribed plants), have been imported into England. 
 They are said to furnish excellent dyes in the Asiatic 
 islands. Native dyes from Arracan have also been 
 introduced, viz., thit-tel and the-dam yielding red 
 dyes, ting-nget and reros affording dark purple dyes, 
 and thit-nan-weng a chocolate dye. These would be 
 worth enquiring into, and particulars of the plants 
 yielding them, the quantities available, and the prices, 
 might be procured. Dyes and colours from the fol- 
 
478 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 lowing plants are obtained in India : several species of 
 Terminalia, Semecarpus anacardiuin, Myrica sapida, 
 Nelumbium vpeciosum, and Nyctantlies arbortristis . 
 The bunkita barring, obtained from an undescribed 
 plant in Borneo, produces a dark purple or black dye. 
 A species of Ilut'llia, under the name of " room," is 
 employed by the Khamptes and Singphos to dye their 
 clothes a dark blue. It is described by the late Dr. 
 Griffiths as "a valuable dye, and highly worthy of 
 attention." In Nepaul they use the bark of Photinia 
 (lubia or.Mespilu& benr/alensis for dyeing scarlet. The 
 bark of the black oak, Quercus tinctoria and its 
 varieties, natives of North America, is used by dyers 
 under the name of quercitron. 
 
 In the south of Europe, Daphne gnidium is employed 
 to dye yellow. The root of reilbon, a sort of madder in 
 Chili, dyes red. A purple tint or dye is obtained from 
 the bark of an undescribed tree, known under the name 
 of " Grana ponciana," growing about Quito ; and Ste- 
 venson (" Travels in South America ") says, " if known 
 in Europe it would undoubtedly become an article of 
 commerce." Another much more expensive species of 
 colouring matter (red) is obtained in various parts of 
 South America from the leaves of the Bignonia chica. 
 Dr. Ure thinks it might probably be turned to account in 
 the arts. The order of plants to which it belongs 
 contains a vast number of species, all natives of 
 tropical countries, and their value for the production 
 of colouring substances may be worth investigation. 
 
 A beautiful bluish-black colour, known as " cauto," is 
 procured in Demerara and Berbice from the juice of the 
 Genipa americana (Linnaeus) a tree very common in 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 479 
 
 the colony. The Indians use it for staining their faces 
 and persons. Another pigment is prepared by them 
 from arnotto, mixed with turtle oil, or crab oil, obtained 
 from the seeds of the Carapa guyamnsis (Aublet). 
 The wild plantain ( Urania guyanensis) and the culti- 
 vated plantain (Musa paradisiaca), the Mahoe (Thes- 
 pesia populnea) and the seed of the Avocado pear 
 (Persea gratissima) furnish dyes in various parts of 
 the West Indies ; and specimens of some of these 
 have been imported from British Guiana and Trinidad." 
 
 Russia produces good specimens of the root of 
 Statice coriaria, the leaves and bark of sumach, the 
 bark of the wild pomegranate, yellow berries, Madia 
 sativa> saffron, safflower, and madder roots, for dyeing 
 purposes. 
 
 Avicenna tomentosa, a species of mangrove, is very 
 common about the creeks of Antigua, Jamaica, and 
 other West Indian islands, and the bark is used for 
 tanning. 
 
 In New Zealand the natives produce a most brilliant 
 blue-black dye from the bark of the Ens, which is in 
 great abundance. Some of the borders of the native 
 mats, of a most magnificent black, are dyed with this 
 substance. It has been tried in New South Wales ; 
 but, as with other local dyes, although found well 
 suited for flax, hemp, linen, or other vegetable produc- 
 tions, it could not be fixed on wools or animal matter. 
 It is of great importance that chemical science should 
 be applied to devise some means of fixing this valuable 
 dye on wool. As the tree is so common, the bark 
 could be had in any quantity at about 3 105. a ton ; 
 and our tweed manufacturers are in great want of a 
 black dye for their check and other cloths. 
 
480 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Red Sanders wood (Pterocarpus santalinus), which 
 is hard, and of a bright garnet-red colour, is employed 
 to dye a lasting reddish brown on wool. It only yields 
 its colour to ether or alcohol. The tree, which is a 
 lofty one, is common about Madras and other parts of 
 India ; it is also indigenous to Ceylon. The exports 
 of this wood from Madras in one year have been nearly 
 2,000 tons. 
 
 The other heavy woods used for dyeing are fustic, 
 'logwood, sappan wood, camwood, barwood, peachwood, 
 and Brazil wood. 
 
 Of fustic we import from 1,500 to 2,000 tons 
 annually. We derive our supplies from Brazil, Tam- 
 pico, Puerto Cabello, Cuba, and Jamaica. The best 
 H obtained from Cuba ; for while the common white 
 fustic from Jamaica and the Spanish Main fetches only 
 4 10. to 6 the ton, that of Cuba realises from 8 
 to 9 the ton. 
 
 Logwood is increasing rapidly in. use, for whilst in 
 1837 we retained scarcely 15,000 tons for home use, 
 in 1850 the quantity exceeded 30,000 tons. The wood 
 grown in Jamaica is the least valued, that from Hon- 
 duras and St. Domingo fetches a somewhat higher 
 price ; but logwood imported from Campeachy direct 
 is the most esteemed.* 
 
 Sappan wood (Ccesalpinia sappan) is an article of 
 considerable commerce in the East. It is the bukkum 
 wood of Scinde, and is procured in Mergui, Bengal, 
 the Tenasserim Provinces, Malabar, and Ceylon. In 
 1842 as much as 78,000 cwts. were shipped from 
 
 * An Article of mine "On the Trade in Logwood" will 
 be found in " The Technologist," vol. iv, p. 328. 
 
VEGETABLE DYE8TUFFS. 481 
 
 Ceylon, but the export from thence has decreased. 
 A large quantity is shipped from Siam and the Philip- 
 pine Islands ; as much as 200,000 piculs annually from 
 the former, and 23,000 piculs from Manilla. 3,524 
 piculs were shipped from Singapore in 1851, and 
 4,074 piculs in 1852. The picul is about 1 cwts. 
 Sappan wood yields a yellowish colour, like that of 
 Brazil wood (C. brasiliensis), but it does not afford 
 so much dye matter, nor is it so good in quality. 
 
 Camwood, barwood, red sanders wood, and other 
 dyewoods, are found in great quantities in many parts 
 of Africa. The dyes of Africa are found to resist 
 both acids and light properties which no other dyes 
 seem to possess in the same degree. About thirty 
 miles east of Bassia Cove, in the Republic of Liberia, 
 is the commencement of a region of unknown extent, 
 where scarcely any tree is seen except the camwood. 
 This boundless forest of wealth, as yet untouched, is 
 easily accessible from that settlement ; roads can be 
 opened to it with little expense, and the neighbouring 
 kings would probably give their co-operation to a 
 measure so vastly beneficial to themselves. It is 
 impossible to ascertain the exact export of these com- 
 modities to Europe and the United States, but it 
 is very great, and employs a large amount of vessels. 
 One Liverpool house imported 600 tons in a single 
 year, worth about 9,000. In 1841 upwards of 3,000 
 tons of dyewoods were imported into Liverpool from 
 the West Coast of Africa. 
 
 Arnotto. The plants of this family are chiefly 
 natives of the warmest parts of South America, the 
 East and West Indies, and Africa. In America the 
 
 i i 
 
482 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 seeds are called achiote or roucou. From the port 
 of Barcelona, in Venezuela, about 2,000 quintals are 
 annually exported. The species grown for its dye is 
 the />/,/ orellana. It is used to impart a bright 
 orange colour to silk goods, and to afford a deeper 
 ^hade to simple yellows. The dry, hard paste is also 
 found to be the best of all ingredients for giving a 
 golden tint to cheese or butter ; a convenient liquid 
 preparation is now sold to the dairymen. The Spanish 
 Americans mix it with their chocolate, to which it 
 -ires a beautiful rich hue. The dye is usually pre- 
 pared by macerating the pods in boiling water ; and 
 the subsequent process is a tedious and troublesome 
 one. M. Leblond suggests a preferable practice, 
 which is simply to wash the seeds till they are entirely 
 deprived of their colour, which lies wholly on the 
 surface ; to precipitate the colour by means of acetic 
 acid, and to boil it up in the ordinary manner, or to 
 drain it in bags, as is practised with indigo. The 
 arnotto prepared in this manner is found to be worth 
 four times that of the ordinary paste of commerce ; it 
 requires less solvent, and furnishes a purer colour. 
 Oar imports of arnotto for home consumption are from 
 200,000 to 300,000 Ibs. per annum. The plant is 
 grown in the Deccan and other parts of India, and the 
 Eastern Archipelago. At the Hawaiian Islands, Ton- 
 gataboo, Rio Janeiro, Peru, and Zanzibar, the arnotto 
 is an indigenous shrub. 
 
 Chay-root (Oldenlandia umbellata} is extensively 
 cultivated as a dye plant in the East, especially on the 
 coasts of Coromandel, Nellore, Masulipatam, Malabar, 
 and other parts of India. The outer bark of the roots 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 483 
 
 furnishes the colouring matter for the durable red, for 
 which the chintzes of India are famous. Chay-root forms 
 a considerable article of export from Ceylon. The wild 
 plant there is considered preferable, yielding one-fourth 
 more colouring matter, and the right to dig it is 
 farmed out. It grows spontaneously on light, dry, 
 sandy ground on the sea coasts. The dye is said to 
 have been tried in Europe, but not with very advan- 
 tageous effect. Dr. Bancroft suspects it may be in- 
 jured by the long voyage, but he adds that it can pro- 
 duce no effect which may not be more cheaply ob- 
 tained from madder.* 
 
 Indigo. The plants which afford this dyestuff 
 grow chiefly in the East and West Indies, in the 
 middle regions of America, in Africa, and Europe. 
 They are all species of the genera Indigofera, Isatis 
 and Nerium. 
 
 Indigofera tinctoria furnishes the chief indigo of 
 commerce, and affords in Bengal, Malabar, &c., an 
 article of middling quality. Roxburgh stated that he 
 xtracted most beautiful light indigo from the /. 
 :cerulea, and in greater quantities than he ever pro- 
 jured from the common indigo plant. The /. dispei-ma, 
 ultivated in the East Indies and America, grows 
 ligher than the preceding, and yields a superior dye- 
 tuff ; the Guatemala indigo conies from this species. 
 T. anil grows in the same countries, and also in the 
 
 * Some excellent descriptive papers " On the Dyestuffs of 
 India," by Mr. M. C. Cooke, were published in my periodical, 
 
 The Technologist," in 1862, " On the Yellow Dyestuffs," vol. 
 , p. 1 ; "On the Red Dyestuffis," p. 65 ; " On the Blue Dye- 
 tuff V P- 121 ; and a final paper at p. 132. 
 
484 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 West Indies. I. argentea, which grows in Africa, 
 yields little dyestuff, but it is of an excellent quality. 
 /. glaucescens is also an Egyptian and Arabian species. 
 The Wrightia tinctoria of the East Indies affords some 
 indigo, as does the Isatis tinctoria, or woad, in Europe, 
 and the Polygonum tinctorium, a native of China. 
 Baptisia tinctoria, the wild indigo of the United States, 
 also furnishes a blue dye. 
 
 Indigo is at present grown for the purposes of com- 
 merce in Bengal and the other provinces of that Pre- 
 sidency, from the twentieth to the thirtieth degrees of 
 north latitude ; in the province of Tinnevelly, Madras 
 Presidency, ,in the largest of the Philippine Islands, 
 in Guatemala and Venezuela, Central America and 
 Brazil. It is also produced in some of the West India 
 Islands, especially St. Domingo, but not in large 
 quantities. Bengal is the chief mart for it, and the 
 quantity of indigo made in other places is compara- 
 tively inconsiderable. The average production of 
 indigo in India for the two years ending 1849 was 
 126,744 maunds (of about 741bs.), of which nearly 
 85,000 were from Bengal alone. In July the plants 
 are cut when in blossom, that being the time when 
 there is the greatest abundance of dyeing matter. The 
 plant is then steeped in a vat till it has become 
 macerated and parted with its colouring matter, 
 then the liquor is let off into another vat, in which it 
 undergoes a peculiar process of beating, to cause the 
 fecula to separate from the water ; the fecula is then 
 let off into a third vat, where it remains some time, 
 and is thn strained through cloth bags, and evaporated 
 in shallow wooden boxes placed in the shade. Before 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFH. 485 
 
 it is perfectly dry, it is cut into small pieces an inch 
 square ; it is then packed up for sale. It is generally 
 divided into two classes Bengal and Oude. Madras 
 indigo is not much inferior to that from Bengal. The 
 best indigo comes from the districts of Kishnagur, 
 Jeypore, Moorshedabad, and Tirhoot. Some of a very 
 fine quality is made in Scinde. Indigo grows wild in 
 several parts of Palestine, but attention seems not to 
 have been given to its cultivation or collection. In 
 our settlements of Honduras, Demerara, and other 
 portions of the American continent, it would amply 
 reward the labour of the cultivator ; several inferior 
 species of Indigofera being found there indigenous, and 
 only requiring care and culture to improve them. 
 
 The indigo imported from the Western hemisphere 
 was for some time considered superior in quality to 
 that of the East. Its cultivation, however, has been 
 neglected, and the Bengal indigo is preferred at pre- 
 sent to any imported from South America, where it is 
 now only cultivated by the Brazilians and Colombians. 
 If proper attention were paid by the latter to the cul- 
 tivation of this plant, and to the preparation of the dye, 
 it is very likely that part of this important trade would 
 be regained. It thrives best in a moist climate, and the 
 interior of Trinidad and Guiana, chiefly newly-cleared 
 land, would be well adapted for it. The cultivation 
 has been repeatedly attempted in Cuba, but never with 
 much success, although the shrub from which it is 
 extracted grows wild in several districts of the island. 
 The indigo is one of the most common bushes in 
 Trinidad, where it grows wild on almost all the 
 ordinary soils. Several plantations were established 
 
isr, 
 
 SCIENCE AND* COMMERCE. 
 
 towards the close of the last century, but were aban- 
 doned on the supposition that the manufacture was 
 unhealthy. Indigo was once a most important crop 
 in South Carolina, and some attention has recently 
 been given to it by an individual or two in Louisiana, 
 and the enterprise is said to promise success. Enough 
 might undoubtedly be raised in the United States to 
 supply the home market. Indigo to the extent of 
 220,000 Ibs. per annum is now grown in Egypt. 
 Many Armenians have been invited from the East 
 Indies to teach the fellahs the best modes of prepara- 
 tion, and, in consequence, nine indigo works have been 
 established, belonging to the Government. On most 
 parts of the eastern and western coasts of Africa it is 
 indigenous ; at Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Cape 
 Colony it is abundant. The plant is found scattered 
 like a weed over the face of the country in the colony 
 of Natal ; it is said that there are no less than ten 
 varieties commonly to be met with there. Mr. Elaine, 
 in 1848, submitted to the Manchester Chamber of 
 Commerce a small specimen of the dyestuff which 
 had been extracted by a rude process from a native 
 plant, which was pronounced by good authority to be 
 of superior quality and worth 3s. 4d. per Ib. Mr. W. 
 Wilson, another settler there, who has turned his at- 
 tention to the cultivation, obtained in the proportion 
 of 300 Ibs. of indigo to the acre. 
 
 In Java the culture has made rapid progress ; the 
 exports now reach nearly 2,000,000 Ibs. annually. 
 [This has fallen off.] A large quantity is raised in the 
 Philippine Islands, nearly 8,000 cwts. having been 
 exported in 1847. Indigo grows wild in Siam, and all 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 487 
 
 the blue dye used in that country is manufactured from 
 this plant. The extensive low grounds are admi- 
 rably suited for its extended culture. Indigo, although 
 indigenous in Ceylon, is still imported for local supply 
 from the neighbouring continent. Its growth in that 
 island would be subject to none of the vicissitudes of 
 climate that in the course of a single night have 
 devastated the most extensive plantations in Bengal, 
 and annihilated the hopes and calculations of the 
 planters, at a time when they had attained all the 
 luxuriance of approaching maturity. 
 
 In 1790 the general object of cultivation in the 
 Mauritius was indigo, of which from four to five crops 
 a year was procured. One person sent to Europe, in 
 1789, 30,000 Ibs. of a very superior quality. It has 
 long since given place to sugar as a staple. In 
 the year 1852 we imported 70,500 cwts. of indigo, of 
 which about 16,300 cwts. were retained for home 
 consumption. 
 
 Madder. This article, so extensively used as a red 
 dye, is the product of the long slender roots of the Rubia 
 tinctorum and allied species, a plant of which there 
 are several varieties. Our supplies of this important 
 article of commerce are obtained from several of the 
 continental countries of Europe, India, and Ceylon. 
 About 1,100 tons are annually shipped from Naples, 
 worth about 30 the ton. It is extensively grown 
 on the central table-land of Afghanistan, and is one 
 of the leading products of Beloochistan, and according 
 to Mr. Pottinger it sells in the Kelat bazaar at about 
 10 Ibs. for 2s. A cultivator in Ohio, United States, 
 has found it a most profitable crop ; he raises 
 
4:88 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 2,000 Ibs. per acre, with very little labour or expense. 
 Our imports are enormous ; in one year they have 
 consisted of 261,841 cwts., all of which was for home 
 consumption.* 
 
 Indian madder is obtained from Rulia munjista 
 and R. cordifolia. It is cultivated chiefly about Assam, 
 Nepaul and Scinde, Bombay, Quitta, and also in China. 
 Its dyestuff is known in commerce as munjeet; 525 
 tons of it were imported into Liverpool in 1850. 
 
 A considerable portion of the madder roots, instead 
 of being ground and exported in that form, as hereto- 
 fore, is now exposed, after being invested with dilute 
 sulphuric acid, to a boiling heat by means of steam, 
 by which the colouring matter is considerably altered 
 and improved in quality for some dyeing processes, 
 while the quantity rendered soluble in water is greatly 
 increased. The madder so prepared is known as 
 garancine, and forms an important branch of manu- 
 facture in the South of France, which was well illus- 
 trated at the Great Exhibition in 1851 by a collection 
 of specimens supplied by the Chamber of Commerce 
 of Avignon. The spent madder, after being used in 
 dyeing, is now also converted by Mr. H. Steiner, of 
 Accrington, into a garancine (termed garanceuse by 
 the French) by steaming it with sulphuric acid in the 
 same manner as the fresh madder, and thus a con- 
 siderable quantity of colouring matter is recovered and 
 made available which was formerly thrown away in 
 the spent madder. Both varieties of garancine give 
 
 * See an Article " On the Trade in Madder" in " The Tech- 
 nologist," vol. i, p, 151. 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 
 
 489 
 
 a more scarlety red than the unprepared madder, and 
 also good chocolate and black, without soiling the 
 white ground, but are not so well fitted particularly 
 the garancine of spent madder for dyeing purples, 
 lilacs and pinks. The value of the garancine im- 
 ported from France in 1848 was 59,554, the value 
 of that imported in 1851 was 93,818. The greatly 
 increased imports of late years are shown in the 
 appended table : 
 
 IMPOSTS OF DYEWOODS AND DYESTUFFS. 
 
 
 1867. 
 
 1868. 
 
 1869. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Brazil Wood tons 
 
 576 
 28,530 
 9,414 
 1,489 
 28,608 
 175 
 41,325 
 71,995 
 259,501 
 66,468 
 13,440 
 13,237 
 2,111 
 19,547 
 64,273 
 8,576 
 
 476,105 
 28,622 
 18,565 
 9,260 
 31,633 
 360 
 24,443 
 9,319 
 9,401 
 1,841 
 25,784 
 
 2,300 
 35,468 
 11,524 
 3,143 
 56,079 
 515 
 31,138 
 75,874 
 306,723 
 79,612 
 13,251 
 20,239 
 3,541 
 29,623 
 137,812 
 9,621 
 
 408,212 
 42,443 
 23,842 
 11,441 
 30,589 
 1,145 
 19,379 
 32,532 
 26,048 
 2,183 
 32,747 
 
 7,357 
 50,458 
 12,446 
 3,400 
 54,121 
 481 
 32,002 
 86,721 
 143,765 
 30,510 
 13,234 
 16,267 
 2,573 
 23,652 
 251,953 
 9,570 
 
 461,540 
 31,026 
 21,040 
 14,275 
 46,180 
 3,921 
 38,599 
 9,544 
 22,152 
 3,214 
 32,065 
 
 3,215 
 62,187 
 10,657 
 2,066 
 44,452 
 449 
 36,672 
 79,255 
 173,318 
 42,195 
 14,431 
 19,050 
 5,946 
 25,718 
 56,610 
 8,580 
 
 448,746 
 15,137 
 11,748 
 14,131 
 31,912 
 2,749 
 41,899 
 14,597 
 43,950 
 2,245 
 34,427 
 
 Logwood . . . 
 
 Fustic 
 
 Sappan Wood , 
 
 Quercitron Bark cwts 
 
 Gamboge 
 
 Cochineal 
 
 Indiero ... 
 
 Madder and Madder Root 
 G-arancine 
 
 Sumach tons 
 
 Gambier . . 
 
 Cutch 
 
 Valonia . . 
 
 Myrobal an s cwts 
 
 Yellow Berries .. 
 
 Bark for Tanning or 
 Dyeing 
 
 Extract of ditto 
 
 Galls 
 
 Lac Dye 
 
 Shellac 
 
 Munieet .. 
 
 orchil ;; 
 
 Safflower 
 
 Saffron Ibs 
 
 Turmeric cwts 
 
 Ultramarine 
 
 
490 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 RE-EXPORTS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 1867. 1868. 18C9. 
 
 Cochineal cwts. 
 
 Indigo 
 
 Sumach tons 
 
 Gambler , 
 
 Cutch 
 
 Shellac . .. c\vts. 
 
 23,727 
 
 62,692 
 
 1,679 
 
 4,655 
 
 1,455 
 
 26,660 
 
 21,327: 24,243 
 
 60,891 1 60,821 
 
 533' 252 
 
 4,792 
 2,312 
 
 5,767 
 2,549 
 
 24,747| 27,505 
 
 1870. 
 
 22.620 | 
 
 46,279 i 
 
 395 
 
 3,935 
 
 2,115 
 
 19,812 
 
 COMPUTED REAL VALUE OP THE DYEWOODS, DYE- 
 STUFFS, AND TANNING BARKS, &c., IMPORTED IN 
 1869 AND 1870. 
 
 Dyewoods. & 
 
 Barwood and Camwood 28,176 ... 13,178 
 
 Braziletto 76 ... 12 
 
 BrazilWood 83,815 ... 35,365 
 
 Fustic 12,446 ... 58,339 
 
 Green Ebony 1,073 ... 2,422 
 
 Logwood 50,458 ... 294,119 
 
 Nicaragua 17,408 ... 15,824 
 
 Red Sanders 19,791 ... 34,428 
 
 Red Wood, or Guinea Wood. . 4,493 ... 659 
 
 SappanWood 3,400 ... 15,222 
 
 Unenumerated 15,977 ... 11,248 
 
 Total 237,113 480,816 
 
 Other Dyestuffs, &c. 
 
 Arnotto, Roll and Flag 30,788 ... 25,420 
 
 Barks for Tanning or Dyeing. 157,935 ... 149,493 
 
 Extract of do 36,045 ... 32,671 
 
 Quercitron 24,843 ... 16,391 
 
 Carmine 1,032 ... 1,542 
 
 Cochineal, Granilla, and Dust 579,547 ... 581,956 
 
 Carried forward 1,067,303 1,288,299 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 
 
 491 
 
 ... 1,288,299 
 ... 15,830 
 
 1,557 
 
 ... 59,169 
 ... 54,169 
 ... 468,388 
 
 6,493 
 
 ... 275,177 
 ...2,721,208 
 ... 250,371 
 ... 428,545 
 ... 3,471 
 ... 32,928 
 ... 112,693 
 71 
 ... 168,536 
 
 1,759 
 ... 95,690 
 
 7,498 
 
 9,623 
 
 ... 228,431 
 ... 44,639 
 ... 140,143 
 ... 395,546 
 ... 51,516 
 
 Total 6,933,478 6,863,859 
 
 Brought forward 1,067,303 
 
 Divi-divi 44,014 
 
 Dragon's Blood 
 
 Dyestuffs, Un enumerated 50,054 
 
 Galls 75,034 
 
 Gambier and Cutch 360,399 
 
 Gamboge 7,177 
 
 Garancine 202,372 
 
 Indigo 3,194,613 
 
 Lac Dye and Shellac 282,251 
 
 Madder and Madder Root .... 416,266 
 
 Munjeet 
 
 Myrobalans 
 
 Orchil 
 
 Rock Moss, for Dyeing 
 
 Safflower 
 
 Extract of 
 
 Saffron 
 
 Seed Lac, and Stick Lac 
 
 Smalts 
 
 Sumach 
 
 Turmeric 65,218 
 
 Ultramarine 130,719 
 
 Valonia 357,455 
 
 Yellow Berries 55,121 
 
 7,151 
 
 138,543 
 
 101,239 
 
 216 
 
 106,547 
 
 1,064 
 
 36,596 
 
 23,662 
 
 8,848 
 
 201,615 
 
 Safflower. The dried flowers of Carthamus tinc- 
 torius yield a pink dye ; the colour, however, is very 
 fugitive. The plant is cultivated in China, India, 
 Egypt, America, and some of the warmer parts of 
 Europe ; and is indigenous to the whole of the Indian 
 Archipelago. A large quantity is grown in and 
 exported from Bali. In Egypt it forms a considerable 
 article of commerce. The Chinese safflower is con- 
 sidered the best, and that from Bombay is least 
 
492 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 esteemed. The annual quantity exported from the 
 district of Dacca averages about 150 tons. The 
 shipments from Calcutta exceed 300 tons to various 
 quarters. Our imports are on the decline, and are 
 now only about 1,200 cwts. per annum. Safflower was 
 shown in the Exhibition from Celebes, Assam, the 
 vicinity of Calcutta, Dacca, Rajpootana, and other 
 places. 
 
 Sumach, sometimes called young fustic, is the 
 pulverised leaves and young shoots of Rhus coriaria, 
 a small deciduous tree, native of the south of Europe, 
 the Ionian Islands, and the Morea. It possesses 
 powerful astringent properties, which render it valu- 
 able for tanning light-coloured leathers ; and it 
 imparts a bright yellow dye to cottons, which is 
 rendered permanent by proper mordants, the species 
 grown for the purpose in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, 
 is Rhus Cotinus. In Montpelier and the South of 
 France the twigs and leaves are known under the 
 name of redoul or roudo. They are gathered every 
 year, and the shoots are chipped and reduced to powder 
 by a mill. From Sicily the exports are very large ; 
 in 1842 they were 123,305 tons, valued at nearly 
 69,000. In 1841 we received about 9,000 tons 
 from the port of Leghorn. We annually import 
 about 13,000 or 14,000 tons for home consumption. f 
 
 Myrobalans. Under this name a dried fruit of the 
 plum kind is imported from the East Indies for dyeing 
 and tanning purposes. It is the produce of Terminalia 
 ckebula. The unripe fruit varies from the size of an 
 
 f See my Article " On the Culture and Trade in Sumach,'' 
 in " The Technologist," vol. iv, p. 324. 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 
 
 493 
 
 olive to that of large gall nuts. It is highly valued 
 by dyers, creating, when mixed with alum, a durable 
 dark brown yellow colour. The bark and leaves of T. 
 catappa yield a black pigment, with which Indian ink 
 is made. The annual import of myrobalans is very 
 large. They come principally from Calcutta and 
 Bombay ; but a few tons are occasionally shipped 
 from Ceylon.* 
 
 TABLE SHOWING THE COMPARATIVE IMPORTS OF THE 
 LEADING DYESTUFFS, &c. IN THE LAST 30 YEARS. 
 
 
 1840. 
 
 1845. 
 
 1850. 
 
 1855. 
 
 1860. 
 
 1865. 
 
 26910 
 15708 
 33571 
 66506 
 237352 
 13045 
 19702 
 
 1870. 
 
 36672 
 24996 
 42195 
 79255 
 173318 
 14431 
 25781 
 
 Cochineal cwts. 
 
 9890 
 3483 
 
 9808 
 7fi29 
 3743 
 90424 
 215047 
 11398 
 19078 
 
 22451 
 
 5757 
 6133 
 70428 
 261860 
 12929 
 12526 
 
 27957 
 7683 
 26006 
 59760 
 275297 
 13082 
 10838 
 
 23430 
 11718 
 38344 
 77321 
 283295 
 13993 
 18856 
 
 Gambier and Cutch tons 
 Garancine cwts. 
 
 
 65029 
 250210 
 9351 
 8199 
 
 Madder and Madder Root 
 Sumach tons 
 
 Valonia , 
 
 
 Terra Japonica is the misapplied commercial 
 name of the dyestuff obtained from the gam- 
 bier plant ( Uncaria gamlir, Eoxburgh ; Nauclea 
 gambir, Hunter), of which 25,000 tons are now 
 annually imported. The cultivation is carried on 
 almost entirely in the island of Singapore, where it is 
 generally grown in connection with pepper. Gambier, 
 being one of the most powerful of the pure astringents, 
 is very valuable to the tanner. The commercial 
 
 * An Article of mine " On the Myrobalans of Commerce " 
 will be foiind in "The Technologist," vol. ii, p. 184, and 
 some further notes on them in vol. iii, p. 470. 
 
-I'.'-l SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 product is obtained either by decoction or infusion of 
 the leaves, and subsequent inspissation. The culture 
 of gambier is making rapid progress in Java ; nearly 
 4,000 tons were exported thence so long ago as 1843. 
 
 (Jamboge scarcely -merits the name of a dyestuff, 
 but is extensively used as a pigment, from its bright 
 yellow colour. True gamboge, by whatever name it 
 enters into commerce, whether as from Ceylon, India 
 or Siam, is now stated to be the product of one species 
 of plant, the Garcinia ?norella, Desr. The variety 
 sessilis of this plant yields the Ceylon and Indian 
 gamboge, and the variety pedicellata the Siam gamboge. 
 This latter description alone enters into European 
 coimiMTce, and is used in medicine and the arts. 
 
 In the month of June or July, when the sap is in 
 active circulation, the leaves and young branches are 
 broken off, and the yellow juice that flows from the 
 wounds is collected in cocoa-nut shells or twisted 
 leaves of the plant itself; it is afterwards poured into 
 larger vessels made of clay, and dried in the sun until 
 it is of proper consistence to be wrapped in leaves. 
 From this mode of obtaining it, it received the name 
 by which it is sometimes known of gummi guttce. The 
 method employed by the Malays and Chinese to give 
 it the qualities sought for in commerce is unknown. 
 After its purification it is agglomerated into irregular 
 masses or cakes, and wrapped in leaves, or poured into 
 bamboos, of which it retains the shape. It is some- 
 times met with in the English market still enclosed in 
 bamboos. In Ceylon it is obtained by cutting the 
 bark of the tree in several places with a sharp stone 
 just as the flowers commence to appear; the juice 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 495 
 
 which flows solidifies in the sun. Sometimes a slip 
 of bark the size of the hand is removed: this is done 
 in the morning. The gamboge oozes through the 
 pores in nearly a liquid state, but soon thickens, and 
 is collected the following morning. The tree is not 
 injured by the wound, which heals rapidly. The resin 
 or gambogic acid is obtained by evaporating to dryness 
 the ethereal tincture of gamboge. It is friable, of an 
 orange-yellow colour, insoluble in water, soluble in 
 alcohol, and especially in ether, and forms salts with 
 alkalies. Several other plants, as the Garcinia 
 cambogia, Desvr. and the Vismia cayennensis, 
 yield a similar yellow viscid exudation hardly dis- 
 tinguishable from gamboge, and used for the 
 same purpose by painters. The Garcinia elliptica, 
 Wallich, of Tavoy and Moulmein, affords gamboge, 
 and approaches very closely in its character to 
 Graham's Hebradendron. In like manner the Mysore 
 tree bears an exceedingly close resemblance to that 
 species. It is common in the forests of Wynaad in 
 the western part of Mysore, and has been named by 
 Dr. Christian Hebradendron pictorium. Another 
 gamboge tree has recently been found inhabiting the 
 western Burmese territories. Both these seem to 
 furnish an equally fine pigment. As it can be ob- 
 tained in unlimited quantity, it might be introduced 
 into European trade, once the natives learn how to 
 collect it in a state of purity, and make it up in homo- 
 geneous masses in imitation of pipe gamboge, the 
 finest Siam variety. It seems to possess more 
 colouring matter, more resin and less gum than the 
 ordinary gamboge of commerce. Gamboge owes its 
 
496 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 colour to the fatty acid. The resin must be regarded 
 as the chief constituent, and is most abundant in that 
 imported from Ceylon, which contains about 76 per 
 cent., and is, therefore, best adapted for painting. 
 
 Turmeric, the branches of the rhizome, or root- 
 stock of the Curcuma longa and C. rotunda, are em- 
 ployed in dyeing yellow, principally silks, but the 
 colour is very fugitive. As a condiment it enters into 
 the composition of curry sauce and powder. It is grown 
 in and exported chiefly from Bengal and Malabar, 
 Madras, Java, and China. The common long turmeric 
 has been found wild in Jamaica, growing luxuriantly 
 on the mountainous districts on the north side of the 
 island, and in the last century it was an article of 
 export, as Dallas mentions the shipment of 397 bags 
 of turmeric from thence, in 1797. The best Bengal, 
 Madras, and Malabar turmeric fetches 12s. to 18s. 
 per cwt., half the price of ginger, and there is no 
 reason why the West India planter could not send it 
 to the British market quite as cheap as the East India 
 trader. It is much cultivated about Calcutta, and all 
 parts of Bengal, where an acre yields about 2,000 Ibs. of 
 the fresh root ; it is also grown about the city of Patna 
 and Behar, and on the central table-land of Affghanis- 
 tan ; the quantity shipped from Madras, in 1850, was 
 6,877 bags. In China turmeric is used with Prussian 
 blue for colouring and facing teas. Upwards of 3,000 
 cwts. are sometimes imported here in a year. 
 
 Various species of Lecanora, particularly L. tartarea, 
 known as cudbear, are used in dyeing woollen yarn. 
 The Roccella tinctoria and fusiformis furnish the orchil, 
 of orchella weed of commerce, which is sometimes sold 
 
VEGETABLE DYESTUFFS. 497 
 
 as a moist pulp, but usually in the form of dry cakes, 
 known under the name of litmus ; it produces a fine 
 purple colour. Our imports, which amounted in 
 1870 to nearly 42,000 cwts., are derived chiefly 
 from the Canary, Azores, and Cape Verd Islands. 
 Orchella weed is very plentiful about the shores 
 of the islands of New Zealand ; some was sent 
 from thence to the London Exhibition of 1851 ; 
 but from a want of knowledge as to the time at 
 which it should be gathered, and the mode of pre- 
 paring it for the market, it has not yet become a 
 saleable commodity here. The rich varieties of lichens 
 on the rocks and plains of Australia have not been 
 tested as they ought to be with Hillot's lichen test. 
 Various lichens, among others Roccella tinctoria, from 
 Tenasserim and other parts of India, have been intro- 
 duced. In the Admiralty instructions given to Cap- 
 tain Sir James C. Ross, on his Antarctic voyage, his 
 attention was specially called to the search and enquiry 
 for substitutes for the Roccella, which is now becoming 
 scarce. 
 
 The beauty of the dyes given by common materials 
 in the Highlands of Scotland to some of the cloth? 
 which were exhibited, should lead our botanists and 
 chemists to examine, more closely than they have 
 hitherto done, the dyestuffs that might be extracted 
 from British plants. Woad (Isatis tinctoria) and the 
 dyers' yellow weed (^Reseda luteola) are both well 
 known. A piece of tweed, spun and woven in Ross- 
 shire, was dyed brown and black, by moss and alder 
 bark, and the colours were unexceptionable. 
 
 Sutherlandshire tweed and stockings, possessing a 
 
 K K 
 
498 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 rich brown colour, were produced with no more valuable 
 dye than soot ; in another piece, beautifully dyed, the 
 yellow was obtained from stony-rag, brown was ob- 
 tained from the crops of young heather, and purple 
 from the same, but subjecting the yarn to a greater 
 action of the dye than was necessary to produce a 
 brown. There is very little doubt but that beautiful 
 'and permanent dyes, from brown to a very rich purple, 
 might be cheaply procured by scientific preparations 
 of the common heather (Genista tinctoria). The in- 
 habitants of Skye exhibited cloth with a peculiarly 
 rich dye, obtained from the " crottal " moss. In the 
 Spanish department, specimens of vegetable dyes from 
 many cultivated and wild plants were furnished by the 
 Agricultural Board of Saragossa, and of several of 
 these it would be important to obtain descriptions and 
 particulars. 
 
 
THE TRADE IN PRECIOUS METALS. 499 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OF AND TRADE 
 
 IN PRECIOUS METALS AND 
 
 FANCY ARTICLES.* 
 
 WE furnish some statistics of the numbers engaged in 
 the watch, jewellery, cutlery, and allied trades, as far 
 as ascertainable, and the value of the goods dealt in, 
 as shown by the import and export trade. We have 
 some certain data in official returns to compile from, 
 but in other branches we must either assume figures or 
 leave the matter open to private estimate or conjec- 
 ture. 
 
 We will take the classified trades in the following 
 order: 1. Watch and Clock Making Trades. 2. 
 Goldsmiths and Jewellers. 3. Electro-Plate. 4. Gene- 
 ral Fancy Trade. 5. Opticians and Philosophical 
 Instrument Makers. 6. Cutlery. 7. Vulcanite, Ivory, 
 Pearl, Horn, and Bone. 8. Bullion Brokers, Money 
 Changers and Assayers. 
 
 1. In the Watch Making Trade in London there 
 are about 1,400 master tradesmen of various kinds, 
 
 * Published as a Preface to " The Post Office Directory of 
 the Watch and Clock Trades, Goldsmiths and Jewellers, the 
 Precious Metals, Electro- Plate, and General Fancy Trades, 
 throughout England, Scotland, and Wales." Kelly and Co., 
 1872. 
 
 K K 2 
 
500 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 exclusive of jobbing workmen not having a fixed 
 address. There are, however, about four times that 
 number in the United Kingdom. The Clock Makers 
 are one of the old Livery Companies of London. 
 There are 6 clock factories in the United Kingdom 
 which employ steam power. 
 
 Of the import trade in clocks and watches, we have 
 full details. For instance, there were imported in 1869 
 and 1870: 
 
 1869. 
 
 Gold Watches, 30,735, valued at 86,236 
 
 Silver Watches, 98,977 112,971 
 
 Clocks, 330,412 319,008 
 
 Total 518,215 
 
 1870. 
 
 Gold Watches, 42,798, valued at 142,220 
 
 Silver Watches, 180,339 230,200 
 
 Clocks, 256,861 , 258,628 
 
 Total 631,048 
 
 There are, probably, 30,000 gold watch-cases hall- 
 marked annually in London, and half that number at 
 the Assay Offices in the provinces; 100,000 silver 
 watch-cases are marked in London, and half that 
 number in the provinces. 
 
 2. The Goldsmiths and Jewellers form a large and 
 influential class of the trading community. There are 
 about 50 workshops in the kingdom using steam 
 power, and in which upwards of 2,000 persons are 
 
GOLD AND SILVER. 501 
 
 employed. A recent writer well observes, " At no 
 period in the world's history could the yearly produce 
 of the precious metals have been compared with what 
 it has become in recent times. The number of gold- 
 smiths, and the extent of the business they severally 
 command, have both increased. Factories have arisen 
 where formerly only the benches of single artificers 
 were needed ; and machinery now lightens the labour 
 of the gold-beater, the wire-drawer, the embosser, and 
 the engraver, and performs processes once most toilsome 
 with a rapidity and perfection which hand-work could 
 never have approached. Articles in gold and silver, 
 cheaper and of finer workmanship, are thus produced, 
 the demand for them is stimulated, and the number 
 of artificers employed is greatly increased." The uses 
 of gold are very numerous; alloyed with copper or 
 silver, it is employed for coin, plate, and a variety of 
 articles of luxury and ornament, for which purposes it 
 is in the highest request, from its great beauty, un- 
 changeableness, and lustre. In the arts it is exten- 
 sively used for gilding. Since the large discoveries of 
 gold in California, Australia, New Zealand, and other 
 quarters, at least 500,000,000 sterling of gold have 
 been added to the previous stock in circulation in the 
 world. The value of the gold coined at the British 
 Mint in the fifteen years ending 1854 was 65,634,328, 
 and in the fifteen years ending 1869, 76,397,545, so' 
 that an average of more than 4,500,000 worth of 
 new gold coin is annually put into circulation in the 
 United Kingdom, exclusive of what is used in the 
 arts and manufactures. There is a balance of gold 
 
502 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 remaining in the country, as shown between the official 
 imports and exports in the last fifteen years, of 
 about 118,000,000: 
 
 IMPORTS OF GOLD BULLION AND SPECIE. 
 
 Five years ending 1855 85,100,000 
 
 1860 100,316,508 
 
 1865 82,596,827 
 
 1870 89,023.517 
 
 Total 357,036,862 
 
 EXPORTS OF GOLD BULLION AND SPECIE. 
 
 Five years, ending 1855 49,453,024 
 
 1860 73,389,556 
 
 1865 64,326,685 
 
 1870 51,826,617 
 
 Total 238,995,882 
 
 ?>y the Census of 1861 there were nearly 9,000 gold 
 and silver workers in the metropolis ( and the increase 
 in wealth and in population will show, under the 
 recent census taken, even larger numbers). Of these, 
 5,000 were gold and silver smiths and jewellers. 
 
 Silver is employed throughout the world for coins, 
 alloyed with copper, and in the manufacture of a 
 variety of articles of household use and ornament, 
 .for which purpose it is well adapted by its great 
 unalterability. In the arts it is extensively used, 
 
 * The export of British coin from 1858 to 1871, was 
 14,907,678 ozs. ; and of bullion and foreign coin, 32,336,418 ozs.; 
 but in the same period we re-imported 6,628,200 ozs. of 
 British coin. 
 
THE ELECTRO-PLATE TRADE. 503 
 
 particularly for silvering or plating other metals. 
 There used to be an export of about 6,000,000 or 
 8,000,000 worth of silver annually to India, to 
 compensate the wear and tear of 4 per cent, on the 
 silver circulation in India (calculated to amount to 
 400,000,000), and to meet the balance of trade with 
 China, where silver is also the circulating medium ; 
 but this export has been lessening considerably of 
 late years. 
 
 About 50,000 ozs. of gold and 400,000 ozs. of 
 silver pass annually through the Assay Office, and 
 many more thousand ounces of the precious metals are 
 worked up into small ornaments not subject to duty. 
 
 The value of the plated wares exported in 1869 
 was 139,222, and of gold and silver plate, 67,671, 
 while the value of the gold and silver plate and plated 
 ware imported was 25,919. The number of persons 
 licensed to sell gold and silver plate in the United 
 Kingdom is 9,521 ; the average duty paid to the 
 Excise on gold and silver plate manufactured is about 
 60,000 per annum. The duty on gold plate stamped 
 is 17s. per oz., and on silver plate, Is. 6d. per oz. 
 
 3. The Electro-Plate Trade principally centres in 
 Birmingham and Sheffield, but there are, nevertheless, 
 2,500 gilders and platers in the metropolis, and about 
 100 factories in the provinces employing 7,000 hands. 
 The value of the plated wares annually manufactured 
 is estimated at 1,500,000 this department having 
 derived great advantage from the perfection of the 
 machinery now used in this country for rolling metals, 
 while it has, no doubt, likewise received encourage- 
 ment from the heavy duties imposed on gold and 
 
506 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 are more than a dozen large companies and firms 
 engaged in the manufacture, whose transactions are on 
 a very extensive scale. The value of the india-rubber 
 imported annually is stated at over 1,600,000 sterling, 
 and this first cost would certainly be doubled in manu- 
 facture. All this, it is true, cannot be set down to 
 fancy articles, but comprises telegraph wire, wearing 
 apparel, and articles of general utility made of the 
 elastic gums. Thus caoutchouc manufactures of the 
 value of 693,012 were exported in 1870. 
 
 Ivory, of which we imported 14,600 cwts. in 1869, 
 of the value of 507,319, is principally used for fancy 
 articles, ivory carvings, knife and brush handles, 
 billiard balls, chessmen, &c. Sheffield consumes an- 
 nually more than 70 tons for the handles of knives 
 and forks. 
 
 The vegetable ivory nut is also turned into a number 
 of fancy articles. The value of the raw material 
 31,430 cwts. of corosso nuts imported in 1870, was 
 given at 19,886. Every one of these nuts is made 
 into some little fancy article, selling at from 4.d. to 6d. 
 Coquilla and other nuts are also used for turning and 
 carving to about the same value.* 
 
 Mother-of-pearl shell enters largely into manufac- 
 turing trade for various fancy articles. The imports 
 in 1869 were 37,662 cwts., valued at 94,015, and in 
 1870 rather less. 
 
 Tortoise-shell and turtle-shell, for comb-making, 
 inlaying, and other purposes, was imported in 1869 to 
 the extent of 56,705 Ibs., of the value of 36,596. 
 
 * See my Paper " On Nuts, their Products and Uses," read 
 before the Society of Arts, April 24th, 1872, and published in 
 this work. See p. 583. 
 
TRADE IN BULLION AND SPECIE. 507 
 
 Of buffalo, deer, and other unenumerated horns, &c., 
 5,489 tons, of the value of 172,037, were imported, 
 besides the horns used of slaughtered cattle and deer 
 obtained in the United Kingdom. Horn is not so 
 much used for knife handles and buttons as formerly, 
 but it is still largely employed for combs. 
 
 8. Bullion and Specie. The import and export 
 trade in bullion and specie is very large, and gives 
 occupation to twenty-nine bullion dealers and eleven 
 bullion brokers in the metropolis, and others at some 
 of the large outports, besides many money-changers, 
 assay ers, &c. 
 
 There are several firms of private assayers who are 
 well skilled in estimating the value of the precious 
 metals, and whose reports are considered reliable. 
 
 There are Assay Offices at the following provincial 
 towns, besides the Hall of the Goldsmiths' Company, 
 London : Birmingham, Chester, Sheffield, Exeter, 
 York, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Glasgow, Dublin. There 
 are special hall and standard marks to each of these 
 localities. 
 
 Hall Marks. Standard Marks. 
 
 Birmingham An Anchor A Lion passant. 
 
 Chester Three Wheatsheafs and 
 
 a Dagger 
 
 Sheffield A Crown 
 
 Exeter A Castle with two Witogs 
 
 York Five Lions and a Cross 
 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne Three Castles 
 
 Edinburgh A Castle and Lion A Thistle. 
 
 Glasgow A Tree and Salmon with 
 
 a ring in its mouth ... A Lion rampant. 
 
 Dublin A Harp and figure of 
 
 Britannia A Harp crowned. 
 
 London A Leopard's Head A Lion passant. 
 
508 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Articles of all standards capable of bearing a stamp 
 are marked with the arms and marks of the particular 
 assay office, and a letter for the date of the year. 
 Different kinds of letters are used by the Goldsmiths' 
 Company ; the one now employed is the old black 
 letter. The alphabet was begun in 1856, H being the 
 letter for the year 1872. It runs on to twenty letters, 
 J being omitted ; a fresh alphabet is then again com- 
 menced. 22 carats fine is the legal assay mark for 
 gold. Gold of 18 carats fine bears the mark of the 
 Crown; silver of the new standard, 11 ozs.-10 dwts. 
 fine, the figure of Britannia. 
 
 [In olden times the precious metals were supposed 
 to lurk in the unknown caverns of the North. The 
 mountains of Greenland had likewise the credit of 
 being rich in gold, for in the book of Job, ch. xxxvii., 
 v. 22, it is written, " Gold cometh out of the North ; " 
 and Theophrastus Paracelsus has assured us of 
 wealthier mines in that quarter than in the East. 
 Martin Frobisher brought home a kind of black stone 
 that contained a considerable quantity of gold. 
 John Knight, in 1605, likewise found metallic stones 
 which yielded 26 ozs. of silver in 1 cwt. Their 
 beauty and facility of working, and their capability 
 of resisting change, are of so high an order as to 
 constitute gold the most useful of all metals, and 
 silver the next. Iron, though not a precious metal, is, 
 nevertheless, to all civilised countries, a most invalua- 
 ble one ; while on the other hand the comparative 
 scarcity of gold and silver in the crust of the globe 
 causes them to be but little used for purposes of mere 
 utility. Gold, however, is amongst the most widely 
 disseminated of all the metals that are used in the arts, 
 
DIFFUSION OF GOLD. 509 
 
 being more ubiquitous than any metal except iron. 
 There is hardly a country in which gold has not been 
 found. America, independent of the alluvial soils and 
 quartzose rocks of California, contains gold in various 
 places ; and even Canada and Nova Scotia have been 
 found to possess deposits of this widely-diffused metal. 
 The continent of Africa also furnishes it from its Gold 
 Coast, and, among other districts, from a part op- 
 posite Madagascar, supposed by some to be the Ophir 
 of old. It seems to be more common, however, be- 
 tween the thirtieth and fiftieth degrees of latitude on 
 either side of the equator. In the Northern hemisphere 
 a nearly straight line covers the Siberian, the Cali- 
 fornian, and the Canadian diggings ; another straight 
 line, round the other half of the globe, will cover the 
 African, the South American, and the Australian gold 
 fields. Wherever quartz veins, traversing a black 
 slaty rock, are to be found, ther^e gold may be obtained 
 either by washing out the gravel of the rivers in the 
 neighbourhood, or by crushing the quartz, from which 
 the particles contained in the river sands have been 
 washed out. Gold-bearing veins, rare in the newer or 
 rocks of the secondary and tertiary formations, are 
 common to the primary rocks, and wherever such rocks 
 occur, altered by volcanic action, the discovery of gold 
 is almost certain. The volcanic action volatilises the 
 metal, pouring it into every crack or fissure of quartz 
 running through the rock. It has been, in fact, 
 ascertained that these veins may be profitably rich in 
 gold, though the particles are too small to be discerned 
 by the naked eye. We cannot admit that we expect 
 to see a time when our tea-kettles and fire-irons will 
 be made of gold. We know the respect that is due to 
 
510 8CIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the opinions of those who anticipate such things ; but 
 still we must humbly demur to their reasoning, and 
 candidly confess that we shall be surprised if shovels 
 cease to be made of iron, and latch-keys of copper or 
 brass. Call them "baser" metals, as we will, they 
 have their peculiar merits, and, in their proper sphere 
 are decidedly preferable to gold. Whether, as some 
 pretend, the increasing supplies of the precious metals 
 will so alter the prices of gold, silver, iron, copper, 
 lead, &c., that the latter, instead of the former, will 
 become the standard of value ; whether iron or copper 
 are destined to promotion in the list of minerals, while 
 " gold dust " becomes a drug in the market, or whether 
 the demand for the raw material at the mints will con- 
 tinue for an indefinite period to exhaust the supply as 
 heretofore, are very different matters. It is hard to 
 reconcile oneself to the idea that gold will go out of 
 fashion still harder that silver, iron, copper or lead 
 will come in. It requires a bold imagination to fancy 
 a Regent Street dandy wearing a tenpenny nail as a 
 breastpin, or a fashionable belle with leaden rings or a 
 copper bracelet. Such plagiarisms from our friends 
 the Choctaws rather shock our notions. The follow- 
 ing prophecy, however, has not yet been fulfilled, 
 although gold is obtained somewhat too easily in distant 
 lands. It is by Dr. Girianger, of Gottingen, and was 
 published in the sixth volume of the " Philosophical 
 Magazine : " " In the nineteenth century the trans- 
 mutation of metals will be generally known and prac- 
 tised. Every chemist and every artist will make gold. 
 Kitchen utensils will be made of silver, and even gold, 
 which will contribute more than anything else to pro- 
 long life, poisoned at present by the oxides of copper, 
 
AMOUNT OF GOLD IN EXISTENCE. 511 
 
 lead, and iron, which we daily swallow with our food." 
 Some of us may perchance live to see whether the 
 worthy doctor's prophecy be realised. At all events 
 gold is becoming wretchedly common now-a-days, when 
 people find it by the cwt., and there has been exhumed in 
 twenty years gold to the value of 500,000,000 sterling 
 from the gold fields of the regions of California, 
 Australia, New Zealand, and other quarters. As our 
 stores of silver have nt)t increased so rapidly, science 
 has endeavoured to find a substitute. From the simple 
 earth of our land, from the clay of the field, has 
 recently been compounded a new metal, aluminium, 
 which, from its chemical properties, is in many respects 
 superior to silver, being less liable to tarnish, quite as 
 durable, and resisting acids. Its weight is only one 
 fourth that of silver, and articles in aluminium can be 
 made for one-third the cost of silver. The result of 
 the experiments which have been made on the chlorides 
 opens up a large field for the reduction and manufac- 
 ture of other metals into articles of utility and orna- 
 ment. 
 
 A cubic inch of gold is worth (at 3 17s. W^d. 
 per oz.), 42; a cubic 1 foot, 72,562 ; a cubic yard, 
 1,959,552. The amount of gold in existence at the 
 commencement of the Christian era is estimated to have 
 been 85,400,000 ; at the period of the discovery of 
 America it had diminished to 11,400,000 ; after the 
 occurrence of that event it gradually increased, and 
 in 1609 it attained to 21,000,000 ; in 1700, to 
 70,000,000; in 1800, to 225,000,000 ; in 1843, to 
 400,000,000; in 1853, to 600,000,000 ; and at the 
 present time the amount of gold in existence is esti- 
 mated to be 1,200,000,000, which, welded into one 
 
512 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 mass, could be contained in a cube of 26 ft. Of the 
 amount now in existence, 800,000,000 are estimated 
 to be in coin and bullion, 200,000,000 in watches, 
 and the remainder in jewellery, plate, &c.] 
 
 General Commerce. The following summary will 
 give a collective view of the principal articles of com- 
 merce : 
 
 VALUE OF THE IMPORTS IN 1870. 
 Amber, Rough and Manufactured... 2,883 
 
 Bronze Manufacture s, &c. , from Prance 2 3,037 
 
 Cameos, unset 3,445 
 
 Coral Beads, &c 13,324 
 
 Coral Negligees, Fragments, &c 5,681 
 
 Gilt or Plated Wire 9,287 
 
 Gold and Silver Specie, and Bullion.. 29,455,668 
 
 Gold Plate 230 
 
 Horns 179,969 
 
 Ivory 439,839 
 
 Jewellery 155,885 
 
 Medals 611 
 
 Mother-of-Pearl 76,489 
 
 Opera Glasses 49,412 
 
 Pearls ' 16,675 
 
 Platina 39,147 
 
 Plated Ware t 1,838 
 
 Precious Stones ' 29,372 
 
 Silver Plate 20,448 
 
 Tortoiseshell 33,926 
 
 Vegetable Ivory Nuts 19,886 
 
 Watches and Clocks 631,048 
 
 Total 31,208,000 
 
 VALUE OF THE EXPORTS IN 1870. 
 
 Amber 789 
 
 Bells and Bell Metal ! . 3,340 
 
 Bronze Manufactures 295 
 
 Buttons and Studs 4,519 
 
 Carried forward 8,943 
 
COMMERCE IN METALS, ETC. 513 
 
 Brought forward 8,943 
 
 Coral and other Beads 9,315 
 
 Negligees, &c 1,035 
 
 Clocks and Watches, &c 128,259 
 
 Movements 27,381 
 
 German Silver Manufactures 7,498 
 
 Glass Beads (British) 12,784 
 
 (Foreign) 83,334 
 
 Gold and Silver Bullion 18,919,690 
 
 Lace 22,410 
 
 Plate 59,344 
 
 Hardware and Cutlery 3,670,519 
 
 Horns 31,725 
 
 Horn and Bone Manufactures 16,184 
 
 India Rubber and Gutta Percha 
 
 Manufactures 19,748 
 
 Ivory 3,252 
 
 Jewellery and Personal Ornaments... 274,015 
 
 Mother-of-Pearl Shells 20,787 
 
 Musical Boxes 1,372 
 
 Papier Mache Manufactures 4,045 
 
 Pearls 625 
 
 Pewter and Britannia Metal Manu- 
 factures 18,414 
 
 Plated Wares 131,413 
 
 Precious Stones 512 
 
 Scientific Instruments and Surgical 
 
 Apparatus, &c 108,681 
 
 Silver Plate 3,930 
 
 Spectacles 277 
 
 Tortoiseshell 11,458 
 
 Toys 15,741 
 
 Travelling Bags, &c 13,588 
 
 Turners' Wares 11,450 
 
 Vegetable Ivory, &c., Nuts 10,382 
 
 Writing Desks and Dressing Cases, &c. 6,014 
 
 Total 23,654,125 
 
 L L 
 
514 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 THE 
 GROCERY AND ALLIED TRADES.* 
 
 THE various trades enumerated above are among the 
 most numerous and influential in the kingdom, whether 
 regard be had to the value and extent of the com- 
 modities dealt in, the continuous demand for them, or 
 the number of persons employed in their preparation, 
 commerce, and retail supply. 
 
 Passing the sub-divisions separately under review a 
 collective estimate can afterwards be formed of their 
 aggregate importance. They may be sub-divided 
 into : First, the Grocery Trade ; secondly, the Oil and 
 Colour Trade ; thirdly, the Confectionery Trade ; 
 fourthly, the Italian Warehouse Trade ; fifthly, the 
 Fruit Trade ; and, sixthly, the Tobacco Trade. 
 
 1. The Grocery Trade. An estimate of the 
 importance of the Grocery Trade for the supply of a 
 native population amounting to 31,500,000, to say 
 nothing of foreign visitors and ships' supplies at the 
 outports, will best be formed from the figures of a 
 year's foreign imports added to our home supplies. 
 Some of the dairy produce passes through the hands 
 of the grocer, although much is distributed by the 
 
 * Published as the Preface to Messrs. Kelly and Co.'s " Post 
 Office Directory of the Grocery, Oil and Colour, Confectionery, 
 Tobacco and Provision Trades, 1872." 
 
GROCERIES AND PROVISIONS. 515 
 
 cheesemonger, and hence butter, eggs, home-cured 
 hams and bacon are added to other articles dealt in by 
 the grocer. 
 
 It is not possible to ascertain precisely the entire 
 number of persons who are engaged in the Grocery 
 Trade, for, besides the wholesale and retail grocers, 
 the publicans and some other classes have taken up 
 the sale of tea. We know, however, from the Excise 
 Returns, that there are 184,237 persons holding tea 
 and coffee licences in the kingdom. Then, there are 
 many cocoa and chocolate manufacturers five of these 
 employ 1,523 persons the coffee-roasters, the con- 
 densed milk manufacturers, the starch and corn-flour 
 makers, and many others who belong more or less to 
 this trade. 
 
 In London and its suburbs there are about 4,800 
 wholesale and retail grocers ; but this comprises only 
 single firms or business houses, and includes but the 
 one registered head of the firm, irrespective of the 
 dozens of assistants, carters, and others engaged in 
 the business. 
 
 The production and consumption of butter in the 
 United Kingdom is very considerable, certainly ex- 
 ceeding 150,000 tons per annum, allowing only 16 Ibs. 
 yearly for each individual of two-thirds (21,000,000) 
 of the whole population ; and taking an average price 
 of Is. 3d. per Ib. for fresh and salt all round, this 
 gives a total value equivalent to 17,600,000. 
 The consumption of cheese, based upon half-an- 
 ounce per diem, or 12 Ibs. a-year, for each individual 
 of two-thirds of the population, amounts to 112,500 
 tons. The consumption of salt at 25 Ibs. per head 
 
 L L 2 
 
516 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 gives an aggregate quantity, for the same proportions, 
 of 234,375 tons ; and there are 25 salt works, which 
 employ 2,579 persons. 
 
 Wines are now very largely sold by grocers, but it 
 is difficult to separate the grocers who hold licences 
 from the wine merchants proper. We know, however, 
 from the Excise Returns, that there are 434 grocers 
 in Ireland who are retailers of spirits, and that there 
 are 123 makers of and dealers in sweet, or made, 
 wines in the United Kingdom, who hold licences, and 
 10,441 sweets' retailers. 
 
 Bottled beer, preserved meats, extracts of meat, 
 fish as sardines, herrings, &c., and marmalade, jams 
 and fruits, now enter also into the trade of the grocer. 
 Besides the large foreign imports there are 24 manu- 
 facturers of jams and fruits in the kingdom, employing 
 3,148 persons, and 26 miscellaneous manufactories 
 connected with the preparation of food, employing 
 2,289 other persons. 
 
 2. The Oil and Colour Trade. The oil trade is 
 another large and important branch of industry. In 
 London and its Suburbs alone, which has one-tenth of 
 the entire population, there are about 270 oil mer- 
 chants, 1,440 oil and colour men, 30 oil brokers, 50 
 oil-refiners, 80 melters and tallow chandlers, 65 wax 
 chandlers, 10 wax-vesta makers, and 100 soap- 
 makers. 
 
 Fire-wood, matches, brushes, pails, and other 
 domestic articles enter also into the range of articles 
 sold by the grocer and oilman. 
 
 In London alone there are 33 candle makers, 
 besides 5 candle works in the kingdom under the 
 
THE TRADE IN OILS AND FATS. 
 
 517 
 
 Factories' Act, employing 1,438 hands, and 35 soap 
 factories, employing 1,453 hands. There are also 308 
 soap makers in the kingdom, and 63 vinegar makers ; 
 one of the latter employs 104 persons. 
 
 The export trade in painters' colours has largely 
 increased of late years, owing to the extensive emigra- 
 tion and progress of settlement in our colonies. In 
 1860 the value of the shipments from this country 
 was but 475,143 ; in 1870 it was 644,331 ; against 
 this we have to set foreign imports of painters' colours 
 to the value of 120,209. 
 
 IMPOSTS AND VALUE OP OILS AND FATS, &c., 1870. 
 
 Petroleum 
 
 .... tuns 
 
 2,013 ... 
 
 27,514 
 
 Refined 
 
 .... galls. 
 
 6,352,109 ... 
 
 507,761 
 
 Train and Spermaceti 
 
 ... tuns 
 
 18,790 ... 
 
 890,553 
 
 Palm Oil 
 
 cwts. 
 
 868,270 ... 
 
 1,583,830 
 
 Cocoa Nut Oil 
 
 
 198,602 ... 
 
 392,657 
 
 Olive Oil 
 
 tuns 
 
 23,202 ... 
 
 1,185,950 
 
 Seed Oil 
 
 
 13,429 ... 
 
 594,933 
 
 Turpentine, Oil of 
 
 .... cwts. 
 
 89,178 ... 
 
 134,027 
 
 Common . . 
 
 .... 
 
 83,460 ... 
 
 28,063 
 
 Oil Seed Cake 
 
 .... tons 
 
 158,453 ... 
 
 1,417,100 
 
 Lard Oil 
 
 .... cwts. 
 
 1,850 ... 
 
 6,723 
 
 Tallow 
 
 
 1,523,298 ... 
 
 3,292,215 
 
 Vegetable 
 
 
 1,638 ... 
 
 3,261 
 
 Other Oils 
 
 
 20,105 ... 
 
 36,062 
 
 ParaffineOil 
 
 ....galls. 
 
 7,590 ... 
 
 625 
 
 Paraffine 
 
 . . . . cwts. 
 
 11,835 ... 
 
 36,804 
 
 Total 10,428,078 
 
 To the above must be added the following quantity 
 of oil seeds imported chiefly to be crushed into oil at 
 
518 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 our oil mills, and the oil is subsequently sold for home 
 
 consumption : 
 
 Value. 
 
 Cotton Seed tons 120,304 ... 1,091,132 
 
 Flax and Linseed qrs. 1,502,169 ... 3,960,717 
 
 Kape Seed 651,107 ... 1,737,227 
 
 Hemp, Poppy and other Oil 
 
 Seeds 112,627 ... 310,097 
 
 Total 7,099,173 
 
 There are 16 oil-pressers and oil-cake manu- 
 facturers registered under the Factories' Act, who 
 employ steam power to the amount of 1,066 horses, 
 and have 1,612 persons engaged. 
 
 3. The Confectionery Trade. In the United 
 Kingdom confectionery is made in vast quantities. 
 It is estimated that upwards of 650 tons of sugar 
 are every week converted into confectionery, from the 
 small comfits and bonbons up to the elaborate and 
 expensive wedding cakes. 
 
 It is difficult to form any correct estimate of the 
 fourteen factories, with 380 horse power steam, and 
 3,003 hands employed, which are returned by the 
 inspectors of factories as bakehouses, and biscuit and 
 confectionery manufacturers ; and many others are 
 not included because they do not employ steam power. 
 There are also 44 sugar refineries in the kingdom, 
 employing 5,174 persons. The exports of confec- 
 tionery, to the value of 114,672, forms but a small 
 proportion of the aggregate manufacture. 
 
 4. The Italian Warehouse Trade comprises a 
 great variety of articles which it is scarcely possible 
 to enumerate, but the following, which are particu- 
 
ITALIAN WAREHOUSE AND FRUIT TRADES. 519 
 
 larised in the Board of Trade Returns, may be specified, 
 although some of them come within the proper busi- 
 ness of the grocer : 
 
 IMPORTS IN 1870. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Capers 8,646 
 
 Caviare 1,670 
 
 Honey 28,121 
 
 Lime and Lemon Juice 22,381 
 
 Liqueurs 39,046 
 
 Olives :. 2,306 
 
 Sauces or Condiments 8,939 
 
 Sausages or Puddings 6,749 
 
 Soy 9,621 
 
 Tongues 8,405 
 
 Truffles 30,211 
 
 Total 166,095 
 
 Besides the above, anchovies and sardines, preserved 
 salmon, lobsters, turtle, dried and preserved vegetables, 
 condensed milk, and other articles form considerable 
 articles of trade. 
 
 5. The Fruit Trade is divided a great deal between 
 the grocer, the Italian warehouseman, the green- 
 grocer, and the fruiterer proper. 
 
 The following was the value of some of the chief 
 kinds of fruit imported in 1870 (exclusive of currants, 
 figs and raisins, which pay a Customs' duty) : 
 
 Almonds, Sweet 138,864 
 
 Bitter 20,966 
 
 Apples, Raw and Dried 274,058 
 
 Cherries 14,688 
 
 Carried forward , 448,576 
 
520 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Brought forward 448,576 
 
 Chesnuts 22,108 
 
 Citron, Dried 11,281 
 
 Cocoa Nuts 30,622 
 
 Cranberries 4,780 
 
 Dates 70,611 
 
 Grapes 87,416 
 
 Nuts, Small 193,462 
 
 Oranges and Lemons 648,056 
 
 Pears and other Dried Fruit 1,119 
 
 Pears, Raw 20,340 
 
 Pineapples, Melons, and other Green Fruits 131,967 
 
 Preserved Fruit 8,918 
 
 Tamarinds 3,660 
 
 Walnuts 42,638 
 
 Total 1,625,544 
 
 6. The Tobacco Trade. This is a business of 
 large and growing importance, and there are a great 
 number of persons employed in it as importers, brokers, 
 manufacturers, and tobacconists, or retailers. Con- 
 nected with the tobacco shop are also all those miscel- 
 laneous articles pipes of different kinds, from the 
 common clay to the expensively finished meerschaum, 
 tobacco boxes and pouches, snuff boxes of various 
 kinds, fusees, and other incidentals of the smoker. 
 The number of licensed manufacturers of tobacco and 
 cigars in the United Kingdom is 597, and these employ 
 about 14,000 hands ; of dealers or retailers holding 
 licences there are 284,124. The quantity of tobacco 
 and snuff of all kinds entered for home consumption 
 in 1870 was 41,376,382 Ibs., and the value of the im- 
 ports was about 2,200,000. 
 
 7. General Commerce Home and Foreign. The 
 
STATISTICS OP EXPORTS. 
 
 521 
 
 following figures give the value of the exports and 
 imports in 1870 of the principal articles : 
 
 EXPORTS. 
 
 Almonds 62,606 
 
 Bacon and Hams 413,079 
 
 Barley, Pearled 8,723 
 
 Biscuits and Bread 435,609 
 
 Blacking 22,586 
 
 Blue, Stone 20,417 
 
 Brooms and Brushes 56,287 
 
 Butter '. 410,118 
 
 Candles, Stearine, British 118,629 
 
 Foreign 277,136 
 
 other sorts 75,178 
 
 Cheese, British 110,246 
 
 Foreign 96,712 
 
 Chocolate 34,737 
 
 Cocoa 111,347 
 
 Coffee 393,268 
 
 Confectionery, British 70,787 
 
 Foreign 43,915 
 
 Currants, Figs, and Raisins 379,824 
 
 Emery and Emery Paper 15,223 
 
 Lard, British 8,561 
 
 Liquorice, Juice and Paste 70,165 
 
 Lucifer Matches and Vestas 169,356 
 
 Meat, Preserved 74,681 
 
 Oatmeal 5,549 
 
 Oils, Petroleum and other Oils 1,009,716 
 
 Olive 110,785 
 
 Seed Oil, British 1,286,275 
 
 Oil-cake 36,599 
 
 Oranges and Lemons 36,696 
 
 Pickles and Sauces 435,194 
 
 Rice 1,175,554 
 
 Carried forward 7,565,558 
 
522 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Brought forward 7,665,558 
 
 Salt 381,888 
 
 Soap 8,345 
 
 Soda 1,486,045 
 
 Spices 473,273 
 
 Starch 70,016 
 
 Sugar, Refined 986,394 
 
 Unrefined 426,190 
 
 Molasses 21,813 
 
 Tallow 97,503 
 
 Tea 2,187,721 
 
 Tobacco 639,619 
 
 Vinegar 34,486 
 
 Wax, Bees' 83,394 
 
 Whiting 13,787 
 
 Wine, British 3,463 
 
 Yeast 31,604 
 
 Total 14,610,899 
 
 IMPORTS. 
 
 Arrowroot 33,063 
 
 Bacon and Hams 1,792,569 
 
 Biscuits 4,698 
 
 Brooms and Brushes 26,035 
 
 Butter and Cheese 10,068,208 
 
 Candles, Stearine 286,333 
 
 other kinds 91,119 
 
 Chicory 43,756 
 
 Cocoa and Chocolate 386,909 
 
 Coffee 4,942,769 
 
 Colours for Painters 120,209 
 
 Eggs 1,102,080 
 
 from Ireland 300,000 
 
 Fruit, Dried, Currants, &c 1,755,299 
 
 other kinds 1,626,544 
 
 Isinglass 83,022 
 
 Carried forward 22,641,613 
 
STATISTICS OF IMPORTS. 523 
 
 Brought forward 22,641,613 
 
 Italian Warehouse Goods 127,049 
 
 Lard 727,192 
 
 Liquorice 68,603 
 
 Lucifers and Vestas 44,541 
 
 Macaroni and Vermicelli 25,452 
 
 Meat, Preserved 231,860 
 
 Oils and Fats and Oil-cake 9,273,208 
 
 Oil Seeds.... 7,099,173 
 
 Onions 390,830 
 
 Orange and Lemon Peel 17,179 
 
 Pickles .' 52,984 
 
 Pumice Stone 2,720 
 
 Kesin 373,918 
 
 Rice 2,310,352 
 
 Saffron 95,690 
 
 Sago 218,400 
 
 Salt 23,820 
 
 Semolina 4,217 
 
 Shrub and Cordials 39,046 
 
 Soap 8,832 
 
 Spices 854,300 
 
 Starch 26,966 
 
 Sugar, Raw 14,440,502 
 
 Refined and Candy 2,744,366 
 
 Molasses and Syrup 412,789 
 
 Succades and Confectionery 128,594 
 
 Tapioca 89,636 
 
 Tea 10,097,619 
 
 Tobacco 2,169,053 
 
 Vanilla 9,706 
 
 Vinegar 4,699 
 
 Yeast, Dried 286,097 
 
 Total 75,341,005 
 
 Irrespective of the sale of wine and of malt liquors 
 in bottle, and of the trade in starch, soap, candl ic 
 
524 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 mustard, salt, pickles and sauces, marmalade, jams and 
 jellies, butter, cheese and eggs, bacon and hams of home 
 production, we have in the above figures an aggregate 
 import trade of the value of upwards of 75,000,000, 
 and we certainly cannot assume the value of the articles 
 of home production at less than 35,000,000, so that, 
 with a number of miscellaneous, small, unenumerated 
 commodities, the aggregate trade may be fairly 
 estimated to amount to 110,000,000.* 
 
 THE TRADE IN GROCERIES.f 
 
 GROCERIES in early times consisted chiefly of spices, 
 particularly pepper, then a scarce and dear article ; 
 but subsequently came to comprise confectionery, dyes, 
 drugs, chemicals, and whale oil, &c., as may be seen in 
 the early history of the Grocers' Company, which was 
 originally instituted as the Pepperers' Guild. They 
 are mentioned by Lydgate to have had standings as 
 retail spice dealers in Chepe. 
 
 The word " grocer " was a term at first employed to 
 distinguish merchants of this Company from humbler 
 traders. In some old books the word signifies a mer- 
 chant who dealt wholesale or in the gross ; but in after 
 
 * The English prices of tea, chocolate and coffee 162 years 
 ago are shown by the following advertisement taken from 
 the "Daily Courant " of January 11, 1710. "The finest 
 coffee in England 6*. a Ib. Excellent Bohea tea at 16*. 
 and 20*., and the finest at 24*. a Ib. Green tea at 12*., and the 
 finest at 16*. a Ib. Chocolate, all nut, 3*., nut and sugar, 
 2*. a Ib. Sold by Lawrence Green at the Two Great 
 Posts in Dean Street, near Fetter Lane. N.B. Good encou- 
 ragement will be given to a quantity." 
 
 f Published in " The Grocer," January 4, 1862. 
 
THE TRADE IN GROCERIES. 525 
 
 times this expression became specially employed in re- 
 lation to kinds rather than to quantities of goods. An 
 old historian of the Grocers' Company, quoted by 
 Herbert in his " Livery Companies of London," claims 
 for them, however, a high rank among the merchants of 
 the metropolis ; indeed, the Grocers' Company stands 
 second on the roll of City Companies. " They have 
 been the most universal merchants that traded abroad ; 
 and what they brought home, many artists among 
 them found out ways afterwards to change and alter 
 the species, by mixture, confection, and composition of 
 single ingredients ; by which means many and various 
 ways of dealing and trading passed under the name of 
 groceries ; and, indeed, this city and nation do, in a 
 great measure, owe the improvement of navigation to 
 merchants originally exercising their mystery as traders 
 into all foreign parts from whence we have received 
 either spices, drugs, fruits, gums, or other rich aromatic 
 commodities." 
 
 The Grocers' Company was incorporated 1345, under 
 the patronage of St. Anthony, by a charter granted by 
 Edward III., under the title of " The Wardens and 
 Commonalty of the Mystery (a corruption of the old 
 ' French term, mestiere metier for trade or craft) of 
 Grocers of the City of London." The grocers 
 dealers en gros were originally styled pepperers 
 (when first mentioned, as Gilda de Pipe/riorum, among 
 the amerced guilds of Henry II.), from the chief article 
 of their trade, and the latter remained a distinct body 
 so late as 1559, when they purchased from the Queen 
 a cargo of pepper captured in a Spanish vessel, and on 
 the grocers underselling them, petitioned Her Majesty 
 
526 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 to forbid the importation of pepper, to enable them to 
 keep their pecuniary engagements with her promising 
 not to raise the price above 3s. the pound. 
 
 The vast extension of commerce, and the progress 
 of population, have led in modern times to many sub- 
 divisions of trade, so that we have now East and West 
 India merchants, produce-brokers, drysalters, oilmen, 
 Italian warehousemen, fruit merchants, and others 
 interested in articles which were formerly included 
 under the collective term of groceries. * 
 
 * According to the " Post Office London Directory " for 1871 
 there were in London 1,960 wholesale and retail grocers, 21 
 coffee and cocoa roasters, 6 coffee brokers, 6 coffee roaster 
 makers, 7 tea and coffee urn makers, 3 spice brokers, 27 spice 
 merchants, 18 sugar brokers, of whom 7 are refined sugar 
 dealers ; 30 sugar refiners, 7 sugar refiners' iron mould makers, 
 25 chocolate and cocoa manufacturers, 1 maker of essence of 
 coffee. One of the peculiarities in the retail trade of modern 
 London is the immense extent of, and amount of business 
 done by, a new class of shops which have sprung up, and may 
 be called wholesale-retail grocers, and another, the establish- 
 ment of co-operative stores, to bring down the profits of 
 retailers, and thus benefit the consumers. Until quite recently 
 most persons dealt with the nearest grocer, and an established 
 tradesman consequently had a practical monopoly of the 
 houses within a certain distance of his shop, but, as London 
 has spread and overflowed into the country, some of the lead- 
 ing shops have seen the advantage of establishing communi- 
 cations with districts at a distance from their places of busi- 
 ness. By means of a skilfully-organised carrying system, 
 they permeate the whole of London and the suburbs, doing 
 an amount of business which would have astonished their 
 predecessors. This class of shopkeepers has also derived great 
 advantage from the railway system, which both brings them 
 easterners and enables them to supply goods to remote dis- 
 tances without the cost of carriage sensibly increasing the 
 price of the articles. 
 
THE TRADE IN GROCERIES. 527 
 
 The commodities in which the grocer deals are 
 chiefly exotic products, and hence, in order to have a 
 thorough knowledge of the markets, the probable 
 future supplies and range of prices, he requires to be 
 kept well informed as to the crops and seasons, the 
 demands for shipping as influencing freights, the 
 labour market in the producing countries as affecting 
 supplies, the alteration of foreign duties, the stocks 
 held, and various other matters. A short or abundant 
 crop of sugar, coffee, fruit, &c., in any producing 
 country, may materially affect the course of his trade, 
 and interfere with his profits. Hence the necessity of 
 his being well advised on all matters affecting his 
 interests. Brokers and merchants keep themselves 
 posted up on these subjects by the aid of their foreign 
 correspondents, business circulars, and colonial files ; 
 but the retail dealer has seldom such advantages ; for 
 the existing commercial journals take so wide a range 
 that they can devote but a very small space to the 
 tropical produce generally interesting to the grocer. 
 
 In order to show how important is the trade to 
 which we address ourselves, and what a large amount 
 of capital is embarked therein, we shall endeavour to 
 furnish an approximate abstract of the imports and 
 their value. 
 
 Although the duty has been abolished on a large 
 number of articles, yet the Customs' revenue derived 
 from grocery products in 18 60 amounted to 12,500,000 
 sterling ; of this two commodities yielded the principal 
 sum, namely, sugar and tea, the former contributing 
 6,000,000, and the latter nearly 5,500,000. 
 
 Ten years ago (1852) Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his 
 " Statistics of British Commerce " (computed for rail- 
 
528 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 way purposes), gave the following as the estimated 
 annual average weight and value of the articles, pro- 
 duced or imported, in which the grocer is more or less 
 interested, stated in round numbers : 
 
 Tons. Value. 
 
 Anchovies 65 7,800 
 
 Arrowroot 450 27,000 
 
 Candles 58,000 3,080,000 
 
 Capers 40 8,000 
 
 Carraway Seeds 500 16,500 
 
 Chicory Root 70,000 280,000 
 
 Powder 14,000 308,000 
 
 Cinnamon 15 4,000 
 
 Cloves 150 14,000 
 
 Cocoa and Chocolate 1,800 87,000 
 
 Coffee 15,000 750,000 
 
 Cranberries 160 3,000 
 
 Currants 20,000 850,000 
 
 Figs 1,600 72,000 
 
 Grapes 540 30,000 
 
 Honey 2,000 80,000 
 
 Isinglass 90 10,000 
 
 Liquorice 400 24,000 
 
 Macaroni 50 2,500 
 
 Mace 8 2,000 
 
 Molasses 40,000 560,000 
 
 Mustard 2,000 160,000 
 
 J utmegs 75 27,000 
 
 Pepper 2,800 110,000 
 
 Prunes 1,300 35,000 
 
 Raisins 12,000 550,000 
 
 Rice 50,000 850,000 
 
 Sago 2,600 45,000 
 
 Starch 20,000 460,000 
 
 Sugar 435,000 15,675,000 
 
 Sweets and Cordials 200 2,000 
 
 Tapioca 70 2,000 
 
 Tea . 21,500 9,675,000 
 
 Total 772,413 
 
 33,806,800 
 
TRADE IN GROCERIES. 
 
 529 
 
 It is true that all the quantities of these several 
 commodities do not pass exclusively through the hands 
 of the grocer. But then there are many unenumerated 
 articles in which he also deals, and, moreover, the 
 progress of trade has been so great in the last ten 
 years, owing to the extension of shipping and steam, 
 and the progress of free trade, with the reduction of 
 duties and the improved condition of the people, that 
 the foregoing estimate is far from being accurate at 
 the present time. In proof of this we append the 
 official returns of foreign imports of the principal 
 groceries, &c. Many of the articles are, no doubt, 
 participated in by the Italian warehousemen and oil- 
 men, but the bulk of them belong specially to the 
 grocery trade. 
 
 Imports in 1860. Quantities and value taken from 
 the Board of Trade Returns : 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 Almonds, Sweet cwts. 19,688 71,138 
 
 Bitter , 7,361 16,141 
 
 Anchovies Ibs. 340,044 8,504 
 
 Apples, dried bushels. 7,638 7,638 
 
 Arrowroot cwts. 21,282 42,484 
 
 Capers Ibs. 111,225 5,5( ' 
 
 Carraway Seeds 8,869 16,016 
 
 Cassia Buds 30,838 2,545 
 
 Cherries, dried 2,297 51 
 
 Chicory, raw...., cwts. 94,287 31,966 
 
 roasted Ibs. 38,631 401 
 
 Chocolate ; , 33,747 1,761 
 
 Citron Peel 7,092 
 
 Cocoa Ibs. 9,009,860 274,541 
 
 Husks and Shells... cwts. 13,244 11,035 
 
 Coffee Ibs. 82,767,746 2,543,307 
 
 Cranberries galls. 62,749 2,954 
 
530 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Currants cwts. 
 
 Dates 
 
 Dried Plums 
 
 Figs 
 
 French Plums cwts. 
 
 Grapes bushels. 
 
 Isinglass ; 
 
 Liquorice Paste and Juice. 
 Macaroni and Vermicelli. . 
 
 Olives galls. 
 
 Prunes cwts. 
 
 Raisins , 
 
 Rice 
 
 Sago 
 
 755,415 
 
 852,8(5;* 
 
 11,301 
 
 17,186 
 
 4,734 
 
 13,615 
 
 92,109 
 
 136,302 
 
 6,174 
 
 28,287 
 
 12,717 
 
 7,760 
 
 2,595 
 
 85,323 
 
 31,917 
 
 99,454 
 
 6 445 
 
 14,206 
 
 10,634 
 
 592 
 
 22,482 
 
 23,249 
 
 284,557 
 
 400,807 
 
 1,524,863 
 
 1,023,108 
 
 179,825 
 
 149,748 
 
 These figures give a total sum of nearly 6,000,000 
 paid for imported grocery articles, exclusive of butter, 
 bacon, cheese, and other provisions. 
 
THE LEATHER TRADE. 531 
 
 THE LEATHER TRADE AND 
 TANNING SUBSTANCES.* 
 
 ALTHOUGH much has been done to utilise the barks of 
 trees, and to turn them to account for the service of 
 man in various ways, it is only of late years that 
 chemical science and close analytical investigation are 
 bringing out the comparative properties and more 
 important uses of the inner and outer barks of trees. 
 A long and extensive acquaintance with their proper- 
 ties is, however, necessary in most instances to test 
 the asserted value and alfeged benefits of many. 
 
 The importance of the Leather Trade may be esti- 
 mated from the following figures. Exclusive of the 
 hides and skins tanned, tawed, curried, &c., we im- 
 ported in 1854 the following undressed skins: 
 
 GoatSkins 585,143 
 
 Seal Skins 661,552 
 
 Lamb Skins 1,924,918 
 
 Sheep Skins 779,373 
 
 Hides 601,199 
 
 Total number 4,552,185 
 
 Besides these there were imported 4,500,000 Ibs. of 
 leather, 578,136 pairs of boot-fronts, and 231,000 pairs 
 of men's and women's shoes. But to reduce the above 
 
 * Published in the " Farmers' Magazine," 1855. 
 
 M M 2 
 
532 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 to leather (although some probably are destined for 
 
 other purposes), we will take the 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Total imports of Skins at 30,000 
 
 The common estimate is that one-fourth of our 
 live stock is slaughtered annually ; this will 
 furnish us with, for the United Kingdom, 
 4,000,000 Ox and Cow Hides, at 28 Ibs. ... 50,000 
 
 500,000 Calf Skins, at 4 Ibs 900 
 
 8,000,000 Sheep and Lambs' Skins, at 1 Ib. ... 3,570 
 
 100,000 Horse Hides, at 14 Ibs 625 
 
 100,000 Goat Skins, at 1 Ib 45 
 
 Total leather produced 85,140 
 
 A portion, however, of these hides and skins is 
 exported, to the extent of about 5,000 tons. Now 
 there are about 500 tanneries in the United Kingdom, 
 employing 350,000 persons directly or indirectly. The 
 greater portion of this manufacture is used at home, 
 the declared value of the exports of this branch of 
 trade being only about 1,300,000. The home con- 
 sumption of leather necessarily keeps pace with the 
 increasing prosperity of the industrial classes; recently, 
 the demands, for various purposes of the war, have led 
 to an enormous consumption. 
 
 TANNING SUBSTANCES. 
 
 COMING, now, to the substances containing the 
 principle essential to the conversion of skin into 
 leather, we find these to be very numerous, and scat- 
 tered over every quarter of the globe. Proximity of 
 supply and cheapness necessarily guide the tanner in 
 his choice of material in different localities. If we take 
 a recent year's imports of tanning substances at the 
 current prices of the day, and add thereto the indi- 
 genous barks by estimate, we shall arrive at some 
 
TANNING SUBSTANCES. 533 
 
 approximate idea of this important branch of trade. 
 The imports then, were, in 1854 
 
 Foreign Barks of all kinds, 420,621 cwts., at an 
 
 average of 7 per ton 147,224 
 
 Sumach, 230,480 cwts., at 16*. per cwt. ... 178,984 
 
 Valonia, 397,720 cwts., at 16 per ton ... 318,176 
 
 Terra Japonica, 90,940 cwts., at 20 per ton ... 90,940 
 
 Cutch, 38,300 cwts., at 30 per ton 57,450 
 
 Divi-divi, Myrobalans, &c., 4.000 tons, at 12 
 
 per ton ' 48,000 
 
 Oak Bark, 200,000 tons, at 6 per ton ... 1,200,000 
 Larch Bark in Scotland, 50,000 tons, at 4 
 
 per ton 200,000 
 
 The value of the Leather made, about ... 16,000,000 
 
 Total ... 18,240,774 
 
 The imports of bark proper for tanners' and dyers' 
 use are mixed up in the Parliamentary returns, so 
 that it is impossible to ascertain precisely the propor- 
 tions of each ; but the quarters whence they are 
 received affords some index. In 1854 the aggregate 
 quantity of these barks imported amounted to 21,032 
 tons. The average annual quantity of barks and other 
 substances imported for the use of tanners and dyers 
 in the six years ending with 1854 was 407,935 cwts. 
 of sumach; 232,206 cwts. of valonia; 302,570 cwts. 
 of terra japomca ; 91,153 cwts. of gambier ; and 34,723 
 cwts. of cutch. The imports of valonia now nearly 
 equal the amount of bark imported, and from the great 
 quantity of tannin it furnishes, valonia fetches twice 
 the price of oak bark. The value of these acorn cups 
 received in 1854' was upwards of 270,000. In 
 aggregate value, sumach ranks next, and the various 
 barks third in rotation. 
 
 In 1816 the imports of oak bark were under 5,000 
 
534 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 tons, but ill 1823 they had risen to 46,674 tons : a 
 large quantity of cork-tree bark was then included in 
 the returns. The consumption of indigenous oak bark 
 in Great Britain is now fully 150,000 to 200,000 tons 
 many large brokers estimate the quantity at 300,000 
 tons ; and we import, on the average of years, 53,500 
 tons of various tanning substances. Last year (1854 ) 
 it amounted to 59,000 tons, the value of which 
 was fully 750,000, whilst that of our own oak 
 and other barks used could scarcely be less than 
 1,500,000 sterling. Besides barks, various other 
 substances fruits, seeds, extracts, &c. are im- 
 ported for the use of the tanner, of which the chief are, 
 valonia, camata and camatina, the acorn cups, mature 
 and immature, of a species of oak, Quercus cegilops, 
 growing in the Levant ; divi-divi, the wrinkled pods 
 of Ccesalpinia coriaria, from South America and 
 Central xVmerica ; and myrobalans, the dried fruits 
 of some species of Terminalia, from the East 
 [ndies, &c. By chemical process the tanning prin- 
 ciple is now extracted from barks and woods, and, 
 thus reduced to a small compass, the concentrated 
 extracts are more easily imported from distant quarters, 
 saving the freight on bulky articles. In this form we 
 receive gambier or terra japonica, cutch or catechu, and 
 a variety of kinos. Oak bark being the usual substance 
 employed by the trade for tanning, the value and com- 
 mercial utility of other barks and tanning principles 
 are necessarily determined by comparison with it. 
 Oak bark is the mainstay of the tanneries of the 
 United Kingdom, both in London and the Provinces, 
 although larch bark is now used to a considerable 
 extent in Scotland. 
 
TANNING SUBSTANCES. 535 
 
 Oak Bark contains of Tannin 14'0 per cent. 
 
 Coppice Bark ,, 4 - o 
 
 Mimosa Bark ., ,, B'J 
 
 Sumach ,. ,. 1'9 
 
 Divi-divi ,. 4'9 
 
 Myrobalans 3-8 
 
 Valonia ' 2'9 ,, 
 
 From 2,000 to 5,000 tons per annum of foreign 
 oak bark have come in to aid our supplies. 
 
 The consumption of tannin in our leather manufac- 
 tures may be estimated from the fact that nearly 
 600,000 cwts. of raw hides are imported annually, 
 besides the hides of the cattle slaughtered in the 
 United Kingdom. The imports of bark and various 
 tanning agents are very considerable. 
 
 There are a vast number of barks and other sub- 
 stances useful for tanning purposes, abundant in the 
 tropical regions, and in many of our colonial possessions, 
 which are comparatively unknown and little regarded 
 in Europe, but which might readily be obtained in 
 large quantities and at a trifling cost.* 
 
 * The following is a list of tanning barks, &c., information 
 on some of which would be valuable. Tanning barks Ing a 
 dulcis, Guadeloupe ; Rhizophora Mangle, Guadaloupe ; JR. 
 mucronata, New Caledonia ; Malpighia spicata, Guadaloupe : 
 Casuarina latifolia, Pondicherry ; C. muricata, Pondicherry ; 
 Baloghia drupacea,New Caledonia : Brvguiera gymnorrhiza, 
 New Caledonia ; Mangifera indica, Mayotte ; Conocar- 
 pus species, Martinique ; Imbricaria borbonica, Keimion : 
 Bursonina spicata, Pondicherry ; Catalpa longissima. 
 Martinique ; Casuarina equisitifolia, Martinique ; Bancoulier 
 (Aleurites trilobd), Eeunion ; hemlock spruce (Abies 
 canadensis'), North America ; common alder ; pods of 
 Acacia Adansonia, Senegal ; of Acacia nilotica ; Quercus 
 xuber, Barbary, Sardinia, and Tuscany. 4,500 to 6,500 tons 
 of tanning barks are exported annually from South Australia. 
 
0*36 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Catechu and gambler are very valuable to the 
 tanner, and are now in extensive demand. The bark of 
 many species of Mimosa furnishes the tanning principle 
 in a great degree, particularly that of Acacia arabica, 
 which, under the name of Babool wood, is largely used 
 about Scinde, Bellary, Guzerat, and other parts of 
 India. The fruit of this species, and of A. vera, 
 termed Egyptian and Senegal bablah, have long been 
 used both for tanning and dyeing. Many species of 
 this tribe are abundant in New South Wales and the 
 Cape Colony, where, from their astringent properties, 
 they are in common use. Mesembryanthemum nodi- 
 florum, one of the numerous indigenous species of 
 Africa, is used in making morocco leather. The bark 
 of the hemlock spruce (Abies canadensis) is extensively 
 employed for tanning in New Brunswick and the 
 United States. The bark of Cassia auriculata, 
 and the milky juice of Calotropis gigantea, are 
 used in India to dye leather. The sea-side grape vine 
 (Coccoloba uvifera) yields an astringent substance 
 known as Jamaica kino. 
 
 In Peru the bark of some species of Weinmannia is 
 used. From Chili about 2,000 cwts. of quillai and 
 other barks suited for tanning are annually shipped. 
 Among other powerful astringents, I may notice the 
 root of a species of sea lavender, Statice caroliniana, 
 and S. coriaria, in Russia, Myrica cerifera, and 
 Heuchera americana, natives of North America ; also 
 the petals of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, a native of Asia. 
 
 A large quantity of tannin is extracted from various 
 species of Eucalypti, the gigantic gum tree of Australia 
 and Tasmania, of which quarter all these trees are 
 
TANKING SUBSTANCES. 537 
 
 natives. It is said to be twice as powerful as the best 
 oak bark. A sort of astringent kino gum is also ex- 
 tracted from E. resinifera, E. leucoxylon, and E. vimi- 
 nalis. It exudes in the form of a red juice from in- 
 cisions in the bark, and a single tree will often yield 
 60 gallons. 
 
 In the instructions given to Captain Sir James C. 
 Ross, by the Admiralty, previous to his departure on 
 his Antarctic voyage, he was particularly enjoined to 
 make special enquiries as to the astringent substances 
 adapted for tanning, and as to the various extracts of 
 barks, &c., imported into England from the Australian 
 settlements, and which are employed by the tanner. 
 Much satisfactory information has since been obtained 
 as to the qualities of the astringent gums, barks, and 
 dyes yielded in such abundance by the trees of those 
 colonies, and the proportion of tannin they contain ; 
 this has chiefly been accomplished through the scientific 
 investigations of Baron Mueller, F.R.S., the Govern- 
 ment botanist at Melbourne. 
 
 The extracts procured from the bark of the Buchana- 
 nia latifolia, the Syzigium jambolanum, &c., are likely to 
 be of consequence to the tanner, and could be procured 
 in India in large quantities. Specimens of these, 
 and of the bark of the Sal tree (Shorea robusta), of 
 Nyctanthes arbortristis, Terminalia angustifolia, and of 
 the gaub fruit (Diospyros embryopteris), were shown at 
 the Exhibition in 1851 by the Honorable East India 
 Company. The bark and rind of the fruit of the 
 pomegranate (Punica granata) have strong astringent 
 properties. The red astringent gum obtained from 
 Butea frondosa, common in Bengal and the mountain- 
 
538 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 ous parts of India, is used by the natives for tanning. 
 English tanners, however, object to its use on account 
 of the colour which it communicates to the leather. 
 
 The barks of Mora excelsa, Bentham ; Courida 
 (Ari<- t 'nnia nutida), and Cashaw (Spondias liitea, Lin- 
 naeus), have all been successfully used for tanning in 
 Di-inerara and the West India Islands, where they are 
 abundant. Among the barks used for tanning in 
 British Guiana are brown and yellow silverballi from 
 species of Nectandra or Oreodaphne, moss-apple bark 
 ( ttltikea quinqucnervia, Aublet), Simaruba officinalis, 
 Dccandolle, and undefined barks, known as bloodwood 
 and coniacoballi bark. The root of the Palmetto palm 
 (Chamcerops palmetto) is stated to be valuable for 
 tanning purposes. The leaves of Nerium oleander 
 contain tannic acid, and the bark of a species of 
 Malpighia is much used by the Brazilians ; so is the 
 bark of Avicennia tomentosa. Coriaria myrtifolia is 
 not only used in tanning, but also for staining black. 
 The bitter astringent bark and the galls of the Tamarisk 
 tribe are well suited for tanning. In Scinde and other 
 parts of Asia the bark of Bauhinia variegata is made 
 use of. Pterocarpus marsuphim furnishes, about 
 Tellicherry, one of the red gum-resins, known in com- 
 merce as kino ; being a powerful astringent, it may 
 be used for tanning. 
 
 The plants of the mangrove lTibe,fthizophora Mangle, 
 and other allied species, have frequently an astringent 
 bark, which is in many cases used for tanning and 
 dyeing black. This tree is very common in most 
 tropical regions, where it forms dense thickets on the 
 muddy banks of rivers and the sea shores. 
 
TANNING SUBSTANCES. 539 
 
 The panke ( Gunnera bracteata) is a fine plant, grow- 
 ing in Chili on the sandstone cliffs, which somewhat 
 resembles the rhubarb on a gigantic scale. The in- 
 habitants eat the stalks, which are sub-acid ; tan leather 
 with the roots, and prepare a black dye from them. 
 The leaf is nearly circular, seven or eight feet long, 
 and as much as twenty in circumference, its margin 
 being deeply indented. 
 
 The bark of the various trees replete with the tanning 
 principle should be stripped with hatchets or bill hooks, 
 from the trunk and branches of the trees, in spring, 
 when the sap flows most freely. The following figures 
 show the quantity of extractive matter and tannin 
 yielded by different substances. 
 
 In 480 parts by Davy. In 100 parts by Cadet. 
 
 Sicilian Sumach 78 
 
 Malaga ditto 79 
 
 Bombay Catechu 261 
 
 Bengal ditto 231 
 
 Nutgalls 127 46 
 
 Bark of Pomegranate 32 
 
 Virginian Sumach 10 
 
 Carolina" ditto 5 
 
 Oak bark contains usually the largest proportion of 
 tannin, and according to Davy's experiments 8-J Ibs. 
 of oak bark are equivalent for tanning purposes to 2 
 of galls, 3 of sumach, 7-J- of Leicester willow, 11 of 
 Spanish chesnut, 18 of elm, and 21 of common willow 
 bark. Tannin obtained from these sources, however, 
 differs materially in some of its characters. The tannin 
 of nut-galls, which is that generally employed for 
 chemical purposes, is sometimes called gallo-tannk- 
 acid, to distinguish it from the other species. 
 
540 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The imports of bark for the use of tanners and dyers 
 amounts yearly, at this date (1854), to the very large 
 quantity of 380,674 cwts., besides what we obtain at 
 hom<\ 
 
 Divi-divi is the commercial name of the curved pods 
 of a leguminous shrub, Ccesalpinia coriaria. The 
 quantity of mucilage it contains precludes it from being 
 used by dyers, but from the large quantity of tannin, 
 (nearly 50 per cent.), it is much used by curriers. It 
 has been imported from the West Indies, from Rio de 
 la Hache, Maracaibo, Savanila, and Angostura. The 
 tree yields about 100 Ibs. weight of pods, of which 
 one-fourth is refuse, seeds, &c., and the remainder 
 marketable produce. The culture of this shrub for its 
 tannin might become a valuable object of attention to 
 the planter, as it requires no care, and will grow well 
 on soils not adapted to the staple products. The East 
 India Company exhibited specimens of divi-divi which 
 had been grown at Calcutta. 400 tons of the seed 
 pods of the Algaroba, or locust tree, have been im- 
 ported in a year into Liverpool from Valparaiso, as a 
 substitute for divi-divi in tanning. 
 
 Catechu (from Gate tree, and chu juice), is obtained 
 from the Acacia catechu, and when of good quality is 
 more powerful as an astringent than kino. The tree is 
 a- native of the East, but is also common in Jamaica. 
 The catechu obtained in Pegu is celebrated throughout 
 India, and sells at a higher price than gambier and 
 other astringent extracts. The inner dark wood of 
 the tree is chipped and boiled down to a sufficient 
 consistence, when it is poured into clay moulds. 
 Catechu is included under the term " cutch " in the 
 
TANNING SUBSTANCES. 541 
 
 official trade returns. Of all the astringent substances 
 we know, this appears to contain the largest propor- 
 tion of tannin, and Mr. Purkis found that 1 Ib. was 
 equivalent to 7 or 8 Ibs. of oak bark for tanning 
 leather. Catechu is used in Berar in the process of 
 dyeing chintz and other cloths. 
 
 Cork-tree bark (Quercus suber) is imported to the 
 extent of 3,000 tons annually, but, from being less 
 astringent than oak bark, it is not much used for tan- 
 ning when valonia and oak bark are cheap. 
 
 Valonia is the commercial name for the cupules or 
 cups of the large acorn produced by the Quercus 
 cegilops and its varieties natives of the Levant, from 
 whence, and the Morea, they form a very considerable 
 article of export. Affording an abundance of tannin, 
 they are largely used in preparing hides. The bark of 
 Q. tinctoria, a native of North America, furnishes a 
 yellow dye. The annual produce of valonia from the 
 shores of the Mediterranean coasts is sufficient to meet 
 the wants of all Europe. In Turkey it can be had to 
 any extent, and at all periods. The price in the 
 London market is about 17 per ton, and the average 
 annual imports of late have been about 25,000 tons ; 
 which is a very considerable increase on preceding 
 years. 
 
 The bark of the Acacia decurrens, which abounds in 
 Australia and Tasmania, is found to be a very powerful 
 tanning agent. The first shipment of tannin was 
 made from Sydney to England as far back as 1823, in 
 the shape of an extract of the bark of two species of 
 Mimosa. 1 ton of bark afforded 4 cwts. of extract 
 of the consistency of tar. This extract was readily 
 
542 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 purchased by the tanners at the rate of 50 per ton. 
 In 1843, upwards of 3,000 tons of this mimosa bark 
 was shipped from Port Phillip to Britain. The price 
 then realised in the London market was 12 to 14 
 per ton, but it has since declined to 8 or 9 per ton, 
 and the export has dwindled to about 350 tons. The 
 quantity of this bark to be procured in Australia is 
 quite inexhaustible, and ought not to be overlooked. 
 From an experiment conducted by Professor Brandt, 
 the strength of mimosa bark, as compared to the best 
 English oak bark, is found to be in the proportion of 
 57 to 39 ; so that mimosa bark is half as strong again 
 as the best English bark. Mr. Samuel Mossman, in 
 a communication to the Botanic Society of Edinburgh 
 in 1852, states that the bark of Acacia dealbata pays 
 to ship to England, notwithstanding the distance, from 
 the fact of its containing a greater percentage of 
 tannin than any other bark. It is a handsome tree, 
 from fifteen to twenty feet high, forming luxuriant 
 groves on the banks of streams, most abundant in Port 
 Phillip and Twofold Bay, between the parallels of 
 latitude thirty-four degrees and thirty degrees. 
 
 New Zealand is rich in barks and native dyes, which 
 may be easily obtained in large quantities. The bark of 
 the Rimu, or red pine, Dacrydium cupressinum, Banks, a 
 very common tree, possesses, it is said, tanning qualities 
 far superior to any of the Australian barks; 1 Ib. 
 of the bark yields 85 grs. of extract. The Towai 
 ( Weinmannia racemosa, Forster), would also be 
 valuable for the purposes of the tanner, as it is said to 
 yield 104 grs. of tannin for every Ib. of bark. 
 The bark of the Sohutu kawa, of the natives (the 
 
TANNING SUB8TANCEH. 543 
 
 Metrosideros tomentosa, of Richard) ; affords 60 grs. 
 of tannin to the Ib. The bark of the hinau tree, 
 Elceocarpus hinau, Cunningham the Dicera dentata 
 of Forster is used by the natives for dyeing black. 
 The bark of the Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichoma- 
 noides, Don), is used by the natives as a red dye for the 
 ornamental parts of their kaitakas, their best border 
 garments. There is also another red dye called tawen- 
 wai, the bark of which is very plentiful. These are of 
 rich hues and exceedingly fast colours. The trees are 
 to be found all over the Colony. Specimens of the bark 
 and dye of most of those named were exhibited in 
 1851 at Hyde Park. 1 Ib. of the Tanekaha bark is 
 said to yield 63 grs. of tannin. The sails of boats 
 are dyed with it to preserve them. The Hinau and 
 Tanekaha barks are employed in tanning the leather 
 used in the Colony.* 
 
 * Up to the present time the only New Zealand plants in 
 which the amount of tannin has been ascertained in sufficient 
 quantity to render their adoption a substitute for foreign sub- 
 stances in the process of tanning at all probable, are the bark 
 of the Pokako (Elceocarpus hinau), certain parts of the Tutu 
 plant ( Coriaria ruscifolicC), and the bark of the white birch 
 (Fagus solandri). 
 
 The Pokako is, however, a solitary-growing tree, a circum- 
 stance likely to prevent its use to any important extent. The 
 Tutu plant, on the other hand, frequently occurs in natural 
 shrubberies, sometimes extending over considerable areas. As 
 this plant appears a very likely substitute, several experiments 
 were made upon it, the results of which were as follows : The 
 tannin (or tannic acid of some) was found to be abundantly 
 diffused in the leaves, in the old wood, in the roots, in the 
 pith of the old wood, in the flower stalk, the calyx, and in the 
 crushed seed ; in the outer pith of strong shoots traces of it 
 are also found. 
 
544 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Mangrove. Almost every part of the black man- 
 grove (Rhizophora Mangle), the bark, roots and the 
 
 The amount of tannin found in different parts of the plant 
 is given in the table below ; it is calculated both upon the 
 crreen and dried plant : 
 
 
 Lost 
 by 
 drying-. 
 
 Percentage 
 of Tannin in 
 natural state. 
 
 Percentage 
 in 
 dried state. 
 
 1. New shoots with leaves... 
 2 Roots 
 
 75 
 
 57 
 
 2-08 
 
 1.f!f 
 
 8-32 
 
 3 .Off 
 
 3. Last year's shoots without 
 leaves 
 
 69 
 
 1 'fid 
 
 5.-1 ( 
 
 4 Old shoots and leaves 
 
 70 
 
 1 '26 
 
 A. on 
 
 f>. Old wood without leaves .. 
 6. New shoots do. do. 
 
 59 
 
 68 
 
 1-25 
 30 
 
 3.05 
 2-14 
 
 From the acknowledged difficulty attending the estimating 
 tannin in its weak solution, these figures are only offered as 
 a near approximation to the actual amount, but they will ex- 
 press pretty accurately the proportionate richness of the several 
 parts of the plant to each other on this principle. It will be 
 observed; by a comparison of Nos. 1 and 6, how much richer 
 the leaves are in tannic acid than the succulent watery 
 shoots ; and again, on referring to Nos. 2 and 6, it will be 
 seen that the last year's shoots are not so rich as the roots. 
 From a number of experiments it was found that there was 
 no perceptible loss of tannin occasioned by drying the plant 
 at a temperature from 130 to 150 ; the small branches could 
 therefore be dried and stacked in the same manner as hay. 
 without losing any of their useful properties. 
 
 A sample of the white birch bark from Southland was 
 found to contain about 2'60 per cent, of tannin, which is a 
 little more than is furnished by the Tutu plant in its natural 
 humid state, but is considerably less if the dried plant be 
 taken. Two kinds of bark exhibited by Mr. G. L. Cole, of Papa- 
 tura, Province of Auckland, as dyers' barks, were the richest in 
 tannin of all the exhibits of the kind, the white bark containing 
 8-60 and the red bark 6'0 per cent, of this principle. These 
 
TANNIXQ SUBSTANCES. 545 
 
 fruit more particularly, abounds in tannin. As the 
 tree is so abundant within the Tropics, it would pay 
 some practical speculator well to make an extract on 
 the spot, and introduce it into the English market, for 
 the use of the tanner and dyer. The bark and leaves 
 are used for the purpose in the West Indies, Scinde 
 and other parts of Asia, and there seems a demand for 
 it, since it appears that 3,713 piculs of its bark, valued 
 at 819, were shipped from Shanghae in China, in 
 1849. It is reported to be infinitely superior to oak 
 bark for tanning, completing in six weeks an operation 
 which with the latter occupies at least six months, and 
 the sole leather so tanned is said to be more durable 
 than any other. 
 
 were red bark of Phyllocladus trichomwnoides (native names, 
 Tanekaha, and Toa Toa) ; and the white bark of Elcsocarpua 
 Hookerianus (native names, Hinau, Pokako, and Mahimahi). 
 
 Many other New Zealand plants are known to contain a 
 marked amount of tannin, of which the principal are the 
 Manuka (Leptospermmri), Rata (Metrosideros), Fuchsia tree 
 (Fuchsia excorticata), Matapau (My r sine), and Eed Birch 
 (Fagus Menziesii). Jury reports, " New Zealand Inter- 
 national Exhibition, 1865." 
 
 The following percentages of tannin in the barks of certain 
 trees will afford useful comparison ; they are taken from 
 " Muspratt's Chemistry Applied to the Arts and Manufac- 
 tures." 
 
 Young Oak Bark, spring cut 22'0 
 
 15-0 
 
 entire Bark 6'0 
 
 Willow, entire Bark 6-8 
 
 Elm 2-9 
 
 Beech -. 2-0 
 
 Larch 1-6 
 
546 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Extensive as has been our enumeration of the animal 
 and vegetable substances used for the objects of the 
 branches of art and manufacture which have formed 
 the principal subjects of this article, it is probable that 
 with the progress of knowledge, of scientific experiment, 
 and of investigation into the properties of given com- 
 modities, the list might be indefinitely increased. What 
 we have stated will suffice to give the general reader an 
 idea of the surprising variety of sources from which we 
 receive the materials which enable us to perfect some 
 of the most elegant processes of manufacturing skill 
 and ingenuity, and will further afford some criterion 
 though, of course, not a perfect one for estimating 
 the relative importance of the materials in question. 
 
 THE LEATHER MANUFACTURE.* 
 
 NEXT to wool, the Leather Trade forms one of the 
 largest industries connected with animal products in 
 the United Kingdom ; an idea of its importance, in a 
 manufacturing point of view, can only be arrived at, 
 however, "after a careful examination of some of the 
 statistics connected with the products employed. 
 
 In 1850, only about 6,000,000 of hides and skins, 
 adapted for various descriptions of leather, were im- 
 ported ; now the quantity received from abroad ex- 
 ceeds 14,000,000 annually, to say nothing of peltries 
 and furs. 
 
 * Published as a Preface to the " Post Office Directory of 
 the Leather Trades." Kelly and Co., 1871. 
 
THE LEATHER MANUFACTURE. 547 
 
 FOREIGN IMPORTS OP HIDES, LEATHER, SKINS, 
 &c., 1870: 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 Deer Skins number 40,987 ... 4,704 
 
 Goat do. Tanned, Tawed, 
 
 and Undressed. 3,487,859 ... 404,947 
 
 Kid do. do. do. ... 449,113 ... 35,874 
 
 Lamb do. do. do. ... 987,858 ... 50,479 
 
 Seal do 731,913 ... 270,024 
 
 Sheep do. do. do. ... 7,980,694 ... 585,801 
 
 Unenumerated Skins 353,887 ... 59,759 
 
 Hides, and Pieces of Hide, 
 
 Unenumerated ... 7,843 
 
 Hides, Dry and Wet, cwts. 1,199,050 ... 3,842,315 
 
 Tanned Leather 8,882,063 ... 409,760 
 
 Tawed or Curried 1,808,807 ... 137,128 
 
 Varnished Leather 733,822 ... 195,448 
 
 Russia do 131,653 ... 17,006 
 
 Total 6,021,088 
 
 The common estimate is that one-fourth of our live 
 stock is slaughtered annually, and, according to the 
 last agricultural statistics for the United Kingdom 
 (1871), this would give the following number of hides, 
 besides some few skins from imported live stock 
 slaughtered. Taking them at the leather value there 
 would be : 
 
 Ox and Cow Hides and Calf Skins, 
 2,350,000, at an average of 
 
 28 Ibs,, at Is. 6d. perlb 4,935,000 
 
 Sheep and Lamb Skins, 8,000,000, 
 
 at 1 lb., value 1*. each 400,000 
 
 Horse Hides, 500,000, at 15*. each . 425,000 
 
 Total 5,760,000 
 
 Besides some goat and hog skins. 
 
 N N 2 
 
548 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 We imported, in 1870, 1,199,000 cwts. of hides; 
 of tanned leather, 11,424,692 Ibs. ; of other leather 
 manufactures boots, shoes, and goloshes of all kinds, 
 534,648 pairs ; of boot fronts, 86,952 pairs ; and of 
 gloves, 10,896,432 pairs. A portion, however, of these 
 hides and skins are re-exported to the extent of nearly 
 17,500 tons. 
 
 There are now about 770 tanneries in England, 
 Scotland and Wales. These and the leather trades 
 connected therewith give employment to about 400,000 
 persons, directly or indirectly. 
 
 If the foregoing estimate be any way near the mark, 
 the 80,000 tons of leather used at home would be 
 worth in the rough at, say Is. 6d. per lb., 13,240,000, 
 but by the processes of manufacture the value is very 
 largely increased. 
 
 Estimated value of the tanning substances imported 
 in 1870 : 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 Mimosa, Oak, Cork, and 
 
 other foreign Barks. 24,660 tons at 6 ... 148,260 
 
 Sumach 14,431 20 ... 288,620 
 
 Valonia 25,781 12 ... 309,372 
 
 Gambier and Cutch... 25,000 17 ... 425,000 
 
 89,872 1,171,252 
 Native Oak Bark, pro- 
 bably 200,000 loads at 14 ... 2,800,000 
 
 3,971,252 
 
 Larch Bark in Scot- 
 land, about 50,000 5 250,000 
 
 Total 4,221,252 
 
THE LEATHER MANUFACTURE. 549 
 
 The following gives the quantity and value of the 
 exports of leather goods of British manufacture in 
 1870: 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 Leather cwts. 102,368 ... 852,910 
 
 Boots and Shoes pairs 4,447,836 ... 1,143,192 
 
 Leather Wrought, other 
 
 sorts Ibs. 1,392,896 ... 299,559 
 
 Saddlery and Harness, de- 
 clared value 326,711 
 
 Total 2,622,372 
 
 Before foreign Commerce had increased so rapidly, 
 and Science had made those surprising discoveries 
 which have greatly benefited the arts and manufac- 
 tures, it was anticipated by old tanners of leather that 
 if the trade and consumption increased at the ratio it 
 was then doing, a great deficiency of indigenous bark 
 would become manifest, and the price would some day 
 reach 80 the load. This fear, however, has proved 
 groundless, for, although during the great war it 
 advanced at one time to about half that price, yet it 
 has only since reached 22 the load, and of late years 
 has not varied to any considerable extent in price, 
 12 to 18 being about the extreme rates. The 
 price is now lower, because the increasing use of other 
 tanning materials makes the tanners less dependent on 
 the supply of English oak bark. 
 
 The uses of leather are so numerous that it is some- 
 what difficult, without precise official returns, to form 
 any correct estimate of the aggregate consumption 
 and value. If we allow half the population of the 
 United Kingdom say 15,750,000 persons to use 
 
550 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 only two pairs of shoes each per annum, and calculate 
 these at but 5s. per pair, we get at a money value for 
 this single article of 7,875,000. This sum might, 
 however, be safely doubled. Then there are numberless 
 other uses of leather ; it is largely employed for 
 straps or belting in driving machinery, for saddlery 
 and harness, fire-buckets and hose, portmanteaus, 
 gloves, bookbinding, hangings, &c. 
 
 Although there have been some substitutes intro- 
 duced in the shape of American cloth, india-rubber, 
 and gutta percha there is, after all, " nothing like 
 leather" for all general purposes, whether regard be 
 had to quantity, durability, or cheapness. 
 
 Parchment and vellum, made from the skins of the 
 calf and the sheep, are also employed by law writers 
 to engross deeds on ; for bookbinding, drum-heads, 
 and other purposes. Kangaroo skins have lately come 
 into commerce for gloves and boots ; and many thou- 
 sands of the dry hide of the gnu are now brought in 
 from the Cape. 
 
 To summarise the Leather Trade interest, we may 
 fairly take the following figures as tolerably accurate 
 for a superficial enquiry : 
 
 Plant of Tanneries 500,000 
 
 Value of Tanning Materials employed ... 4,000,000 
 
 Value of Hides, &c., imported 6, 500,000 
 
 Do. from Home slaughtered animals 5,760,000 
 
 Exports of Leather Goods, British made. . . 2,623,000 
 
 Leather Goods, Gloves, &c., Imported ] ,400,000 
 
 Leather Goods made and used at home, 
 
 say , 10,000,000 
 
 Total 30,283,000 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 551 
 
 NEW PAPER-MAKING MATERIALS, 
 
 AND THE PROGRESS OF THE 
 
 PAPER MANUFACTURE.* 
 
 THE subject which I bring before the Society this 
 evening is one of much importance, in which we are all 
 more or less deeply interested. There can be no 
 question of the great value of paper as a means of 
 diffusing knowledge, awakening thought, calling forth 
 invention, and civilising the world. It is the handmaid 
 of all arts, of all sciences, and of all trades. Both in 
 an educational and a commercial point of view, an exten- 
 sive supply of paper, at moderate prices, is of national 
 interest. The laws of supply and demand will, indeed, 
 regulate the question, but discussion and circulation of 
 opinions may result in extended benefit to the paper- 
 maker as well as to the reading and writing public. 
 
 The technical question of what is paper, what are the 
 materials of which it is composed, may well be raised, 
 for it led to a trial, some years ago, between the Excise 
 and a paper-making firm, the Attorney-General v. 
 Barry. In the edition of " Johnson's Dictionary " 
 published about the middle of the eighteenth century 
 (1755), paper is defined as " a substance on which men 
 write and print, made by macerating linen rags in 
 
 * A Paper read before the members of the Society of Arts, 
 Manufactures and Commerce, January 25, 1871, and pub- 
 lished in the Society's Journal, vol. xix, p. 171. 
 
552 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 water, and then spreading them in thin sheets." 
 " Webster's Dictionary," of our own day, enlarges the 
 list of materials, and describes it as " a snbstance in 
 the form of thin sheets, or leaves, intended to be written 
 or printed on, to be nsed in wrapping, &c. and made 
 of a pnlp obtained from rags, from straw, from bark, 
 or like materials, pressed and dried." 
 
 An historical fact which was brought before this 
 Society twenty years ago, by Dr. Grace Calvert, may 
 he again noticed here. It is that paper, made from the 
 papyrus plant, had lasted 1,822 years before the Chris- 
 tian era to the eighth century. Egypt was invaded by 
 the Arabians and her trade destroyed. It was then, 
 for the first time, that cotton paper was imported from 
 China by the Arabians, who, two or three centuries 
 afterwards, supplied us through Turkey. The manu- 
 facture of their flax paper was so successful that cotton 
 paper .was completely laid aside until the commence- 
 ment of the present century, when once more it expelled 
 from the market the linen paper.* 
 
 * Mr. Thomas Wright, in a letter to the " Athenaeum," says: 
 I have made a little discovery, which I think will be con- 
 sidered curious in the history of paper. I believe that the 
 first traces of the use of paper in Western Europe are found 
 towards the end of the twelfth century, and we have no 
 reason to suppose that it was in use in England until the 
 thirteenth, or even the beginning of the fourteenth. It is 
 understood to have been brought westward from Italy, where 
 it was in use earlier ; and I believe that our word paper a 
 corruption, of course, of papyrus is considered to have been 
 borrowed, with the article itself, from the French. I saw 
 years ago in Paris I believe they belonged to the royal col- 
 lection (it was in the time of Louis Philippe) a few of the 
 earliest documents on paper known, belonging to Western 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 553 
 
 Our word " book " is said to have come from the 
 Gothic word for the birch-tree, some part of which, 
 probably the liber, or inner white rind between the bark 
 and the wood, may have been the most convenient sub- 
 stance which nature has furnished in the northern 
 
 Europe in the period since the Romans, which interested me 
 much. They consisted of receipts, or rather bonds, for money 
 borrowed from the Jews in the time of our Coeur-de-Lion, 
 given by chiefs who were starting for his Crusade ; and, if I 
 remember well, the paper resembled much that of the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries, except that it was of a rather coarser 
 texture. It would seem as if, in the West, its use at this early 
 period was known principally among the Jews. Now, I am 
 just passing through the press an edition of a glossary of 
 Latin and English or, as we are accustomed to call it, Anglo- 
 Saxon words, of, I think, not later than the middle of the 
 tenth century. We may safely look upon it as the English 
 of the days of Athelstan ; and in the part of which I have 
 just received the proof I find " Papirus, paper." The word 
 paper does not occur in Dr. Bosworth's, or any other, Anglo- 
 Saxon dictionary ; ' but we have here evidence that it was in 
 use in our language at a very early period, and there cannot 
 be a doubt that we derive it from the Anglo-Saxons, and have 
 not taken it from the French of the Middle Ages. But this 
 fact leads us to another namely, that our Anglo-Saxon fore- 
 fathers, to have the word in an Anglo-Saxon form in their 
 own language, must have been pretty well acquainted with 
 paper itself, and, no doubt, they found the Roman paper in 
 use in the island when they came. It is a fact, indeed, which 
 opens to us several others, equally new, in the social history 
 of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers. I need hardly add that paper 
 probably never went entirely out of use in Western Europe 
 after the Roman times, and a little research might still throw 
 some curious light upon its history during the earlier Middle 
 Ages. It certainly was not supposed before that it might be 
 in use among the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
554 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 parts of Europe for portable documents. Other sub- 
 stances than of vegetable origin may be written or 
 printed on, of which we have familiar instances in the 
 present day, in our slates and lithographic stones 
 copper and steel plates, parchment and vellum, gelatine 
 paper, silk play-bills. In olden times, characters, too, 
 were engraven on stone, or impressed in clay, dried 
 and hardened, as the Babylonian bricks; boards of 
 wood covered with wax, plates of ivory and metal, and 
 the leaves of palms were used. The Chinese, Japanese, 
 and Indian papers are made without rags, consisting 
 chiefly of bamboo, the paper mulberry, and other 
 macerated barks and fibres, and their celebrated rice 
 paper, so long a mystery, is now known to be made 
 from the cellular pith of the Aralia papyri/era. 
 
 Among the influencing causes for the greatly in- 
 creased demand for paper are the removal of the excise 
 duty on manufactured paper and the stamp from news- 
 papers, the extended number of daily and other journals 
 issued at a cheap price, and the large editions of these 
 called for, owing to the eagerness to obtain intelligence. 
 The increasing commerce of the country must not be 
 lost sight of, and the extensive home and foreign cor- 
 respondence resulting therefrom, some 700,000,000 
 letters passing annually through the post. Educational 
 progress also leads to more writing, reading, and book- 
 printing. We have also to remember how many other 
 uses paper subserves, as wrapping material, for card- 
 board, papier-mache, carton-pierre, &c. 
 
 Building paper now forms a regular article of com- 
 merce in the United States, and more than one public 
 company is doing a large business in it. It is used on 
 the outside of frame buildings, and under shingles and 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 555 
 
 floors, to keep out the cold, and on the inside instead 
 of plastering. It is said to be both warm and cheap. 
 Paper tiles are also used in Saxony for roofing sheds, 
 stables, and barns ; and paper collars and other articles 
 of dress have long been in use. 
 
 [Since this lecture was delivered another important 
 application of paper pulp to industrial purposes has 
 been brought into extensive use in curtains, &c., which 
 were largely shown in the Paper Section of the 
 London Exhibition for 1872. To a casual observer 
 these curtains appear to be very elegant cretonnes 
 from Miilhouse, or chintzes from Manchester, but a 
 closer examination shows them to be composed of a 
 very different material. To the eye they are cotton 
 goods, to the touch paper, whilst in reality they are 
 neither, and yet are a combination of both. They 
 are in fact manufactured from a felted fabric or tissue 
 feutre japonais, as M. Eugene Pavy, the inventor, 
 terms it. The fabric is not a real tissue, but rather a 
 species of Japanese paper of very strong texture. It 
 is firm and tough, while at the same time it is pliable, 
 and is capable of being applied to many of the deco- 
 rative and industrial purposes for which paper and 
 cotton goods, and even leather, are at present used. 
 Its great recommendation is that by its aid the most 
 elegant fabrics can be approximately and serviceably 
 imitated, whilst the cost to the public does not exceed 
 one-tenth that of the articles which it supersedes. 
 The manufacture has taken a wide extension, and is 
 now carried on by Pavy's Patent Felted Fabric Com- 
 pany, Limited, Hamsell Street, London, the works 
 being at Chilworth, near Guildford.] 
 
 When we consider that 550,000 tons of cotton, 
 
556 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 125,000 tons of jute, and 130,000 tons of flax and 
 hemp, were imported and worked up in 1869, besides 
 53,000 tons of home-grown flax, one would suppose 
 there ought to be a great deal of the waste of these 
 fabrics available for the paper-maker. But among the 
 minor tendencies of industries few are more noteworthy 
 than that shown in the increased utilisation of waste 
 materials. As competition becomes sharper, manufac- 
 turers have to look more closely to those items which 
 may make the slight difference between profit and loss, 
 and convert useless products into those possessed of 
 commercial value. 
 
 Our manufacturers have not been slow to appreciate 
 this truth, as is shown in more than one branch of 
 trade. Thus, the refuse blowings and droppings from 
 the spindles and looms of cotton-mills, which were for- 
 merly available for the paper-maker, are now found to 
 possess a high textile value, and form the basis of a 
 distinct branch of trade. Millions of pounds of this 
 waste cotton are now used annually in the fabrication 
 of wadding, common carpets, twine, &c. There are a 
 hundred opportunities among the staple industries of 
 the country to secure an equal economy and profit, by 
 turning to proper uses residues and substances now 
 disregarded and thrown away as waste. 
 
 In the manufacture of paper, as well as in all other 
 mechanical industries, there has been great progress 
 made, even in the last half-century. Chemistry and 
 Mechanics have each contributed their part. The 
 former has afforded us improved methods for washing, 
 bleaching, and colouring the paper stock, which must 
 yield a different product from what was made by the 
 ancients. The mechanical improvements, too, have 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 557 
 
 been many, both for boiling and rnnning ont the pulp. 
 The use of ultramarine, which was at one time almost 
 as valuable as gold-dust, has been so extended and 
 cheapened by the labours of the chemist, that its arti- 
 ficial manufacture must be regarded as one of the 
 triumphs of modern science. 
 
 Chemistry has also taught us that the cellulose of 
 all plants is the same as that contained in rags, and 
 that, in fact, the fibre of some plants will give us a 
 paper that cannot be made from rags. Not all plants, 
 however, are adapted to the making of paper. Much 
 depends upon the bark, membrane, and fibre, and there 
 is a difference in the purity of the cellulose in various 
 plants. Chemical tests also show a modification in the 
 fibre of plants. The cellulose of cotton yields a blue 
 colour immediately, with tincture of iodine ; that of 
 flax does not turn blue until an acid has been added, 
 and hemp requires both acid and considerable time 
 before the blue colour makes its appearance. These 
 reactions point to the presence and absence of starch 
 and glucose in different species of plants. 
 
 The removal of the excise duty on paper, which took 
 effect in the year 1861, renders it difficult to ascertain 
 with any precision the quantity of paper now made in 
 the kingdom, but we may form a fair estimate by look- 
 ing at the progress under the duty rate, and judge of 
 the advance from the incentives and stimulus to in- 
 creased production. The following are official figures 
 of the quantity of paper charged with duty : 
 
 1842 Ibs. 96,693,399 
 
 1852 154,469,211 
 
 1861.- 229,502,864 
 
 From which we may fairly estimate the present pro- 
 duction at 300,000,000 Ibs. 
 
558 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Our shipments of paper scarcely keep pace with the 
 increased production and home consumption, which 
 may be attributed to foreign competition, and the 
 colonial paper mills now established in Canada and 
 Australia. The exports are officially given as follows 
 of British paper of all kinds : 
 
 Quantity. Value. 
 
 1860 cwts. 112,514 450,589 
 
 1865 141,075 447,741 
 
 1870 177,683 530,646 
 
 The exports and home consumption compare as 
 follows, in Ibs. weight : 
 
 Exports. Consumption. 
 
 1849 5,966,319 126,166,341 
 
 1859 20,142,352 197,684,847 
 
 1869 24,014,592 276,000,000 
 
 1871 25,688,000 300,000,000 
 
 In 1870 our export of paper of different kinds, in- 
 cluding paper-hangings, was valued at 643,015, and 
 in 1871 at 669,923, besides 531,934 stationery 
 other than paper. The quantity of foreign-made paper 
 received has been annually increasing of late years. 
 In 1869, 412,900 cwts. were imported, valued at 
 690,547, of which 49,920 cwts. were re-exported. 
 In 1871 the foreign imports were of the value of 
 685,276. The following are the imports of foreign- 
 made paper of all kinds in cwts., in the three years 
 ending 1869 : 
 
 
 1867. 
 
 1868. 
 
 1869. 
 
 
 174,429 
 
 177,220 
 
 169,275 
 
 Other kinds 
 
 151 925 
 
 193,387 
 
 243,626 
 
 Paper-hangings 
 
 7,753 
 
 5,660 
 
 4,435 
 
 Total 
 
 334,107 
 
 376,267 
 
 417,306 
 
 
 
 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 559 
 
 Besides these foreign imports, we have to consider the 
 quantity of paper used for paper-hangings. The home 
 consumption under this head I can form no estimate of, 
 but give the exports. In 1858 these were stated at 
 15,000,000 yards, valued at 74,649 ; in 1869, the 
 official returns gave the quantity of paper-hangings 
 exported at 46,617 cwts., of the value of 132,635. 
 
 Many of the cheap foreign-made papers contain up- 
 wards of 30 per cent., or nearly one-third of their 
 weight, of fine white clay, and are but films of mineral 
 matter, held together by a few fibres interpolated, which 
 must, ere long, from their rottenness, go to pieces. 
 Even our own paper-makers are not free from blame in 
 this adulteration. It was drawn prominent attention 
 to a few years ago, in a work on Paper Manufacture, 
 by M. Van den Corput, of Brussels, and more recently 
 in the report of the jurors on Paper at the Exhibition 
 of 1862. From this depreciation in the quality of 
 our paper, doubts have been expressed whether or not 
 our books and deeds will outlive their writers. The 
 cause of this deterioration seems to be in the use of a 
 large amount of sulphate of lime, to give the paper a 
 good colour and a seeming firmness of texture. The 
 result is that our .books, some of which are called 
 " standard," are falling to pieces, and deeds, which 
 were intended to be permanent exponents of their 
 writers' wills, are now so faint as scarcely to be legible. 
 Paper of a good quality ought not to leave, after 
 burning, more than 2 per cent, of ash, and the best 
 Swedish filtering papers scarcely any ash ; but it is 
 very common now to meet with papers which contain 
 one-third or a quarter of their weight of silica and 
 
560 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 clay, so that they might almost with propriety be called 
 mineral papers. Ten years ago it was estimated, by 
 one of the best authorities, that 60,000 tons of kaolin, 
 or China clay, were used in the paper mills of Europe 
 in the place of rags. Kaolin is now a very extensive 
 ingredient in paper-making, and the Cornish clay 
 merchants prepare it specially for paper-makers, and 
 advertise this in the trade organ. 
 
 The paper-makers' licences, granted during the time 
 of the duty, afford some idea of the briskness of trade, 
 and the paper mills at work. I find the number of 
 mills rose from 408, in 1785, to 800 in 1829 (the 
 highest number reached). They then declined an- 
 nually until 1852, when there were 400, at which, 
 with variations of some 8 or 10, the number has since 
 stood. The licences granted in 1869 were 326 in 
 England, 60 in Scotland, and 22 in Ireland, but all the 
 mills were not at work, and within the last year there 
 have been still further reductions in the number. The 
 " Paper Mills Directory " for 1871 gives the number of 
 paper mills in working order in England, in 1870, at 
 274, besides 12 mills not working, making a total of 
 286, against 290 in 1869. In Scotland there were 63 
 mills at work last year, against 58 in 1869. The 
 larger number of paper mills make brown, cartridge, 
 and such like papers ; in England, not more than 100 
 make printing, news, &c. 
 
 If we look at a few of the latest figures regarding 
 the publishing and printing trades, we shall see how 
 important is the question of paper to supply the de- 
 mand. There are at the present time more than 1,400 
 newspapers in the United Kingdom, of which 110 are 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 561 
 
 daily, of these 61 are published at one penny, and 34 
 at one halfpenny each. The magazines and reviews 
 number 626. The quantity of paper which all these 
 require it is impossible to calculate ; but when we find 
 that one London daily paper asserts its average daily 
 circulation to be upwards of 190,000 copies, and if we 
 assume the other London dailies to have each but half 
 this circulation, we can form an idea of the enormous 
 demand for paper, even in the metropolis. Besides 
 the political journals, some of the literary, religious, 
 sporting, and other publications have very large circu- 
 lations. But we have also to take books into con- 
 sideration. According to the " Publishers' Circular," 
 last year there were 4,656 new books and new editions 
 published in Great Britain. In the United States about 
 half this number are issued, and in Germany three 
 times as many. This is independent of the large 
 number of newspapers and books issued in various other, 
 parts of the globe. The make and consumption of 
 paper in the United States are nearly as large as our own. 
 
 In 1869, we exported 59,291 cwts. of books, and im- 
 ported 11,463 cwts., and the progress in ten years is 
 shown by the figures of 1859, which were 33,915 cwts. 
 exported, and 6,520 imported. 
 
 The price of rags mainly regulates the price of paper, 
 for these are the mainstay of the paper-maker, although 
 now supplemented to a small extent by crude vegetable 
 fibres. The comparative scarcity of rags and kindred 
 substances has rendered their supply, as a main article 
 for paper-making, more and more inadequate, while the 
 importation of esparto fibre from the Mediterranean coun- 
 tries has likewise failed to meet the augmented demand. 
 
 o o 
 
562 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The import of foreign rags suitable for paper-making 
 lias increased in the last ten years by nearly 50 per cent. 
 For twenty years it averaged about 10,000 tons. In 
 1858, it was 11,379 tons, value 246,133 ; in 1869, it 
 was 17,000 tons, value about 300,000. The aggregate 
 quantity of rags annually collected in the kingdom, with 
 those imported, may be taken at 70,000 tons weight, 
 worth at least 1,500,000. It takes 100 tons of rags 
 to make 70 tons of paper. Notwithstanding the rags 
 produced by our population of 30,500,000 inhabitants, 
 addi'd to the largo quantity of jute-bagging, linen and 
 cotton wrappers, old sails, cordage, &c., it will be seen 
 that we are 1 argely dependent on foreign supplies of waste 
 materials for our paper mills. Linen rags have declined 
 in price from 22 18s. per ton, in 1866, to 19 12s. 
 in 1869, and cotton rags from 13 19s. to 12 4s.* 
 
 * The paper upon which the notes of the Bank of Eng- 
 land are printed is manufactured from the whitest and best 
 of linen rags, by one firm at Laverstoke, in Hampshire. It is 
 made in sheets 16 inches long and 5 inches wide, each 
 being designed for the printing of two notes ; they are divi- 
 ded in the middle after leaving the press ; therefore, every 
 note issued by the Bank of England has three rough or deckle 
 edges, and one smooth edge. The paper and water mark have 
 always been the great difficulty to makers of forged notes. 
 The engraving has been successfully imitated, so much so, 
 that even experts have been deceived by it ; but spurious 
 paper has never, up to the present time, stood the test. A 
 quantity of paper, enough for making about 990,000 notes, is 
 forwarded to London once a month ; it is delivered to the 
 bank-note paper office, where it is counted, and then handed 
 to the printing-office. After passing through a machine which 
 prints all but the numbers, dates, and signatures, it is returned 
 to the paper office ; in this transition state it is kept in store ; 
 as notes are required, it is again passed through a machine for 
 completion ; each sheet is then cut in half, as before stated, 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 
 
 563 
 
 The average value of the rags and other paper- 
 making materials imported in the last two years, was 
 about 110,000. The quantities for four years are 
 shown in the following return, in tons : 
 
 
 1867. 
 
 1868. 
 
 1869. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Lineu and Cotton Bags ... 
 
 18,497 
 54 512 
 
 17,860 
 95 828 
 
 16,980 
 86 334 
 
 22,209 
 103 461 
 
 Other Vegetable Fibres ... 
 Other Materials for Mak- ") 
 in * Paper J 
 
 562 
 
 794 
 
 52 
 615 
 
 1,084 
 1,702 
 
 1,411 
 
 5,268 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tons 
 
 74 275 
 
 114 355 
 
 106 100 
 
 132 349 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 making two notes ; they are counted, and carefully examined 
 by cashiers, whose duty it is to reject all notes which are in- 
 distinctly printed, or are imperfect, for the Old Lady is very 
 particular on this point ; tied up in bundles of 100 notes 
 each, and five of these bundles in one, making a large 
 bundle of 500 notes. The average daily manufacture is 
 about 37,000 notes, or 74 bundles of 500 notes : each bundle 
 weighing 1 Ibs. The number of notes made in a year will 
 be over 11,500,000, the paper weighing more than 16 tons. 
 Books are printed at the Bank, with a record of every note 
 issued. Every note presented at the Bank for payment is 
 marked off these ledgers on the day following ; the date of 
 payment being stamped on -the note and in the ledger. 
 Should a forged note by any chance be passed, the imposter 
 would assuredly be turned out the following day, on reference 
 to the ledger for posting it. About 37,000 notes are pre- 
 sented daily for payment ; they are cancelled by having 
 the signature torn away, and two holes, the size of gun- 
 waddings, punched through the amount in the left-hand 
 corner of the note. Every such note is kept at the Bank, 
 ten years, and the boxes containing these notes, if placed 
 end to end, would reach from the Bank to Kew Bridge, 
 or more than nine miles. The authorities take pride in the 
 fact, that should reference to any one of these notes be 
 required, by furnishing the number, date and amount, in 
 ten minutes it would be placed before you. 
 
 o o 2 
 
564 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Since the discovery of a method of separating ink 
 from printed paper, old newspapers and old books have 
 entered largely into the paper-makers' material. And 
 the lesson of economy should be learnt, to save for 
 market the waste paper, instead of kindling fires with 
 it and casting it to the winds. Let frugal housewives 
 take a hint, and add the present wasted hundredweights 
 of old paper tb the great civilising agent of the present 
 day. For many years it has been pointed out, in every 
 possible way, that an endless variety of cheap materials 
 exists in British tropical dependencies, admirably suited 
 for paper-making, but the ever-recurring difficulty is, 
 not where to get it, nor even what to get, but how to 
 induce any one to bring it, or, if brought, how to induce 
 any one to be the first to use it. This want of spirit 
 is the dead weight which presses so heavily on the 
 paper-manufacturer. 
 
 Owing to the increased demand, and the enhanced 
 price of rags, it has been found necessary to employ 
 other substances for mixing, such as, for instance, straw, 
 esparto grass, and wood pulp. Generally speaking, 
 and especially as regards the grasses, these auxiliary 
 pulps, however, do not fall very far short in price of 
 the rag product, and thus, while by such admixtures 
 the immediate demands are met, the cost of paper 
 remains high, and acts as a check on that expansion 
 of the paper-manufacture which is one of the greatest 
 and most urgent requirements of the times. 
 
 Wood pulp, chemically produced, although un- 
 doubtedly good as to quality, labours under the dis- 
 advantage of being too dear, but its production by 
 mechanical agency, which is much less costly, may now 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 565 
 
 be considered as brought to great perfection by means 
 of improved machinery, amongst which Voelter's 
 system claims an undoubted superiority, at any rate 
 in localities where the raw material is abundant enough 
 to afford supplies for their great converting capacity, 
 and its action is facilitated by a sufficiency of water- 
 power. Under such conditions, each one of M. Voelter's 
 engines of the ordinary size is capable of producing 17 
 cwts. of pulp daily, at a cost varying in proportion to 
 the nature of the motive power employed, the price of 
 the raw material, the facilities of transport, the rate of 
 wages, and other contingencies. 
 
 In all these respects, Sweden (according to a detailed 
 report of Mr. Gustaf Josephson) offers peculiar advan- 
 tages. The supply of soft pine wood, perhaps the most 
 suitable of all for the manufacture of paper pulp and 
 pasteboard, is there practically unlimited, and obtain- 
 able at a price of l^d. to 2d. per cubic foot, whereas in 
 Germany, where a number of such works have been in 
 existence for some time, and have supplied English 
 markets with their produce, which is, however, mostly 
 of inferior quality, the same material is worth about 3d. 
 per cubic foot on an average. Aspen wood is likewise 
 plentiful and cheap in Sweden. 
 
 There are now about 160 of these wood-pulp machines 
 at work on the Continent. Some of those in Germany 
 arid Belgium, and about 30 of those situated in the 
 Scandinavian countries, where material is abundant, 
 send their pulp to England as a paper-material. 
 
 The first mode of preparing wood pulp from the pine 
 and other white woods, was to reduce it into thin 
 shavings, which were soaked in water for six or eight 
 
566 SCIENCE AXD COMMERCE. 
 
 lavs, and then dried and ground into powder by a corn 
 "i- crushing mill. This powder was mixed with rags, 
 so as to make a pulp, and the ordinary operation of 
 paper-making was then proceeded with. The principal 
 defect of this material was the shortness of fibre. 
 
 The preparation of wood pulp has not hitherto been 
 sufficiently successful to make it rival rags, esparto, or 
 .straw. Further experiments may, however, go far to 
 remove the present defects. 
 
 The difficulties which have hitherto existed in 
 developing wood pulp were the large quantity of alkali 
 required for disintegrating the fibre, and the necessity 
 for very strong vessels in which to perform the opera- 
 tion, because it was by boiling at a high temperature 
 with a solution of caustic soda that this could alone 
 be performed. These difficulties have lately been 
 overcome by Mr. F. B. Houghton, of 40, Borough 
 Road, who recovers the alkali without evaporation or 
 calcination. A current of gas is made to pass through 
 the liquor which has been employed for boiling the 
 wood ; this separates the resin from the liquor, leaving 
 it floating in it ; it is then coagulated, and falls to the 
 bottom. 
 
 Esparto, as it is called in Spain, and alfa on the African 
 coast, is a coarse, rushy grass, which has long been used 
 as a fibrous material for rough yarn and cordage, 
 and more than thirty years ago was recommended as a 
 paper-making material, but was only brought into ex- 
 tensive use about sixteen years ago, by the persevering 
 efforts of Mr. Thomas Routledge. No material alter- 
 ation in the machinery or apparatus is required for 
 working esparto, and much less power is necessary. 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 567 
 
 According to a practical authority,* the successful 
 working of this fibre depends mainly on the careful 
 and proper adjustment and strength of the chemicals 
 employed. The quantity of soda ash required for 
 neutralising the gummo-resinous matters in the fibre, 
 so as to admit of its being made into pulp, is very 
 large, though not so great as is required for straw ; 
 and the fibre, unlike rags, never having before. been 
 subjected to bleaching or other chemical treatment, 
 also requires very much more bleaching powder to 
 bring it to colour suitable for printing paper. The 
 quantities required are from five to six times as much 
 as for cleansing and bleaching the coarsest rags. 
 
 In a late circular of Messrs. N. W. Chittenden and 
 Co., fibre brokers, they state that, u during the past 
 year, numerous small importations of various descrip- 
 tions of fibre have occasionally been made, and ready 
 experiments have been afforded to test their capabilities, 
 yet none has been found as a practical substitute ; and 
 during the past twelve months upwards of 93,750 tons 
 of esparto have been imported into .the United King- 
 dom, and although there has been but little falling off 
 in the importations of other material previously used, 
 the price of esparto still keeps at about 10 per ton.f 
 
 * Mr. W. H. Kichardson, " On the Paper Manufacture of 
 Northumberland, and Durham." 
 
 f A very interesting descriptive paper on " Esparto : its 
 Cultivation, History, and the Future Prospects of the Plant," 
 was read by Mr. Robert Johnston, before the Society of Arts, 
 on the 20th December, 1871, and is published in full in the 
 Society's Journal, vol. xx, p. 96. It should be carefully 
 studied by those specially interested in the subject. 
 
568 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 What effect this may have upon manufacturers who 
 have been at a heavy expense in erecting machinery to 
 work this article, when it was supposed that any 
 quantity could be had at 6 or thereabouts, with but 
 slight fluctuations in value likely to occur, we cannot 
 say, but it seems an astonishing fact, that although 
 the consumption of paper has been greater than ever, 
 and that most raw materials from which it is produced 
 have risen, our makers have not combined to raise the 
 price of their production in proportion." 
 
 A correspondent, reading the discussion which took 
 place last year, in the " Standard," on paper-materials, 
 sent me specimens of pulp, which he had prepared in 
 Jamaica, under difficulties, from various substances, 
 such as the bamboo, different fibrous plants, simply 
 crushed and macerated, and wood pulp from trees of 
 large growth. The fibrous plants of Jamaica, he ob- 
 serves, are numerous, and deserve a greater amount of 
 attention, but hitherto nothing of a substantial or per- 
 manent character has been done practically. The 
 Jamaica papers have since taken up the subject. A 
 recent " Kingston Morning Journal " has the following 
 editorial remarks : " It seems, from all we can gather, 
 that there is a market for our fibres, and such material 
 as they convert into pulp, if only we would set to work 
 to produce them. There is no lack of material for 
 this purpose. From one. end of the island to the 
 other it abounds, of various kinds, and of as various 
 qualities. It is really pitiful to ride about the coun- 
 try, and see the acres of penguin that uprear their 
 heads and spread themselves about as they can find 
 space, preventing all other vegetation from thriving, 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 569 
 
 while it is itself practically of no use whatever, and 
 may be regarded as an encumbrance of the ground. 
 What a mine of wealth we have in these same penguin 
 plants, if only people would take the trouble to set 
 about to extract it. Years ago, the matter was talked 
 over, and it was then set forth that the fibre is abun- 
 dant, is strong, is of excellent quality for manufacture 
 into certain kinds of cloth and cordage, while the 
 material is as ' common as dirt ' in the country. It is 
 a pity that so little indeed, nothing beyond the trying 
 of a few experiments has ever been done to turn it 
 into practical and useful account. Besides the penguin 
 for the production of fibre, there are the plantain and 
 the banana plants. There is not a peasant or small 
 settler who does not cultivate them pretty extensively. 
 Travelling through the mountain districts, the very 
 first things to apprise the belated' traveller that he is 
 getting within the circle of humanity, is not so much 
 'the watch-dog's honest bark, baying deep-mouthed 
 welcome,' or unwelcome, as the sight of those graceful 
 plants, waving their leafy wings in the soft night air 
 that plays around them ; and, when the village is 
 reached, there is not a cottage but is surrounded by 
 them ; there is not a garden in which they do not 
 abound. Then there are the fields, or ' grounds ' that 
 lie beyond the confines of home, on the higher lands, 
 in which plantain and banana plants are to be seen 
 also growing abundantly. These require little or no 
 cultivation. They propagate themselves by means of 
 the suckers that shoot out of their roots, and, except 
 occasionally pulling the grass from around those roots, 
 the trouble they occasion the husbandman is of an in- 
 
570 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 finitesiinal character. The plants abound in fibre of a 
 rough character, that would be valuable in the manu- 
 facture of cordage, while the pulp might be converted 
 into paper of a coarse description. All the use that is 
 made of the plant at present is to cultivate it simply 
 for the sake of its fruit. The other portions of it are 
 thrown down, and lie on the ground and rot. There 
 is some singular fatality attending this country, that 
 so much that is useful, so much that is really valuable, 
 is allowed to grow up and then to rot, when it might 
 so easily be converted into money." 
 
 The paper-yielding stems of the plantain and other 
 indigenous plants have been too long neglected. Useful 
 and tough kinds of paper have been made from them. 
 Simple pressure between rollers and washing would 
 appear to be sufficient for the separation of the fibres 
 of most of them. 
 
 A Jamaica correspondent sent me by the last mail a 
 copy of a Kingston paper, which reports that the Gover- 
 nor, "Sir John Peter Grant, is turning his attention to 
 the development of the fibrous wealth lying latent and 
 running to waste in this island. In plainer language, 
 his Excellency thinks there is money to be made by pre- 
 paring for market the numerous varieties of plants 
 growing without cultivation all over the country, from 
 which fibrous materials may be extracted, for the 
 manufacture of cordage, textile fabrics, and paper; 
 and we learn that he is about to bring to this country 
 a person experienced in the extraction of fibres from 
 the plants containing them, if not for the further con- 
 version of the materials so evolved into manufactured 
 articles. At present, we do not go so far as to insist 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 571 
 
 on the manufacturing part of the project, but we would 
 content ourselves just now with an impetus, such as it 
 is said Sir John contemplates, to the growth and pre- 
 paration of the raw material for the purposes of the 
 manufacturers of Manchester, Glasgow, and other 
 towns and places in the United Kingdom. We are 
 not so ambitious as to ' despise the day of small things.' 
 Therefore, for the present, at least, we should be quite 
 satisfied to witness the shipment of a few tons of raw 
 material spoken of, by way of a beginning to a new 
 industry which, we are convinced, if followed up with 
 spirit, is calculated to provide a handsome living, if it 
 do not lead to affluence, to such persons as may engage 
 therein, provided that they set about the work under - 
 standingly, and carry it on skilfully, and at the lowest 
 possible cost. Nor does it appear to us that any very 
 elaborate process, involving complicated and costly 
 machinery, is absolutely necessary for the purpose of 
 separating from fibre-producing plants, such as we 
 have in such luxuriant abundance in the island, the 
 ligaments, which form their strength and real sub- 
 stance, from the feculences which keep them together 
 in a state of cohesion. Now, the Jerusalem dagger, 
 as well as the common dagger " (these I believe to be 
 Yucca gloriosa and Aloefolia), "grow luxuriantly all 
 over the island. In regard to the latter, it is too 
 common to render necessary one word about it. The 
 other variety is not so well known. The leaf is more 
 soft and pliable, and seems to us to be more adapted 
 to the manufacture of cordage, and perhaps for textile 
 fabrics, than the better-known kind. We can assure 
 our readers, and we now address ourselves more par- 
 
572 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 ticularly to those abroad, who are in any respect in- 
 terested in spinning and weaving that the fibre of 
 the two plants we have already named requires no 
 bleaching at least it seems so to us ; for immediately 
 it is cleaned, washed and dried, it is as white as the 
 best bleached linen thread, and much whiter than the 
 printing paper on which this article has been written. 
 Nor this alone. It is as fine as the finest silk as it 
 comes from the worm, tough, and elastic. Unlike the 
 plantain fibre, which breaks if made into a knot, it is 
 tenacious, and can bear any complication of knots 
 without snapping. This is one of the greatest desi- 
 derata in all fibres, whether for cordage or textile pur- 
 poses. Then, if we mistake not, whatever substance 
 is suitable for cordage and woven fabrics is equally 
 suitable for manufacture into paper, with this advan- 
 tage, that, for the latter purpose, the waste and refuse, 
 embracing short, broken fibres, may be used with 
 equal benefit to the long, sound fibre employed for 
 the other purposes named. We may add, that the 
 paper-manufacturer will be able to turn out a superior 
 article, because he will have for stock a raw material 
 much stronger than the old rags he has been in the 
 habit of employing in his manufactory. We have 
 already alluded to the marked whiteness of the fibre 
 of the dagger. In this, as well as in its greater 
 flexibility and tenacity, it is far superior to the fibre 
 of the plantain or banana of any description, which 
 would require considerable bleaching for either paper 
 or any of the textile fabrics." 
 
 The bamboo is not a new paper-material, although it 
 has only recently been introduced into this country for 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 573 
 
 that purpose. Much of the common Chinese paper is 
 made from it, as may be seen described in Herring's 
 work " On Paper," p. 31. The American paper-makers 
 have for some time obtained supplies from British 
 Guiana, Jamaica, and other parts of the West Indies. 
 In a paper which I read before this Society two years 
 ago,* I called attention to what the Americans were 
 doing with bamboo as a paper-material, and this seems 
 to have led to shipments here of this gigantic grass. 
 
 During last year, some supplies of a very excellent 
 new material were imported from the Portuguese 
 settlements on the West Coast of Africa, where con- 
 siderable quantities may, it is said, be obtained. It 
 is the fibrous bark of a Sterculiaceous tree, the baobab 
 (Adansonia digitata), and, from its tough fibrous net- 
 work, it would in quantity be most valuable to the 
 paper-makers. It is not a tall tree, but attains 
 gigantic dimensions in growth, being described by 
 travellers as a " vegetable monster," and " behemoth 
 of the forest," being frequently eighty or ninety feet in 
 circumference. Dr. Livingstone asserts that nothing 
 short of boiling the tree in sea water could possibly 
 destroy its power of vitality. Constantly barked by 
 the natives, the tree nevertheless retains its full 
 vigour, and a removal of the very core or centre of the 
 stem would not, according to that traveller, affect the 
 existence of the tree ; and " the reason is," to quote 
 his own words, " that each of the laminae possesses its 
 own independent vitality ; in fact, the Baobab is rather 
 a gigantic bulb run up to seed than a tree." This 
 
 * " Journal of the Society of Arts," 1869, vol. xvii, p. 175. 
 
574 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 tree or an allied species (Adansonia Gregorii) is found 
 in the West Indies and North- Western Australia. 
 The bark fetches readily here about 14 per ton. 
 It furnishes indestructible cordage, and a close thread 
 used for cloth and ropes. Ropes made from it are 
 said to be so strong that there is, in Bengal, a 
 saying, " as secure as an elephant bound with baobab 
 rope." 
 
 At a late meeting of the Scottish Paper Makers' 
 Association, the chairman urged that the attention of 
 makers should be turned to the introduction of other 
 materials to cheapen the cost of production, or to 
 increase the percentage of paper yielded by the 
 materials now in use. Wood-pulp might soon come to 
 be more generally used, as, from recent information, 
 there were means lately discovered, and soon to be 
 patented, whereby the fitness of this material would 
 be greatly improved, and its price be exceedingly 
 moderate. An inquiry into the practicability of 
 growing a vegetable fibre at home as a substitute for 
 esparto was held by several Scotch paper-makers with 
 the Chamber of Agriculture, but no definite conclusion 
 was arrived at. The general opinion, however, was, 
 that straw was the cheapest and best material that 
 could be had, but great difficulty exists in obtaining 
 large supplies, owing to the lease stipulation requiring 
 it to be consumed on the farm. The market price of 
 straw here being also 6 per ton above what it is in 
 Sweden and Belgium, it can be imported from those 
 countries cheaper than it can be bought here. 
 
 The vacoua sugar bags, which are made from the 
 tough longitudinal fibres of the leaves of the Pandanus 
 
THE TAPER MANUFACTURE. 575 
 
 utilis and other species of the screw pine, are a useful 
 paper-material. 3,000,000 of these bags are made 
 annually in Bourbon, and a large number also in 
 Mauritius. The leaves are cut every seeond year, and 
 each plant yields enough for two large sacks or bags. 
 The leaves yield paper of good quality, light and 
 strong. 
 
 In Australia attention is being directed to the 
 utilisation of local materials for their paper mills. At 
 the recent Intercolonial Exhibition at Sydney, in Sep- 
 tember last, a bronze medal was awarded to the local 
 Paper Company for its brown; printing, and news- 
 printing, made at their Liverpool mill. The brown 
 paper was chiefly made from refuse New Zealand flax ; 
 the printing is used by the local journals. The hand- 
 made papers, shown by Baron Mueller, of Melbourne, 
 proved from what a great variety of vegetable fibres 
 paper can be made, but the difficulty to be conquered 
 is commercial, not mechanical, the cost of reducing 
 much of the fibre into paper being prohibitory. 
 
 A Select Committee of the House of Assembly of 
 South Australia reported, in August last, that 
 thousands of tons of material, equal to any demand, 
 and suitable to the manufacture of fibre, is growing 
 extensively in various parts of the colony, and a large 
 proportion on the Crown lands, while the cutting of it 
 does not destroy the plant, but tends to improve it. 
 The Committee report their opinion that a new and 
 valuable industry might be opened up, not only to 
 supply the colony with material useful for various 
 manufactures, such as hemp, rope, and paper, but there 
 would also arise a very large European trade. The 
 
576 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Committee, therefore, recommend that a bonus of 
 2,000 be offered by the Government for the first 500 
 tons produced in the colony. 
 
 Baron Mueller, in an elaborate article on the barks, 
 foliage, grasses, rushes, &c., of Australia suited for 
 paper-making,* remarks that forest regions and coast 
 lines, swamps and flats subject to inundations, should 
 prominently yield the material for the factory ; for, on 
 open pastures or otherwise occupied tracts of country, 
 even paper-material cannot be harvested for an un- 
 limited period, at the expense of the soil, with 
 impunity. In factories situated in the vicinity of 
 forests, the soda expended in paper manufactures 
 might be profitably regained by evaporation of the 
 ley, and crystallising it with coal or sawdust. In 
 viewing (he adds) the immense supply of various 
 kinds of paper-material here cheaply available, there 
 is no reason why they should not form, closely pressed, 
 an article of export probably less inflammable than 
 rags ; and, still more, it may safely be anticipated 
 that, together with the consumption of rags in local 
 factories, the new articles indicated will largely enter 
 into the fabrication of paper, the product of Victorian 
 industry. 
 
 I have not thought it necessary to take up the time 
 of the meeting by an enumeration of all the Australian 
 materials on which Baron Mueller has experimental- 
 ised, with more or less success. Many of these have 
 been repeatedly brought under notice, others are new ; 
 but I have specimens of various papers made from them 
 
 * See my " Journal of Applied Science," August, 1870. 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 577 
 
 here, for the inspection of those interested. These 
 papers have not been subjected to chlorine, or drawn 
 through size. 
 
 In the reports of the jurors at the New Zealand 
 Exhibition of 1865, it is stated that New Zealand pro- 
 duces a number of fibrous plants and grasses suitable 
 for the manufacture of paper, a branch of industry 
 which must, at some future time, become an important 
 one. The bountiful supply of pure water with which 
 almost every portion of the colony is blessed, and 
 the facilities which exist for the erection of mills to 
 be driven by water power, combined with the abun- 
 dance of paper-making material, which grows in pro- 
 fusion throughout the colony, constitute New Zealand 
 as par excellence a favourable country for the produc- 
 tion of paper for local supply and for the other 
 Australian colonies. With regard to paper-making 
 material, the Phormium tenax must again occupy the 
 first-place. Not only is the fibre admirably suited to 
 that purpose, but it is the more valuable, inasmuch as 
 the refuse particles of fibre, after its preparation for 
 spinning, are available for the manufacture of paper. 
 In the event of the cultivation of the Phormium tenax, 
 there will always be a large quantity of damaged, 
 and what would be otherwise waste leaves, valuable to 
 the paper-maker. Forty years ago, paper was made 
 of it to print an edition of a work by Mr. John 
 Murray, of Edinburgh, on the plant and its uses. 
 The peculiarity of this paper is its tenacity, which 
 property should make it important for documents 
 and printing to stand a great deal of wear and tear. 
 
 p P 
 
578 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 No better paper could be used for bank notes, or for 
 the printing of valuable standard works. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, it was shipped from the 
 colony as a paper-material in solid lumps, to lessen 
 freight. The paper obtained from it is the strongest 
 of all. The subject, from that time to the present 
 day, has been one of almost constant discussion. The 
 readiness with which the large richly-fibrous leaves 
 can be turned into pulp for a very substantial paper, 
 entitles the plant not alone to consideration, but also 
 the fact that it may be permanently established with 
 the greatest ease in any swampy ground. 
 
 Many of the native grasses of New Zealand are 
 sufficiently fibrous for the manufacture of paper, and 
 the profusion in which they grow on almost every 
 variety of soil, and under every condition of the 
 climate, is an additional reason why efforts should be 
 made to utilise them. One variety of grass in 
 particular claims attention, from its resemblance in 
 many important features to esparto ; this is the 
 " snow grass," one of the tussocky grasses of the 
 colonists (Schoenus pauciflorus, Hooker), which grows 
 rank and luxuriant at high elevations and on barren 
 soil, in the interior of the Middle Island. Experi- 
 ments have been made at Dunedin as to the paper- 
 making qualities of this grass, and the trial was suf- 
 ficiently satisfactory to establish its value for the 
 purpose. But while I direct attention to these paper- 
 making materials, I fear Australia is too far distant 
 to be thought of for any extensive supply of raw 
 material for our paper mills, and we must look to 
 nearer quarters, such as the shores of Northern and 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 579 
 
 Western Africa, Brazil, Central America, and the West 
 India Islands. 
 
 Seven or eight years ago, in a work which I pub- 
 lished on the Utilisation of Waste Substances,* I 
 suggested that the woolly fibre adhering to the 
 hulls of the cotton seed might be economised in the 
 manufacture of paper, and I am glad to find that this, 
 like many other hints then thrown out, has since been 
 carried into practice. 
 
 At the last meeting of the British Association a 
 paper was read by Mr. Thomas Rose, of the tirm of 
 Rose and Gibson, of Sankey Mills, Earlestown, on the 
 further utilisation of cotton seed, and especially by 
 converting the short cottony fibre adhering to the husk 
 of the herbaceous cotton, and the husk itself, into 
 paper. The seed yields, in round numbers, 50 per 
 cent, of kernel and 50 per cent, of fibrous husk. The 
 kernel yields about one-third crude oil and two-thirds 
 cake. The fibrous husk gives an average of 30 per 
 cent, pure fibre. The process of operating is this, the 
 cotton seed is fed between a pair of rollers, running at 
 differential speed, and not quite in contact. This 
 cracks the husk or shell, and allows the solid kernel 
 to fall out and be easily separated. A system of 
 riddling further separates a great deal of the dry, 
 broken husk. After this it is boiled in caustic soda, 
 in a revolving boiler, by which means much of the 
 remaining husk is got rid of, and final washings so 
 completely liberate the cotton that it is ready for 
 bleaching. After this process it is reduced to pulp, 
 
 * " Waste Products and Undeveloped Substances." 
 London : R. Hardwicke, 18G2. 
 
 p r 2 
 
580 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and converteil into paper. Supposing this to prove a 
 success commercially, of which Mr. Rose (who is now 
 in America on the subject), appears to be sanguine, it 
 will further utilise a waste product on which I have 
 often spoken in former years in this room, and add 
 something to the means of the paper-maker as regards 
 raw material. 
 
 In a late number of the " New Orleans Picayune" 
 (November 10, 1870), I find an article giving elaborate 
 statistical calculations about the value of the cotton 
 I and its subsidiary products ; but I am a little 
 tical as to American estimates and figures, par- 
 ticularly when the aggregate money value of the oil, oil- 
 cake, and ashes of the hulls as a fertiliser, are set down 
 at the large sum of 11,000,000 sterling, or equal to 
 one-fourth of the value of the incoming crop of cotton. 
 The quantity of cotton seed from an American crop of 
 3,000,000 bales is represented to be 2,250,000 tons. 
 Now, sharp as our American cousins are in turning 
 matters into money, they do not appear yet to have 
 thought of utilising the fibre. If this is all woolly- 
 seeded cotton, the weight of seed spoken of ought to 
 yield about 300,000 tons of pure fibre, worth, to paper 
 makers, not less than 7,500,000; and this is quite 
 irrespective of the bark of the stem of the cotton 
 plant, which I have not yet heard is economically 
 used. 
 
 Looking at the utilisation of this small cotton-seed 
 fibre, I see no reason why another material should not 
 be available, in the fibrous husk or covering of the 
 betel-nut of India (Areca catechu}, which is in such 
 general use throughput the East. The fibre has a soft 
 
THE PAPER MANUFACTURE. 581 
 
 and cotton-like feel, and is capable of being spun into 
 twine. Immense quantities of these husks are now 
 thrown away, and, as a paper-material, they ought to 
 be collected in large quantities and at little cost. 
 From Ceylon, about 70,000 cwts. of these nuts are 
 shipped annually, and large quantities from Penang, 
 Sumatra, and Travancore, and from other quarters, 
 there are also large exports. 
 
 The leaves of many palms, but chiefly of the dwarf 
 palm (Chamcerops humilis), Phcenix sjnnosa, and other 
 species, have lately been imported for paper-making, 
 and are found useful if well separated from the leaf- 
 stalk, which is hard, stiff, and brittle. 
 
 A patent has lately been taken out for applying the 
 creeping stem of the antidote cocoon (Feuillea cordi- 
 folia) as a paper-material. This is a cucurbitaceous, 
 perennial, scandent plant, climbing on the highest 
 trees, very common in Jamaica. 
 
 It has been well remarked that it is from a careful 
 observation of the laws of vegetable growth and decay 
 that man has been enabled to take advantage of many 
 of the beautiful vegetable products that lie scattered 
 about in luxuriant profusion, and in proportion to the 
 pains he takes to observe the laws of nature, and the 
 judgment he displays in applying this knowledge to 
 scientific or useful purposes, so are the results bene- 
 ficial to the community at large. One man looks 
 perhaps at the chemistry of vegetables, another merely 
 at the physiology, while a third considers it useless to 
 waste time with such abstruse studies, and enquires 
 merely what 'is the mercantile value of fibrous sub- 
 stances, and how cheaply they can be brought into 
 
582 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the market. Now, all these enquiries have their 
 relative importance. 
 
 In this superficial investigation into paper-making 
 materials, I have merely touched upon a few of the more 
 prominent, without going into practical details, which 
 can best be supplemented by those present who are 
 specially engaged in the manufacture. The subject 
 will not have been introduced in vain if any of the 
 facts or suggestions I have brought forward shall 
 result in benefit to those who are more especially 
 occupied with and interested in paper-making. 
 
THE COMMERCE IN AND USES OF NUTS. 583 
 
 ON NUTS, THEIR PRODUCE 
 
 AND USES.* 
 
 THE subject on which I propose to address you may 
 at first sight appear somewhat trivial and unworthy 
 the notice of a scientific society. What is there, it 
 may be asked, in nuts, of interest, commercially or 
 scientifically, that merits attention or consideration 
 which is not generally known ? But I think, before 
 I have concluded, I shall be able to remove any such 
 superficial idea, and to show how large a part nuts 
 play in the roll of commerce, and how important are 
 the uses of their several products, as evidenced by the 
 fact that we pay more than 3,500,000 yearly for nuts 
 and the products of nuts. 
 
 But first it is necessary to define what a nut is ; and 
 here I fear we shall meet with numerous conflicting 
 opinions. In the popular sense of the term, it would 
 probably be described as some seed with a hard shell 
 enclosing a kernel ; but then chesnuts and other 
 thin-shelled fruits vary the idea. The strict bo-tanical 
 designation would probably be a fruit consisting of a 
 hard pericarp surrounded by bracts at the base, of 
 which the acorn and the filbert are examples. The 
 
 * Read at the evening meeting of the Society of Arts, 
 April 24th, 1872. Professor R. Bentley, F.L.S., in the chair. 
 For this paper the Council of the Society of Arts awarded 
 their Silver Medal. 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 seed-vessel enclosed within an involucre or husk of 
 the cultivated hazel nut, is of the same nature as the 
 cup of the acorn, and the prickly case in which the 
 nuts of the chesnut and the beech-mast are enclosed. 
 Most probably my learned friend in the chair, if asked 
 to define a nut, would state it to be synonymous with 
 a gland, an inferior, dry, hard, indehiscent, one-celled, 
 one, or rarely two, seeded fruit. It is also applied to 
 a superior fruit, by some botanists, of a similar 
 character in some respects to the Above, as in the 
 cocoa nut. Nut is also applied to such fruits as those 
 of labiate and boraginaceous plants, which are properly 
 " achenes," and defined as a dry, one-celled, one-seeded, 
 indehiscent fruit, with a hard covering. Willdenow's 
 definition was, "A seed covered with a hard shell 
 which does not burst." N. Bayley's Dictionary, 
 revised by Dr. Scott, and published in 1764, defines a 
 nut as " A fruit or kernel included in a shell, or a seed 
 included in a brittle but not stony shell ; if the shell 
 and kernel are in the centre of a pulpy fruit, they then 
 make not a nut but a stone." But as I am about 
 dealing with the subject commercially, and not 
 botanically, I shall have to extend the range of 
 definition very largely to take in all that are called 
 nuts in commerce. The merchant and the broker are 
 very lax in their designations ; all, for instance, are 
 gums to them, whether soluble, resinous, elastic, or 
 mere inspissated extracts ; so with many of the nuts 
 of commerce, such as almonds, the seed of drupes, 
 nutmegs, myrobalans, coquilla, cohune, candle nuts, 
 ground nuts, cum multis aliis, which are not botanically 
 nuts. 
 
THE COMMERCE IN AND USES OF NUTS. 585 
 
 A variety of special dealers have certain so-called 
 nuts in their trade. 
 
 The fruiterer and the Italian warehouseman have 
 their edible nuts in cocoa nuts, Brazil nuts, small 
 nuts (Spanish and Barcelonas), cob nuts and filberts, 
 walnuts, chesnuts, peccan arid hickory, butter nuts, 
 sapucaya, pistachio, and cashew nuts, seeds of the 
 pine cones, besides the prepared marron glace, candied, 
 burnt and sugared almonds, &c. ; the grocer, his bitter 
 and sweet almonds and nutmegs, his sassafras and 
 Ravensara nuts ; the oil broker, his ground nuts, 
 candle nuts, palm nuts, palm kernels, oil nutmegs, 
 bassia nuts, and others ; the turner, his coquilla, 
 vegetable ivory, cohune, betel nuts, and others ; the 
 druggist, his nux vomica, physic nut and cumara 
 nut, or tonqtiin bean ; the tanner, his nut galls, 
 myrobalans, (also called gall nuts in India), and bedda 
 nuts, valonia, or acorns and cups ; even the coal 
 merchant has his nuts, in a description of small coal 
 so termed. 
 
 Then there are hundreds of other so-called nuts 
 which have limited, but special uses, such as the 
 marking nut, the clearing nut, the soap nut, and the 
 Bonduc nut. 
 
 To some of these nuts I propose directing your 
 attention, and although it is somewhat difficult, from 
 the varied uses of many, to strictly classify them, I 
 will endeavour to throw them into a few groups which 
 shall comprise:!. The Edible Nuts. 2. The Oil 
 Nuts. 3. The Turnery Nuts and Ornamental Seeds; 
 and 4, another group, which may include those of 
 a Miscellaneous character. 
 
f>sr, 
 
 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The following table gives an aggregate view of the 
 value of our imports OT nuts and their products for the 
 latest year for which the official returns are published 
 _1870 : 
 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Almonds, Sweet 
 
 cwts. 36,189 
 
 138,864 
 
 Bitter 
 
 6,618 
 
 20,966 
 
 Chesnuts 
 
 bushels 31,767 
 
 22,108 
 
 Cocoa-nuts 
 
 number 3,546,276 
 
 30,622 
 
 Small Nuts 
 
 bushels 294,236 
 
 193,452 
 
 Walnuts 
 
 , 162,681 
 
 42,638 
 
 Turnery and unenu- 
 
 
 
 merated Nuts 
 
 
 
 42,972 
 
 Ground Nuts 
 
 tons 6,845 
 
 94,419 
 
 Other Oil Nuts 
 
 18,033 
 
 231,123 
 
 Nutmegs , 
 
 . Ibs. 537,970 
 
 32,510 
 
 Palm Oil 
 
 cwts. 868,270 
 
 1,583,830 
 
 Cocoa-nut Oil 
 
 . 198,602 
 
 392,657 
 
 Coir Fibre 
 
 . tons 1,105 
 
 24,347 
 
 Cordage of ditto 
 
 . cwts. 11,407 
 
 13,547 
 
 Cable Yarn 
 
 . 168,544 
 
 177,956 
 
 Mvrobalans 
 
 66,610 
 
 32,928 
 
 Valonia 
 
 . tons 26,718 
 
 395,546 
 
 Nutgalls 
 
 .cwts. 17,748 
 
 54,169 
 
 Total value 3,524,754 
 
 1. Edible Nuts. The commerce in edible nuts of 
 various kinds forms a considerable item, and furnishes 
 a carrying trade of at least 10,000 tons. The average 
 annual value of those sold amounts to upwards of 
 500,000. There are but five sorts specified in the 
 official trade returns Almonds, chesnuts, cocoa-nuts, 
 small nuts (hazel nuts), and walnuts, but there are 
 various other kinds forming articles of commerce in a 
 minor degree, among which may be enumerated Brazil 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 
 
 587 
 
 nuts, pistachio nuts, cashew nuts, souari and sapucaya 
 nuts, hickory and peccan nuts. Twenty years ago it 
 was stated that the sale of filberts in Covent Garden 
 amounted to 1,000 tons in the year, and of walnuts to 
 25,000 bushels. Of the quantities grown in England 
 there are no means of forming an estimate. The 
 imports of nuts in 1848 were 
 
 Bushels. 
 Hazel Nuts 150,022 
 
 Chesnuts 63,033 
 
 Walnuts 29,604 
 
 The progress of the import trade in these is shown 
 by the following figures, from which it will be seen 
 what a great advance has been made in the consump- 
 tion of sweet almonds, walnuts, small nuts, and cocoa 
 nuts : 
 
 
 1855. 
 
 I860. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Almonds, Sweet cwts. 
 Bitter 
 
 24,581 
 7,366 
 64,756 
 2,217,350 
 243,458 
 21,949 
 
 19,638 
 7,361 
 25,218 
 2,479,251 
 198,563 
 52,090 
 
 36,189 
 7,618 
 31,767 
 3,546,276 
 294,236 
 152,681 
 
 Chesnuts bushels 
 
 Cocoa Nuts . number 
 
 Small Nuts bushels 
 
 Walnuts 
 
 
 I now proceed to give a few details as to each of 
 these kinds of nuts : 
 
 Hazel nuts are the fruit of the wild bush of Corylus 
 avellana, unchanged and unimproved by cultivation. 
 They seldom attain to any size in this country when 
 left wild. The fruit differs from that of the domes- 
 ticated varieties only in being smaller, while the tree 
 is more hardy. The plant, which is a native of all the 
 cooler parts of Europe, Northern Asia, and North 
 America, is the parent of the many varieties of nuts 
 
588 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 and filberts now cultivated for their fruit. The trade 
 in "small nuts," as they are termed in the official 
 reports, does not vary very greatly in this country, 
 perhaps 10,000 bushels more may be imported in one 
 year than another. The maximum never exceeds 
 300,000 bushels. Of 294,236 bushels received in 
 1870, the bulk came from Spain, 14,000 bushels from 
 Sicily, and about 11,000 from Russia, Turkey, and 
 other countries. Their import value is from 105. to 
 13s. 6d. a bushel. In commerce, though both pro- 
 duced by the same variety, Barcelonensis, the nuts are 
 classed into two kinds : 1. The Spanish, which are 
 the nuts coming from Gijon. They will not keep any 
 time, and are said to be coloured by the dealers with 
 the fumes of sulphur. They arrive in bulk in small 
 schooners. 2. The Barcelonas, which are kiln-dried, 
 and shipped from Tarragona to the extent of 8,000 
 tons a year, in bags of about 128 Ibs. In Russia and 
 Turkey large quantities of fine nuts are produced of 
 the Constantinople variety (C. Colurna), which are 
 roundish and very hard. 160,000 cwts. are annually 
 raised at Trebizond and Kuirasond. The filbert has 
 been referred to a distinct species, Corylus tubuhsa. 
 The term was originally applied to those kinds of 
 nuts which have very long husks, and in which the 
 nut is also of a lengthened shape ; but owing to the 
 number of varieties that have of late years been 
 obtained, this distinction, which was never scientific, 
 appears to be nearly disregarded, and nuts and filberts 
 are almost synonymous terms, excepting that the wild, 
 uncultivated fruit and those varieties which most 
 nearly approach to it are never called filberts. 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 589 
 
 The best known varieties of the filbert are the white, 
 the red, and the frizzled. The white is the kind most 
 commonly grown in this country. In Kent many 
 hundreds of acres are planted with filberts, for which 
 the county is celebrated, and whence the London 
 market is principally supplied. As much as 30 cwts. 
 per acre have been raised on particular lands. When 
 quite ripe filberts will keep for several years in a dry 
 room, and if the air is excluded, or the nuts placed in 
 an air-tight jar, they will be sound and retain their 
 flavour for an indefinite period. The hazel nut yields 
 about 60 per cent, of a bland oil, which is used by 
 perfumers. 
 
 The cob-nut of Kent is a large, roundish, prolific- 
 variety grandis of the ordinary hazel nut. 
 
 In almost every stage of its growth the fruit of the 
 walnut tree is used. When young, green, and tender, 
 walnuts are pickled and preserved with the husks on. 
 About the end of June they may be preserved with or 
 without the husks. When the nuts are fully ripe, 
 which is generally at the end of September or the 
 beginning of October, the kernel, deprived of its 
 investing skin, is eaten in great quantities. As long 
 as the skin can be easily removed, they are a nutritious 
 and healthy article of diet ; but when they get dry, 
 so that their skins stick to them, they become 
 indigestible. 
 
 The larger portion of the walnuts consumed in 
 England are of foreign growth, and the imports are 
 annually increasing, for whilst a quarter of a century 
 ago we only imported 20,000 bushels, now we have 
 come to require 153,000 bushels. The bulk of these 
 
590 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 come from France and Belgium, and small quantities 
 from Holland and Italy. Their value is much less 
 than that of small nuts, being only 5s. Qd. to 6s. 6d. 
 a bushel. 
 
 The albumen, which constitutes the bulk of the seed 
 of the walnut, contains an oil which is used in large 
 quantities, especially on the Continent. It is obtained 
 by reducing the seeds to a pulp by means of a 
 stone wheel and basin, and then expressing the 
 oil, first without heat, and then by the application of 
 heat. 
 
 In the provinces of the Peninsula where the olive 
 does not grow spontaneously, and cannot be cultivated 
 except in certain places having an equal temperature, 
 as on the banks of the lakes, walnut trees have been 
 planted from time immemorial. They yield an oil 
 which, when fresh, is used for food and lighting pur- 
 poses, or for painting when it becomes rancid. In the 
 north of Italy, in the valleys of the Alps, and also of 
 the Apennines, the walnut tree forms and gives its 
 name to a special botanical region. 
 
 In Nassau and Switzerland this bland oil is much 
 used, and is no bad substitute for olive oil in preparing 
 salad. It is also expressed in Cashmere. The shells 
 of the large kinds of walnuts are often mounted with 
 hinges, as fancy receptacles for miniature articles, such 
 as tiny wax dolls, scissors, thimbles, &c. The Limerick 
 gloves are packed in walnut shells, whilst rings, jewels, 
 and other small presents are occasionally disguised in 
 this rough case as an agreeable surprise. 
 
 Our trade in foreign chesnuts, the fruit of Castanea 
 vesca, is not large, and has scarcely ever reached an 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 591 
 
 import of 70,000 bushels. In the three years ending 
 1831 the average was 21,000, and they then paid a 
 duty of 2s. a bushel. In 1842 the imports were 
 34,000 bushels. In 1855 the imports had advanced 
 to nearly 67,000 bushels, but they have since fluctuated 
 and declined. Of the imports in 1870 (31,767 
 bushels) about half came from France, and the 
 remainder from Portugal and Spain. They are valued 
 at 11s. to 17s. a bushel, those from the Peninsula 
 being considered the best. The local consumption of 
 chesnuts in France is said to be about 6,000,000 
 bushels annually. In Spain, Corsica, and the North 
 of Italy, they form an important article of food, and 
 serve in a great measure as a substitute for potatoes 
 and bread. The best are those which permit of being 
 kept good for several months. This is done by pre- 
 serving them in layers of straw or in sand. In parts 
 of France and Corsica the fruit is husked and dried. 
 
 The kernel of the Tahiti chesnut (Inocarpus edulis), 
 which is kidney-shaped, about an inch in diameter, is 
 eaten when roasted by the Pacific Islanders, and in 
 New Guinea and the Moluccas. It is sweetish, but 
 less pleasant than the common chesnut, harder and 
 not so farinaceous. 
 
 The large and handsome seeds of the Moreton Bay 
 chesnut (Castanospernum australe) are eaten by the 
 aborigines in Queensland, but Europeans assert that 
 they are hard, astringent, and not at all better than 
 acorns. A good starch has, however, been made from 
 them. 
 
 The almond is one of our important edible nuts of 
 commerce. Prior to 1832 (when the duty was reduced ) 
 
592 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 the consumption of almonds here was only about 
 3,000 cwts. ; in 1836 it had sprung up to 8,000 cwts., 
 and now it has reached about 43,000 cwts., an evidence 
 of the progress of commerce and the advantages of 
 lower prices, for in 1839 the prices of the best Jordan 
 were 9 to 10 per cwt.; Valencia, 4 to 10; and 
 Barbary bitter, 2 10s. Now the best Spanish are 
 about 6 10s.; other sweet kinds, 3 to 4, and 
 P.arbary bitter, 2 10s. The imports in 1860 were 
 7,361 cwts. of bitter almonds, and 19,638 cwts. of 
 sweet almonds. In 1870 the imports of bitter were 
 about the same, but of sweet the quantity Avas 
 36,189 cwts. The Valencia almonds are the largest 
 and broadest in the kernel of any. The Jordans, 
 which come from Malaga, are longer and narrower, 
 with a more pointed kernel, about an inch long. The 
 Barbary sweet and bitter are both small, irregular- 
 shaped almonds. The Sicily almonds, although small, 
 are larger and plumper than the Barbaries. 
 
 The cultivation and commerce in almonds is one 
 of considerable importance, for the fruit enters largely 
 into domestic and other uses, forming a principal 
 ingredient in cooking, medicine, and trade. The 
 Provence almonds of France are soft shelled, sold 
 ordinarily in the shell; the " Princesses," consumed 
 in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Russia; 
 the " Ladies," sent chiefly to the United States ; wavy 
 almonds, which keep the best, and realise double the 
 prices of the ordinary varieties : these are principally 
 employed in confectionery, as burnt almonds, and for fine 
 pastry. The bitter almonds are used in the prepara- 
 tion of liqueurs, macaroons, and different medicinal 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 593 
 
 compounds. A bland oil is expressed from almonds, 
 which is used in medicine. It is obtained alike from 
 the sweet and bitter varieties, and is of the specific 
 gravity '915, of a pale yellow colour, but becomes 
 colourless when long exposed to the light. It soon 
 grows rancid. It is so plentiful that 5J Ibs. of 
 almonds have yielded 1 Ib. 6 ozs. of oil by cold extrac- 
 tion, and ^lb. more on heating them. 
 
 The Brazil nuts" of commerce, called castanhas in 
 Brazil, are the seeds of Bertholletia excelsa. About 
 twenty of these nuts are contained in cells, within a 
 hard spherical capsule. They form a delicious fruit 
 when fresh, and also yield a large quantity of oil. 
 1 Ib. of nuts will afford 10 ozs. of a pleasant, bland, 
 clear, yellow oil, which might be furnished in 
 abundance to the markets of the world. It has a 
 great tendency to change if kept, but is used for 
 culinary purposes when fresh. About 90,000 bushels, 
 valued at 36,500, are annually shipped from Para, 
 and they arrive in bulk in small schooners. The first 
 arrivals will often fetch about 42s. per barrel of 
 3J bushels. 
 
 The nuts in the drupe of the Pistacia vera and its 
 varieties, natives of Syria, are imported in small quan- 
 tities here, shelled or unshelled. The pale green 
 kernels have a flavour like sweet almonds, and are 
 used as a dessert fruit in cooking and in confectionery. 
 Although they are not now enumerated in the Board 
 of Trade returns, in 1855 we imported 3,210 cwts. of 
 these nuts. The imports are, however, much less than 
 this now. On the Continent and in Turkey pistachio 
 nuts are much esteemed. From Aleppo the exports 
 
 Q Q 
 
594 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 are about 1,300 cwts. yearly. One of our large West- 
 end perfumers (Piesse and Lubin) makes large use of 
 the pistachio nut for its meal, much recommended as a 
 substitute for soap, and pistachio oil for the hair, 
 which is said to be used in Spain for the raven tresses 
 alike of the mountain peasant and the court beauty ; 
 and a powder and milky emulsion for the complexion 
 are also made from it. 
 
 Pine seeds are eaten in very many countries. Those 
 of the stone pine (Pinus Pinea) are largely used at 
 dessert with wine in Italy, under the name of pine 
 nuts. They are brought to market at Lisbon, strung 
 upon threads like beads, and suspended upon a girdle 
 round the waist. The seeds of Lambert's pine, in 
 Xorth America ; of Llave's pine, in Mexico ; and of 
 Gerard's pine, in Thibet and Afghanistan, are also 
 edible when fresh. In Switzerland the seeds of the 
 Siberian stone pine are used in some places as food, 
 and in others as an article of luxury. The shell being 
 very hard, and requiring time and skill to separate it 
 from the kernel, the operation forms an amusement for 
 some persons in the long winter evenings. The pinones 
 of the imbricated-leaved pine of Chili are a chief 
 article of consumption among the Indian tribes. As 
 the seeds will keep long they are often imported into 
 the southern districts of Chili from the Cordilleras, 
 and when boiled are eaten by the country people either 
 hot or cold. The seeds are buried in pits by the 
 Indians for winter use. Another species of Araucaria, 
 whose fruit is called Bunya-bunya by the natives, forms 
 the principal article of their food in Northern Australia. 
 The cone is very large, 9 to 12 inches in length by 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 595 
 
 9 inches in diameter. The seeds, which are readily 
 shed, are from 2 to 2J inches long by f inch broad, 
 sweet before they are perfectly ripe, and after that 
 resembling roasted chesnuts in taste. 
 
 The large seeds of the cones of Pinus Fremontiana of 
 the Rocky Mountains, constitute from their abundance 
 the principal subsistence of the Indian tribes. 
 
 The nutmeg may, perhaps, be included under the 
 edible nuts, as it is an important article of commerce. 
 In the four years ending with 1841 the average im- 
 port was only 121,000 Ibs. In 1850 it had risen to 
 312,418 Ibs., and now the import and consumption is 
 538,000 Ibs., worth Is. 6d. per Ib. 
 
 Formerly the production was a monopoly of the 
 Dutch East India Company, and although the cultiva- 
 tion has been attempted in other quarters, it only 
 succeeds in the Straits Settlements and the islands of 
 the Eastern Archipelago. In the Banda Islands the 
 produce is about 530,000 Ibs. annually (in 1847 it was 
 as much as 755,000), and all above that quantity used 
 to be rigorously destroyed. The collected nuts when 
 ripe are dried in the sun or by the heat of a moderate 
 fire till the shells split. They are then sorted and 
 sometimes dipped in lime water, to preserve them from 
 the attacks of insects. The shape of the nutmeg- 
 varies considerably, being spherical, oblong, and egg- 
 shaped; but the nearer they approach sphericity of 
 figure the more highly are they prized. Those of 
 good quality should be nearly round, heavy, weighing 
 on an average a quarter of an ounce. The broken 
 nuts are made to yield, by expression or boiling, a 
 concrete oil, termed nutmeg-paste or butter, which 
 
 Q Q 2 
 
596 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 is used for flavouring. Its specific gravity is about 
 948. What is erroneously termed oil of mace is 
 obtained by distillation from tlie nutmeg, and should 
 bear its name. 
 
 The long (wild or male) nutmegs of commerce are 
 the produce of Myristica tomentosa, and are not so 
 much esteemed as the round. 
 
 The cashew nut (Anacardium occidentale) is another 
 tropical fruit, occasionally imported for its sweet 
 kernels, and which has this peculiarity, that the nut 
 is attached to the fruit, instead of growing within, as 
 is usually the case. A thick, black, oily, viscous juice, 
 called cardole, is obtained in the East Indies from the 
 pericarp, which is a powerful vesicating agent. The 
 white kernel, which is oleaginous and of an agreeable 
 flavour, furnishes an oil considered superior to olive 
 oil. 
 
 From North America small quantities of two edible 
 nuts, the peccaii and the hickory, are occasionally im- 
 ported. The former is the seed of Carya olivceformis, 
 the latter of Carya alba. An excellent oil for burning 
 and machinery has been made from the hickory nut, 
 in Ohio, which continues in a fluid state at a very low 
 temperature. It is used for delicate machinery, and 
 when properly refined would be suitable for watch- 
 makers. The pig nut, C. glabra, is preferred in the 
 manufacture on account of its thin shell and greater 
 yield of oil, which is bitter. The oil obtained from 
 the ordinary shell bark, and large sweet hickory nut, 
 might come into general use for the table. 
 
 The sapucaya nut is a pleasant edible nut, which 
 comes in small quantities from South America. The 
 
COMMERCE IN EDIBLE NUTS. 597 
 
 fruit in the capsule is suspended from the branches, 
 and presents an appearance like small cocoa-nuts. 
 The monkeys are exceedingly fond of the nuts. 
 
 The " cabombas," or cups of the Zabucaji or monkey 
 pot (JLecyihis urnigera, Martius), which contain the 
 sapucaya nuts of commerce, are frequently of great 
 size and excessive hardness, and are closed by a lid 
 like that of a pyx or soap box. The aborigines of 
 parts of South America use these not only as goblets 
 but as pots and dishes. Hence Linnseus called the 
 plant Lecythis Ollaria. The lid of the cup falls off 
 when ripe. Portuguese turners make pretty boxes 
 and other fancy articles out of these solid cups. In 
 the Brazilian Court, at the London Exhibition of 1862, 
 some handsomely-carved and mounted specimens were 
 shown. 
 
 The butter nut, or Souari nut, is the fruit of 
 Caryocar tomentoswn, of South America. Only very 
 small quantities are received. It yields an edible oil. 
 The fruit of another species, Caryocar brasiliense, 
 furnishes, in Brazil, the Piquia concrete oil, of a brown 
 colour, retaining much of the flavour of the fruit. 
 
 In China and Japan, under the name of ginkgo 
 nuts, the seeds of Salisburia adianthifolia are eaten. 
 
 Before passing from the section of edible nuts, I 
 may draw attention to their various fancy uses in the 
 series kindly shown by Messrs. Fortuum and Mason, 
 which includes pistachio nuts and pistachio chocolates, 
 surprise nuts, glace walnuts and marron glace's, green 
 candied almonds, burnt almonds, sugared almonds, 
 and sugared nuts. And in contrast with these finished 
 products of the confectionery trade, we have the 
 
598 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 common almond and cocoa-nut rock of the sweet shops, 
 for children, which sell under the curious common 
 names of " stick-jaw " and " eggs and bacon." 
 
 2. Oil Nuts. I pass on now to a consideration of 
 the oil-yielding nuts. I might properly speak of the 
 olive as the principal one, for it has as much right to 
 come into the category as some other oil-bearing seeds 
 and fruits I shall have to allude to ; but since it is 
 never spoken of commercially as a nut, I must pass 
 it over. 
 
 After the olive, the palm family furnish the principal 
 quantities of oil to commerce, in those two important 
 and well-known oils, palm oil and cocoa-nut oil. From 
 the fruit and kernels of the oil-palm of Western 
 Africa (Elaeis guineensis) we now draw 'our largest 
 supply of vegetable oil. Last year (1871) 51,087 
 tons, valued at 1,789,000, were imported. In 1863 
 the palm kernel trade, then newly introduced, fur- 
 nished for shipment at Lagos 2,665 tuns of oil, in 
 1869 20,394 tuns were exported from that port, 
 besides 1,500,000 gallons of palm oil. 
 
 The next great source of oil from the palm is that 
 obtained from the pulp of the cocoa-nut, and, con- 
 sidering the wide-spread range of this palm, it is 
 strange that the import of the oil has made such little 
 progress compared with its great rival, the African oil 
 palm. One reason may possibly be that the fruit is 
 more generally used for food, and for the refreshing 
 drink in the nuts when young. The cocoa-nut palm 
 is cultivated in great abundance on the Malabar and 
 Coromandel coasts, Ceylon, the Laccadives, and every- 
 where in the Straits Settlements and the islands of 
 the Eastern Archipelago. 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 599 
 
 In the West Indies, Central America, and Brazil, 
 the cocoa-nut is extensively grown ; there are groves 
 of it for about 280 miles along the coast of Brazil, 
 from the River St. Francisco to the Bar of Mamar- 
 guasse. From Para alone 7,500,000 cocoa-nuts, worth 
 130,000, are annually shipped to the United States 
 and elsewhere. 
 
 The cocoa-nut is very widely spread over the Pacific 
 Islands. From the Fiji Islands 500 to 600 tons of 
 oil and 1,500 cwts. of cocoa-nut fibre are annually 
 shipped. The trees there, however, suffered severely 
 a few years ago from a violent hurricane, from which 
 they have hardly yet recovered. 
 
 Many years ago Dr. Royle estimated the average 
 produce of cocoa-nuts from the whole of Malabar at 
 from 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 annually, valued at 
 50,000, and copperah, or the dried kernels, was 
 exported for as much more. Thirty years ago there 
 were in Travancore more than 5,500,000 cocoa-nut 
 trees, and since that period the cultivation has largely 
 increased, as the demand for the oil and the coir has 
 advanced. From Cochin more that 3,000 tons of the 
 latter are exported. 
 
 I have not alluded to cocoa-nuts under edible nuts, 
 although the 3,500,000 imported here doubtless go to 
 the fruiterers' shops and hucksters. They are brought 
 principally from the West Indian Islands, British 
 Guiana, and Honduras, and range in price from 
 12s. 6d. to 17s. 6cZ. per 100. Some small quantity 
 of dried copperah is also imported, for the oil-presser's 
 use. The husk forms an important article of com- 
 merce, and is readily bought by the brush makers, 
 
600 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 being even more valuable than the nut. The quantity 
 of nuts imported would yield about 530,000 Ibs. of 
 
 The products of the cocoa-nut are numerous ; 
 besides the oil, fibre, yarn, rope, matting, brushes and 
 brooms are made of the coir from the husk ; and spoons, 
 ladles, drinking cups, and carved fancy articles from 
 the shell. 
 
 So far back as 1857 the value of the products of the 
 cocoa-nut palm shipped from Ceylon was 274,462, 
 viz. : 
 
 Value. 
 
 Cocoa-nuts ......... number 1,420,856 ......... 3,717 
 
 Coir Rope ............ cwts. 18,881 ......... 13,984 
 
 Coir Yarn ............ 31,652 ......... 21,364 
 
 Copperah or Dried Cocoa- 
 
 nut Pulp ............ cwts. 20,381 ......... 12,143 
 
 Oil ........................ gals. 1,767,431 ......... 223,254 
 
 These were chiefly the produce of native plantations, 
 ->ituated on the south-west side of the island. 
 
 There were about 22,000 acres of. cocoa-nut trees 
 under cultivation by Europeans, which were being 
 annually added to, but none of them were then fully in 
 bearing. 
 
 In the ten years ending with 1869 the value of the 
 shipments from Ceylon were 
 
 Oil .......................................... 1,445,928 
 
 Coir ......................................... 349,622 
 
 1,795,550 
 
 The quantity of oil shipped does not vary much, 
 being on the average 1,500,000 gallons yearly ; but 
 the coir has doubled in the last ten years, now 
 amounting to 67,000 cwts., worth about 45,000, for 
 the mere husk of the cocoa-nut. 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 601 
 
 A cocoa-nut tree, growing in a favourable soil in 
 Ceylon, may produce from 80 to 100 nuts annually, 
 having from eight to twelve branches, or spadices, 
 each bearing five to fifteen nuts ; it continues to bear 
 for sixty or seventy years. The pericarp of 40 nuts 
 gives about 6 Ibs. of coir. In some parts of Ceylon 
 the natives separate the coir by burying the husks along 
 the borders of the extensive salt-water lakes, whence, 
 after a few months, they are dug out very clean, the 
 fibres easily separating from the cellular tissue of the 
 husk. This mode of preparing the fibre prevents the 
 offensive smell resulting from macerating the husks 
 in water. 
 
 The following is an analysis of the cocoa-nut : 
 
 Water 39*7 
 
 Albumen 0'5 
 
 Emulsin I'l 
 
 Oil 29-3 
 
 Amygdalin 14'0 
 
 Sugar 3-6 
 
 Woody Fibre 9'5 
 
 Gum 2-1 
 
 Mineral Matter.... 0.2 
 
 100-0 
 
 Or, in other words, the proportions in lib. of the 
 kernel are : 
 
 ozs. grs. 
 
 Water 6 14 
 
 Albumen 35 
 
 Emulsin 77 
 
 Oil 4 303 
 
 Amygdalin 2 106 
 
 Sugar 252 
 
 Woody Fibre 1 228 
 
 Gum 147 
 
 Mineral Matter .. 14 
 
602 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The oil is ordinarily procured by first extracting the 
 kernel from its outer integument or shell, and boiling 
 it in water. It is then pounded, and subjected to 
 strong pressure. After boiling over a slow fire the 
 oil floats on the surface. This is skimmed off as it 
 rises, and is again boiled by itself. 14 or 15 nuts 
 will yield about 2 quarts of oil. A somewhat 
 different practice obtains on the Malabar Coast. The 
 kernel is divided into half pieces, which are laid on 
 shelves, and, underneath, a charcoal fire is kept in order 
 to dry them. After two or three days they are placed 
 on mats and laid in the sun to dry, after which they 
 are put in the oil press. When the oil is well 
 extracted by this method, 100 nuts will yield about 
 2^ gallons of oil. This is the method usually resorted 
 to when the oil is required for exportation, the former 
 when merely used for culinary purposes. 
 
 Of late years the application of steam power or 
 hydraulic pressure for the purpose of procuring the 
 oil has been attended with the greatest advantage in 
 Ceylon. It is requisite that care should be taken not 
 to apply too great and sudden a pressure at once, but 
 by degrees an increasing force, so as not to choke 
 the conducting channels of the oil in the press. 
 The oil becomes solid at about 70 and has a specific 
 gravity of '892. It is curious that when cocoa-nut 
 oil is first manufactured there is no unpleasant 
 smell for the first thirty or forty hours, but after 
 that it acquires that rancid taste and peculiar odour 
 which no scent will entirely kill. Fresh expressed 
 cocoa-nut oil is used by the Malay women in the 
 Eastern Archipelago in the hair. It is perfumed by 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 603 
 
 allowing the flowers of the jasmine, tuberose, and other 
 plants, to remain for some time in it, thus extracting 
 and retaining the fragrant essential oil. Cochin oil 
 bears a higher price than that of Ceylon. Poonac, or 
 the refuse oil-cake, is sold as food for poultry and for 
 manure ; near Marseilles cows are fed on it. 
 
 The trade in cocoa-nut oil is steadily increasing at 
 the Seychelles; fresh plantations are being laid out, 
 and others coming into bearing. The quantity shipped 
 in 1869 was 127,112 gallons, valued locally at about 
 16,000. From Penang there is an export trade in 
 oil and copperah. Cocoa-nuts are grown in small 
 quantities- throughout the Straits Settlements, but it 
 is only here and there that plantations of any magni- 
 tude are met with. In Java and Madura there are 
 more than 20,000,000 cocoa-nut palms. 
 
 Coir is the fibrous rind of the nuts, with which the 
 latter are thickly covered. There are several ways of 
 stripping it from the husk. One is by placing 
 a stake or iron spike in the ground, and by striking 
 the nut on the point the fibre is easily stripped. The 
 fibre is greatly improved in quality and appearance 
 by beating, washing, and soaking. The tannin 
 which this substance contains prevents the fibre from 
 rotting. The fibre is rather difficult to twist, but coir 
 yarn is made into good ropes, and forms the strongest, 
 lightest, and most elastic cables for ships. 
 
 The fibrous husk of the cocoa-nut is not its least 
 valuable product, and gives rise to a very large trade, 
 both in the East and to Europe. At first it was 
 much used in this country for stuffing mattresses and 
 cushions, but its applications have been enlarged and 
 
604 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 it* value greatly increased by mechanical processes; 
 and in a small pamphlet issued by Mr. Treloar twenty 
 years ago, he stated that its natural capabilities having 
 been brought out, coir has been found suited for the 
 production of a variety of articles of great utility and 
 elegance of workmanship, table mats, fancy baskets 
 and bonnets. Instead of being formed into rough 
 cordage only, and mats fabricated by hand, by means 
 of ingeniously constructed machinery, the fibre is 
 rendered sufficiently fine for the loom, and matting of 
 different textures and coloured figures is produced, 
 while a combination of wool in pleasing designs gives 
 the richness and effect of hearthrugs and carpeting. 
 Brushes and brooms for household and stable purposes ; 
 netting for sheepfolds, pheasan tries, and poultry yards ; 
 church cushions and hassocks ; hammocks, clothes lines, 
 cordage of all sizes, and string for nurserymen and 
 others, for tying up trees and other garden purposes ; 
 nose bags for horses ; mats and bags for seed crushers, 
 oil pressers and candle manufacturers, are only a few 
 of the varied purposes to which the fibrous coating of 
 the cocoa-nut is now applied. The cocoa-nut shell 
 furnishes cups which, carved on and set in silver, are a 
 great ornament. It is also made into small baskets, 
 cups, ladles, spoons and other such domestic articles and 
 fanciful ornaments. By being burnt and pulverised 
 and prepared with other ingredients, it produces good 
 blacking, lamp black, black paint, &c. 
 
 The fruit of the Chili palm (Cocos chilensis) is, in 
 every respect, like the cocoa-nut, except that it is not 
 larger than a walnut about an inch in diameter. 
 Every tree produces a great number, which are highly 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 605 
 
 esteemed, and they form a considerable article of 
 export to Peru. A curious method is employed to 
 free the nut from the green husk in which it is 
 enveloped, a process that was formerly attended with a 
 very great loss of time and labour. A number of cows 
 and oxen are driven into an enclosure, where a quantity 
 of the fruit is spread, and, being fond of its husk, they 
 immediately begin to feed on the fruit, only slightly 
 masticating it in the first instance, and swallowing 
 the whole. Afterwards, while chewing the cud, the 
 nuts are rejected, and when the meal is finished a heap 
 of them is found before each of the animals, perfectly 
 free from the husk, and thus the cattle are supplied 
 with food at a season when little grass remains on the 
 hills. 
 
 Before leaving cocoa-nuts, I must not omit mention 
 of the sea cocoa-nut of the Indian Ocean, the produce 
 of Lodoicea Sechellarwn, or Maldavica. 
 
 The fruit, from floating in the sea, was known long 
 before the plant which produces it, or the locality in 
 which it was found, and various fables were invented 
 as to its origin, and marvellous virtues attributed to 
 it. The few known specimens which existed were 
 valued at an enormous price, till, in 1745, the dis- 
 covery of the Seychelles Archipelago made known the 
 habitat and nature of this singular production. Three 
 of the islands composing the archipelago Prasliu, 
 Cunense, and He Ronde were covered with mag- 
 nificent forests of this unique palm, and Iheir soil 
 strewed with its huge and singularly shaped nuts. 
 The value of their shells as domestic utensils for 
 various piirposes was at once perceived, and from that 
 
606 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 time to the present they have supplied to the inhabi- 
 tants the place of baskets, bowls, jars, dishes, measures 
 for grain and liquids, drinking vessels, paint-pots, &c. 
 The trees are fast being destroyed. On He Ronde not 
 a plant remains. Cunense has a considerable number 
 of fine young trees. At Praslin a great many have 
 been destroyed by fire, and there are not perhaps a 
 score of trees in the other islands. This palm is of 
 very slow growth, for the trunk does not show 
 itself till twenty or twenty-five years after the ger- 
 mination of the seed, and then it takes fourteen or 
 fifteen years before it blossoms.* 
 
 I have no recent statistics of the trade in 
 these nuts; but in 1859, 3,310 were exported, 
 valued at 831, and 11,800 lobes or cups made of 
 them, valued at 590. Although they have now 
 lost much of their traditional repute, they are still 
 held in such estimation by the negroes and poor 
 people of other islands, that sailors always try to 
 bring away some in their vessels. When preserved 
 whole, and perforated in one or two places, the shell 
 serves to carry water, and two of them are suspended 
 from opposite ends of a stick. Some of these nuts 
 hold six or eight pints. If divided in two between 
 the lobes, each portion serves, according to its size 
 and shape, for plates and dishes, or drinking cups, 
 these being valued, like calabashes, for their strength 
 and durability. 
 
 I have here a three-lobed nut, they are some- 
 times met. with five lobes, and I have heard of one 
 
 * Mr. George Clarke, in " Annals and Magazine of Natural 
 History." 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 607 
 
 having as many as seven. The kernel contains a 
 portion of oil, but its excessive hardness, and the 
 difficulty of detaching it from the shell (itself so 
 valuable), render it practically useless for oil manu- 
 facture. The shell is about equal in hardness to that 
 of the ordinary cocoa-nut, and as susceptible of a fine 
 polish. It is from one-tenth to three-sixteenths of an 
 inch in thickness. 
 
 A fixed oil (called Manteiga de Assahay) is ex- 
 tracted by decoction from the fruit of the Euterpe 
 oleracea palm, which abounds in Para. The oil is of 
 a greenish colour, slightly bitter, and used for lighting 
 and other purposes. 
 
 The pulp of the fruit of the Aoura palm, of Guiana 
 (Astrocaryum vulgare), yields an oil which is used for 
 many different purposes. A yellowish, bitter oil, 
 used for soap-making in Brazil, is obtained by decoction 
 and expression from the fruit of the Sagus taedigera, 
 which is abundant in Para. 
 
 From the nuts of (Enocarpus Bacala, a palm also 
 abundant in Brazil, an oil of a clear green colour is 
 obtained, which, when purified, is used for lighting 
 and culinary purposes. From the fruit of other 
 species 0. Bataua and 0. distichus fluid oils, clear, 
 yellow, and transparent, are procured, which, when 
 purified, are inodorous, and used in cooking in place 
 of olive oil. 
 
 There are two or three species of Carapa, the nuts 
 of which yield a fixed oil. Crab oil of Guiana is from 
 the Carapa guianensis, which yields 33 per cent. It 
 is extremely bitter, but used externally for the hair 
 and for soap making. It is abundant in Para, where 
 
608 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 it is known as andiroba oil. The nuts are so common 
 in some of the districts of French Guiana that, when 
 they are ripe, the soil is covered at least a foot deep 
 with them for many hundreds of yards. That of 
 Africa, known as mote grease, obtained from mote 
 or kundoo nuts, is from the Carapa talicoonah or 
 touloucouna, which yield 70 per cent. 
 
 The nuts of some other plants yield a large 
 amount of oil, especially the Bassias and the Argan 
 of Morocco (Argania Sideroxylon). 
 
 The shea butter or solid oil from the Niger, is 
 obtained from the fruits of Bassia Parkii, bj boiling 
 them in water. The yield of oil is about 30 per cent. 
 The fruit of another species (B. longifolia) furnish by 
 expression in India the Elloopie or Mee oil, which is 
 used for lamps among the poorer classes, and is one 
 of the principal ingredients in making country soap. 
 It is of a clear yellow, depositing stearine, density 
 912. The seeds of B. latifolia yield by expression 
 a large quantity of concrete oil, called Madooka, which 
 is used in lamps, and for other purposes. The kernels 
 are easily extracted from the smooth, chesnut-coloured 
 pericarps, when they are bruised, rubbed, and subjected 
 to a moderate pressure. The oil concretes immediately 
 it is expressed, and retains its consistency at a 
 temperature of 95. It is used locally for the 
 manufacture of soap ; is usually of a greenish-white 
 colour, and has been imported into this country, under 
 the name of Mohwa oil, from Calcutta. 
 
 From B. butyracea a pure vegetable oil is produced, 
 called choorie and galam butter. The kernels of the 
 fruit are bruised, put into a cloth bag with a mode- 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. 600 
 
 rate weight laid upon it, and left to stand till the 
 oil is expressed, which becomes of the consistence of 
 lard, and of a delicate white colour. It is considered 
 a valuable preservative when applied to the hair, 
 mixed with some sweet-scented oil. It makes excel- 
 lent soap, and, when pure, burns bright, without smoke 
 or smell. 
 
 There are one or two species of Bassia found at 
 Gaboon, yielding 56 per cent, of oil. One, B. gabo- 
 nensis, contains a true vegetable fat, of which two 
 varieties are made, one called " noungu " by the 
 natives, which has the consistency of goose fat, com- 
 estible ; the other, named " djave," is only available 
 for the preparation of soap. 
 
 The Borneo concrete vegetable tallow of commerce, 
 judging from the cotyledons of seeds received, would 
 seem to be from one of the Bassias. The fat is made 
 up into large, round, flattened cakes, of the consistence 
 and colour of cheese, and also cylindrical masses, which 
 have assumed the form of the bamboo sections into 
 which it had been poured when in a liquid state. 
 
 The nuts of Cola edulis, a Sterculia in Western Africa, 
 yield 63 per cent, of stearic oil. The Booma nut of 
 Central Africa much resembles an almond, both in 
 shape and size, and with the fleshy covering is about 
 the size of a walnut. It is probably the fruit of a 
 species of Vitex. It furnishes an abundance of sweet 
 bland oil, much used by the natives in their cooking. 
 
 In Jamaica a fine limpid oil is obtained from the 
 bread-nut (Omphalea triandra, the 0. nucifera of 
 Schwartz), but whether it will bear a low degree of 
 temperature without congelation has yet to be ascer- 
 
 B R 
 
G10 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 teamed. From another species an excellent oil is 
 produced in Guiana, called Ouabe, which is suitable 
 for lubricating machinery. 
 
 Ground-nut oil is an important trade article, and 
 the seeds enter largely into commerce. 
 
 The plant which produces the ground-nut (Arachis 
 hypoyccd) is a little annual, one of a class which bury 
 their pods in the earth when they ripen, instead of 
 raising them into the free air. Having buried itself 
 sufficiently deep, the pod then begins to swell, and 
 when ripe becomes an oblong, rugged, pale brown 
 fruit, containing usually about two seeds, as large as 
 the kernel of a hazel nut. It is now found in a state 
 of cultivation all over the hottest part of the tropics. 
 It was unknown until the discovery of America, and 
 every region in the old world where it is now grown 
 owes it to Brazil ; so that we have in this plant a 
 further example of the rapidity with which vegetables 
 will take possession of soils where the climate is 
 suitable, for it is now grown very generally in different 
 parts of Africa, in India, the West India Islands, and 
 the United States. 
 
 The ground-nut, the staple product of the Gambia, 
 is principally cultivated down the borders of t^e river. 
 In 1837 the export was but 671 tons, valued at 
 8,000, but it has gone on annually increasing, for in 
 1860 it was 11,200 tons. The natives have unfortu- 
 nately introduced of late years the pernicious system 
 of beating or thrashing, instead of picking by hand, 
 so that the nuts are mixed with leaves, stones, and 
 other extraneous substances, causing large deductions 
 in the French market, and also depreciating their 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL NUTS. . 611 
 
 value in the United States, as an article of food, or 
 rather as a favourite repast for the tables of the rich. 
 
 In Brazil it is known under the name of " amen- 
 doum," and has long been used there parched for food 
 and to extract oil from. This oil is used for cooking, 
 medicinally for rheumatic affections, and for lighting. 
 The roasted seeds are sometimes used as a substitute 
 for chocolate ; and, according to Dr. Davy, they abound 
 with starch as well as oil, a large proportion of albu- 
 minous matter, and in no other instance had he found 
 so great a quantity of starch mixed with oil. 
 
 Dr. Muter, in an article in a popular periodical this 
 month, April, " The Food Journal," after giving 
 the following analysis of ground-nut meal, urges 
 strenuously its more general use as an important 
 article of food : 
 
 Moisture 9*6 
 
 Fatty Matter 11-8 
 
 Nitrogenous Compounds (flesh formers)... 31'9 
 
 Sugar, Starch, &c 37'8 
 
 Fibre 4-3 
 
 Ash 4-6 
 
 100-0 
 
 " From this analysis it is evident," observes Dr. 
 Muter, " that the residue from them, after the ex 
 pression of the oil, far exceeds that of peas, and is 
 even richer than lentils in flesh-forming constituents, 
 while it contains more fat and more phosphoric acid 
 than either of them. On these grounds we are 
 justified in urging the adoption of the ground-nut 
 meal as a source of food, it being superior in richness 
 of all important constituents to any other vegetable 
 
 R R 2 
 
012 . SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 product of a similar nature. Although in the raw 
 state it possesses a somewhat harsh odour, similar to 
 that of lentils, this flavour entirely passes off in the 
 cooking, and when properly prepared we consider that 
 it has a very agreeable flavour. It has been tried in 
 three forms : First, boiled plain with water, like 
 oatmeal porridge, and eaten with milk ; second, made 
 into a custard, with sugar, milk, and one egg to the 
 pint ; and third, washed, ground, and taken as a 
 beverage, like cocoa. In all these three forms, but 
 especially in the two latter, it was exceedingly 
 palatable." 
 
 This seed is held in much estimation when parched 
 in the United States; it is there known as the pea-nut. 
 
 There are fully 550,000 bushels sold annually in 
 the city of New York alone. Previous to I860, the 
 product of the United States did not amount to more 
 than 150,000 bushels, and of this total nearly five- 
 sixths were from North Carolina. Now, North Carolina 
 produces 125,000 bushels ; Virginia, 300,000 ; Ten- 
 nessee, 50,000 ; Georgia and South Carolina, each 
 25,000 bushels; while from Africa come about 100,000 
 bushels a year. In one week of the month of January, 
 1871, there were received at the port of New York, 
 2,751 bushels. 
 
 Another underground seed, passing under the names 
 of rush nuts, ground pistachio nuts, chufas, souchet, 
 &c., is Cyperus esculentus, the amande de terre of the 
 French. They are eaten like nuts, being nutritive, 
 restorative, and stimulant, and are also employed in 
 the preparation of orgeat, a refreshing drink. The 
 roasted roots have been used as a substitute for coffee, 
 
COMMERCE 'IN OIL NUTS. 61.3 
 
 and yield a preparation resembling chocolate. In this 
 country we have an earth or pig nut (Bunium denu- 
 datum, Decandolle), which being aromatic, sweet, and 
 mucilaginous, might form occasionally an addition to 
 our winter desserts, eaten raw, boiled, or roasted. 
 
 Under the name of candle-nuts, some considerable 
 quantities of the seeds of species of Aleurites, an 
 euphorbiaceous tree, now come into commerce. They 
 are known to the French as bancoul nuts ; in the 
 Pacific Islands they are called kukune. The natives 
 of India are fond of the nut, which is said to be 
 palatable, and something like our walnuts. It yields, 
 by pressure, an oil of a density of '923, which has 
 various uses. It forms a good oil for painters, for, 
 after boiling, it dries in about six hours. It is used 
 for soap-making at Tahiti, in the place of cocoa- 
 nut oil. It burns without that objectionable smell 
 which cocoa-nut oil has, and gives a good light without 
 injuring the lamp. It is used also as a drastic pur- 
 gative. At Nukahiva the nuts are skewered together 
 for lighting at night. The first burns for about ten 
 minutes and communicates to the others, so that a 
 row of twenty-four will last for about four hours. In 
 the Marquesas and other islands, however, this mode of 
 illumination is giving place to whale oil, purchased 
 from the whale ships. 
 
 In the history of the " Mutiny of the Bounty" it 
 was stated that the rooms in Pitcairn's Island were 
 lighted up by torches made of doodoe nuts (Aleurites 
 triloba), strung upon the fibres of a palm leaf, forming 
 a good substitute for candles. These nuts are also so 
 strung and used by the San Bias Indians in Central 
 
SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 America, and a child is in attendance to knock off 
 each nut as it becomes burned out. 
 
 By hydraulic pressure of 20 horse-power, 60 per 
 cent, of oil can be obtained from the kernel of these 
 nuts, but the shell has to be remoyed by heat or steam, 
 being exceedingly hard to crush. 100 kilogrammes of 
 the nuts yield 33 kilogrammes of the kernels, and 100 
 kilogrammes of these, with powerful pressure, will yield 
 fully 66 per cent, of oil. The marc or oil-cake left is 
 good for feeding cattle, or for manure. There is a 
 species indigenous to the Eastern Archipelago (A. 
 moluccana), the oil of which is said to be used for 
 culinary purposes in Java, which results probably from 
 a more careful mode of preparation. 
 
 In China another species of Aleurites (A. cordata) 
 known as the Tungshu tree, yields such an abundance 
 of oil, that it is said to be one of the largest products 
 of the province of Szechuen. In point of quality it is 
 inferior to that of the Camellia, but it is very exten- 
 sively used for lighting purposes. The natives call it 
 Tung oil. 
 
 Beech nuts, the seed or fruit of Fagus sylvatica, 
 serve to feed swine on now in forests ; but before the 
 general cultivation of cereals they were, like acorns, 
 the food of uncivilised men ; dried and ground into 
 meal they make a wholesome bread; roasted, they 
 form a tolerable substitute for coffee. A clear, yellow, 
 inodorous oil is obtained from them in France; a 
 bushel of be'ech mast will produce about a gallon of 
 oil, or the yield may be said to be 12 to 15 per cent, 
 of oil. In some parts of the Continent this oil is used 
 instead of butter for culinary purposes. In the reign 
 
COMMERCE IN OIL SEEDS. 615 
 
 of George I. a petition was presented, praying letters- 
 patent for making butter from beech nuts. It is a 
 pity some wholesome vegetable fat cannot be brought 
 into commerce in the present day, when butter is so 
 dear and so bad. A beech-oil company was one of 
 the most noted commercial speculations of Queen 
 Anne's reign. 
 
 In Brazil, the fruit of Myristica Bicuhyba, Schott, 
 yields a concrete oil, of a brown colour, which is em- 
 ployed iii cases of asthma, rheumatism, tumours, &c. 
 
 A quantity of the small oil-nutmegs (Myristica 
 sebifera) have lately been imported. The seeds bruised 
 and pressed by heat give 26 per cent, of a substance 
 entirely soluble in potash water, fusible at 34'5, and 
 composed of two parts of oil, one neutral and the 
 other acid, the last forming about three-fourths of the 
 mass. The neutral part, having glycerine for its base, 
 forms a solid soap with soda. This oil is well adapted 
 for candles ; the nut is very abundant in South 
 America, and deserves the attention of business men. 
 
 Physic nut is a name for the seed in the capsules of 
 Jatropha Curcas and J. multifidas, which furnish an 
 oil used for lighting and in medicine. It has the 
 same qualities and uses as croton oil, but in large 
 doses is a dangerous poison. The oil is largely 
 used in Indian camps. It is odourless, of a deep 
 yellow, and viscous, but burns well. When cold it 
 deposits a considerable quantity of stearine ; den- 
 sity '918. It is largely produced in the Cape Verde 
 Islands, from whence nearly 300,000 bushels are 
 annually shipped. 
 
 3. Turnery Nuts and Ornamental Seeds. Of nuts 
 
GIG SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 for turnery and ornament there are not many re- 
 ceived in this country, but a few have some degree 
 of commercial importance, and one or two others 
 may be incidentally noticed. 
 
 Our Continental neighbours seem to be more shrewd 
 and clever than we are in applying nuts and seeds to 
 purposes of personal decoration, and although from 
 being cheap, many of these ornaments are despised by 
 our belles, yet none can deny their interest and beauty, 
 and the ingenuity and taste with which they arc 
 arranged. The field is an exhaustless one, and many 
 well-known ornamental nuts and seeds of India and 
 South America have not yet made their appearance in 
 this country. 
 
 The vegetable ivory nuts of commerce, " corosso 
 nuts " as they are usually termed, and " tagua " by the 
 Indians of Magdalena, are the fruit of the Phytelephas 
 macrocarpa, a South American palm. The fruit, a 
 collection of from six to seven drupes, forms clusters 
 which are as large as a man's head, and stands at first 
 erect, but when approaching maturity, its weight in- 
 creasing, and the leaf stalks, which up to that period 
 supported the bulky mass, having rotted away, it 
 hangs down, and the creeping caudex is seldom higher 
 than six feet. A plant bears at one time from six to 
 eight of these heads, each weighing, when ripe, about 
 twenty-four pounds. The drupes are covered outside 
 with hard woody protuberances. Each contains from 
 six to nine seeds, but generally seven. From the 
 kernels (the hardened albumen) the European turners 
 fashion the knobs of walking sticks, the reels of spin- 
 dles, small boxes, and various little toys. It is of the 
 
ORNAMENTAL AND TURNING NUTS. 617 
 
 same nature as the nutmeg and the pulp of the cocoa- 
 nut, which in some palms becomes more hardened. 
 That of the date, the Sagus vinifera, the talipot palm, 
 and others, is quite as hard, but is neither large 
 enough nor white enough to be of much use to the 
 turner. In contact with sulphuric acid the vegetable 
 ivory takes a splendid red colour, almost equal to 
 magenta. This colour, at first pink, then bright red, 
 becomes much deeper and more purple when the acid 
 has been allowed to act for about twelve hours. 
 
 The demand for vegetable ivory nuts is largely on 
 the increase, for button making and other purposes as 
 much as a ton a day is frequently worked up in Bir- 
 mingham. In 1870 we received 31,430 cwts., valued 
 at about 20,000. 
 
 The waste and shavings of this nut furnish a good 
 charcoal, which is utilised by some chemists. A 
 paragraph has lately been going the round of the 
 papers, stating that the turnings and raspings of the 
 nut are used to adulterate ground bones for manure. 
 But this I much question, as the refuse could scarcely 
 be obtained in any great quantity. The value of the 
 other nuts imported for turning, &c. (besides the 
 vegetable ivory nuts), is about 20,000. 
 
 The coquilla nut, the fruit of Attalea funifera, 
 one of the palms which yield the piassaba fibre of 
 commerce, is another ornamental turning nut, but of 
 a rich veined mahogany colour. The supplies, how- 
 ever, from South America have been failing, owing to 
 the indiscriminate destruction of the trees, and the 
 nuts imported lately have been small and immature, 
 and, therefore, not appreciated or useful. The cohune 
 
618 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 nut, from another species of the same palm, can also 
 be turned into little articles. In Bogota they have 
 small nuts, exceedingly hard, called toparos, which are 
 often made into tinder-boxes, adorned with silver. 
 
 The seeds of the shreetaly, or talipot palm (Corypha 
 umbraculifera), being a species of vegetable ivory, are 
 turned into marbles, beads used by certain sects of 
 Hindoos, button moulds, and various minute articles. 
 Little bowls and other fancy ornaments are made from 
 them, and when polished and coloured they are easily 
 passed off for genuine coral. These nuts could be 
 obtained in large quantities in Canara, Malabar, and 
 other parts of India ; the chief objection to them is 
 that they are of such small size. 
 
 The fruit of the doom palm is turned into beads for 
 rosaries, and, in Africa, is made into little oval-shaped 
 cases for holding snuff. 
 
 The betel nut, the produce of the Areca Catechu 
 palm, may here be incidentally mentioned, because it 
 has been turned into ornamental articles, although its 
 principal uses are for other purposes. Small quantities 
 are imported for making tooth-powder and paste, and 
 as a dog medicine ; but in India a large commerce is 
 carried on in this nut, chiefly as a masticatory ; catechu 
 is also made from it. Betel nuts are pale when 
 mature, but dark-coloured when collected and dried in 
 an immature state, hence the distinction of red and white 
 nuts in the Eastern bazaars, the former being only half 
 the value of the latter. About 4,000 tons of these 
 nuts are annually shipped from Ceylon to different 
 quarters. At Travancore the quantity grown is 
 enormous ; in Penang 3,000 tons are produced, and 
 in Sumatra 4,000 to 5,000 tons. 
 
ORNAMENTAL AND TURNING NUTS. 610 
 
 The nuts of various other palms have some few 
 useful applications. The grugru nuts, the seed of 
 Acrocomia sclerocarpa, are turned and carved into very 
 pretty beads, rings, and other small articles, the hard 
 black texture of the nut taking a fine polish. 
 
 The speckled albuminous fruit of Sagus Raphia or 
 vinifera are carved into little figures by the African 
 negroes. 
 
 Peach, cherry, and other fruit stones are often seen 
 carved and highly ornamented, and made into rosaries, 
 bracelets, &c., evidencing the patience and skill of the 
 workman who has laboured on them ; the hard stones 
 of the date plum, and other indigenous fruits, are 
 frequently beautifully and elaborately carved by the 
 Chinese and Japanese. 
 
 Under the name of Quandung nuts, the corrugated 
 seeds of the Australian native peach (Santalum acumi- 
 natum), are often set and mounted for scarf pins, 
 bracelets, and other ornaments. 
 
 The spherical, corrugated seeds of Elceocarpus Gani- 
 trus, and other species, cleared of their soft pulp, are 
 used by the Brahmin priests as beads. They are also 
 made into necklaces and bracelets for ladies, which are 
 much admired, especially if gilded or capped with silver 
 mountings. Those of Monocera tuberculata are used 
 for a like purpose in Travancore. The nuts of Putran- 
 jiva Roxburghii (the wild olive), called in Hindostan 
 " Jeeopatra," are strung by the natives, and put round 
 the necks of their children as an amulet. 
 
 The seeds of the bladder-nut (Staphylea pinnata) 
 are as hard as bone. The nuts, in some parts of 
 Europe, are threaded for paternosters, and made into 
 
620 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 necklaces andchaplets. They are also called cut-noses 
 and false pistachios. The kernel has a little of the 
 flavour of the pistachio, but is very acrid, and occasions 
 nausea if eaten to any extent. It yields by expression 
 a bland oil. 
 
 The hard nut of the fruit of the dwarf palm 
 (Chajruzrops humilis) is, in Algeria, turned to make 
 chaplets, bracelets, and necklaces, which are esteemed 
 for the pretty veins of all colours. 
 
 4. Miscellaneous Nuts. In this last group I may in- 
 clude the nuts used for tanning and other purposes. 
 Among the tanning and dyeing nuts or seeds are, valonia, 
 under which name the large acorn cups of Quercus 
 jEgilops are imported from Turkey ; the incipient 
 acorns being called camata and camatina. In 1859, 
 25,579 tons, valued at 332,527, were imported ; last 
 year (187 1)27,706 tons, worth 441, 998, were received. 
 Under the name of myrobalans, the dried fruit of some 
 species of Terminalia, chiefly T. Chebula, are imported, 
 sometimes to the extent of 6,000 tons in the year. In 
 1870, 3,000 tons, valued at 33,000, were imported. 
 One species sometimes comes in under the name of 
 Bedda nuts. From its astringent properties, the dried 
 fruit is much used by the Hindoos in their arts and 
 manufactures. The outer coat of the fruit, mixed with 
 sulphate of iron, makes a very durable ink ; hence they 
 are called in the bazaars of India ink nuts. 
 
 The Belleric myrobalan (T. Bellerica, Eoxburgh) is 
 also astringent, and sometimes used in medicine in the 
 East. The kernel of the nut mixed with honey is given 
 in certain cases of ophthalmia. It is said to intoxicate if 
 eaten in great quantity. An oil expressed from the seed 
 
MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 621 
 
 is used in India for strengthening the hair. The kernel 
 of the nuts of another species (T. Catappa, Linnaeus) 
 has the flavour of an almond, and may be used for the 
 same purposes. The oil is very like the almond oil of 
 Europe, both in taste and smell, but becomes turbid by 
 keeping. It only requires care and attention in its 
 preparation to render it of commercial value and im- 
 portance. To extract the oil, the fruit is gathered and 
 allowed to dry in the sun for a few days, when the 
 kernels are cleaned and bruised in a mill. 
 
 Nutgalls, the spherical concretions and excrescences 
 formed upon the leaves and leaf stalks of several 
 species of oak and other trees in the south of Europe, 
 are made by the puncture of the female gallfly. There 
 are blue, black, green, and white galls ; the last are of 
 little value. Those from Aleppo and Mosul are the 
 best ; they are about the size of a nutmeg, and mostly 
 of a bluish or greyish colour, hard, heavy, compact, with 
 numerous small tubercles on their surface. The imports 
 in 1870 were 17,748 cwts., of the value of 54,169. 
 
 Grey Bonduc nuts, sometimes called Nata in India, 
 and in Barbados the horse nicker or chick stone, are 
 the stony seeds of Guilandina Bonduc. They are 
 intensely bitter, and have hence some medicinal repu- 
 tation. They are used for playing a game in Western 
 Africa. Ornaments formed of them are very common 
 in museums, and I have seen baskets, bracelets, 
 rosaries, and other articles made with them. 
 
 The cola nuts of Western and Central Africa, the 
 seed of Sterculia acuminata, have attracted some 
 attention from their use in food and medicine by the 
 natives ; and after careful analysis, Dr. Attfield found 
 
G22 SCIENCE AND COMMERCE. 
 
 they contained 2 per cent, of theine, which is more than 
 the average in tea and coffee. 
 
 The poison nut, or ratsbane, the seed of Strychnos 
 nux vomica, is contained in a pulpy fruit, about the 
 size of an orange. As a medicinal agent these seeds 
 possess valuable qualities, but are highly poisonous, 
 except in very minute doses. What is done with the 
 5,000 or 6,000 cwts. imported it is difficult to say. 
 The seed of another species (S. potatorum), the 
 clearing nut, has more useful properties, for they are 
 employed in India to clear muddy water. One of 
 the seeds is well rubbed round the inside of the earthen 
 vessel containing the water, which is then left to 
 settle ; in a short tune the impurities fall to the 
 bottom, leaving the water clear and perfectly whole- 
 some. 
 
 The marking-nut, the fruit of Semecarpus Anacar- 
 dium, is in general use in India for marking clothes 
 with the juice of the pulp ; the colour is improved and 
 preserved from running by the mixture of a little 
 quicklime and water. 
 
 Under the name of soap-nuts, the round, black seed 
 of Sapindus Saponaria, S. emarginatus, and some other 
 species are much used for rosaries, necklaces, bracelets, 
 and other ornaments.* They derive their name of soap 
 berries from the acrid saponaceous pulp being used for 
 washing linen. The kernels of S. esculentus, are eaten 
 in the West Indies, and deemed as palatable as the 
 hazel nut or almond. 
 
 * A long descriptive article of mine " On Some Economic 
 Uses of Nuts and Seeds " will be found in " The Technologist," 
 vol. iv, p. 339 
 
MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 623 
 
 Horse chesnuts are much used on the Continent for 
 making starch, and an oil is said to be obtained from 
 them which is sold by some chemists as a sedative 
 in gout. 
 
 The drupe of the wild almond of the Cape (Brabe- 
 ium stellulifolium, Linnaeus), after having been soaked 
 for some days in water, is eaten by the natives, being 
 considered injurious when quite fresh. The kernel 
 when roasted is used as coffee. 
 
 Ravens ara nuts are the aromatic fruit of Agatho- 
 phyllwn aromaticum, one of the laurel family, of Mada- 
 gascar ; they are used sometimes instead of nutmegs. 
 
 Sassafras nuts, another aromatic seed, are the 
 isolated lobes of the seeds of Nectandra Pucliury. 
 
 Cumaru nuts of Brazil and Guiana are the seeds of 
 Dipterix odorata, the tonquin bean of commerce, which 
 yields a pleasant perfume for snuff, clothes, &c. A 
 clear, yellow, fixed oil is obtained from them, which is 
 used in perfumery and for ulceration of the throat. 
 
 I have thus taken a hasty survey of nuts and their 
 products, necessarily, from the wide field I have had 
 to cover, very superficial ; but I think those who 
 have followed me in my investigation will admit that 
 it is an interesting subject of enquiry, and that the 
 commercial uses of nuts and their products are of con- 
 siderable importance in this and other countries. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 KELLY & CO., PRINTERS, 
 HATE STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, W.C. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 76, line 12 from bottom, for 269,460,124, read 
 295,460,124 as given on previous page. 
 Page 520, for Total 1,625,544, read Total 1,725,544. 
 Page 550, for Total 30,283,000, read 30,783,000. 
 
 s s 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABEOKUTA, cotton from, 231. 
 
 Adansonia bark for paper, 573. 
 
 African cotton, 230, 247 ; dyewoods, 
 481. 
 
 Agricultural implements, value of ex- 
 ports in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Agriculture, importance of, 4. 
 
 Airy, Professor, on scientific aids, 38. 
 
 Alcoholic drinks imported, 99. 
 
 Algerian cotton, 233. 
 
 Alkali, recovery of, 566 ; value of 
 exports in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Almaden quicksilver mines, 40. 
 
 Almonds, commerce and prices, 592 ; 
 wild, of Cape, 623 ; of India, 620 ; 
 quantities imported, 586, 587 ; im- 
 ports of in 1860, 529 ; in 1870, 519 ; 
 value of re-exports, 521. 
 
 Alpaca wool, 296; imports in 1840, 
 1850 and 1870, 61. 
 
 Aluminium, manufacture of, 97, 160, 
 511. 
 
 Amber, value of imports, 512 ; exports 
 in 1870, 512. 
 
 Amendoum, a Brazil name for the 
 ground-nut, 611. 
 
 American cotton, classification and 
 description of, 225. 
 
 Anchovies, imports of in 1850, 528; 
 in 1860, 529. 
 
 Andiroba oil, 608. 
 
 Animal dyes, 459. 
 
 Animal food, value of the imports in 
 1870, 47. 
 
 Animal oil, value of the imports in 
 1870, 52. 
 
 Animal products, value of imports in 
 1870, 52 ; removal of duties on. 46 ; 
 British, value of exports in 1870, 48. 
 
 Antidote cocoon for paper, 581. 
 
 Antimony ores, value of the imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Apples, imports of in 1870, 519. 
 
 Arctic whale, 67 
 
 Argol, 475. 
 
 Arms and ammunition, value of im- 
 ports in 1869 and 1870, 43 ; value of 
 the exports in 1850 and 1870,43. 
 
 Arnotto, imports of, 490 ; 481. 
 
 Arrowroot, imports of in 1850, 528 ; 
 value of imports in 1870, 522. 
 
 Arsenic ore raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Art bronzes, value of the imports in 
 
 1869 and 1870, 43. 
 Artificial limbs, 183. 
 Asphalte, value of the imports in 1869 
 
 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Aspen wood for paper-pulp, 565. 
 Assay offices, 50 T. 
 Astronomical discoveries, 180. 
 Australian colonies, shipment of wool 
 
 from each in 1850 and 1851, 288. 
 Australian cotton, excellent quality 
 
 of, 247 ; wools, 272, 284. 
 
 BABLAH, fruit of acacia, 536. 
 
 Babool wood, 536. 
 
 Bacon and hams, value of imports 
 in 1870, 527 ; exports of in 1870, 521 ; 
 British, value of exports in 1870, 48. 
 
 Bacon, quantity imported, 47; foreign, 
 duty removed on, 46. 
 
 Bahamas cotton, 239. 
 
 Bale of silk, weight of Bengal, 35). 
 
 Bamboo for paper, 572. 
 
 Bancoul nuts, 613. 
 
 Bank-note paper, 562. 
 
 Barcelona nuts, 588. 
 
 Bar iron and steel, imports and ex- 
 ports of, in 1848 and 1851, 395. 
 
 Bar iron, prices of, 1840 to 1844, 400. 
 
 Bark, extracts of, 489, 490 ; imported 
 in 1854, 533 ; commerce in, 104. 
 
 Barley, pearl, imports of in 1870, 521 . 
 
 Barwood, 481. 
 
 Barytes raised in 1870, 87 ; sulphate 
 of, value of the imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 43. 
 
 Bassia oils, 608. 
 
 Batley, seat of shoddy manufacture, 
 331. 
 
 Bedda nuts, 620. 
 
 Bed feathers, consumption of, 55. 
 
 Beech bark for tanning, 545 ; mast or 
 nuts, 614 ; nut oil, 615. 
 
 Beef and pork, British, value of ex- 
 ports in 1870, 48. 
 
 Beef, quantity imported, 47. 
 
 Beeswax, value of the imports in 1870. 
 52, 66 ; value of exports in 1870, 522. 
 
 Belgium, glass, manufacture in, 431 ; 
 iron, production of, 393. 
 
 s s 2 
 
628 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bell metal, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Bell metal and bells, value of exports, 
 512. 
 
 Bengal silk, 337 ; in 1808, 341 ; imports 
 of, 1821 to 1862, 351 ; range of prices, 
 KL 
 
 Bengallee sheep, 275. 
 
 Bessemer converters, number of, in 
 use, 85. 
 
 Betel nuts, 618 ; husk for paper, 
 580. 
 
 Berberry bark, 476. 
 
 Biscuits, exports of in 1870, 821. 
 
 Blacking, exports of, 521. 
 
 Black tin, 85. 
 
 Bladder nuts, 619. 
 
 Blankets, where made, 329 ; value of 
 exports in 1867, 1871, 332. 
 
 Blast furnaces, 386 ; number, 1830 and 
 1840,398. 
 
 Boiling-down establishments in Aus- 
 tralia, 50. 
 
 Bonduc nuts, 621. 
 
 Bones, value of the imports in 1870, 
 52; imports of in 1850 and 1870, 
 66. 
 
 Booma nuts, 609. 
 
 Books, commerce in, 561 ; number of, 
 published in Great Britain, 561. 
 
 Boots and shoes exported in 1870, 
 .-. in : value of exports in 1870, 48 ; 
 imports of, 548. 
 
 Borax, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 44. 
 
 Bottle-nose vrhale, 67. 
 
 Bo wed or Georgia cotton ,22 6; average 
 price of, 1815 to 1860, 257. 
 
 Bradford, centre of worsted manufac- 
 ture, 325 ; rates of wages in, 327. 
 
 Brahmins' beads of India, 619. 
 
 Brass manufactures, value of imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Brazil cotton, 227 ; statistics of pro- 
 duction, 246 ; nuts, 593 ; wood, im- 
 ports of, 489, 490. 
 
 Braziletto wood, imports of, 490. 
 
 Bread-nut, 609. 
 
 Bricks, value of those imported in 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Bridges and viaducts, wonderful con- 
 structions, 147, 148. 
 
 Brimstone, imports of, 39 ; value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 44; 
 matches obsolete, 132. 
 
 Bristles, annual imports, 63, 64; 
 vegetable substitutes for, 63 ; value 
 of imports in 1870, 52. 
 
 Britannia metal manufactures, value 
 of exports in, 513. 
 
 British commerce, progress of, 75 ; 
 wool exported in 1870, 321, 323. 
 
 British Guiana tanning barks, 538. 
 
 Bronze- manufactures, value of im- 
 ports, 44 ; value of exports in 1870, 
 612 ; value of imports, 512 ; powder, 
 value of imported in 1869 and 
 1870, 44. 
 
 Brooms and brushes, exports of, 521 ; 
 imports of in 1870, 522. 
 
 Buffalo horns, imports of, 66. 
 
 Building paper, 554 ; woods, sum paid 
 for foreign, 33. 
 
 Bull's mouth shell, 121. 
 
 Bunya-bunya seeds, 594. 
 
 Burgess, N., on wools of commerce, 
 267. 
 
 Burmah silk, 352, 369. 
 
 Burnishers, 452. 
 
 Butchers' meat, reasons for increased 
 consumption of, 49. 
 
 Butter and cheese, foreign, duty on, 
 abolished, 46 ; value of the imports 
 in 1870, 522. 
 
 Butter, consumption of in United 
 Kingdom, 515 ; exports of, 521 ; 
 foreign imports of, 47. 
 
 Butter-nuts, 597. 
 
 Buttons and studs, value of exports, 
 512. 
 
 Buttons from vegetable ivory, large 
 manufacture of, 617 ; metal, value 
 of imports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 CABOMBAS, 597. 
 Camata and Camatina, 620. 
 Camel's hair, imports of in 1869 and 
 
 1870, 64. 
 Cameos, value of imports in!870, 512 ; 
 
 cut, value of the imports, 130. 
 Cameo shells, 120. 
 Camwood, 481. 
 Canada, iron ore of, 390, 391 ; wool, 
 
 295. 
 
 Canals in United Kingdom, 136. 
 Candle-making, scientific improve- 
 ments in, 159 ; nuts, 613. 
 Candles, British, value of exports in 
 
 1870,48,521; exports of, 53; imports 
 
 of in 1850, 528 ; trade in 1851, 53 ; 
 
 trade in, 528 ; parafflne, value of 
 
 imports in 1869, 44 ; value of the 
 
 imports in 1870, 522. 
 Canes and rattans, imports of in 
 
 1857, 101. 
 Canes and walking sticks, varieties 
 
 of, 102. 
 
 Caoutchouc, quantity imported, 25. 
 Cape cottons, 239 ; wools, 291, 313. 
 Capers, imports of in 1860, 529 ; in 
 
 1870, 519 ; trade in, 528. 
 Capital, British, quantity invested in 
 
 Foreign States, 78. 
 Carapa nuts, 607. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 629 
 
 Carmine, 473 ; imports of, 490. 
 
 Carpets and druggets, value of ex- 
 ports in 1862 and 1871, 332. 
 
 Carraway seeds, trade in, 528; im- 
 ports of, 529. 
 
 Cashew-nut oil, 596. 
 
 Cassia buds, imports of, 529. 
 
 Castanhas, 593. 
 
 Catechu for tanning, 539. 
 
 Cauto, 478. 
 
 Caviare, imports of in 1870, 519 
 
 Cellulose, 557. 
 
 Cement, value of exports in 1850 
 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Ceylon cotton, 236. 
 
 Chank shells, 116. 
 
 Chay root, 481. 
 
 Cheese, British, value of exports in 
 1870, 48; consumption of in the 
 United Kingdom, 515 ; foreign im- 
 ports of, 47; value of exports in 
 1870, 521. 
 
 Chemical discoveries and improve- 
 ments, 13. 
 
 Cherries, dried, imports of, 529 ; im- 
 ports of in 1870, 519. 
 
 Cherry stones, carved, 619. 
 
 Chesnuts, quantities imported, 586, 
 587 ; value of imports in 1870, 520. 
 
 Chicory, imports of, 529 ; value of in 
 1870, 522 
 
 Chicory root, trade in, 528. 
 
 China and porcelain wares, value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 China clay, 452 ; large use of by 
 paper-makers, 560 ; production of 
 in 1870, 86. 
 
 China grass, imports, 27. 
 
 China, silk production of, 377. 
 
 Chocolate, imports of in 1860, 529; 
 value of exports, 521. 
 
 Chrysammic acid, 475. 
 
 Chufas, 612. 
 
 Cinnabar and cobalt, value of im- i 
 ports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Cinnamon, trade in, 528. 
 
 Citron, dried, value of imports in | 
 1870, 520 ; peel, imports of in 1860, 
 529. 
 
 Clay in paper, 559 ; makers, 452 ; 
 pipes, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 45 ; raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Clearing-nut, 622. 
 
 Cloves, trade in, 528. 
 
 Coal, exports of, 41 ; production of 
 United Kingdom, 41; raised in 
 1858 and 1870 ; trade of Great 
 Britain, 83; value of exports in 
 1850 and 1870,43. 
 
 Cobalt, 441,475. 
 
 Cob-nuts, 589. 
 
 Cochin China cotton, 240. 
 
 Cjchineal, imports of, 489. 490, 491 ; 
 value of imports, 66 ; in 1870, 52 ; 
 imports of in 1847 and 1850, 471 ; 
 insect, 468. 
 
 Cocoa and chocolate, trade in, 521, 528. 
 
 Cocoa, imports of, 529 ; value of ex- 
 ports, 521 ; value of imports in 
 1870,520. 
 
 Cocoa-nut palm, wide diffusion of, 
 599. 
 
 Cocoa-nut, chemical analysis of, 601 . 
 
 Cocoa-nut oil, imports of in 1870, 517; 
 mode of preparing, 602 ; shipped 
 from Ceylon in 1857 and 1869, 600. 
 
 Cocoa-nut fibre, 599 ; varied uses of, 
 604; yield of from husk, 601. 
 
 Cocoa-nut shell, applications of, 604. 
 
 Cocoa-nuts, value of imports in 1870, 
 520 ; quantities exported, 586, 587 ; 
 average number produced on a tree, 
 601 ; shipped from Ceylon in 1857, 
 600. 
 
 Cod liver oil, value of imports in 1870, 
 52. 
 
 Coffee, imports of in 1860, 529 ; trade 
 in, 528 ; value of exports in 1870, 
 521; value of imports in 1870, 
 522. 
 
 Coinage, gold, annually put into cir- 
 culation, 8. 
 
 Coir, mode of preparing, 603 ; rope 
 and yarn shipped from Ceylon in 
 1857 and 1869, 600. 
 
 Cola nuts, 609, 621. 
 
 Colcothar, 385. 
 
 Colonial wools, 306. 
 
 Colonies, British, new, 424. 
 
 Commerce, advantages of, 81; pro- 
 gress of imports and exports from 
 1710 to 1869, 76. 
 
 Confectionery trade, 518 ; value of 
 exports in 1870, 521 ; nuts, 597. 
 
 Copper ore raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Copperah, 599, 600. 
 
 Copper and brass, value of export*-: 
 in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Copper, British, smelted in 1870, 88- 
 
 Copper ore regulus, 41. 
 
 Copper ore, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Copper pyrites, 39, 85. 
 
 Coppice bark, tannins in, 535. 
 
 Coprolites raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Coquilla nuts, 506, 617. 
 
 Coral beads, &c., value of exports, 51 3. 
 
 Coral, imports of in 1855 and 186!). 
 65 ; value of imports, 512. 
 
 Cordials, value of imports in 1870 
 523. 
 
 Corn burnt for fuel in America. '}. 
 
 Corosso nuts, 616. 
 
 Cork tree bark, 541. 
 
630 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cotton, American, bales consumed in 
 Great Britain, 1840 to 1851, 1!>S; 
 first shipment to Europe, 1 !>4 
 
 Cotton bales, weight and charges on, 
 211. 
 
 Cotton and cotton manufactures in 
 is.-.o, -J18 ; consumed in the United 
 States, 1826 to 1851, 206; con- 
 sumption and manufacture, pro- 
 gress of, since 1800. 149 ; crops, 
 American, 1 823 to 1 84 : '. _'(>:> : < >\ p< .rts 
 of American. 18 -.'I to IS.IO.L'O:! : ex- 
 ported from United States in 1S.11, 
 20.1 ; cx]x)rts of manufactured, 1839 
 to 1849, 21-1; factories, British, 
 in 1S51, 210 ; in 1862, 261 ; in 1870, 
 ;_>: in 1871, 263; factories, num- 
 ber of, 150 ; first shipment of from 
 America, 150; goods, British ex- 
 ports of, 1815 to 1860, 257 ; goods, 
 great reduction in price, 241 ; goods 
 d, 241; imported; 1848 to 
 ; '.: imports, Great Britain, in 
 1 860, 223 ; import duty on, 214 ; im- 
 ports, 1859, 1860, and 1861, 248 ; in 
 India, improvement commenced in 
 1788,245; manufactures exported, 
 1844 to 1851, 197; 1860,262 ; manu- 
 factures and yarn, value of ex- 
 ports, 1843 to 1851, 215; manu- 
 factures, value of exports, 1841, 
 ls.il and 1X71, 215; manufacture, 
 general statistics of, 1849, 203 ; 
 manufacture, British, value of, 208 ; 
 manufacture, United States, 204 ; 
 manufactures, value of exports, 1848 
 to 1850, 213; paper, 552; produc- 
 tion and consumption of, 1 92 ; pro- 
 duction in India, 244; seed, uses 
 of, 31 ; large quantity available, 
 imported in 1870, 518; seed 
 fibre for paper, 579 ; Supply 
 Association, 224 ; supplies, our, 
 in 1786, 200 ; supplies, sources of, 
 in 1841, 200; in 1845, 201; sup- 
 plies in 1847 and 1849, 202 ; sup- 
 plies to Europe in 1860, 222; 
 trade of Great Britain in 1760 
 and 1860, 259 ; varieties of, 224 ; 
 waste, application of, 30, 556 ; yarn, 
 exports of, 1815 to 1860, 257 ; yarn 
 and piece goods exported, 1844 to 
 1849, value, 214. 
 
 Cowhair, imports of, 1869 and 1870, 
 64. 
 
 Cowries, imports of in 1869, 65; 
 quantity imported and value, 130 ; 
 use of, 125. 
 
 Crab oil, 607. 
 
 Cranberries, value of imports in 1870, 
 520, 529 : trade in, 528. 
 
 Crown glass, 427, 428. 
 
 Cryolite, 97. 
 
 Crystal glass, 432. 
 
 Cubic nitre, value of imports in 1869 
 
 and 1870, 44. 
 Cudbear, 496. 
 Cumaru nuts, 623. 
 Currants, trade in, 528 ; imports of in 
 
 1S<:0. >:;<) ; and dried fruits, value of 
 
 re-exports in 1870, 521. 
 Customs' duties on provisions' and 
 
 animal products repealed, 1C. 
 Cutch, imports of, 489, 491, 533. 
 Cutlers' Company, 505. 
 Cutlery trade, 505. 
 Cut-noses, 619. 
 
 DAGGER plant for paper, 571 . 
 Dairy produce, home, value of, 47. 
 Danks' rotary puddling furnace, 405, 
 
 407. 
 Dates, imports of in 1860, 530 ; value 
 
 of imports in 1870, 520. 
 Date-plum stones, 619. 
 Deer horns, imports of, 66 ; skins, im- 
 ports of in 1870, 547. 
 Dietetic beverages, value of, 99. 
 Divi-divi, 490, 533, 540. 
 Doodoe nuts, 613. 
 Doom palm fruit, 61 8. 
 Double cocoa-nut of the Seychelles, 
 
 605. 
 
 Dragon's blood, imports of, 490. 
 Dressing-cases,value of those exported, 
 
 513. 
 
 Drugs, commerce in, 104. 
 Dutch tin mines, produce of in 1870, 
 
 si. 
 
 Duty of gold and silver plate, 503. 
 Dwarf palm for paper, 581; palm 
 
 nuts, 620. 
 
 Dyeing berries and seeds, 35. 
 Dyes and colouring substances, 457. 
 Dyestuffs, vegetable, value of the 
 
 imports in 1869, 98. 
 Dyewoods, 34, 101. 
 
 EARSHELL of commerce, 116. 
 Earthenware and porcelain, value of 
 
 exports, 1862 to 1871,456; exports 
 
 of, 43, 450. 
 Earthenware, 443. 
 Earthenware manufacture, statistics 
 
 of, 449. 
 
 Earthy minerals raised in 1870, 87 
 Eggs, imports of, 47 ; value of imports 
 
 in 1870, 522. 
 Egyptian cotton, 226; statistics of 
 
 production, 246. 
 Elastic factories in 1870, 62. 
 Elba, iron ore of, 385. 
 Electro-plate trade, 503. 
 Elephants' teeth, 67. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 631 
 
 Elephants, number killed to supply 
 
 the ivory of commerce, 68. 
 EUoopie oil, 608. 
 Elm bark, 545. 
 Emery stone, value of imports in 1869 
 
 and 1870, 44." 
 Emery and emery papers, value of 
 
 exports, 521. 
 Emigrants since 1850, 7. 
 Engineering skill, progress of, 153. 
 England and Wales, factories in, in 
 
 1870, 62. 
 
 England's universal influence, 18 
 English language, spread of, 20. 
 Eria silkworms, 362. 
 Esparto, imports of, 186770, 563; 
 
 imports of, 75. 
 Extract wool, 330. 
 
 FATS for soap-making, 53. 
 
 Feathers, value of imports in 1870, 
 52, 54, 55. 
 
 Felt hats, &c., value of imports in 
 1870, 52. 
 
 Fibres, of Jamaica, 568 ; imported, 26 ; 
 vegetable, value of imports, 98. 
 
 Figs, imports of, 528, 530. 
 
 Filberts, 588. 
 
 Fire-clay and bricks, 455. 
 
 Fish, British, value of the exports in 
 1870, 48; comparative imports in 
 1850 and 1870, 48 ; imports of, 47. 
 
 Fitzroy iron mine, 418. 
 
 Flannels, where made, 329 ; value of 
 exports in 1867 and 1871, 332. 
 
 Flax factories in 1870, 62 ; seed im- 
 ported in 1870, 518 ; waste for 
 papers, 556. 
 
 Food, vegetable, value of the imports, 
 99 ; products, our dependence for 
 on foreign countries, 3. 
 
 Foreign trade, our, in 1800, ?. 
 
 Forest products, various, 34- 
 
 Ford pottery, Tyne, 454. 
 
 Forest wool from fir leaves, 31. 
 
 France, imports of silk and cocoons, 
 1862 to 1867, 351 ; production of 
 cocoons in, 373; silk imports and 
 exports, 1837 to 1865, 374 ; silk and 
 cocoons in, 336 ; value of the glass 
 manufacture, 434. 
 
 French glass manufacture, 432 ; 
 plums, imports of, 530. 
 
 Fruit, dried, value of in 1870, 522 ; 
 trade, statistics of, 519. 
 
 Fustic, 480 ; imports of, 489, 490. 
 
 GALAM BUTTEE, 608. 
 
 Gall nuts, 473. 
 
 Galls, imports of, 489, 491 ; value of 
 
 imports in 1870, 52. 
 Gambier, 493, 534; imports of, 489, 
 
 491 ; imports in 1870, 548. 
 
 Gamboge, trees which yield, 494 ; im- 
 ports, 489, 491. 
 
 Garanceuse, 488. 
 
 Garancine, 35, 488, 489, 491. 
 
 Gas, introduction of, 171. 
 
 G'aub fruit for tanning, 537. 
 
 Geological discoveries, 187. 
 
 German sheet glass, 428. 
 
 German silver manufacture, value of 
 exports, 513; steel, 386; wools, 
 277; iron, production of, 1834, 
 1850, 395. 
 
 Gilt and plated wire, value of im- 
 ports in 1869 and 1870, 45, 512. 
 
 Ginkgo nuts, 597. 
 ! Glass beads, value of exports, 513. 
 
 Glass, British, exported 1851 to 1870, 
 436 ; foreign, quantities imported, 
 1848 to 1870, 441 ; imports of all 
 kinds in 1865 and 1870, 436 ; im- 
 ports and exports in 1861 and 1871, 
 438 ; manufacture, British, pro- 
 gress of in England, 435, 440 ; value 
 of imports in 1850 and 1870, 43 ; 
 value of imports in 1869andl870. 44. 
 
 Glost firemen, 453. 
 
 Gloves, value of imports in 1870, 52. 
 
 Glycerine, uses of, 160. 
 
 Goat skins imported in 1854, 531 ; 
 imports of in 1870, 547. 
 
 Goats' hair, imports of in 1869 and 
 1870, 64. 
 
 Gold and silver lace, value of the ex- 
 ports, 513 ; plate, value of import? 
 in 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Gold, British, produce in 1870, 88 ; 
 bullion, imports, and exports of, 
 502 ; coinage, statistics of, 501 ; 
 coined since 1850, 8 ; discoveries, 
 influence of, 91 ; leaf, value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 44 ; 
 mining in Victoria in 1857, 93; 
 plate, value of imports in 1870, 
 512 ; quantity obtained since 1850, 
 8 ; quantity of, in existence, 511 ; 
 smiths and jewellers, 500 ; specie 
 and bullion, imports in 1870, 512 ; 
 watches, imported, 500. 
 
 Gossans and ochres raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Grapes, value of imports in 1870, 520 ; 
 imports of in 1860,530; trade in, 
 528. 
 
 Grease, value of, imports in 1870, 52. 
 
 Green copperas, 385 ; ebony, imports 
 of, 490. 
 
 Greenheart wood of British Guiana, 
 33. 
 
 Greenland whalebone, 67. 
 
 Green snail-shell of commerce, 116. 
 
 Grocers' Company, 524; number of, 
 in London, 515, 526. 
 
 Groceries, prices of in 1710, 524. 
 
 Grocery trade, 514. 
 
632 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ground-nnts imported, 586 ; nut 
 meal, analysis of, 611 ; uses of, 610. 
 
 Griigru nuts, 619. 
 
 Guano, value of imports in 1 870, 52. 
 
 Guiana,British,cotton of ,230 ; French, 
 cotton of, 229; Guinea wood, im- 
 ports of, 490. 
 
 Gums and resins, commerce in 1857, 
 104 ; imports of, 25. 
 
 Gutta-percha, imports of, 25 ; manu- 
 facture, value of exports, 513. 
 
 HABERDASHERY exported in 1860, 
 262. 
 
 Hair factories in 1870, 62; human, 
 trade in, 64; manufactures, im- 
 ports of in 1869 and 1870, 64; 
 value of imports in 1870, 52. 
 
 Halifax, wages in, 327. 
 
 Hall-marks on plate, various, 507. 
 
 Hardware and cutlery, value of ex- 
 ports in 1848 to 1851, 395 ; value 
 of exports in 1850 to 1870, 43, 51 3. 
 
 Hardware manufacture, 381. 
 
 Hazel nuts, imports of in 1848, 587. 
 
 Helmet shells, 121. 
 
 Hemp-seed imported, 518; factories 
 in 1*70,62. 
 
 Herrings, value of exports in 1870, 48. 
 
 Hickory nuts, 590. 
 
 Hides and skins, imports of, in 1855, 
 546; imported in 1851, :>:<! 
 
 Hides, imports of, in 1870, 417; 
 value of imports In 1870, 52. 
 
 Hinau, a tanning bark, 543, 545. 
 
 Hodgson, Professor, on trade, 78. 
 
 Hones, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 44. 
 
 Honey, imports of in 1870,519 ; trade 
 in, 528. 
 
 Horn and bone manufactures, value 
 of exports, 513. 
 
 Horns, imports of, 66, 507 ; value of 
 imports, 512 ; in 1870, 52. 
 
 Horse chesnuts, 622. 
 
 Horsehair, imports of in 1869 and 
 1870,64. 
 
 Horse hides, tanned, 547. 
 
 Horses, value of those exported in 
 1870, 48. 
 
 Hosiery factories in 1870, 62. 
 
 Hosiery, &c., value of exports in 1867 
 and 1871, 332. 
 
 Houses in Great Britain, 1820 to 1850, 
 439. 
 
 Human hair, trade in, 64. 
 
 Humpback whale, 67. 
 
 ICE, value of imports in 1869 and 
 
 1870, 44. 
 
 Imports and exports in 1800 and 
 
 1871, 7. 
 
 Imports, description and small amount 
 of, in 1354, 76. 
 
 India-rubber manufactures, value of 
 exports in 1870, 513. 
 
 Indian cottons, 234 ; statistics of ex- 
 ports, 1831 to 1861, 246. 
 
 Indian raw silk, exports in 1851 and 
 1861, 346. 
 
 Indian silk piece goods, value of im- 
 ports in 1851 and 1861, 346. 
 
 Indian silk manufacture, principal 
 seats of, 346. 
 
 Indian silk moths, principal kinds, 
 355. 
 
 Indian wools, 275,283, 314. 
 
 Indigo, 483 ; imports of, 489, 491. 
 
 Ink-nuts, 620. 
 
 Ireland, factories in, 1870, 63. 
 
 Iron furnaces in Scotland, 403. 
 
 Iron industry of Great Britain, 408. 
 
 Iron flasks for quicksilver, 40. 
 
 Iron, foreign imports ; general uses 
 of, 378. 
 
 Iron and steel, value of exports in 
 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Iron, increasing use of, 85 ; made in 
 1868 and 1851,399; manufactures, 
 exports of from 1848 to 1851, 300 ; 
 manufacture, 378 ; various kinds 
 exported in 1861 and 1871, 401. 
 
 Iron ore of New South Wales, 390 ; 
 raised in Great Britain in 1870, 
 86, 87. 
 
 Iron, prices of bar and puddling, 
 from 1851 to 1871, 401 ; production 
 in France, 388 ; production in Eu- 
 rope and America, 410 ; value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Iron pyrites raised in 1870, 87; pyrites, 
 39. 
 
 Isinglass, imports of in 1860, 530 ; 
 trade in, 528 ; value of imports in 
 1870,52,522. 
 
 Italian warehouse goods imported in 
 1870, 523; trade, 518. 
 
 Italy, silk production of in 1868 and 
 1869,375. 
 
 Ivory, consumption of, 506 ; imports 
 of from 1840 to 1870, 68 ; value of 
 imports in 1870, 52, 512. 
 
 JAPAN, quantity of silk produced in, 
 
 339 ; silkworms' eggs, 373. 
 Jeeopatra nuts, 619. 
 Jewellery, value of imports in 1869 
 
 and 1870, 44, 512 ; value of exports, 
 
 513. 
 Jute factories in 1870, 62 ; progress 
 
 of the trade in, 27. 
 
 KAOLIN, 452 ; production of in Corn- 
 wall in 1870, 86 ; used in paper, 560. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 633 
 
 Kapok, definition of, 31. I 
 
 Kermcs insect, 463. 
 
 Kid skins, imports of in 1870, 547. 
 
 Kino from Eucalyptus tree, 537. 
 
 Kukune nuts, 613 
 
 Kundoo nuts, 608. 
 
 LAC dyes, 462 ; imports of, 489, 491. 
 
 Lac dyes and shellac, value of im- 
 ports in 1870, 52. 
 
 Lac insect, 461 ; products, value of 
 imports, 66. 
 
 Lace factories in 1870, 62 ; manu- 
 facture, progress of, 152. 
 
 Lambeth potteries, 454. 
 
 Lambskins imported in 1854 ; value 
 of in 1870, 547. 
 
 Larch bark, quantity used in Scotland, 
 533, 548 ; for tanning, 545. 
 
 Lard oil, imports of in 1870, 517; 
 quantity imported, 47 ; value of the 
 imports in 1870, 523 ; value of ex- 
 ports in 1870, 521. 
 
 Lead ore raised in 1870, 87 ; pig and 
 sheet, imported, 41 ; produced in 
 1870, 88 ; value of the exports in 
 1850 and 1870, 43 ; value of the im- 
 ports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Leaf metal, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Leather, British, value of exported in 
 1870, 48 ; exported in 1870, 549 ; 
 manufacture, 546; manufactures, 
 value of imports in 1870, 52; tanned, 
 imports of in 1870, 547 ; trade, 
 value of, 531, 550; varied uses of, 
 550. 
 
 Letters, numbers passing through the 
 post, 554. 
 
 Lime juice, imports of in 1870, 519. 
 
 Linen manufactures, progress of our 
 exports, 153 ; manufactures ex- , 
 ported in 1860, 262; manufactures, 
 value of exports in 1841, 1851 and 
 1871,215; paper, 552. 
 
 Linseed, imports of in 1870, 518. 
 
 Liqueurs, value of imports in 1$70, 519. 
 
 Liquorice, trade in, 528 ; value of im- 
 ports in 1870, 523 ; imports of in 
 1860, 530 ; exports of in 1870, 521. 
 
 Lithographic and other stones, value 
 of imports in 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Live stock, foreign, imports of, 47 ; 
 slaughtered annually, value of, 47. 
 
 Locomotives, number in the kingdom, 
 144. 
 
 Lodh, 476. 
 
 Logwood, 480 ; imports of, 489, 490. 
 
 Lucifer matches, origin of, 132 ; value 
 of exports in 1870, 521. 
 
 Lucifers and vestas, value of imports 
 in 1870,523. 
 
 MACARTHUR, Capt. John, intro- 
 duces sheep into Australia, 308. 
 
 Mace, trade in, 528 ; oil of, 596. 
 
 Machinery and mill-work exported in 
 1861 and 1871, 401. 
 
 Macaroni, imports of in I860, 530 ; 
 trade in, 528 ; value of imports in 
 1870,523. 
 
 Machine for measuring wool, 276. 
 
 Machinery and other engines, value 
 of exports in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Madder, 487 ; decrease in imports. 35. 
 
 Madder root, 489 ; imports of, 491. 
 
 Madooka oil, 608. 
 
 Mail service, improvement in foreign, 
 177. 
 
 Mail steamers, importance of, 178. 
 
 Mangkudu, 477. 
 
 Mangrove bark for tanning, 535, 538, 
 544. 
 
 Manganese ore, value of the imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 44; raised in 
 1870, 87. 
 
 Marble, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 44. 
 
 Marking-nut, 622. 
 
 Marrons glace, 597. 
 
 Martinique cotton, 228. 
 
 Mechanical contrivances, various, 154. 
 
 Mechanics' Institutions, number of, 
 169. 
 
 Meat, Australian, value of imports 
 in 1868 and 1871, 51 ; imported in 
 1870, 48 ; in 1871, 49 ; low prices of 
 in Sydney, 51 ; preserved, value of 
 imports in 1870, 523; preserved, 
 value of exports in 1870, 512. 
 
 Medals, value of imports in 1870, 
 512. 
 
 Mee oil, 608. 
 
 Mercantile marine of the world, 8. 
 
 Merino wools, 278. 
 
 Metals unenumerated, value of the 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Metal, old, value of the imports in 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Mezankooree silkworm, 361. 
 
 Modellers, 452. 
 
 Mohair, or goats' wool, 53, 296; 
 average imports of, 61. 
 
 Merchant, benefits conferred by the. 
 81. 
 
 Milan steel, 388. 
 
 Mimosa bark from Australia, 541. 
 
 Millstones, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Mineral colours, 474 ; oils, 42 ; pro- 
 ducts and manufactures, value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 43 ; of 
 exports in 1850 and I860, 420. 
 
 Minerals imported in 1850 and 1860. 
 419 ; exported in 1869 and 1871, 91. 
 
634 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mineral produce of the kingdom, 
 value of in 1870, 87; in ]s:>7 ami 
 
 1870, 84 ; of exports in 1861 and 
 
 1871, 401 ; British, shown at Paris 
 in 1855, 421. 
 
 Mixed fabrics,326. 
 
 Mohwaoil. tins. 
 
 Molasses, trade in, 528 ; value of im- 
 ports in 1870, .vj:i. 
 
 Monkey-pots, 597. 
 
 Montgolfier, originator of balloons, 
 137. 
 
 Moonga silkworm, 361. 
 
 Moore, F., on Indian silk, 338. 
 
 Moreton Bay chesnut, 5ll. 
 
 Mote grease, 608. 
 
 Mother-of-pearl, 109, 506 ; value of 
 imports in 1870,52, 512 ; value of 
 exports, 513 ; statistics of imports 
 and prices, 110 ; imports of, 65. 
 
 Motive power, 411, 412 ; in factories 
 in 1856, 88 ; of our mills, 144 ; in 
 cotton factories, 150. 
 
 Moulders of pottery, 452. 
 
 Mungo, description of, 301, 330. 
 
 Munjeet, 488 ; imports of, 489, 491. 
 
 Musical boxes, value of the exports, 
 ~i:5 ; imports of, 504. 
 
 Mustard, trade in, 5'>. 
 
 Myrobalans, imports of, 489, 491, 
 492, 533, 534, 620. 
 
 NACREOUS shells, 108. 
 
 Nankeen cotton, 226. 
 
 Naphtha, value of the imports in 
 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 Narwhal ivory, 67. 
 Natal cotton, 232. 
 Navigation, scientific improvements 
 
 in, 175. 
 
 Needle manufacture, 145. 
 Negretti wools, 277. 
 Nevill, Lady Dorothy, on alianthus 
 
 silkworm, 335. 
 New Caledonian cotton, 238. 
 New Orleans cotton, 225, 226. 
 Newspapers in the United Kingdom, 
 
 New South "Wales cotton, 238. 
 
 New Zealand, flax for paper, 575, 577 ; 
 
 plants suited for paper-making, 
 
 577 ; tanning barks, 542 ; wools, 
 
 272, 313. 
 
 Nicaragua wood, imports of, 490. 
 Nickel ore raised in 1870, 87 ; value of 
 
 the imports in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 Nova Scotia, iron ore of, 389. 
 Nutgalls, 539, 621. 
 Nutmeg butter or paste, 595. 
 Nutmegs, imports of, 595 ; production 
 
 of in Banda Isles, 595 ; long or wild, 
 
 596 ; .trade in, 528. 
 
 Nuts and their uses, 583 ; small, im- 
 ports, 58 ; uses of in confectionery, 
 5!>7 ; various, definitions of, ;")S;{ ; 
 small, value of imports in 1870, 
 520, 586, 587; quantities of each 
 kind imported in 1870, 580. 
 
 Nux-voniica, 622. 
 
 OAK bark, imports of in 1870, 548; 
 
 tanning in, 545; home produce, 
 
 533; galls, 473. 
 
 Oatmeal, value of exports, 521. 
 Observational science, services of, 5. 
 Ochre, value of the imports in 1869 
 
 and 1870, 44. 
 Oils and fats,valueof imports in 1870, 
 
 523 ; total imports in 1870, 517. 
 Oils and oil-seeds, value of imports, 
 
 29, 98. 
 Oil-cake, value of exports in 1870, 
 
 V_M ; imports of in 1870, 51 7. 
 Oils, value of exports in 1870, 521. 
 Oil and colour trade, 516. 
 Oil merchants in London, 516. 
 Oil-nutmegs, 615 ; nuts, details of, 598 ; 
 
 palm-nuts, 598 ; seeds, imports of, 
 
 518 ; value of imports in 1870, 523. 
 Olives, 598 ; value of imports in 1870, 
 
 519, 5:H). 
 Olive oil, import of, in 1870, 517 ; re- 
 
 exported, value in 1870, 521. 
 Onions, value of imports in 1870, 
 
 523. 
 Opera glasses, value of imports in 
 
 1870, 512. 
 
 Operatives in factories in 1870, 62. 
 Optical and scientific instruments, 
 
 504. 
 Orange and lemon peel, value of im- 
 
 ports in 1870, 520, 523. 
 Oranges and lemons, value of ex- 
 
 ports in 1870, 521. 
 Orchil, imports of, 489, 491, 496. 
 Ornamental nuts and seeds, 616. 
 Orsedew, value of the imports in 
 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 Ostrich feathers, trade in, 55, 56 ; 
 
 value of imports in 1870, 52. 
 Ouabe oil, 610. 
 
 PACKET service, improvement in. 
 
 177. 
 Painters' colours, imports of in 1870, 
 
 522 ; export of, 517. 
 Palm-kernels, 598. 
 Palm-nut oil, 30. 
 Palm-nuts, uses of, 607. 
 Palm oil, 29 ; imports of in 1870, 
 
 516; in 1871, 598. 
 Palm oil and cocoa-nut oil, imports 
 
 of, 160. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 635 
 
 Paper, British, exports of, 558 ; con- 
 sumed in 1860, 164 ; definition of, 
 551 ; foreign imported, 558 ; manu- 
 facture, 551 ; progress of manufac- 
 ture, 557. 
 
 Paper curtains, 555. 
 
 Paper hangings, 558. 
 
 Paper-making materials, new, 551 . 
 
 Paper materials, imports in 1870, 27. 
 
 Paper-mills in the United Kingdom, 
 560. 
 
 Paper tiles, 555. 
 
 Papier-mache manufactures, value of 
 exports, 513 ; manufacture, 117. 
 
 Papyrus paper, 552. 
 
 Parafflne, oil, imports of in 1870, 517 ; 
 value of the imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 44 : candles, imports of in 1869 
 
 44 ; in 1870, 517 ; manufacture of, 
 160. 
 
 Peach stones, carved, 619. 
 
 Pea-nuts, 612. 
 
 Pearl buttons, 111. 
 
 Pearls of different colours, 115. 
 
 Pearls, value of imports in 1870, 52, 
 512; exports of, 513 ; value of im- 
 ports, 65, 114. 
 
 Pears, value of imports in 1870, 520. 
 
 Peccan nuts, 596. 
 
 Pencils, slate, lac., value of imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Pepper, trade in, 528. 
 
 Pepperers, early name of grocers, 525. | 
 
 Percussion caps, value of imports in 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Persian berries, 477. 
 
 Peruvian cotton, 239. 
 
 Petroleum, import of in 1870, 517 ; 
 value of imports in 1869 and 1870, 
 
 45 ; trade of America, 4'2. 
 Pewter manufacture, exports of, 513. 
 Phormium tenax for paper, 577. 
 Phosphorus, reduction in price, 158. 
 Physic-nuts, 615. 
 
 Pickles and sauces, value of exports 
 in 1870, 521 ; value of imports in 
 1870, 523. 
 
 Pig and sheet lead imported, 41. 
 
 Pig-iron, 386; make of at various 
 periods, 397 ; production of in 
 Scotland at various periods, 404; 
 Scotch, prices of, 1810 to 1840, 
 404; works in Scotland in 1871, 
 402 ; made in 1870, 86. 
 
 Pig-nuts, 596,613. 
 
 Pilgrim shells, 113. 
 
 Penang cotton, 236. 
 
 Pine-cone seeds, 594, 595. 
 
 Pine-apples, &c., value of imports in 
 1870, 520. 
 
 Pine wood for paper-pulp, 565. 
 
 Pistacia nuts, 593. 
 
 Plantain fibre, 570. 
 
 Plaster of Paris, value of imports in 
 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Plate glass exported, value of, 1 848 to 
 1870, 440; manufacture and uses 
 of, 427. 
 
 Plate and jewellery, &c., value of ex- 
 ports in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
 Plate and plated ware, value of im- 
 ports in 1869 and 1870, 512 ; manu- 
 facture of, 503. 
 
 Plated wire, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Platina, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1870, 45, 512. 
 
 Plumbago, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Plumes, officers', special feathers for, 
 56. 
 
 Plums dried, imports of, 530. 
 
 Poison-nut, 622. 
 
 Pokako, a New Zealand tanning bark, 
 543. 
 
 Pomegranate bark for tanning, 537, 
 539. 
 
 Pondicherry cotton, 234. 
 
 Poppy seed, imports of in 1870, 518. 
 
 Porcelain, 444. 
 
 Pork, quantity imported, 47. 
 
 Port Phillip wools, 288, 310. 
 
 Potash, 102. 
 
 Potters' clay, production of in 1870, 87. 
 
 Potteries district, 450. 
 
 Pottery, 443. 
 
 Poultry and game, foreign, value of 
 imports in 1870, 47. 
 
 Power looms in woollen factories, 
 1861, 315 ; in factories in 1870, 62. 
 
 Precious metals, trade in, 499; 
 stones, value of imports in 1870, 512. 
 
 Preserved fruits, value of imports in 
 1870, 520. 
 
 Provisions, foreign, comparative im- 
 ports of in 1850 and 1870, 48. 
 
 Prunes, imports of, 530 ; trade in, 
 528. 
 
 Prussia, iron production of, 388. 
 
 Puddling furnaces in Great Britain, 
 406 ; furnaces, number of in 1870, 
 86; iron, prices paid for, 1851 to 
 1871,401. 
 
 Pulas kino, 476. 
 
 Pumice and other stones, value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 45, 523. 
 
 Punjaub, silk manufacture in, 347. 
 
 Purple ore, 86. 
 
 Pyrites, 39 ; coppery used in 1870, 85 ; 
 foreign, imported in 1870, 86 ; value 
 of the imports in 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 
 QUANDUNa nuts, 619. 
 Queensland cotton, 236 ; wool, 309. 
 
636 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Quercitron. 478, 489, 490, 541. 
 Quicksilver, imports of, 39 ; value of 
 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 Quills, commerce in, 56. 
 
 RAG wool, 301. 
 
 Rags, imports of, 562, 563 ; prices of, 
 .">;_' ; woollen, value of imports in 
 1870, 52. 
 
 Railways, miles of in United King- 
 dom in 1861, 10, 413 ; in India, 10 ; 
 miles of in the world, 136, 137. 
 
 Raisins, imports of in 1860, 530; 
 trade in, 528. 
 
 Rape seed, imports of in 1870, 518. 
 
 Rattans, commerce in, 31. 
 
 Ravensara nuts, 623. 
 
 Raw materials, importance of, 6. 
 
 Red brick, 545. 
 
 Red Sanders wood, 480, 490. 
 
 Redwood, imports of, 490. 
 
 Reilbon, 478. 
 
 Rice, imports of in 1860, 530 ; paper, 
 ")")! ; trade in, 528 ; value of imports 
 in 1870, 523 ; value of exports in 
 1870, 621. 
 
 Rock moss, imports of, 491. 
 
 Rollin, Ledru, on England's great- 
 ness, 17. 
 
 Room, 478. 
 
 Rosin, value of imports in 1870, 523. 
 
 Rush-nuts, 612. 
 
 Russia leather, imports of in 1870, 
 
 Russia, value of silk production, 376 . 
 547. 
 
 SADDLERY and harness exported in 
 1870, 48, 549. 
 
 Safflower, extract of, import, 491 ; im- 
 ports of, 489, 491. 
 
 Saffron, imports of, 489, 491 ; value of 
 in 1870, 523. 
 
 Saggar makers, 453. 
 
 Sago, imports of in 1860 and 1870, 
 523, 530 ; trade in, 528. 
 
 Saltpetre, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Salt, production of, 96 ; raised in 1870, 
 87; value of exports in 1850 and 
 1870, 43 ; value of imports in 18C9 
 and 1870, 45, 523 ; value of exports 
 in 1870, 522. 
 
 Sappan wood, 480 ; imports, 489,490. 
 
 Sapucaya nuts, 596. 
 
 Sarsaparilla, 104. 
 
 Sausages, value of imports in 1870, 
 
 519. 
 Sauces, value of imports in 1870, 
 
 519. 
 Saxony wools, 277. 
 
 Scallop shells, 124. 
 
 Science and commerce, their connec- 
 tion, 2. 
 Science, progress of, 131 ; the aids 
 
 it renders to commerce, 13. 
 Scientific discoveries, 133. 
 Scientific instruments, value of those 
 
 exported, 513. 
 Scotch iron trade, statistics of from 
 
 1845 to 1871, 403. 
 Scotland, factories in 1870, 62. 
 Sea cocoa-nut, 605. 
 Sea-horse, or walrus ivory, 67. 
 Sea Island cotton, 225. 
 Seal-skins imported in 1854, 531 ; im- 
 ports of in 1870, 547. 
 Seedlac and shellac, 462. 
 Seed oil, imports in 1870, 517; value 
 
 of exports in 1870, 621. 
 Semolina, value of imports in 1870, 
 
 B8. 
 
 Sepia officinalis, 461. 
 Seward on England's greatness, 18. 
 Shawls and rugs, value of exports in 
 
 1867 and 1871, 332. 
 Shea butter, r.08. 
 Sheep in Australia in 1849, 286; in 
 
 1860, 307 ; in 1870, 287. 
 Sheep slaughtered in South Australia, 
 
 50. 
 Sheep-skins imported in 1854, 531 ; in 
 
 1870, 547. 
 
 Sheep, statistics of in various coun- 
 tries, 278. 
 Sheet-glass, 427. 
 Sheet-iron, thin, 387. 
 Shellac, imports of, 489, 491 ; value of 
 
 imports in 1870, 52. 
 Shell-flowers, manufacture of, 117. 
 Shells, commerce and trade in, 119; 
 
 manufacturing uses of, 107 ; used 
 
 for pipe-bowls, 125 ; as trumpets, 
 124 ; value of those imported, 129, 
 
 130. 
 
 Shipping, value of British, 9. 
 Shoddy factories in 1870, 316, 318, 
 
 330 ; varieties of, 330. 
 Shoddy and mungo, 301. 
 Shoes imported in 1854, 531. 
 Shreetaly nuts, 618. 
 Shrub and cordials, value of imports 
 
 in 1870, 523. 
 Siam cotton, 235. 
 Siam, silks of, 339. 
 Silk cocoons, value of produce in 
 
 various countries in 1857, 342. 
 Silk-cotton, uses of, 31. 
 Silk factories in the United Kingdom 
 
 in 1861 and 1868, 371 ; in United 
 
 Kingdom, 334. 
 Silk factories, in 1870, 62 ; operatives 
 
 in, 57. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 637 
 
 Silk, imports of in 1790, 59 ; in 1868, 
 343 ; manufactures exported in 
 1860, 262; manufactures, British, 
 exports in 1850 and 1870, 58 ; manu- 
 factures, value of imports in 1870, 
 52 ; manufactures, progress of ex- 
 ports, 153 ; manufactures and yarn, 
 value of exports in 1870, 48 ; manu- 
 factures, value of exports in 1841, 
 1851 and 1871, 215. 
 
 Silk moths, varieties of in India, 355. 
 
 Silk in Austria, 335 ; in Italy, 336. 
 
 Silk ribbons, 58. 
 
 Silk supply in India, 340. 
 
 Silk trade of the United Kingdom 
 from 1845 to 1870, 334. 
 
 Silk trade, 57. 
 
 Silkworms' eggs, extensive trade in, 
 58. 
 
 Silver, British, produce of in 1870, 88. 
 
 Silver, exports of, 503. 
 
 Silver ore, value of imports in 1869 
 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Silver plate, value of imports in 1870, 
 512. 
 
 Silver watches imported, 500. 
 
 Skins and furs, value of imports in 
 1870, 52. 
 
 Skins, home supply of, 532. 
 
 Slate-pencils, &c., value of imports in 
 1869 and 1870, 44. 
 
 Smalts, 475, 476. 
 
 Smalts and Zaffres, value of imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 45. 
 
 Soap-makers in London, 516. 
 
 Soap-nuts, 622. 
 
 Soap, value of imports in 1870, 523 ; 
 value'of exports in 1870, 522. 
 
 Soda, exports of in 1860, 157 ; value 
 of exports in 1850 and 1870, 43, 522 ; 
 production of, 157. 
 
 Souari nuts, 597. 
 
 South American wool, 295. 
 
 Soy, value of imports in 1870, 519. 
 
 Spanish nuts, 588. 
 
 Spectacles, value of those exported, 
 513. 
 
 Spectacle-makers' Company, 505. 
 
 Spices, imports of, 103 ; imported, 99 ; 
 value of imports in 1870, 523 ; 
 value of exports in 1870, 522. 
 
 Spindles in factories in 1870, 62 ; in 
 woollen factories in 1861, 315; 
 working on cotton from 1849 to 
 1870, 223. 
 
 Sponge fisheries, 65 ; imports of in 
 1869 and 1870, 65 ; value of imports 
 in 1870, 52. 
 
 Standard marks, various, 507. 
 
 Starch, trade in, 528 ; value of imports 
 in 1870, 523 ; value of exports in 
 1870, 522. 
 
 Statistics, value of, 69, 77. 
 
 Steam-boat, first in England, 136; 
 engine, Elihu Burritt on, 140; 
 engines at work, 144 ; naviga- 
 tion, extension of, 90 ; shipping of 
 Great Britain, 9 ; tonnage, British, 
 in 1869, 90 ; vessels owned in the 
 kingdom in 1851 and 1861, 412. 
 
 Steel pens, cheapness of, 145. 
 
 Steel, value of the exports in 1861 and 
 1871,401. 
 
 Stick-lac, 462. 
 
 Stone blue, exports of, 521. 
 
 Stone-pine, edible seeds of, 594. 
 
 Stourbridge clay, 453. 
 
 Succades and confectionery, value of 
 imports in 1870, 523. 
 
 Sugar refineries, number of, 518 ; 
 trade in, 528 ; value of the imports 
 in 1870, 523 ; value of the exports in 
 1870, 522. 
 
 Sulphur from Sicily, 39 ; uses of, 156. 
 
 Sulphuric acid, 39,156. 
 
 Sumach, imports in 1854, 533; in 
 1870, 548 ; 489, 491, 492, 493 ; 
 tanning in, 539. 
 
 Swedish iron, 388. 
 
 Sweets and cordials, trade in, 528. 
 
 Switzerland, silk manufacture of, 376. 
 
 TAHITI chesnut, 591 ; cotton, 238. 
 
 Talipot nuts, 618. 
 
 Tallow chandlers and melters in 
 London, 516. 
 
 Tallow, imports of in 1870, 52, 53, 517; 
 from sheep in Australia, 52, 288 ; 
 value of exports in 1870, 522. 
 
 Tamarinds, value of imports in 1870, 
 520. 
 
 Tamarisk galls, 538. 
 
 Tanekaha bark, 543, 545. 
 
 Tanneries, number of in GreatBritain, 
 548. 
 
 Tannin, proportion in various sub- 
 stances, 535, 539. 
 
 Tanning barks, imports of, 489, 490 ; 
 various foreign, 535; substances, 
 imports of, in 1870, 548. 
 
 Tapioca, trade in, 528 ; value of im- 
 ports in 1870, 523. 
 
 Tasmania wools, 288. 312. 
 
 Tea consumption, progress of, 24 ; 
 trade in, 528 ; value of imports in 
 1870, 523 ; value of exports in 1870, 
 522. 
 
 Telegraph lines, extent of in opera- 
 tion, 141 ; in the United Kingdom 
 143. 
 
 Telegraphic messages, number of, 144; 
 wire, value of the exports in 1870, 
 43. 
 I Terne plates, 387. 
 
638 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Terra japonica,493; imported in 1854, 
 533. 
 
 Terra Sienna and umber, value of im- 
 ports in 1869 and 1S7<>. 45. 
 
 Textile factories, number of, 62 ; in 
 1865 and 1870, 12 ; goods and yarn, 
 value of exports, 215 ; manut'ur- 
 tnres in 1860, 262. 
 
 Thrashing machines in use, 144. 
 
 Timber, home-grown, quantity, 101 ; 
 imports at various periods, :>:; ; usos 
 of. 100. 
 
 Tin, British made, in 1870, 88 ; im- 
 ports of, 41 ; mines in Great Britain, 
 85 ; ore raised in 1870, 87 ; and tin 
 plates, value of exports in 1850 and 
 1870, 43. 
 
 Tin and tin plates, value of imports 
 in 1869 and 1870. i:.. 
 
 Tin plate, make of, 387 : value of ex- 
 ports in 1861 and 1871, 401 ; works 
 in Great Britain, 85. 
 
 Tobacco, clay pipes, value of imports 
 in 1869 and 1870, 45 ; trade statis- 
 tics of, 520; value of imports in 
 1870, 99, 523; value of exports in 
 1870, 522. 
 
 Tongues, value of imports in 1870, 
 
 Tonnage of our merchant shipping, 
 
 10. 
 
 Tonquin beans. 623. 
 Toparos, hard nuts, 61 8. 
 Tortoiseshell, imports of, 506; 1839 
 
 and 1870, 66 ; uses of, 65 ; value of 
 
 imports in WTO, 512. 
 
 hie of those exported, 513. 
 Trade, definition of, 79. 
 Train oil, value of imports in 1870, 52 ; 
 
 and spermaceti, imports of, 517. 
 Transformational science, importance 
 
 of. li. 
 
 Travelling bags, value of those ex- 
 ported, 513. 
 
 Travers' Lectures, origin of, 1. 
 Trinidad cotton, 239. 
 Truffles, value of imports in 1870, 519. 
 Tung oil, 614. 
 
 Tungstate of soda raised in 1870, 87. 
 Turk's cap shell, 116. 
 Turmeric, imports of, 489, 491, 496. 
 Turnery nuts, imported, 586, 587, 616. 
 Turnery wares, value of exports, 513. 
 Turpentine, import of in 1870, 517. 
 Tussah silk of India, 357 ; of China, 
 
 361. 
 
 Tutu plant for tanning, 543, 544. 
 Tyrian purple, 459. 
 
 ULTRAMARINE, 158. 475 : imports 
 of, 41, 489, 491 ; in 1869 and 1870, 
 45. 
 
 Umber, value of imports in 1 809 and 
 
 1870, 45. 
 United States, iron manufactures of, 
 
 391,392. 
 Upland cotton, 225. 
 
 VACOU bags for paper, 57 1. 
 
 yalonia.620; import* of, 489, 491 ; in 
 1854, 533; in 1870, 5 IS. 
 
 Vanilla, value of imports in 1870, 
 523. 
 
 Vegetable fibres, imports and value 
 in 1870, 27 ; for -paper, imports of, 
 Mfc 
 
 Vegetable food products, quantities 
 imported in 1850 and 1870, 21 ; 
 value of in 1870, 22. 
 
 Vegetable ivory. 5()i; ; value of im- 
 ports. 512 ; nuts, fi!6. 
 
 Yt _'! : i ! ile products for manufactures, 
 value of imports in 1870, 22. 
 
 Y<>_ri't,iMe tallow of Borneo, 609 : im- 
 ports in 1S70. .-,17. 
 
 Venezuela cotton, 228. 
 
 Vermicelli, imports of in 1860, 530 ; 
 in 1S70. ->::. 
 
 Verdigris and vermilion, value of ini- 
 I'.n-ts in 1869 and 1870,45. 
 
 Victoria wools, 288, 310. 
 
 Vinegar, value of the exports in 1 870, 
 522 : value of imports in 1870, 523. 
 
 Vulcanite trade, 505. 
 
 Vulture plumes, 56. 
 
 Vyse, F. H., on Japan silk, 339. 
 
 WAGES paid in the woollen manu- 
 facture, 327. 
 
 Walnuts, value of the imports in 1870, 
 520; oil, 590; imports and con- 
 sumption of, 586, 587, 589. 
 
 Walrus ivory, 67. 
 
 Waste merchants, 331. 
 
 Waste paper, re-use of, 564. 
 
 Waste substances, utilisation of, 30j 
 144, 579. 
 
 Watches and clocks, value of imports 
 in 1870, 512. 
 
 Watches, value of imports in 1869 and 
 1 870, 45. 
 
 Watch-making trade, 499. 
 
 Watcombe terra-cotta company, 452 . 
 
 Wax-chandlers in London, 516 ; vesta 
 maker's in London, 516. 
 
 Western Australian wool, 288, 312. 
 
 Whalebone, 67. 
 
 Whale fins, value of imports in 1870. 
 52. 
 
 Whiting, value of expoits in 1870. 
 522. 
 
 Willow bark, 445. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 639 
 
 Window duty, amount of 1820 to 
 1851,439; glass, British, 427; ex- 
 ported in 1848 to 1870, 440 ; shells, 
 118. 
 
 Wine, British, value of exports in 
 1870,522. 
 
 Wines and spirits, foreign, quantity 
 consumed, 24. 
 
 Wolfram, raised in 1870, 87. 
 
 Wood ashes, imports of, 103. 
 
 Wood, imports of, 100 ; pulp for 
 paper, 564, 566. 
 
 Wool, Australian, imports in 1851 and 
 1871, 60; British-grown, exports 
 of in 1870 and 1871, 59 ; bales, size 
 of, 290; changes in sources of 
 supply, 60 ; colonial, 283 ; con- 
 sumed in 1851, 60 ; decennial, im- 
 ports, 1820 to 1870, 300 ; duty on 
 removed, 1844, 46 ; factories in 
 
 1870, 62; imports of in 1790, 59; 
 imports, 1826 to 1850, 282; im- 
 ports and consumption, 1840 to 
 
 1871, 59; imports, 1855 to 1870, 
 320 ; productions, British, 323 ; pro- 
 duction in United States, 294 ; pro- 
 gress of imports since 1800, 152 ; 
 yarn and woollen manufactures, 
 value of exports in 1 870, 48 ; charac- 
 teristics of, 270 ; of commerce, 
 265. 
 
 Wool and wool manufactures, value 
 
 of imports in 1870,52. 
 Woollen cloth, instance of rapid man- 
 ufacture, 61 ; factories, 317. 318 ; 
 British, in 1849, 297 ; and spindles, 
 315 ; manufactures, 314 ; value of 
 exports in 1841, 1851, and 1871, 
 215 ; statistics of, 307 ; in United 
 States, 293 ; and worsted, exports 
 in 1870, 321 ; manufactures ex- 
 ported in 1860, 262 ; British manu- 
 facture, exports of, 1820 to 1871, 
 
 i 59 ; manufactures, progress of ex- 
 ports, 153 ; trade, divisions of, 324. 
 Worsted fabrics, 325 ; factories, 317, 
 
 I 318 ; factories in 1870, 62; manu- 
 facture, 297. 
 
 i Writing-desks, value of imports, 513. 
 
 i YEAST, dried, value of imports in 
 
 1870, 523. 
 | Yellow berries, 477 ; imports of 489, 
 
 491. 
 
 ZAFFRES, 475, 476. 
 
 Zinc and manufactures of, value of 
 imports in 1869 and 1870, 45 ; im- 
 ports of, 41 ; metal produced in 
 1870, 88; ore raised in 1870, 87; 
 produced in 870, 188 ; value of ex- 
 ports in 1850 and 1870, 43. 
 
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