are met with in different parts of Scotland, principally on the mountain of Cairngorm; whence they are sometimes termed Cairngorms. The German agates are the largest. Some very fine ones have been brought from Siberia and Ceylon. They are found in great plenty at the eastern extremity of the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope; and are still met with in Italy. But the principal mines of agate are situated in the little principality of Rajpepla, in the province of Gujrat, fourteen miles distant from the city of Broach, where they are cut into beads, crosses, snuff boxes, &c. They are exported in considerable quantities to other parts of India, and to this country; and hence, perhaps, the jewellers' term "broach."

AGENT. See FACTOR.

AGIO, a term used to express the difference, in point of value, between metallic and paper money; or between one sort of metallic money and another.

ALABASTER (Ger. Alabaster; It. Alabastro; Fr. Albâtre; Rus. Alabastr; Lat. Alabastrites). A kind of stone resembling marble, but softer. Under this name are confounded two minerals, the gypseous and calcareous alabasters; they are wholly distinct from each other when pure, but in some of the varieties are occasionally mixed together. The former, when of a white or yellowish or greenish colour, semi-transpa. rent, and capable of receiving a polish, is employed by statuaries. It is very easily worked, but is not susceptible of a polish equal to marble. Calcareous alabaster is heavier than the former; it is not so hard as marble, but is notwithstanding susceptible of a good polish, and is more used in statuary. The statuaries distinguish alabaster into two sorts, the common and oriental. Spain and Italy yield the best alabaster. That produced at Montania, in the papal states, is in the highest esteem for its beautiful whiteness. Inferior sorts are found in France and Germany. Alabaster is wrought into tables, vases, statues, chimney-pieces, &c.

ALCOHOL (ARDENT SPIRIT), (Fr. Esprit de Vin; Ger. Weingcist; It. Spirito ardente, Spirito di Vino, Acquarzente), the name given to the pure spirit obtainable by distillation, and subsequent rectification, from all liquors that have undergone the vinous fermentation, and from none but such as are susceptible of it. It is light, transparent, colourless; of a sharp, penetrating, agreeable smell; and a warm stimulating taste. It is quite the same, whether obtained from brandy, wine, whisky, or any other fluid which has been fermented. The specific gravity of alcohol when perfectly pure is from 792 to 800, that of water being 1,000; but the strongest spirit afforded by mere distillation is about 820; alcohol of the shops is about 835 or 840. Alcohol cannot be frozen by any known degree of cold. It boils at 174°. It is the only dis solvent of many resinous substances; and is extensively used in medicine and the arts. — (Drs. A. T. Thomson, Ure, &c.)

ALDER, the Betula alnus of botanists, a forest tree abundant in England and most parts of Europe. It thrives best in marshy grounds and on the banks of rivers. It rarely attains to a very great size; its wood is extremely durable in water or in wet ground; and hence it is much used for piles, planking, pumps, pipes, sluices, and generally for all purposes where it is kept constantly wet. It soon rots when exposed to the weather or to damp; and when dry, it is much subject to worms. The colour of the wood is reddish yellow, of different shades, and nearly uniform. Texture very uniform, with larger septa of the same colour as the wood. It is soft, and works easily. (Tredgold's Principles of Carpentry.)

ALE and BEER, well known and extensively used fermented liquors, the principle of which is extracted from several sorts of grain, but most commonly from barley, after it has undergone the process termed malting.

1. Historical Notice of Ale and Beer. - The manufacture of ale or beer is of very high antiquity. Herodotus tells us, that owing to the want of wine the Egyptians drank a liquor fermented from barley (lib. ii. cap. 77.) The use of it was also very anciently introduced into Greece and Italy, though it does not appear to have ever been very extensively used in these countries. Mead, or metheglin, was probably the earliest intoxicating liquor known in the North of Europe. Ale or beer was, however, in common use in Germany in the time of Tacitus (Morib. Germ. cap. 23.). "All the nations," says Pliny, "who inhabit the West of Europe have a liqueur with which they intoxicate themselves, made of corn and water (fruge madida). The manner of making the liquor is somewhat different in Gaul, Spain, and other countries, and it is called by many various names; but its nature and properties are every where the same. The people of Spain, in particular, brew this liqueur so well that it will keep good for a long time. So exquisite is the ingenuity of mankind in gratifying their vicious appetites, that they have thus invented a method to make water itself intoxicate."—(Hist. Nat. lib. xiv. cap. 22.) The Saxons and Danes were passionately fond of beer; and the drinking of it was supposed to form one of the principal enjoyments of the heroes

admitted to the hall of Odin. — (Mallet's Northern Antiquities, cap. 6, &c.) The manufacture of ale was early introduced into England. It is mentioned in the laws of Ina, King of Wessex; and is particularly specified among the liquors provided for a royal banquet in the reign of Edward the Confessor. It was customary in the reigns of the Norman princes to regulate the price of ale; and it was enacted, by a statute passed in 1272, that a brewer should be allowed to sell two gallons of ale for a penny in cities, and three or four gallons for the same price in the country.

The use of hops in the manufacture of ale and beer seems to have been a German invention. They were used in the breweries of the Netherlands, in the beginning of the fourteenth century; but they do not seem to have been introduced into England till 200 years afterwards, or till the beginning of the sixteenth century. In 1530, Henry VIII. enjoined brewers not to put hops into their ale. It would, however, appear that but little attention was paid to this order; for in 1552 hop plantations had begun to be formed. — ( Beckmann's Hist. Invent, vol, iv. pp. 336-341. Eng. ed.) The addition of hops render ale more palatable, by giving it an agreeable bitter taste, while, at the same time, it fits it for being kept much longer without injury. Generally speaking, the English brewers employ a much larger quantity of hops than the Scotch, 2. Distinction between Ale and Beer, or Porter. This distinction has been well elucidated by Dr. Thomas Thomson, in his article on Brewing, in the Encyclopædia Britannica: "Both ale and beer are in Great Britain obtained by fermentation from the malt of barley; but they differ from each other in several particulars. Ale is light-coloured, brisk, and sweetish, or at least free from bitter; while beer is darkcoloured, bitter, and much less brisk. What is called porter in England is a species of beer; and the term 'porter' at present signifies what was formerly called strong beer. The original difference between ale and beer was owing to the malt from which they were prepared. Ale malt was dried at a very low heat, and consequently was of a pale colour; while beer or porter malt was dried at a higher temperature, and had of consequence acquired a brown colour. This incipient charring had developed a peculiar and agreeable bitter taste, which was communicated to the beer along with the dark colour. This bitter taste rendered beer more agreeable to the palate, and less injurious to the constitution than ale. It was consequently manufactured in greater quantities, and soon became the common drink of the lower ranks in England. When malt became high-priced, in consequence of the heavy taxes laid upon it, and the great increase in the price of barley which took place during the war of the French revolution, the brewers discovered that a greater quantity of wort of a given strength could be prepared from pale malt than from brown malt. The consequence was that pale malt was substituted for brown malt in the brewing of porter and beer. We do not mean that the whole malt employed was pale, but a considerable proportion of it. The wort, of course, was much paler than before; and it wanted that agreeable bitter flavour which characterised porter, and made it so much relished by most palates. The porter brewers endeavoured to remedy these defects by several artificial additions. At the same time various substitutes were tried to supply the place of the agreeable bitter communicated to porter by the use of brown malt. Quassia, cocculus indicus, and we believe even opium, were employed in succession; but none of them was found to answer the purpose sufficiently. Whether the use of these substances be still persevered in we do not know; but we rather believe that they are not, at least by the London porter brewers."

3. Adulteration of Ale and Beer — substitution of Raw Grain for Malt. — The use of the articles other than malt, referred to by Dr. Thomson, has been expressly forbidden, under heavy penalties, by repeated acts of parliament. The act 56 Geo. 3. c. 58, has the following clauses:

"No brewer or dealer in or retailer of beer shall receive or have in his possession, or make, or use, or mix with, or put into any worts or beer, any liquor, extract, calx, or other material or preparation for the purpose of darkening the colour of worts or beer; or any liquor, extract, calx, or other material or preparation other than brown malt, ground or unground, as commonly used in brewing; or shall receive, or have in his possession, or use, or mix with, or put into any worts or beer, any molasses, honey, liquorice, vitriol, quassia, cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, Guinea pepper, or opium, or any extract or preparation of molasses, honey, liquorice, vitriol, quassia, cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, Guinea pepper, or opium, or any article or preparation whatsoever for or as a substitute for malt or hops, upon pain that all such liquor, extract, calx, molasses, honey, vitriol, quassia, cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, Guinea pepper, opium, extract, article, and preparation as aforesaid, and also the said worts and beer, shall be forfeited, together with the casks, vessels, or other packages, and may be seized by any officer of excise; and such brewer of, dealer in, or retailer of beer, so offending, shall for each offence forfeit 2001.

"No druggist or vender of or dealer in drugs, or chemist, or other person whatever, shall sell, send, or deliver to any licensed brewer of, or dealer in, or retailer of beer, knowing him to be so licensed, or reputed to be so licensed, or to any other person for, or on account of, or in trust for, or for the use of such brewer, dealer, or retailer, any colouring, from whatever material made, or any other material or preparation other than unground brown malt, for the purpose of darkening the colour of worts or beer; or any liquor or preparation heretofore or hereafter made use of for darkening the colour of worts or beer, or any molasses or other articles, as mentioned in the first section, for or as a substitute for inalt or hops respectively; and if any druggist, or vender of or dealer in drugs, or any chemist, or other person whatever, shall so do, all such liquor called colouring, and material or preparation for the purpose aforesaid, and liquor and preparation used for darkening the colour of worts or beer, molasses, and article or

preparation to be used as a substitute for malt or hops, shall be forfeited, and may be seized by any officer of excise; and the druggist, vender, dealer, chemist, or other person so offending, shall forfeit 5007. By the act 1 Will. 4. c. 51. for the repeal of the ale and beer duties, it is enacted (§ 17.)," that no brewer shall have in his brewery, or in any part of his entered premises, or in any mill connected with such brewery, any raw or unmalted corn or grain; and all unmalted corn or grain which shall be found in such brewing premises or mill, and all malted corn or grain with which such unmalted corn or grain may have been mixed, shall be forfeited, and may be seized by any officer, together with all vessels or packages in which such raw or unmalted corn or grain shall be contained, or in which such unmalted corn or grain, and the malted corn or grain with which the same may have been mixed, shall be contained; and every brewer shall for every such offence forfeit 2004."

4. Description of Ale and Beer. — Previously to 1823 there were only two sorts of beer allowed to be brewed in England, viz. strong beer, that is, beer of the value of 16s.. and upwards the barrel, exclusive of the duty; and small beer, or beer of the value of less than 168. a barrel, exclusive of the duty. In 1823, however, an act was passed (4 Geo. 4. c. 51.) authorising the brewing, under certain conditions, of an intermediate beer. But this sort of beer was either not suited to the public taste, or, which is more probable, the restrictions laid on the brewers deterred them from engaging extensively in its manufacture.

This limitation and classification of the different sorts of ale and beer, according to their strength, originated in the duties laid upon them; and now that these duties have been repealed, ale and beer may be brewed of any variety or degree of strength.

The brewing of ale has long constituted a principal, or rather, perhaps, we might say the principal, manufacturing employment carried on in Edinburgh. The best Edinburgh ale is of a pale colour, mild, glutinous, and adhesive. It is much stronger and more intoxicating than porter, from 4 to 5 bushels of malt being generally used in brewing a barrel of ale, with about 1 lb. of hops to a bushel of malt. At present (1853) the produce of the ale breweries of Edinburgh may be estimated at above 201,000 barrels a year. Very good ale is also made at Preston Pans, Alloa, and other Scotch towns. Considerable quantities of Edinburgh ale are sent to London; though this trade has latterly been decreasing. Very good ale may be produced by brewers on a small scale, but it is doubtful whether this be the case with porter; at all events the best porter is all produced in very large establishments.

Formerly it was not supposed that really good porter could be made any where except in London. Of late years, however, Dublin porter has attained to high and not unmerited reputation; though we certainly are not of the number of those who consider it as nearly approaching to the best London porter.

Large quantities of a light, pale, and highly-hopped variety of ale have been for some considerable time past exported to the East Indies, where it is in high estimation; and it is now, also, very extensively used in summer in this country.

5. Regulations as to the Manufacture of Ale and Beer.-Since the abolition of the beer duties, these regulations are very few and simple; and consist only in taking out a licence, entering the premises, and abstaining from the use of any article, other than malt, in the preparation of the beer. A brewer using any place, or mash tun, for the purpose of brewing, without having made an entry thereof at the nearest excise office, forfeits for every such offence 2007.; and all the worts, beer, and materials for making the same, together with the mash-tun, are forfeited, and may be seized by any officer. Brewers obstructing officers shall, for every such offence, forfeit 1007. — (1 Will. 4. c. 51. §§ 15, 16.) Number of Brewers. The licence duties payable by brewers of ale and beer, and the numbers of such licences granted during the years 1842 and 1852 were as follows:

6. Licence Duties.

Account showing the Number of Licences issued to Brewers in the Years 1842 and 1852, with the Rates of Duty charged thereon (supplied by the Excise).

N. B. The barrel contains 36 gallons, or 4 firkins of 9 gallons each. Imperial measure. It is enacted (1 Will. 4. c. 51. §7.), that brewers shall pay their licence duty according to the malt used by them in brewing, and that every brewer shall be deemed to have brewed one barrel of beer for every two bushels of malt used by such brewer.

Account of the Number of Brewers, Licensed Victuallers, Persons licensed for the Sale of Beer to be drunk on and off the Premises, &c., with the Quantities of Malt used by such Brewers, &c. in England, Scotland, and Ireland, during the Year 1857-59.

It is enacted (1 Will. 4. c. 51.), that every person who shall sell any beer or ale in less quantities than four and a half gallons, or two dozen reputed quart bottles, to be drunk elsewhere than on the premises where sold, shall be deemed a dealer in beer.

7. Progressive Consumption of Ale and Beer. - Malt liquor early became to the labouring classes of England what the inferior sorts of wine are to the people of France, at once a necessary of life and a luxury; the taste for it was universally diffused. There are, however, no means by which an estimate can be formed of the quantity actually consumed previously to the reign of Charles II. But duties, amounting to 2s. 6d. a barrel on strong, and to 6d. a barrel on small ale or beer, were imposed, for the first time, in 1660. These duties being farmed until 1684, the amount of the revenue only is known; and as there are no means of ascertaining the proportion which the strong bore to the small beer, the quantities that paid duty cannot be specified. But, since the collection of the duty was entrusted to officers employed by government, accurate accounts have been kept of the quantities of each sort of beer on which duty was paid, as well as of the rate of duty and its amount. Now it appears that, at an average of the ten years from 1684 to 1693 inclusive, the amount of ale annually charged with duty was as follows:Strong ale 4,567,293 barrels. Small do. 2,376,278 do.

Soon after the Revolution several temporary duties were imposed on ale and beer; but in 1694 they were consolidated, the established duties being then fixed at 4s. 9d. a barrel on the strong, and at 1s. 3d. on the small beer, instead of 2s. 6d. and 6d., which had been the rates previously to 1690. This increase of duty had an immediate effect on the consumption, the quantity brewed during the ten years from 1694 to 1703 being as follows:

Strong ale
Small do.

3,374,604 barrels.
2,180,764 do.

The whole of this decrease must not, however, be ascribed to the increase of the beer duties only, the duty on malt and hops having been, at the same time, considerably increased, operated partly, no doubt, to produce the effect.

During the five years ending with 1750 the ale brewed amounted, at an average, to 3,803,580 barrels of strong, and 2,162,540 barrels of small.—(Hamilton's Principles of Taxation, p. 255.)

The ale brewed in private families for their own use has always been exempted from any duty; and it may, perhaps, be supposed that the falling off in the consumption, as evinced by the statements now given, was apparent only, and that the decline in the public brewery would be balanced by a proportional extension of the private brewery. But, though there can be no doubt that the quantity of beer brewed in private families was increased in consequence of the peculiar taxes laid on the beer brewed for sale, it is abundantly certain that it was not increased in any thing like the ratio in which the other was diminished. This is established beyond all dispute, by the fact of the consumption of malt having continued very nearly stationary, notwithstanding the vast increase of population and wealth, from the beginning of the last century down to 1750, and, indeed, to 1830.-(See MALT.) Had the fact as to malt been different, or had the demand for it increased proportionally to the increase of population, it would have shown that the effect of the malt and beer duties had not been to lessen the consumption of beer, but merely to cause it to be brewed in private houses instead of publie breweries; but the long continued stationary demand for malt completely negatives this supposition, and shows that the falling off in the beer manufactured by the public brewers had not been made up by any equivalent increase in the supply manufactured at home.

It appears from the following tables, that the quantity of strong beer manufactured by the public brewers had increased about a third between 1787 and 1830; but the quantity of malt consumed in 1787 was quite as great as in 1828, a fact which shows conclusively, either that the quality of the beer brewed in the public breweries had been deteriorated since 1787, or that less, comparatively, was then brewed in private families, or, which is most probable, that both effects had been produced.

1. An Account of the Quantity of the different Sorts of Beer made in England and Wales, in each Year from 1787 to 1825, both inclusive, the Rate of Duty, and the total Produce of the Duties (English Ale Gallons).

II. An Account of the Quantity of all the different Sorts of Beer, stated in Barrels, made in each Year, from 5th of January 1825 to 5th of January 1830, the Rates of Duty per Barrel in each Year, and Total Amount thereof in each Year in England and Scotland. -(Parl. Paper, No. 190. Sess. 1830.)

N. B. The duty on beer being repealed in 1830, there are no later accounts of the quantity brewed.

The stationary consumption of malt and beer during the greater part of last century is, most probably, in great part ascribable to the introduction and rapid diffusion of a taste for tea and coffee, and to the consequent change that was effected in the mode of living of the middle and upper classes. No doubt, however, the oppressive duties with which malt and beer were loaded in the latter part of last century and down to 1830 narrowed their consumption in an extraordinary degree. After various previous additions the duty on malt was raised in 1804 to 4s. 5d. per bushel, or 35s. 10d. a quarter, the beer duties being then also raised to 10s. per barrel (old measure); and as a quarter of malt produced about three or three and a half barrels of beer, it follows that the duty on malt used in breweries really amounted at that period to from G5s. 10d. to 70s. I Od. a quarter, making the duty on strong beer, exclusive of that on hops, about 20s. a barrel. The duty on malt continued at this exorbitant rate till 1816; and to show its influence it is only necessary to state that during the 12 years ending with 1816 the consumption of malt amounted to no more than 23,197,754 bushels a year, being, notwithstanding the vast increase of wealth and population in the interval, less than it had been a century previously, the consumption having amounted to 24,191,304

The ale gallon contains 282 cubic inches, and the Imperial gallon 277: the latter being 1.60th part less than the former.