scarcities which occur on the eastern coast of Spain, at which periods wheat is allowed to be lawfully imported, and, it is said, from the facility of its introduction by contraband, when not legally allowed, Marseilles has been a great depôt for the wheat of the Black Sea.

"From thence, as also from Gibraltar, where there is generally some in store, it can easily be transported to Spain, to Sardinia, to Corsica, to Tunis, to Tripoli, or wherever scarcity has created a beneficial market.

"The coasts of Barbary, though often having a surplus of wheat, much of which occasionally assists to feed Portugal, in some seasons have been affected with most deficient harvests. This was recently the case in a remarkable degree. Tripoli and Tunis experienced, in the year 1820, a harvest most miserably short, and were supplied from other countries."

Charges on Shipping Corn.-In 1816, the expense of delivering a chetwert of wheat free on board, including commission, warehouse rent, and shipping charges, amounted to upwards of 5 roubles; but at present (1836) it does not exceed 2 roubles. The duties per chetwert are as follow:

The warehouse rent of corn at Odessa is from 8 to 10 copecks per chetwert per month. M. De Hagemeister supposes that Turkey, and the different ports of the Mediterranean require, at an average, an annual supply of 1,400,000 chetwerts, or about 1,050,000 quarters, of which 1,000,000 chetwerts, or 750,000 quarters, are furnished by Southern Russia, and principally shipped from Odessa. Wallachia and Moldavia are both very fertile in corn; and were tranquillity and good order introduced into them, and the free navigation of the Danube secured, Galacz and Brailoff would be two of the principal European grain shipping ports. (See the excellent report of Hagemeister on the Trade of the Black Sea, pp. 96-114. Eng. Trans.)

Tallow exported from Odessa pays an export duty of 8 roubles per 10 poods.

Exclusive of corn, the other articles mentioned as being exported from Odessa, find their way to the different markets in the Mediterranean. Those shipped for Turkey are iron, tallow, sail-cloth, cordage, anchors for ships of war, butter, &c. The exports to Italy and other European countries are similar. The importation of all foreign articles into the Russian dominions on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff is confined to Odessa, Theodosia or Kaffa, and Taganrog. The import trade is, however, of inferior importance when compared with the export trade. The principal articles are sugar and coffee, dye woods, wine and brandy, cotton stuffs and yarn, woollen and silk manufactures, spices, cutlery; oranges, lemons, figs, and other fruit; lemon juice oil, tin and tin plates, dried fruits, paper, silk, specie, &c. Principal Articles imported into Odessa in the following Years :

Movement of Shipping at the Port of Odessa in the following Years.

Vessels.

Arrived. Sailed. Arrived. Sailed. Arrived. Sailed. Arrived. Sailed. Arrived. Sailed. Arrived. Sailed.

The previous statements, for which we are indebted partly to the Report of M. De Hagemeister, and partly to official and private sources, show the effect of the war between Russia and Turkey on the trade of Odessa; but it has again resumed its former activity; and will, doubtless, continue progressively to increase with the improvement of the vast countries of which it is the principal entrepôt. Several American merchantmen appeared, for the first time, in the Black Sea, in 1830.

A tribunal of commerce was established at Odessa in 1824, the jurisdiction of which extends over all disputes connected with trade. There is no appeal from its decision, except to the senate. Its institution is said to have been productive of considerable advantage.

There are 12 sworn brokers, approved and licensed by the Tribunal of Commerce, who have deputies appointed by themselves. They receive per cent. from each party as commission. They are bound to register the various transactions in which they are employed.

A discount or loan bank was established at Odessa in 1828, which discounts bills, not having more than 4 months to run, at the rate of 6 per cent. interest; and makes advances upon the security of goods. Two institutions for marine insurance, and one for fire insurance, have been established within the last 4 or 5 years.

Most articles of provision are very cheap. Beef may be bought for d. or 1d. per lb.; a quarter of lamb for 5d.; and poultry at proportionally low prices. Fish costs almost nothing, and is excellent. Water is an expensive article; and firewood is for the most part scarce and dear. Latterly, however, the inhabitants have begun to supply themselves with coal from Bakhmoute, in the government of Ekaterinoslov. A good deal of English coal has been taken to Odessa as ballast, and sold at a fair price. (Morton's Travels in Russia, p. 262. &c.)

Monies, Weights, and Measures, same as at Petersburg; which see.

Odessa has a considerable and increasing trade with Redout-kalé, at the mouth of the Phasis, and with Trebisond and several ports on the south coast of the Black Sea. Georgian and Armenian merchants are already considerable purchasers at the Leipsic and other German fairs; and civilisation is beginning to strike its roots throughout all the extensive countries between the Black Sea and the Caspian. It is probable that, at no very remote period, the Phasis will be frequented by British ships; and that our merchants, without any enchantress to aid them, and depending only on the superior cheapness and excellence of their goods, will be hospitably received in the ancient Colchis, and bear away a richer prize than fell to the lot of Jason and his Argonauts.

Account of Imports at Redout-kalé from Odessa, from 1825 to 1830, both inclusive.

For some further details as to the trade of the Black Sea, see the article SINOPE.

Epochs in the Trade of the Black Sea. Depth of Water. Difficulty of Navigation, &c. -The trade of the Black or Euxine Sea was of great importance in antiquity. The shores of the Crimea, or Taurica Chersonesus, were settled by Milesian adventurers, who founded Panticapæum and Theodosia. The exports thence to Athens were nearly the same as those which are now sent from Odessa and Taganrog to Constantinople, Leghorn, &c.; viz. corn, timber, and naval stores, leather, wax, honey, salt fish, caviare, &c., with great number of slaves, the best and most serviceable that were anywhere to be met with. The Athenians set a very high value upon this trade, which supplied them annually with about 400,000 medimni of corn; and to preserve it, they carefully cultivated the alliance of the Thracian princes, and kept a garrison at Sestus, on the Hellespont.-(See the authorities in Anacharsis's Travels, c. 55.; and in Clarke's Connexion of the Saxon and English Coins, pp. 54— 64.) During the middle ages, the Genoese acquired an ascendancy on this sea, and laboured

* Maltese and Ionians included

with pretty considerable success to monopolise its trade. Their principal establishment was at Caffa, which was the centre of a considerable commerce. But the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, in 1453, was soon after followed by the conquest of Caffa, and the total exclusion of European vessels from the Black Sea, which became in a great measure unknown. This exclusion was maintained for about 300 years, or till it was opened to the ships of Russia by the treaty of Kainardgi in 1774. The Austrians obtained a similar equality of privileges in 1784; and British, French, &c. ships were admitted by the treaty of Amiens. There were, however, some restraints still kept up; but these have been abolished by the late treaty between the Turks and Russians in 1829; and, for commercial purposes at least, the Black Sea is now as free as the Mediterranean.

Notwithstanding the number of English and other European ships that have visited this sea within the last 20 years, its geography is still very imperfectly known. A notion seems to have been long prevalent, that it was not only stormy, but also infested with numerous shoals. Polybius, indeed, contends, that, owing to the vast quantities of alluvial deposits brought down by the Danube and other large rivers that fall into the Black Sea, it was gradually filling up, and would become, at no very remote period, an immense morass! Dr. Clarke seems to have espoused the same theory. But, how probable soever it may appear, extremely little progress has hitherto been made towards the consummation described by Polybius. Instead of being shallow, the water is for the most part remarkably deep; with a bottom, where soundings have been obtained, of gravel, sand, and shells. A strong current sets from the Black Sea, through the Bosphorus, or Canal of Constantinople, into the Sea of Marmara, and from the latter through the Dardanelles, which it requires a fresh breeze to stem. This current is said to be sensibly felt in the Black Sea, 10 or 12 miles from the Bosphorus; and it may probably carry off some of the mud brought down by the rivers.— (See Tournefort's Voyage du Levant, Lett. 15, 16.; Art. 9. in No. I. of the Journal of the Geographical Society; Macgill's Travels in Turkey, vol. i. p. 245., &c.)

The navigation of the Black Sea has been represented, by most modern and all ancient writers, as exceedingly dangerous. We believe, however, that there is a good deal of exaggeration in the greater number of the statements on this subject. It is said to be particularly subject to dense fogs, and to currents; but the former are prevalent only at particular seasons, and the influence of the latter is not greater than in many other seas which are not reputed dangerous. Tournefort, one of the best and most accurate of travellers, considers the navigation of the Black Sea as safe as that of the Mediterranean :—“. Il n'a rien de noir, pour ainsi dire, que le nom : les vents n'y soufflent pas avec plus de furie, et les orages ne sont guères plus frequens que sur les autres mers.-(Tome ii. p. 164. 4to ed.) Dr. Clarke (Travels, vol. ii. p. 387. 8vo ed.) affects to doubt this; but he assigns no grounds for his opinion; and who would think of putting his authority in competition with that of Tournefort? The truth is, that any sea would be dangerous to the Greek and Turkish pilots, by whom the Black Sea is principally navigated. If the progress of navigation were to be estimated by its state amongst them, we should have to conclude that it had been stationary from the era of the Argonauts. They seldom venture to get out of sight of the coasts; they have neither charts nor quadrants; and hardly even know that one of the points of the needle turns towards the North!-(Tournefort, in loc. cit.) There is not, certainly, much room for wonder at shipwrecks being frequent among vessels so navigated. On leaving the Black Sea, the greatest difficulty is in making the Bosphorus. "The mountains," says Mr. Macgill, "are all so much alike, that it is difficult to determine which of them is at the entrance, until you are within a very few miles of the coast: then, with a fair wind, you are on a lee shore with a lee current; and if you make a mistake, destruction is almost inevitable. The Turks have two light-houses at the entrance; but unless you see them before sunset, they are of little use: in the forests, on its borders, great quantities of charcoal are made, and the lights from it bewilder, and often mislead, the unhappy mariner."-(Vol. i. p. 245.)

From the vast quantity of fresh water poured into the Black Sea, the saline particles are so much diluted, that, with a slight frost, the surface becomes covered with ice; hence, during a great part of the year, hardly any navigation is attempted. The vessels that resort to Odessa seldom arrive at that port before the latter end of May; and those whose cargoes are not completed before the end of October, more frequently wait the return of spring, than adventure to encounter the dangers of an autumnal or winter voyage.

At Taganrog the frost commences earlier, and continues longer, than at Odessa; so that there are scarcely more than 4 or 5 months in the year, during which the Sea of Azoff can be safely navigated.

OIL (Fr. Huile; Ger. Oel; It. Olie; Lat. Oleum; Rus. Maslo; Sp. Aceite.) The term oil is applied to designate a number of unctuous liquors, which, when dropped upon paper, sink into it and make it semi-transparent, or give it what is called a greasy stain. These bodies are very numerous, and have been in common use from time immemorial. Chemists have divided them into two classes; namely, volatile and fixed oils. We borrow from Dr. Thomas Thomson the following statement with respect to these bodies:

I. VOLATILE OILS, called also essential oils, are distinguished by the following properties:-1. Liquid, often almost as liquid as water, sometimes viscid; 2. Very combustible; 3. An acrid taste and a strong

fragrant odour; 4. Volatilised at a temperature not higher than 212°; 5. Soluble in alcohol, and imperfectly in water; 6. Evaporate without leaving any stain on paper.

By this last test it is easy to discover whether they have been adulterated with any of the fixed oils. Let a drop of the volatile oil fall upon a sheet of writing paper, and then apply a gentle heat to it; if it evaporates without leaving any stain upon the paper, the oil is pure; but if it leaves a stain upon the paper, it has been contaminated with some fixed oil or other.

Volatile oils are almost all obtained from vegetables, and they exist in every part of plants,-the toot, the bark, the wood, the leaves, the flower, and even the fruit; though they are never found in the substance of the cotyledons; whereas the fixed oils, on the contrary, are almost always contained in these bodies.

When the volatile oils are contained in great abundance in plants, they are sometimes obtained by simple expression. This is the case with oil of oranges, of lemons, and bergamotte; but in general they can only be obtained by distillation. The part of the plant containing the oil is put into a still with a quantity of water, which is distilled off by the application of a moderate heat. The oil comes over along with the water, and swims upon its surface in the receiver. By this process are obtained the oil of peppermint, thyme, lavender, and a great many others, which are prepared and employed by the perfumer: others are procured by the distillation of resinous bodies. This is the case in particular with oil of turpentine, which is obtained by distilling a kind of resinous juice, called turpentine, that exudes from the juniper.

Volatile oils are exceedingly numerous. They have been long known; but as their use in chemistry is but limited, they have not, hitherto, been subjected to an accurate chemical investigation. They differ greatly in their properties from each other; but it is impossible at present to give a detailed account of each.

1. The greater number of volatile oils are liquid; many, indeed, are as limpid as water, and have none of that appearance which we usually consider oily. This is the case with the following; namely, oil of turpentine, oranges, lemons, bergamotte, roses.-Others have the oily viscidity. It varies in them in all degrees. This is the case with the oils of mace, cardamon, sassafras, cloves, cinnamon.-Others have the property of becoming solid. This is the case with the oils of parsley, fennel, aniseed, balm.— Others crystallise by slow evaporation. This is the case with oil of thyme, peppermint, marjoram.The oil of nutmegs has usually the consistence of butter. This is the case also with the oils of hops and of pepper.

2. The colour of the volatile oils is as various as their other properties. A great number are limpid and colourless; as oil of turpentine, lavender, rosemary, savine, aniseed: some are yellow; as spike, bergamotte: some are brown; as thyme, savory, wormwood: others blue; as camomile, motherwort: others green; as milfoil, pepper, hops, parsley, wormwood, cajeput, juniper, sage, valerian: others, though at first colourless, become yellow or brown by age; as cloves, cinnamon, sassafras.

3. The odours are so various as to defy all description. It is sufficient to say, that all the fragrance of the vegetable kingdom resides in volatile oils. Their taste is acrid, hot, and exceedingly unpleasant. 4. Their specific gravity varies very considerably, not only in different oils, but even in the same oil in different circumstances. The following are the specific gravities of several of the volatile oils, as ascertained by Dr. Lewis:

When the volatile oils are heated in the open air, they evaporate readily, and without alteration diffuse their peculiar odours all around; but there is a considerable difference between the different oils in this respect. When distilled in close vessels they do not so readily assume the form of vapour. Hence they lose their odour, become darker in colour, and are partly decomposed. Oils do not seem very susceptible of assuming the gaseous form, unless some other substance, as water, be present. II. FIXED OILS are distinguished by the following characters:-1. Liquid, or easily become so when exposed to a gentle heat; 2. An unctuous feel; 3. Very combustible; 4. A mild taste; 5. Boiling point not under 600°; 6. Insoluble in water, and nearly so in alcohol; 7. Leave a greasy stain upon paper. These oils, which are called fat or expressed oils, are numerous, and are obtained partly from animals and partly from vegetables, by simple expression. As instances, may be mentioned whale oil or train oil, obtained from the blubber of the whale and from cod; olive oil, obtained from the fruit of the olive; linseed oil and almond oil, obtained from linseed and almond kernels. Fixed oils may also be extracted from poppy seeds, hemp seeds, beech mast, and many other vegetable substances.

All these oils differ from each other in several particulars, but have also many particulars in common. I. Fixed oil is usually a liquid with a certain degree of viscidity, adhering to the sides of the glass vessels in which it is contained, and forming streaks. It is never perfectly transparent; has always a certain degree of colour, most usually yellowish or greenish; its taste is sweet, or nearly insipid. When fresh, it has little or no smell.

There exist also in the vegetable kingdom a considerable number of bodies which, at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, are solid, and have hitherto been considered as fixed oils. Palm oil may be mentioned as an example. The various substances used in India and Africa as substitutes for butter, and as unguents, may likewise be mentioned.

2. All the fixed oils hitherto examined are lighter than water: but they differ greatly from one another in specific gravity. The same difference is observable in different samples of the same oil. The following Table contains the specific gravity of such oils as have been examined :

Fixed oil, when in the state of vapour, takes fire on the approach of an ignited body, and burns with a yellowish white flame. It is upon this principle that candles and lamps burn. The tallow or oil is first converted into a state of vapour in the wick; it then takes fire, and supplies a sufficient quantity of heat to convert more oil into vapour; and this process goes on while any oil remains. The wick is necessary, to present a sufficiently small quantity of oil at once for the heat to act upon. If the heat were great enough to keep the whole oil at the temperature of 600°, no wick would be necessary, as is obvious from oil catching fire spontaneously when it has been raised to that temperature. When oil is used in this manner, either in the open air or in contact with oxygen gas, the only new products obtained are water and carbonic acid.

The drying oils are used as the vehicle of paints and varnishes. Linseed, nut, poppy, and hempseed oils, belong to this class. These oils in their natural state possess the property of drying oils, but

imperfectly. To prepare them for the use of the painter and varnish-maker, they are boiled for some time in an iron pot, and sometimes burnt till they become viscid. When they burn for some time, their unctuous quality is much more completely destroyed than by any method that has been practised. Hence it is followed frequently in preparing the drying oils for varnishes, and always for printers' ink, which requires to be as free as possible from all unctuosity.

Nut oil has been found preferable to all other oils for printers' ink; though the dark colour which it acquires during boiling renders it not so proper for red ink as for black. Linseed oil is considered as next after nut oil in this respect. Other oils cannot be employed, because they cannot be sufficiently freed from their unctuosity. Ink made with them would be apt to come off and smear the paper while in the hands of the bookbinder, or even to spread beyond the mark of the types and stain the paper yellow.

For the regulations with respect to the importation and exportation of train oil, see p. 134.

OLIBANUM (Fr. Encens; Ger. Weiranch; It. Olibano; Arab. Looban), a gumresin, the produce of a large tree (Libanus thurifera) growing in Arabia and India. It is imported in chests, containing each about 1 cwt. from the Levant and India; the best comes from the former, and is the produce of Arabia. Good olibanum is in semi-transparent tears, of a pink colour, brittle, and adhesive when warm; when burnt, the odour is very agreeable; its taste is bitterish, and somewhat pungent and aromatic; it flames for a long time with a steady clear light, which is not easily extinguished, leaving behind a black (not, as has been said, a whitish) ash. Olibanum is the frankincense (thus) of the ancients; and was extensively used by them in sacrifices.—(Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xii. c. 14.) It has also been used in the ceremonies of the Greek and Roman churches.-(Ainslie's Mat. Indica; Thomson's Chemistry; Kippingii Antiq. Rom. lib. i. c. 11.)

OLIVE, OLIVES (Ger. Oliven; Fr. Olives; It. Ulive, Olive; Sp. Aceitunas; Port. Azeitonas; Lat. Oliva), a fruit yielding a large quantity of oil, the produce of the Olea, or olive tree. The wild olive is indigenous to Syria, Greece, and Africa, on the lower slopes of Mount Atlas. The cultivated species grows spontaneously in Syria, and is easily reared in Spain, Italy, and the south of France. It has even been raised in the open air in England, but its fruit is said not to have ripened. The fruit is a smooth oval plum, about of an inch in length, and an inch in diameter, of a deep violet colour when ripe, whitish and fleshy within, bitter and nauseous, but replete with a bland oil; covering an oblong, pointed, rough nut. Olives intended for preservation are gathered before they are ripe. In pickling, the object is to remove their bitterness, and to preserve them green, by impregnating them with a brine of aromatised sea salt; for this purpose various methods are employed. The wood of the olive tree is beautifully veined, and has an agreeable smell. It is in great esteem with cabinet-makers, on account of the fine polish of which it is susceptible.

OLIVE OIL (Ger. Baumöl; Fr. Huile d'olives; It. Olio d'uliva; Sp. Aceite de aceitunas; Lat. Oleum olivarum). The olive tree is principally cultivated for the sake of its oil. This is an insipid, inodorous, pale greenish yellow coloured, viscid fluid, unctuous to the feel, inflammable, incapable of combining with water, and nearly insoluble in alcohol. It is the lightest of all the fixed oils; and is largely used, particularly in Greece, Italy, Spain, and France, as an article of food, and in medicine, and the arts. It is also very extensively used in this country, particularly in the woollen manufacture.

The ripe fruit is gathered in November, and immediately bruised in a mill, the stones of which are set so wide as not to crush the kernel. The pulp is then subjected to the press in bags made of rushes; and by means of gentle pressure, the best, or virgin oil, flows first; a second, and afterwards a third, quality of oil is obtained by moistening the residuum, breaking the kernel, &c., and increasing the pressure. When the fruit is not sufficiently ripe, the recent oil has a bitterish taste; and when too ripe, it is fatty. After the oil has been drawn, it deposits a white, fibrous, and albuminous matter; but when this deposition has taken place, if it be put into clean glass flasks, it undergoes no further alteration; the common oil cannot, however, be preserved in casks above 1 or 2 years. It is sometimes adulterated by the admixture of poppy oil.-(Thomson's Dispensatory.)

The best olive oil is said to be made in the vicinity of Aix, in France. That which is brought from Leghorn, in chests containing 30 bottles, or 4 English gallons, is also very superior; it is known in our markets by the name of Florence oil, and is used mostly for culinary purposes. Olive oil is the principal article of export from the kingdom of Naples. (See NAPLES.) Apulia and Calabria are the provinces most celebrated for its production. The Apulian is the best, and is preferred by the woollen manufacturers, by whom it is extensively used. By far the largest portion of the olive oil brought to England is imported from Italy; principally from Gallipoli, on the east coast of the Gulf of Taranto, in lat. 40° 3' N., lon. 18° 25′ 55′′ E., whence it is commonly known by the name of Gallipoli oil. But, besides Italy, Spain sends us a large quantity; and we derive smaller supplies from Malta, Turkey, the lonian Islands, &c. Thus, of 2,791,057 gallons of olive oil imported in 1830, 2,034,237 were from Italy; 639,468 do. from Spain; 52,004 do. from Malta, partly at second hand; 21,467 from Turkey; 11,300 do from the Ionian Islands; about 30,000 do., at second hand, from the Netherlands and Germany. The price of olive oil, duty paid, in London, in January, 1834, was as follows:

Gallipoli

Spanish Calabria

L. 8. L. 8. 59 0 to 60 0 55 0 0 0 = 75 0-80 0

Barbary tun (252 gals.)

Lucca, in jars
Florence

L. 8. L. 3. tun (252 gals.) 53 0 to 54 0 6 15 00 · 11-00

1-2 chest

Calcia, Genoa, and Provence, 1st The duty of 81. 8s. a tun (252 wine gallons) amounts to about 20 per cent., or 1-5th of the price. But as olive oil is an article much used in the household economy, and of essential importance in the arts, particularly the woollen manufacture, such a duty seems to be quite oppressive. Were it reduced to 21. 2s. a tun, we believe it would be very little, if at all, less productive than at present, while the fall of price consequent upon such a reduction would have many beneficial consequences. Nothing can VOL. II.-Y