The snuff-box manufacture, like most other departments of industry, has been greatly facilitated by the division of labour; and in all workshops of any size 3 classes of persons are employed, -box-makers, painters, and checkers or polishers; the wages of which may at present amount, the 1st class from 14s. to 18s. per week; the 2d from 15s. to 25s., and the 3d from 10s. to 12s. per do. When Crawford first commenced business, he obtained almost any price he chose to ask; and many instances occurred, in which ordinary sized snuff-boxes sold at 27. 12s. 6d., and ladies' work-boxes at 254. But as the trade increased, it Decame necessary to employ apprentices, who first became journeymen, and then masters; and such have been the effects of improvement and competition, that articles such as those specified above may be obtained at the respective prices of two and twenty-five shillings; while common boxes, which, in 1837. sold for 18s. a dozen, may now (1844) be bought for 8s.! By means of the Pentagraph, which is much employed, the largest engravings are reduced to the size most convenient for the workman, without injury to the prints; so that a snuff-box manufacturer, like a Dunfermline weaver, can work to order by exhibiting on wood his employer's coat of arins, or any object he may fancy within the range of the pictorial art. Some of the painters display considerable talent, and, when they put forth their strength, produce box-lids worth being preserved as pictures. At first, nearly the whole subjects chosen as ornaments were taken from Burns's poems; and there can be no doubt that the “ Cotter's Saturday Night," "Tam O'Shanter," "Willie brewed a peck o' maut," &c. &c. have penetrated in this form into every quarter of the habitable globe. Now, however, the artists take a wider range; the studios of Wilkie, Landseer, &c. have been laid under contribution; landscapes arc as often met with as figures; and there is scarcely a celebrated scene in the country that is not pictured forth more or less perfectly on the lid of an Ayrshire snuff-box. We regret to say that the trade has been for some years past in a languishing state. is probable, from the extremely low prices at which boxes are now produced, that the demand for them may be again extended. The principal markets for snuff-boxes are London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Edinburgh: but considerable numbers are exported. Some very wretched imitations of Ayrshire boxes have been produced in different parts of England: but they can deceive no one who ever saw a genuine box. The hinge, as well as the finishing, is clumsy in the extreme.

But it

The article on this curious manufacture in our former edition was written by our esteemed friend, John M Diarmid, Esq., editor of the Dumfries Courier: but the business has materially changel during the last 10 years. The statements in the present article have been derived from Mauchline and other seats of the manufacture.

SOAP (Ger. Seife; Fr. Savon; It. Sapone; Sp. Jabon; Rus. Milo; Lat. Sapo). The soap met with in commerce is generally divided into 2 sorts, hard and soft: the former is made of soda and tallow or oil, and the latter of potash and similar oily matters. Soap made of tallow and soda has a whitish colour, and is, therefore, sometimes denominated white soap: but it is usual for soap makers, in order to lower the price of the article, to mix a considerable portion of rosin with the tallow; this mixture forms the common yellow soap of this country. Soap made of tallow, &c. and potash does not assume a solid form; its consistence is never greater than that of hog's lard. The properties of soft soap as a detergent do not differ materially from those of hard soap, but it is not nearly so convenient to use. The alkali employed by the ancient Gauls and Germans in the formation of soap was potash; hence we see why it was described by the Romans as an unguent. The oil employed for making soft soap in this country is whale oil. A little tallow is also added, which, by a peculiar management, is dispersed through the soap in fine white spots. The soap made in countries which produce olive oil, as the south of France, Italy, and Spain, is preferable to the soap of this country, which is usually manufactured from grease, tallow, &c. - (Thomson's Chemistry.)

Account of the Quantities and Values of the Soap and Candles exported during each of the 5 Years ending with 1841, specifying the Countries to which they were exported, and the Quantity and Value of those sent to each.

De-
Value.

De

Quar.ities.clared Quantities. clared Quantities. clared Quantities. clared Quantities. clared
Value.
Value.
Value.

Value.

74.510 1,621 95,391 82,215 1,507 110,493 160,585) 3,215 136,219 2,612 451,065 887,051 13,617) 7,022 127,940 4,359 145,805 6,083

653 2,2251

E. I. Co.'s territories,

and Ceylon

British settlements in

Australia

N. Amer. colonies
West Indies

Brazil

All other countries

Total

30,435 731 42,8091 914 101,4551 2,157 450,247 7,875

114,748 3,528 117,918 4,647

71,176 2,94 761,770 14,803 1,252,729 22,694 2,207,901 38,998 4,284,53 70,737 1,907,040 33,816) 2,408,091 39.931 3,476,258 58,773 4,530,813 77,661 3,918,700 67,991 3,944,077 64,813 5,134,900 104,168 7,279,715 140,562 9,716,895 190.257 9,360,757 174,270 7,139,450 122,452 2,898,865) 42,940 4,024,075 58,769 4,456,855 67.918 4,12,403 67,001 3,753,581 51,016! 1,533,331 26,577 9,097,713 46,732 2,387,811 47,929 1,978,833 36,713 1,828,193 31,529 -13,861,022 251,023 19,911,140,351,130/5,706,2382 466.974 26,301,517 450,610 20,029,016 312,0‍20

The use of soap as a detergent is well known: it may, in fact, be considered as a necessary of life. Its consumption in most civilised countries is immense. Pliny informs us, that soap was first invented by the Gauls; that it was composed of tallow and ashes; and that the German soap was reckoned the best. -(Lib. xviii. c. 51.)

Regulations as to the Manufacture. Soap is charged with a duty of excise, and its manufacture is consequently regulated by several provisions intended for the protection of the revenue. No person is permitted to make soap within the limits of the head office of excise in London, unless he occupy a teneinent of 104. a year, and is assessed to and pays the parish rates; nor eisewhere, unless he is assessed and pays to church and poor; and every soap-maker is required to take out a licence to be re

newed annually, for which he is to pay 42.; but persons in partnership require only 1 licence for 1 house. They are also required to provide sufficient wooden covers for all coppers and other utensils wherein they bail hard soap: which covers are to be locked and scaled down by the officer whenever any scap is left in the same; and the furnace door, cover, and the ash-house door is also to be locked and sealed at all times except when he same is at work. Regulations are also made for preventing the

tse of any private conveyances or pipes; empowering officers to break up the ground to search for the same, and cut them up if found; if not, the officers must make compensation for the injury done. On cleansing or taking soap out of the coppers, the makers are required to give notice; and certain spaces of time are imited for completing the c'eansing and taking out of the soap, according to the kind of soup, and the number of frames into which the same is put. Coppers and other utensils must be cleansed once in every month. The frames used in making hard soap, for cleansing and putting the same into when taken out of the vessel when boiled and prepared, must be either square or oblong, and the bottom, sides, and end of sich frames are to be 2 inches thick and not more than 45 inches long, and 15 inches broad, the same being marked and numbered at the expense of the soap-maker. The making of yellow or mottled soap is regulated by 59 Geo. 3. c. 90., by which every maker is required, as soon as the same is cleansed or taken out of the vessel in which it has been made, to add and put into the copper or vessel all the fob and skimmings taken out of the same, and also grease, in the proportion of at least 10 wt. of grease for every ton of yellow or mottled soap which the copper or vessel shall be by the officer computed to boil or make, and immediately remelt such grease in the pre

་

sence of the officer of excise. No lees fit for the making of soap may be manufactured for sale; nor may any barilia be ground or pounded for sale; nor when ground or pounded be sold exceeding the weight of 28 lbs. of such barilla at one time. In the removal of soap exceeding the quantity of 28 lbs., the word soap must be painted or marked in large letters of at least 2 inches long on every chest, basket, box, cask, or package containing the same; and the same word must be painted or marked in letters of at least 3 inches in length on every wagon, cart, or other carriage carrying more than 28 lbs., in some conspicuous and open part of the same, unless it is carried by a person being a known and public or common carner of goods and merchandise from one part to another; officers may inspect the soap and the accompanying certificate. Soap-makers are also to keep books, and enter therein all quantities of soap sold exceeding 78 lbs. Every barrel of soap must contain 256 s. avoirdupois; every { barrel 128 lbs.; every firkin 61 lbs.; and every † firkin 32 lbs.; besides the weight and tare of the cask. Soap-makers must keep scales and weights, and assist the excise officers in the use of them, and must weigh their materials for masing soap before the officer, on penalty of 501.-(Chitty's Com. Law, vol. ii. pp. 418–420.)

Duty. The direct duty charged on hard soap, which is by far the most extensively used, amounted, till June 1833, to 3d. per lb., or 28s. per cwt., while the price of soap duty paid rarely exceeded 6d. per lu., or 56s. per cwt., so that the direct duty was fully 100 per cent.! But besides this enormous duty, the substances of which soap is made, viz. tallow, barilla, and turpentine, or resin, were respectively charged with duties of 3s. 4d., 2s., and 4s. 4d. a cwt.; and taking these indirect taxes into account, it may be truly stated that soap was taxed from 120 to 130 per cent. ad valorem! The imposition of so exorbitant a duty on an article indispensable to the prosecution of many branches of manufacture, and to the comfor and cleanliness of all orders of persons, was in the last degree inexpedient. During the 5 years ending with 1832, the consumption of duty-paid soap was nearly stationary; though there can be little doubt from the increase of manufactures and population during that period, that it would have been very considerably extended, but for the increase of smuggling. This practice is facilitated by the total exemption which Ireland enjoys from this duty; for it not unfrequently happens that the soap made in this country, and sent to Ireland under a drawback, is again clandestinely introduced into Great Britain. It is, perhaps, needless to say that nothing but the effectual reduction of the duty could put a stop to the smuggling and fraud that had been so generally practised. So long as the profit to be made by breaking the law was so high as 120 or 130 per cent., so long was it sure to be broken, in despite of the multiplication of penal. ties and the utmost activity and vigilance of the officers. But since the duty has been reduced 50 per cent, the temptation to smuggle has been most materially diminished. And the increased consumption that has followed the reduction of duty, has hindered the revenue from declining more than 4th part, or 25 per cent. Hence the advantages resulting from the diminished temptation to smuggling and fraud, and the influence of the reduced price of the article, in facilitating manufacturing industry, and in promoting habits of cleanliness, have been obtained without any very considerable sacrifice. The entire repeal of the soap duty would be a popular measure; but, seeing that a large amount of revenue must be raised, and that those taxes only are productive which affect all classes of the cominunity, we should not be disposed to recommend such a measure. It is not the tax itself, but the oppressive extent to which it was carried, that made it objectionable. Instead of proposing its repeal, we think it ought to be extended to Ireland. The exemption of one part of the empire from a duty of this sort imposed on another part, is contrary to all principle, and is fraught with pernicious results. It will be impossible to get rid of smuggling so long as this unjust distinction is suffered to exist. Were the duty extended to Ireland, the necessity for granting drawbacks on the soap exported to it, and of laying countervailing duties on that imported from it, would, of course, fall to the ground. And we feel pretty confident that, though a still further deduction were made from the rate of duty, its productiveness would not, under such circumstances, be impaired even in England.

Account of the Quantity of Hard and Soft Soap charged with Excise Duty in Great Britain since 1822, the Rates of Duty, and the Gross and Nett Produce of the Duties.

Account of all Soap exported to Ireland, specifying the Port whence it was shipped, and the Amount of Drawback paid thereon, in 1842.

Account of the Soap made in the different Towns of Great Britain in which the Manufacture is carried on, distinguishing Hard from Soft; and also the Quantity upon which the Silicated Duty has been charged, in 1842.

SOUTH SEA DUTIES.

The act of the 9 Ann. c. 21., establishing the South Sea Company, conveyed to them the exclusive privilege of trading to the Pacific Ocean, and along the east coast of America, from the Orinoco to Cape Horn.

This privilege was taken away by the 47 Geo. 3. c. 23. ; and in order to raise a guarantee fund for the indemnification of the Company, a duty of 2 per cent. ad valorem was imposed by the 55 Geo. 3. c. 57. on all goods (with the exception of those from Brazil and Dutch Surinam; and with the exception of blubber, oil, &c. of whales, or fish caught by the crews of British or Irish ships) imported from within the aforesaid limits. A duty of 1s. 6d. per ton was also imposed on all vessels (except in ballast or importing the produce of the fishery of British subjects) entering inwards or clearing outwards from or to places within the said limits. The duties are to cease when the guarantee fund is completed.

SOY, a species of sauce prepared in China and Japan from a small bean, the produce of the Dolichos soja. It is eaten with fish and other articles. It should be chosen of a good flavour, not too salt nor too sweet, of a good thick consistence, a brown colour, and clear; when shaken in a glass, it should leave a coat on the surface, of a bright yellowish brown colour; if it do not, it is of an inferior kind, and should be rejected. Japan soy is deemed superior to the Chinese. It is worth, in bond, from 6s. to 7s. a gallon. It is believed to be extensively counterfeited. (Milburn's Orient. Com.)

SPELTER, a name frequently given to ZINC; which see.

SPERMACETI (Ger. Wallrath; Fr. Blanc de Baleine, Sperme de Baleine; It. Spermaceti; Sp. Esperma de Ballena; Rus. Spermazet), a product obtained from the brain of the physeter macrocephalus, a species of whale inhabiting the Southern Ocean. The brain being dug out from the cavity of the head, the oil is separated from it by dripping. The residue is crude spermaceti, of which an ordinary sized whale will yield 12 barrels. After being brought to England, it is purified. It then concretes into a white, crystallised, brittle, semitransparent, unctuous substance, nearly inodorous and insipid. On being cut into small pieces it assumes a flaky aspect. It is very heavy; its specific gravity being 9 433. It is used in the manufacture of candles, in medicine, &c.

The provinces of the Rio de la Plata have since been added.-(Treas. Order, 12th of March, 1828.)

SPICES (Ger. Specereyen; Du. Speceryen; Fr. Epiceries, Epices; It. Spezj, Spezierie; Sp. Especias, Especerias; Port. Especiaria; Rus. Pränüe korenja). Under this denomination are included all those vegetable productions which are fragrant to the smell and pungent to the palate; such as cloves, ginger, nutmegs, allspice, &c. These will be found under their proper heads.

SPIRIT OF WINE. See ALCOHOL.

SPIRITS. All inflammable liquors obtained by distillation, as brandy, rum, geneva, whisky, gin, &c., are comprised under this designation. The term British spirits is applied indiscriminately to the various sorts of spirits manufactured in Great Britain and Ireland. Of these, gin and whisky are by far the most important.

The manufacture of spirits is placed under the surveillance of the excise, and a very large revenue is obtained from it. The act 6 Geo. 4. c. 80. lays down the regulations to be followed by the distillers in the manufacture, and by the officers in charging the duties. This act is of great length, having no fewer than 151 clauses; it is, besides, exceedingly complicated, and the penalties in it amount to many thousand pounds. It would, therefore, be to no purpose to attempt giving any abstract of it in this place. Every one carrying on the business of distillation must have the act in his possession, and be practically acquainted with its operation.

1. Spirit Duties. Consumption of British Spirits in Great Britain and Ireland.-There are, perhaps, no better subjects for taxation than spirituous and fermented liquors. They are essentially luxuries; and while moderate duties on them are, in consequence of their being very generally used, exceedingly productive, the increase of price which they occasion has a tendency to lessen their consumption by the poor, to whom, when taken in excess, they are exceedingly pernicious. Few governments, however, have been satisfied with imposing moderate duties on spirits; but, partly in the view of increasing the revenue, and partly in the view of placing them beyond the reach of the lower classes, have almost invariably loaded them with such oppressively high duties as have entirely defeated both objects. The imposition of such duties does not take away the appetite for spirits; and as no vigilance of the officers or severity of the laws has been found sufficient to secure a monopoly of the market to the legal distillers, the real effect of the high duties has been to throw the supply of a large proportion of the demand into the hands of the illicit distiller, and to superadd the atrocities of the smuggler to the idleness and dissipation of the drunkard.

During the latter part of the reign of George I., and the earlier part of that of George II., gin-drinking was exceedingly prevalent; and the cheapness of ardent spirits, and the multiplication of public houses, were denounced from the pulpit, and in the presentments of grand juries, as pregnant with the most destructive consequences to the health and morals of the community. At length, ministers determined to make a vigorous effort to put a stop to the further use of spirituous liquors, except as a cordial or medicine. For this purpose, an act was passed in 1736, the history and effects of which deserve to be studied by all who are clamorous for an increase of the duties on spirits. Its preamble is to this effect: "Whereas the drinking of spirituous liquors, or strong water, is become very common, especially among people of lower and inferior rank, the constant and excessive use of which tends greatly to the destruction of their health, rendering them unfit for useful labour and business, debauching their morals, and inciting them to perpetrate all vices; and the ill consequences of the excessive use of such liquors are not confined to the present generation, but extend to future ages, and tend to the destruction and ruin of this kingdom." The enactments were such as might be expected to follow a preamble of this sort. They were not intended to repress the vice of gin-drinking, but to root it out altogether. To accomplish this, a duty of twenty shillings a gallon was laid on spirits, exclusive of a heavy licence duty on retailers. Extraordinary encouragements were at the same time held out to informers, and a fine of 100l. was ordered to be rigorously exacted from those who, were it even through inadvertency, should vend the smallest quantity of spirits which had not paid the full duty. Here was an act which might, one should think, have satisfied the bitterest enemy of gin. But instead of the anticipated effects, it produced those directly opposite. The respectable dealers withdrew from a trade proscribed by the legislature; so that the spirit business fell almost entirely into the hands of the lowest and most profligate characters, who, as they had nothing to lose, were not deterred by penalties from breaking through all its provisions. The populace having in this, as in all similar cases, espoused the cause of the smugglers and unlicensed dealers, the officers of the revenue were openly assaulted in the streets of London and other great towns; informers were hunted down like wild beasts; and drunkenness, disorders, and crimes increased with a frightful rapidity. "Within 2 years of the passing of the act," says Tindal, “it had become odious and contemptible, and policy as well as humanity forced the commissioners of excise to mitigate its penalties."-(Continuation of Rapin, vol. viii. p. 358. ed. 1759.) The same historian mentions (vol. viii. p. 390.), that during

the 2 years in question, no fewer than 12,000 persons were convicted of offences connected with the sale of spirits. But no exertion on the part of the revenue officers and magistrates could stem the torrent of smuggling. According to a statement made by the Earl of Cholmondeley, in the House of Lords-( Timberland's Debates in the House of Lords, vol. viii. p. 388.), it appears, that at the very moment when the sale of spirits was declared to be illegal, and every possible exertion made to suppress it, upwards of SEVEN MILLIONS of gallons were annually consumed in London, and other parts immediately adjacent ! Under such circumstances, government had but one course to follow -to give up the unequal struggle. In 1742, the high prohibitory duties were accordingly repealed, and such moderate duties imposed, as were calculated to increase the revenue, by increasing the consumption of legally distilled spirits. The bill for this purpose was vehemently opposed in the House of Lords by most of the bishops, and many other peers, who exhausted all their rhetoric in depicting the mischievous consequences that would result from a toleration of the practice of gin-drinking. To these declamations it was unanswerably replied, that whatever the evils of the practice might be, it was impossible to repress them by prohibitory enactments; and that the attempts to do so had been productive of far more mischief than had ever resulted, or could be expected to result, from the greatest abuse of spirits. The consequences of the change were highly beneficial. An instant stop was put to smuggling; and if the vice of drunkenness was not materially diminished, it has never been stated that it was increased.

But it is unnecessary to go back to the reign of George II. for proofs of the impotency of high duties to take away the taste for such an article, or to lessen its consumption. The occurrences that took place in the late reign, though they would seem to be already forgotten, are equally decisive as to this question.

Duties in Ireland. — Perhaps no country has suffered more from the excessive height to which duties on spirits have been carried than Ireland. If heavy taxes, enforced by severe fiscal regulations, could make a people sober and industrious, the Irish would be the most so of any on the face of the earth. In order to make the possessors of property join heartily in suppressing illicit distillation, the novel expedient was here resorted to, of imposing a heavy fine on every parish, town land, manor land, or lordship in which an unlicensed still was found; while the unfortunate wretches found working it were subjected to transportation for seven years. But instead of putting down illicit distillation, these unheard-of severities rendered it universal, and filled the country with bloodshed, and even rebellion. It is stated by the Rev. Mr. Chichester, in his valuable pamphlet on the Irish Distillery Laws, published in 1818, that "the Irish system seemed to have been formed in order to perpetuate smuggling and anarchy. It has culled the evils of both savage and civilised life, and rejected all the advantages which they contain. The calamities of civilised warfare are, in general, inferior to those produced by the Irish distillery laws; and I doubt whether any nation of modern Europe, which is not in a state of actual revolution, can furnish instances of legal cruelty commensurate to those which I have represented."—(Pp. 92-107.)

These statements are borne out to the fullest extent by the official details in the Reports of the Revenue Commissioners. In 1811, say the commissioners (Fifth Report, p. 19.), when the duty on spirits was 2s. 6d. a gallon, duty was paid in Ireland on 6,500.361 gallons (Irish measure); whereas, in 1822, when the duty was 5s. 6d., only 2,950,647 gallons were brought to the charge. The commissioners estimate, that the annual consumption of spirits in Ireland was at this very period not less than TEN MILLIONS of gallons; and, as scarcely three millions paid duty, it followed, that seven millions were illegally supplied; and "taking one million of gallons as the quantity frauduently furnished for consumption by the licensed distillers, the produce of the anlicensed stills may be estimated at six millions of gallons."-(Ib. p. 8.) Now, it is material to keep in mind that this vast amount of smuggling was carried on in the teeth of the above barbarous statutes, and in despite of the utmost exertions of the police and military to prevent it; the only result being the exasperation of the populace, and the perpetration of revolting atrocities both by them and the military. In Ireland," say the commissioners, "it will appear, from the evidence annexed to this Report, that parts of the country have been absolutely disorganised, and placed in opposition not only to the civil authority, but to the military force of the government. The profits to be obtained from the evasion of the law have been such as to encourage numerous individuals to persevere in these desperate pursuits, notwithstanding the risk of property and life with which they have been attended."

To put an end to such evils, the commissioners recommended that the duty on spirits should be reduced from 58. 6d. to 2s. the wine gallon (2s. 4d. the Imperial gallon), and government wisely consented to act upon this recommendation. In 1823, the duties were accordingly reduced; and the following official account will show what has been the result of this measure: