322 Proceedings of the British Association for 1850. 



private families, and the remainder was worked up by the distillers. 

 In order to be on the side of moderation, let us assume that only the 

 quantity (3,719,145 quarters) used in licensed breweries was em- 

 ployed in making beer, and we shall find, upon the usual calculation 

 of 3|^ barrels of beer, of average quality and strength, as the pro- 

 duct of each quarter of malt, that the number of gallons brewed 

 from the above-mentioned quantity was 435,139,965. The price at 

 which porter is retailed to the consumer varies with the circumstances 

 attending the sale. When it is taken away in the jugs df the buyers 

 for consumption elsewhere, the charge is 3d. per quart, or Is. per 

 gallon, but when drunk on the premises of the seller, the charge 

 is one-third more, viz., 4d. per quart, or Is. 4d. per gallon ; a dif- 

 ference of price which, considering the check upon exorbitant profits 

 offered by the great amount of competition among the sellers, affords 

 good evidence of the necessity for a large advance upon the actual 

 cost, in order to meet and cover the expenses of retail dealers. The 

 prices here mentioned are for porter. Ale is higher in price, and is 

 retailed at 4d., 6d., or 8d. per quart, according to its quality, which 

 mainly depends upon the proportion of malt and hops used in its pro- 

 duction. On the other hand, table-beer, which is very largely drunk 

 in families, is frequently sold at a lower price than Is. per gallon, 

 but in such cases a smaller or a larger quantity is produced from a 

 like quantity of ingredients. As no means can be found for deter- 

 mining the quantities of each kind and quality of beer consumed, let 

 it be assumed, as very fairly it may be, that taking all qualities into 

 the account, the price to the consumer is a mean between the two 

 prices above stated for porter, viz., Is. 2d. per gallon, and we arrive 

 at the sum of £25,383,165 annually spent by the population of this 

 kingdom, and chiefly by the labouring portion, for beer. It is shewn 

 by a statement recently presented to the House of Commons, that the 

 number of persons who are engaged as producers and distributors of 

 beer in England and Wales, is as follows : — 



Brewers, 2,507 



Victuallers, 88,496 



Persons licensed to keep beer-houses, '. . 38,070 



129,073 



The quantity of manufactured tobacco upon which duty was paid in 

 1849 was 27,480,621 lb., and of manufactured tobacco and snuff, 

 205,066 lb., yielding a revenue of £4,408,017, 14s. lid. The 

 retail price ranges from 4s. to 14s. per lb., 17-20ths, or 85 per cent., 

 of the whole being of the lowest price here named, and only about 

 2 per cent., being of the highest quality, proportions which were 

 stated by several respectable manufacturers who gave evidence before 

 a committee of the House of Commons in 1845. On the same 

 authority we are told that an addition is made of other ingredients in 

 the processes of manufacture, amounting to 15 per cent, upon the 



