Sir Robert Robertson 197 



separate department under the Treasury, and furnishes 

 advice and assistance to various public departments in 

 matters demanding chemical knowledge. While its scope 

 is now greater than that of work for Customs and Excise, 

 it had its origin in laboratories created for work in 

 connexion with dutiable substances. Ever since import 

 duties were first levied on such imports as tobacco and 

 tea, and excise duties on spirits, it has been necessary to 

 have skilled men to examine these goods. 



For instance, no one can tell just by tasting beer how 

 much alcohol there is in it. The same is true of brandy, 

 whisky, and other spirits, all of which pay duty according 

 to the amount of alcohol contained in them. Methods of 

 testing these beverages had therefore to be invented. 

 This was part of the work of the first Government 

 chemists, and it is still that of their successors in the 

 twentieth century. 



As we all know, the tax on alcohol was heavily increased 

 during the War, and this fact has made the Excise and 

 Customs authorities more particular than formerly. One 

 of the largest departments in the Government Laboratory 

 is devoted entirely to testing various imported goods for 

 their alcohol content. Alcohol, of course, is to be found 

 in many things other than liquor. It is to be found, for 

 instance, in scents, photographic developers, varnishes, 

 and in many kinds of medicine. As many as one hundred 

 samples of drugs and scents are dealt with in this labora- 

 tory in one day. 



The instrument used for testing the specific gravity of 

 beer is the saccharometer. This was invented nearly two 

 hundred years ago, and it is still in use. The number of 

 analyses and examinations of beer made in the Excise 

 branch runs to many thousands yearly. Samples of 

 ' wort ' — that is, beer before fermentation — are constantly 

 being tested to check the declaration of gravity made by 

 the brewer — for it is upon this ! original gravity ' that 



