260 TOBACCO. 



of Chemical Industry, which is sufficiently interesting to 

 be quoted at length. 



Dr. Clark remarks that the " tobacco plant is very ex- 

 tensively cultivated in various parts of the world, and 

 after it has reached its maturity it is cut and dried on 

 poles. When the plant is in proper condition, the leaves 

 are stripped from the stalk, sorted and cured, by which 

 means they are converted into the tobacco of commerce. 

 The good leaves are called ' wrappers,' and the infirm or 

 defective ones, which are separated from the others, are 

 called ' mediums and fillers.' The term ' strips ' is 

 applied to tobacco leaves, from which 20 to 25 per cent, of 

 the stem or midrib has been removed to suit the require- 

 ments of manufacturers in this country more especially. 

 Tobacco is largely imported into the United Kingdom, 

 partly in the manufactured state, but principally in the 

 unmanufactured or leaf form. 



" Through the kindness of a well-known firm of tobacco 

 manufacturers, I have been furnished with authentic 

 samples of the principal varieties of leaf tobacco, imported 

 into this country, and the accompanying table gives the 

 proportions of mineral matter or ash, alkaline salts, and 

 sand, which these contain. For the sake of comparison 

 the results are all stated in the dry tobacco, and in order 

 to ensure greater accuracy, the analysis was, in each case, 

 made with several leaves, which were separated into 

 laminae and stem, and the whole of each incinerated. 

 The difference in the composition of the laminae and the 

 stem is very marked, especially as regards alkaline salts, 

 and is of importance more especially to the snuff 

 manufacturer. 



