CHAP. XXVI. GILDING. 281 



more than one-sixth of that which Birmingham 

 consumes, and on these grounds we are led to the 

 conclusion that the whole trade in gilt buttons 

 has, during the last twenty years, required a 

 supply of gold of about six hundred and fifty 

 ounces weekly, or about twenty-one thousand eight 

 hundred ounces yearly. 



A larger portion of gold is used by the manu- 

 facturers of gilt toys, a branch of trade which is 

 followed in more than one hundred establishments 

 in Birmingham, and several in London. The 

 vast quantity of wares of this description, of which 

 almost every part of the world receives a supply 

 from England, would require an enumeration 

 of all the personal and domestic ornaments and 

 utensils that are known, whose value singly may 

 be very minute, but when the whole mass is in- 

 cluded, comprehends a great amount. 



The gilding of these toys and trinkets is in part 

 executed by the makers of them, but a very 

 large part of such goods is formed by one class, 

 and afterwards sent to another branch of trade 

 called gilders, who execute only that part of the 

 work. Among those who gild their own goods it 

 was found, in individual instances, that several 

 had used from six to ten ounces of gold weekly ; 

 that others, and those the most numerous body, 

 used from three to four ounces weekly. With 

 those who gild the goods of other people the con- 



