CHAP. XXVI. 



JEWELLERS. %Q3 



This amount, considerable as it may appear, 

 falls very far short of the communications of 

 opinion made by several intelligent persons con- 

 nected with the various branches of the manu- 

 facture of gold that of one gentleman, on 

 account of his extensive practical use of gold, of 

 his habitual accuracy, and his general knowledge, 

 is entitled to attention. A variety of queries 

 were proposed to him on the several branches of 

 the gold trade with which he was conversant, 

 among others the following, viz. " What quan- 

 tity of gold is used by the jewellers in such small 

 portions as are not liable to the stamp duties?" 

 The answer in writing was as follows : 



" An amount which at first sight appears in- 

 credible, certainly not less than from four hundred 

 and fifty to four hundred and eighty thousand 

 ounces of standard gold, or, in pounds sterling, a 

 sum of about one million nine hundred thousand 

 pounds sterling, but more probably two millions 

 than less. 



" It would be inconvenient to give here the 

 process by which that result is obtained, but there 

 are several ways by which it has been tried, and 

 little doubt, if any, exists as to its correctness. 



" There are an innumerable number of articles 

 which, from their delicate texture, cannot be as- 

 sayed and stamped ; and others are made of such 

 inferior gold as scarcely to deserve the name of 

 gold ; and yet the quantity is so large that a very 



