68 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 
(2) Tobacco.—Not long after its introduction Elizabeth imposed a 
small duty on tobacco, which under James I. met with not only his famous 
Counterblast, but an increased duty of 6s.10d.a pound. Although CharlesI. 
continued its repression, and the Puritans regarded its use as ‘ profanity,’ 
the snufi-box became in the time of Queen Anne a necessity of the fashion- 
able world. A regular trade sprang up in preparing substitutes from various 
leaves, and numerous enactments proved incapable of preventing smuggling 
and adulteration. It was recognised that systematic chemical and micro- 
scopic examination had to be applied to the problems arising from this 
adulteration, and in 1843 a laboratory, which ultimately grew into the 
Government Laboratory, was erected to check it, with the result that this 
form of fraud was almost entirely stamped out. A strict watch is still 
maintained on all tobacco for home use or for export, both from the point 
of view of absence of foreign materials and of its hygroscopic condition, as 
the Revenue chargeis based on the latter. Chemical control is exercised 
over the use of preservatives and the denaturing of tobacco before it can 
safely be allowed out of Revenue control. 
(3) Sugar.—In the reign of James I. the importation of sugar was 
already sufficiently large to make it worth while to impose a duty on it, 
until at the beginning of the nineteenth century this amounted to 30s. a 
hundredweight. Before 1875, when the duty was abolished, disputes had 
arisen as to its proper assessment on the basis of description and character. 
When it again became dutiable in 1901 an extended classification was based 
on the polariscope scale, and sugars in numerous preparations had to be 
determined chemically. This has raised several difficult questions of 
chemical procedure, especially when natural as well as added sugars are 
resent. 
z (4) Tea and cocoa.—Attempts were made in 1777 to stop the adultera- 
tion of tea with foreign and exhausted leaves and other matter, but it was 
not until 1875 that the Sale of Food and Drugs Act placed on the Revenue 
authorities the responsibility for examining tea on importation. This is 
done on an extended scale by the application of chemical, microscopic, and 
practical tests. There has been, however, no imposition of standards in 
the United Kingdom, as is the case in Canada and the United States. 
The duty, and the drawback on the duty, on cocoa preparation has 
introduced chemical problems into the system of Revenue control, some of 
them of considerable difficulty, as, for example, those connected with the 
use of substitutes for the natural cocoa fat. 
(5) Dyestuffs, under the Dyestuffs Import Regulation Act, 1920.—The 
importation of dyestufis under this Act is controlled by a Dyestuffs Advi- 
sory Licensing Committee, on which distinguished chemists represent the 
science. 
Importation of synthetic dyestuffs and intermediates is prohibited 
except under licence, and although the individual substances leave little 
room for doubt, more difficult questions come before the Government 
Laboratory in the case of substances containing a coloured ingredient. 
(6) Substances taken under Safeguarding of Industries Act, 1921.— 
Part I. of this Act imposes an ad valorem duty on the products of certain 
‘ Key ’ industries, of which the fine-chemical manufacturing trade is one. 
After the Act had passed into law, the Government Laboratory became 
concerned with the chemical aspect of that section which has gained 
