T A N 



probability that tlic tanning principle will, at I'oine future 

 period, be formed artifici;Jly in fuch quantities and at fuch 

 expenfe as will admit of its general application to praftical 

 purpofes. The important difcovcry of Mr. Hatchett al- 

 ready goes far towards the accomplKhment of this objcft. 

 He has diftinaiy afccrtained tliat a fubftance very analogous 

 to tannin may be produced by expofing carbonaceous mat- 

 ter, whether vegetable, animal, or mineral, to the aftion of 

 nitric acid ; and has atlually converted fldn into leather by 

 deal faw-du(l, afphaltum, pit-coal, wax-candle, and even by 

 a part of the fame fort of (Icin itfelf. The changes pro- 

 duced in thefe bodies, by difuniting and rccombining tlieir 

 elementary principles, may by further developement lead to 

 a more economical procefs of tanning, and thus render ef- 

 fential fervice to the arts and manufafturcs. 



Tanned leather is fubjcft to a very heavy excife duty. In 

 the ninth year of queen Anne, a duty of ii!. pfr]h. was laid 

 on all hides and fkins tanned in Great Britain. In the fol- 

 lowing year an additional ^d. per lb. was impofed. Thus it 

 remained, amidll all the financial difficulties of fucceffive 

 chancellors of the exchequer, till 1812, when, by the aft 

 52 Geo. III. c. 94. a further duty of l{d. per lb. was added, 

 making the whole duty on tanned hides and flcins 31^. per lb. 

 The annual revenue arifing therefrom now amounts to up- 

 wards of 500,000/. 



It may not be improper here to remark, that the excife 

 duty on leather tanned in Ireland, is levied and collefted in a 

 different manner. 



The aft 40 Geo. III. c. 9. pafled in Ireland in 1800, in- 

 ftead of impofing a certain duty per pound weight, as in 

 England, on all hides and (Itins tanned with oak bark, im- 

 pofes a duty of nine pence by the year, for every cubic foot 

 contained in all the pits in the yard of the tanner, allowing 

 a dedudion of two-nintli5 for certain pits called hitches, which 

 are ufed folely for the purpofe of preparing the hxivium or 

 ooze. By this aft the tanner was permitted, on giving cer- 

 tain notice, to difcontinue not lefs than one-fourth, and by 

 43 Geo. III. c. 97. not lefs than one-eighth for fix months, 

 receiving a proportionate deduftion from his monthly pay- 

 ments of the duty. By the 48 Geo. III. c. 62. thofe afts 

 were made perpetual. 



Previous to the paffing the Irifh aft 40 Geo. III. the wri- 

 ter of this article was confulted by the then chancellor of the 

 exchequer in Ireland, on the relative amount of the intended 

 duty of nine pence per cubic foot ; and upon accurate cal- 

 culation It was found to bear a fair proportion to the duty 

 then exifting in England. If the prefent duty on leather 

 tanned in this part of the united kingdom were propor- 

 tionably commuted on a fimilar plan, it would materially 

 tend to the progrefs of the manufafture. 



The chief obftacle to great praftical improvement is the 

 excife duty — not fo much from its amount (though that is 

 very confidcrable), as from tlie mode in which it is now 

 levied and afcertained, namely, by weight, when the leather 

 is dry and fit for fale. This mode neccffarily requires a 

 fyftem of rules and regulations, which, from their multi- 

 plicity and complicated nature, fubjeft the manufafturer to 

 daily inconvenience, and to occafional hardihips. For, not- 

 withftanding the repeal of the opprefGve aft i James I. 

 cap. 22, and other fubfequcnt ftatutes, the tanner is ftill 

 reftrifted, by various excife laws, from advantageoufly 

 {having and reducing his hides and fkins — from mixing and 

 removmg them at his difcretion — and alfo from exercifing 

 the trades of a currier, &c. 



Thofe reitriftions, it muH be acknowledged, are in fome de- 

 cree ncceffary for the proteftion and fecurity of the revenue, 

 wliite the duties are impofed and collefted upon the prefent 



T A N 



fyflem. But if a different mode of taxation and colleftion (as 

 in Ireland, on the admcafurement of the pits ; or on the ra\^ 

 material, or any other plan ) could be adopted, the benefits 

 which would refult, both to the manufafturer and to the 

 community, are incalculable. It would leave the tanner at 

 full liberty to conduft his bufinefs entirely according to his 

 flfill and judgment, and to unite with it the trades of currier 

 and leather-cutter, which are fo naturally connefted with his 

 own. It would enable him to facilitate the procefs ; to fave 

 muchfuperfluous labour; to economize the materials of tan- 

 ning, which are now unavoidably wafted on ufelefs or inferior 

 leather ; to Ihave, divide, feleft, and appropriate certain 

 hides and flvins, or parts of hides and flcins, at the proper time 

 for their peculiar purpofes ; to prevent the injury which lea- 

 ther often receives in dr^'ing at particular feafons ; and ulti- 

 mately to improve the quality and reduce the price of one ef 

 the moll aifcful articles of general confumption. 



Thefe are matters well worthy the confideration of the 

 executive government and the legiflaturc. Some attention 

 has already been given to this fubjeft by the houfe of com- 

 mons in the fefTions of 18 15 and 1816, and we have no 

 doubt that by further inveftigation, intelhgent and unpre- 

 judiced perfons might eaiily arrange and complete a plan 

 which would afford pcrfeft fecurity to the revenue, would 

 iimplify the coUeftion, would prevent the poffibility of 

 fraud, and at the fame time prove extremely beneficial to the 

 manufafture and to the pubUc. 



TANNRODA, in Geography, a town of the principa- 

 lity of Weimar ; 9 miles S.S.W. of Weimar. 



TANORE, a town of Hindooftan, in the country of 

 Calicut ; 25 miles S.S.E. of Calicut. N. lat. 10^ 58'. 

 E. long. 75° 54'. 



TANOS,in Ancient Geography, atown ofthe ifland of Crete- 



TANOT, in Geography, a river of North Wales, which 

 rifes in the county of Montgomery, and runs into the Severn, 

 7 miles below Welfhpool. 



TANOUMDAIN, a town o f the Birmln empire ; 30 

 miles N.E. of Pagahm. 



TANREC, in Zoology, a name given by Buffon to the 

 Erinaceus Ecaudatus ; which fee. 



TANS A, in Geography, a branch of the river Mobile. 



TANSCHA. See Tangia. 



TANSE, a town of Brafil,in the jurifdiftion of St. Paul. 



TANSIET, or Texsift, vulgarly called Wed Mar.-ikofh, 

 or the river of Morocco, becaufe it paffes through the dif- 

 trift of that name, a river that rifes in mount Atlas, E. of 

 Morocco, and taking its courfe about five niiles N. of that 

 city, proceeds through the territory of Morocco, and Ra- 

 hamana, and nearly divides the two maritime provinces of 

 Shedma and Abda ; difcharging itfelf into the Atlantic 

 ocean, about 16 miles S. of the town of Saffy. In it? 

 courfe it receives fome tributary ftreams iffuing from the 

 Atlas, the principal of which is the Wed NifRs. In many 

 places it is very deep ; and about fix miles from Morocco 

 it is croffed by a bridge, erefted by Muley El Manfor, 

 which is very ftrong, but fiat, with many arches. At the 

 mouth of this river, on the N. fide, amid fome fands and' 

 marfhes, are the ruins of n fmall town, called by the Moors 

 Suera, from which the infalubrity of the air, or the inunda- 

 tions of the Tanfif, have driven the inhabitants. On the 

 other fide of the river, which is paffed by fording, or on 

 rafts made of reeds tied to leathern bags inflated with wind, 

 is a fquare caftle, built in the reign of Muley libmae], to 

 defend the paffage of the i-iver, during the time of the in- 

 teftine difturbances of the empire. This caftle at prefent 

 only contains a few families ; and the country round it is un- 

 cultivated. 



TAN- 



1 



