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to 400 tons of shell, most of which is sent to this country. 
The consumption here, however, I should estimate at some- 
what below 100 tons per annum — the rest of the import is 
used for the best Birmingham goods or exported to the con- 
tinent. The present value is now about £130 to £140 per 
ton ; but the supply and demand is so variable that Manilla and 
Singapore shell has been sold within the last fifty years at 
almost all rates between £60 and £600 per ton. These shells 
are in Sheffield cut into scales and handles by circular saws, 
and the pieces have afterwards to be ground down on stones 
singly and by hand, to a level surface and a required thick- 
ness. This tedious process aids in making this a costly covering 
for cutlery, and as the substance is both hard and brittle, when 
the handles or scales are fluted or carved, the price is of course 
still more enhanced. Commencing with the statistics of the 
Horn trade, I shall have to estimate the supply of foreign 
horns, as since 1847 I find no record of the imports 
and clearances of these articles. When they were chargeable 
with duty, all sorts were classed together, and from 1843 to 
1847 the imports ranged from 1,600 to 2,700 tons per annum, 
and averaged 2,250 tons. The clearances for home con- 
sumption varied from 1,200 to 2,200 tons per annum, and 
averaged 1,600 tons. I estimate that the subsequent clear- 
ances for home use have been fully equal to that average, and 
that 1,400 tons per annum are worked up in this town. Of 
the Ox and Cow Horn but little is used for cutlery purposes, 
nearly all the hollow portion is cut into suitable lengths, 
opened, flattened by heat and pressure, and worked into 
combs or lanthorn leaves. The solid point is used for knife 
and umbrella handles, and the hollow parts of such horns as 
are mottled with grey or black and white, are used for pen- 
knife scales, hollow parts that are not particularly well-suited 
for combs, being pressed into scales for sword or razor handles. 
The imports of Horns are large from South America (one 
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