CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS. 
free of postage : each of which must weigh 
less than one ounce. 
GAURS. This word having been re- 
ferred to, it is necessary to mention that 
the Gaiirs are an ancient sect of magicians 
in Persia, where they are employed in the 
meanest offices, and vilest drudgery. They 
are said to be harmless in their manners, 
zealous in their opinions, rigorous in their 
moi’als, and exact in their dealings. They 
profess the tutorship of one God alone, the 
belief of a resurrection, and a future judg- 
ment, and utterly detest all idolatry. They 
perform their acts of worship in the pre- 
sence of fire, for which they have much 
veneration, regarding it as the most perfect 
emblem of the living an'd invisible God. 
They exhibit the same marks of respect for 
Zoroaster that the Jews have for Moses, 
esteeming him as a prophet sent from God. 
GUIAC. Read Guaiacum. 
HOWITZ, or Howitzer, in military 
affairs, a kind of mortar mounted upon a 
field carriage like a gun. The difference 
between a mortar and a howitzer is, that 
the trunnions of the first are at the end, 
and of the other in the middle. The inven- 
tion of howitzers is of much later date than 
that of mortars. The construction is va- 
rious, but the chamber is always cylindri- 
cal. They are distinguished by the diame- 
ter of the bore. A battery of howitzers is 
formed in the same way as a gun-battery, 
only the embrasures are at least a foot wi- 
der, on account of the shortness of the 
howitzer. 
JESUITS. In this article, for Loyoly 
and 173fJ, read Loyola and 1538. 
LINARIA has been referred to from 
Linnet, which is a species of Fringilla, 
and under that article the description will 
be found. 
MUSTELA has been referred to from 
Ferret, &c. but the reference should have 
been to Viverra, where the principal spe- 
cies are described. 
NAZARENES, in church history, has 
been referred to from the article Ebio- 
NiTEs; and being omitted in its proper 
place, we may observe here, that it was a 
name originally applied to Christians in ge- 
neral, as followers of Jesus of Nazareth ; 
but was afterwards restrained to that sect 
who endeavoured to blend the institutions 
of the Mosaic law with those which are 
peculiar to the gospel. 
NECROMANCY being referred to, we 
define the term as a species of pretended 
divination, performed by raising the dead, 
and extorting answers from them. 
PERSICA was referred to from Necta- 
rine, but the reference should have been 
to Amygd'alus, of which genus the per- 
sica, or nectarine, is only a species. 
PRINTING, stereotype. In the second 
paragraph, for by the Jesuits, read say the 
Jesuits. See Stereotype. 
STAMP duties, a branch of the public 
revenue, raised by requiring, that all deeds 
or documents, in order to be valid, shall be 
written on paper or parchment bearing a 
public seal for which a tax is paid. This 
mode of taxation was introduced into Eng- 
land in 1671, by “ an act for laying an im- 
position on proceedings at law;” but the 
act in 1694 for imposing several duties upon 
vellum, parchment and paper, may be con- 
sidered as the commencement of the pre- 
sent Stamp Office, as a particular set of 
commissioners was then appointed for ma- 
naging the duties. These duties at first 
were to continue only for a limited period, 
but about the year 1698 several new ones 
were granted to continue for ever, to which, 
additions, almost without end, have, at 
different times, been since made, as will ap- 
pear from the following statement. The 
total gross produce of the stamp duties, in 
the year 1713, was 107,7791., the charges 
of management of which amounted to 
14,2961., leaving a nett produce of only 
93,4831. In 1723, tlie nett produce had 
increased to 130,4091. ; and it seldom ex- 
ceeded this amount till 1757, when some 
new stamp duties were imposed, by which 
the total nett amount of this revenue was 
increased to 267,7251. : in 1766 it amount- 
ed to 285,2661. ; and no material additions 
were made till towards the conclusion of 
the American war. In 1782, a duty was 
imposed on fire-insurances, which, though 
not actually collected by means of stamps, 
was classed with the stamp duties. In 
1784, additional duties were laid on gold 
and silver plate. In 1785, duties were 
laid on post-horses, quacjc medicines, game- 
licenses, attorneys’ licenses, and pawn- 
brokers ; all of which were deemed stamp 
duties, and considerably augmented the an- 
nual amount. But a far greater increase 
took place in the course of the war whieh 
began in 1793, during whieh new stamps 
duties were imposed on receipts, bills of 
exchange, attorneys’ articles, sea-insur- 
ances, licenses to wear hair-powder, horse- 
dealers’ licenses, legacies, hats, stage- 
coaches, deeds^ armorial bearings,, small 
