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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 15, 1873. 
“ the work would get too healthy, and the wages conse¬ 
quently lowered ! ” It is such ridiculous notions, or else 
obstinacy of will, which render these workmen blind to 
their own interests, nor can I see any means of reform 
amongst them, unles it he the compulsory enforcement 
of rules, which will eventually prove to them, by incon¬ 
testable facts, the benefit which managers and workmen 
will enjoy from their observance. 
THE FIFTEENTH REPORT OF THE COMMIS¬ 
SIONERS OF INLAND REVENUE. 
This report which relates to the financial year, ending- 
on the 31st March, 1872, contains some interesting- and 
valuable information for those who take pleasure in the 
commercial progress of the country. It shows that 
although there was a repeal of assessed taxes, yet the 
net increase in the income from the Inland Revenue 
amounted in the year to upwards of four millions—the 
total sum received being £44,805,895. The Commis¬ 
sioners point out with pardonable pride that upwards of 
25,000,000 gallons of spirits were charged with duty, and 
that the percentage of increase was, in England 8*58, 
in Scotland 4*89, and in Ireland 7*20. Of the quantities 
retained in the three countries for consumption, the per¬ 
centages vary slightly from the above. Thus the in¬ 
crease in England is 6*91 per cent., in Scotland 4-40, and 
in Ireland 10-30—the total increase in the United 
Kingdom being 7-08 per cent. Taking the census of 
1871 as the basis of the calculation, it is shown that the 
quantity of spirits actually drunk in the United King¬ 
dom is sufficient for every man, woman, and child to 
have 0-574 gallon in England; 1*727 in Scotland; and 
1-064 gallon in Ireland—the average being 0-781 gal¬ 
lon. The Commissioners direct attention to the fact 
that with respect to whisky, there has been a great 
change in public taste. Comparatively speaking, Irish 
whisky has not been, till recently, a popular beverage ; 
but during the last two or three years it has risen in 
public estimation, and is now becoming a substitute both 
for Scotch whisky and brandy. However, as it takes a 
longer time to mature than Scotch whisky, the revenue 
authorities have been compelled to provide increased 
warehouse accommodation; the quantity of whisky in 
bonded warehouses, at the close of 1871, being over 
19 million gallons, as against 11| millions in 1867 
Before leaving the subject of the spirit duties, the 
Commissioners state that 1,086,671 gallons of spirits 
have been methylated—the increase on the year being- 
84,3 73 gallons. The increase is considered to be due to 
the general expansion of trade, and there is no official 
reason to believe that methylated spirit is used for any 
other than legitimate purposes. It would appear from 
the 1144 detections of illicit distillation made during the 
year, that the heavy duty on spirits of 10s. per proof 
gallon offers a strong inducement to persons to try to 
evade the duty. This number, however, though large, 
shows a falling off of over 700 cases; the inference drawn 
by the Commissioners being that there has been less 
illicit distillation than for the past twenty years. 
Whilst the distillers have been driving such a thriving 
trade, the malsters have been somewhat less prosperous. 
In Scotland there was an increase in the quantity of 
malt made; but in England and Ireland there was such 
a falling off that the decrease in the year reached 
868,382 bushels, or 1-64 per cent. The total quantity of 
malt charged with duty reached 52,061,010 bushels; 
and in addition there were 5,336,680 bushels mado for 
distillation and exportation. Of these quantities, it is 
estimated that 1,740,115 bushels were either exported or 
used in brewing beer exported on drawback. 
From duties the report passes on to licences, and under 
the head of Establishment Licences (7. e. on servants, 
carriages, horses and mules, horse dealers, armorial 
bearings, and dogs), it is stated that the amount of 
revenue collected is more than a million and a half. 
The licence duty on dogs, although it has been reduced 
from 12s. to 5s., reached for the year 1872 £280,000, as 
against £231,000, when the licence was fixed at the 
higher rate. 
It appears from the report that 12,854 medicine ven¬ 
dors took out licences, and that the sum paid for the 
same was £7139. 
It may be noticed, in passing, that the amount of re¬ 
venue yielded from stamps reached £9,739,548, and from 
taxes £11,680,283. Of this latter, the sum of £9,328,102 
was derived from the income-tax. 
In the appendix there is a short report from Mr. 
Phillips, the principal of the Inland Revenue Laboratory, 
of the work performed in his department during the 
year. Although the narrative is brief the amount of 
work performed is very large, the number of samples 
examined being 12,128 ; of this number, 2241 were re¬ 
ceived from the Customs, and 933 from the Board of 
Trade. 
The samples of tobacco examined amounted to 404 in 
number, and of these 271 were adulterated, the adulter¬ 
ants being rice starch, liquorice, gum, logwood, caramel, 
sugar and salt of iron. 
The amount of adulteration ranged to 4 per cent, rice 
starch, 44 per cent, liquorice, and 5 per cent. gum. The 
gum was discovered in tobacco obtained at two manufac¬ 
tories in the north of Ireland; and the novelty of this 
detection consisted in the fact that manufacturers being 
aware that tobacco contained gum, appeared to have 
thought that any kind of gum could be added to tobacco 
with impunity. Happily, chemistry proved to demon¬ 
stration that there was a marked difference between the 
gum found in these two samples of tobacco and that 
naturally present in all tobacco, and the traders were 
accordingly fined for this novel evasion of the liw. 
It appears that during the year 42,656,658 pounds of 
tobacco were cleared for consumption, and this quantity 
represents 1 lb. 5± oz. as being consumed by every man, 
woman, and child" in the United Kingdom. The revenue 
derived from tobacco amounts to about seven million 
pounds sterling, and the quantity used is steadily on the 
increase. 
Of 34 samples of snuff examined, 6 were adulterated 
with umber and lime. 1267 samples of tobacco and 433 
samples of snuff were examined for estimation of duty on 
drawback; and of 15 samples of chicory and coffee 
examined, 5 were adulterated with roasted biscuit. 
Out of 134 samples of beer and materials used in 
brewing beer, 25 were adulterated with one or other of 
the following ingredients :—liquorice, caramel, foot- 
sugar, grains of paradise, salt, and copperas. 
Of 687 samples of malt examined, 89 contained an 
illegal quantity of ungerminated grain. 6546 samples 
of beer were tested to determine the original gravity 
for drawback, and 326 samples of naphtha were examined 
as to their being of the proper quality and strength for 
methylating purposes. 
The lime and lemon-juice examined for the Board of 
Trade for the use of the mercantile marine amounted to 
761 samples, representing 84,649 gallons; 126 samples, 
representing 14,208 gallons, were rejected, thus showing 
that about one-sixth of the juice presented for examina¬ 
tion did not reach the fixed standard of strength and purity. 
The 356 miscellaneous samples examined include per¬ 
fumed spirit, methylated spirit, laudanum, and paregoric. 
It is thus evident that the authorities have a vigilant 
eye to the detection of the improper use of methylated 
spirit for medicines for internal use. 
This interesting report closes with some observations 
on the work performed at the Government chemical sta¬ 
tions situated at Bristol, Hull, Liverpool, Newhaven, 
Southampton, Glasgow, Leith, Belfast, Cork, and Dublin, 
and it appears that the samples examined at these places 
were about 4000 in number. 
The appendix contains other papers of importance, but 
they are not of sufficient interest to the general public to 
refer to them in this paper. 
