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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
[February 17, 1872 
SUPPLEMENT TO THE FOURTEENTH REPORT OF 
THE COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND REVENUE. 
The Supplement to the Fourteenth Report of the 
Commissioners of Inland Revenue, just issued, mainly 
consists of a number of interesting- tables relating- to the 
excise ; and the report of Mr. George Phillips, the prin¬ 
cipal of their laboratory, for the financial year ending 
March 31st, 1871. 
In the first table in the book is given the net receipt 
for the financial year 1870, from excise, stamps, and 
taxes, as being £40,786,913, and that there had been re¬ 
ceived from malt and spirit duties £952,549 more than 
in the previous year. This increase indicates that trade 
was in a flourishing state, as national prosperity always 
tends to increase the consumption of the luxuries of life. 
If there be no disturbing cause, the increase or decrease 
in the consumption of beer, spirits and tobacco is usually 
a safe guide in determining the prosperity of the coun¬ 
try. The percentages of increase in the quantities of 
spirits and malt retained for home consumption were 
respectively 4-46 and 4-40, and this increase in the con¬ 
sumption extended to Ireland as well as to Great Britain. 
Of spirits charged with duty, the percentage of increase 
in Ireland, as compared with England, was as 6-80 to 2-96, 
—a difference sufficiently great to prove that Ireland 
was exceedingly prosperous during the year 1870. 
The quantity of spirit methylated in the United King¬ 
dom was 24,829 gallons in excess of the previous year. 
In Ireland the number of detections of illicit distillation 
was 402 less than in 1869; the “potheen” manufactu¬ 
rers must, therefore, have either acted with greater cau¬ 
tion than usual, or have suspended operations for a 
time, in order to follow more legitimate occupations. 
It is very satisfactory to find that the quantity of 
sugar made in the United Kingdom was 5714 cwt. 
against 2972 cwt. in 1869. In Germany and France the 
manufacture of sugar from beet is a large branch of 
national industry, and annually becomes more flourish¬ 
ing and important. There appears to be no valid reason 
why this manufacture, now successfully carried on by 
Mr. Duncan, at Lavenham, in Suffolk, should not become 
general, and thus open up another branch of trade to the 
British agriculturist. From statements which have been 
made in the Times by such men as Mr. Caird and Mr. 
Duncan, who thoroughly understand the subject, it ap¬ 
pears that the Lavenham works have been profitable, in 
spite of the many drawbacks always surrounding a new 
manufacture ; and there is no reason why other sugar 
refiners should be deterred from embarking in the trade. 
The quantity of sugar used in brewing has decreased 
1,186,640 lb.; the amount, however, consumed diusing 
the past year reached 31,950,240 lb., or upwards of 
14,263 tons. Of glucose sugar, made in this country 
from starch, duty has been charged on 24,007 cwt. 
This sugar is used exclusively for brewing purposes, and 
is said to have the property of preserving the beer 
brewed wholly or partially from it. 
After the tables of excise duties follow a great number 
relating to licences, stamps and taxes, which, although 
interesting to the financier and political economist, are 
not of sufficient interest to call for special remark. 
The report of Mr. Phillips is very brief and modest, 
considering the large amount of useful and important 
work performed in his department during the year. 
The number of samples examined was 10,653, being 666 
less than in the previous year. The work performed 
does not belong exclusively to the Inland Revenue, for, 
of the above number, 1798 samples were examined for 
the customs and 672 for the Board of Trade. In con¬ 
nection with some of the customs’ samples, Mr. Phillips 
has to repeat the old tale of traders endeavouring to 
defraud the revenue of spii’it duty by importing such 
commodities as “ fruit essences,” “ hair "dye,” “ naphtha,” 
etc., and declaring they contain no alcohol, when, in 
reality, a considerable quantity is present. 
In a table at the end of the report we learn that the 
672 samples examined for the Board of Trade consisted of 
561 samples of lime and lemon juice, and 111 samples of 
spirits for fortifying the same. Of this number, 68 sam¬ 
ples of juice and 5 of spirit were rejected, as under the 
standard of quality. 
The number of prosecutions in which scientific chemi¬ 
cal evidence was given was 27, and the penalties imposed 
by the magistrates amounted to £975, or an average 
penalty of upwards of £36 in each case. 
The fixed assistants in the laboratory have been in¬ 
creased from three to five, and it is not surprising that 
the principal seems delighted with the change from 
a temporary to a permanent staff, and feels that, by 
having a greater number of experienced analysts, greater 
attention can be given to the more difficult and intricate- 
work of the department. 
Tho report on tobacco, though short, is a highly in¬ 
teresting one. It appears that, of 432 samples taken 
from traders for examination, not less than 312 wore- 
adulterated. The adulterants were wheat and rice 
starches, sugar, liquorice, lampblack, catechu and colour¬ 
ing matter. One sample contained 40 per cent, of' 
sugar, and another 55 per cent, of liquorice. Two Irishi 
manufacturers were detected using wheat and rice 
starches as adulterants, and from them were seized 
7100 lb. of tobacco. The duty on such tobacco is 3s. 2 d. 
per lb.; it will therefore be at once seen that these ma¬ 
nufacturers paid very dearly for their experiments. 
This method of adulteration was common in Ireland in 
1868, and in that year many tons of tobacco were taken, 
from manufacturers in different parts of the country. 
A calculation has been made frem the quantity of 
tobacco on which duty has been paid during the year 
that the consumption of tobacco per head of the popula- 
tion was 1 lb. 5 j oz., as against 1 lb. 5f oz. in the preceding; 
year. 
All the samples of snuff examined were legally genuine- 
It is necessary to qualify the genuineness of these samples, 
because snuff can legally contain both alkaline salts and 
lime ; and as there is no fixed limit to the quantity of 
the alkaline salts which may be present, samples have- 
been known to contain 50 per cent, of such salts. 
60,4051b. of tobacco and 287,6861b. of snuff were ex¬ 
ported on drawback; and 1031 samples taken from the- 
former, and 459 samples from the latter, were examined 
for the estimation of the amount of drawback to which 
the exporters were entitled. Five samples only of coffee 
were examined during the year, one of which was adul¬ 
terated with sago starch. 
Nine out of fourteen samples of beer and materials- 
used in the brewing of beer were found adulterated. 
The adulterants were sugar, treacle, ground rice, liquorice 
powder, grains of paradise and tobacco. 
The report shows a falling off in the number of bar¬ 
rels of beer exported 'during the year, and, although. 
5848 samples were examined for drawback, there was a 
decrease of 213 samples. 
One sample of laudanum was found to have been pre¬ 
pared with methylated spirit; and of nine samples sold, 
as “ finish,” two were simply methylated spirit and 
seven contained much less than the required quantity of' 
gum resin. Common rosin has been allowed to be used 
in the preparation of “finish,” in addition to shellac, 
seed lac and sandarach. Rosin will doubtless answer- 
for some purposes as well as the gum resins, but it is 
questionable whether its brittleness will not prevent- 
“ finish ” made with it from being used by hat manufac¬ 
turers and other traders who require a tough gum. 
302 samples, representing 69,830 gallons, of wood 
naphtha for methylating purposes, were examined, and 
two only were found below the required strength. 
536 miscellaneous samples were examined, and the 
list comprises wine, gingerette, temperance beverages,, 
herb liquor, botanic beer, medicated spirit, peppermint, 
quinine wine, and a host of other substances too numerous- 
to mention. 
