554 
FRENCH  BRANDT. 
adhere  to  its  internal  surface,  then,  turning  his  grater  towards 
the  back,  he  removes  all  the  dirt,  and  the  water  which  has  ac- 
cumulated on  the  external  side,  or  epidermis,  taking  great  care 
not  to  injure  the  same.  Upon  which  he  proceeds  to  pounce  it, 
that  is  to  saj,  he  covers  the  skin,  on  the  inner  side  only,  with 
a  layer  of  very  fine  powdered  dead  lime,  and  then  passes  a  very 
large  pumice-stone  over  it.  The  lime  absorbs  with  rapidity  all 
the  water  yet  retained  in  the  skin.  After  these  operations,  the 
skin  is  again  dried,  and  then  given  to  the  polisher,  who  treats 
it  again  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  before  described.  He 
makes  it  thinner  and  more  equal,  gives  it  a  beautiful  polish,  by 
means  of  a  very  soft  pumice-stone.  The  parchment  is  then 
folded,  shaved  off,  put  in  the  press,  and  sent  forth  to  the  trade. 
Yellum  is  only  a  superior  quality  of  parchment ;  it  is  made  of 
the  finest  skins,  generally  from  the  lamb  or  the  calf,  as  its  name 
indicates  (yeel  in  the  middle-ages  meant  calf).  A  solution  of 
gum  water  and  fine  white-lead  is  spread  on  the  vellum,  in  order 
to  give  it  a  whiter  and  smoother  aspect.  The  intestines  of 
animals  have  sometimes  been  employed.  Zonore  states,  in  his 
"  Annals,''  that  the  Library  at  Constantinople  possessed 
Homer's  works  written  in  golden  letters  on  the  intestine  of  a 
serpent,  which  was  120  feet  in  length.  Parchment  in  former 
times  was  dyed  yellow  or  purple  ;  the  latter  being  generally  re- 
served for  sacred  books,  or  for  the  use  of  royal  families. — Mor- 
ganh  Brit.  Trade  Journ.^  July  2,  1869. 
FRENCH  BRANDY. 
Cognac,  with  its  brandy  distilleries  and  its  24,000  inhabitants, 
is  reported  by  the  Hon.  H.  P.  Vereker,  her  Majesty's  Consul 
at  Tonnay-Charente,  to  be  one  of  the  wealthiest  towns  in  the 
world  in  proportion  to  its  size.  The  quantity  of  brandy  ex- 
ported from  Tonnay-Charente  in  1868  was  9,187,816  gallons, 
nearly  the  whole  of  which  was  exported  to  the  United  Kingdom. 
In  1863  the  exportation  was  only  3,988,358  gallons,  in  1866  it 
reached  11,562,210  gallons,  and  in  1867  the  quantity  was 
9,770,420  gallons.  In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  larger  quan- 
tity shipped  in  bottle  instead  of  in  cask,  and  although  the  brandies 
