GELATIN  INSTEAD  OF  METAL  FOR  BOTTLE  CAPSULES.  249 
tages  of  the  old  sealing-wax  and  resin  plan.    In  the  first  place, 
for  home  consumption,  there  was  very  little  variety  beyond  the 
quality  of  the  wax  or  resin,  and  the  impression  or  seal  stamped 
thereon — in  many  cases,  no  impression  at  all ;  in  a  general  way, 
in  removing  the  cork,  the  resin  flew  about,  and,  being  very 
adhesive  when  at  all  warm,  was  exceedingly  disagreeable.  When 
the  cork  was  cut  short  off  and  flush  with  the  neck  of  the  bottle, 
it  was  almost  next  to  impossible  to  extract  the  cork  without  some 
of  the  resin  or  wax  falling  in  amongst  the  contents  ;  and  this 
may  be  especially  noticed  in  all  the  one-ounce  bottles  of  quinine. 
Again,  -in  those  articles  sent  to  hot  climates,  the  resin  or  wax 
became  partially  melted,  and  the  paper  in  which  the  commodity 
was  wrapped  adhered  to  the  resin  or  wax ;  and  so  any  dis- 
tinguishing seal,  stamp  or  mark  became  obliterated,  and  thus 
for  any  purpose  of  protection  was  valueless.  Again,  if  the  cork, 
as  is  commonly  the  case,  be  left  long,  and  simply  tied  over  with 
paper,  membrane  or  leather,  there  can  be  no  positive  protection 
or  guarantee  that  the  contents  have  not  been  changed,  mixed  or 
otherwise  tampered  with.  Moreover,  both  the  paper  and  leather, 
like  labels,  if  exposed  in  the  window  or  on  the  counter,  become 
dirty,  and,  as  they  cannot  be  cleaned,  must  be  renewed :  thus, 
the  cost  of  capping  is  doubled  and  sometimes  trebled  ;  and  in  the 
case  of  proprietary  articles  sent  abroad,  if  there  was  any  pecu- 
liarity in  the  capping,  as  it  could  neither  be  cleaned  nor  ex- 
changed, there  must,  I  feel,  have  been  frequent  annoyances  and 
sometimes  loss. 
Now,  the  metallic  capsule  was  calculated  to  remedy  much  of 
this,  although  not  the  whole  of  it.  It  made  a  neat  and  polished 
finish ;  fly-marks,  dirt  or  dust  could  at  any  time  be  washed  off, 
and,  if  the  capsule  was  properly  applied,  it  became,  to  a  great 
extent,  a  protection ;  so  far,  good  and  favorable  to  the  employ- 
ment of  metallic  capsules.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  capsule 
was  carelessly  put  on,  it  was  quite  possible  to  remove  it  and 
replace  it  without  injury,  detriment,  or  discovery.  Again,  any 
writing  or  maker's,  name  was  not  very  distinct,  and  could  only 
be  made  out  after  some  study ;  moreover,  there  could  be  very 
little  variety  in  appearance,  which  variety,  in  some  business,  is 
almost  a  necessity :  variety  lends  a  charm  to  most  things,  and 
