straining off the clear solution, and adding muriatic acid, which enters into combination with the lime, and the benzoic acid, being nearly insoluble in water, falls as a white powder; this may be further purified by a sublimation. Benzoic acid is of a beautiful pearly white colour when pure, has a very peculiar aromatic odour, and an acrid, acid, and bitter taste; it is used in making pastilles and perfumed incense. This acid also occurs in the balsams of Tolu and Peru, and in the urine of the horse and cow.

Boracic acid-is found in an uncombined state in many of the hot springs of Tuscany, as also at Sesso in the Florentine territory, from whence it has received the name of Sessolin. In Thibet, Persia, and South America, it occurs in combination with soda, and is imported from the former place into this country in a crystalline form, under the name of Tincal. These crystals are coated with a rancid, fatty substance, and require to be purified by repeated solutions and crystallizations; after which it is sold under the appellation of borax ; (bi-borate of soda ;) from a hot solution of this salt the boracic acid is readily obtained, by the addition of sulphuric acid in slight excess; sulphate of soda is formed, and the boracic acid crystallizes as the solution cools. When pure, these crystals are white, and have an unctuous greasy feel; they are soluble in alcohol, communicating a green tinge to its flame; when fused it forms a transparent glass, and has been found by Mr. Faraday to unite with the oxide of lead, producing a very uniform glass, free from all defects, and well adapted for the purpose of telescopes and other astronomical instruments. Borax is much employed in the arts, particularly in metallurgic operations as a flux; also in enamelling, and in pharmacy.

Carbonic acid. This acid occurs very abundantly in nature, combined with lime, magnesia, barytes, aerial acid, fixed air, mephitic acid; from any of these it is easily separated by the addition of nearly any of the other acids. In its uncombined form, it is a transparent, gaseous fluid, having a density of 1-53, atmospheric air being unity; it is absorbed to a considerable extent by water, and when the water is rendered slightly alkaline by the addition of carbonate of soda, and a large quantity of gas forced into it by pressure, it forms the well-known refreshing beverage, soda water. This gas is also formed in very large quantities during combustion, respiration, and fermentation. Carbonic acid gas is destructive of animal life and combustion, and from its great weight accumulates in the bottoms of deep wells, cellars, caves, &c., which have been closed for a long period, and numerous fatal accidents arise frequently to persons entering such places incautiously; the precaution should always be taken of introducing a lighted candle prior to the descent or entrance of any one; for should the candle be extinguished, it would be dangerous to enter until properly ventilated. The combinations of carbonic acid with the alkalies, earths, and metallic oxides are termed carbonates.

Citric acid-exists in a free state, in the juice of the lemon, lime, and other fruits, combined however with mucilage, and sometimes a little sugar, which renders it, if required to be preserved for a long period, very liable to ferment; on this account, the crystallized citric acid is to be preferred. It is prepared by saturating the lemon juice with chalk; the citric acid combines with the lime, forming an insoluble compound, while the carbonic acid is liberated; the insoluble citrate, after being well washed, is to be acted upon by dilute sulphuric acid, which forms sulphate of lime, and the citric acid enters into solution in the water; by filtration and evaporation the citric acid is obtained in colourless transparent crystals. The chief uses to which it is applied are as a preventive of sea scurvy, and in making refreshing acidulous or effervescing drinks; for which latter purpose it is peculiarly fitted from its very pleasant flavour.

Fluoric acid is found in the well-known mineral fluor spar in combination with lime; from which it is procured in the liquid form, by distillation with dilute sulphuric acid in a leaden or silver retort; the receiver should be of the same material as the retort, and kept cool by ice or snow.

This acid is gaseous in its pure form, highly corrosive, and intensely acid; it is rapidly absorbed by water, communicating its properties to that fluid. Its chief use is for etching on glass, which it corrodes with great rapidity. For this purpose a thin coating of wax is to be melted on the surface of the glass, and the sketch drawn by a fine hard-pointed instrument through the wax; the liquid acid is then poured on it, and after a short time, on the removal of the acid and coating, an etching will be found in the substance of the glass. A very excellent application of this property, possessed by fluoric acid, is in the roughing the shades for table lamps. All the metals, except silver, lead, and platina, are acted upon by this acid.

Gallic acid. The source from which this acid is generally obtained is the nut gall, a hard protuberance produced on the oak by the puncture of insects. The most simple method of procuring the acid in its pure form, is to submit the galls in fine powder to sublimation in a retort, taking care that the heat be applied slowly and with caution; the other processes require a very long period for their completion. When pure, gallic acid has a white and silky appearance, and a highly astringent and slightly acid taste. The nut galls, which owe their properties to the gallic acid they contain, are employed very extensively in the arts, for dyeing and staining silks, cloths, and woods of a black colour; this is owing to its forming with the oxide of iron an intense black precipitate. Writing ink is made on the same principle; a very excellent receipt of the late Dr. Black's is, to take 3 oz. of the best Aleppo galls in fine powder, I oz. sulphate of iron, (green vitriol,) 1 oz. logwood finely rasped, 1 oz. gum arabic, one pint of the best vinegar, one pint of soft water, and 8 or 10 cloves; in this case the black precipitate is kept suspended by the gum.

Hydriodic acid,-a compound of iodine and hydrogen, in its separate form is of very little importance in the arts; its combinations with potass, soda, and other of the metallic oxides, will be treated of hereafter.

Malic acid-exists in the juices of many fruits, particularly the apple, as also in the berries of the service and mountain ash.

Meconic acid-is found in opium, in combination with morphia, forming the meconate of morphia, on which the action of opium principally depends.

Muriatic acid, or spirits of salts.-This acid (the hydrochloric of the French chemists) is manufactured from the chloride of sodium (dry sea salt) by the action of sulphuric acid, (oil of vitriol.) The most economical proportions are 20 pounds of fused salt, and 20 pounds of oil of vitriol previously mixed with an equal weight of water; these are placed in an iron or earthen pot, to which an earthen head and receiver are adapted, and submitted to distillation; the muriatic acid passes over in the vaporous form, and may be easily condensed. The liquid acid thus obtained should have a specific gravity of 117, water being equal to 100; it has a strong acid taste, and a slight yellow colour; this is owing to a small quantity of oxide of iron. By redistillation in a glass retort at a low temperature, it may be obtained perfectly pure and colourless. It sometimes contains a little sulphuric acid; this is detected by a solution of muriate of barytes. Muriatic acid, in its uncombined state, is an invisible elastic gas, having a very strong affinity for water; that fluid absorbing, at a temperature of 40° Fahrenheit, 480 times its volume, and the resulting liquid acid has a density of 121. So great is this attraction for water, that when the gas is liberated into the air, it combines with the moisture always present in that medium, forming dense white vapours. Its combinations with the alkalies, &c. are termed muriates; those of the greatest importance are, the muriates of tin, ammonia, barytes, and sea salt. The test for the presence of muriatic acid in any liquid is the nitrate of silver, (lunar caustic,) which causes a curdy white precipitate.

Nitric acid, or aquafortis.-This, which is one of the most useful acids with which the chemist is

acquainted, is prepared by acting upon saltpetre (nitre or nitrate of potass) with oil of vitriol; the proportions best suited for this purpose are, three parts by weight of nitre and two of oil of vitriol; or 100 nitre, and 60 oil of vitriol previously diluted with 20 of water; either of these proportions will produce a very excellent acid. When submitted to distillation, which should be conducted in earthen or glass vessels, the nitric acid passes over in the form of vapour, and a bisulphate of potass (sal mixum) remains in the retort.

Nitric acid of commerce has usually a dark orange-red colour, giving off copious fumes, and having a specific gravity of 150, water being 100. It is strongly acid and highly corrosive. It may be obtained perfectly colourless by a second distillation, rejecting the first portion that passes over. It is much employed in the arts, for etching on copper-plates for engraving; also, for the separation of silver from gold, in the process of quartation. In pharmacy and surgery it is extensively used, and is employed for destroying contagious effluvia. Combined with muriatic acid, it forms aqua regia,(nitro-muriatic acid,) used as a solvent for gold, platina, &c. This acid is frequently contaminated with the muriatic and sulphuric acids; these may be detected by the following methods.-A portion of the suspected acid should be diluted with three or four times its volume of distilled water, and divided into two glasses; to one of which nitrate of silver (lunar caustic in solution) is to be added, and to the other, nitrate of barytes; if muriatic acid be present, a white curdy precipitate will be thrown down by the former: and if sulphuric, a white granular precipitate by the latter.

Oxalic acid-occurs in combination with potass as binoxalate of potass in the different varieties of sorrel, from whence the binoxalate of potass has been termed salt of sorrel. This acid is usually prepared by the action of nitric acid upon sugar, evaporating the solution, after the action has ceased, to the consistence of a syrup, and redissolving and recrystallizing the crystals which are thus procured.

It is sold in small white acicular crystals, of a strongly acid taste and highly poisonous, and sometimes in its external appearance bears a strong similarity to Epsom salts, (sulphate of magnesia,) which it has been unfortunately frequently mistaken for. It is instantly distinguished from Epsom salts by placing a small crystal upon the tongue; when its strong acid taste, compared with the nauseous bitter of the sulphate of magnesia, will be quite a sufficient criterion. In cases of poisoning, however, by this acid, lime, or chalk, mixed with water to form a cream, should be immediately administered, the combinations of oxalic acid with these substances being perfectly inert. It is employed in removing ink stains, iron moulds, &c. from linen and leather; the best proportions for these purposes are, 1 oz. of the acid to a pint of water. The most delicate test of the presence of oxalic acid is, a salt of lime or lime-water, with either of which it forms a white precipitate, insoluble in water, but soluble in acids. Its combinations are termed oxalates.

Phosphoric acid-is of very little importance in a commercial point of view, except as forming with lime the earth of bones, (phosphate of lime.) It is prepared by heating bones to whiteness in a furnace; from this phosphoric acid is obtained by the action of sulphuric acid, still combined, however, with a small quantity of lime. The action of nitric acid upon phosphorus, the latter being added gradually and in small pieces, yields this' acid in a state of purity; its combinations are termed phosphates.

Prussic acid, or hydrocyanic acid.—This acid, which is the most virulent and poisonous acid known, is contained in peach blossoms, bay leaves, and many other vegetable productions, which owe their peculiar odour to the presence of prussic acid. For the purposes of medicine and chemistry, this acid is prepared either by distilling one part of the cyanuret of mercury, one part of muriatic acid of specific gravity 1-15, and six parts of water, six parts of prussic acid being collected; or, by dissolving a certain weight of cyanuret of mercury, and passing a current of sulphuretted hydrogen through the solution, until the whole of the mercury shall be precipitated; if an excess of sulphuretted hydrogen should be present, a little carbonate of lead (white lead) will remove it; on filtering, a colourless prussic acid will be obtained. By the first process, which is the one followed at Apothecaries' Hall, the acid has a density 995, water being equal to 1,000; by the latter, it may be procured of any required strength, depending on the quantity of cyanuret of mercury dissolved. The best test for the presence of this acid is, first to add a small quantity of the protosulphate of iron (solution of green vitriol,) then a little solution of potass, and lastly diluted sulphuric acid; if prussic acid be present, prussian blue will be formed. Its combinations are called prussiates or hydrocyanates; when in its concentrated form, it is so rapid in its effects that large animals have been killed in the short space of 80 seconds, or from a minute to a minute and a half.

Sulphurous Acid-is formed whenever sulphur is burnt in atmospheric air: it is a suffocating and pungent gas, strongly acid, bleaches vegetable colours with great rapidity, and arrests the process of vinous fermentation. For these purposes it is therefore very much employed, especially in bleaching woollen goods and straws. Fermentation may be immediately arrested by burning a small quantity of sulphur in casks, and then racking off the wine while still fermenting into them; this frequently gives the wine a very unpleasant taste of sulphur, which is avoided by the use of sulphate of potass, made by impregnating a solution of potass with sulphurous acid gas.

Sulphuric acid, or oil of vitriol-called oil of vitriol from its having been formerly manufactured from green vitriol, (sulphate of iron.) In some parts of the Continent this process is still followed. The method generally adopted in this country, is to introduce nine parts of sulphur, intimately mixed with one part of nitre, in a state of active combustion, into large leaden chambers, the bottoms of which are covered with a stratum of water. Sulphurous and nitrous acid gases are generated, which entering into combination form a white crystalline solid, which falls to the bottom of the chamber; the instant that the water comes in contact with it, this solid is decomposed with a hissing noise and effervescence, sulphuric acid combines with the water, and nitrous gas is liberated, which combining with oxygen from the air of the chamber, is converted into nitrous acid gas, again combines with sulphurous acid gas, and again falls to the bottom of the chamber: this process continues as long as the combustion of the sulphur is kept up, or as long as atmospheric air remains in the chamber; the nitrous acid merely serving as a means for the transference of oxygen from the atmosphere to the sulphurous acid, to convert it into sulphuric acid. The water is removed from the chamber when of a certain strength, and replaced by fresh. These acid waters are then evaporated in leaden boilers, and finally concentrated in glass or platina vessels. As thus manufactured, sulphuric acid is a dense oily fluid, colourless, intensely acid, and highly corrosive, and has a specific gravity of 1,846, water being equal to 1,000. This acid is the most important with which we are acquainted; it is employed in the manufacture of the nitric, muriatic, acetic, phosphoric, citric, tartaric, and many other acids; also in the preparation of chlorine, for the manufacture of the bleaching powder, (oxymuriate of lime or chloride of lime,) for the preparation of sulphate of mercury, in the manufacture of calomel and corrosive sublimate, and in innumerable other chemical manufactures. In the practice of physic it is also very much employed. It usually contains a little oxide of lead, which is readily detected by diluting the acid with about four times its volume of water, and allowing the sulphate of lead to subside. Its combinations are denominated sulphates. The fuming sulphuric acid, as manufactured at Nordhausen, contains only one-half the quantity of water in its composition.

Tartaric acid.-This acid is procured from the cream of tartar, (bitartrate of potass,) obtained by purifying the crust which separates during the fermentation of wines by solution and crystallization.

When this purified bitartrate is dissolved, and lime or carbonate of lime added, an insoluble tartrate of lime falls, which after washing should be acted upon by sulphuric acid; sulphate of lime is thus formed, and the tartaric acid enters into solution, and may be obtained by evaporation and crystallization. It is employed very much in the arts, in calico-printing, as also in making effervescing draughts and powders in pharmacy.

Uric acid-is an animal acid of very little importance, except in a scientific point of view; it exists in the excrements of serpents, to the amount of 95 per cent., and forms the basis of many of the urinary calculi and gravel.

N. B. This article, and that on alkalies, have been furnished by an able practical chemist. ACORNS (Ger. Eicheln, Eckern; Fr. Glands; It. Ghiande; Sp. Bellotas; Rus. Schedudii; Lat. Glandes), the seed or fruit of the oak. Acorns formed a part of the food of man in early ages, and frequent allusion is made in the classics to this circumstance. (Virgil, Georg. lib. i. lin. 8.; Ovid. Met. lib. i. lin. 106, &c.) In some countries they are still used, in periods of scarcity, as a substitute for bread. With us they are now rarely used except for fattening hogs and poultry. They are said to make, when toasted, with the addition of a little fresh butter, one of the best substitutes for coffee. Their taste is astringent and bitter.

ACORUS (Calamus aromaticus), sweet flag, or sweet rush, a red or knotty root, about the thickness of the little finger, and several inches long. "The root of the sweet flag has a pleasant aromatic odour, similar to that of a mixture of cinnamon and allspice. The taste is warm, pungent, bitterish, and aromatic."—(Thomson's Dispensatory.) The root, which is used in medicine, was formerly imported from the Levant, but it is now obtained of an equally good quality from Norfolk.

ACRE, a measure of land. The Imperial or standard English acre contains 4 roods, each rood 40 poles or perches, each pole 2724 square feet; and consequently each acre=43,560 square feet. Previously to the introduction of the new system of weights and measures by the act 5 Geo. IV. cap. 74, the acres in use in different parts of England varied considerably from each other and from the standard acre; but these customary measures are now abolished. The Scotch acre contains four roods, each rood 40 falls, and each fall 36 ells; the ell being equal to 37-06 Imperial inches. Hence the Imperial is to the Scotch acre nearly as 1 to 14, one Scotch acre being equal to 1·261 Imperial acres. The Irish acre is equal to 1 acre 2 roods and 19,21, poles; 30 Irish being equal to 49 Imperial acres.

[The standard English acre is the acre in use in the United States.—Am. Ed.]

ADAMANTINE SPAR (Hind. Corundum), a stone so called from its hardness, found in India, Ava, China, &c., crystallized, or in a mass. It is ascertained to be a species of sapphire. The Indian variety is the best. Colour grey, with shades of green and light brown; fracture foliated and sparry, sometimes vitreous. It is brittle, and so hard as to cut rock crystal and most of the gems. Specific gravity from 3.71 to 4-18. The Chinese variety differs from the Indian in containing grains of magnetic iron ore disseminated through it, in being generally of a darker colour, and having externally a chatoyant lustre; its specific gravity is greater, and its hardness somewhat inferior. It is employed to polish gems.

ADJUSTMENT, in commercial navigation, the settlement of a loss incurred by the

insured.

In the case of a total loss, if the policy be an open one, the insurer is obliged to pay the goods according to their prime cost, that is, the invoice price, and all duties and expenses incurred till they are put on board, including the premium of insurance. Whether they might have arrived at a good or a bad market, is held by the law of England to be immaterial. The insurer is supposed to have insured a constant and not a variable sum; and in the event of a loss occurring, the insured is merely to be put into the same situation in which he stood before the transaction began. If the policy be a valued one, the practice is to adopt the valuation fixed in it in case of a total loss, unless the insurers can show that the insured had a colourable interest only, or that the goods were greatly overvalued. In the case of all partial losses, the value of the goods must be proved.

"The nature of the contract between the insured and insurer is," says Mr. Justice Park, "that the goods shall come safe to the port of delivery; or, if they do not, that the insurer will indemnify the owner to the amount of the value of the goods stated in the policy. Wherever then the property insured is lessened in value by damage received at sea, justice is done by putting the merchant in the same condition (relation being had to the prime cost or value in the policy) in which he would have been had the goods arrived free from damage; that is, by paying him such proportion of the prime cost or value in the policy as corresponds with the proportion of the diminution in value occasioned by the damage. The question then is, how is the proportion of the damage to be ascertained? It certainly cannot be by any measure taken from the prime cost; but it may be done in this way :- -Where any thing, as a hogshead of sugar, happens to be spoiled, if you can fix whether it be a third, a fourth, or a fifth worse, than the damage is ascertained to a mathematical certainty. How is this to be found out? Not by any price at the port of shipment, but it must be at the port of delivery, when the voyage is completed and the whole damage known. Whether the price at the latter be high or low, it is the same thing; for in either case it equally shows whether the damaged goods are a third, a fourth, or a fifth worse than if they had come sound; consequently, whether the injury sustained be a third, fourth, or fifth of the value of the thing.

And as the insurer pays the whole prime cost if the thing be wholly lost, so if it be only a third, fourth, or fifth worse, he pays a third, fourth, or fifth, not of the value for which it is sold, but of the value stated in the policy. And when no valuation is stated in the policy, the invoice of the cost, with the addition of all charge, and the premium of insurance, shall be the foundation upon which the loss shall be computed."

Thus, suppose a policy to be effected on goods, the prime cost of which, all expenses included, amounts to 1,0004; and suppose further, that these goods would, had they safely reached the port of delivery, have brought 1,200l., but that, owing to damage they have met with in the voyage, they only fetch 8007.; in this case it is plain, inasmuch as goods that would otherwise have been worth 1,2007. are only worth 8007.; that they have been deteriorated one-third, and hence it follows, conformably to what has been stated above, that the insurer must pay one-third of their prime cost (1,000l.), or 3331. 6s. 8d. to the insured.

In estimating the value of goods at the port of delivery, the gross and not the nett proceeds of the sales are to be taken as the standard.

A ship is valued at the sum she is worth at the time she sails on the voyage insured, including the expenses of repairs, the value of her furniture, provisions, and stores, the money advanced to the sailors, and, in general, every expense of the outfit, to which is added the premium of insurance.

When an adjustment is made, it is usual for the insurer to endorse upon the policy "adjusted this loss at (so much) per cent.,” payable in a given time, generally a month, and to sign it with the initials of his name. This is considered as a note of hand, and as such is prima facie evidence of the debt, not to be shaken, but by proving that fraud was used in obtaining it, or that there was some misconception of the law or the fact upon which it was made. See, for a further discussion of this subject, the article MARINE INSURANCE, Park on the Law of Insurance (cap. 6.), and Marshall (book i. cap. 14.). [See also Kent's Commentaries, Lecture 48.-Am. Ed.] ADMEASUREMENT. See TONNAGE.

[ADMIRALTY COURTS have authority to try and determine all maritime causes, or such injuries, which, though they are in their nature of common law cognizance, yet, being committed on the high seas, out of the reach of the ordinary courts of justice, are therefore to be remedied in a peculiar court of their own. When the court of admiralty has not original jurisdiction of the cause, though there should arise in it a question that is proper for the cognizance of that court, yet this does not alter or take away the exclusive jurisdiction of the ordinary courts of law. And so, vice versa, if it has jurisdiction of the original, it has also jurisdiction of all consequential questions, though properly determinable at common law.

If part of any contract, or other cause of action, arises upon the sea, and part upon the land, the common law excludes the admiralty court from its jurisdiction. Seamen's wages, however, though the contract for them be made upon land, as is nearly always the case, are regarded as a proper object of the admiralty jurisdiction; that is, provided the contract be to receive their wages in the usual manner, and be not under seal.

The criminal jurisdiction of the admiralty courts, as well in England as in the United States, has been conferred upon them by statute; in the former country by the act of the 28th of Henry VIII. c. 15.; and in the latter by the judiciary act of 1789, and other subsequent acts, explaining or enlarging its provisions. By one of these additional acts (that of 1825), the jurisdiction in question is made to comprehend all offences which "shall be committed on board of any ship or vessel, belonging to any citizen or citizens of the United States, while lying in a port or place within the jurisdiction of any foreign state or sovereign," by any person whose offence, if committed on board of such ship or vessel on the high seas would be cognizable by the courts of the United States; provided, "that if such offender shall be tried for such offence, and acquitted or convicted thereof, in any competent court of such foreign state or sovereign, he shall not be subject to another trial." This act also provides that the admiralty jurisdiction shall extend, or it is perhaps more proper to say that it assumes that such jurisdiction does actually extend, to certain crimes committed "in any arm of the sea, or in any river, haven, creek, basin, or bay" of the United States, out of the jurisdiction of any particular state.

In case of prizes in time of war between our own nation and another, or between two other nations, which are taken at sea and brought into our ports, the courts of admiralty have an exclusive jurisdiction to determine the same according to the law of nations. The prize jurisdiction extends also to captures made in foreign ports, and to all captures made on land by any force or armament, should a portion of it partake of a naval character.

The court of admiralty in England is held before the lord high admiral, or his deputy, who is called the judge of the court, for the trial of civil causes, which are determined by the judge without the aid of a jury. The proceedings bear much resemblance to those of the civil law, but are not entirely founded thereon; and the court likewise adopts and makes use of other laws, as occasion requires; such as the Rhodian laws and the laws of Oleron; the whole being corrected, altered, and amended, by acts of parliament and common usage, and a body of jurisprudence being thus formed, which owes its authority only to its reception by consent of the crown and people.

For the trial of persons charged with the commission of crimes, three or four commissioners (among whom two common law judges are usually appointed) are added to the admiral or his deputy; and an indictment being first found by a grand jury of twelve men, they are to be tried by a petit jury. The proceedings should be according to the laws of the land.

Admiralty jurisdiction in the United States is vested in the federal courts, and is exercised by them on principles altogether analogous to those by which the English courts of admiralty are guided. By the act of 1789, before referred to, the trial of all causes shall be by jury, excepting civil causes of admiralty or maritime jurisdiction. See Blackstone's Commentaries, book 3. c. 5 and 7. and book 4. c. 19. Also Kent's Commentaries, Lecture 17.—Am. Ed.]

ADVANCE implies money paid before goods are delivered, or upon consignment. It is usual with merchants to advance from a half to two-thirds of the value of goods consigned to them, on being required, on their receiving invoice, bill of lading, orders to insure them from sea risk, &c.

ADVERTISEMENT, in its general sense, is any information as to any fact or circumstance that has occurred, or is expected to occur; but, in a commercial sense, it is understood to relate only to specific intimations with respect to the sale of articles, the formation and dissolution of partnerships, bankruptcies, meetings of creditors, &c. Until last year, a duty of 38. 6d. was charged upon every advertisement, long or short, inserted in the Gazette, or in any newspaper, or literary work published in parts or numbers. This duty added about 100 per cent. to the cost of advertising, for the charge (exclusive of the duty) for inserting an advertisement of the ordinary length in the newspapers rarely exceeds 38. or 4s. In 1832, the duty produced 155,4017 in Great Britain, and 15,249/. in Ireland.

Last year (1833) the duty on advertisements was reduced to 18. 6d.; and this, we have no doubt, will occasion such an increase of advertising as to prevent the revenue from being materially injured by the reduction. But, instead of being modified merely, this is a duty that ought to be wholly repealed. Its operation is necessarily most unequal, and, in many instances, most oppressive. Can any thing be more glaringly unjust than to impose the same duty on a notice of the publication of a sixpenny pamphlet, or of a servant being out of place, as on an intimation of the sale of a valuable estate? But as it is altogether impossible to impose the duty on an ad valorem principle, this injustice cannot be obviated so long as it is maintained. In a commercial country, a duty on advertisements is peculiarly objectionable, inasmuch as it checks the circulation of information of much importance to mercantile men. We, therefore, hope that this unjust and impolitic tax may be speedily given up. Its abandonment would not cause any diminution of revenue; for it is abundantly certain that its loss would be more than made up by the increased productiveness of the duties on paper and newspaper stamps For an account of the operation of the stamp duty on literature, see Books.

ADVICE is usually given by one merchant or banker to another by letter, informing him of the bills or drafts drawn on him, with all particulars of date, or sight, the sum, to whom made payable, &c. Where bills appear for acceptance or payment, they are frequently refused to be honoured for want of advice. It is also necessary to give advice, as it prevents forgeries: if a merchant accept or pay a bill for the honour of any other person, he is bound to advise him thereof, and this should always be done under an act of honour by a notary public.

AGARIC, a fungus growing on the trunks of trees. That produced in the Levant from the larch is accounted the best. It is brought into the shops in irregular pieces of different magnitudes, of a chalky whiteness, and very light. The best is easily cut with a knife, is friable between the fingers, and has no hard, gritty, or coloured veins. It is used in medicine and dyeing.-(Lewis, Mat. Med.)

AGATE (popularly CORNELIAN), (Ger. Achat; Du. Achaat; Fr. Agate; It. Agata; Rus. Agat; Lat. Achates). A genus of semi-pellucid gems, so called from the Greek axe, because originally found on the banks of the river of that name in Italy. It is never wholly opaque like jasper, nor transparent as quartz-crystal; it takes a very high polish, and its opaque parts usually present the appearance of dots, eyes, veins, zones, or bands. Its colours are yellowish, reddish, bluish, milk-white, honey-orange, or ochre-yellow, fleshblood, or brick-red, reddish-brown, violet-blue, and brownish-green. It is found in irregular rounded nodules, from the size of a pin's head to more than a foot in diameter. The lapidaries distinguish agates according to the colour of their ground; the finer semi-transparent kinds being termed oriental. The most beautiful agates found in Great Britain are commonly known by the name of Scotch pebbles, and are met with in different parts of Scotland, but principally on the mountain of Cairngorm; whence they are sometimes termed Cairngorms. The German agates are the largest. Some very fine ones have been brought from Siberia and Ceylon. They are found in great plenty at the eastern extremity of the settlement of the Cape of Good Hope; and are still met with in Italy. But the principal mines of agate are situated in the little principality of Rajpepla, in the province of Gujrat, fourteen miles distant from the city of Broach, where they are cut into beads, crosses, snuff-boxes, &c. They are exported in considerable quantities to other parts of India, and to this country; and hence, perhaps, the jewellers' term "broach.”

AGENT. See FACTOR.

AGIO, a term used to express the difference, in point of value, between metallic and paper money; or between one sort of metallic money and another.