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di pesce; Rus. Klei rübüi, Karluk), one of the purest and finest of the animal glues. It is a product, the preparation of which is almost peculiar to Russia. It is made of the airbladders and sounds of different kinds of fish which are found in the large rivers that fall into the North Sea and the Caspian. That prepared from the sturgeon is generally esteemed the best; next to that the beluga; but isinglass is also prepared from sterlets, shad, and barbel, though not so good. The best is usually rolled in little ringlets; the second sort is laid together like the leaves of a book; and the common sort is dried without any care. When fine, it is of a white colour, semi-transparent, and dry. It dissolves readily in boiling water, and it is used extensively in cookery. It is also used for stiffening silk, making sticking plaster, &c. The imports, in 1831 and 1832, amounted, at an average, to 1,9841⁄2 cwt. a year. The price varies at present (January, 1834) from 5s. to 14s. 6d. per lb.-(See Thomson's Chemistry; and Tooke's View of Russia, 2d ed. vol. iii. p. 343.)

ISLE OF MAN. See MAN, ISLE OF.

JUICE OF LEMONS, LIMES, OR ORANGES. The 9th section of the act 6 Geo. 4. c. 111. is as follows:-" For ascertaining the degrees of specific gravity or strength, according to which the duty on the juice of lemons, limes, and oranges shall be paid, it is enacted, that the degrees of such specific gravity or strength shall be ascertained by a glass citrometer, which shall be graduated in degrees in such manner, that distilled water being assumed as unity at the temperature of 60° by Fahrenheit's thermometer, every degree of the scale of such citrometer shall be denoted by a variation of parts of the specific gravity of such water."

JUNIPER BERRIES. See BERRIES.

IVORY, the name given to the teeth or tusks of the elephant, and of the walrus or seahorse. Each male elephant come to maturity has 2 tusks. These are hollow at the root, tapering, and of various sizes, depending principally on the age of the animal. Colour externally yellowish, brownish, and sometimes dark, internally white. The best are large, straight, and light-coloured, without flaws; not very hollow in the stump, but solid and thick. The most esteemed come from Africa, being of a closer texture, and less liable to turn yellow, than those from the East Indies.

The trade in London thus divide them :

First sort, weighing 70 lbs. or upwards; second sort, weighing 56 lbs. to 60 lbs. ; third sort, weighing 38 lbs. to 56 lbs. ; fourth sort, weighing 28 lbs. to 37 lbs.; fifth sort, weighing 18 lbs. to 27 lbs.

All under 18 lbs. are called scrivelloes, and are of the least value. In purchasing elephants' teeth, those that are very crooked, hollow, and broken at the ends, or cracked and decayed in the inside, should be rejected; and care taken that lead or any other substance has not been poured into the hollow. The freight is rated at 16 cwt. to the ton.--(Milburn's Orient. Com.)

Supply of Ivory.-The imports of elephants' teeth, in 1831 and 1832, were, at an average, 4,130 cwt., of which 2,950 cwt. were retained for consumption. The medium weight of a tusk may be taken at about 60 lbs.; so that the yearly imports of 1831 and 1832 may be taken at 7,709 tusks; a fact which supposes the destruction of at least 3,854 male elephants! But, supposing the tusks could only be obtained by killing the animal, the destruction would really be a good deal greater, and would most probably, indeed, amount to 4,500 or 5,000 elephants. Occasionally, however, tusks are accidentally broken, one lost in this way being replaced by a new one; and a good many are, also, obtained from elephants that have died in the natural way. Still it is sufficiently obvious, that the supply from the sources now alluded to cannot be very large; and if to the quantity of ivory required for Great Britain, we add that required for the other countries of Europe, America, and Asia, the slaughter of elephants must, after every reasonable deduction is made, appear immense, and it may well excite surprise, that the breed of this noble animal has not been more diminished. The western and eastern coasts of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, India, and the countries to the eastward of the Straits of Malacca, are the great marts whence supplies of ivory are derived. The imports from Western Africa into Great Britain, in 1831, amounted to 2,575 cwt.; the Cape only furnished 198 cwt. The imports during the same year from India, Ceylon and other Eastern countries, were 2,173 cwt. -(Parl. Paper, No. 550. Sess. 1833.) The Chinese market is principally supplied with ivory from Malacca, Siam, and Sumatra.

The chief consumption of ivory in England is in the manufacture of handles for knives; but it is also extensively used in the manufacture of musical and mathematical instruments, chess-men, billiard-balls, plates for miniatures, toys, &c. Ivory articles are said to be manufactured to a greater extent, and with better success, at Dieppe, than in any other place in Europe. But the preparation of this beautiful material is much better understood by the Chinese than by any other people. No European artist has hitherto succeeded in cutting concentric balls after the manner of the Chinese: and their boxes, chess-men, and other ivory articles, are all far superior to any that are to be met with any where else.

Historical Notice.-It is a curious fact, that the people of all Asiatic countries in which the elephant is found, have always had the art of taming the animal and applying it to useful purposes, but that no such art has ever been possessed by any native African nation. Is this owing to any difference between the Asiatic and African elephants, or to the inferior sagacity

of the African people? We incline to think that the latter is the true hypothesis. Alexander the Great is believed to have been the first European who employed elephants in war. It appears pretty certain, that the elephants made use of by the Carthaginians were mostly, if not wholly, brought from India; and that they were managed by Indian leaders. Some of the latter were captured by the Romans, in the great victory gained by Metellus over Asdrubal.-(See, on this curious subject, two very learned and valuable notes in the Ancient Universal History, 8vo ed. vol. xvii. p. 529. and p. 549. Buffon's Article on the Elephant is a splendid piece of composition.)

The price per cwt., duty (17. per cwt.) included, of elephants' teeth in the London market, in December, 1833, was

1st, 79 to 90 lbs.

2d, 56603d, 38-55

4th, 2837

£ s. d. £

8. d.

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£ 8. d.
18 0 0 to 21

4235

14 0 0-35
000-

d.

2000

1000

0 0

K.

KELP. A substance composed of different materials, of which the fossil or mineral alkali, or, as it is commonly termed, soda, is the chief. This ingredient renders it useful in the composition of soap, in the manufacture of alum, and in the formation of crown and bottle glass. It is formed of marine plants; which, being cut from the rocks with a hook, are collected and dried on the beach to a certain extent; they are afterwards put into kilns prepared for the purpose, the heat of which is sufficient to bring the plants into a state of semifusion. They are then strongly stirred with iron rakes; and when cool, condense into a dark blue or whitish mass, very hard and solid. Plants about 3 years old yield the largest quantity of kelp. The best kelp has an acrid caustic taste, a sulphurous odour, is compact, and of a dark blue greenish colour. It yields about 5 per cent. of its weight of soda.— (Barry's Orkney Islands, p. 377.; Thomson's Dispensatory.)

The manufacture of kelp is, or rather was, principally carried on in the Western Islands, and on the western shores of Scotland, where it was introduced from Ireland, about the middle of last century. Towards the end of the late war, the kelp shores of the island of North Uist let for 7,000Z. a year. It has been calculated that the quantity of kelp annually manufactured in the Hebrides only, exclusive of the mainland, and of the Orkney and Shetland isles, amounted, at the period referred to, to about 6,000 tons a year; and that the total quantity made in Scotland and its adjacent isles amounted to about 20,000 tons. At some periods during the war, it sold for 201. a ton; but at an average of the 23 years ending with 1822, the price was 10l. 9s. 7d.-(Art. Scotland, Edinburgh Encyclopædia.)

Unluckily, however, the foundations on which this manufacture rested were altogether factitious. Its existence depended on the maintenance of the high duties on barilla and salt. Inasmuch, however, as kelp could not be substituted, without undergoing a very expensive process, for barilla, in a great many departments of industry in which the use of mineral alkali is indispensable, it became necessary materially to reduce the high duty laid on barilla during the war. The ruin of the kelp manufacture has been ascribed to this reduction; but though barilla had been altogether excluded from our markets, which could not have been done without great injury to many most important manufactures, the result would have been perfectly the same, in so far as kelp is concerned, unless the high duty on salt had also been maintained. It was the repeal of the latter that gave the kelp manufacture the coup de grace. The purification of kelp so as to render it fit for soap-making, is a much nore troublesome and expensive process than the decomposition of salt; and the greatest quantity of alkali used, is now obtained by the latter method. Had the duty on salt not been repealed, kelp might still have been manufactured, notwithstanding the reduction of duty on barilla.

The manufacture is now almost extinct. Shores that formerly yielded the proprietors a rent of 2001. to 500l. a year, are now worth nothing. The price of kelp since 1822 has not been, at an average, above 47. a ton; and the article will, most probably, soon cease to be produced.

This result, though injurious to the proprietors of kelp shores, and productive of temporary distress to the labourers employed in the manufacture, is not to be regretted. It could not have been obviated, without keeping up the price of some of the most important necessaries of life at a forced and unnatural elevation. The high price of kelp was occasioned by the exigencies of the late war, which, besides obstructing the supply of barilla, forced government to lay high duties on it and on salt. The proprietors had not the vestige of a ground for considering that such a state of things would be permanent; they did right in profiting by it while it lasted; but they could not expect that government was to subject the country, during peace, to some of the severest privations occasioned by the war, merely that they might continue to enjoy an accidental advantage.

KENTLEDGE, the name sometimes given to the iron pigs cast in a particular form for ballasting ships, and employed for that purpose.

KERMES (Ger. Scharlachbeeren; Du. Grein, Scharlakenbessen; It. Grana, Chermes, Cremese, Cocchi; Sp. Gruna Kermes, Grana de la coscoja), an insect (Coccus ilicis Lin.) of the same species as the true Mexican cochineal, found upon the quercus ilex, a species of oak growing in Spain, France, the Levant, &c. Before the discovery of America, kermes was the most esteemed drug for dyeing scarlet, and had been used for that purpose from a very remote period. Beckmann inclines to think that it was employed by the Phoenicians, and that it excelled even the famous Tyrian purple.—(Hist. of Invent. vol. ii. p. 197. Eng. ed.) From the name of coccum or coccus, cloth dyed with kermes was called coccinum, and persons wearing this cloth were said by the Romans to be coccinati.-Mart lib i.

epig. 97. lin. 6.) It is singular, however, notwithstanding its extensive use in antiquity, that the ancients had the most incorrect notions with respect to the nature of kermes: many of them supposing that it was the grains (grana) or fruit of the ilex. This was Pliny's opinion: others after him considered it in the same light, or as an excrescence formed by the puncture of a particular kind of fly, like the gall nut. It was not till the early part of last century that it was finally and satisfactorily established that the kermes is really nothing but an insect, assuming the appearance of a berry in the process of drying. The term kermes is of Persian origin. The Arabians had been acquainted with this production from the earliest periods in Africa, and having found it in Spain, they cultivated it extensively as an article of commerce, as well as a dye drug for their own use. But since the introduction of cochineal, it has become an object of comparatively trifling importance. It is still, however, prepared in some parts of Spain. Cloths dyed with kermes are of a deep red colour; and though much inferior in brilliancy to the scarlet cloths dyed with real Mexican cochineal, they retain the colour better, and are less liable to stain. The old tapestries of Brussels, and other places in Flanders, which have scarcely lost any thing of their original vivacity, though 200 years old, were all dyed with kermes. The history of this production has been treated with great learning by Beckmann (Hist. of Invent. vol. i. pp. 171—191. 1st ed. trans.); and by Dr. Bancroft (Permanent Colours, vol. i. pp. 393–409.)

KINO (Fr. Gomme de Kino; Ger. Kinoharz; It. Chino), a gum, the produce of trees that grow in the East and West Indies, Africa, Botany Bay, &c. The kino now found in the shops is said by Dr. A. T. Thomson to come from India, and to be the produce of the nauclea gambir. The branches and twigs are bruised and boiled in water. The decoction is then evaporated until it acquires the consistence of an extract, which is kino. It is imported in chests containing from 1 to 2 cwt.; and on the inside of the lid of each chest is a paper, inscribed with the name of John Brown, the month and year of its importation, and stating that it is the produce of Amboyna. It is inodorous, very rough, and slightly bitter when first taken into the mouth: but it afterwards impresses a degree of sweetness on the palate. It is in small, uniform, deep brown, shining, brittle fragments, which appear like portions of a dried extract broken down; being perfectly uniform in their appearance. It is easily pulverised, affording a powder of a lighter brown colour than the fragments. But it may be doubted whether the inspissated juice of the nauclea gambir ought to be considered as kino. Dr. Ainslie says that Botany Bay kino is the only kind he had seen in an Indian bazaar. The tree which yields it grows to a great height: it flows from incisions made into the wood of the trunk.-(Thomson's Dispensatory; Ainslie's Materia Indica.) KNIVES (Ger. Messer; Du. Messen; Fr. Couteaux; It. Coltelli; Sp. Cuchillos; Rus. Noshi) well known utensils made of iron and steel, and employed to cut with; they are principally manufactured in London and Sheffield. Knives are made for a variety of purposes, as their different denominations imply; such as table knives, penknives, oyster knives, pruning knives, &c. Although England at present excels every part of the world in the manufacture of knives, as in most branches of cutlery, the finer kinds were imported until the reign of Elizabeth. It is stated by Mr. Macpherson (Annals of Com. Anno 1563), that knives were not made for use in England till 1563; but there can be no doubt that this is an error. They had been made, though probably of a rude and clumsy pattern, for centuries before, in the district called Hallamshire, of which Sheffield is the centre; and the cutlers of London were formed into a corporation in 1417.-(Manufactures in Metal, vol. ii. c. i. in Lardner's Cyclopædia.)

KÖNIGSBERG, the capital of East Prussia, in lat. 54° 42′ 11′′ N., lon. 20° 29′ 15′′ E. Population 68,000.

Port, &c.-Königsberg is situated on the Pregel, which flows into the Frische Haff, or Fresh Bay, -a large lake having from 10 to 14 feet water. The bar at the mouth of the Pregel has only from 5 to 6 feet water, so that none but flat-bottomed boats can ascend to the city. Pillau, in lat. 54° 33' 39' N., lon. 19° 52′ 30′′ E., on the north side of the entrance from the Baltic to the Frische Haff, is properly the port of Königsberg. Within these few years, a light-house has been erected on a rising ground, a little to the south of Pillau, the lantern of which is elevated 103 feet above the level of the The light is fixed and brilliant. The entrance to the harbour is marked by buoys; those on the larboard side being surmounted by small flags. A Gothic building, 120 feet above the level of the sea, has been erected to serve for a land-mark; at a distance it looks like a three-masted ship under sail. There is usually from 15 to 16 feet water between the buoys on entering the harbour; but particular winds occasion material differences in this respect.

sea.

Trade of Königsberg.-Being situated on a navigable river of considerable importance, Königsberg has a large command of internal navigation, and is the principal emporium of a large extent of country. Wheat, rye, and other species of grain, are the chief articles of export. The wheat is somewhat similar to that of Dantzic, but of inferior quality, being larger in the berry, and thicker skinned. The rye is thin, and also the barley, with few exceptions, and light. Peas are of a remarkably large quality. Oats are common feed, with a slight admixture of tares; but as these last answer in some degree the purpose of beans, the value of the oats is rather enhanced than otherwise by the circumstance. More tares are shipped here than from any other port in the Baltic. The prices of all sorts of grain are usually lower at Königsberg than at the neighbouring Prussian ports. Hemp, flax, linVOL. II.-L

16

seed, yarn, and bristles, are largely exported; with smaller quantities of wool, ashes, feathers, wax, hides and skins, &c. The bristles are the best in the Baltic. Timber, deals, and staves, are as good as at Memel, but are rather scarce. The imports are coffee, sugar, cotton stuffs and yarn, hardware, dye woods, spices, tobacco, coals, rum, &c. Salt is a government monopoly; any person being allowed to import it, but he must either sell it to government at a price fixed by them, or export it again.

Money, Weights, and Measures, same as at DANTZIC; which see.

Account of the Exports of the different Species of Grain from Königsberg during each of the Fourteen Years ending with 1831.

1819. 1820. 1821. 1822. 1823. 1824. 1825. 1826. 1827. 1823. 1829. 1830. 1831.

Wheat
Rye

1818.
Lasts. Lasts. Lasts. Lasts. Lasts.
3.129 1,232
2,861 1,559
8,429 7,360 6,769

Lasts.

591

428

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1,459

100

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Lasts. 9,543 7,228 12,920

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Barley

4,425 2,952

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24

298

1,531

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2,272

1,687

988

Oats

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Beans

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3,094 5,613 7,306 12,315 25,545 30,421 26,459 | 48,843 | 33,395

Exclusive of corn, the quantities of the principal articles exported from Königsberg in 1830 and 1831 were

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Arrivals in 1831.-In 1831, there entered the port of Königsberg (Pillan) 704 ships, of the burden of 43,928 tons. In 1832, 43 British ships, of the burden of 3,592 tons, cleared out.

Prices free on board of the principal Articles of Export from Königsberg, 1st of June, 1832.

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The above prices in sterling money, free on board, are calculated at the exchange of 205 s. gr., at the proportion of 10 Imp. qrs. per last.

and

L.

LAC, OR GUM LAC (Ger. Lack, Gummilack; Fr. Lacque, Gomme lacque; It. Lacca, Gommalacca; Sp. Goma laca; Rus. Laka, Gummilak; Arab. Laak; Hind. Lak'h; Sans. Lakshā), a substance, which has been improperly called a gum, produced in Bengal, Assam, Pegu, Siam, &c., on the leaves and branches of certain trees, by an insect (chermes lacca). The trees selected by the insect on which to deposit its eggs are known by the names of the bihar tree (Croton lacciferum Lin.), the pepel (Butea frondosa), bott, and coosim trees, &c. After being deposited, the egg is covered by the insect with a quantity of this peculiar substance, or lac, evidently intended to serve, in the economy of nature, as a nidus and protection to the ovum and insect in its first stage, and as food for the maggot in its more advanced stage. It is formed into cells, finished with as much art as a honeycomb, but differently arranged. Lac yields a fine red dye, which, though not so bright as the true Mexican cochineal, is said to be more permanent; and the resinous part is extensively used in the manufacture of sealing wax and hats, and as a varnish.

Lac, when in its natural state, encrusting leaves and twigs, is called stick luc: it is collected twice a year; and the only trouble in procuring it is in breaking down the leaves and branches, and carrying

them to market. When the twigs or sticks are large, or only partially covered, the lac is frequently separated from them, as it always ought to be when shipped for Europe, to lessen the expense of freight. The best stick lac is of a deep red colour. When held against the light, it should look bright, and when broken should appear in diamond-like points. If it be not gathered till the insects have left their cells, it becomes pale, and pierced at the top; and is of little use as a dye, though probably better for a varnish.

Lac dye, lac lake, or cake lac, consists of the colouring matter extracted from the stick lac. Various processes have been adopted for this purpose. It is formed into small square cakes or pieces, like those of indigo. It should, when broken, look dark-coloured, shining, smooth, and compact; when scraped or powdered, it should be of a bright red colour, approaching to that of carmine. That which is sandy, light-coloured and spongy, and which, when scraped, is of a dull brickdust colour, should be rejected.

Notwithstanding the continued fall in the price of cochineal, the use of lac dye has been extending in this country. The annual consumption may at present amount to about 600,000 lbs., having trebled since 1818. The finest qualities of lac dye are seldom met with for sale in Calcutta, being generally manufactured under contract for the European market.

When stick lac has been separated from the twigs to which it naturally adheres, and coarsely pounded, the native silk and cotton dyers extract the colour as far as it conveniently can be done by water. The yellowish, hard, resinous powder which remains, having somewhat of the appearance of mustard seed, is called seed lac. When liquified by fire, it is formed into cakes, and denominated lump lac. The natives use the latter in making bangles, or ornaments in the form of rings, for the arms of the lower class of females; the best shellac being used in manufacturing these ornaments for the superior classes.

Shellac is produced from seed lac, by putting the latter into bags of cotton cloth, and holding it over a charcoal fire, when the lac melts, and being strained through the bag, the resinous part, which is the most liquefiable, is obtained in a considerable degree of purity; it is formed into thin sheets or plates. Thin-transparent, or amber-coloured shellac is best; avoid that which is thick, dark, or speckled; it should always, when broken, be amber-coloured on the edge; that which has a dark brown fracture, however thin, should be rejected. When laid on a hot iron, shellac, if pure, will instantly catch fire, and burn with a strong but not disagreeable smell. It used to be principally employed in this country in the manufacture of sealing wax, and as a varnish; but within these few years it has begun to be very extensively used in the manufacture of hats. Shellac has advanced rapidly in price during the last three or four years; a circumstance which has had a considerable effect in accelerating the fall in the price of lac dye; the quantity of the latter being necessarily increased in consequence of the greater demand for the former.

In Bengal, lac is chiefly produced in the forests of Sylet and Burdwan. The finest dye is said to be obtained from the stick lac of Siam and Pegu; but the shellac or resinous part obtained from the latter, is inferior to that produced from Sylet stick lac. It may be obtained in almost any quantity. Account of the Quantities of Lac Dye or Lac Lake, Shellac and Seed Lack, and Stick Lac, imported into Great Britain, from the Countries eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, since 1814.

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L. s. d. L. s. d.

Shellac, liver, D. T., per cwt. 600 to 0 0 0

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700 • 7 10 0
600 610 0

In 1823, D. T. lac dye was as high as 8s. 3d. and 8s. 6d. per lb. The duties used to be 5 per cent. on lac dye, seed lac, and stick lac; and 20 per cent. on shellac; but it was obviously absurd to charge shellac, which, as already seen, is prepared from the refuse of the lac dye, with four times the duty laid upon the latter. This ridicu lous distinction is now, however, put an end to; the present duties being 6s. a cwt. on lac dye and shellac, and Is. a cwt. on stick lac-(Bancroft on Permanent Colours, vol. ii. pp. 1-60; Ainslie's Mat. Med.; Milburn's Orient. Com.; and private information.)

LACE (Du. Kanten; Fr. Dentelle; Ger. Spitzen; It. Merletti, Pizzi; Rus. Krushewo; Sp. Encajes), a plain or ornamental net-work, tastefully composed of many fine threads of gold, silver, silk, flax, or cotton, interwoven, from Lacinia (Lat.), the guard hem or fringe of a garment.

mans.

The origin of this delicate and beautiful fabric is involved in considerable obscurity, but there is no doubt it lays claim to high antiquity. In Mr. Hope's Costumes of the Ancients, many beautiful lace patterns are portrayed on the borders of the dresses of Grecian females; and from the derivation of the word "lace," it is probable it was not unknown to the RoIt is supposed that Mary de' Medici was the first who brought lace into France, from Venice, where, and in the neighbouring states of Italy, it is understood to have been long previously worn; but we find that in England, so early as 1483, “ laces of thread, and laces of gold, and silk and gold," were enumerated among the articles prohibited to be imported.--(1 Rich. 3. c. 10.) It is, therefore, fair to presume that this manufacture had begun in England prior to that period, as this and many subsequent acts were passed(19 Hen. 7. c. 21.; 5 Eliz. c. 7.; 13 & 14 Car. 2. c. 13.; 4 & 5 W. & M. c. 10., &c.)—

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*In addition to the above, an inconsiderable quantity of lac dye, &c. is sometimes imported at second hand from other countries,

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