and a disagreeable smell. Large quantities are exported in skins to the Persian and Tartar ports on the south and east shores of the sea.

Vessels. The largest class of vessels by which the Caspian Sea is navigated are called by the Russians schuyts, and belong wholly to Astrakhan and Baku; their burden varies from 90 to 150, and, in some instances, 200 tons. They are not built on any scientific principle, and are constructed of the worst materials, that is, of the timber of the barks that bring grain down the Wolga to Astrakhan. There are supposed to be, in all, about 100 sail of these vessels. There is a second class of vessels employed in the trade of the Caspian, called razchives. They carry from 70 to 140 tons, and sail better than the schuyts. Their number is estimated at about 50. Exclusive of the above, there are great numbers of small craft employed in the coasting trade, in the rivers, in the fisheries, and in acting as lighters to the schuyts. Steam boats have been introduced upon the Wolga; and one has been launched on the Caspian itself. The masters and crews of the vessels employed on this sea are, for the most part, as ignorant as can well be imagined. They are generally quite incapable of making an observation, or of keeping a reckoning; so that accidents frequently occur, that might be avoided by the most ordinary acquaintance with the principles of navigation.— (These statements are made, partly upon official, and partly upon private authority; the latter may, however, be safely relied on.)

The trade of this great sea is entirely in the hands of the Russians; by whom it is carried on from the ports of Astrakhan and Baku, with the Persian ports of Astrabad, Balfroosh, &c. on the south; and with the Tartar ports of Mangishlak, Balkan, &c. on the east. It is very insignificant, compared with what it ought to be. On the whole, however, a gradual improvement is taking place; and whatever objections may, on other grounds, be made to the encroachments of Russia in this quarter, there can be no manner of doubt that, by introducing comparative security and good order into the countries under her authority, she has materially improved their condition, and accelerated their progress to a more advanced state. Account of the Value of the Foreign Trade of the Port of Baku, on the Caspian Sea, during the Eight Years ending with 1831.

Total value of exports. Rou. 1,223,253 646,317 229,739 1,248,289 783,742 1,047,173

386,527 536,016

TALC, a species of fossil nearly allied to mica. It is soft, smooth, greasy to the feel, and may be split into fine plates or leaves, which are flexible, but not elastic. It has a greenish. whitish, or silver-like lustre. The leaves are transparent, and are used in many parts of India and China, as they were used in ancient Rome-(Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 22.)-in windows instead of glass. In Bengal, a seer of talc costs about 2 rupees, and will sometimes yield a dozen panes 12 inches by 9, or 10 by 10, according to the form of the mass, transparent enough to allow ordinary subjects to be seen at 20 or 30 yards' distance. It should be chosen of a beautiful pearl colour; but it has, in general, either a yellowish or faint blue tinge. Its pure translucent flakes are frequently used by the Indians, for ornamenting the baubles employed in their ceremonies. Talc is employed in the composition of rouge végétal. The Romans prepared with it a beautiful blue, by combining it with the colouring fluid of particular kinds of testaceous animals. Talc is met with in Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, and Banffshire in Scotland; and in various parts of the Continent, where rocks of serpentine and porphyry occur. The talc brought from the Tyrolese mountains is called in commerce Venetian talc. Several varieties are found in India and Ceylon.(Thomson's Chemistry; Rees's Cyclopædia; Milburn's Orient. Com.; Ainslie's Mat. Indica.)

TALLOW (Fr. Suif; Ger. Talg; It. Sevo, Sego; Rus. Salo, toplenoe; Sp. Sebo), animal fat melted and separated from the fibrous matter mixed with it. Its quality depends partly on the animal from which it has been prepared; but more, perhaps, on the care taken in its purification. It is firm, brittle, and has a peculiar heavy odour. When pure, it is white, tasteless, and nearly insipid; but the tallow of commerce has usually a yellowish tinge; and is divided, according to the degree of its purity and consistence, into candle and soap tallow.

Tallow is an article of great importance. It is manufactured into candles and soap; and

is extensively used in the dressing of leather, and in various processes of the arts. Besides our extensive supplies of native tallow, we annually import a very large quantity, principally from Russia. The exports of tallow from Petersburgh amount, at an average, to between 3,500,000 and 4,000,000 poods, of which the largest portion by far is brought to England; the remainder being exported to Prussia, France, the Hanse Towns, Turkey, &c.

We borrow from the work of Mr. Borrisow, on the Commerce of Petersburgh, the folłowing details with respect to the tallow trade of that city :

Tallow is divided into different sorts; namely, white and yellow candle tallow, and common and Siberian soap tallow; although it is allowed that the same sort often differs in quality.

Tallow is brought to Petersburgh from the interior; and the best soap tallow from Siberia, by various rivers, to the lake Ladoga; and thence, by the canal of Schlusselburg, to the Neva.

An ambare, or warehouse, is appropriated to the reception of tallow, where, on its arrival, it is selected and assorted (bracked). The casks are then marked with three circular stamps, which state the quality of the tallow, the period of selecting, and the name of the selector (brucker).

The casks in which white tallow is brought have a singular appearance; their form being conical, and their diameter at one end about 24 feet, and at the other only 1 foot: the casks of yellow tallow are of the common shape. There are also others, denominated casks.

To calculate the tare, the tallow is removed from a certain number of casks, which are weighed, and an average tare is thence deduced for the whole lot. A cask weighs 8, 9, 10, or 11 per cent., but the average is generally about 10 per cent. of the entire weight of tallow and cask.

Yellow candle tallow, when good, should be clean, dry, hard when broken, and of a fine yellow colour throughout. The white candle tallow, when good, is white, brittle, hard, dry, and clean. The hest white tallow is brought from Woronesch. As for soap tallow, the more greasy and yellow it is, the better the quality. That from Siberia is the purest, and commonly fetches a higher price than the

other sorts.

Formerly the oil and tallow warehouses were the same; and this occasioned great difficulties in shipping, because all vessels or lighters taking in tallow or oil were obliged to haul down to the ambare, and wait in rotation for their cargoes. The consequence was, that when much business was doing, a vessel was often detained for several weeks at the ambare before she could get her cargo on board. Now the tallow and oil warehouses are separated, and every article has its own place. When a shipment of tallow is made, the agent is furnished by the selector (bracker) with a sample from each

cask.

Captains, in order to obtain more freight, usually load some casks of tallow upon deck; but it is more for the interest of the owner to avoid this if possible, because the tallow loses, through the heat of the sun, considerably both in weight and quality.

One hundred and twenty poods of tallow, gross weight, make a Petersburgh last, and 63 poods an English ton.

Of 1,177,908 cwt. of tallow imported in 1829, 1,164,180 came from Russia, 6,143 from the United States, 3,799 from Turkey, 1,992 from France, and 1,626 from Sweden.

We subjoin an official account of the export of tallow from Russia in 1832.

Exports of Tallow from Russia in 1832.

The exports of tallow from Petersburgh, in 1833, amounted to above 4,100,000 poods (see antè, p. 292.), being the largest quantity ever shipped in 1 year. The shipments to Great Britain were about 3,600,000 poods. Supposing the tallow to have been worth, when delivered to the shipper, 351. a ton, its total value will have been 2,306,1501.! This statement shows the great importance of this trade. The price of tallow fluctuated very much during the war. This was occasioned, principally, by the obstacles that were at different periods thrown in the way of supplies from Russia. The price of tallow is also affected by the state of the seasons. Some very extensive speculations have at various periods been attempted in tallow; but seldom, it is believed, with much advantage to the parties. Account of the Price of Tallow in the London Market, in the Month of January each Year, from 1813.

The following is a statement of the prices per cwt. of foreign and British tallow in the London market on the 24th of March, 1834:

3. d. s. d.

44 0 to 44 3 43 643 9 371. 10s.-371. 15s. 41 600 0000 42 6 0 0 371. 10.00

The ships, receive, at Elsineur, orders for their ultimate destination, and most of them are for Great Britain.

TALLY TRADE, the name given to a system of dealing carried on in London and other large towns, by which shopkeepers furnish certain articles on credit to their customers, the latter agreeing to pay the stipulated price by certain weekly or monthly instalments.

In the metropolis there are about 60 or 70 tally-shops of note; and from 500 to 600 on a smaller scale. They are also spread over the country to a considerable extent, particularly in the manufacturing districts. The customers of the tally-shops are mostly women; consisting, principally, of the wives of labourers, mechanics, porters, &c., servant girls, and females of loose character. Few only of the more respectable classes have been infatuated enough to resort to them. Drapery goods, wearing apparel, coals, household furniture, hardware, &c. are furnished; and even funerals are performed; but few or no articles of food, except tea, are sold upon the tally plan.

We believe that this is the very worst mode in which credit is afforded. The facility which it gives of obtaining an article when wanted, and the notion so apt to be entertained that the weekly or monthly instalments may be paid without difficulty, makes those who resort to the tally-shops overlook the exorbitant price, and usual bad quality, of the articles they obtain from them; and generate habits of improvidence that seldom fail to involve the parties in irretrievable ruin. It is not going too far to say that nine tenths of the articles supplied by tally-shops might be dispensed with. As already observed, women are the principal customers; and it is not easy to exaggerate the mischief that has been entailed on the families of many industrious labourers by their wives having got entangled with tally-shops. They buy goods without the knowledge of their husbands; and these are not unfrequently pawned, and the proceeds spent in gin. So destructive, indeed, is the operation of the system, that the establishment of a tally-shop in any district is almost certain to occasion an increase in the paupers belonging to it. Even the unmarried females who do not pay are demoralised and ruined by the system; because, if a woman who buys three gowns, pays for the 2 first, and runs away from the payment of the last, she gains nothing in point of saving, while she becomes indifferent to an act of dishonesty. As tally debts can only be collected whilst a supply of goods is kept up, as soon as that supply is stopped, the debtor either flies to another district, or awaits a summons. Where the wife has contracted the debt, she usually appears before the commissioners, who in general order the debt to be paid by weekly or monthly instalments. But it often occurs, from the wife not being able to keep up such payments, that execution issues, and the poor husband is frequently arrested and lodged in prison for a debt, of the existence of which he was entirely ignorant. In this way, numbers of the working classes are completely ruined; they lose their employment, and themselves and families are reduced to beggary. The intelligent keeper of Whitecross-street prison (Mr. Barrett) states, that from 150 to 200 persons are annually imprisoned there for tallyshop debts, in sums from 10s. to 57., and that in one year 30 prisoners were at the suit of one tally-shop alone! Such imprisonments, however, are now much decreased, in consequence, as is believed, of the Court of Requests discouraging the tally system, by ordering claims of this kind to be paid by extremely small instalments, and these at very distant intervals; and also in consequence of no composition being allowed by the charities for the relief of poor prisoners with reference to such debts.

It is estimated that in London alone about 850,000l., or nearly 1,000,0001. sterling is annually returned in this trade. From his large profits (generally from 25 to 40 per cent.), it is obvious that in a few transactions the tally-shop keeper becomes independent of the exist ing debt; and with capital and good management, it is said that some have realised considerable sums of money in this business.

According to the custom of the trade, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, are the days set apart for collecting money from the customers. The tally-man sends round his collector through the different "walks," and the amount of a collection, which keeps the collector engaged from morning till night, even in a good tally concern, seldom exceeds 41. a day. The payments are invariably made in shillings and sixpences-but the people seldom or never pay at the tally-shops; they rarely call there unless something else is wanted. The tally-shop keeper trusts one party on the recommendation of another; but guarantees are never required-certainly no written guarantees; and a verbal guarantee is, according to Lord Tenterden's act, not binding. It is part of the collector's business, besides getting money, to beat up for fresh customers in his walk.

The greater number of the small tally concerns are kept by Scotchmen; it is a curious fact, that when a "Tally-walk" is to be sold, which is often the case, a Scotchman's walk will bring 15 per cent. more than an Englishman's! It is believed to contain a better description of customers.

From the causes above mentioned, assisted, perhaps, by the salutary influence of Savings' Banks, this obnoxious trade is understood to be rather on the wane. It will never, however, be completely rooted out, except by adopting the plan we have previously suggested-(see CREDIT,)-for placing all small debts beyond the pale of the law; and the fact, that the adoption of this plan would have so beneficial a result, is an additional and powerful recommendation in its favour. In cases where failures take place, the creditors of a tally shop

keeper are in general terrified into the acceptance of a small composition. The very sight of the tally Ledgers, from 10 to 20 in number, containing debts from 58. to 5l., dotted over the pages, like a small pattern on a piece of printed cotton, and spread over every district in and round London, determines the creditors to accept of any offer, however small, rather than encounter the collection of such disreputable assets. In an affair of this kind recently concluded, where the business was under the management of a respectable accountant in the city, the whole debts due to the concern, good, bad, and doubtful, amounted to 8,7001., while the number of debtors was 7,600! giving an average of 228. 10d. each.

N. B.-This article has been compiled wholly from private, but authentic, information. TAMARINDS (Ger. Tamarinden; Fr. Tamarins; It. and Sp. Tamarindo; Arab. Umblie; Hind. Tintiri), the fruit of the Tamarindus Indica, a tree which grows in the East and West Indies, in Arabia, and Egypt. In the West Indies the pods or fruit, being gathered when ripe, and freed from the shelly fragments, are placed in layers in a cask, and boiling syrup poured over them, till the cask be filled: the syrup pervades every part quite down to the bottom; and when cool, the cask is headed for sale. The East India tamarinds are darker coloured and drier, and are said to be preserved without sugar. When good, tamarinds are free from any degree of mustiness; the seeds are hard, flat, and clean; the strings tough and entire; and a clean knife thrust into them does not receive any coating of copper. They should be preserved in closely covered jars.—(Thomson's Dispensatory.) The duty on tamarinds produced, in 1832, 7887. 128. 10d.

TAPIOCA, a species of starch or powder prepared from the roots of the Jatropha manihat, an American plant. The roots are peeled, and subjected to pressure in a kind of bag made of rushes. The juice which is forced out is a deadly poison, and is employed by the Indians to poison their arrows; but it deposits gradually a white starch, which, when properly washed, is innocent. What remains in the bag consists chiefly of the same starch. It is dried in smoke, and afterwards passed through a kind of sieve. Of this substance the cassava bread is made.-(Thomson's Chemistry.)

TAR (Fr. Goudron; Ger. Theer; It. Catrame; Pol. Smola gesta; Rus. Degot, Smola shitkaja; Sw. Tjära), a thick, black, unctuous substance, chiefly obtained from the pine, and other turpentine trees, by burning them in a close smothering heat.

The tar of the north of Europe is very superior to that of the United States, and is an article of great commercial importance. The process followed in making it has been described as follows by Dr. Clarke ::-"The inlets of the gulf (Bothnia) every where appeared of the grandest character; surrounded by noble forests, whose tall trees, flourishing luxuriantly, covered the soil quite down to the water's edge. From the most southern parts of Westro-Bothnia, to the northern extremity of the gulf, the inhabitants are occupied in the manufacture of tar; proofs of which are visible in the whole extent of the coast. The process by which the tar is obtained is very simple: and as we often witnessed it, we shall now describe it, from a tar-work we halted to inspect upon the spot. The situation most favourable to the process is in a forest near to a marsh or bog; because the roots of the fir, from which tar is principally extracted, are always most productive in such places. A conical cavity is then made in the ground (generally in the side of a bank or sloping hill); and the roots of the fir, together with logs and billets of the same, being neatly trussed in a stack of the same conical shape, are let into this cavity. The whole is then covered with turf, to prevent the volatile parts from being dissipated, which, by means of a heavy wooden mallet, and a wooden stamper worked separately by two men, is beaten down and rendered as firm as possible above the wood. The stack of billets is then kindled, and a slow combustion of the fir takes place, without flame, as in making charcoal. During this combustion the tar exudes; and a cast iron pan being at the bottom of the funnel, with a spout which projects through the side of the bank, barrels are placed beneath this spout to collect the fluid as it comes away. As fast as the barrels are filled, they are bunged, and ready for immediate exportation. From this description it will be evident that the mode of obtaining tar is by a kind of distillation per descensum; the turpentine, melted by fire, mixing with the sap and juices of the fir, while the wood itself, becoming charred, is converted into charcoal. The most curious part of the story is, that this simple method of extracting tar is precisely that which is described by Theophrastus and Dioscorides; and there is not the smallest difference between a tar-work in the forests of Westro-Bothnia, and those of ancient Greece. The Greeks made stacks of pine; and having covered them with turf, they were suffered to burn in the same smothered manner; while the tar, melting, fell to the bottom of the stack, and ran out by a small channel cut for the purpose."

Of 10,752 lasts of tar imported in 1831, 7,779 were brought from Russia, 1,086 from Sweden, and 1,243 from the United States. The last contains 12 barrels, and each barrel 314 gallons.

Tar produced or manufactured in Europe is not to be imported for home consumption, except in British ships, or in ships of the country of which it is the produce, or from which it is imported, under penalty of forfeiting the same, and 1007. by the master of the ship.-(3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 54.)

TARE, an abatement or deduction made from the weight of a parcel of goods, on account of the weight of the chest, cask, bag, &c. in which they are contained. Tare is distin

guished into real tare, customary tare, and average tare. The first is the actual weight of the package; the second, its supposed weight according to the practice among merchants; and the third is the medium tare, deduced from weighing a few packages, and taking it as the standard for the whole. In Amsterdam, and some other commercial cities, tares are generally fixed by custom; but in this country, the prevailing practice, as to all goods that can be unpacked without injury, both at the Custom-house and among merchants, is to ascertain the real tare. Sometimes, however, the buyer and seller make a particular agreement about it. We have, for the most part, specified the different tares allowed upon particular commodities, in the descriptions given of them in this work. (For the tares at Amsterdam, Bordeaux, &c., see these articles; see also ALLOWANCES.)

TARE, VETCH, on FITCH, a plant (Vicia sativa, Lin.) that has been cultivated in this country from time immemorial; principally for its stem and leaves, which are used in the feeding of sheep, horses, and cattle; but partly, also, for its seed. Horses thrive better upon tares than upon clover and rye grass; and cows that are fed upon them give most milk. The seed is principally used in the feeding of pigeons and other poultry. In 1829, we imported 87,101 bushels of tares, principally from Denmark and Prussia.

TARIFF, a Table, alphabetically arranged, specifying the various duties, drawbacks, bounties, &c. charged and allowed on the importation and exportation of articles of foreign and domestic produce.

We intended at one time to have given the tariffs of some of the principal foreign states, and had some of them translated for that purpose; but, as the duties and regulations in them are perpetually changing, they would very soon have become obsolete, and would have tended more to mislead than to instruct. The circulars issued by foreign houses usually specify the duties on importation and exportation. But the reader will find under the articles DANTZIC, HAVRE, NEW YORK, TRIESTE, &C., pretty full details as to the principal foreign tariffs. Subjoined is the British tariff.

TARIFF (BRITISH).—1st of January, 1834.

DUTIES OF CUSTOMS INWARDS.

Duties Inwards.--The first column of the following Table contains an account of the existing duties payable on the importation of foreign products into Great Britain for home use, as the same were fixed by the act 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 56. The next column exhibits the duties payable on the same articles in 1819, as fixed by the act 59 Geo. 3. c. 52.; and the third and last column exhibits the duties as they were fixed in 1787, by Mr. Pitt's Consolidation Act, the 27 Geo. 3. c. 13. The reader has, therefore, before him, and may compare together, the present customs duties with the duties as they stood at the end of the late war, and at its commencement. No table of the sort is to be met with in any other publication. We owe it to the kindness of Mr. J. D. Hume, of the Board of Trade, under whose direction it has been prepared. The duties are rated throughout in Imperial weights and measures.

A Table of the Duties of Customs payable on Goods, Wares, and Merchandise imported into the United Kingdom from Foreign Parts.

Note.-Goods on which duties are payable by measures of capacity, are rated according to the Impe⚫ rial gallon and bushel.

*By act 27 Geo. 3. c. 13., and 28 Geo. 3. c. 27., certain goods were allowed to be imported from Frarce and Holland, on payment of duty, until the 10th of May, 1800, although prohibited to be imported from other countries.