436
MANUFACTURES.
Manufac- gluey, which it continues to be after exposure to the air,tures. The soap of which linseed oil forms a constituent part,—iis at first white, but changes to yellow in a short timeby exposure to the air: it possesses a strong odour, isunctuous, clammy glutinous, does not dry in the air,and softens with a very small quantity of water.
From what has been said, we may conclude that thesoaps prepared with desiccative oils are of a very in-different quality, that they remain always glutinousand readily change their colour on exposure to the atmo-sphere.
(624.) The following are the quantities of hard and soft,soap charged with duties of Excise in the United King dom , and the net produce of the dutv in each year, from1820 to 1831.
Years.
Quantity of hardSoap chargedwith duty.
Quantity of softSoap chargedwith duty.
Net produce ofduty.
lbs.
lbs.
£.
1820
82,413,223
6,903,356
928,602
1821
87,717,693
7,470,030
1,023,534
1822
89,672,508
7,576,422
1,120,989
1823
87,071,456
8,226,922
1,147,660
1824
100,270,453
9,297,485
1,194,361
1825
102,623,165
8,910,504
1,199,364
1826
96,859,694
7,278,446
1,144,539
1827
104,371,285
9,646,477
1,230,663
1828
108,193,606
10,024,665
1,201,754
1829
103,041,941
9,068,918
1,151,906
1830
117,157,916
10,209,519
1,249,684
1831
108,956,030
9,641,907
1,138,262
Sulphur Works.
Sulphur (625.) Sulphur occurs native in many places narticularly in the Kingdom of Naples , and is frequently nearlym a state of purity, or slightly combined with earths. Thewhole preparation which it requires, therefore, in thiscase, to render it fit for the purposes of commerce, i 3 tofree it from its earths by distillation.
In other cases it is obtained artificially in the roastingof copper ore, as at the celebrated Paris mountain cop- ^per mine in the Island of Anglesea. There works tor obtaine d bythat purpose are constructed on a large scale. At the roas tingfoot of a low but a steep ridge of rock are constructed copper or® 1masses of masonry, not unlike high blast-furnaces, exceptthat the top is capped with a dome of brickwork, fromwhich proceeds a horizontal flue, about the size of acommon chimney, which terminates in a square or ob-long brick chamber, built at the top of the rock. Somelighted fuel is introduced by means of a door in thedome of this roasting furnace, and a few baskets full ofore, broken into moderately small pieces, are thrown on,fresh parcels of ore being added from time to time ; asthe preceding parcels get lighter, a sufficiency of air forthe slow combustion required in this process is let in bymeans of a door at the bottom of the kiln, which alsoserves for taking out the ore when properly roasted; thepart of the sulphur which escapes combustion rises invapour, and collects in the dome, (the door of which isonly opened to admit fresh charges of ore,) whence itpasses through the flue into the chamber, where it pre-sently concretes, lining the sides and roof; each chamberhas a door, by means of which, about once in six weeks,it is cleared of the sulphur. This rough sulphur is inspongy, pulverulent crusts, of a dirty greyish-yellowcolour. For its purification it is melted in a boiler, theimpurities are got rid of by skimming and subsidence,and the fluid mass is then laded into cylindrical mouldsto form the common roll sulphur or brimstone, or intocones about two feet high, forming the loaves of sul-phur. The impure dregs are also sold in the shopsunder the name of sulphur vivum. The sulphur which isprocured in the roasting of ores, especially those of cop -per, is apt to contain, besides earthy impurities, a veryconsiderable proportion of arsenic, while, on the otherhand, the volcanic sulphur in general, and that of Sicily in particular, is entirely free from this contamination;which is the cause of the universal preference given by themanufacturers of sulphuric acid to Sicilian over English sulphur.
(626.) Table, showing the Quantities of Brimstone imported and exported from the United Kingdom , and cleared__ for Consumption, from 1820 to 1831.
Brimstone.
Kates of Duty per Cwt.
Drawbacks onBrimstone
*
Years.
Importation.
tion.
Consump-
tion.
Unrefined.
Befined.
Gross
Revenue.
used in makingOil of Vitriol ,and on Brim stone exported.Repaymentson overEntries, &c.
Net Revenue.
Cwts.
Cwts.
Cwts.
£.
£.
£.
1820
93,003
14,121
112,057
0 15 0
10 0
1 3 9
i )
85,221
61,924
23,297
1821
1822
113,844
99,121
6,122
6,717
124,633
151,657
i >
) j
95,648
115,670
68,568
77,060
27,080
38,610
22,267
1823
172,495
2,293
153,841
* * .
117,637
95'370
1824
181,317
3,472
165,871
126',332
102^269
24,063
1825
218,722
4,860
268,433
|° o 6•< Drawback
0 6 0on Brim
0 9* 9 \stone used >
75,306
118,830
.Excess of
1826
1827
251,981
218,359
6,817
16,385
233,093
207,462
tin making
Oil of Vitri
ol ceased. 1
5,903
5 275
13,821
32
l 43,524
do. 7,9185,243
1828
279,867
1,798
289,974
7 295
7
7,288
1829
302,084
941
314,182
7,886
4
7,882
1830
242,726
8,946
264,436
6,653
24
6,629
1831
289,446
4,992
296,095
7,480
28
7,452