Kingdom.]

Class 3.—SUBSTANCES USED AS FOOD..South Gallery.

207

116 Batts' & Feast, 15 and 16 Pavement , FinsburySquare —Inventors and Manufacturers.Vegetable productions preserved in distilled vinegar.A pine apple, with roots and leaves. An orange-tree,branches, and fruit, and branches of citron and fruit.Cucumbers, grown in England. A variety of preservedfruits and other comestibles.

117 Colman, J. & J., 9 College Hill, City — Manufacturers.

Specimens of starch, from wheat and lice, mustard,British gum, indigo blue, &c.

The “satin glaze rice-starch” of the exhibitors pos-sesses the following advantages:—From its extremefluidity it is more economical than common starch; it isfree from mucilaginous matter; it does not require boil-ing, and the clearness, colour, and glaze, which itimparts are permanent. It is particularly adapted forlace, and the finer fabrics of linen, cotton, &c.

[“British Gum” consists in reality of torrefied starch.The granules of starch, in its ordinary form, are envelopedin a thin pellicle, insoluble in cold water. By roastingthe starch, the membranous envelopes are burst open, andtheir granular contents are then readily soluble in coldwater. It is used, among other purposes, for thickeningthe colours of calico printers.—R. E.]

118 Noak, W. & John, Covercroft Salt Works, Droitwich—Manufacturers.

Sample of the brine from the salt-works at Droitwich ,obtained at the depth of 173 feet below the surface.

Specimen of rock salt: only a small quantity of this isobtained in the neighbourhood.

Specimen of bay salt; an article supplied to druggists.

Hopper or Maldon salt; used as a dessert with wine,instead of olives.

Coarse broad salt; exported for the fisheries.

Brisk salt; used for chemical purposes, fisheries, andexportation.

Lymington grained salt; used for curing bacon andbutter and for exportation.

Best cooking salt, superfine table salt, and refined tablesalt; used for various domestic purposes.

Pickings, or cattle lickings, a valuable and useful ar-ticle for sheep or cattle, which they eagerly seek afterand enjoy,

[The salt manufacture of Droitwich, Worcestershire ,existed at a very early period: it is mentioned as inoperation at the time of the Roman invasion; then it wascarried on in a primitive style, and at considerable ex-pense. The brine-springs here extend over a very limitedspace of land, and are comprised within a circle of about200 yards in diameter. Formerly the brine was obtainedby boring: this process made it rise to the surface andrtui to waste; for, ascending through and mixing withthe fresh-water springs, it was very much lowered instrength, and the manufacture of the salt, which wasconducted by evaporation, was attended with great ex-pense, owing to the quantity of fuel required to vaporisethe water.

Within the last 50 years an improvement was effectedhy casing the pit with wood, and thus partially prevent-mg the fresh water mixing with the brine. More recently,the principle was introduced of sinking a shaft quitethrough the fresh-water springs, and then making thebottom and sides of the pit secure with iron cylinders,before boring down to the brine springs. By this meansthe brine is obtained at its fall saturation, or about 42parts of salt in the 100; whereas formerly it varied be-tween 28 and 37 per cent.

The exhibitors recently obtained a patent for improve-ments in manufacturing salt; and, by using very largeevaporating pans of an improved construction, they obtain

larger quantities of salt, at a considerable saving of labourto the workmen, who obtain better wages and longerintervals of rest.

The source of the brine in Droitwich is inexhaustibleand exhibits no diminution of strength or quality: it liesat a depth of 173 feet from the surface, but as soon as itis reached by boring it rises up to the level. The saltmanufactured here is exported largely from the ports ofLondon , Gloucester, and Bristol. There are upwards of70,000 tons per annum manufactured, of which 40,000tons are used for domestic and agricultural purposes; theremainder is used chiefly for chemical decomposition andexportation. The Droitwich salt has always been cele-brated for its strength and purity.]

119 Dewar, Thomas, Newcastle-upon-Tyne —

Manufacturer.

Specimens of brown and white mustard seed, fromwhich mustard for table use is made.

[The mustard of commerce belongs to the family ofcruciferous plants. Its introduction as an article ofextensive employment at the table, only dates from thebeginning of the last century. It is principally culti-vated in the North Riding of Yorkshire.—R. E.]

120 Levy, Walter, 2 White How , SpiialMds —

Manufacturer.

Specimen of Taganrog wheat; the same, granulated,with the flour and bran extracted.

Samples of maccaroni celery and vermicelli.

121 Tucker, Richard Grant, Fenton , near Nottingham

—Manufacturer.

Starch, used by the lace-dressers in Nottingham.

Gum substitute, used by cotton, silk, woollen, andwall-paper printers, for giving consistence to colours.

Adhesive, or label gum, suitable for postage stamps.

The residue, or glutinous matter, remaining afterstarch is extracted from wheat.

[A large number of plants and vegetable substancescontain starch. It is found in seeds, roots, tubers andstems. It is often obtained from wheat which hasbecome accidentally damaged. From its insolubility incold water, it is easily washed out of any vegetable tissuewhich may contain it, and thus it may be partially sepa-rated from other substances present in the matteroperated upon. But there are some from which it cannotbe thus separated, and here, by an ingenious method, che-mical decomposition is employed to get rid of them.The liquor in which some of the starchy particles arecontained is allowed to ferment. By this means thegluten, albumen, &c., become, in a great measure, dis-solved, and the starchy particles are left unaltered, andseparate themselves by precipitation. The largest sourceof starch of late years has been the potato, from which itis obtained simply by rasping and washing.—R. E.]

122 Tucker, Edward, Belfast —Manufacturer.

Glue and starch, produced at Belfast .

[The manufacture of the common and useful substance,glue, forms an interesting branch of the industrial arts.It is procured from the parings of hides, parchment, andrefuse leather of all kinds. Such matters, after a prepa-ratory cleaning in alkaline water, are boiled in largevessels for some time. The liquid is then run off and isfound to be charged with an impure solution of gelatine;on cooling, the sheets of glue are left in frames to dry.This part of the process is often singularly affected by at-mospheric vicissitudes. The state of the air during thun-der-storms produces a, remarkable effect on the glue, and