| 1834. | 1835. | 1836. | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lbs. | lbs. | lbs. | ||||||||
| First class | 54,053,721 | 56,179,555 | 66,202,689 | |||||||
| Second class | 16,552,168 | 7,863,095 | 15,906,258 | |||||||
| Pasteboard, millboard, &c. | 49,392 | 49,772 | 36,340 | |||||||
| yards. | yards. | yards. | ||||||||
| Stained | 8,749,144 | 8,247,931 | 8,032,577 | |||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | ||
| Amount of duty, | first class | 675,671 | 10 | 0 | 702,244 | 9 | 0 | 651,699 | 0 | 0 |
| — | second class | 103,451 | 0 | 0 | 111,644 | 0 | 0 | 99,414 | 0 | 0 |
| — | pasteboard, &c. | 54,689 | 0 | 0 | 54,548 | 15 | 0 | 39,557 | 0 | 0 |
| — | stained | 63,795 | 16 | 0 | 60,141 | 0 | 0 | 22,112 | 0 | 0 |
The late reduction of the duty, from 3d. to 11⁄2d. per lb., upon paper of the first class, viz., on all descriptions of it, except that made out of tarred ropes only, has been already attended with considerable benefit to the manufacture, and would have acted with much greater effect, but for the American crisis. The gross amount of the paper duty in the year ending 5th January, 1836, was 831,057l., and in the year ending 5th January, 1838, it was 554,497l.; instead of being little more than one half, as might have been the case from the reduction of the duty, which only came into full operation in the year 1837. At the same time that the tax on common paper was reduced, that upon stained paper was repealed altogether. The effect of the diminution consequently made in the price of paper-hangings, has been so great as nearly to double the consumption of the country, while the manufacture appears to be still rapidly on the increase.
Declared Value of Stationery and Printed Books exported in
| Years. | Stationery. | Printed Books. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1827 | £195,110 | £107,199 | £302,309 |
| 1828 | 208,532 | 102,874 | 311,406 |
| 1829 | 190,652 | 109,878 | 300,530 |
| 1830 | 171,848 | 95,874 | 267,722 |
| 1831 | 179,216 | 101,110 | 280,326 |
| 1832 | 177,718 | 93,038 | 270,756 |
| 1833 | 211,518 | 124,535 | 336,053 |
| 1834 | 211,459 | 122,595 | 334,054 |
| 1835 | 259,105 | 148,318 | 407,423 |
| 1836 | 301,121 | 178,945 | 480,066 |
Till the paper trade shall escape entirely from the clutches of its antient dry-nurse, the excise, neither it nor the book trade can acquire the same ascendancy in exportation which all other articles of British manufactures have over the French.
The Value of Stationery exported in France, from 1833, was,—
| Cartons lustrés (polished pasteboards for the cloth manufacture) | 18,992 | francs |
| Cartons en feuilles (pasteboard in sheets) | 6,352 | — |
| Cartons moulés (papier-maché) | 215,376 | — |
| Cartons coupés et assemblés | 54,184 | — |
| Wrapping paper | 178,544 | — |
| White paper, and rayé (ruled) pour musique | 2,903,075 | — |
| Coloured paper in reams | 58,541 | — |
| Stained paper (paper hangings) in rouleaux, | 1,885,387 | — |
| Silk paper | 3,240 | — |
| Total (= £208,000) | 5,323,621 | francs. |
PARAFFINE. Distil beech-tar to dryness, rectify the heavy oil which collects at the bottom of the receiver, and when a thick matter begins to rise, set aside what is distilled, and urge the heat moderately as long as any thing more distils. Pyrélaine passes over, containing crystalline scales of paraffine. This mixture being digested with its own volume of alcohol of 0·833, forms a limpid solution, which is to be gradually diluted with more alcohol, till its bulk becomes 6 or 8 times greater. The alcohol, which at first dissolves the whole, lets the paraffine gradually fall. The precipitate being washed with cold alcohol till it becomes nearly colourless, and then dissolved in boiling alcohol, is deposited on cooling in minute spangles and needles of pure paraffine.
Or the above mixture may be mixed with from 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 its weight of concentrated sulphuric acid, and subjected for 12 hours to digestion, at a heat of 150° F., till, on cooling, crystals of paraffine appear upon the surface. These are to be washed with water, dissolved in hot alcohol, and crystallized. Paraffine is a white substance, void of taste and smell, feels soft between the fingers, has a specific gravity of 0·87, melts at 112° Fahr., boils at a higher temperature with the exhalation of white fumes, is not decomposed by dry distillation, burns with a clear white flame without smoke or residuum, does not stain paper, and consists of 85·22 carbon, and 14·78 hydrogen; having the same composition as olefiant gas. It is decomposed neither by chlorine, strong acids, alkalis, nor potassium; and unites by fusion with sulphur, phosphorus, wax, and rosin. It dissolves readily in warm fat oils, in cold essential oils, in ether, but sparingly in boiling absolute alcohol. Paraffine is a singular solid bicarburet of hydrogen; it has not hitherto been applied to any use, but it would form admirable candles.
PARCHMENT. (Parchemin, Fr.; Pergament, Germ.) This writing material has been known since the earliest times, but is now made in a very superior manner to what it was anciently, as we may judge by inspection of the old vellum and parchment manuscripts. The art of making parchment consists in certain manipulations necessary to prepare the skins of animals of such thinness, flexibility, and firmness, as may be required for the different uses to which this substance is applied. Though the skins of all animals might be converted into writing materials, only those of the sheep or the she-goat are used for parchment; those of calves, kids, and dead-born lambs for vellum; those of the he-goat, she-goat, and wolves for drum-heads; and those of the ass for battledores. All these skins are prepared in the same way, with slight variations, which need no particular detail.