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swer your oath as a freeman, keep the apprentice from going at his pleasure, and save charges; and every master ought in conscience to do it, for it is his own security.

An apprentice inrolled may be discharged, if the master refuse to find him sufficient necessaries, or, if he ́beat him unreasonably, without just cause; or, if the master leave off his 'trade, or turn him out of his service, or neglect to instruct his apprentice; notwithstanding the vulgar mistake, that if the servant be inrolled, it cannot be done; that is no hindrance.

To sue out the indenture of an 'apprentice is thus:- he brings his indenture, or a copy, to an attorney in court; this attorney then gives a note or warrant to a serjeant to let the master know the apprentice's intention of suing out his indenture, and for what cause, and in four ́court-days' after, will leave a sumImons at the master's house, for the master to appear, and show cause why his servant shall not be discharged? If the apprentice sue out his indenture for not being inrolled, the master may appear, and delay it a small time; but he cannot prevent his discharge. Indeed, for any other matter, the master may appear by an attorney of this court, and try the truth of the matter, where will be a fair trial, the jury being all masters. If a verdict pass for the apprentice or the master, no cost is allowed to either party.

If an apprentice be bound for eight, nine, ten, or eleven years, and inrolled, he shall be compelled to serve the full term, unless for a reasonable cause.

If a sempstress or exchange-woman has a husband free of London, she must bind her apprentice to her husband, and not for less than seven years, and may be inrolled and made free at seven years' end, if unmarried.

The widow of a freeman may take a maid apprentice for seven years, and inrol her, as they do a youth, if she be above fourteen years old; but, if the indenture be made for less than seven years, it is of no London, and is not binding to the apprentice.

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If a master refuse to make his apprentice free after the expiration of seven years' faithful service, such apprentice may force his master to do it, by summoning him before the Chamberlain, or Court of Aldermen.

The Chamberlain of London atsends usually every forenoon, to inrol and turn over apprentices; to regulate differences betwixt servants and masters, and to make free those who have duly served their apprenticeship.

If an apprentice be unruly, disorderly, or commit a notorious fault, upon complaint to the Chamberlain, he will send an officer for such apprentice, and send him to Bridewell, or otherwise punish him as he de

serves.

If any freeman refuse to appear before the Chamberlain (being duly summoned) the Lord Mayor or Recorder will grant a warrant to apprehend such person, and make him. appear, for which warrant he must pay one shilling.

An apprentice, if turned over, ought first to be turned over before the Company where he was bound, and then before the Chamberlain. If an apprentice be turned over by the Company only, it is no obligation on the second master to keep him, nor is the apprentice compellable thereby to serve such second master, but may depart at his pleasure, by suing out his indenture against his first master, which may be done without the knowledge of the second master; therefore, be sure to turn them over before the Chamberlain; then, the first master is discharged, and the second obliged to keep him the full term, if it be for ten years or more.

All differences betwixt, master and servant may be heard and referred to the Chamberlain, who will determine the business for a small charge.

COMPARATIVE NUTRITIVE PROFERTIES OF FOOD.

A very interesting report on this subject has been presented to the French minister of the Interior, by Messrs Percy and Vanquelin, two

members of the Institute: the result of their experiments is as follows:In bread every hundred pounds weight are found to contain eighty pounds of nutritious matter; butch ers' meat, averaging the various sorts, contains only thirty-five pounds in one hundred; French beans (in the grain) ninety-two in one hundred ; broad beans, eighty-nine; peas, ninety-three; lentiles (a kind of half pea, but little known in England) ninety-four pounds in one hundred; greens and turnips, which are the most aqueous of all vegetables used for domestic purposes, furnish only eight pounds of solid nutritious substance in one hundred; carrots, fourteen pounds: and, what is very remarkable, as being in opposition to the hitherto acknowledged theory, one hundred pounds of potatoes only yield twenty-five pounds of sub stance, valuable as nutrition. pound of good bread is equal to two pounds and a half or three pounds of the best potatoes; and seventy-five pounds of bread, and thirty pounds of meat, are equal to three hundred pounds of potatoes; or, to go more into detail, three quarters of a pound of bread and five ounces of meat are equal to three pounds of potatoes; one pound of potatoes is equal to four pounds of cabbage and three of turnips; but one pound of rice, broad

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beans, or French beans (in grain) is equal to three pounds of potatoes.

CAUTION TO PARENTS AND NURSES. Nelson Balls, &c.

We have been favoured by a friend with the result of an experiment made, for the purpose of ascertaining the colouring matter employed in the preparation of those common sweetOne meats consumed by children. called pennyworth of red balls, Nelson or Waterloo balls, yielded on analysis 30 grains of an indissoluble matter, resembling red lead, which, on being fused with a blowpipe, produced 24 grains of lead in a metallic state! to point out the injurious effects which must be produced by the introduction of such a quantity of this metal into the stomach of a child, must surely be unnecessary; but we wish to impress upon the minds of parents the necessity of strictly charging those to whom they entrust their children, not to purchase for them sweetmeats of this description, since it cannot be doubted that the use of these deleterious compounds has, in many instances, produced injurious effects on the system, which nothing could ever eradicate.

* We should be glad to see an experiment made by one of our ingenious countrymen.-ED.

DIGESTIBILITY OF VARIOUS FOODS.

The following is copied from Doctor Scudamore on Gout, being some of the experiments related by Sir A. Cooper, who informs us, that they were performed upon dogs, with a view to ascertain the comparative solvent power of the gastric juice upon the different articles of food:

EXPERIMENT 5.

Loss by

Quantity. Animal killed. Digestion. 100 parts..

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4 hours

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Mutton

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ANNALS OF GULLING. N° V.

The following two notes we have received, and as we never thrust defence into a corner, we readily in sert them :

To Messrs. Knight and Lacey. GENT.;-We feel much surprised at an unwarrantable liberty you have taken with our name in a work publishing by you; and we beg to state, that if the same be not contradicted in your next Number, we shall be under the unpleasant necessity of giving our solicitors direc tions to proceed against all parties, in every way the forms of law will allow, to vindicate our characters. We have never had a bill returned to us unpaid, neither do we owe any person in London or elsewhere one shilling.

We are, Gentlemen,
Your obedient servants,
W. BOND & Co.

23, Leadenhall street,
June 15, 1824.

To Messrs. Knight and Lacey. GENT.;-We will thank you to contradict in your next Number of the Economist, that we have accepted £100,000 of bills: the fact is, we never accepted £2,500 since we have been in business altogether, of which upwards of £1,500 have been paid, and are now before us. Your early contradiction will prevent us from putting you to expenses, in defending an action at law, which otherwise we must be compelled to do. We are, Gentlemen,

Your humble servants,
W. MATHER & Co.

Leadenhall-street,
June 15, 1824.

To the Editor of The Economist. SIR;-Lacking, in no small de gree, "the one thing needful," and consequently glad to catch at all

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cheap bargains," I never fail to pounce upon the first thing of the kind that falls in my way: with one of these lucky hits I was favoured last Monday. You must know, Mr. Editor, I had been in the country, or rather (I hate secrets) to Greenwich fair, where, by-the-by, I fared so badly, as to be induced, on my return, to "look out for a nice little relish," but what that relish should be, I could not tell; however, at the moment of considering, I was standing on the west side of Fleet-market, and, as luck would have it, on turning round, a large ham-shop stared me full in the face; but, what was better than all, the hams were ticketed at sixpence per pound. Well, thought I, this is cheap indeed, while other shops sell at eightpence. So in I went, and requested to have a pound from the ticketed ham, which had been already cut, On tendering the sixpence, what was my surprise to hear Baconface exclaim, "What! d'ye think I can cut up these here bams for that there money?" "You've ticketed the very ham from which you cut my rasher at sixpence," I replied.-"Yes, yes," cried the greasy merchant, "but that there means if you takes a whole ham." Now, Mr. Editor, what is this but tricking individuals into the purchase of an article which probably they would not have bought but from its supposed cheapness? And what respectable person, having once ordered a portion of any article to be cut, would like, after such misunderstanding (as these worthies are pleased to term it), to cavil about an odd halfpenny? Let it not be said that "there is no necessity to pur chase:" certainly there is not; "but the public, by such artful means, are frequently inveigled into it; and nothing, every honest individual must allow, can be more unworthy the tradesman who would consider himself as tinctured with one degree of good principle, than such attempts to ensnare the unwary Allow me, Mr

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To the Editor of The Economist. SIR; I have observed, with great satisfaction, in your weekly "Annals of Gulling," the exposure of the impositions practised by the shopkeepers of the metropolis, and have no doubt that it will tend greatly to the benefit of those for whom it is intended. There is, however, one species of gulling which has not yet been noticed, but which I think of the greatest importance to that class of persons to which I conceive your valuable publication to be principally addressed. I allude to the impositions practised upon those persons who are in the habit of procuring articles of dress or furniture at those places vulgarly called " Tally-shops,” that is, where commodities can be obtained, upon the purchaser's own security, by weekly instalments.

In the first place I would observe, that the wish to appear well-dressed is generally most prevalent among those who are least capable of affording to appear so; and they are therefore anxious to discover the readiest way of obtaining the necessary (articles with the least apparent inconvenience. Mercenary persons, aware of this propensity, and desirable to enrich themselves, no matter by what means, open shops at various parts of the metropolis, where they lay in a large assortment of the ditferent articles of dress of the most inferior quality (in many instances those goods which have been damaged either in the manufacture or carriage), and sell them to those who

are too anxious to appear dashing to consider of the means by which they may become so. Allured by the apparent convenience of weekly payments, they do not hesitate to purchase, at double a fair valuation, commodities which an honest tradesman would blush to expose for sale. By this means the working classes are enabled to procure finery inconsistent with their situation in life, and which, were it not for the existence of "Tally-shops," they would be contented to do without; they are thus capable of astonishing their acquaintances, one day out of seven, by cutting a dash, while they are compelled to half starve themselves during the other six, in order to satisfy the rapacious swindler, who does not fail to call for his promised portion at the commencement o each week. There are many trades men who have already accumulated large fortunes by these means, and there are still more, encouraged by the success of their predecessors, proceeding in the same disgraceful way, to the great injury of the fair dealer, who sees his neighbour rapidly rising to wealth by practices which an honest man would blush to confess himself guilty of.

I am not disposed to deny that payment by instalments is the most convenient mode for those who receive weekly salaries, provided they are considerate enough to lay out no more than a fair proportion of their earnings, in the purchase of clothes or finery, and where tradesmen can be found honest enough not to take advantage of their confined means; but this I am afraid is very seldom the case on either side. The desire to appear above the situation in which we are by nature placed, is, I believe, a pretty general vanity; and where the means can be obtained at a seemingly easy rate, few have been found capable of resistance; and many families under my own observation have been compelled to deprive themselves of the common necessaries of life in order to pay for finery which they could and ought to have dispensed with. Many parents have likewise discovered, when too late, that they have been encouraging a

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ridiculous and pernicious vanity, and love of dress in their children, which "will grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength," and which they will probably never possess the means of honestly gratifying.

The impositions practised at Tally shops" is an evil well worthy the consideration of those who have the interests of the poorer classes of society at heart-an evil which is increasing daily, and which, unless remedied by exposure or other means, threatens to have the most pernicious effects upon those who are least able to afford to be imposed upon. The high prices which are invariably charged for articles purchased at these shops, enables the vender to part with his goods upon very slight security, and to risk the non-payment of some of his customers, and yet realize enormous profits---thus making those who will pay suffer for those who will not.

I am aware that much more may be said respecting the evil consequences of this pernicious system; and, should these remarks be deemed worthy of insertion, I shall return to the subject at a very early opportunity. Your obedient servant, City-road, June 14, 1824.

ADULTERATION OF BEER.

Remarks on Porter.

S.

The method of brewing porter has not been the same at all times as it is at present.

At first, the only essential difference in the methods of brewing this liquor and that of other kinds of beer, was, that porter was brewed from brown malt only; and this gave to it both the colour and flavour required. Of late years it has been brewed from mixtures of pale and brown malt.

These, at some establishments, are mashed separately, and the worts from each are afterwards mixed together. The proportion of pale and brown malt, used for brewing porter, varies in different breweries; some employ nearly two parts of pale malt and one part of brown malt; but each brewer appears to have his

own proportion, which the intelligent manufacturer varies, according to the nature and qualities of the malt. Three pounds of hops are, upon an average, allowed to every barrel (thirty-six gallons) of porter.

When the price of malt, on account of the great increase in the price of barley, during the late war, was very high, the London brewers discovered that a larger quantity of wort of a given strength could be obtained from pale malt than from brown malt. They therefore increased the quantity of the former, and diminished that of the latter. This produced beer of a paler colour, and of a less bitter flavour. To remedy these disadvantages, they invented an artificial colouring substance, prepared by boiling brown sugar till it acquired a very dark brown colour; a solution of which was employed to darken the colour of the beer. Some brewers made use of the infusion of malt instead of sugar colouring. To impart to the beer a bitter taste, the fraudulent brewer employed quassia-wood and worm-wood as a substitute for hops.

But as the colouring of beer by means of sugar became in many instances a pretext for using illegal ingredients, the Legislature, apprehensive of the mischief that might, and actually did, result from it, passed an act prohibiting the use of burnt-sugar, in July 1817; and nothing but malt and hops is now allowed to enter into the composition of beer: even the use of isinglass for clarifying beer, is contrary to law.

No sooner had the Beer-colouring Act been repealed, than other persons obtained a patent for effecting the purpose of imparting an artificial colour to porter, by means of brown malt, specifically prepared for that purpose only. The beer coloured by the new method is more liable to become spoiled than when coloured by the process formerly practised. The colouring malt does not contain any saccharine matter. The grain is by mere torrefaction converted into a gum-like substance, wholly soluble in water, which renders the beer more liable to pass into the acetous

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