Syracuse, is the name given to a luscious red muscadine; also to a white vin de liqueur.

Etna, the best, is a strong red wine. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. The Cape wines, except Constantia (a rich luscious kind), are of the worst description, being generally infected with the earthy taste common to wines grown on bad soils. Some are sweet, but the larger part are dry. They are called Cape Madeira, Cape Sherry, Cape Hock, &c.

ASIA produces no wine for exportation, except perhaps the celebrated Shiraz of Persia, some of which is occasionally sent to India.

AMERICA. Wine is made both on the north and south continent, particularly in N. Carolina; in Peru and Chili; and at Mendoza in Buenos Ayres, near the Andes ; but none is shipped to Europe.

AUSTRALIA. Some attention is bestowed on wine in the colony of NEW SOUTH WALES. In 1841, the quantity of wine imported into the United Kingdom was 7,708,502 gallons: and there were entered for consumption 2,412,821 gallons Spanish; 2,387,017 Portuguese; 353,740 French; 107,701 Madeira; 55,242 Rhenish (or German); 25,635 Canary; 137 Fayal; 441,238 Cape; and 401,429 Sicilian and other sorts; total, 6,184,960 gallons. On January 5, 1842, there were under bond, 10,775,380 gallons; whereof in London, 6,618,569; and in Dublin, Leith, and other ports, 4,156,811 gallons. The surplus imported beyond the consumption is re-exported chiefly to India and our colonies in Australia and America.

Prior to 1693, the wines of France were those chiefly consumed in this country; but the higher duties imposed on them in that year, and the fiscal advantages given by the Methuen Treaty to Portuguese wines in 1703, led gradually to the former being nearly superseded by the latter and the wines of Spain. And after 1793 (when Britain used about 7,000,000 wine gallons yearly), the consumption of all kinds was checked by the extravagant duties imposed for the prosecution of the war. In 1825, these were modified to 7s. 3d. per (Imp.) gallon on French wine; 4s. 10d. on other foreign sorts; and 2s. 5d. on Cape; and in 1831, when the discriminating duty on French wine was abolished, they were fixed at 5s. 6d. per gallon on all foreign wines, and 2s. 9d. on Cape. Since the reduction in 1825, a considerable increase has taken place in the consumption of sherry.

The Standard Gauges of wine recognized in trade are pipe of Port, 115 gals.; pipe of Lisbon, 117 gals.; pipe of Cape or Madeira, 92 gals.; pipe of Teneriffe, 100 gals.; butt of Sherry, 108 gals.; hogshead of Claret, 46 gals.; aum of Hock, 30 gals.—all Imperial measure.

Farther information will be found under CUSTOMS REGULATIONS, WAREHOUSING SYSTEM, and in the articles on the different wine countries; also in the well-known Treatises on Wine by Dr Henderson and Cyrus Redding.

WINTER'S BARK (Wintera aromatica), a spice resembling canella alba. WOAD, a plant (Isatis tinctoria), from the roots and leaves of which a blue dye is obtained; but its use is now almost entirely superseded by indigo. WOOD. [TIMBER.]

WOOL (Du. Wol. Fr. Laine. Ger. Wolle. It. and Sp. Lana. Por. La, Laa. Rus. Wolna, Scherst), the fleecy covering or pile of the SHEEP. Wools are distinguished by their length or staple, and by the fineness of their filaments. Long wool, commonly that which exceeds 3 inches in length, is best adapted for the manufacture of worsted stuffs; while short wool, that less than 3 inches, is chiefly employed for cloths and other articles. These two kinds, which are the produce of distinct varieties of sheep, are also distinguished by the manner in which they are prepared for being spun. The long wools, like flax, are combed; while the short wools are carded; whence the former are familiarly termed combing wools, and the latter carding or cloth wools. In England, the chief long-woolled sheep is the Leicester, and the chief short-woolled the South Down. The fleece of the latter is very fine; it is, however, greatly inferior to that of the Merinoes, a Spanish breed, but which has been introduced with signal success into Germany, Australia, and the Cape Colony. S

Wool ought to be pliable, elastic, and above all, soft to the touch, a property for which the Saxon wools are noted: the filament too ought to be regular, it should be free from hairs or kemps. Farther, it ought to be curly or crispy, with the peculiar property of felting. Each fleece contains wool of different qualities; the best is that on the spine and sides. And that shorn from the live sheep, called fleece wool, is superior to that cut from its skin after death, called dead wool; the latter being comparatively harsh, weak, and incapable of imbibing the dyeing principles, an objection to which also black wool is liable. The assorting or stapling of wool is sometimes performed by the manufacturer, but chiefly by wool-staplers, who purchase the raw material from the grower, and dispose of it, after it is assorted, to the manufacturer.

The exportation of wool was prohibited in 1660, mainly from a desire to preserve to ourselves the English long wool, a kind not produced in any other country; but this policy was more injurious to the agriculturist than beneficial to the manufacturer, and the improvements in machinery having enabled short wools to be applied to many of the purposes for which long wools had been appropriated, the prohibition was withdrawn by Mr Huskisson in 1825. Since then, the exports of British wool have gradually increased, and in 1841 amounted (exclusive of yarn) to 8,471,235 lbs., of which 7,544,196 lbs. went to Belgium, and 894,704 lbs. to France.

The importation of foreign wool into Britain was free until 1802, when it was subjected to a duty of 58. 3d. per cwt.; which was gradually raised to 6s. 8d. in 1813; and in 1819 (by Mr Vansittart) to 56s. per cwt., or 6d. per lb. This extravagant rate was gradually reduced in 1824 and 1825 to 4d. per lb. on wool under 1s. per lb. in value, and to 1d. per lb. on higher sorts. In 1819, the duty on colonial wool was fixed at 1d. per lb., and since 1825 it has been admitted free.

Prior to 1800, our annual imports of wool seldom exceeded 3,000,000 lbs.; afterwards they rapidly increased, but down to 1814 they chiefly consisted of Spanish produce. Since the peace, the great source of supply has been Germany; though of late years considerable quantities have likewise been brought from Australia, India, S. America, and the Cape Colony. In 1841 there were imported from Germany, 20,958,775 lbs.; Russia, 4,131,652 lbs.; Denmark, 778,256 lbs.;

Portugal, 679,071 lbs.; Spain, 1,088,200 lbs.; Italy, 1,502,254 lbs.; Turkey, 447,563 lbs. ; Cape Colony, 1,079,910 lbs.; India, 3,008,664 lbs.; New S. Wales, 7,993,060 lbs.; Van Diemen's Land, 3,597,531 lbs.; S. Australia, 759,909 lbs.; La Plata States, 5,105,637 lbs.; Peru, 3,144,462 lbs.; Chili, 923,832 lbs.; making, with small quantities from other places, in all, 56,179,641 lbs. The quantity entered for home consumption was 52,862,020 lbs. ; namely, 22,051,796 lbs. at duty of Id. per ib., 14,495,002 lbs. at id. do, 4306 lbs. red wool at 6d. per lb. do., and 16,310,916 lbs. colonial wool, duty free. The surplus imported was re-exported to Belgium, France, and the United States. The Peruvian wool, it may be observed, is mostly that of the alpaca, a species of llama. The sack of British wool of 2 weys, or 13 tods = 364 lbs. The last is 12 sacks. And the pack 240 lbs. The German bale weighs about 350 lbs. Seo SUPPLEMENT.

WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. This art existed in England at a remote period, but in a rude state, as a great part of the raw wool produced in the kingdom was exported to Flanders in exchange for the finer cloths, down to the reign of Edward III., when the manufacture received an impulse from the immigration of a number of weavers from Ghent. Numerous laws were afterwards passed for its regulation; including among others the prevention of the exportation of British wool, the confinement of the art to certain localities; and the prohibition of the use of machinery. These laws, though in course of time abolished, materially retarded the manufacture. The statute of Edward VI. discouraging machinery, only repealed in 1807, was so effectual a bar to improvement, that until nearly the end of last century, the several processes were conducted in the same barbarous manner as in the reign of Edward III. Since 1807, a variety of machines have been applied to the carding and spinning of wool; while the powerloom has been employed in the weaving. The repeal of the prohibition to export British wool, which was not effected until 1825, by allowing the French to procure the long staple wool of England, at first enabled them to produce new stuffs superior to any that we had ever manufactured; but this superiority was not of long continuance. Stimulated by competition, our manufacturers in a few years introduced improved processes, which enabled them to produce merinos and other stuffs in every respect equal to those of France. And in the course of the ten years following the removal of the restriction, their exportation of such goods, instead of declining, increased to the extent of 50 per cent. (Porter's Progress of the Nation, p. 190). Three great divisions of the trade are commonly recognised, the manufacture of woollen cloth, of worsted or stuff articles, and of hosiery. And the chief districts in which they are pursued are as follow:-Woollen cloth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Wilts, and Somerset ; stuffs or worsteds at Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, and in Norfolk; hosiery in Leicestershire; woollen yarn in Suffolk and Lancashire. Besides which, carpets are made at Kidderminster, Wilton, and Axminster; and tweeds, plaiding, and woollen shawls, in Scotland. The English cloth manufacture is carried on generally in three ways. 1st, The domestic system, under which there is a number of small masters, mostly occupying little farms, 2d, Under the master-clothier system of the West of England, where one individual purchases the wool and gives it out to distinct classes of manufacturers to be worked up. 3d, Under the factory system, where one individual employs a number of workmen under his own superintendence. Nearly three-fourths of the whole woollen manufacture is located in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where the goods are chiefly sold in an undressed state in public halls in the principal towns. A considerable quantity is also purchased in the different districts by drapers, who give out samples to the manufacturers, and get the cloth sent direct to their warehouses. The woollens of Norfolk and the West of England are generally sold at fairs or markets, or to parties sent round by the drapers. The annual value of the manufacture in 1698 was estimated at £6,000,000; in 1741, £8,340,000; in 1774, it was, according to Arthur Young, £12,794,877; and in 1800, according to Mr Luccock, £17,500,000. In 1834 it was estimated by Mr Youatt as follows: 108,000,000 lbs. of British wool at 1s. 3d., and 46,535,232 lbs. of imported wool at 2s. 6d., £12,556,904; wages of 350,000 persons at £25 each, £8,750,000; dyes, oils, and other raw materials, £1,450,000; wear and tear of fixed capital, profits, &c., £4,250,000; total, £27,006,904. But, since 1834, a considerable fall has taken place in the price of raw wool.

The sale of woollens was long confined to the home market. And it was not until the beginning of last century that the exports to the continent and to our colonies became of importance. The value of woollens exported was in 1700 nearly £3,000,000; and in 1800 about double that sum. Their value has not since increased; but, owing to the diminished price of wool, and the greater economy in the various manufacturing processes, the quantities have on the whole considerably increased. At present, the most prosperous department of the trade is that in worsted and stuff goods. Of late years, cottons have, from their cheapness, in a

great degree superseded the lower qualities of cloths; a circumstance which, joined to the increasing rivalry of France, Germany, and Belgium, renders it improbable, unless new markets shall be opened in China or elsewhere, that much extension will in future be given to our manufacture of woollen cloths.

In 1841, exports consisted of 213,125 pieces cloth; 11,491 pieces napped coatings, duffies, &c.; 22,131 pieces kerseymeres; 37,160 pieces baize; 2,007,366 pieces woollen or worsted stuffs; 1,820,244 yards flannel; 2,187,329 yards blanketing; 809,315 yards carpeting; 5,015,087 yards woollens mixed with cotton; 135,909 dozen pairs stockings; and £163,900 in value of tapes, small wares, &c. The total declared value was £5,748,673; whereof the United States took £1,521,980; Germany, £883,878; Holland, £316,769; Belgium, £110,792; Russia, £102,733; Portugal, £164,251; Italy, £203,797; Gibraltar and Spain, £152,603; India and China; £532,710; Australia, £91,851; British America, £515,344; Brazil, £329,984; Mexico and South American States, £468,070; and the remainder in smaller quantities to different places. The above was exclusive of 4,903,291 lbs. yarn, mostly to Germany. S

WORMSEED, the unexpanded flowers and calyxes of a species of Artemisia. They are imported from the Levant and Barbary, and are used in medicine. WORMWOOD, a perennial herb (Artemisia absinthium), indigenous to Britain, celebrated for its intensely bitter, tonic, and stimulating qualities.

Y.

YARD, the British standard measure of length. [MEASURES.]

YARN (Fr. Fil. Ger. Garn. It. Filato. Por. Fio. Rus. Prasha. Sp. Hilo), simple spun thread. Its quality is expressed in England by numbers, denoting the number of hanks in an avoirdupois pound weight; reckoning the length of the hank of cotton yarn at 840 yards, or 7 leys of 120 yards each. The hank of worsted yarn is sometimes counted in the same way, but more generally at 560 yards, or 7 leys of 80 yards each. Linen yarn is estimated in England by the number of leys or cuts, each of 300 yards, contained in a pound; but in Scotland by the number of pounds in a spindle or 48 leys: thus, No. 48 in England is called 1 lb. yarn in Scotland. S YEAST, OR BARM, a product of the fermentation by which beer is made; upon the surface of which it swims from involving bubbles of carbonic acid gas. It may be obtained in the form of a firm paste. Mixed with moistened flour it excites the panary fermentation, and is thus used for making bread.

Z.

ZAFFRE, an impure oxide of cobalt, prepared by calcining its ores, and mixing the product with about twice its weight of finely powdered flint. It is used for communicating a blue colour to glass, porcelain, and earthenware; and, when roasted with potashes, washed, and pulverized, forms SMALTS. About 2600 cwts. are annually imported from Norway and Germany.

ZEALAND, NEW, a group of islands lying in the Pacific, 1300 miles S.E. of Australia. They are subject to Britain; and in 1841 were placed under a governor and council. s

There are two principal islands, separated by Cook's Strait-New Ulster and New Munster. The latter, and the greater part of the former, are intersected by a mountain-chain, elevated in some parts 14,000 feet; and there are several subordinate ranges. The country generally is well watered, wooded, and fertile; and the climate salubrious and temperate, resembling that of France. New Ulster alone-the N. island-has been colonized by the British. Auckland, the capital, advantageously situated on its N. W. side, on the Waitemata, in lat. 36° 51′ 8., long. 174° 45′ E., is rapidly rising into importance, and has a spacious harbour. Russell, towards the N. E. extremity, on the Bay of Islands, and Wellington, on the S. on Cook's Strait, are the other principal stations. Timber and flax are at present the chief products; but as colonization is progressing rapidly, and the natives evince an aptitude for civilized usages, little doubt can be entertained that these fine islands will become ere long the sites of an extensive commerce.

ZINC, OR SPELTER (Fr. Zinc. Ger. Zink. It. Zinco. Chin. Pi-yuen), a metal of a blueish-white colour and lustre. Sp. gr. 7. At common temperatures it is tough and intractable; but heated to between 220° and 320° it becomes malleable and ductile; so that it may be hammered out, rolled into sheets and leaves, and drawn into wire. Being cheap, light, and a metal which, when superficially oxidized, long resists the further action of air and water, it is now employed as a substitute for lead in lining water cisterns and roofing; alloyed with copper it forms brass; and several of its compounds are used in medicine. Zinc is obtained either from calamine, a native carbonate, or blende, a native sulphuret. Both are found in this country, especially in Flintshire and Derbyshire. But British_zine is inferior to that of Germany, from whence, chiefly by way of Prussia and Hamburg, from 100,000 to 170,000 cwts. are annually imported (commonly as ballast in ships bringing wool); of which about 80,000 cwts. are entered for home consumption, and the rest is re-exported, mostly to India.

AGAL-AGAL. This is usually written Agar-agar. It is the Sphaerococcus spinosus of Agardh. A large trade is carried on in this prepared seaweed in the East, from Singapore and the Eastern Archipelago generally to China. It is used not only for food but as a stiffening material for paper and fabrics.

ALGERIA. The total population in 1854 was 2,056,298 natives in districts under military government; Civil Europeans, 155,607, and about 70,000 military. The custom duties and navigation dues received in 1854 amounted to £102,111. The number of vessels entered at ports of Algeria was 6817, registering 437,912 tons, of which 1417 vessels were from French ports, 1712 from foreign ports, and 3688 employed in the Algerian coasting-trade. The value of the total imports in the same year was £3,249,378, and of the exports £1,687,043. There were in all 1,903,675 acres under cultivation with grain, which produced 25,772,000 bushels, valued at £5,509,753. In 1853 there were 1688 tobacco-planters, cultivating 2287 acres of land, the produce being 1,637,523 kilogrammes of tobacco, valued at 1,435,226 francs.

ALKALI. Of alkali and barilla we imported 908 tons in 1858 from the Two Sicilies and Peru, ranging in price from £17. 10s to £19. 108. The aggregate value was £14,216. The average imports of the four years ending 1858 were about 1200 tons.

ALMONDS. The trade in this shelled-fruit has largely increased. In 1858 the total import of sweet almonds was 33,106 cwt., of the computed value of £98,532., upon which a duty of 10s per cwt. was paid, and 12,140 cwt. were retained for home consumption. The Spanish almonds were valued at £4.78 2d per cwt.; those brought from Gibraltar at £5. 13s per cwt. Of bitter almonds 8370 cwt. were imported in the same year, valued at £3. per cwt., which came in free of duty.

ALOES. The average annual imports of this drug have been lately on the increase. Previous to 1850 they scarcely averaged 130 tons; in 1858 they reached 265 tons. The bulk of this comes from Southern Africa and the East Indies. The average price fixed for the value was £1. 128 8d per cwt. for Cape aloes, £6. 168 6d for Barbados, and £7. for Socotrine.

ALPACA, the name of a species of Peruvian sheep; also of its wool, from which a fabric has been manufactured of great variety and utility. The alpaca is hardy, can feed on the refuse herbage left by other animals, and though smaller in size than the llama, is like it, used in Peru to carry burdens. Ninetenths of its wool is black, the rest brown or grizzled. The staple is of extraordinary length, of a singularly soft and silky quality, and when carefully managed loses nothing of its gloss, in dyeing and finishing. The use of it has rapidly extended in the worsted manufactures of Yorkshire, especially by improved processes. The quantity of the wool imported from 1836, when Mr. Salt of Saltaire made his first purchase, to 1840, averaged 580,000 lbs. per annum. In 1851 the import had reached 2,186,480 lbs. ; and the advance in price had risen from 10d per lb. in 1836 to 2s 6d per lb. in 1852.-See WOOL.

Nearly contemporaneous with the introduction of alpaca wool was the bringing into general use in Yorkshire of an article similar in many of its properties,

B

namely, mohair, or goat's wool. This article is of very ancient use in manufactures, having been employed, as we are taught in the Book of Exodus, for the furniture and covering of the Jewish tabernacle. The wool is grown in the neighbourhood of Angora, in the centre of Asia Minor, and is brought from thence on the backs of camels to Constantinople for shipment. Although many attempts have been made to extend its growth beyond this immediate district, they have hitherto generally failed. Formerly, yarn was spun by hand in Turkey itself to a large extent, and exported to France; but English spun mohair yarn has now entirely superseded it. The export of this yarn to France in 1850 amounted to 400,000 lbs.; and in Germany its consumption is greatly increasing. It is manufactured in Yorkshire, chiefly into articles for ladies' dresses, of great softness, lustre, and brilliancy. On the Continent, and in some parts of England, there is a large and increasing production from this article of what is called Utrecht velvet, for hangings, furniture, linings of carriages, &c.

ALUM. About 13,000 tons of alum are made in the United Kingdom, which, at an average of £8. per ton, makes an aggregate sum of £104,000 per annum. In 1858, 1453 cwt. of alum and 1115 cwt. of roche alum were imported, worth together £1156. The exports of alum in the same year amounted to 70,000 cwt. of the value of £29,735.

AMBERGRIS. The imports of ambergris are very small, only amounting to a few ounces a year. In 1858, 120 ounces were brought in of the value of £211.

ANCHORS. With the extension of shipping in all parts of the world, the demand for anchors increases; and as the vessels now built are usually of a much larger tonnage than formerly, heavier anchors and more of them are required. One anchor is considered necessary for every 20 tons. The aggregate manufacture must be very large, seeing that besides those required for our own mercantile and naval vessels, 16,772 tons of anchors, grapnels, &c. valued at £261,500, were exported in 1858.

ANIMI. In 1858 the imports of this resin were 2623 cwts., chiefly from the west and east coasts of Africa, of the aggregate value of £18,229.

ANNATTO. The imports of this colouring substance were 3835 cwts. in 1858, valued at £11,846. The duty was removed in 1845.

APOTHECARY'S WARES. Under this designation various otherwise undescribed and unenumerated articles of drugs, &c., are annually shipped from this country to the value of about half-a-million sterling.

APPAREL. Under this heading, ready-made clothes, old and new, are shipped to the value now of about £2,500,000. annually, exclusive of about £400,000 slops and negro clothing. The largest portion, upwards of £1,000,000, goes to Australia.

ARGOL. The crust or sediment of wine vats. The imports have been largely on the decrease of late years. In 1854, 30,000 cwts. were imported; while in 1858, but 13,544 cwt. were received. It comes chiefly from the Mediterranean and Peninsular ports.

ARMS AND AMMUNITION. The exports under this head have increased of late years beyond the sum mentioned at page 354. It comprises the two items of guns and gunpowder: the average value of the ten years ending 1858 was £600,000, about half of which amount was guns and half gunpowder.

ARROWROOT. The imports of this starch for food are now very large. In 1858, 27,324 cwts. were imported, and nearly all entered for home consumption. The aggregate value was stated at £64,359. The duty has been 44d per cwt. since June, 1853. St. Vincent, Barbados, and some other of the West India islands, furnish the chief supplies. The manufacture, however, is extensively carried on in Natal, Sierra Leone, Penang, Brazil, and other quarters.

ASPHALTUM. This bituminous substance, when of a good and pure character, is much used as a black coating or varnish. The imports in 1858 amounted to 2232 tons, of the value of about £20,000. Some came from Cuba, valued at £7. per ton; the bulk from the south of France at £9.; and the best or Egyptian qualities were worth £14. 10s 6d. There is no duty levied on it. 、 AUSTRIA. The population of the Austrian empire in 1855, exclusive of