heads; and, beginning at the last cask, and, marking as before, only the two last figures found, he proceeds until he reaches the first cask from which he set out; when, having thus finished the preliminaries, he commences the actual gauging.

Some gaugers make a practice of taking the rest of the dimensions singly and consecutively; that is the bung dimensions of all the casks first, then all the lengths, &c.; but this is not to be recommended, as it must, of course, be impossible to remember distinctly, if at all, how the dimensions have been taken; for, though the principal allowances may be made in the length, yet there are minor particulars on each dimension that have a great influence on the total, such as whether they have been taken "easy" or "tight," and so on. It is therefore advisable in each instance to finish one cask before proceeding to another, as ensuring greater accuracy and equal rapidity.

As each dimension is taken it must be marked on the head of the cask, and this should be done in the following manner :When the bung and wet have been taken, they must be marked near the centre of the front head, the one under the other (the right side of the cask being considered as the top, which is the position it assumes relatively to the gauger when he stoops to write); the "length" is next taken, and marked above, leaving room between it and the "bung" for the insertion of the "head," which, being the last dimension taken, leaves the head rod almost in the position for casting out the contents. In marking the figures, the decimal point is omitted, and, when no decimal occurs, a dash marks its absence; thus, L. 497, H. 227, B. 313, W. 30-, Cont. 116, Ull. 115. (Pl. 5, fig. 4.)

In dipping for the wet inches on importation, it is usual to allow a tenth or two off what is marked on the rod, the amount of such allowance depending on the temperature, being of course less in cold, and more in warm weather. A cask gauged at a two gallon ullage, on the open quay, in frosty weather, will, when removed to the higher temperature of the vault, often show an apparent increase of a gallon, and vice versa when gauged in hot weather, when the vault is cooler. This arises

from the expansion of the liquid by heat, and is more likely to occur when the ullage has been left at nearly the turn of a gallon; for, it may be remarked here, that any fraction of a gallon is not reckoned, except in removals coastwise, when 5-10ths of a gallon are taken as a full gallon, if necessary, to avoid showing a loss on transit, and in gauging Spirits in accordance with the new regulations, when the ullages are taken to the 2, 4, 6, and 8 tenths. Some gaugers talk of an allowance for the swell of the rule, or the displacement caused by the insertion of the bung rod into the liquor; but the necessity of such an allowance cannot be very great, when we consider that it would require 231 bung rods to be entirely immersed to displace a gallon, the cubic content of a bung rod of the usual dimensions being 12 inches.

After the casks have been duly gauged, the content and ullage, importer's name, and numbers of the casks, have to be scribed" by means of an instrument for the purpose. This

is intended as a means of identifying the casks when the chalk marks shall have disappeared, from damp or other causes.

Pipes, butts, hogsheads, and spirit casks of all sizes, are gauged all round,—that is to say, all the dimensions are taken and recorded; but with quarter casks and octaves generally this is only done to a few in an entry, in order to check the indication of the diagonal line, the bung rod being used to gauge them by means of its diagonal line in the following manner :-After taking the bung and wet, it is inserted in a slanting position into the cask, so that the point shall reach the inner chimb of the front head, and the mark on the diagonal line which comes to the centre of the bunghole, level with the inner part of the stave, is then noted; the same is done towards the other head, and the mean between the two is considered as the indication of the quantity. It is clear, however, that so many circumstances militate against the correct use of the diagonal, that every care must be taken to ensure accuracy; the bunghole may not be in the centre, or it may be "depressed" or "cocked," in either of which cases allowance must be made.

On quarter casks and octaves, it is only necessary to mark the

bung, wet, content, and ullage, and not the length and head, except in spirit casks, which are gauged all round.

After the whole have been correctly gauged, they must be copied into the landing books under their particular entries, and according to their proper numbers and dimensions; the total ullages cast up, and the account completed, according to the established mode, which need not be described here.

BOTTLED WINES AND SPIRITS IN CASES.

As the Gauger has frequently to examine and take account of wines and spirits imported in bottle, a few words may not be out of place as to the mode of doing this.

For wines the matter is very simple. The landing books are ruled for quarts and pints, not imperial measurement, but what are termed "reputed,"-the quarts counting 6, the pints 12, and half pints 24 to the gallon.

Against the number of each case as entered must be recorded the number of bottles of either size it contains, (any unusual sizes being measured,) and the total of each size for all the cases in the entry being cast up must be divided by the number of bottles to the gallon, and the result in imperial gallons, and 6ths, 12ths, or 24ths shown in one sum; a separate total for red and white wine being, however, necessary.

In taking account of spirits, the number of bottles in each case is recorded in the first column; but, instead of being reckoned as reputed quarts, &c., actual measurements are taken to the quarter of a gill. For this purpose, after the numbers have been recorded, one case in ten is selected for measurement, the quantity found governing that of the ten from which it is taken. Where marks and qualities vary much, as many more may be selected as are found necessary for a correct average. At the same time that the bottle is being measured, the strength per cent. is taken by the hydrometer, and governs the rest in like

manner.

The measurements are recorded against the number of bottles in the book, and the total in gallons and gills shown for each

case, next to which is placed the strength per cent., and, in the the same line, the actual gills over or under proof. Totals are made of the number of cases, the liquid quantities, and the gills of strength, which, if O.P., are added to, and if U.P. deducted from, the liquid for the proof quantity.*

In perfumed spirits, which are imported in small bottles of various sizes, the account is taken similarly, but the measurements are made to the 10th of a gill. No strength is taken, as they are not rated at the proof, but the liquid gallon.

OPERATIONS IN BOND.

After casks of wines and spirits have been gauged, they are often subjected to one or more operations before being delivered, either for home consumption on payment of the proper duties, or for exportation to some other country under legal bond.

REGAUGING.

Under all circumstances, before delivery each cask must be reëxamined and regauged, to ascertain if it be in all respects correct as entered, and this, although the merchant may have paid the full duty on the landing account. If, however, he wish to take advantage of the privilege allowed by law, of paying duty on the quantity actually in the cask at the time of delivery, by a deduction of any losses that may have occurred during the term of bonding; he takes out what is called a regauge paper for the cask or casks, which, having been

For the mode of calculating the strengths, see page 58.

duly certified by the warehousing department, is received by the gauger, and, thus authorized, he first compares the cask to see if it agrees with the description on the document, and then proceeds to regauge, both for content and ullage, noting any discrepancy he may discover in the former, or deficiency in the latter, on the regauge paper, and balancing his account to the original quantity by showing the difference under its proper column. The merchant then pays duty on the quantity thus found. If a loss of more than one gallon occurs, the Inspector's attention must be called to the cask.

RACKING.

If a merchant wish, for convenience of sale, to have a change made in the kind of casks which contain his wine, by dividing pipes into hogsheads and quarter casks, or putting quarter casks, &c., into hogsheads or pipes, an authority must be obtained by him in the usual form from the warehouse keeper's office, with due particulars thereon. The gauger then first takes a re-gauge of the original casks, noting on the papers any difference that may appear. The division or combination is then proceeded with, and when complete, the new casks are gauged and the total balanced with the original quantity, distinguishing the alterations before and after the operation.

When large casks are divided into small ones, an apparent loss often results, as the wine that only produces an unnoticed fraction of a gallon in each of the small vessels, may, if put together, produce 1 or 2 gallons; and care must be taken by the gauger to obtain the true gauges of all the casks, so that this source of error be not increased to too great an extent, as it may easily be. For instance, a butt of sherry, containing 110 gallons, racked into four quarter casks of 28 gallons content; each of them may turn out cont. 28, ull. 27, making a total of 108 gallons ullage, and showing a loss of 2 gallons in operation; these 2 gallons being divided in each merely as an excess of half a gallon, which is not reckoned. To avoid this as much as possible, one, or even two, of the casks, if they be not of too rich