Diaper

of a rough diamond of two carats: 2 x 2 = 4, the square of the weight; which, multiplied by two, gives £8, the value. For finding the value of manufactured diamonds, he supposes half their weight to be lost in cutting them, and, therefore, we must multiply the square of double their weight by 2, which will give their true value in pounds. Then, to find the value of a wrought diamond weighing two carats, we find the square of double their weight, viz., 4 x 4 = 16; then, 16 x 2 = 32, value £32. For the purpose of estimating small diamonds, the jeweller employs a gauge, in the handle of which are small crystals of various relative sizes, from 1-16th to carat, and a comparison is therewith made when there are numbers of various minute sizes. The Pitt or Regent diamond has been valued at £400,000. The Pigot diamond weighs 49 carats, and is valued at £40,000. The Austrian diamond weighs 139 carats; the Russian is worth £200,000. The Koh-i-noor, or "mountain of light," weighs 102 carats, but its value has never been estimated properly. The following are ascertained specific gravities of Jifferent varieties: Brazilian, 3'444; Brazilian yellow, 3'519; Oriental, 3'521; Oriental green, 3'524; Oriental blue, 3'525. The carat grain used in weighing diamonds is different from the troy grain, five diamond grains being only equal to four troy grains. Diamonds may be landed without report, entry, or warrant.

DIAPER [Fr. Linge ouvré, Ger. Drell, It. Tela tessuta a opere], fine flowered linen, commonly used for table-linen, manufactured in the east side of Scotland and the north of

Ireland.

DIMITY [It. Dobletto, Sp. Dimite, Fr. Basin, a cotton cloth, cross-barred, and similar in fabric to fustian.

DISCOUNT, a term used among traders, merchants and bankers. It is used by the two former in making their purchases or selling their goods, as an allowance for paying ready money to instead of taking credit from the seller. And with bankers, discount is the interest which they deduct from bills of exchange and promissory notes when they give cash for them, taking the discount for as many days as such bills and notes have to run ere they become due, at a certain rate per cent. per annum.

DITTO, from the Italian detto (that which has been said), is abbreviated as do., and is used in accounts to avoid repetition.

DIVIDEND, the payment made of any joint profit or fund set aside to be shared or divided. It is also the name given to express the proportion of a creditor's debt which he recovers from his debtor's estate.

Docks, an artificial receptacle or basin for shipping, either for their security or for the purpose of building, repairing, or examining them. There are two kinds, wet and dry. The former are usually constructed with gates to admit the water. Ships are admitted at high water, and kept afloat by closing the gates. Basins are wet docks without gates, the water ebbing

Dunnage

and flowing with the tide. Dry docks some. times become dry by the ebbing of the tide, but are usually pumped out by the steamengine; they are closed by gates carefully constructed to prevent the ingress of the water. The most common form for this purpose is that of swinging-gates, opening in the middle like the lock-gates of a canal. The floating gate or caisson is a vessel with keel and stem, constructed to fit grooves in the masonry at the entrance of the dock. Water being admitted into this vessel, it sinks in the grooves, forming a closed gate it is removed from its place by pumping out water sufficient to float it clear of the grooves. The principal docks on the Thames are the East and West India Docks, London Docks, St. Katherine Docks, Victoria Docks, Surrey Commercial Docks, Millwall Docks, and others.

DOWLAS, a sort of coarse linen cloth, manufactured principally in the N. of Ireland, Lancashire, &c.

Down [Ger. Dunen, Flaumfedern, Du. Dons, Da. Duun, Sw. Dun, Tjun, Fr. Duvet, It. Penna matta, Piumini, Sp. Flojel, Plu mazo, Port. Frouxel, Rus. Puch, Pol. Puchy, Lat. Plumaa], the fine feathers from the breasts of several birds, particularly that of the duck kind. That of the eider duck is the most valuable. These birds pluck it from their breasts and line their nests with it. We are told that the quantity of down found in one nest more than filled the crown of a hat, yet weighed no more than three quarters of an ounce. Three pounds of this down may be compressed into a space scarcely larger than one's fist, yet is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square. That found in the nest is most valued, and termed live down; it is infinitely more elastic than that plucked from the dead bird, which is little esteemed in Iceland. The imports from Scotland, Norway, and Iceland amount to about £3,000 annually.

DRAB is a thick woollen cloth, woven purposely for great-coats, and it is sometimes double-milled. It is made in Yorkshire and in many parts of the W. of England.

DRAWBACKS, in commerce, certain duties, either of the Customs or the Excise, allowed upon the exportation of some of our manu. factures, or upon certain merchandise that has paid duty upon importation.

DUNGAREE, the name of a coarse_cotton cloth, manufactured in various parts of India, and used by the poorer classes of natives. It is woven with two or more threads together in the web and woof. It is generally used for sails of country ships, and would no doubt be advantageously employed for the occasional light sails of larger ships, being more easily handled than European canvas.

DUNNAGE, loose timber, faggots, &c., placed on the bottom and sides of a ship's hold, either first by raising the cargo when she is loaded with heavy goods, to prevent her from be coming too stiff, or to prevent damage from leakage.

Eagle Wood

E

EAGLE WOOD [Ger. Adlerholz, Du. Agelhout, Da. Ornetræe, Sw. Orntra, Fr. Bois d'Aigle, It. Legno d'Aquila, Sp. Madera del Aguila, Port. Páo de Aguia, Lat. Lignum Aquila, a species of beautiful wood, employed chiefly by turners in the formation of the finer articles; it comes to us from many parts of Asia.

EARING, in the sea language, is that part of the bolt-rope which, at the four corners of the sail, is left open, in the shape of a ring. The two uppermost parts are put over the ends of the yard-arms, and so the sail is made fast to the yard; and into the lowermost earings, the sheets and tacks are seized or bent at the clew. EARNEST is the money advanced to bind the parties to the performance of a verbal agreement. The person who gives it is in strictness obliged to abide by his bargain, and, in case he declines, is not discharged upon forfeiting his earnest, but may be sued for the whole money stipulated and damages; and by the Statute of Frauds, 29 C. II. cap. 3, no contract for sale of goods to the value of £10 or more is to be valid unless such earnest is given. EAR-RING [Ear-rings. Ger. Ohrringe, Du. Oor-ringen, Da. Oreringe, Sw. Orringar, Fr. Boucles d'oreille, Pendans, It. Orrechini, Pendenti, Sp. Arracadas, Port. Arrecadas, Rus. Ssergu, Pol. Kolczyki), an ornament worn by women, usually composed of gold, and frequently adorned with precious stones, pearls, &c.; manufactured principally at Birmingham and London.

EARTHENWARE [Ger. Irdene Waaren, Du. Aardegoed, Da. Leerkar, Sw. Lerkaril, Fr. Vaisselle de terre, Poterie, It. Stoviglie, Terraglia, Sp. Loza de barro, Port. Louca, de barro, Rus. Gorschetschnue possudu, Pol. Gliniane naczynia]. This is a general term made use of to express all kinds of articles made of earth for culinary and such like purposes; the principal English potteries are in Staffordshire.

EASING, in the sea language, signifies the slackening of a rope, or the like; thus, "to ease the bow-line or sheet," is to let them go slacker; "to ease the helm," is to let the ship go more large, more before the wind, or more larboard.

EAU DE COLOGNE, a celebrated preparation for the toilet, consisting of aromatized alcohol. It is extensively manufactured in France and other parts of the Continent, from silent brandy, mixed with sage, thyme, camphor, cloves, and other herbs and spices, the whole being macerated together and then dis

tilled.

EBONY [Fr. Ebene, Ger. Ebenholz, It. Ebeno], an exceedingly hard and heavy wood,

Egypt

of great durability, and susceptible of a fine polish. There are many varieties of ebony. The best is that which is jet-black, free from veins, and close-grained; besides the black, there are red, green, and yellow ebonies, but these are not much esteemed. Ebony is chiefly used in the manufacture of chairs, couches, &c., and in mosaic and other inlaid work. It is procured in Ceylon, Malabar, Zanzibar, Mauritius, and Madagascar. Ebony, so-called, is found in most of the countries of the Asiatic Archipelago, from the Peninsula and Sumatra to the Philippine Islands. greatly inferior to the produce of Ceylon and Mauritius. ECHANTILLON [French], a pattern or speci

men.

It is

EDIBLE SEA-WEED, a sea-weed abundant on the Tennasserim Coast, and exceedingly valuable for its nutritious and medicinal properties for invalids. According to Dr. O'Shaughnessy's (the discoverer's) analysis, it contains as follows:-Vegetable jelly, 54'5; true starch, 15'0; wax, a trace, o'5; liqueous fibre, 180; gum, 40; sulphate and muriate of soda, 6'5; sulphate and phosphate of lime, 1'o; iron, a trace, o'4; total, 100'0.

EGYPT is virtually an independent state of N. E. Africa, although nominally a pashalik of the empire of Turkey. Area is estimated roughly at 31,0co geographical square miles. Pop. about 7,000,000. Districts. Masr-elBahri, or Lower Egypt; El Dustani, or Middle Egypt; and El Said, or Upper Egypt. These districts are sub-divided into eleven provinces, which contain 4,379 villages. Commerce consists, to a great extent, of goods in transit. Exports from Egypt to Great Britain in 1866, £15,368,824; in 1867, £15,498,292; in 1868, £17,584,616; in 1869, £16,796,233; in 1870, £14,116,820; in 1871, £16,387,424. Imports of British home produce in 1866, £7,556,185; in 1867, £8,198,111; in 1868,

6,056,404; in 1869, £7.982,714; in 1870, £8,726,602, Capital and Ports. Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez. Cairo,t he trade and commerce of, consists of the export of native produce, of which the chief items are-ivory, gums, hides, ostrich-feathers; from Upper Egypt, cotton and sugar; and of the importation of indigo and shawls from India and Persia; of sheep and tobacco from Turkey and Syria; of cotton and woollen goods, prints and hardware, from Great Britain and Germany, and of cloth, furniture, and millinery from France and Austria. During the first half of the year 1872 about 30,000 bales of gum arrived in Cairo, each bale containing about four kantars. The best quality of gum-arabic is sold at about £5 per kantar; an inferior quality, called "lalkh," is sold at about £2 per kantar. During the same space of time about 30,000 kantars of ivory reached Cairo, which was sold at about £27 to £32 per kantar. This article is sent almost exclusively to Great Britain. From the Hegaz ox-hides are imported for home consumption and re-exportation to Europe.

Egypt

Kantars.

in

Erment

30,000

Demeris ........

30,000

....

Rhoda

200,000

Erment

40,000

Maghagha

150,000

Sheikh Jadhl

100,000

1868 1869

Al Matanah

100,000

1869 1870

The feddan is little short of an English acre. The kantar is about 100 lb. One feddan produces about thirty kantars of sugar. The cost of the cultivation of sugar-cane is about £8 per feddan. Loaf-sugar is only made at the one factory at Rhoda. The sugar-makers, the refiners, and the engineers are nearly all Europeans, and most of them are Englishmen. It is impossible to compute how much the earliest factories may have cost, but it is estimated that those now in course of erection have cost the Khedive £2,000,000. The selling price of crystallized sugar is from 275. to 325. per cwt. The loaf-sugar made is not so white as that refined in England and France, but it is sweeter. Upwards of 100,000 feddans of land are devoted to the cultivation of sugar. In 1872 the Khedive's Daira exported upwards of 2,000,000 of kantars of sugar. Currency. Money of all nations is current here, the native coinage being insufficient. There are three rates of exchange. (1) The Government rate, which is 97 piastres per pound sterling, counting the Egyptian silver piastre at its legitimate rate of one piastre, and exclusive of copper. (2) The commercial rate, which is 195 piastres per pound sterling, counting the silver piastre at two piastres, and also exclusive of copper. (3) The copper money, in which coin the pound sterling is worth about 410 piastres; but this fluctuates day by day, and now none but the poorer class of shopkeepers will consent to do any business in the depreciated coin. [For

Egypt

ALEXANDRIA and COTTON, see ALEXANDRIA.] Suez, trade and commerce of, being almost exclusively confined to the ports in the Red Sea, Jeddah is the principal point of communication; for although mail steamers and others do bring a certain amount of produce from India and China direct, consisting chiefly of indigo, shawls, silks, and China wares, the great bulk of the produce of the East which finds its way to Suez is brought to Jeddah in the first instance in the vessels which bring pilgrims annually from India, the Straits, and the East generally to that port, and thence reshipped and brought to Suez almost exclusively by the Khedive's postal steamers. It is esti mated that an average of not more than 250,000 packages of all sorts, not exceeding 50,000 tons of goods, representing a total value of about £1,000,000, passes through the Suez Custom House, both ways included, in the course of the year. The following is a list of the several articles of which this trade consists, the most bulky portion of which is the natural produce of the respective countries. Thus, while Egypt sends large quantities of corn and pulse to the Hegaz and the Yemen, coffee, gums, resin, henna, senna, kelp, mother-o'-pearl, shells, charcoal, and hides form the more bulky portion of the cargoes brought from Souakin, Hodeida, Jeddah, Yambo, and El Wedge to Suez.

Egypt

Holingan (Arabic, a Preserves, sweet.

wood used for dyeing

Raisins.

Egypt

Rattans.

Rhubarb.

Rice.

and currents that no accident has happened in it during the last 30 years. The greatest length of the harbour is about 4 nautical miles, in a direction N. E. and S. W.; the headlands at each extremity of the shore 15 stat. miles in circuit between them are, on the S., Adabieh Point below Ataka, and on the N. the Suez Hotel. From the hotel and S. side of the town runs southerly a gravelly sand-covered spit, a mile wide at its commencement, and tapering to a point. 1 mile south of its point there juts out from the Arabian shore a tongue of land called Gad el Marakeb, with its extremity in a line south of the Suez Hotel, and forms the north limit of its entrance. The opening across from the point of Gad el Marakeb to Adabieh Point is about 4 miles N. N.E. and S.S.W. The channel of entrance to the

anchorage through that opening is N.N.E.

N. and S.S.W. S., and affords a free passage for the approach from the south, which all ships must take, of 1 mile wide. The depth of water over the whole area of the harbour varies from 4 to 9 fathoms. The bottom affords good, even holding ground, and at the anchorage there is a depth of water varying from 5 to 7 fathoms. Ships get into and out of the harbour with safety in all winds, at all times of the tide, by day or night. Lights and lighthouses. The northern half of the Red Sea is now very well lighted. There are four fine and well-appointed lighthouses, built and maintained in a very efficient manner by the Government, besides which, there is a large floating light-vessel anchored at the extremity of the spit on the eastern side of the entrance to the roadstead, which is so placed as to lead vessels straight up to the anchorage without having to alter their course for many miles before they reach Suez. The lighthouse at Zafaraneh, on the western coast of the gulf, is erected on an elevation of 14 feet above the high-water level. The light is a powerful fixed white light; the illuminating process is dioptric, or by lenses of the first order. It is reported as visible from the deck of a vessel 14 miles. A coral reef, with only 2 to 6 feet of water upon it, extends 1 mile S.E. from the lighthouse, which renders it imprudent for vessels to pass within 3 miles of the beacon. The position of this light, as shown by Moresby's chart of the Red Sea, is Lat. 29° 6' 20" N., Lon. 32° 44′ E. The second light in order after passing the floating-light vessel at the entrance of the Suez Roads is on the Ras, or headland of Gharib, also on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez, in Lat. 28° 21′ N., Lon. 33° 7 E., at a distance of about 50 miles south of the Zafareneh light. This light is raised on an iron frame-work, consisting of three stays, painted red, and is also placed on an elevation raising the light to a total height of 165 feet above the level of the sea. It is a fine power