THE

HAND-BOOK;

OF

TRADE AND COMMERCE;

OR, A

CONCISE DICTIONARY

OF THE TERMS AND PRINCIPLES OF

TRADE, COMMERCE, MANUFACTURES, COMMERCIAL

AND COMMON LAW, ETC. ETC.

WITH TABLES OF MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.

LONDON:

DARTON AND CLARK,

HOLBORN HILL.

1840.

LONDON:

J. MASTERS, PRINTER, 33, ALDERSGATE STREET.

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PREFACE.

PORTABLE Volumes-books of simple and immediate reference are of all works the most useful; especially to those with whom " time is money." And of such are the manufacturing, commercial, and trading classes of this country-a vast multitude-exclusively composed. Men of business, engaged in their daily pursuits, have not time to consult and toil through huge tomes: what they mostly want is wanted at the moment. In the shop, the warehouse, the counting-house, scarcely a day can pass in which some question of interest, and often of importance, does not present itself. To ask or answer questions, to solve difficulties, to impart or receive information, demands a sacrifice of time; and as voluminous works can be studied only at leisure, opportunities for acquiring knowledge are frequently lost for want of facile access to its

source.

In a painful consciousness of these truths originated the idea of this little "HAND-BOOK" for the merchant, banker, tradesman, and shopkeeper of every class-a volume equally suited for the counter, the desk, or the pocket. Utility being the editor's chief object, his pretensions to

novelty or originality of matter are slight: liberally, but
never he trusts injuriously, profiting by the labours
of others, his claim for credit must rest upon his judgment
in selection, condensation, and arrangement-in bringing
into a focus, as it were, an immense quantity and variety
of readily available information.

Ease and simplicity of reference being essential, this volume
is constructed upon the principle of a single alphabet, the
same as a Dictionary; consequently, instead of being di-
vided into parts, which inevitably tantalise and distract the
attention of a reader, it forms one compact WHOLE, pre-
senting at once the information required under any parti-
cular head. An Index in itself, and for itself, an appended
'INDEX," or "TABLE OF CONTENTS," would be only a
superfluous incumbrance.

66

Amidst an extensive vocabulary, it may not be
amiss, by way of illustration, to indicate a few of the most
prominent subjects. For instance :— -Banks and Banking;
Bankruptcy and Insolvency; Bills of Exchange; Cigars;
Coffee and Tea; Coins of all countries; Colonies; Cus-
toms; Ejectment, and Landlord and Tenant; Executors
and Wills; Funds, British and Foreign; Insurance, Life,
House, and Marine; Interest and Annuities; Hawkers
and Pedlars; Juries and Witnesses; Postage, with all its
regulations under the new system; Parcels Delivery Com-
pany; Police; Pawnbrokers; Porters; Spirits; Tobacco,
Snuff, and Cigars; Warehousing; Wine: Wrecks, &c.

That, in a work so multifarious, there should be no er-
rors, would be too much to expect; but, as neither search
nor labour has been spared in its production, it is confi-
dently hoped that they may be found few and unimpor-

tant.

THE

MERCHANT'S AND TRADESMAN'S

HAND-BOOK.

ABANDONMENT. This is a term employed, in commerce and navigation, to express the abandoning or surrendering a ship, or goods, insured to the insurer. The right to abandon, and to compel the insurer to pay the whole value of the thing insured, involves many points, for the settlement of which Mr. Serjeant Marshall's work on the Law of Insurance (book i. cap. 13), and that of Mr. Justice Park (cap. 9), may be consulted.

ABATEMENT. The term abatement, or rebate, is occasionally applied to a discount for prompt payment, or to express the deduction which is sometimes made at the custom-house from duties chargeable upon damaged goods. From the duties on senna, sarsaparilla, cocculus indicus, Guinea grains, cantharides, jalap, ipecacuanha, opium, nux vomica, rhubarb, wine, tobacco, oranges, lemons, raisins, currants, figs, coffee, &c., no abatement is made, Vide 6 Geo. 4, c. 107, § 28.

ACIDS. The acids of most importance in a commercial point of view are the acetic, muriatic or hydrochloric, nitric, sulphuric, and tartaric.

ACRE. The imperial standard English acre contains

B