The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-21 00:00:00

~~~~~

STATISTICAL SOCIETY.
The usual monthly meeting of this society was held on
Tuesday, at 12, St. James's-square, Colonel Sykes, ILP.,
in the chair. Amonst those present were Mr. Lowe,
Chancellor of the Exchequer ; Mr. Childers, First Lord
of the Admiralty; Mr. V. Harcourt, M.P., Dr. Farr,
Dr. Guy, Dr, Clark, Mr. W. Newmarch, Mr. F. Preedy,
Mr. S. )3rown, president of the Institute of Actuaries,
and others.
A letter was read from Mr. W. E. Gladstone, the
president of the society, stating that an engagement at
Hawarden prevented his attendance that evening, and
that he much regretted his inability to be present.
Mr. It. DUDLEY BAXTER read a paper on the taxation
and capital of the United Kingdom. He first considered
the resources and territories of the United Kingdom. The
United Kingdom, he said, was so populous and wealthy
because she was the metropolis of a vast commerce ; and
our existence as a wealthy nation depended upon our pre-
eminence. Whatever might be the cost of maintaining that
pre-eminence,itmustbecheerfullypaid, osthetruest national
ecotaxatiomy,
on,qu lecturer'lo'thiengAdan
i Smith,thend Jeremy Benthamealtwiththeprincip, and
principles,
J. S. Mill, He modified Adam Smith's rules as follows :-
I.ttaaxxaedti.on
3. . 2.0 nenExpenditure
levied
rest
s t of hison income
01
m e habits
every
Expenditure on bare necessaries should be exempt from
mmayanbeouhrhvtitlyo
laptetarbcreehnitttraiargirce;a and
inTinatixleusianol ought to
Every
tax etbaeerioaaiunxgelatilnt
dti
uniform—notno ba
nd
convenient to the contributor. 6. Every tax ought to take
out of the pockets of the people as little as possible beyond
its produce to the Treasury. Such a system might produce
in the three examples above mentioned something like
the following results, assuming that the taxpayers were
men of moderate indulgence in the luxuries of their
stations :—A wealthy man with £lO,OOO a year would pay
£1,000.; a professional man or tradesman with £5OO a
year, 245 ; and a workman with £7O a year, £5. Tho
diminution in favour of the temperate part of the community
would under this system be paid by an increased taxation
on the bad habits of the intemperate. The lecturer then
contended that direct taxation byone tax Nvasimpracticable,
and that a sYsteth of taxes was necessary. He examined
the various methods of taxation, giving a slight sketch of
their history, and proposed the following classification :-
1. Taxes on income and capital. 2. Licences Or taxes on
trades professions. 3. Taxes on consumption of food
stimulants. 4. Bates on occupation and tolls. On
and and
the subject of taxation on individual.] and classes, as the
basis of his calculations he took a farrOly of four and
three such families from the great clas:ses of the nation—
the upper, the middle, and the manual labour class.
The family with £lO,OOO a year income paid in taxes on
income, capital, and miscellaneous, £738 ; the family
with £5OO a-year, £26 10s. ; and the family with £7O a-year,
nothing. The same families in taxes on food and stimulants
paid £6l 35.. £lO 16s. 6d., anal £3 7s. lOd, ; and in local
rates and tolls they would pay -7162. £l5 10s.. and S 1 12s.
It thus followed that the attnal distribution of taxation in
the United Kingdom upon men of temperate habits was
not very tli,4aimilar to that already mentioned earlier in
the lecture, viz., the wealthy man with £lO,OOO a year
paid 2960 ; the man with £5OO a-year 0.1.42; and the work-
man with £7O a year. £5. But besides this portion of the
taxes, which provided for temperate indulgence in alcoholic
drinks, there was a residue of taxation—more than
£lo,6o3,ooo—derived from these drinks sufficient to supply
fifteen additional gallons of beer and nearly two-thirds of
a gallon of proof spirits per head to 22000,000 persons.
The lecturer concluded by observing that the taxes in
direct action did not appear to be inequitable to the
working man, and by stating a variety of questions to be
considered in a future paper.
The CHAIRMAN spewed by statistics how much during
the last fifteen years Mr. Gladstone's policy had done to
diminish the taxation of the country, and thus to increase
the comfort of the poorer classes.
Mr. NEWMARCH pointed out the anomaly of real pro-
perty paying no succession duty.
Mr. ELLIOTT held that the incidence of taxation on those
who were called poor was very light indeed, and that most
of such people could reduce their consumption by one-half,
and be the better for it.
Dr. GUY agreed -with the last speaker, remarking that
the poor were the most luxurious feeders under the sun.
They denied themselves no gratification which the money
they happened to have at the moment in their pockets
would procure them, never looking forward to the
future.

Mr. V. HARCOURT, M.P., questioned the accuracy of
some of Mr, Baxter's statistics relative to the expenditure
of a family with an income of £lO,OOO a year ; and remarked
that if they were amended the difference between 9i per
cent, and the 10/ per cent. paid by the middle-class family
would rapidly disappear.
Mr. GLOVER thought the poor man shared in a less
degree in the benefits of government than the rich man ;
and that therefore he ought to pay less in taxes.
Mr. DILXE, Dr. Finn, and Dr. CAMPS continued the
discussion.

Mr. BAXTER, in reply, said he was of opinion that the
poor man was more heavily taxed at the rate of 7 per cent.
than the rich man. There were two ways of carrying out
what Bentham wished : the first was, to exempt all with
an income less than £5O a year, which was not practicable
without direct taxation ; and the second was, to assess the
poor man at a lower scale. _ _ _ _ _

A vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Baxter for bis
naner.

THE WORST KIND OF EDUCATION—TO be brought

up by a policeman.--Judy.

THE "SEA SERPENT."—The Portland (Maine)
Advertiser gives the following description of an -extraor-
dinary creature killed near Eastport, October Bth. It is
part fish and part beast, over 30 feet in'length, and girths
21 feet, having one enormous dorsal fin, two side belly
fins, and a broad, shark-llke tail. About one-third of its
length from its tail, in connection with small fins, it has
two huge legs terminating in web feet. Its mouth makes
a line of five or six feet in length, the whole extent of
which is set with innumerable small teeth, resembling in
size and shape the kernel of a species of sharp-pointed pop
corn. It has a series of gills which overlap each other
like the flouncesonco the style of ladies' dresses. His im-
mense body, estimated to have weighed, when captured,
about eleven tons, has no framework of bones, its
most solid portions consisting of cartilage inca-
pable of preservation. It skins is dark and
tough, like that of the elephant and rhinoceros.
There is no record of the species, and to none.

is being drawn to it. Among others who
Baird, of the Smithsonian
Institute, of Washington, who is as ye
it a greater wonder than to naturalists Nhvhaovseehaadttietnntoiopn-
portunity of seeing it is Professor
When first dis-
covered the known list of the animal kingdom.
t unable to place it
asnodm we hle2no pu
feetr-
scuovederteedokittowas
the land,.
Numerous shots were fired at it,
above high-water mark
m ianngdalwou leisurely, and
swimming
he main fore fin. The
spike, which struck just above t
but none took effect until the gun was loaded with a small
stomach contained nothing but vegetable matter, which
upon
shore. From Portland it
leads to the conclusion that it subsisted vegetables
on the bottom of the ocean and
will be taken to Saco, to be exhibited for a few days.
but Du Barry's delicious health-restoring
chronic compIaints:LADVERTISEMENT.)—Avoid Medicines: they always aggravate
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by Du Barry's Food. Cure No. 68,413. "Rome, July 21, 1866.
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to Du Barry's Revaleuta Arabic.% Food, of which ho consumes
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ficial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excel
lent food too highly." From the "Gazette du Midi, July •,•'; Cure
No. 58,21 G, of the Marchioness de Brehan, of seven yearsqiver
complaint, wasting away, debility, nervousness, with a nervous
palpitation all over, bad digestion, constant sleeplessness, and
the most intolerable nervous agitation.." Cure No. 1,771; 'Lord
Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieutenant of Waterford, of many years'
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dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flattilency,
spasms, sickness, and vomiting.—Maria oly."---Cure No.
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diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and
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unsavoury and more than sloppy imitations to which, without
.uthority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously attached
In tins, at Is. IV.; 1 lb. 28.0 d.; 2 lbs. is. 63.; bibs, 11s.; 12 lbs.
225. ; 24 lbs., 40s.—Also Do BARRY'S ERYILENI A ARAB ICA CHOCO-
LATE POWDER is packed in tin canisters; for 12 cups at 25., for 24
cups at 3s. 6d., for 48 cups at es., for 288 cups at 305., for 576 cups
'
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03
are sent free of carriage in England en receipt of Post 001
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don; and all Grocers and Chemists.

FAIR AND 11A111-TZESTOIZING-.
The ric;•ald, in an article on hair, remarks that sociv
!f, again anxious to cultivate luxuriant locks, and to banis:i certain shades of colour from existence. Whilst avoidin7
the grosser errors of the past, it has adopted practices, if
anything, more objectionable than before, as shewn by the
chemist and the test tube. There is one expression which
las a very modern twang about it—that is, " hair
restorers." A great deal of misconception prevails as
to the nature and mode of action of these compounds.
Few persons understand the properties of their corn-
ponents, and fewer still the effects which they produce.
- It is a pity that the physiology of hair doctors is
• of so crude a kind. It seems to be comprehended in
the remarkably convenient and solitary ideas that the hair
is a tube through which ebb and flow certain nourishing
juices ; but the hair is not in reality a tube : it is made up
of cells loosely packed together in the centre, and of others
more closely approximated and flattened out at the exterior.
The hypothesis, therefore, that if the hair is cut the juices
will escape, is ridiculous, and the practice consequent upon
the Acceptance of that belief, viz., that of singeing the
hair to prevent the escape cf the juices, is also founded in
error. It is surprising that this should ever have found
acceptance. Then, again, a host of remedies used to
promote the re-growth of the hair are stated to afford
the true material which nourishes the hair. This is an
equally absurd statement. " The blood is the life "of the
hair as much as the flesh, and nature has only one way of
preparing nourishment for the body in its different parts,
hair included, and one channel by which it receives sup-
plies. But colour or quantity, gloss or curl, are now
offered for the " paying." In fact, it is quite true that the
perfection of the art of hair-restoring has at length reached
so great a pitch that hairrevivers can positively restore the
bald places on old-fashioned trunks or on worn-out boas. But,
to be serious, "restorers" include two sets of remedies—
those which act by restoringcolour and those which promote
the actual growth of hair. There are some restorers that
are harmless, and others that may be hurtful. To point
out the nature of these is the next point. Golden hair is
produced in one cr two different ways. When the mania.
for golden locks recently broke out, it was considered
sufficient to remove the natural pigment by constant wash..
ing with an alkaline solution, such as potash ; the hair was
then oiled and brightened up with subsequent brushing. But
this process wasnot considered sufficiently " heroic,"and the
aid of metallic preparations was enlisted. The compounds
of tin, nitrate of lead, followed by a " mordant" (or
substance having an affinity for the hair and the colouring
matter so as to combine the two) of chromate of potash ;
iron with a mordant of soda or lime ; arsenic and am.
monia, and other substances have been employed for the
purpose. Of late the golden yellow colour so much
admired has been produced by the use of arsenic, with a
mordant of -what is termed hydrosnlphuret of ammonia,
and these substances act best on light hair. There is little
doubt that it may give rise to injurious results. The
production of the very light tints by caustic alkalis
involves the destruction of the life of the hair, which may
be regarded. after dyeing, as " dead." The golden brown
hue results from the cautious use to brownish hair of the
dyes just noticed, and the application of blue vitriol
(copper), followed by that of ferrocyanide of potassium,
has much the same effect. Bed colour is readily induced.
In Persia and the East, alkanna or henna is mostly
employed.