The excise duty on soap was first imposed in Great Britain in 1711, when it was fixed at 1_d._ per pound. It was raised in 1713 to 1½_d._ per pound; and again, in 1782, when hard and soft soap were first distinguished, the former being rated at 2¼_d._, and the latter at 1¾_d._ per pound. In 1816, that on hard soap was increased to 3_d._ per pound. But since May 31, 1833, the duty has been 1½_d._ per pound on hard soap, and 1_d._ per pound on soft. In 1839, the number of soap manufacturers in England was 177; in Scotland 19; and in Ireland 183. Each requires an annual license, costing 4_l._ An allowance of duty is made on soap used in the woollen, silk, flax, and cotton manufactures, which in 1841 was granted on 10,190,160 pounds of hard, and 9,090,184 pounds of soft soap; the allowances amounting to 78,112_l._ In the same year the net amount yielded by the soap-duty to the public revenue was 815,864_l._ Ireland is not subject to the soap-duty. The soap-maker was formerly subjected to an arbitrary and vexatious interference from the excise; but of late years the regulations have been greatly improved, and there is now no superintendence of the process of manufacture, which may be conducted in any way and of any material.] FOOTNOTES [231] Plin. xviii. 12, sect. 51, p. 475. [232] It is beyond all doubt that the words _sapo_ and σάπων were derived from the German _sepe_, which has been retained in the Low German, the oldest and original dialect of our language. In the High German this derivation has been rendered a little more undistinguishable by the _p_ being changed into the harder _f_. Such changes are common, as _schap_, _schaf_; _schip_, _schiff_, &c. [233] De Simplicibus Medicaminibus, p. 90, G. [234] According to Aretæus De Diuturnis Morbis, ii. 13, p. 98, soap appears to have been formed into balls. [235] Mart. xiv. 27. This soap acquired the epithet of _Mattiacum_ from the name of a place which was in Hesse. [236] Caustica Teutonicos accendit spuma capillos, Captivis poteris cultior esse comis.--Mart. xiv. 26. These lines are generally explained in this manner:--“Dye thy hair with soap, and it will become more beautiful than that of the Germans.” But in this case all the wit of the advice is lost; and the expression, “eris cultior quam comæ captivæ,” seems to me to be very improper. I should rather translate them as follows:--“Let the Germans dye their hair with pomade; as they are now subdued, thou mayst ornament thyself better with a peruke made of the hair of these captives.” This was a piece of delicate flattery to Domitian and the Roman pride. That prince thought he had conquered the Germans; and the most beautiful German hair, that which was not dyed, could be procured, therefore, at Rome, much easier than before. If the title of this epigram was written by Martial himself, it contains the first mention of the word _sapo_. [237]