8. Hence we may infer, that it was customary to give pins as new-year's presents, or that it was the usual practice to make the chief purchases at this time. At length it became a practice, in many parts of Europe, for the husband to allow to his wife a sum of money for this purpose. We see here the origin of the phrase, _pin-money_, which is now applied to designate the sum allowed to the wife for her personal expenses generally. 9. Prior to the year 1443, the art of making pins from brass wire was not known in England. Until that period, they were made of bone, ivory, or box-wood. Brass pins are first mentioned in the English statute book, in 1483, when those of foreign manufacture were prohibited. 10. Although these useful implements are made in London, and in several other places in England, yet Gloucester is the principal seat of this manufacture in that kingdom. It was introduced into that place, in 1626, by John Silsby, and it now contains nine distinct manufactories, in which are employed about 1500 persons, chiefly women and children. Pins are also manufactured extensively in the villages near Paris, and in several other places in France, as well as in Germany. 11. The business of making pins has been lately commenced in the city of New-York, and it is said that the experiment has been so successful, both in the perfection of the workmanship, and in the rapidity of the production, that pins of American manufacture bid fair to compete, at least, with those of foreign countries. [Illustration: TINPLATE WORKER.] THE TINPLATE WORKER, &c. TIN. 1. Tin is a whitish metal, less elastic, and less sonorous than any other metal, except lead. It is found in the mountains which separate Gallicia from Portugal, and in the mountains between Saxony and Bohemia. It also occurs in the peninsula of Molucca, in India, Mexico, and Chili. But the mines of Cornwall and Devonshire, in England, are more productive than those of all other countries united. 2. There are two ores of tin, one of which is called _tin stone_, and the other _tin pyrites_; the former of these is the kind from which the metal is extracted. The ore is usually found in veins, which often penetrate the hardest rocks. When near the surface of the earth, or at their commencement, they are very small, but they increase in size, as they penetrate the earth. The direction of these veins, or, as the miners call them, _lodes_, is usually east and west. 3. The miners follow the lode, wheresoever it may lead; and, when they extend to such a depth, that the waters become troublesome in the mine, as is frequently the case, they are pumped up with machinery worked by steam, or drawn off by means of a drain, called an _adit_. The latter method is generally adopted, when practicable.