rage of days in which it snows or sleets; the number of cloudy days when the sun scarcely ever appears, is about 50 or 60 out of the 209.. CONSUMPTION OF PROVISIONS. One cause of the general salubrity of London may be traced to the food of its inhabitants. Perhaps no city exists in the world, where the labouring people, and certainly none where the middling classes enjoy so large a share in the necessaries and inferior comforts of life, as in this metropolis; and that liberality of condition is no doubt a powerful agent in the health, as well as the happiness of a people. The great quantity of animal food consumed in London is a proof of the excellent con'dition of the bulk of the inhabitants; for though there are wealthy persons who waste a great deal of animal food in the composition of certain dishes, yet their number is so small, that the waste is not to be taken for much in a comparison with the whole consumption. Animal Food.-The number of bullocks annually consumed in London is 110,000; of sheep and lambs, 776,002; calves, 210,000; hogs, 2.0,000; sucking pigs, 60,000; besides animals of other kinds. It does not, however, give a perfect idea of the immense consumption of animal food in London, to speak only of the number of bullocks and other animals, brought to the London market; their size, and fine condition, should be seen by a stranger, to enable him to judge of its extent. * Among the nuisances which not only disgrace, but contaminate the air of the metropolis, there are none so much in need of reformation as the practice of driving and killing cattle. Slaughtering-houses never should be permitted in a great and populous city. The barbarity daily practised in the streets of London, cannot fail to shock humanity; while the foot-passengers are exposed to the most imminent peril, by the conduct of the butchers boys, drovers, &c. E Milk. The quantity of milk consumed in London surprises foreigners; and yet few strangers have even a suspicion of the amount of that consumption, which is not less than 6,980,000 gallons annually. The number of cows kept for this supply, is 8,500; the sum paid by the retailers of milk, to the cow-keepers, is stated at 240,8337. annually, on which the retailers lay an advance of cent. per cent. making the cost to the inhabitants the sum of 481,666. Not content with this profit the retailers add water to the milk, to the extent, on an average, of a sixth part. Although the cow-keepers do not themselves adulterate the milk (it being the custom for the retailer to contract for the milk of a certain number of cows, which are milked by his own people) yet they are not wholly to be acquitted of the guilt; for in many of the milk-rooms, where the milk is measured from the cow-keeper to the retailer, pumps are erected for the express purpose of furnishing water for the adulteration, which is openly performed before any person who happens to be on the spot. Vegetables and Fruit.—There are 10,000 acres of ground, near the metropolis, cultivated wholly for vegetables, and about 4,000 acres for fruit, to supply the London consumption. The sum paid at market for vegetables, annually, is about 645,000.; and for fruit, about 400,000l.; independently of the advance of the retailers, which, on an average, is more than 2001. per cent. making the entire cost of vegetables and fruit for the London supply upwards of 3,000,000l. sterling. Wheat, Coals, Ale, and Porter, &c.-The annual consumption of wheat in London, is 700,000 quar On those days when the beast-market is held in Smithfield, it is dangerous to walk the streets in several parts of the > metropolis; particularly in the avenues which lead to the different markets. ters, each containing eight Winchester bushels; of coals, 600,000 chaldrons, 36 bushels in each chaldron; of ale and porter*, 1,113,500 barrels, each containing 36 gallons; spirituous liquors and compounds 11,146,782 gallons; wine, 32,500 tons, butter, about 16,600,000 pounds; and of cheese, 21,100,000 pounds. The wholesome and excellent beverage of porter obtained its name about the year 1730, from the following circumstances. Prior to the above mentioned period, the malt liquors in general use were ale, beer, and twojenny, and it was customary for the drinkers of malt-liquor to call for a pint or tankard of half and half, i, e. half of ale and half of beer; -half of ale and half of twopenny ;--or half of beer and half of twopenny. In course of time it also became the practice to call for a pint or tankard of three threads, meaning a third of ale, beer, and twopenny; and thus the publican had the trouble to go to three casks, and turn three cocks for a pint of liquor. To avoid this trouble and waste, a brewer, of the name of HARWOOD, conceived the idea of making a liquor which should partake of the united flavors of ale, beer, and twopenny. He did so, and succeeded, calling it entire or entire butt beer, meaning that it was drawn entirely from one cask or butt, and being a hearty nourishing liquor, it was very suitable for porters and other working people. Hence it obtained its name of porter. Messrs. Whitbread and Co.'s brewery, in Chiswell-street, near Moorfields, is the largest in London. The commodity produced in it is also esteemed to be of the best quality of any brewed in the metropolis. The quantity of porter brewed in the year in this house, when malt and hops were at a moderate price, has been above 200,000 barrels. There is one stone cistern that contains S600 barrels, and there are 49 large oak vats, some of which contain 3500 barrels. One is 27 feet in height, and 22 feet in diameter, surrounded with iron hoops at every four or five inches distance. and towards the bottom it is covered with hoops. There are three boilers, each of which holds about 5000 barrels. One of Mr. Watts's steam-engines works the machinery. It pumps the water, wort, and beer, grinds the malt, stirs the mash-tubs, and raises the casks out of the cellars. It is able to do the work of 70 horses, though it is of a small size, being only a 24-inch cylinder, and does not make more noise than a spinning-wheel Fish, Poultry, &c.-The quantity of fish consumed in London is comparatively small, fish be. ing excessively dear; and this is perhaps the most culpable defect in the supply of the capital, considering that the rivers of Britain, and the seas round her coast, teem with that delicate and useful food. There are not more, on an average, than 14,500 boats of cod, and other sea-fish, brought annually to the London market; exclusive of mackerel, which is sometimes plentiful, and tolerably cheap. Whether the magnitude, or ingenuity of contrivance, is considered, this brewery is one of the greatest curiosities that is to be any where seen, and little less than half a million sterling is employed in machinery, buildings, and materials. We must not omit to mention, is contradiction to a long but ill-founded belief, that Thames water alone would make good porter, since in this large brewery the water used is not from the Thames, but partly from the New River, and partly from a spring on the premises. The quantity of porter brewed in London annually exceeds 1,200,000 barrels, of 36 gallons each; and the most considerable breweries, after that of Whitbread, Brown, and Co. are Meur and Co. Barclay and Co. Hanbury and Co. and Shem and Co. each of whom brew annually upwards of 100,000 barrels. Next in order to these stand Felix Calvert and Co. Goodwyn and Co. John Calvert and Co. Elliott and Co. and Clowes and Co. &c. Account of Streng Beer brewed from the 5th of July, 1804, to the 5th of July, 1805, by the twelve principal Brewers of London. Barrels. Barclay and Perkins 152,500 Meux, Read, and Co. 156,700 Trunian, Hanbury, and Co. 126,400 Whitbread and Co. 103,600 Poultry is seldom at the tables of any but the wealthy and luxurious, the supply being, owing to the state of agriculture, inadequate to a general consumption, and the price most exorbitant. Although game is not sold publicly, the quantity consumed in London is very considerable, and it finds its way by presents, and even by clandestine sale, to the houses of the middling classes. Venison is sold in London, chiefly by the pastry cooks at a moderate rate; but great part of the whole consumption of this article, (which is considerable) is at the tables of the proprietors of deer-parks, or their friends. Quality of Provisions.-Provisions in London are generally of the most excellent kind. A small portion, however, of the animal food is ill fed, and even some of it unfit for consumption, but if the poor were aware that this is really dearer than meat of the highest price, it would soon be banished from the London market, as it ought to be, for want of sale. However small the quantity a poor family can afford to consume, more nourishment would be derived from half that quantity of wholesome and well-fed meat, with a due proportion of vegetables. The improvements lately made in the breed and feeding of cattle and sheep, although greatly adding to the bulk, by no means tend to ameliorate the quality of the meat, which, however it may astonish in point of size and fatness, is thus rendered coarse and insipid. Quality of the Bread.-Bread is certainly very seldom adulterated; if it be not by those bakers who sell under the assize price, and perhaps their professions may be a little suspected. The bread, in general, is very fine and sound, Places of Worship. As a general toleration in religion prevails in this kingdom, London is distinguished by the number |