PUNCH,
OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

VOL. 1.

OCTOBER 16, 1841.

[pg157]

TRADE REPORT.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)

The market has been in a mostextraordinary state all the morning. Our first advices informed usthat feathers were getting very heavy, and that lead was a greatdeal brisker than usual. In the fish-market, flounders were not soflat as they had been, and, to the surprise of every one, werecoming round rapidly.

The deliveries of tallow were very numerous, and gave asmoothness to the transactions of the day, which had a visibleeffect on business. Every species of fats were in high demand, butthe glut of mutton gave a temporary check to the general facilityof the ordinary operations.

The milk market is in an unsettled state, the late rains havingcaused an unusual abundance. A large order for skim, for the use ofa parish union, gave liveliness to the latter portion of the day,which had been exceedingly gloomy during the whole morning.

We had a long conversation in the afternoon with a gentleman whois up to every move in the poultry-market, and his opinion is, thatthe flouring system must soon prove the destruction of fair andfowl commerce. We do not wish to be premature, but our informant isa person in whom we place the utmost reliance, and, indeed, thereis every reason why we should depend upon so respectable anauthority.

Cotton is in a dull state. We saw only one ball in the market,and even that was not in a dealer’s hands, but was being usedby a basket-woman, who was darning a stocking. After this, who canbe surprised at the stoppage of the factories?

Nothing was done in gloves, and what few sales were effected,seemed to be merely for the purpose of keeping the hand in, with aview to future dealings.

THE GEOLOGY OF SOCIETY.

The study of Geology, in the narrow acceptation of the word, isconfined to the investigation of the materials which compose thisterrestrial globe;—in its more extended signification, itrelates, also, to the examination of the different layers or strataof society, as they are to be met with in the world.

Society is divided into three great strata, called HighLife—Middle Life—and Low Life. Each of these stratacontains several classes, which have been ranged in the followingorder, descending from the highest to the lowest—that is,from the drawing-room of St. James’s to the cellar in St.Giles’s.