The price of the article has, of course, fluctuated, according to the relative supply and demand; the first quality having taken the whole range of prices from $13 per barrel down to $4 50; and the supply, for the last three years, having fallen short of the demand, a gradual advance in prices has been the conse

quence.

A small portion of the mackerel, consisting chiefly of the poorest quality, or No. 3, is exported to foreign countries. It is not easy to ascertain the precise quantity exported, as the annual statement, printed by order of Congress, embraces all kinds of pickled fish under one head; probably the amount does not exceed 40,000 barrels. They are sent to the West Indies, to South America, to some ports of the Mediterranean, and to the East Indies.

But the principal market for this fish is in the United States. Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and New Orleans have taken the largest quantities hitherto; but more or less is shipped to most of

from New York to New Orleans. Thus far, Philadelphia, by its rapid and steady increase of demand, has held the lead of other ports. From 1820 to 1825, that city required from 30,000 to 40,000 barrels as its yearly supply for its own consumption, its interior trade, and its foreign or domestic export. It now receives three times that quantity, and about one third part of the whole product of the fishery. In the Southern States, also, the demand increases with the increased facilities of interior transportation, and must continue to be enlarged as the interior of the country goes on acquiring access to markets and added population and prosperity.

The season for the first appearance of mackerel, on those parts of our coast where they are usually taken, is from the 20th of April to the 1st of May, according as the season is more or less forward; at which time they strike on the shore soundings off the capes of Chesapeake and Delaware. Betwen the latter place and the Egg Harbors, they are usually plentiful for fifteen or twenty days, within a few leagues of the land; and mackerel vessels, which are on the

ground seasonably, meet in general with good success, if the weather prove to be favorable. After which, the mackerel move to the northeast, scattering over a large space of ground from near the shore to the soundings inside the gulf stream, and extending down the coast off Long Island and Block Island to Nantucket, which they reach early in June. Sometimes they collect more in bodies off Long or Block Islands, and are taken plentifully for a few days; after which they proceed north, through the south channel, between the Vineyard Islands, into Massachusetts Bay. They reach that bay from the 20th of June to the 1st of July, and continue there until late in November.

MADDER: the roots of a plant, of which there are several varieties. Madder is very extensively used in dyeing red; and though the color which it imparts be less bright and beautiful than that of cochineal, it has the advantage of being cheaper and more durable. It is a native of the south of Europe, Asia Minor and India. Madder was formerly almost entirely derived from Holland; but large quantities are

now imported from France and Turkey.

MADEIRA, so called from the island of that name, is a wine that has long been in extensive use in this and other countries. Plants of the vine were conveyed from Crete to Madiera in 1421, and have succeeded extremely well. The trade in Madeira wine is carried on at Funchal, the capital of the island.

MAGNESIA: a white and spongy substance, usually obtained by the decomposition of the sulphate of magnesia. It is much used in medicine.

MAHOGANY: the wood of a tree growing in the West Indies and Central America. Mahogany is one of the most majestic and beautiful of trees. Its trunk is often forty feet in length, and six feet in diameter; and it divides into so many massy arms, and throws the shade of its shining green leaves over so vast an extent of surface, that few more magnificent objects are to be met with in the vegetable world. Mahogany is imported principally from Honduras and Campeachy; it is abundant, however, in Cuba and Hayti. Not long since, Messrs. Broad

color. Manna is imported in chests, principally from Sicily and Calabria.

MANIFEST, in commercial navigation, is a document signed by the master of a vessel, containing the name or names of the places where the goods on board have been laden, and the place or places for which they are respectively destined; the name and tonnage of the vessel, the name of the master, and the name of the place to which the vessel belongs; a particular account and description of all the packages on board, with the marks and numbers thereon, the goods contained in such packages, the names of the respective shippers and consignees, as far as such particulars are known to the master, &c.

MAPLE-SUGAR: a sugar extrated from the maple tree, which abounds in different parts of the United States.

cined over a moderate fire. It is employed in oil-painting, and in glazing pottery.

MASTICH, or MASTIC: a resinous substance, which is the produce of a tree, growing in the Levant, and particularly abundant in the island of Chios. It is used in the composition of varnishes. The Turkish women chew mastich habitually, pretending that it improves the breath.

MEAD: a preparation of honey and water.

MERCURY: a metallic substance, having the appearance and brilliancy of melted silver. It is found in Spain, Germany, China and South America.

MEZZOTINTO: a kind of engraving, so named as nearly resembling paint, the word importing half-painted.

MINIUM: in the arts, red lead or oxide of lead.

MINT: the place in which the public money is coined. There is an United States mint at Philadelphia, and another at New Orleans.

MOLASSES: the gross fluid matter that remains of sugar after refining. It is exported in hogsheads principally from the West Indies, and is perniciously used in the distillation of rum.

MONEY. In the earliest ages, the ordinary way of traffic, no doubt, was by exchanging one commodity for another; but in process of time it was found necessary to have some common standard, according to which all other things should be estimated. The first account we have of money is in the time of Abraham, who paid four hundred shekels for a buryingplace.

When first used as money, the precious metals were in an unfashioned state, in bars or ingots. The parties having agreed about the quantity of metal to be given for a commodity, that quantity was then weighed off. But this, it is plain, must have been a tedious and troublesome process. Undoubtedly, however, the greatest obstacle that would be experienced in early ages to the use of gold and silver as money, would be found to consist in the difficulty of determining the degree of their purity with sufficient precision; and the

discovery of some means by which their weight and fineness might be readily and correctly ascertained, would be felt to be indispensable to their extensive use as money. Fortunately these means were not long in being discovered. The fabrication of coins, or the practice of impressing pieces of the precious metals with a stamp, indicating their weight and purity, belongs to the remotest antiquity. And it may safely be affirmed, that there have been very few inventions of greater utility, or that have done more to hasten on improvement.

Inaccurate notions with respect to the influence of coinage seem to have given rise to the opinion, so long entertained, that coins were merely the signs of values! But it is clear that they have no more claim to this designation than bars of iron or copper, sacks of wheat, or any other commodity. They exchange for other things because they are desirable articles, and are possessed of real intrinsic value. A draft, check, or bill, may not improperly, perhaps, be regarded as the sign of the money to be given for it. But that money is nothing but a commodity; it is not a sign it is the thing signified.