cards in France amounts to 1,500,000 francs, or L62,500;
but France also supplies foreigners with the article, especially the
Spanish, American, Portuguese, and English colonies, to the value of
1,000,000 francs, or L41,666. The government derives from this branch of
French industry not much less than L25,000 annual revenue, that is,
from 20 to 25 per cent. of the product. The duty on cards is secured and
enforced by severe penalties.

English cards are about a third larger than the French. The
double-headed cards are an English invention, and they are being adopted
by the French. Their advantage is obvious, in securing the secrecy of
the hand, for by observing a party in arranging his cards after the
deal, the act of turning up a card plainly shows that it must be at
least a face card, and the oftener this is done the stronger the hand,
in general. In Germany, a fourth face-card is sometimes added to the
pack, called the Knight, or Chevalier. The Italians have also in use
long cards, called tarots, which, however, must not be confounded with
the French cards called tarotees, with odd figures on them, and used by
fortune-tellers.

The method of making playing-cards seems to have given the first hint
to the invention of printing, as appears from the first specimens of
printing at Haerlem, and those in the Bodleian Library.

'The manufacture of playing-cards comprises many interesting processes.
The cardboard employed for this purpose is formed of several thicknesses
of paper pasted together; there are usually four such thicknesses; and
the paper is so selected as to take paste, paint, and polish equally
well. The sheets of paper are pasted with a brush, and are united by
successive processes of cold-drying, hot-drying, and hydraulic pressure.
Each sheet is large enough for forty cards. The outer surfaces of the
outer sheets are prepared with a kind of flinty coating, which gives
sharpness to the outline of the various coloured devices. Most packs of
cards are now made with coloured backs. The ground-tint is laid on with
a brush, and consists of dis-temper colour, or pigments mixed with warm
melted size. The device impressed on this ground-tint is often very
beautiful. Messrs De la Rue, the leading firm in the manufacture,
employ tasteful artists, and invest a large amount of capital in the
introduction of new patterns. On cards sold at moderate prices, the
colours at the back are generally two--one for the ground, and