him make three, I felt competent to make a gross; and the difference between his mode and that of my own workmen was so trifling, that I felt the utmost astonishment."
"Quest. You can now make dolls' eyes?"
"Ans. I can. As it was eighteen years ago that I received the order I have mentioned, and feeling doubtful of my own recollection, though very strong, and suspecting that it could [not] have been to the amount stated, I last night took the present very reduced price of that article (less than half now of what it was then), and calculating that every child in this country not using a doll till two years old, and throwing it aside at seven, and having a new one annually, I satisfied myself that the eyes alone would produce a circulation of a great many thousand pounds. I mention this merely to shew the importance of trifles; and to assign one reason, amongst many, for my conviction, that nothing but personal communication can enable our manufactures to be transplanted."
(301.) In many instances it is exceedingly difficult to estimate beforehand the sale of an article, or the effects of a machine; a case, however, occurred during a recent inquiry, which although not quite appropriate as an illustration of probable demand, is highly instructive as to the mode of conducting investigations of this nature. A committee of the House of Commons was appointed to inquire into the tolls proper to be placed on steam-carriages; a question, apparently, of difficult solution, and upon which widely different opinions had been formed, if we may judge by the very different rate of tolls imposed upon such carriages by different "turnpike trusts." The principles on which the committee conducted the inquiry were, that "The only ground on which a fair claim to toll can be made on any public road, is to raise
