Paraffin.—­The manufacture of lamps for the burning of this material dates only from 1861.

Pins.—­What becomes of all the pins?  Forty years ago it was stated that 20,000,000 pins were made every day, either for home or export use, but the total is now put at 50,000,000, notwithstanding which one can hardly be in the company of man, woman, or child, for a day without being asked “Have you such a thing as a pin about you?” Pins were first manufactured here in quantities about 1750, the Ryland family having the honour of introducing the trade.  It formerly took fourteen different persons to manufacture a single pin, cutters, headers, pointers, polishers, &c., but now the whole process is performed by machinery.  The proportion of pins made in Birmingham is put at 37,000,000 per day, the weight of brass wire annually required being 1,850,000 lbs., value L84,791; iron wire to the value of L5,016 is used for mourning and hair pins.  The census reports say there are but 729 persons employed (of whom 495 are females) in the manufacture of the 11,500,000,000 pins sent from our factories every year.

Planes.—­Carpenters’ planes were supplied to our factors in 1760 by William Moss, and his descendants were in the business as late as 1844.  Messrs. Atkins and Sons have long been celebrated makers, their hundreds of patterns including all kinds that could possibly he desired by the workman.  Woodwork is so cut, carved, and moulded by machinery now, that these articles are not so much in demand, and the local firms who make them number only a dozen.

Plated Wares.—­Soho was celebrated for its plated wares as early as 1766; Mr. Thomason (afterwards Sir Edward) commenced the plating in 1796; and Messrs. Waterhouse and Ryland, another well-known firm in the same line, about 1808, the material used being silver rolled on copper, the mountings silver, in good work, often solid silver.  The directory of 1780 enumerates 46 platers, that of 1799 96 ditto; their names might now be counted on one’s finger ends, the modern electro-plating having revolutionised the business, vastly to the prosperity of the town.

Puzzles.—­The Yankee puzzle game of “Fifteen,” took so well when introduced into this country (summer of 1880), that one of our local manufacturers received an order to supply 10,000 gross, and he was clever enough to construct a machine that made 20 sets per minute.

Railway Waggon Works.—­With the exception of the carriage building works belonging to the several great railway companies, Saltley may be said to be the headquarters of this modern branch of industry, in which thousands of hands are employed.  The Midland Railway Carriage and Waggon Co. was formed in 1853, and has works of a smaller scale at Shrewsbury.  The Metropolitan Railway Carriage and Waggon Co. was originated in London, in 1845, but removed to Saltley in 1862, which year also saw the formation of the