'Remarks upon the present system of ascertaining Quantity in Rolling Casks used in the conveyance of British Spirits in the Distilleries of the United Kingdom', by Henry Browning Read at the meeting of the Excise Committee, 7th November 1835. "The Excise Committee [of the Royal Society] worked in response to a request from the Treasury: its task was to devise a simple and practicable form of hydrometer to be used by excisemen in assesing the duty on spirits, wine and beer, and thus it duly did, to the complete satisfaction of the Treasury", M Boas-Hall, 'All Scientists Now: The Royal Society in the Nineteenth Century', Cambridge: CUP, 1984, pp168. 1 October 1835