g stamp in the office
where they are received, so that no postage stamp can ever be used a
second time. Each post-office is furnished with a cancel stamp, and an
ineffaceable ink for this purpose. There are five different forms of
cancel stamps, one used for London letters, deliverable within the London
District, one for letters mailed in London for places elsewhere, one for
all other places in England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for
Ireland. Thus it is seen at a glance, from what section a letter comes.
Sometimes the stamp denoting the place at which a letter is mailed, is not
sufficiently plain. To meet this, and to serve some other conveniences,
the cancel stamps have a blank in the centre, in which is inserted the
number belonging to that office. Thus the shape tells the district, and
the number the office from which each letter comes. The London stamp has a
circular blank for letters that are mailed within the London circle, and
deliverable also within it, and a diamond-shaped blank for letters going
out of London.

The post-offices in each section are all numbered consecutively, and each
office is permanently known in all other offices by its number as well as
its name. Each office has its number engraved in the blank space of its
cancel stamp, as in the first and last above, so that the place from which
the letter comes is known at a glance.

The total number of Label Stamps issued in the year ending

1_d_. Stamps. 2_d_. Stamps.
5th January, 1841, 74,856,960 7,587,960
5th January, 1842, 110,878,344 3,391,800
5th January, 1843, 121,648,080 2,866,080
------ ------
First three years, 307,383,384 13,845,840

321,229,224 stamps, nominal value, L1,396,146
Expense of manufacture and distribution, 42,763
------ ------
Net proceeds, L1,353,382
Average yearly, 451,127

The present cost of Label Stamps is reported, July 16, 1846, thus:

Paper for a million labels, L5 11_s_.
Printing and gumming, 25 --
Salaries, proportion of, 46 10_s_.
Contingencies, poundage, &c. 46 10_s_.
---------- ------
Cost per million, L79 --

The entire cost of the Stamped Envelopes is thus stated:

Year Ending. Cost. Sold for. Profit.
5th January, 1841, L4,