TAXATION of costs.—The process by which an official of the Court, known as a taxing master, settles the amount of the bill of costs of a solicitor. Taxations may ta.ke place as a matter of course in respect of costs in an action. And where a client is dissatisfied with the amount of the costs charged against him by his solicitor, he may, subject to certain rules, obtain from the Court an order for the taxation of the bill. The roaster will then go through the bill and allow, disallow, or modify e,ach item therein according as he considers right under the circumstances of the particular case. The charges of ac countants, auctioneers, and other persons may also be taxed in some cases, as where, for oaample, they have been incurred in respect of a bankruptcy or winding-up. See BILL OF COSTS; SOLICITOR.
TEA is subject to a CUSTOMS duty. There is a prohibition against the importation, except for the purpose of transit or exportation, of any extract or essence of tea. From the legal point of view tea is of intlest only with regard to its adulteration. It comes not only within the scope of the.Sale.of Food and Drugs Acts, but is also the subject of special provision against its adulteration contained in a series of statutes of the reigns of George I. to III. But these older statutes were enacted not so much in the interest of the public health as of the revenue. It is an essential prohibition of the modern Acts against adulteration that no person shall sell as unadulterated any article of food or drink which is, in fact, adulterated. Should he do so he incurs a penalty. Wherefore a retailer was fined, in Roberts v. Egerton, because he sold tea as green tea which had been painted or faced with gypsum and Prussian blue in China for the purpose of colouring it; and it was no defence that such tea was known in the trade generally as green tea. Every imported consignment of tea is examined by the customs authorities under the power conferred by section 30 of the Food and Drugs Act, 1875. That section empowers the authorities to take samples and submit them to analysis ; and if, upon analysis, the consignment is found to be mixed with other substances or to be exhausted, it will not be delivered unless with the sanction of the Commissioners of Customs ; and if the analyst considers it to be unfit for human food, it will be forfeited and destroyed. " Exhausted tea" is that
which has been deprived of its proper quality, strength, or virtue by steeping, infusion, decoction, or other means. Of the older statutes the 17 Geo. III. c. 29 may be noted : Every person, whether a dealer in or seller of tea, or not who shall dye or fabricate any sloe leaves, liquorice leaves, or the leaves of tea that have been used, or the leaves of the ash, elder, or other tree, shrub, or plant, in imitation of tea, or who shall mix or colour such leaves with terra Japonica, copperas, sugar, molasses, clay, logwood, or other ingredient, or who shall sell or expose to sale, or have in custody, any such adulterations in imitation of tea, shall for every pound forfeit, on conviction, by the oath of 1 witness, before 1 justice, £5 ; or on non-payment, be committed for not more than 12 nor less than 6 months. Any person having in possession any quantity exceeding 6 pounds of sloe, ash, or elder leaves, or the leaves of any other trees, plant, or shrub, green or manufactured, and shall not prove to the satisfaction of the justice hearing the matter that the same were gathered with the consent of the owner of the trees, &c., and that they were gathered for some other purpose than that of being fabricated in imitation of tea, shall forfeit £5 for every pound in his possession, or, on non payment, be committed to prison. If an officer of excise, or other person, make oath that he suspects herbs dyed, or otherwise prepared in imitation of tea, are hid or lodged in any place, a justice may issue a warrant for seizing the same by day or night (in the night in presence of a constable), together with all waggons, tubs, and packages in which they may be contained ; the herbs may be directed to be burnt, and the waggons, &c. sold. Obstructing such seizure subjects the offender to a penalty of £50, or not less than 6 nor more than 12 months' imprison ment. Herbs not to be burnt, if owner can prove, within 24 hours, that they were gathered with consent of proprietor of trees, plants, or shrubs, and that they were not intended to be fabricated in imitation of tea. Occupier of premises where herbs are found, liable to the penalties, unless he can prove they were lodged without his consent. •