In ancient times, they constituted, in every part of Europe, one of the principal branches of the revenue of the crown.
在古代,在欧洲的每个地方, 它们都是王室收入的主要部分之一。
国富论(五)
The land-tax, the stamp duties, and the different duties of customs and excise, constitute the four principal branches of the British taxes.
土地税、印花税和各种关税和货物税构成了英国税种的四个主要分支。
英语百科
Principal branch
In mathematics, a principal branch is a function which selects one branch ("slice") of a multi-valued function. Most often, this applies to functions defined on the complex plane.