passed the remainder of the "Alert's" crew in the number of days' sledging performed. On this occasion Ayles (another abstainer) had been out 110 days and Malley 98; " and it is a remarkable fact," the latter remarks, "that neither of us was attacked by scurvy, but enjoyed good health, and were only weakened by our arduous duties in sledging work." Adam Ayles is a teetotaler of many years' standing. He was not only out for 110 days sledging, but on one occasion he was out no less than 84 days from the ship at a time. On this occasion scurvy had attacked the party, and had gained on them so suddenly that, with the exception of Lieut. Aldrich (who although not a total abstainer was next door to one) and Ayles, the whole of the men (seven in number) were in a helpless condition. Dr. Colan, the senior medical officer on board the "Alert," spoke very favourably of total abstinence as exhibited during the expedition.

DECEMBER.

1. GREAT FIRE AT NOTTINGHAM.-A fire broke out this day in the County Hall, at Nottingham, and was not extinguished until six o'clock the next morning. At two o'clock the result of the exertions of the fire brigade began to be apparent, and it was evident that they had obtained the mastery of the flames, but it was four hours later before the fire was totally subdued. Of the old court nothing then remained but the bare and blackened walls, and the roof of the spacious and elegant new court, which has lately been erected, was burnt away, while the interior was greatly damaged. The removal of the prisoners was not rendered necessary, as the cells in which they are confined are separated from the hall by a large yard. There can be little doubt that the fire was caused by the overheating of the flue in the old court. The damage was estimated at about 20,000l.

2. AN ELDEST SON.--The Court of Appeal was called upon to-day to say whether a man could be considered the eldest son when his father and three elder brothers were dead. The case arose out of the will of a Northumbrian gentleman named Errington, made early in the century, by which his estates were bequeathed to the younger sons of a Cheshire baronet named Stanley, on the condition that if the son holding such estate became the eldest son, the estate should pass to the next brother, and that, finally, it should revert to the testator's own heirs. When the youngest son took the estate the testator's heirs claimed the possession. The Master of the Rolls had decided in their favour. In the Court above two judges considered that a man could not become eldest son after his father's death, and when he had no younger brothers.

The third judge agreed with the Master of the Rolls. Sir John Stanley Errington therefore retains the estate.

LOCAL EXAMINATION PRIZES.-The Marquis of Hartington, M.P., presided this day at the distribution of prizes and certificates to the successful students of the Oxford local examinations for some of the London centres. After awarding the prizes his lordship gave the pupils some very sensible advice. The action of the Universities has helped to raise the character of the intermediate schools, and to improve the education given there. It does not follow that the work of education is over for the students, and, as Lord Hartington said, if they cease to exercise their powers of application, they will lose nearly all they have gained. When the stimulus of competition is removed, industrious boys and girls often cease to follow any study with energy and attention. Not to relax their efforts and their hold of knowledge, and, above all, not to look on knowledge merely as an aid towards rising in life, was the counsel of Lord Hartington. Boys have been told too often how butchers', and smiths', and carpenters' sons have come to be archbishops and lord chancellors through their scholarship. If any lad listens to these tales he will make several errors. First, he will look on knowledge as a means to a rather vulgar end, not as an end in itself. Next, he will find himself no nearer to being an archbishop or a lord chancellor, after he has eclipsed Curtius, or Bopp, and thus will be sadly disappointed. Knowledge, perhaps more obviously than virtue, is its own reward, and no knowledge can be so thin, meagre, and unable to give pleasure as that of the man who acquires it for an ambitious purpose. Probably he fails, certainly he deserves to fail; most assuredly, with all his getting, he does not get wisdom.

6. SUPPOSED MURDER IN THE TYROL.-A shocking case of suspected wife murder has been under examination at the Bow Street police court for some weeks. Henri Dieudonné Pierreau de Tourville, a Frenchman, naturalised as an Englishman, and a barrister of the Middle Temple, was brought up before Mr. Vaughan, on November 11, charged on an extradition warrant, under which the prisoner was claimed by the Austrian Government, with the murder of his wife Madeline, by pushing her over the edge of a ravine in the Stelvio Pass. It appeared from the evidence taken in Austria at the time, that on July 16 last a gentleman and lady hired a carriage to take them from Spondinig to Ferdinandhöhe in the Tyrol. Before arriving there, they left the carriage, saying they would walk to Trefoj. At the latter place the gentleman arrived alone, saying that his wife had fallen over some rocks. Some men from the hotel went back with him, and after some search the body of the unfortunate lady was found lying at the bottom of a slope close to a rivulet, quite dead. An earring and a hat were found on the slope with other articles and traces of blood, some of which was also seen on the gentleman's fingers; there were so many bushes and large stones on the slope that it did

not seem possible the body could have rolled down, and a strong suspicion was formed that it must have been dragged down lengthways. The husband, it seems, afterwards spoke of the occurrence as an act of suicide, but the description of the wounds found on the head of the deceased was said by the medical witnesses to be entirely inconsistent with this explanation, and such as must have been produced by violence; however, after an examination before the Austrian magistrates, M. de Tourville was discharged, and returned to England. Circumstances subsequently came to light which raised renewed suspicion against him, an extradition warrant was issued by the Austrian Government, and, after going through all the depositions taken at the time of the first examination, and personally examining the lady's maid of the deceased, and a few other witnesses, Mr. Vaughan committed the prisoner for trial in Austria. M. de Tourville was married to the deceased in November 1875, and came into between 37,000l. and 38,000l. as residuary legatee under her will.

8. THE SMITHFIELD CATTLE SHOW, which was opened on the 4th and closed this day, appears to have been the most successful in the annals of the institution, whether as regards the number and quality of the animals exhibited or the attendance of visitors. Last year 102,741 persons passed through the turnstiles; this year the number exceeded 130,000. The number of cattle entered was 455, twenty-five more than on any other occasion. The most meritorious display of cattle was made by the Devons; and a really marvellous specimen of this breed succeeded in carrying off the 100l. Champion Plate as best beast in the show, being the first time that the chief honour has been won by a Devon. It is one bred by Mr. Samuel Kidner, of Bickley Farm, Milverton, Somerset. Her Majesty, who exhibited ten animals, won a third prize for Devon steers. She also showed a Hereford steer, a shorthorn steer, and a pig, which were commended. The Prince of Wales, who sent eleven animals to the show, gained a prize for a pen of Southdown ewes, and was commended for a Devon steer, a Southdown wether, a Southdown ewe, and a pig. Lord Walsingham took the Champion Plate for the three best sheep. Amongst the prize winners was the Corporation of Norwich for a wether lamb. The Prince of Wales attended the show on December 4, and presented a testimonial engrossed on vellum to Mr. Brandreth Gibbs, who had for the thirty-third time filled the post of hon. secretary.

SWIM OF 800 MILES.-Intelligence was received to-day that Capt. Boyton had accomplished the feat of swimming down the river Po from Turin to Ferrara, a distance of 800 miles. reaching the latter place he was received with great enthusiasm by the foreign as well as Italian residents. In November he swam from Turin to Castel Nuovo in his life-saving dress, 260 miles, in eighty-three hours, but was obliged to leave the water, feeling that a fever, caused by the malarious atmosphere of the river and his exertions, was coming upon him. He was laid up for several days at Castel Nuovo. On starting again from that place, how

ever, he completed the journey down the Po to Ferrara, 280 miles, in ninety-six hours, without a single break. This he states to be the last, as it has been the longest, of his feats.

10. DESTRUCTIVE FIRES.-On December 7, at a little before midnight, a fire was observed in the middle wing of the Greenwich Hospital School. The superintendent, Capt. C. Burney, R.N., was one of the first on the spot, and he at once gave the requisite orders to the police and his staff in order to place the boys out of danger and to arrest the flames. Copious supplies of water were at hand, and in a few minutes a number of hose were playing on the fire in front and rear. In less than half an hour all danger of its extension was over. Many metropolitan fire-engines were soon in attendance, but no help was required. The fire was not entirely extinguished until 4 A.M. The point where it broke out adjoined the staircase leading to two dormitories containing nearly 300 boys. The conduct of the boys was very exemplary; 150 of them marched down the stairs from their dormitory in the quietest and coolest manner possible. The boys of the other dormitory were able to leave by another exit. An inspection has shown that a flue connected with the heating of the building was the cause of the accident. The flooring and roof above have been burnt out, and it is certain that but for the prompt orders and skilful management of the superintendent of the school, and the energy of the police, a great and perhaps fatal catastrophe would have occurred.

Three days later a great fire broke out in a large block of buildings, in the occupation of City merchants, close to the Metropolitan Railway Station in Cannon Street. Within half an hour of the first intimation of the fire nearly twenty engines were on the spot, with about 150 firemen, and no time was lost in setting the whole of the machinery to work. The flames, notwithstanding the great quantity of water poured upon them, continued to rage, and it was not until the roof had been burnt off that the fire could be got under control. The upper portion of the large block was entirely consumed, with its valuable contents, while the under floors likewise suffered severely from heat and water. The loss of property was enormous.

-A MILITARY CHAPLAIN.-The retirement of a distinguished officer of the British army is announced, an officer who, though not wearing the scarlet of the infantry, or the blue tunic of the gunner, showed that good work could be done in a black frock coat. Archdeacon H. P. Wright, the senior chaplain to the forces, joined the army in 1853, and his services were almost immediately required in the field; for on the breaking out of the Crimean War Mr. Wright was appointed principal chaplain to the expedition, and served throughout the campaign, for which service he received, amongst other rewards, the Turkish medal and the fifth class of the Medjidie. On the resignation of the late chaplaingeneral (the Rev. G. R. Gleig) it was generally supposed that Archdeacon Wright would have succeeded to the vacancy; but the

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authorities at the War Office, wishing to have a bishop for that post, selected Dr. Claughton, ex-Bishop of Colombo, and Archdeacon of London. Mr. Wright's claims to preferment were, however, recognised by a reward for meritorious service of a hundred pounds a year.

12. THE ARCTIC OFFICERS. The officers and crews of the "Alert" and "Discovery" have been treated with a series of public festivities and honours. On December 1 Captain Nares was presented to the Queen and received the riband of Knight Commander of the Bath.

On December 7 the captains and officers of the expedition dined at the Trinity House. The Lords of the Admiralty, the honorary Elder Brethren, the leading Arctic heroes, and scientific gentlemen connected with the enterprise, were invited to meet them. Much interest was attached to the party by the presidence of Admiral Sir Richard Collinson, K. C. B., the Deputy-Master, than whom few men are better acquainted with the hardships inseparable from a constrained residence in those inhospitable regions and the way to overcome them, he having been blocked up by the ice for three successive winters when in search of the lamented Sir John Franklin. On the following day the same officers were entertained by the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House.

The Prince of Wales was present on December 12 at a special meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, held in St. James's Hall, to welcome the officers of the expedition. The hall was crowded, and several relics of the Arctic Expedition were exhibited in front of the platform. The Prince of Wales was accompanied by the Duke of Sutherland and Sir Bartle Frere. Sir Rutherford Alcock having explained the object of the meeting, papers were read by Sir G. Nares on the "circum-Polar Sea," by Capt. Stephenson on "the winter experiences in the 'Discovery,' and by Capt. Markham on "the sledge journeys." At the close of the papers the Prince of Wales expressed his admiration of the courage and daring of the expedition, and moved a vote of thanks to the officers who had read papers.

ARRIVAL OF THE LORD-LIEUTENANT IN IRELAND.-The Duke of Marlborough arrived at Kingstown, on December 12, from Holyhead, by the mail steamer "Connaught." Although the weather was bitterly cold, and there was no shelter on the landing pier from a piercing wind, blowing from the north-west, a number of people assembled to see the new Viceroy, and awaited his arrival with exemplary patience. The steamer was three-quarters of an hour late, having been detained at Holyhead by a delay of the mailtrain. His Grace, who was accompanied by Lord Randolph Churchill, was received on landing by Lord Caulfield, Controller of the Household, and other members of the Viceregal staff, and was conducted to the carriage prepared for his accommodation in the special train which was in waiting. At Westland Row other