schools had provided places for 3,851 children, which left 2,383 for the Board to provide. By means of the schools they had erected they had reduced that deficiency to 224. There were some people who grumbled at the expense of the London School Board; but the Board had to provide a good education for the children, and consequently they paid their teachers well. Sir E. H. Currie defended the Board from the charge of extravagance, which, he said, could not be sustained in the face of the fact that the Board built their schools in London for an average of 7l. 10s. per child, while the average cost throughout the country was 107. 128. per head.

Another large school was opened in Rotherhithe. Dr. Morell, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools for the metropolitan districts of Greenwich and the City, in his general report for 1875 expresses his satisfaction at the general progress which has been made in popular education since he last had occasion to report on the schools under his inspection. Dr. Morell, although he does not consider that the present condition of the education question, practically considered, is all that could be wished, says that the schools under his inspection "have for the most part been increasing, both in school attendance and general efficiency, and the whole tendency of the last year has been to show that we have now entered upon a path of improvement which can hardly fail, in course of time, to number the English people among the besteducated of the nations of Europe."

The Liverpool School Board have adopted a somewhat successful expedient to encourage regular attendance of children-namely, the distribution of medals and certificates to the most attentive pupils. The rewards are given to those who attend 420 times out of a possible 450 during the year. The rewards were distributed this year by Mr. W. Oulton, Chairman of the School Management Committee, and the number entitled to the rewards was 1,150, out of 10,000 in attendance altogether.

29. INDIGNATION MEETINGS have been held in various parts of the country to protest against the massacres and atrocities perpetrated by the Turks against the Christian population of Bulgaria. At Liverpool, Bristol, Darlington, Nottingham, Exeter, Glasgow, and many other large towns resolutions were passed urging the Government to interfere on behalf of the Bulgarians; and the popular feeling was very strongly excited on the subject.

ACCIDENT TO THE "FLYING DUTCHMAN."-Captain Tyler, the inspector appointed by the Board of Trade to enquire into the causes of the frightful accident which occurred to this train on the 27th of last month, has presented his report, in which he states that the cause of the accident was the want of secure fastening of the rails to the sleepers. The most serious risk, he says, was undoubtedly incurred in allowing a passenger train to travel at a speed of nearly sixty miles an hour over a portion of permanent way temporarily laid in, with the sleepers lying on the

ballast, but without any ballast to surround and steady them, and with the rails only half bolted to the sleepers; so that in order to resist the impact of an engine weighing thirty-eight tons at that speed there were only four intermediate fang-bolts to each rail for a length of twenty-four feet, or one bolt for every six feet of rail, besides the bolts at the joints. It was no wonder that the bolts gave way and were bent under such strains, that the rails became bulged, under the passage of the engine, in the middle of their lengths, and that the carriages were thrown off them. It was most fortunate that the engine itself remained on the line, and that, in spite of the destruction caused to the transoms after the carriages left the rails, the passengers escaped without injury. When alterations of this nature are being carried out, and the permanent way is in a temporary condition, it is always desirable materially to reduce the speed of trains, and especially so in the case of exceptionally fast trains, such as the "Flying Dutchman."

30. THE "THUNDERER" EXPLOSION.-The protracted inquest on the bodies of those killed in this terrible disaster was brought to a conclusion to-day. The verdict of the jury was that the deaths were accidental, and that the accident was due to the sticking of the safety-valves from the contraction of their metal seats, and that the stop-valve being closed was contributory to the accident. The jury made a number of technical recommendations with a view of guarding against such a calamity in the future, and added that the boilers of the "Thunderer" were of excellent material and workmanship. They thought, also, that further scientific experiments should be made into the construction and strength of flat stayed surfaces. The foreman, of the jury, in some remarks which he made after delivering the verdict, expressed their sympathy with the sufferers and the bereaved.Eighteen of the men injured by this catastrophe, Engineer Weeks, who evinced such great courage, being amongst the number, and nearly 400 persons, either working on board the "Thunderer," or their relatives, held a thanksgiving tea meeting and service at Portsmouth on August 26.

- THE BRITISH MUSEUM.-The trustees of the British Museum have issued a return of the total expenditure on that institution since its foundation in 1753 up to the end of March, 1875-nearly a century and a quarter. The charges are classified under their distinct heads, and show the entire expenditure during that period, with the following interesting results :-For the staff and buildings together, 3,621,731.; for new buildings and repairs, 1,300,0851.; for rates and taxes, 41,472l. The charge for the staff alone during the entire period, for salaries, wages, police, and pensions, is 1,473,9877. (this item in 1874-5 reached the sum of 55,016.) From the staff and building charges also must be deducted the cost of bookbinding and preparing and printing the catalogues, &c., all of which is executed on the premises, and also the sum of 6,4167. for the publication of the cuneiform inscriptions. In contrast to

the seemingly enormous sums expended on the staff, &c. is the comparatively small sum expended on the collection itself. During the corresponding period the entire cost of purchases amounts to 1,070,934., or considerably less than one-third of the cost of mainThe expenditure in antiquities, including excavations, has been-in Assyria, 18,108l.; in Ephesus, the large sum of 377,633. On manuscripts, 120,032l. Ön music, maps, and books, 322,915l. These sums do not, of course, represent the intrinsic worth of the collection, as from gifts from private individuals, and also from the fact that all English modern publications are by law obtained free, the true value of the collection is almost incomputable.

31. VIOLENT GALES passed over various parts of the country on August 30 and 31, accompanied by heavy rain and thunderstorms. On the east coast of Scotland vessels were forced to seek for shelter, and apprehensions were expressed for the safety of the herring fleet; while in Fifeshire the rain was so heavy that it was feared the streams would overflow their banks. At Liverpool, on August 31, there was a heavy gale, accompanied by almost continuous rain. The sea ran so high at the mouth of the Mersey that many vessels could not go out, and an Isle of Man steamer had to put back. A farmer near Lancaster had eight cows killed by lightning. In the Western counties the storm raged furiously for eighteen hours, and at Plymouth a wall 153 feet long, part of a skating rink in course of construction, was blown down. The gale in the Channel on August 31 was so severe that the steamer from Dieppe, which was due at Newhaven at 6 P.M., was unable to keep her course, and was carried eastward. After being twenty hours on the sea she put in at Dover at nine in the morning on September 1. There were 120 passengers on board; and as many of them were much exhausted, Mr. Cass, the station-master of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, provided a special train, by which the passengers left Dover shortly before eleven o'clock for London. During the gale the "Lord Howe" hulk, the largest wooden vessel in the navy, broke from her moorings below Saltash, and began to drift down the Hamoaze, which was crowded with shipping. The port bridle was carried away, the jolly-boat and gig smashed, and a stoker of the "Indus," named Lisk, seriously hurt.

A NOVEL MODE OF TRAVELLING.-An account has been published of a novel and pleasant holiday trip accomplished this month. A Scottish gentleman, after making arrangements with the railway authorities, engaged a train of Pullman sleeping, dining-room, and drawing-room cars, and invited a party of sixteen ladies and gentlemen to accompany him from London upon a peripatetic picnic to a number of the most interesting and beautiful places in our island, staying a day or so here and there, wherever there proved to be the greatest attraction. The saloon or drawing-room was furnished with easy-chairs turning on pivots, and a piano; there were comfortable reading and smoking rooms beyond, and a dining

room capable of seating twenty-eight persons, with a butler's pantry attached, containing an ice-chest, and other comforts. Beyond this were divided sleeping cabins for ladies; and when dinner was over the party passed to the saloon for conversation and music, upon which the tables were let down, and by an ingenious series of contrivances, something being pulled down, something pushed up, a handle or two turned, like the transformation scene at a theatre, the car was changed almost magically from a comfortable dining-room into a series of two tiers of sleeping berths, arranged much as in first-class cabins on board ship. There were four dressing compartments in connection with the cars, and a luggagevan in which a bath was fitted up. The party travelled by the Midland and North British Railway to Edinburgh; and thence, being ferried across the Firth of Forth, visited the Highlands of Scotland, extending their pleasant trip to a month, during which time no hitch occurred to mar their enjoyment.

SEPTEMBER.

2. PROJECTED RELEASE OF CONVICTS.-Some excitement has been caused at the Chatham Convict Prison by the receipt of a telegram that the projected attack for the release of the three Fenian prisoners confined there was to be made this night. Additional precautions were accordingly taken to meet any attack which might be made. The information was, that those attempting the release would arrive by water, and attempt to land at the dockyard extension which joins the prison, that one of the large wooden vessels in the factory basin would be set on fire, and that while the commotion was going on an attempt would be made to get within the prison walls. In order to frustrate any attempt that might be made to land at the dockyard, additional policemen were put on duty along the river front, and a very strict watch was kept around the basins and at the prison. The night, however, passed off without anything unusual occurring. In order to prevent the prison warders being tampered with to assist at the release of these men, their whereabouts in the prison are known to but two or three; as an additional precaution the men are not placed in the same cells two nights in succession, and after they are locked up for the night the keys of the cells they occupy are retained by the governor of the prison, instead of being placed in the care of the principal warder. Under these circumstances, should an entrance ever be effected, much time would be lost in finding the cells in which the men are, and which are situated in different parts of the prison, as more than 1,500 prisoners are confined there.

5. ELEVATION TO THE PEERAGE.-Viscount Bury, the eldest son of the Earl of Albemarle, has been raised to the Peerage as

Baron Ashford, his father's second title. Lord Bury entered the House of Commons in 1857, and sat in it with short intervals till 1868. As an author the new peer is known by his works on the "Exodus of the Western Nations," his "Report on the Condition of the North American Indians," and other political and historical papers. His lordship's name has been prominently associated with the Volunteer movement from its commencement.

6. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION.-The meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science commenced this day at Glasgow, under the presidency of the distinguished chemist and physicist, Professor Thomas Andrews, LL.D., F.R.S., of Belfast, who, according to usual custom, delivered the opening address. Dr. Andrews, after referring to the splendid scientific memories connected with the city in which he spoke, proceeded to review the progress made during recent years in the various departments of research to which the British Association devotes its attention. The President then considered the actual condition of scientific enquiry in Great Britain and Ireland, and warmly advocated the cultivation of the physical and natural sciences in their widest sense at every complete university, suggesting as an important stimulus the demand from the candidates for some of the higher degrees of proof of original power of investigation.

7. THE CUTLERS' FEAST.--The annual feast of the Company of Cutlers of Hallamshire took place to-day, at Sheffield, and was a brilliant success. The Master Cutler for the year (Alderman Tozer) was supported by the Duke of Norfolk, the Right Hon. the Marquis of Hartington, M.P., Lord George Hamilton (Under-Secretary for India), Lord Denman, M.P., Sir E. Watkin, M.P., and a large number of local civil dignitaries and others. Lord George Hamilton, in responding to the toast of " Her Majesty's Ministers," took occasion to allude to the atrocities in Bulgaria, which have so greatly excited the public feeling of late; and while fully admitting the truth of the reports of them, he indignantly repudiated in the name of the Government the story alleged at various indignation meetings that the Government were in any sense responsible for the outrages. The Ministry, he said, wished to do their best to meet the painful urgencies of the situation; and with regard to the more general bearings of the Eastern Question, the Government were now engaged upon their consideration, and were anxious only to arrive at a generous and honourable conclusion. Lord Hartington responded to the toast of the "Houses of Parliament."

9. A MECHANICAL HARE.-An interesting experiment was made to-day in a field not far from the Welsh Harp, Hendon, with a mechanical hare, the invention of Mr. Geary, a gentleman of considerable experience in sporting matters. The invention has been patented, and its object is to make an artificial hare travel along the ground at any required pace, and so closely to resemble the running of the living animal as to be eagerly pursued by grey