The South African Inquiry.-The parliamentary investigation of the Jameson raid promised by Mr. Chamberlain was put off for a year, and finally, at the beginning of the session of 1897, he moved for the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the origin and circumstances of the incursion into the South African Republic by an armed force, and into the administration of the British South Africa Company, and to report thereon, and further to report what alterations were desirable in the government of the territories under the control of the company. Before the inquiry began Cecil Rhodes returned to South Africa, and there received ovations from the South African League and other partisans of imperialism, while a large part of the Afrkiander population showed disapprobation by counter-demonstrations. Mr. Rhodes confessed that he had furnished money and arms for the rising in Johannesburg, and stationed the forces of the South Africa Company on the border for the purpose of invading the South African Republic and aiding in bringing about a revolution. Telegrams that were published showed that the design was to raise the British flag. He pleaded in justification that the Boer Government intended to introduce foreign, specifically German, influence into South Africa. The English directors of the company were not cognizant of the plot, nor was it shown that Mr. Chamberlain or Lord Rosmead was aware of it, though Dr. Rutherfoord Harris, the secretary of Mr. Rhodes, testified that in an interview with Mr. Chamberlain he spoke guardedly of an expected revolution in Johannesburg and of the desirability of there being a force on the border, but that Mr. Chamberlain demurred to the turn that the conversation had taken. Mr. Chamberlain hastened to give his version of the conversation, which was that Dr. Harris had offered to make a confidential communication relative to proceedings in Johannesburg, but that he had at once stopped him and refused to receive any confidential information. Letters of Mr. Fairfield, since deceased, who had to do with these matters in the Colonial Office, showed that he was partly informed of the revolutionary purposes of the Cape Premier. Sir John Willoughby and other British officers who took part in the raid were hoodwinked by Jameson and Rhodes into believing that the British Government was secretly abetting the design of overthrowing the Pretoria Government and annexing the Transvaal. The convicted officers were released before serving their full term of imprisonment, but they were deprived of their commissions. Sir John Willoughby pleaded with the War Office to restore the junior officers to the army, saying that he had guaranteed their commissions, having been informed by Dr. Jameson that the expedition was undertaken with the knowledge and assent of the imperial authorities. Other reasons for his belief that it was so Sir John Willoughby declined to tell the committee, on public grounds. There were people in England who knew of the plot, but whose names Mr. Rhodes refused to reveal. A number of cablegrams, believed to implicate men of high station, perhaps the heir to the throne, he and, after his departure, his counsel, B. F. Hawksley, refused to produce, nor did the committee exercise its power to compel their production. These telegrams Mr. Rhodes had in the previous year exhibited to Mr. Chamberlain; Sir William Vernon Harcourt was also aware of their contents, and it was stated by one of the counsel that it was owing to reasons of state that they were not made public. Henry Labouchere, after being challenged by Alfred Beit and Dr. Harris to prove his statements that the raid was accompanied by profitable bull and bear operations in mining stocks by its promoters, withdrew his accusations

because the stock brokers on whose evidence he relied refused to testify. On account of the missing telegrams Mr. Blake declined to join in the committee's report, while Mr. Labouchere gave a minority report. The report of the committee exonerates the directors of the British South Africa Company from complicity in the raid, with the exception of Alfred Beit and Rochfort Maguire, and with the further exception of Lord Grey, about whom the committee could form no opinion, owing to his absence in South Africa; but the committee considered that the board, in giving to Mr. Rhodes power of attorney to do what he liked without consulting his colleagues and committing to him the whole of the administration and everything connected with Rhodesia, did not fulfill the objects for which it was created nor offer sufficient security against the misuse of the powers delegated to the Chartered Company by the Crown. The committee found that grave discontent existed in Johannesburg, but that, whatever justification the Uitlanders may have had for action, there was none for the conduct of Mr. Rhodes, who as Prime Minister of Cape Colony, managing director of the British South Africa Company, and director of the De Beers and Gold Fields Companies had used his position and those interests to promote his policy in subsidizing, organizing, and stimulating an armed insurrection against the Government of the South African Republic, and had employed the forces of the Chartered Company to support such a revolution. He seriously embarrassed both the imperial and colonial governments, and his proceedings resulted in the invasion of a friendly state and in breach of the obligation in respect to the right of self-government of the South African Republic under the conventions. Although Dr. Jameson at the last moment invaded the Transvaal without his authority, it was always a part of the plan that those forces should be used in the Transvaal in support of an insurrection. Such a policy once embarked upon inevitably involved Mr. Rhodes in grave breaches of duty to those to whom he owed allegiance. He deceived the High Commissioner, he concealed his views from his colleagues in the colonial ministry and from the board of the British South Africa Company, and led his subordinates to believe that his plans were approved by his superiors. The committee expressed in conclusion an absolute and unqualified condemnation of the raid and of the plans which made it possible. The result caused for the time being grave injury to British influence in South Africa. Public confidence was shaken, race feeling embittered, and serious difficulties were created with neighboring states.

Diplomatic Disputes.-In October, 1895, the Government of the South African Republic closed the drifts which constituted the two ports of entry on the Vaal river to oversea goods in order to stop the illicit importation of arms, although the pretext put forward was that the Cape railroads were damaging other railroads leading into the Transvaal. Sir Jacobus de Wet, the British consul general, denounced this as an unfriendly act intended to divert trade from the Cape ports. W. P. Schreiner, then the Cape Attorney-General, considered it a violation of the London convention. When the British Government protested on this ground, President Krüger said that if the exception of colonial goods made the closing of the drifts a violation of the convention he would shut out colonial goods as well. Mr. Chamberlain telegraphed that the extension of the proclamation to colonial goods was almost an act of hostility, and he informed the Cape ministry that the British Government was determined to obtain a compliance with its demands, even if it should be necessary to

to sit every year, alternately in Bloemfontein and Pretoria, for the discussion of subjects of common interest, especially the mutual protection, the commercial relations, and proposals touching the federal union of the two states and objections that may be raised thereto, recommendations tending to favor the unification of the laws of the two countries, and such other questions as the respective governments deem proper to submit. The State Presidents and their representatives shall always be able to take part in the deliberations. The decisions of this council of delegates are to be reported to the representatives of the two governments, to be submitted to the respective Volksraads for their action. The ultimate object of the new political treaty is to

create a federal union between the two states. Warlike Preparations. At the same time that Mr. Chamberlain was demanding the repeal of Transvaal laws and discovering a series of breaches of the London convention in the acts of President Krüger's Government and defiance in his protestations, a menacing naval demonstration was made in Delagoa Bay, where a squadron of British vessels suddenly gathered in April without any known cause or object, unless it was to intimidate the President and Volksraad in the matter of the immigration bill. Mr. Goschen declared that they were there as a guarantee that British supremacy would be maintained. The sum of £200,000 was put into the military budget for an increase of the forces in South Africa, and it was announced that their strength would be permanently increased. The garrisons were largely augmented during the spring, and troops were stationed near the frontiers. The reenforcements consisted of 115 officers and 2,700 men, making the total force of imperial troops in South Africa 545 officers and 8,240 men. Meanwhile, the Transvaal Government proceeded with the construction of the two forts at Pretoria, and imported Krupp field and fortress guns, Maxims, hundreds of thousands of rifles, and millions of cartridges.

Cape Colony decided on the recommendation of English military experts to create a permanent military force of 11,500 men, including the already existing Cape mounted rifles, numbering 1,100 men. The colony is to be divided into 5 military districts, and service is to be compulsory on all white males between eighteen and sixty years of age. The forts are to be provided with heavy guns, and a burgher reserve of 2,000 men is to be formed.

The warlike feeling had subsided in England and South Africa when Sir Alfred Milner arrived in Cape Town in May to succeed Lord Rosmead, formerly Sir Hercules Robinson, as Governor of the Cape and High Commissioner for South Africa. The Transvaal Volksraad repealed the aliens bill on May 6, not in acknowledgment of an infraction of the London convention, but as an act of deference to the wishes of the Orange Free State and the British colonies. The outcome of the peace debate in the Cape Parliament showed that a forward policy would receive little support. On May 17 the British fleet in Delagoa Bay was dispersed.

On the occasion of the Queen's jubilee President Krüger ordered the release of W. D. Davies and Capt. Woolls Sampson, the two Uitlander prisoners remaining in Pretoria jail, who had declined to make application for pardon, holding that they were entitled to the protection of the British Government, which was promised by Sir Hercules Robinson when they laid down their arms, but was afterward denied to them. The attitude of the British Secretary of the Colonies, though less aggressive, did not grow less imperialistic. After the South African Committee made its report he said: "Though Mr. Rhodes was in about as great a fault

as a politician or a statesman can be, nothing has been proved, and, in my opinion, there is nothing which affects Mr. Rhodes's position as a man of honor."

Swaziland. In accordance with the Swaziland settlements, arranged between the British and Transvaal governments on Dec. 10, 1894, and ratified on Feb. 14, 1895, by the Volksraad, Swaziland, which was declared independent in the convention of 1884 and placed by the convention of 1893, in respect to the white settlers, under a Swaziland government committee, was finally placed under the protection and administration of the South African Republic. The territory is not to be incorporated in the Transvaal, and the natives retain their right to govern themselves after their laws and customs, but after three years they must pay a hut tax to the Boer Government and other taxes borne by the Swazis within the limits of the Transvaal. Customs duties shall not exceed those of the Transvaal. English and other white settlers can obtain full burgher rights. The sale of intoxicants to natives is forbidden. Swaziland is about 8,500 square miles in extent, with a native population estimated between 40,000 and 70,000 and 750 white settlers. The people are closely akin to the Zulus, and speak a different dialect of the same language. Ngwane, or Ubunu, the paramount chief, has an army of 18,000 men. The local revenue for 1896 was estimated at £3,000, the expenditure at £40,650. British South Africa Company's Territory.— Rhodesia has proved disappointing as a gold-mining country, although indications of gold have been found over wide areas in both Mashonaland and Matabeleland, and innumerable claims have been filed and shafts have been sunk at Umtali, Salisbury, Victoria, Buluwayo, Gwelo, Tati, and other places. The whole amount of gold taken out from the beginning till 1897 has been less than 6,000 ounces, worth about £20,000. Machinery has been ordered, but the cost of transportation has been prohibitory hitherto. The railroad from Beira was completed to Massi Kessi in the beginning of 1897, and was expected to reach Salisbury by the middle of 1898. The railroad from Cape Colony through Bechuanaland to Buluwayo was opened on Nov. 4, 1897. Coal has been found near Salisbury, about 60 miles west of Buluwayo, and in Bechuanaland. The agricultural resources of the country are excellent, and water is abundant. But agriculture must depend entirely on the development of the goldmining industry. Drought and locusts have affected agriculture here, as in other parts of South Africa, and there are peculiar endemic diseases that interfere with the raising of horses, cattle, sheep, and poultry. Malarial fevers make the low country almost uninhabitable for white men, but the elevated plateaus are cool and healthful. There are 26,500 square miles of territory, having an elevation of 4.000 feet or over, and 72.500 more over 3,000 feet above the sea. Companies have been formed to farm on a large scale. Cecil Rhodes, who has brought millions of capital into the country, and has large investments into railroads and other property, has given much attention to the development of agriculture and stock breeding. The rinderpest has almost exterminated the cattle.

After the suppression of the rebellion of the Matabele and Mashonas that began when Jameson's raid into the Transvaal left the country without military protection, Lord Grey, the Administrator who succeeded Dr. Jameson, and his new staff of officials decided on the policy of native administration for the future. The Matabele chiefs, 85 in number, were summoned to Buluwayo in the beginning of January, 1897, to hear how the country should henceforward be ruled. Instead of five dis

included in the British sphere, and its boundary, according to the provisional agreement that has been extended till July, 1898, will be determined by an Anglo-Portuguese commission. The royal commissioner in Angola is A. de Brito Capello. The boundary between British South Africa and Portuguese East Africa starts from a point opposite the mouth of the river Aroangwa, or Loangwa, runs directly south to 16° of south latitude, which it follows as far as its intersection with 31 of east longitude, runs thence eastward to the point where the river Mazoe is intersected by the thirty-third degree of longitude, which it follows southward to 180° 30′ of south latitude, and thence runs along the edge of the Manica plateau southward to the Sabi river, which it then follows down to the Lunte, and from the confluence of the two rivers strikes across in a straight line to the northeastern point of the boundary of the South African Republic, with which the province of Lourenço Marques is conterminous to the border of Amatonga. North of the Zambesi the Portuguese territory extends inland to Lake Nyassa, being divided from German East Africa by the river Rovuma, and extends up the Zambesi to Zumbo, but the British Central African protectorate, or Nyassaland, forms a wedge that takes in the eastern and southern shores of Lake Nyassa and the upper Shire country. The Governor General of Portuguese East Africa is Major Mousinho de Albuquerque. The estimated revenue for 1895 was £296,857; expenditure, £345,587. The imports at the port of Mozambique in 1895 amounted to £95,300, and the exports to £37,122. At Quilimane the imports were £94,537; exports, £76,344. At Beira the imports were £160,570; exports, £17,950; transit trade, £142,960. At Lourenço Marques, which has a European population of 1,700, the imports were £295,203; exports, £28,309; transit trade, £669,213. The principal imports are cottons, spirits, beer, and wine. The exports are oil nuts and seeds, caoutchouc, gum, ivory, and sugar. In Manica Englishmen and others have begun to mine for gold. The Mozambique Company obtained a royal charter in 1891 to administer for twenty-five years the districts of Manica and Sofala. The railroad from Delagoa Bay connecting with the Transvaal line to Pretoria has a length of 57 miles in Portuguese territory, and 290 miles in all. The railroad from Beira in the direction of Mashonaland is open from Fontesvilla to Chimoio, 118 miles. There are 300 miles of telegraph line connecting Beira with Salisbury and Lourenço Marques with the telegraphs of the Transvaal.

Native War.-In March an expedition was sent out against the rebellious tribe of Namarallos, who fled after two defeats. A few weeks later five native chiefs in Gasaland revolted. The revolt extended on both sides of the Limpopo, necessitating the dispatch of fresh troops from Portugal, and the departure of the Governor General, Major Mousinho de Albuquerque, to the scene of action with whatever troops could be spared from Mozambique. He dismissed the Governor of Lourenço Marques, and set out in July with a body of troops dangerously small for the purpose of quelling the rebellion. During his absence natives on the Zambesi under the chief Camuimba seized a Portuguese gunboat, massacring the crew, and also captured two cannon. On July 21 Major Mousinho de Albuquerque won a victory over the chief Maguimana near Chimbutu, the capital of Gasaland, routing 7,000 natives. On Aug. 10 he engaged the rebels again at the foot of the Lebombo mountains, and after severe fighting administered a crushing defeat that ended the rebellion, Maguimana being killed and all the other leading chiefs made prisoners.

CHEMISTRY. In his annual review of pure chemistry, July, 1897, M. A. Étard notices as one of the most important events of the year the liquefaction of fluorine by Messrs. Moissan and Dewar. Of other less important work the author sees nothing but a little more confusion, owing to the monotonous continuity of scientific productions of unequal value. The science of chemistry is extending every year in new directions. It now includes pressure, cold, electricity, etc. It is being enriched principally by the determination of volumes, the measurement of constants, and by more minute work striving to show whether what we have so long admitted is really true. After a long period, during which it has seemed as if science was getting so pure as to be useless, students are coming back to the traditions of Gay Lussac and Berthelot, and are endeavoring to adapt the modern lofty ideas to the wants of mankind. Thus, Lord Rayleigh proposes to make the direct oxidation of the nitrogen of the air commercially practicable by means of the electric current. Mr. Liversidge has tested various deposits of maritime origin for gold, and has found that the Stassfurt salts contain 0-13 of a gramme per ton. It is not only gold that is so widely disseminated, but also, as Mr. Hartley has shown, the rare earths and metals. In 93 different iron ores he found always either silver, rubidium, copper, gallium, iridium, or thallium. Mr. Shenstone has found that the halogens, chlorine, bromine, and iodine combine with mercury in a state of perfect dryness, but that ozone will not do so except in the presence of aqueous vapors. Many other interesting results have been obtained in detailed workings, the general hearings of which have not yet been sufficiently determined to make them of more than technical interest.

Chemical Theory. The lecture of Prof. Richard Meyer before the German Association of Naturalists and Physicists, on the relations of theoretical chemistry and research to national industry, included a review of the metamorphosis of the theory of chemical types into that of the valence of the elements, which ultimately gave rise to the chemistry of the benzol derivatives. The practical and economical results of these theoretical doctrines were manifested in the rise of the coal-tar industries, which have exercised an immense influence and have contributed to progress in many branches of hygiene and medicine. The long series of coaltar or aniline colors, "the introduction on a large and cheap scale of carbolic and salicylic acids, and the ever-increasing array of synthetic, antipyretic, and other remedial agents, made their victorious and triumphant way to all countries, and the chemical industry of Germany rose to an unprecedented degree of magnitude and prosperity." One of the most remarkable changes in this evolution was that the laboratories of the manufacturing establishments and of the great color works participated with the chemical and clinical research laboratories in this race after scientific and practical achievement, and had important parts in the progress of chemical knowledge and production as applied to sanitary and therapeutical sciences and arts. More recently the discovery and employment of serum therapy have introduced an additional factor into the application of synthesized remedial agents. The influence of modern chemical research and application has been correspondingly great upon other important branches of chemical industry, such as photography, sugar making and refining, tanning, and brewing. As a novel and prospective branch of applied science, electro-chemistry is becoming more and more prominent.

Speculations tending to assign acid-forming properties to particular atoms or groups receive