The number thus far discovered averages 22 to a cluster, which is out of all proportion to the average number of variables scattered over the heavens. Discovery of Nebulæ.-Since the last report Dr. Lewis Swift has discovered and published the places and descriptions of 130 new nebula. They are mostly southern, beyond the reach of Sir William Herschel and of all northern observatories. Isaac Roberts, in photographing clusters and nebulæ, has found on his negative plates 17 new nebulæ not in any catalogue. One of them, in right ascension 1h 39m 398; declination north 26° 37′ 42", is remarkable, being only 8' from that large well-known one in the triangles (New General Cataloge 672). He describes it as being nearly as large and bright as the well-known nebula. The central part consists of six faint stellar condensations, forming a straight line. It is certainly singular, as he says, that this nebula has so long escaped detection. The writer, however, can not subscribe to his opinion, that it has probably come into visibility during the past half century. If he is right in his bold conclusion, it raises a new and curious question of mighty import. Astronomers are familiar with new stars, but the advent of new nebula is a novelty needing investigation. Rotations of Mercury, Venus, and Uranus.Herr Leo Brenner, of the Manora Observatory, claims that he has determined the rotation periods of all these planets. He has forwarded 20 drawings of Mercury, which show not only evidence of change in the planet's markings, but also polar snow caps, which on one occasion were as bright as those on the poles of Mars, from which he argues that the observed markings prove that the slow rotation of the planet in eighty-eight days is an impossibility. The discussion of the rotation periods of Mercury and Venus has assumed vast proportions, with exhibition of some asperity. In "Monthly Notices" for January, 1897, Percival Lowell, from his private observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, publishes some interesting observations made by him on Mercury and Venus. He finds the markings on Mercury to be conspicuous, and easier, in comparison, to see than any of the markings on Mars except the seas. They were visible at all times when the seeing was good. Those on Venus are long and narrow, and perfectly distinct. The disk is quite clear of clouds, and is brightened by a luminous atmosphere. There is no evidence of the existence of polar ice caps. From careful drawings, he concludes that the period of rotation is undoubtedly equal to her revolution -two hundred and twenty-five days. In a recent number of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific," Prof. Holden says that he has observed Venus from 1873 to 1890, with telescopes of 6, 16, 26, and 36 inches aperture, without seeing markings of the kind depicted by Mr. Lowell, and adds: "I have no hesitation in saying that such markings as he has shown did not exist on Venus before 1890, and it is my opinion that they do not now exist on the planet, but are illusions of some sort." Herr Brenner makes the rotation period of the planet Uranus about eight and a quarter hours. Mars. The long-disputed question of the value of the compression of Mars has at length been settled beyond further controversy. The eye, in measuring disks, is influenced by errors of estimation in different directions with respect to the vertical line. Since the use of small reversion prisms on the eyepiece of the heliometer has been adopted, in which the diameter of a planetary disk can be made to appear in any direction with respect to the vertical, it is possible to get free from these abnormal eye estimations. Prof. W. Schur, of the Royal Observatory, Göttingen, using the Repsold heliometer objective of 162 millimetres in diameter, armed with a power of 174, from the mean of several comparisons made the equatorial diameter = 6.256", and the polar 6.120", compression = Observations made on the south polar spot on Mars by O. Lohse give ample reason for belief that the position of its center has not varied for more than one hundred years, and that after entire dissipation of the snow it would again form around the same point. During the opposition of Mars in 1896 the reappearance of the polar cap was watched with great interest after its disappearance in 1894. Mr. Crulli was the first to detect the newly formed cap in June, 1896, and from his micrometrical measures the following co-ordinates were deduced: Areographical longitude, 276: polar distance, 5.9. The Martian year consists of six hundred and sixty-eight Martian days, which for the northern hemisphere are distributed as follows: Spring, one hundred and ninety-four; summer, one hundred and seventy-six; autumn, one hundred and forty-two; and winter, one hundred and fifty-six. Confirmatory of the existence of canals and seas on Mars is the statement of Capt. P. B. Molesworth, of Ceylon, who, with a reflecting telescope of 94 inches aperture, without any previous knowledge of Schiaparelli's drawings, has drawn the canals and seas, which differ but little from those of Schiaparelli, Lowell, and others. Other astronomers besides those mentioned above have filed claims to their discoveries, notably Herr Brenner, who claims to have seen as many as 31 canals not before recorded. During the last opposition the canals were seen double by several observers. An important point, if true, in connection with the doubling of the canals, is the liability of some of the dark spots, called lakes, to become double also, which raises the question whether the duplicity of the streaks is not after all an optical illusion caused by some defect in the eye or the telescope. Asteroids. The following asteroids, or planetoids, or minor planets, as they are variously called, have been discovered since the last report: 418. 419. 420. Sept. 7, 421. Sept. 7, 422. 425 May. 416 Ornamenta. 420 Eleonora. 421 Elizabetha. 422 Berolina. 413 Edburga. Jupiter. The rapid changes in Jupiter's north equatorial belt are attracting much attention, especially its great increase in width, which is now nearly equal to that of the southern. This is more remarkable as following a period of quiescence. The cause of these changes in his atmosphere, the sudden appearance of spots (white, black, and tinted), and of his immense belts and their occasional doubling, and projecting of marginal spurs from them, often fantastic, and numerous other phenomena must ever furnish fruitful questions for speculation. Many of these details were seen on Feb. 23, 1897, the faintest of which were seen only by glimpses and vanished before they could be sketched. The great brick-red oval spot, first seen in 1878, is still faintly visible. It is 30,000 miles in length and 7,000 miles in breadth. Its persistence of form is not the least remarkable feature. For years it had a translatory motion of its own, which has now ceased. It is doubtful if photography will ever avail us much, as the image of the entire planet on the negative plate would be only one sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and of course details would be microscopic. Jupiter's fifth satellite was measured on Feb. 27, 1897, by Prof. J. M. Schaeberle at the Lick Observatory, the places agreeing with Marth's ephemeris fairly well. From long-continued observation of Jupiter with the Göttingen heliometer, Prof. Schur has determined the values for the equatorial and polar diameters of the planet to be 37-42" and 35-13" respectively. The apparent diameters generally adopted by astronomers are 49.9" in opposition and 304 in conjunction, or 40-15" at mean distance. His diameter is usually given as 87,900 miles, and his spheroidity about or 5,500 miles, surpassing in this respect all the planets except Saturn. Comets.-Swift's periodic comet was not found on its return in January, 1897. As its period is five and a half years it, like nearly all others having a fractional year period, can only be seen at alternate returns to perihelion, as the half year brings the Sun in the neighborhood of the comet. Comet f 1896 (Perrine's).—This periodic shortperiod comet is another addition to the long list of Jupiter comets. It was discovered by Perrine at the Lick Observatory on Dec. 8, 1896. It had a starlike nucleus and a tail 30' in length. Like all shortperiod comets, except Encke's, it was not visible to the naked eye. Its elements, except in one particular, bear a close resemblance to those of the long-lost divided Biela's comet. The elements of both are placed side by side for comparison: Longitude of node Inclination. Period.. BIELA'S COMET. Longitude of perihelion Longitude of node 163° 33' 30 0" Inclination. dis 246° 34' 35'9" 13° 40′ 25 9 Perihelion tance.. Period.. 109° 8' 245° 52′ 120 33 0-8606 6.62 years. 6:441 years. Comet 1897 I (Perrine's).-This comet's orbit is a parabola, and therefore it appeared for the first and last time, as only comets moving in elliptical orbits can ever visit our system the second time. Its elements are as below. It was discovered Nov. 2, but reckoned in the order of perihelion passage, instead of date of discovery, it becomes Comet I 1897. Perihelion passage, 1897, Feb. 8-1762, Berlin mean time; node to perihelion, 172° 20' 59-7"; longitude of node, 86° 17 511"; inclination, 146° 8′ 24-9"; perihelion distance Earth I, 1.062254. D'Arrest's Comet.-This long-known short-period comet was found at the Lick Observatory by Perrine on June 28, 1897, in right ascension 30° 11′ 9′′, polar distance 83° 46' 29". This is its seventh return since its discovery by D'Arrest in 1851. It is the faintest of all the short-period comets and often escapes detection, though always carefully and systematically searched for. The "Bulletin Astronomique" for March, 1897, contains a thorough investigation by L. Schulohf of the orbit of Comet Swift 1895 II previous to 1884. He had previously suggested the probable identity of the comet with that of Lexell, and requested astronomers to obtain as long a series of observation of it as possible, in order to obtain its elliptical elements with the utmost accuracy. Those made at the Lick Observatory extended over five months and enabled the elements to be ascertained with considerable accuracy. The daily motion is 490-51 and the period 72043 years. The probable error of daily motion is only half a second of arc, making an error in the period of only three days; but, small as it is, it prevents the accurate computation of the perturbations by Jupiter back to the year of Lexell's discovery in 1779, since which time it has been lost. Even in 1838 it is impossible to say within forty days when the comet was at any assigned point of its orbit. Until this comet has been observed at another return it can only be assumed that the identity of the comet with Lexell's is very probable. It may be again visible in 1902, but it will be very faint and in considerable south declination. If it then escapes detection there is no hope of seeing it before 1931. Gegenschein. This is an exceedingly faint circular patch of evenly diffused light seen by the naked eye only, always in the zodiac and opposite the Sun or 180°. Its diameter varies somewhat, being generally about 20° in diameter, and sometimes as much as 25°. Dr. E. E. Barnard sees a zodiacal band 3° or 4° in width extending from it to both the morning and evening zodiacal light. He has been assiduous in its observation for many years, as has also Prof. Searle, of Harvard College Observatory. Barnard has recently described in " "Gould's Astronomical Journal," No. 403, May, 1897, its various appearances as follows: "When first seen in autumn it is unaccompanied by a zodiacal band, but later, when its right ascension is 0h 0m, it becomes elliptical and the band appears extending to the apexes of the evening and morning zodiacal light. There appears at different times an oscillation east and west of about 1°, with a tendency to a less longitude than 180°. It is impossible to explain on any hypothesis the cause of this light or counterglow, as it is often called. The writer of these notes, after much reflection resulting from his own observations, suggests the following as the cause of the Gegenschein—viz., that it is caused by refracted and reflected sunlight precisely in the same manner as the red Moon when totally eclipsed. The sunlight passing tangentially through the Earth's atmosphere, which forms the boundary between sunlight and darkness, is refracted down upon the Moon and then feebly reflected to the Earth, rendering her visible, although totally immersed in the Earth's shadow. In this case it is the Moon that is the reflector, but in the case of the Gegenschein it is cosmic dust that is the reflector. That our atmosphere, and indeed all space, is impregnated with dust, is conceded by all astronomers. That the light is always opposite the Sun is a significant point in favor of this hypothesis. The subject is attracting increased attention, and there is hope that the cause of this strange phenomenon may be satisfactorily explained. Zodiacal Light.-Another phenomenon, equally inexplicable and perhaps indirectly allied to the Gegenschein, is the zodiacal light, visible as a broad conical luminous beam in the west after sunset during the autumn and winter months and in the east before sunrise during the spring months. The spectroscope has recently shown that the light is sunlight reflected from some kind of noncoherent matter in the solid form. It has been seen circling the sky from the western to the eastern horizon, and must be treated, therefore, as a luminous ring circling the Earth instead of the Sun. Unification of Time.-The international unification of time has been adopted in nearly every country except France, Spain, and Portugal. England, Belgium, Holland, and Luxemburg use western European time. Central time is adopted by Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Russia, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Euro pean Turkey use eastern time. In Natal, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan the time zones used are eight, nine, ten, and eleven hours fast of Greenwich. Canada and the United States use four time zones, four, five, six, seven, and eight hours slow of Greenwich time. Since May, 1897, Belgium has reckoned time continuously from 0 to 24h-that is, the next hour after noon will be thirteen o'clock. of the four surfaces that every ray of light from a star falling on the great disks is refracted and dispersed by the crown disk and again oppositely refracted by the flint to a very small point. The price of the completed objective, as an object glass is called, with its cast-iron cell, was $100,000. It weighs 1,000 pounds. The outer crown lens is 24 inches thick at the center and inch at the edge, and weighs 200 pounds. The heavy flint-glass disk is 2 inches thick at the edge and 14 inch at the center, and weighs over 300 pounds. The two glasses in their cell are 83 inches apart. The resulting focus of the combined lenses is 66 feet. The tube is of sheet steel, 64 feet long and 52 inches in diameter at the middle, tapering toward the ends, and weighs 6 tons. The pedestal and head, which are of cast iron, rise to a height of 43 feet, and weigh 50 tons. A winding staircase ascends to the driving-clock room and reading circles and to the balcony surrounding the head. The polar axis is of steel, 15 inches in diameter, 13 feet long, and weighs 3 tons. The declination axis is also of steel, 12 inches in diameter, 11 feet long, and weighs 1 ton. The driving clock weighs 1 ton, and is wound automatically by an electric motor. A double conical pendulum controls the driving clock, and is geared to the main driving wheel, 8 feet in diameter, which, together with the tube, weigh 20 tons, driven in exact sidereal time. The circular floor, 75 feet in diameter, is raised and depressed 25 feet by an electric motor by simply touching a button, so that a high observing chair is not required. The center of motion of the telescope is 70 feet from the floor. The dome is the largest in the world, and weighs 70 tons. Largest Spectroscope.-The largest spectroscope in the world has just been completed by John A. Brashear, of Allegheny, Pa., for Dr. Hans Hauswaldt's Astronomical and Physical Observatory, Magdeburg, Germany. It is 21 feet long and requires for working it a room 28 feet square. The size of the grating is 6 inches, and it is ruled with 18.333 lines to the inch, between which there is no difference greater than three millionths of an inch. It reveals in the solar spectrum over 2,000 lines belonging to iron. In the infancy of spectroscopy the sodium line (Fraunhofer's D) was considered single, which the spectroscope of to-day doubles, called D. This mammoth instrument shows each to be double and so wide apart are the pairs that 15 lines are revealed between them. Some of them, and perhaps all, may turn out to belong to our atmosphere. It also doubles the famous helium line, or D. The spectrum of the Sun has been photographed by it to 60 feet in length, crowded with lines from end to end. It is so arranged that, no matter what part of the spectrum is desired to be photographed, the negative plate is always in focus. The following method of photographing the solar spectrum and that of other heavenly bodies can not fail to settle many disputed points and may originate as many new ones as it settles. Suppose it is desired to ascertain whether any terrestrial sub- Publications. Harvard College Observatory stance, say calcium, is in the condition of a gas in the has lately published two volumes of its annals, one Sun's atmosphere: The sunlight is turned into the concluding the zone observations, which has exslit of the spectroscope, narrowly closed for sharp- tended through Vols. XV, XVI, XXV, XXXV, and ness of the lines to be photographed, and photo- the one just issued, XXXVI. The other is devoted to graph the center of the Sun on the center only of a the negative plate. An opaque bar is now placed over this part of the plate. The electric are light, in which has been placed in the concavity of the lower carbon pencil a small piece of calcium, is turned on the slit and the spectrum of calcium is photographed on each side of the opaque bar. When the plate is developed there is a picture on which the calcium spectrum with its lines is shown, and if there be any in the Sun's spectrum they can in a moment be identified by their coincidence. If this be the case we know that calcium exists in the state of vapor in the Sun's atmosphere. Yerkes Observatory. The largest and most powerful refracting telescope in the world has recently been successfully mounted in the Yerkes Observatory, at William's Bay, Wisconsin, near the shore of Lake Geneva, 75 miles north of Chicago. The glass, 40 inches of clear aperture, has been by experts pronounced of superior excellence and has been received by the trustees. Much is expected of this gigantic telescope, which, from some discoveries already made and reported, will not disappoint the generous donor, Charles T. Yerkes, of Chicago. The following data will give the reader something of an idea what the making and mounting such a telescope in time, skill, labor, patience, and money means. The amount of the latter, including the observatory, was more than $1,000,000. The two disks of crown and flint glass, 414 inches in diameter, each free from stria, bubbles, and inequality of density, cost in Paris, in the rough, about the shape of two large, thin grindstones, $40,000. Four years were spent by the late Alvan G. Clark, at Cambridgeport, Mass., in grinding them to the right curves and polishing them. The clear available aperture is 40 inches, and so perfect are the figures description of the spectrum of bright stars photographed with the 11-inch Draper telescope, and discovered by Miss A. C. Maury. Two hundred and fifty pages of Vol. XXV are devoted to discussion of the proper motions of the stars, deducible from the observations. In a series of preliminary notes she has discussed the relation of the spectra of the Orion stars to that of helium. Prizes.-The following prizes have been awarded to astronomers since the last report: The Laland prize of 540 francs was awarded to M. Puiseux for his selenographical work. The Valz prize was bestowed on M. Possert for the reduction of old observations previously inaccessible. The Janssen prize was given to M. Deslandres for his studies and investigations in spectroscopy. The Mrs. JacksonGwilt medal, of the Royal Astronomical Society of England, was awarded for the first time to Dr. Lewis Swift, of the Lowe Observatory, Echo Mountain, California, for his numerous discoveries of comets and nebula. It consisted of a large bronze medal and $125,52 in cash. The prizes of the Paris Academy of Sciences have been awarded as follows: The extraordinary prize of 6,000 francs has been divided between M. Darrions and to M. Banle, for the application of the gyroscope to determine the altitude of the stars at sea. M. Faye, the distinguished astronomer of France, has been awarded a gold medal by the Paris Academy, in honor of his jubilee, he having been elected a member in 1847. The Royal Astronomical Society of England bestowed its gold medal on Dr. E. E. Barnard for the discovery of the fifth satellite to Jupiter, and other important discoveries in astronomy. The German astronomer Prof. Dr. Arthur Auwers, has received from the German Emperor a gold medal for his services to science, especially to astronomy. the advice of the responsible ministers, selected from the party or combination that forms the majority in the Legislative Assembly. Fiji is a Crown colony, in which the natives are governed partly by their own chiefs in accordance with their traditional customs. Area and Population. The area in square miles of the British Australasian colonies, according to the most recent estimates, and their estimated population on Dec. 31, 1895, are given in the following table: M. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, has in his will left $10,000,000. the yearly interest of which is to be divided annually into five equal portions, two of which will embrace astronomical progress. All the five parts are open to the world. On the basis of 4 per cent. interest each prize will amount to $80,000. The French Academy are administrators of M. Pierre Lasserre's legacy of 580,000 francs. It is divided into three parts, and the interest of one of them applies to astronomy. Mr. H. Welde, of France, has given 27,000 francs to provide a fund to be devoted to the purpose of founding an annual prize. The award is to be made for the discovery or work in astronomy and physics which in the opinion of the Academy of Sciences shall be the most deserving. Miss Catharine W. Bruce, of New York, has given a sum to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for the foundation of a gold medal, to be awarded annually, as a recognition of services to astronomy, and to be Fiji and Rotuma. given to the one judged most worthy, without restriction of race, nationality, or sex. No person shall be twice a recipient. The Belgian Government has offered a sum of 300,000 francs, without distinction of nationality, to the authors of the best solutions of certain specified problems. Of these, five are in connection with practical astronomy, three prizes being offered for each; nine for problems in theoretical astronomy and physics, for each of which two prizes are offered. A complete list of these problems is given in "Nature" for Feb. 18, 1897. Lunar Photography.-One of Prof. Dr. Weineke's great enlargements of the lunar crater Maginus has been issued as a specimen plate, giving an idea of what the entire series will be when the work is completed. The scale is that of 10 feet for the entire Moon's diameter in the case of the Lick negatives, and 13 feet in those taken at the Paris and Arequipa observatories. Solar Eclipses on Jupiter.-An elaborate calculation of these phenomena reveals the fact that in a given point on Jupiter's equator there may be three total eclipses in one day, one in the morning, one at noon, and another in the afternoon, each of the former and latter lasting 21m 29s, and the noon eclipse lasting 40m 58. Before and after the noon eclipse occurs two periods of sunshine, each lasting 53 45. On leaving the equator, the intervals of sunshine diminish, until latitude 16° 40′ 33′′ is reached, when the three eclipses meet, but do not overlap, where the morning and afternoon eclipses will last 43m 4. It is remarkable that for a certain period three fifths of the Jovian day will be turned into night, or, including natural night and totality, nearly all the time shrouded in darkness. AUSTRALASIA, one of the grand divisions of the globe, consisting of the continent of Australia and island colonies of Great Britain, with intervening islands. With the exception of the Dutch and German portions of New Guinea, the German protectorates of Bismarck Archipelago and the northern Solomon Islands, the French colony of New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides and smaller islands under native rule, all the islands of Australasia are British colonies or dependencies. The five colonies in Australia and New Zealand and Tasmania are self-governing, having each its representative legislature and responsible ministry, disposing of its own revenues, and making all its laws under a charter granted by the British Parliament, subject to a certain reserved veto power of the Imperial Government and the appellate jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the British House of Lords in matters of imperial concern. The Crown is represented by a governor in each colony, who as the executive head of the colonial Government acts on COLONIES. New South Wales.. Total.... * June 30, 1896. + Census of 1891. The movement of population for the several colonies in 1895 was as follows: COLONIES. New South Wales.. Fiji and Rotuma †. * Net emigration. During ten years the increase in the population of New South Wales was 288,530, over 82 per cent. of which was the natural increment of the population. The population of New South Wales comprised 685,160 males and 592,710 females. The population of Sydney, the capital, was estimated at 408,500, including suburbs. The arrivals by sea into the colony during 1895 numbered 76,051, and the departures 66,334. The number of Chinamen arriving was 94, while 413 left the colony. Every Chinese immigrant must pay a poll tax of £100. There were 2,563 state schools in 1895, with 4,477 teachers, 216,396 children enrolled, and 139,978 in average attendance. Of 882 private schools, with 51.563 pupils, 286 were Roman Catholic, with 35,162 pupils. About 55 per cent. of the population of Victoria is urban. Besides Melbourne, the capital, which had 447,565 inhabitants in 1895, there are the towns of Ballarat, with 45,336, Bendigo, or Sandhurst, with 42,381, Geelong, with 24,575, and numerous smaller places. The number of marriages in 1895 was 7,146; of births, 33,706; of deaths, 15,636; excess of births, 18.070. The number of arrivals by sea in 1895 was 81,199; of departures, 88,886. Of the immigrants 55,481 were males and 25,718 females. The excess of emigrants over immigrants, due to departures for Western Australia and other younger colonies, has continued four years, amounting to 6,263 in 1892, 6.413 in 1893, 5,849 in 1894, and 7,687 in 1895. State education is secular and compulsory between the ages of six and thirteen. There were 1,922 state schools in 1895, with 4,483 teachers and 232,052 enrolled pupils, with 134,572 in average attendance. There were besides 867 private schools, with 38,062 scholars. The total cost of public primary education in 1895 was £620,988. The schools are entirely supported by the state. Of a total population of 393,718 in Queensland at the census of 1891 the northern district contained 78,077, the central district 46,857, and the southern district 268,784. Of the total 176,971 were born in Queensland, 17,023 in New South Wales, 7,462 in Victoria, 3,851 in other Australian colonies, 77,187 in England, 43,036 in Ireland, 22,400 in Scotland, and 14,910 in Germany. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 30,066, and of emigrants 24,393. The arrivals of Chinese were 561, and departures 505; arrivals of Polynesians numbered 1,312, and departures 773. The number of marriages in 1895 was 2,821; of births, 14,874; of deaths, 5,152; excess of births, 9,722. There were 738 elementary schools in 1895, with 1,535 teachers and an average attendance of 48,270 pupils, besides which there were 183 private schools, with an average attendance of 10,146 pupils. The cost of the state schools in 1895 was £172,934. Education is made compulsory by statute, but the law is not enforced. The population of South Australia consisted of 181,161 males and 171,492 females. In the northern territory there was a population of 4,752, of whom 382 were females. Adelaide, the capital, had 144,352 inhabitants. The number of marriages in 1895 was 2,048; of births, 10,537; of deaths, 3,921; excess of births, 6,616. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 36,762, and of emigrants 40,489. Education is free, secular, and compulsory. Public lands are set apart for the support of the schools, of which there were 634, with 59,093 pupils, including 352 provisional schools, in 1895. The population of Western Australia increased from 29,708 in 1881 to 49,782 in 1891, which was at the rate of 6.75 per cent. a year. In the next five years the increase was 165 per cent. Of the population in 1896 the males numbered 93,704, and the females 38,346. These figures do not include the aborigines, whose numbers can not be estimated, as they live mostly in regions not yet explored. There were 5,670 of them in service with the whites in 1891. The population of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, was estimated at 19,533 in 1895. Of the white population 13.2 per cent. could not read nor write in 1891. Education is compulsory and gratuitous. There were 133 Government schools in 1895, with 4,685 pupils in attendance, and 19 assisted schools, with 1,708 pupils. num. The population of Tasmania increased between 1881 and 1891 at the rate of 3.84 per cent. per anAt the latter date 107,901 of the population were natives of this colony, while 26.975 had come from the British Islands and 7,328 from Australia, and there were 918 Germans and 943 Chinese. Since then about 3,000 more persons have been born every year than have died, but for a part of the time the emigration has exceeded the immigration. Education is compulsory, but still 25 per cent. of the population in 1891 could not read and write. There were 258 elementary schools in 1895, with 19,907 pupils enrolled, and 172 private schools, with 7,073 pupils. The Government expended in that year £35,501 on education. The population of New Zealand on April 12, 1896, was composed of 371,415 males and 331,945 females. The increase over the preceding year was 2-3 per cent. The district of Auckland, with an area of 25,746 square miles, had 153,564 inhabitants; Taranaki, 3,308 square miles, 31,175; Wellington, 11.003 square miles, 121,854; Hawke's Bay, 4,410 square miles, 34,038; Marlborough, 4,753 square miles, 12,483; Nelson, 10,269 square miles, 35,734; Westland, 4,641 square miles, 14,469: Canterbury, 14,040 square miles, 135,858; Otago, 25.487 square miles, 163,944. The population of the North island was 340,631; of the South island, 362,236; of Stewart's island, 252; of Chatham Islands, 234; of Kermadec Islands, 7. Including Maoris, the total population shown by the census of 1896 was 743,165. There were 3,711 Chinese, of whom 26 were females. Of the Maoris 21,515 were males and 18,290 females. Their number includes 3,501 half-castes living as members of the tribes and 229 Maori wives of European husbands. Of the white population 391,735 resided in the rural districts, 307,294 in boroughs, 950 on adjacent islands, and 3,381 were on board ships. Wellington, the capital, contained 41,758 inhabitants in 1896, including suburbs; Auckland, 57,616; Christchurch, 51,330; and Dunedin, 47,280. The number of immigrants in 1895 was 21,862; of emigrants, 20,967. There were 1,464 primary public schools in 1896, with 3,386 teachers and 129,856 enrolled pupils, of whom 107,222 were in average attendance. Education is free, secular, and in the settled districts compulsory. The Maori schools numbered 69, with 127 teachers, and an average attendance of 2,084 scholars. The private schools, 298 in number, had 770 teachers and 14,659 pupils. Finances.-The budgets of the several colonies for 1895 and the state of their debts for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1896, in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia; on March 31, 1895, in Western Australia and Tasmania; on March 31, 1896, in New Zealand; and on Dec. 31, 1895, in Fiji, are shown in the following table: Of the revenue of New South Wales £1,825,240 came from customs, £271,805 from excise, £318,301 from stamps, £27,658 from the income tax, and £123,109 from licenses, making £2,566,113 derived from taxation, while £2,018,196 came from land, £4,354,821 from services, and £312,715 from miscellaneous sources. Under the head of services is included the revenue from railroads, tramways, and the post office and telegraphs. The expenditure for railroads and tramways, exclusive of expenditure from loans, was £1,884,700; for posts and telegraphs, £746,208; for interest on debt and extinction of loans, £2,525.707; for education, £794,893; for immigration, £547; for other public works and serv ices, £3,934,222. The average rate of interest paid on the debt, including the loan of £4,000,000 raised in October, 1895, was 3.71 per cent. Of the total debt 82 per cent. has been expended on railroads, tramways, telegraphs, water supply, and sewerage, which produce a net return of 3.15 per cent, on the capital outlay. Further loans were authorized for such purposes to the amount of £10,711,148. Of the revenue of Victoria £2,712,313 were raised by taxation, including £1,809,140 from customs, duties, etc., £308,975 from excise, £120,093 from land tax, £139,084 from duties on estates of deceased persons, £20,774 from a duty on bank notes, £139,000 of stamp duties, £17,328 from business licenses, £17,123 from tonnage dues, etc., and £140,796 from the income tax. The revenue from railroads was £2,583,442; from posts and telegraphs, £509,721; from Crown lands, £473,580; from other sources, £434,096. Of the total expenditure £1,880,196 went to pay interest and expenses of the debt, £1,428,701 for working expenses of railroads, £303,976 for other public works, £652,752 for posts and telegraphs; for Crown lands, etc., £170,789; public instruction, science, etc., £604,109; charitable institutions, etc., |