cubic feet of gas. The 528,794 buildings of this gigantic city include 1400 churches of various denominations, 7500 public houses, 1700 coffee-houses, and 500 hotels and inns. The Metropolitan and City Police District, which extends 12-15 M. in every direction from Charing Cross, embraces an area of 690 sq. M., with streets and roads measuring 7000 M. in aggregate length. The annual value of house property was estimated in 1886 at nearly 34 millions sterling. According to the census of 1881, the population of London consisted of 3,814,571 souls (or within the bounds of the Metropolitan Police District 4,766,661; now considerably above 5,000,000), showing an increase of 562,660 over that of 1871. The annual increase is about 70,000. Among these there are about 3000 master-tailors, 2800 bakers, 2400 butchers (besides many thousands of men and women in their employ), and 300,000 domestic servants. The number of paupers was 141,770. The population of London has been almost exactly doubled within the last forty years (pop. in 1841, 1,948,417), and within the same period about 2000 м. of new streets have been constructed. There are in London more Scotsmen than in Edinburgh, more Irish than in Dublin, more Jews than in Palestine, and more Roma Catholics than in Rome.

Statistics as to the consumption of food in this vast hive of human beings are not easily obtained; but we may state approximately that there are annually consumed about 2,000,000 quarters of wheat, 400,000 oxen, 1,500,000 sheep, 130,000 calves, 250,000 swine, 8 million head of poultry and game, 400 million pounds of fish, 500 million oysters, 1,200,000 lobsters, and 3,000,000 salmon. The butcher-meat alone is valued at 50,000,0001. The Londoners wash down this vast annual repast by 180 million quarts of porter and ale, 8 million quarts of spirits, and 31 million quarts of wine, not to speak of the 150 million gallons of water supplied every day by the nine water-companies. About 1000 collier-vessels yearly bring 4,000,000 tons of coal into London by the river, while the railways supply about as much more. The sum of money spent by the whole population each year may be estimated as at least 200,000,0001. The number of vessels which annually enter the port of London is about 20,000, while the average value of exports from the Thames is not less than one hundred millions sterling.

Between 1856 and 1889 the important METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS, undertaken for the facilitation of traffic and for the sanitary benefit of the population, were superintended by the Metropolitan Board of Works. This body, however, ceased to exist on March 31st, 1889, and all its powers and duties have been transferred to the LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL, a new body called into existence by an Act of Parliament passed in 1888. Various new powers have also been conferred on the Council. The new 'Administrative County of London' includes the City of London and parts of the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, and Kent. Its electoral divisions coincide with the parliamentary boroughs mentioned at p. 68, two Councillors being elected by the borough franchise for each division. With the 19 Aldermen appointed by the Council itself, the total number of members is thus 137.

Though the Metropolitan Board of Works never exactly met the idea of a popular elective body and though it had practically lost the public confidence before its extinction, it is yet impossible to deny that it accomplished many public works of great magnificence and utility. The expenses connected with these works the construction of new streets, the extension of old ones, and so on were of course enormous, and as much as 900,000l. has been paid for a single acre of ground. Half a million sterling was paid for Northumberland House, by Charing Cross, removed for the purpose of opening up the short new street to the Thames, named Northumberland Avenue. The most important work of the Board was the new system of Interceptive Main Drainage, begun in 1859 under the superintendence of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, and carried out at a cost of 6,500,0001. Formerly all the drainage of London was conducted directly into the Thames, to the amount of 10,000,000 cubic feet on the N. and 4,000,000 cubic feet on the S. side, with the virtual result of converting the river into a huge, offensive, and pernicious cess-pool (especially in summer). The new system consists of large sewers or tunnels, constructed nearly parallel with the Thames as far as Barking Creek, 14 M. below London, on the left bank of the river, and to Crossness on the right, where the drainage is made to flow into the Thames at high water with the view of its being carried out to sea by the ebb-tide. Great complaints have been made, however, that the more solid parts of the sewage are not carried out to sea, but form thick deposits at the bottom of the river; and though the sewage is now subjected to an elaborate chemical process of deodorisation before its discharge into the river, it can hardly be asserted that the drainage problem has been finally solved. It is worthy of remark that this pollution of the most important river in Britain is at present made legal by an exceptional clause in the River Pollution Prevention Act. The main sewers, of which there are three on the N. side of the Thames, independent of each other and at different levels, consist of tunnels lined with brick, 11 ft. wide and 10 ft. high. Their aggregate length amounts to 85 M. The new Thames Embankment, described at p. 113, is another and scarcely less important undertaking of the Board of Works. Among the new Streets formed by the Board are Clerkenwell Road, Great Eastern Street, Queen Victoria Street (p. 115), Charing Cross Road (p. 147), and Shaftesbury Avenue (p. 147), while several important street-improvements are still in progress. - All the Bridges over the Thames on which toll was levied have been made free by the Board at a cost of 11/2 million sterling. The acquisition and opening of Parks and other Open Spaces were also among the Board's duties.

The London Fire Brigade, a well-equipped force of 600 men, is under the control of the County Council. It is maintained at an annual cost of upwards of 115,000г.

The elementary education of London is attended to by the London School Board, consisting of 55 members, elected by the City and the ten other districts into which London is divided for the educational franchise. In the City the electors are the voters for Common Councilmen, in the other divisions the rate-payers. The annual income of the Board, exclusive of loans, is over 1,500,0001., about 87 per cent of which is derived from taxation and 13 per cent from fees. The 400 schools provided by the board accommodate nearly 400,000 children, out of a total of 628,000 upon the roll of efficient schools. The office of the board is on the Victoria Embankment, near the Temple Station (see p. 113).

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21. General Hints.

Some of the following remarks may be deemed superfluous by many readers of this Handbook; but a few observations on English or London peculiarities may not be unacceptable to the American, the English-speaking foreigner, or the provincial visitor.

In England, Sunday, as is well known, is observed as a day of rest and of public worship. Shops, places of amusement, galleries, and the City restaurants are closed the whole day, while other restaurants are open from 1 to 3, and from 6 to 11 p.m. only. Many places of business are closed from 1, 2, or 3 p.m. on Saturday till Monday morning. Among these are all the banks and insurance offices and practically all the wholesale warehouses.

Like 's'il vous plaît' in Paris, if you please' or 'please' is generally used in ordering refreshments at a café or restaurant, or in making any request. The English forms of politeness are, however, by no means so minute or ceremonious as the French. For example, the hat is raised to ladies only, and is worn in all public places, such as shops, cafés, music halls, and museums.

The fashionable hour for paying visits in London is between 4 and 6 p.m. The proper mode of delivering a letter of introduction is in person, along with the bearer's visiting-card and address; but when this is rendered inconvenient by the greatness of distance or other cause, the letter may be sent by post, accompanied by a polite explanation.

The usual dinner hour of the upper classes varies from 6 to 8 or even 9 p.m. It is considered permissible for guests invited to a dinner-party to arrive a few minutes late. but they should take care never to be before the time. Gentlemen remain at table, over their wine, for a short time after the ladies have left.

Foreigners may often obtain, through their ambassadors, permission to visit private collections which are not open to the ordinary English tourist. We need hardly caution new-comers against the artifices of pickpockets and the wiles of impostors, two fraternities which are very numerous in London. It is even prudent to avoid speaking to strangers in the street. All information desired by the traveller may be obtained from one of the policemen, of whom about 14,000 (500 mounted) perambulate the streets of the metropolis. If a policeman is not readily found, application may be made to a postal letter carrier, to a commissionnaire, or at a neighbouring shop. A considerable degree of caution and presence of mind is often requisite in crossing a crowded thoroughfare, and in entering or alighting from a train or omnibus. The 'rule of the road' for foot-passengers in busy streets is to keep to the right. Poor neighbourhoods should be avoided after nightfall. Strangers are also warned against Mock Auctions, a specious trap for the unwary, and indeed should neither buy nor sell at any auction in London without the aid of an experienced friend or a trustworthy broker.

ADDRESSES of all kinds may be found in Kelly's Post Office Directory, a thick volume of 3000 pages, or in Morris's Directory, a less extensive work, one or other of which may be seen at all the hotels and cafés and at most of the principal shops. The addresses of residents at the West End and other suburbs may also be obtained from Boyle's Court Guide, Webster's Royal Red Book, the Royal Blue Book, or Kelly's Suburban Directory, and those of city men and firms in Collingridge's City Directory.

A useful adjunct to most houses in the central parts of London is a Cab Whistle, one blast upon which summons a four-wheeler, two a hansom.

Among the characteristic sights of London is the Lord Mayor's Show (9th Nov.), or the procession in which maintaining an ancient and picturesque, though useless custom the newly-elected Lord Mayor moves, amid great pomp and ceremony, through the streets from the City to the new Courts of Justice, in order to take the oath of office. It is followed by the great dinner in the Guildhall (p. 99).

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22. Guilds, Charities, Societies, Clubs.

Guilds. The City Companies or Guilds of London were once upwards of one hundred in number, about eighty of which still exist, though few exercise their ancient privileges. About forty of them possess halls in which they transact business and hold festivities; the others meet either in rooms lent to them at Guildhall, or at the offices of the respective clerks. All the companies except five are called Livery Companies, and the members are entitled, on ceremonial occasions, to wear the liveries (gowns, furs, etc.) of their respective guilds. Many of the companies possess vast estates and revenues, while others possess neither halls nor almshouses, neither estates nor revenues, nothing but ancient charters to which they reverentially cling. Some of the guildhouses are among the most interesting buildings in London, and are noticed throughout the Handbook. The Twelve Great Companies, wealthier and more influential than the rest, are the Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers. Some of the companies represent trades now quite extinct, and by their unfamiliar names strikingly illustrate the fact how completely they have outlived their original purpose. Such are the Bowyers, Broderers, Girdlers, Horners, Loriners (saddler's ironmongers), Patten Makers, and Scriveners.

Charities. The charities of London are on a scale commensurate with the vastness of the city, being no fewer than 2000 in number. They comprise hospitals, dispensaries, asylums; bible, tract, missionary, and district visiting societies; provident homes, orphanages, etc. A tolerably complete catalogue will be found in Low's Handbook of the Charities of London, Howe's Classified Directory of Metropolitan Charities (18.), or Dickens's Dictionary of London. In 1885 the total voluntary subscriptions, donations, and bequests to these charities amounted to 4,447,000l., or more than 11. for each man, woman, and child in the capital. The institution of 'Hospital Sunday', on which collections are made in all the churches for the hospitals, produces a yearly revenue of about 40,000l. Non-church-goers have a similar opportunity afforded them on 'Hospital Saturday', when about 750 ladies station themselves at street-corners to receive contributions; this produces about 10,000l. more. following is a brief list of the chief general hospitals, besides which there are numerous special hospitals for cancer, smallpox, fever, consumption, eye and ear diseases, and so forth.

The

Charing Cross, Agar Street, Strand. French Hospital, Shaftesbury Avenue. - German, Dalston. Great Northern, Caledonian Road. Guy's, St. Thomas Street, Southwark. - King's College, Carey Street, Strand. London, Whitechapel Road. politan Free, 81 Commercial Street, Spitalfields. - Middlesex, Mor

Metro

timer Street, Berners Street. University College, or North London, Gower Street. Royal Free, Gray's Inn Road. - St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield. - St. George's, Hyde Park Corner. - St. Mary's, Cambridge Place, Paddington. St. Thomas's, Albert Embankment. - West London, Hammersmith Road. - Westminster, Broad Sanctuary.

Societies. The societies for the encouragement of industry, art, and science in London are extremely numerous, and many of them possess most ample endowments. The names of a few of the most important may be given here, some of them being described at length in other parts of the Handbook:

Royal Society, Royal Academy, Society of Antiquaries, Geological Society, Royal Astronomical Society, Linnaean Society, Chemical Society, all in Burlington House, Piccadilly. - Royal Archaeological Institute, Oxford Mansions, Oxford Street. - Royal Academy of Music, 4 Tenterden Street, Hanover Square. - Royal College of Music, near the Albert Hall. Royal College of Physicians, Pall Mall East. - Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Royal Geographical Society, 1 Savile Row, Burlington Gardens. Royal Asiatic Society, 22 Albemarle Street, Piccadilly. - Royal Society of Literature, 21 Delahay Street, Westminster. Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, generally known as the Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi, Strand. Trinity College (music and arts), 13 Mandeville Place, Manchester Square. Heralds' College, Queen Victoria Street. Institution of Civil Engineers, 25 Great George Street, Westminster.

Institute of British Architects, 16 Lower Grosvenor Street, Grosvenor Square. Sanitary Institute of Great Britain (Museum of Hygiene), 74A Margaret Street, Cavendish Square. - School of Electrical Engineering and Submarine Telegraphy, 12 Prince's Street, Hanover Square. - Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, Piccadilly. Popular lectures on science, art, and literature are delivered here on Friday evenings during the Season (adm. by a member's order). Six lectures for children, illustrated by experiments, are given after Christmas. City and Guilds of London Institute, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, for the advancement of technical

education.

The Clubs are chiefly devoted to social purposes. Most of the club-houses at the West End, particularly those in or near Pall Mall, are very handsome, and admirably fitted up, affording every possible comfort. To a bachelor in particular his 'club' is a most serviceable institution. Members are admitted by ballot, but candidates are rejected by a certain small proportion of 'black balls' or dissentient votes. The entrance fee varies from 51. 5s. to 40l. (usually about 251.), and the annual subscription is from 31. 3s. to 151. 158. The introduction of guests by a member is allowed in some, but not in all of the clubs. The cuisine is usually admirable. The wine and viands, which are