mortis? If there is, it must have been something like it, or the very thing itself, which I enjoyed that day. No words can possibly express the surprising desire which I felt to sit down and enjoy my felicity—and sleep. But my inexorable friends knew that sleep meant death; and though my repeated appeals of 'Doucement, doucement!' were plaintive enough, they were met by redoubled efforts to force me onward, even when my own legs would not move any longer. . . . During the sustained efforts of the three men, I had but momentary glimpses of consciousness. I remember seeing two somethings, black, one on each side, but very indistinct. These, of course, were the friendly monks. The one overwhelming idea that filled my mind then was how to get to that sleep, that blissful euthanasia which poets have sung about, but which my companions were doing their best to rob me of, just when I had got it within my grasp." Hence it is concluded that death from intense cold may at all events be painless.
Half a Century of Railway Work.—Mr. Edward Woods, President of the English Institution of Civil Engineers, entered the service of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company more than fifty years ago. At that time the so-called "fish-bellied" rails were used, weighing thirty-five pounds to the yard, and were laid in iron chairs supported on stone blocks. Such beds proved too rigid, and were laid with heavier rails. Then wooden sleepers, being more elastic, were adopted instead of stone, and a wooden wedge, instead of an iron one, for holding the rail in the chair. The steel sleepers now coming into vogue in place of wood are so formed as to give great elasticity, and avoid the blunder of a rigid road. The essential characteristics of the locomotives, though great improvements have been made in them, have not been changed; but a wonderful economy has been effected in the consumption of coal. A larger traffic is now performed with three thousand one hundred tons of coke per annum than was then carried on with twelve thousand six hundred tons. The traction power of engines has increased fivefold, and inclines which were at one time considered too severe to be worked by locomotives are now easily surmounted. The average of speed has been increased considerably, but the maximum not greatly. In all the accessory details of railway work, such as signaling, switching, braking, etc., there has been a great and important advance.
Forestry in Switzerland.—While by the Constitution of 1874 the confederation has the right of supervision, each canton of Switzerland possesses in effect its own scheme of forestry organization. Two systems are prevalent, each of which has its advantages in certain circumstances. In the central, southern, and eastern parts of the federation, the territory of the cantons is portioned into districts of from 17,500 to 30,000 acres each, with an inspector and a number of trained foresters and keepers chosen by the owners of the woods, and paid by them. Each forester has about 3,000 acres under his care, and, under the control of the inspector, carries out the processes of cultivation, looks after the nurseries, clears rides, and disposes of the timber cut down. In the western and less rugged parts of the country, where the cantons have long possessed forest organizations, merely protective measures are subordinated to maintenance of a scientifically trained official staff. Most of the cantonal governments own forests which serve at once as models for the other forest proprietors and as an encouragement for the establishment of private staffs of keepers. In these cantons the superior forester does much that is left elsewhere to unskilled hands. The superior foresters are everywhere nominated and paid by the state, while the under-foresters are mostly selected and paid by the forest-owners. In most cantons forest administration is conducted by a department under the rule of a member of the government, assisted by a chief forester. The pay in all grades of the service is small.
Bean-Curd.—Tofu is a curd manufactured in Japan from beans, and, according to the "Journal of the Society of Arts," "approaches more nearly in its composition to animal food than any other vegetable known." It contains about one fifth of its
