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in the northern parts of Germany, though in January and February the thermometer sometimes falls to 22° below zero. The extreme heat is about 85°. The shortest day is 6 hours, and the longest 17½. The weather is very variable, but thunder storms seldom occur. Violent winds, rains, and fogs frequently occur, and drought is rare. The mineral products are of little value, and are confined principally to fullers' earth, potters' and porcelain clays, freestone, and salt. Coal mines were formerly worked in the island of Bornholm, but are now abandoned; peat is abundant, and amber is collected on the shore of the North sea. The fine forests which once adorned Denmark have decayed or been cut down, and of the scant woods which remain, chiefly on the coast of Jutland and in the island of Fünen, one fourth is the property of the crown. Pine, beech, oak, and birch are the principal varieties of timber. The crops are wheat, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, peas and beans, potatoes, other common vegetables, and fruits. A great portion of the land is devoted to pasturage, and the rearing of horses and cattle forms a considerable source of national wealth. Cattle are valued chiefly in connection with the dairy, from which is drawn the principal revenue of the farm. The breeds of horses are excellent for cavalry or for draught; sheep are kept more for their milk (of which butter is made) and their flesh than for their wool; there are three species of swine, and poultry of all kinds abounds. In 1866 there were 352,603 horses, 1,193,861 horned cattle, 1,875,052 sheep, and 381,512 swine. The rivers and fiords furnish valuable fish, among which are the herring, cod, mackerel, and salmon.—More than half the population are engaged in agriculture, which is conducted with great industry; but from the subdivision of land into small farms it is seldom carried on with appliances requiring much outlay. The art of husbandry, however, is steadily progressing. Manufactures are also making progress. They comprise silk, linen, woollen, and cotton goods, leather, lace, gloves, straw hats, sail cloth, thread, paper, soap, glass, earthenware, plated ware, iron ware, saltpetre, gunpowder, arms, refined sugar, tobacco, soda, potash, brandy, and malt liquors. The peasantry make most of their wearing apparel and domestic utensils with their own hands.—Lying between two seas, in easy communication with all the maritime nations of Europe, commanding the entrance to the Baltic, abounding in good harbors, and possessing a large body of hardy and excellent seamen, Denmark enjoys unrivalled facilities for commerce, and besides its own import and export traffic conducts a large carrying trade for other countries. The principal articles of export are grain, butter, cheese, brandy, smoked and salted meats, horned cattle, horses, skins, hides, whale and train oils, fish, eider down, woollens, tallow, and bristles. Among the imports are wines, salt, drugs, silk, wool, cotton, cotton fabrics, timber, coal, iron, colonial produce, spirits, glass, flax, hemp, coffee, rice, tobacco, and whalebone. During the five years 1868-72 the average annual imports from Germany and England were respectively £2,000,000 and £1,500,000, and the exports to those countries £3,500,000 and £2,300,000. The trade with Sweden and Russia is also extensive. In 1871 the entrances were 41,411 vessels of all descriptions, of 1,064,582 tons, and the clearances 41,705 vessels, of 644,052 tons; for the foreign trade alone, entered 18,457 vessels, of 745,264 tons; cleared 18,298 vessels, of 347,478 tons. The merchant marine consisted of 2,727 sailing vessels over 4 tons each, of 176,093 tons, 88 steamships of 12,007 tons, 11 tugs of 642 tons, and 10,610 boats under 4 tons. Until about the close of the 18th century the commerce of Denmark was oppressed by legislative enactments which tended more to the immediate emolument of the crown than to the general prosperity and wealth of the kingdom. Imported manufactures had to be sold at auction by the revenue officers, and the importer received the proceeds after the duties had heen deducted. These duties were excessively high; monopolies were often granted to rich companies for trading even with the colonies; and heavy taxes were also laid on the domestic traffic between different provinces. But at the close of the 18th century a more liberal policy began to prevail; the customs regulations assumed the form of a more permanent tariff; many of the most burdensome restrictions were taken off, and commercial treaties have since been made on a basis of reciprocity with the United States and other nations. Connected with the commercial regulations was the question of the Sound dues, which a few years ago acquired considerable prominence. The Sound is a strait leading from the Cattegat into the Baltic, between Seeland and Sweden, its width at the narrowest part being about 3 m. Both coasts were once owned by Denmark, which has consequently from a forgotten period claimed the right of imposing tolls on all vessels navigating this passage. This exaction was from time to time resisted by various nations, and several obtained exemption either by payment of an annual commutation or by treaty. In 1848 the United States government declared its purpose not to submit any longer to the old usage. The Danish government offered to renounce its claim for a sum the interest of which would equal the annual revenue derived from the tolls; and the result of this offer was the assembling of a conference of the European powers at Copenhagen in the first months of 1856, at which Denmark agreed to accept as compensation for the removal of the tolls the sum of 35,000,000 rix dollars ($19,145,000), payment of which was to be apportioned among the various states interested in the trade of the Baltic. The proposal was accepted by the United States as well as other powers, and a convention between the former and Denmark was signed in Washington, April 11,