Literature.

of deaths at each age , compared with thc number expected to die out of the same quantity of lives exposed to risk at each respective age . " The other shows thc number out of which one has died at each age , in the experience of the "Eoyal , " compared with the " number which hacl been expected by the tables , and further contrasted with the experience of some other companies . The result arrived at by these calculations is very favourable to the society ; at the same time the actual number of deaths exhibited

proves that previous theories , founded on loss minute observation , have been somewhat inconrplefce , if not actually incorrect . Passing on to consider the subject of mortality- among declined lives , Mr . Dove points out tho great advantages wliich havo accrued to the Eoyal Insurance from the extreme care which has been adopted in thc acceptance of lives .

At the close of 1854 steps were taken by him to obtain some statistical results as to the lives which had been declined by thc society . A great number of inquiries wero made ; and though , of course , great difficulties intervened , he succeeded iu arriving at thc facts that at thc ago of forty only ono out of seventy of the accepted assurers died—while one out of fifty ofthe rejected died . But at the age of forty-four the

contrast was much grcatei-, being in the proportion of one ¦ in eighteen of the rejected lives ; ivhile of the accepted only one in one hundred and forty-two were taken off . The effect of this precaution is not by any means to diminish the transactions of the society . On the contrary , a company exercising such care will itself be selected by the best lives . ¦ " Healthy assurers" shrewdly remarks our author" will

, , soon be aware that being admitted among a more selected class , all tho advantages to be derived from assurance will be secured to them in thc enhanced honus which this system of watchfulness will create . " The results of this judicious system , as shown in the case of the "Eoyal , " come thus in a most gratifying shape ; and

to account for the largo sum . ivhieh is divided as bonus , several reasons are given . Among these , besides thc watchful care just described , may be enumerated thc small amount of claims , the diminishing expenditure , and thc favourable nature ofthe investments made by thc company . These arc under the strictest surveillance , all speculative purchases being avoided ; and thus , during tho last fifteen

years , not the sli ghtest loss has been sustained in this direction . A policy effected with the company for £ 2000 , fifteen years ago , has become , through successive bonuses , of thc value of £ 2650 . Should the holder wish to dispose of it , the company will hand him £ 557 in cash for its immediate surrender ; or , should he wish to be relieved from further payment of premiums , it will be exchanged for a policy of

£ 1172 , payable at his death , ivithout his having to pay anything more . Other instances are given , but \ vc think this a sufficientl y striking one . Of course , a comparatively few years more ivould bring the £ 2000 policy tip to £ 3000 in value—a handsome legacy to accumulate for one ' s family , at a moderate and easy annual rate . Mr . Dove ' s statistics are well selected and carefull

y arranged , his illustrations aro forcible , and he has produced not only a most useful but also a very readable book . In taking leave of him wo may add that he shows satisfactorily that the great office which is so fortunate as to possess his services , is carrying on its business upon sound principles ; and has , to use his own ivords , " used every effort to make tho clement of safctit observable in all its transactions . "

Curiosities of Natural History . ( Second Series . ) By FHAXCIS T . JKUCKLAXJJ , M . A ., Student of Christ Church , Oxford ; Assistant Surgeon iind Life Guards ; author of" Curiosities of Xatural History , " & c . ( First series ) . Svo . Eichard Bentley . The second series of Jlr . Bucklaiiil ' s " Curiosities of JXatura } History , " are as equally welcome as the first . He writes with al 1 the zest of a true lover of natureand in that- attractive stle lvliic-- '

, y forces the reader onward , gathering valuable knowledge whilst h thinks he is but amusing himself . The best of this work is that it is none of your systematic classifications , but a record of what an observant man has seen for himself , and is willing that all other

shall share his knowledge . Tbe work is so admirably done that we are puzzled what to select for our readers , but a little piece of woodcraft may- be of goocl service to the unpractised sportsman , and we commence with that accordingly : — " Prove the keeper ' s sweeping accusation against the feline race , " says Pussy ' s friend . ' Do they not prowl by night ? How does

the keeper know they- do such mischief ? ' Alas 1 for the counsel for Pussy ' s defence ! Let him go the rounds with the keeper in the morning , and under the warm shelter of a wall or bank , and even occasionally in the very middle ofthe rides and paths , shall he find tho skins of fresh-killed rabbits completely turned inside out ! a sure sign that the diner-out was of the feline genus . ' Ancl why might not the rabbit have been slain by a fox , weasel , or other animal . ' says Mr . Counsellor for the feline defendant . 'Because /

answers the keeper , ' every animalhas his own way of killingand eating his prey . The cat always turns the skin inside out , leaving the same reversed like a glove . The weasel and stoat will eat the brain and nibble about the head , and suck the blood . The fox will always leave the legs ancl hinder part of a hare or a rabbit ; the dog tears his prey to pieces , and eats it * anyhow—all over the place ; ' the crows and magpies always peck at the eyes before they touch any part of the body . "

Everybody , has heard of the remorseless flsh-ivife who declared , upon some one remarking how cruel it was to skin ells , " that it was nothing because they were used to it . " But many did not know the famous M . Ude , the prince of cooks in his clay , advocated the burnine : alive of ells , instead of skinning , and when accused of a

want ol humanity , coolly desired the objectors to " wait until they had tasted them done his way ancl then say if it was cruel ? " Mr . Buckland , however , does think such things are not over kind and tells us the following about the boiling of crnstacie : — " In the London markets they are obliged to stab and kill the crabs before they put them into the boiling pot , or they would cast their claws . Lobsters seem not to do so . Thoir jiineers arehowever ,

, always tied together by a peculiar knot , sometimes of wire , sometimes of string ; they are never kept together by means of pegs of wood driven in , as there is an Act of Parliament to forbid this practice . The lobsters die directly they are put into the boiling water , and it is . cruel to put them in unless the water is boiling . There is one man at Hungerford who 'boils for the market' every clay , to save individual fishmongers trouble . Each lobster ought to ' have twenty minutes f o boil ; ' a crab requires a good hour , if large :

a deal of salt must be put in with them . Winkles take about three minutes . I lately saw a man in the street putting mussels into water which did not boil , in order to cook them . As the poor things went in there was a peculiar hissing sound , and a scum on the top of the water . I remonstrated with hiin on bis cruelty . ' That ' s nothing , sir ; it ' s only the things a-fretting themselves , ' was the answer . I asked him if he would not ' fret himself if he was gradually boiled to death ? It was a new idea that hacl never struck him , and he promised to use boiling water for the future . "

It is well known that the kingdom of Holland is one mighty series of embankments erected upon piles which keep out the sea , although in many instances the land is much below the level of the ocean . A century or two ago the Dutch wero very seriously alarmed by the ravages the Teredo made upon these piles , ancl so great was the presumed danger that many politicians deserted their tortuous study and became great zoologists , in endeavouring to

ascertain the most effectual means of getting rid of the invader"We all know what an ally this worm was to us in the late Crimean War and how many of the Russian ships were rendered comparatively useless from its attacks . This , no doubt , stimulated Mr . Buckland ' s habits of enquiry , and being anxious to investigate the matter for himself , he paid a visit to tho ship-breaking yard of Mr-Castle , the Baltic Wharf , Millbank , and gives us the following as the result : —

"Mr . Castle kindly showed me over the yard , having previously taken from his desk a fine specimen of Teredo-bored wood which he had preserved from one of his ships . One of the workmen informed me that they found ' the worm' in old ships , ancl generally in ships that had been sailing in tropical climates . It prefers African oak and teak , for 'them things has as nice appetites as we have ourselves . ' Last year he found in the Elanier and Balhurst , which were broken up , a great number of ' them short worms with hard heads that makes long holes and lines them with cement as they go