2 the 86 at all times, and are still, what may be with the object of obtaining money. called duplicate titles. There were two When it was first instituted, most of the Lord Berkeleys, whose names constantly grand territorial families of the country 2 Occur in Pepys's diary, to the great con- were represented on its roll. The first fusion of the reader. Such titles still baronets stipulated to maintain thirty foot U exist. Thus there are two Barons How-soldiers in Ireland at eightpence per ard and two Barons Napier, although they | diem, for three years, as Sir Oliver Lamhave distinguishing affixes. There are bert had just reduced the province of two Barons Monteagle; and, although Ulster. The Scottish order originated one of them is known by his Irish title of shortly afterwards in the project for the Marquis of Sligo, he sits in the House of colonization of Nova Scotia. There has Lords by right of his English barony. been one and only one - baronetess Time and changed circumstances have created, viz. Dame Mary Bolles, of Osberrobbed the nobleman of much of his ton, Notts, who was in 1635 elevated to a grandeur in relation to others of less ex- baronetcy of Scotland, with remainder to alted rank, but he still retains many priv- her heirs whatsoever. ileges. What they are may be read in Peerages." These are plentiful enough, for first there are the historical works of Dugdale, Collins, Nicolas, and Comthope, and then the more popular books of Lodge, Burke, and Dod, so little room seemed to be left for a new-comer. Yet Mr. Joseph Foster* has presented to the public a volume of over seven hundred pages, which proves the want it comes to fill. He has paid great attention to pedigrees, and struck out a large number of fanciful genealogies that have hitherto been allowed to stand as a laughing-stock for modern criticism, and which, "far from adding lustre to an honorable race, rather throw discredit upon the later and well-authenticated portions of the descent." The amount of work expended in the collection of the details contained in this book is something appalling to the ordinary mind, fed on the literature of the circulating library. These facts require study before they can be estimated or criticised, but there is one feature of the book which will be apparent to the most casual turner-over of the leaves. We all know the trim arms usual in peerages, where all the coats are at first sight as much alike as two peas. But here all is different. The supporters look as if they were supporting something, and many of the shields would evidently fall into space without their assistance. All is life and action, so that these woodcuts, which are all drawn from authentic sources, give a liveliness to the volume which it would not otherwise possess. We have hitherto only spoken of the peerage, but there is an hereditary title of honor that requires some mention at our hands-that is, the Order of Knights Baronets, which was founded by James I. The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of the British Empire for 1880. By Joseph Foster. Westminster: Nichols and Sons. Mr. Foster has made the baronetage a special feature of his book. Each baronet has his lineage set forth, and "his sisters and his cousins and his aunts" are all mentioned. But for there is a butwhat will be the criticism on his work by those unfortunate sixty gentlemen whose claims to the dignity are not considered satisfactory by Mr. Foster, who relegates them to a chapter to themselves entitled "Chaos"? There is a great want of a court of awards for baronets, as now any one may take the title without fear of serious consequences. Therefore Mr. Foster is careful - he does not give an opinion, but he expresses a doubt. An amusing pamphlet has been printed for private circulation entitled "Bellasis upon Tucker," which might bear as a second title that of "The Reviewer Reviewed." Mr. Tucker appears to have criticised with considerable severity Mr. Foster's Peerage," and in return is trotted out in an amusing fashion by Mr. Bellasis. It rather alarms us Rouge Croix treated with banter by Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms. It must have occasioned a flutter at the college to see these dignified persons close in battle. The honors of war appear to be carried off by Mr. Bellasis. to see From The Pall Mall Gazette. CHINESE PROGRESS AND RUSSIAN DIPLO MACY IN CENTRAL ASIA. THE correspondent of the Times at Shanghai has recently presented a view of China as a great Asiatic power which contrasts strongly with the general opinion of its decadence among Western nations. No doubt the repeated insurrec tions, desolating whole provinces, and continuing for years without check from the Imperial armies; and the widespread | tage of a distant base the distance for famines in which millions were left help- the Chinese, taking Sin-gan-fu as the lessly to perish, have done much to justify nearest point to Kuldja, being some a disparaging estimate of the capacity of twenty-six hundred and seventy-eight the Chinese for government and their miles; while Orenberg, as the Russian chances of improvement as a nation. By base, is little less. But there is this those, however, who have taken sufficient difference between the two- that with interest in the course of events during the China the supply of men can be drawn last ten years to watch the changes that from a population of certainly not less have taken place among the Asiatic na- than four hundred millions, and at little tionalities a different conclusion has been cost; while Russia has to draw her forces drawn. The part which these nationali- from a population of seventy millions, ties are likely to play in the development scattered over a wider area, and her army of commerce and civilization on the one is a far more costly machine to maintain in hand, or the struggle for empire on the working order. A defeat to Russia in other, is a question of practical interest. central Asia is a very serious event both It must long have been evident that in a political and financial point of view; China cannot be an unimportant factor in whereas many defeats to the Chinese such a problem. The complete victory | forces merely entail a further delay to get over the Taepings after nearly ten years up fresh men and material, at far less of seemingly successful rebellion, fol- cost. They do not endanger the preponlowed after an interval by the destruction derating influence which the emperors of of all engaged in the scarcely less for- China, under all reverses, have preserved midable Panthay insurrection of the wherever their rule has once extended. Mussulman element in Yunnan, and, In Burmah, Pegu, and Cochin China on lastly, the reconquest of Eastern Turkes- the south, as in Nepaul and Thibet on our tan at the furthest limits of Tartar and northern and eastern boundaries, no less Mongol dominion in central Asia, were than over the vast territories of Ili and so many revelations of an unsuspected eastern Turkestan, no European power reserve of energy in the government and has ever rivalled their influence or matenation. Their last success in the recov- rially damaged the Chinese prestige. ery by negotiation of Kuldja is, all things These considerations may well have considered, a more significant evidence of weighed with Russia in the negotiations power and of capacity for dealing with for the restoration of Kuldja and its adpolitical problems than any triumph over joining territory, which had lapsed, as it their own insurgent populations. It has were by default, into Russian keeping reversed an unbroken course of Russian during the short-lived reign of Yakoob encroachments, by which China invariably | Beg. For these and other reasons the lost territory, and Russia, without firing a restoration of Kuldja marks a new era in shot, annexed the whole valley of the the relations of the two empires. It is Amoor and half of Manchuria, together reported that Chung How has been diswith a less important enlargement in graced; and if the inference be correct many directions of her borders extending that this has arisen from dissatisfaction at over three thousand miles of contermi- the terms of the cession which he negonous frontier. To seize and to hold has tiated, it only more signally marks how seemed to be the natural course of great a stride the Pekin government has events; and what the Muscovite has once made in its dealings with a power which clutched, he has never before been known has hitherto dictated its own terms whento let go in his dealings with China. But ever Chinese territory has been in ques the Russian government has been taught tion. within the last year or two that the presence of a Chinese army in central Asia and on the Russian border with hostile intent might prove very embarrassing. If not formidable, even with its lately acquired arms of precision and its smattering of European drill, against a well-found and disciplined Russian army, it represented a power of recruitment and reinforcement after defeat which could not fail to make itself felt as a serious men ace. Each country is under the disadvan Time was when the great Mongol Gen ghis Khan and his immediate descend ants for three generations held all Asia under their sway, from the Gulf of Scan deroon and the Volga to the Yellow Sea at the extreme eastern coast of China when Moscow was a fief of the Mongol and no other power could contest the sway of this dominant race. Mongol Tartar, and Chinese elements have since then been commingled, but the prestig of empire has remained and centred 11 2 江 with provincial authorities, however highly placed, has had some influence; and it may be so. But other causes must have been at work, and we are inclined to believe that foreign commerce and its associated ideas and intercourse must have had yet more to do with this awakening of national consciousness and power. The strong conservative tendencies of the Chinese people, from the Confucian literati to the peasant farmer and proprietor, represent a vast accumulation of steadying force; while the thrift, temperance, and love of order which distinguish the Chinese of all ranks lead to the accumulation of wealth and the possibility of rapidly repairing loss, from civil war and famines, which would cripple any other race for a whole generation. With one language, literature, and religion, enjoying the fruits of a civilization dating beyond Greek or Roman history, with every variety of climate and natural produce, and a government but little oppressive to the million whatever it may be to individuals, the typical Chinese has little left to desire. We saw with astonishment not long ago an article proceeding from the pen of one of our consuls, who seemed to advocate the absorption of China by Russia as an event which the Chinese would have little cause to regret! The truth is, that no greater misfortune could befall the Chinese race. The worst government they have ever had is preferable to any that has ever been enjoyed by Russians. An exchange from the mild and peace-loving tenets of Confucius and the venal mandarin, for the Greek Church and the Russian tchinn, would be a very sad one for the Chinaman, whatever his calling or rank, and a very deplorable one for the world at large. the emperor of China. At this moment, of all the great inheritance left by Genghis and strengthened by his grandson Kublai Khan, whose power Marco Polo celebrated in the thirteenth century, there are but three heirs now remaining China, in the old seat of empire, still stretching her arms to the heart of Asia in eastern Turkestan: Russia on the north, spanning the whole breadth of the t vast continent, while ever forging downwards, like a great glacier, to the fertile valleys of the south and the sunny slopes of Asia Minor, Armenia, Persia, and India; while Great Britain, in her Indian empire, holds the keys of all the south from the Bay of Bengal to the Bosphorus. Turkey and Persia have too little of independence or power left to count among the successors of Genghis. Their subjects occupy fair portions of the territory; but it seems more than probable that they will soon have to fight against foreign domination and absorption. In the mean time, it is strange how China seems to be awakening to a new sense of vigor, notwithstanding the mystery that envelops the governing power at Peking -the sceptre borne by an infant in the hands of two women, who govern ostensibly as empress-regents, but who in reality must themselves be ruled by others under an impenetrable veil of administrative boards and grand secretaries. No foreigner has ever penetrated behind this veil, or can do more than guess where the true depositary of power exists or where the influences which govern the State are to be found. Yet such is the marvellous cohesiveness of the several parts of the State machinery, central and provincial, that, despite a large amount of misrule, corruption, and other disintegrating forces, the whole is kept in fair working order. Not many years ago it seemed the opinion of those most conversant with China that the weakness of the central power at Peking must ere long lead to a more or less partial dissolution of the bond that united the provinces to the cap- THE SO-called seiches, or alternate flux ital, or else to a change of dynasty. But and reflux of water in the Lake of Geneva the whole aspect of affairs now shows and other bodies of fresh water, have, as that the movement is all the other way, our readers know, formed the subject of tending to consolidation, and not to dis- an interesting study during the past deintegration. Provincial governors and cade by Dr. F. A. Forel, of Morges, near viceroys have become more amenable to Geneva. Small local tides are constantly central authority, and even men like Li-noticeable there, the difference between Hung-Chang have ceased to give rise to fears of usurpation. How is this? It has been suggested that the refusal of foreign envoys at Peking to treat any questions of treaty right or commerce From Nature. A TIDAL PROBLEM. ebb and flow varying from a few centimetres to two metres. Their cause is to be traced to the wind, variations in atmospheric pressure at the extremities of the lake, etc. Dr. Forel, as the result of his investigations has established a formula by means of which the duration of a local ebb and flow can be determined. not only for the Lake of Geneva, but for any lake-when its average depth and its length are known. This formula gives for the Lake of Geneva, which has a length of seventy-three kilometres, a duration of tide of thirteen minutes; a figure coinciding with the fact. The law thus established by M. Forel has recently received an interesting application in solving a problem which has puzzled travellers and philosophers for over two thousand years, viz., the explanation of the currents in the narrow straits of Euripus, where the famous fivearched bridge of Egripo joins the island of Euboea to the mainland of Greece. The currents sweeping below the bridge are so violent that mills are kept in operation by them, but they are noted for the changes in direction which occur from four to fourteen times daily. Tradition relates that Aristotle, in despair at his inability to explain this phenomenon, threw himself from the bridge into the water. A comparison of the large number of observations made upon this strange tidal movement shows that there are two distinct periods: that in which there are but four changes of direction or two tides in a lunar day of twenty-four hours and fifty minutes, and that in which these tides number from eleven to fourteen daily. This latter phenomenon is observable invariably at the quadratures of the moon. M. Forel, in his explanation, shows that the regular ebb and flow twice a day in the former period is due to the tidal movement of the Egean Sea, which is then at its maximum. The increase in the number of tides daily becomes manifest, however, when the tidal force of the Ægean is at its minimum, viz., at the quadratures, and must be owing to some other force more powerful than the minimum but less powerful than the maximum force of the Ægean tide. This force is found in the local tides or seiches of the Gulf of Talanti to the north of the straits, which is so shut in by land that it can practically be regarded as subject to the same laws as the lakes of Switzerland and other countries. This basin is one hundred and fifteen kilometres long, and is from one to two hundred metres in depth. Applying these figures to M. Forel's formula, the ebb and flow in the Gulf of Talanti would be for one hundred metres, one hundred and twenty-two minutes; for one hundred and fifty metres, one hundred minutes; for two hundred metres, eighty-six minutes. The eleven to fourteen currents observable daily at Euripus during the quadratures last from one hundred and three to one hundred and thirty-one minutes. This shows so striking a conformity with the theory advanced by the Swiss savant, that we can but consider this problem, which so vexed the ancients, as fairly solved. Dr. Forel asks intelligent visitors to the locality to verify his interpretation by attending especially to the following points: 1. Ascertain the exact duration of the flux and reflux of the Euripus, and determine its normal rhythm. 2. Ascertain if, as in the seiches of the Lake of Geneva, the amplitude of the flux and reflux of the irregular current is stronger in bad weather than when there are no atmospherical perturbations. 3. Ascertain if the connections between the direction of the current and the flow of the rising sea are, as he supposes, inverse, according as the current is regular or irregular. close to the mouthpiece, a curious effect can be perceived in the soap film at the other end of the instrument. The vibration of the molecules of air in the tube is transferred to the film, and bands of rainbow-tinted color become apparent, varying in form as the voice or instrument changes, and assuming an endless variety of patterns. Change of pitch produces a noticeable alteration in the forms, and the same notes on different instruments are marked by variations in the patterns on the soap solu tion, the colors in which, as the tenuity of the film increases, become marvellously beautiful. CAN WE SEE SOUND?-It has been demon- | bles, and a voice or instrument be sounded strated on various occasions that sound-waves of different quality produce forms of various shapes, but this important fact is shown in a novel and interesting manner by a new instrument which has been invented, called the phoneidoscope. The phoneidoscope consists of a cylindrical L-shaped brass tube, to the horizontal portion of which is attached an india-rubber tube and a wooden mouthpiece. At the termination of the vertical part of the instrument is a blackened brass disc, in which is an aperture. If the disc be now covered with a thin coating of soap and water similar to the preparation used in blowing soap bub Cassell's Family Magazine. Fifth Series, Volume XXX. I. THE DEEP SEA AND ITS CONTENTS. Dr. Wm. B. Carpenter, II. THE "CROOKIT MEG: "A STORY OF THE III. BACKSHEESH, IV. HE THAT WILL NOT WHEN HE MAY. By Fraser's Magazine, CONTENTS. Nineteenth Century, V. AGNOSTICISM AND WOMEN, . VII. 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