TRANSACTIONS OP THE SECTIONS. 93 



to decide was, what rate of interest is in future to be allowed to depositors ? which in 

 another form is this : by how small a proportion of the interest to be received from 

 government can the expenses of management be defrayed ? As it is desirable that 

 the rate should be permanent, the question must be answered, not merely vvith refer- 

 ence to the present moment, but prospectively. The author pointed out the data 

 necessary to be used in determining this question, and then put the solution in an 

 algebraical form*, for the purpose of exhibiting the influence which the data severally 

 have upon the result. He concluded by urging upon all managers who desired to give 

 steadiness to the financial condition of their respective banks, two main points of re- 

 gulation : — 1 st, that the expenses of management be limited to an amount compounded 

 of a fixed sum, and a per-centage upon the invested capital j and as a necessary con- 

 sequence of such a rule, that the actuary's salary be regulated by the same principle ; 

 2nd, that no sum be allowed to remain in the treasurer's hands beyond the ma- 

 nagement fund, together with a very small per-centage on the invested capital. These 

 two rules, he considered, would accommodate themselves to any variation in the amount 

 of business, and would enable the manager to fix a rate of interest satisfactory to 

 themselves, with justice both to the officers and depositors. 



On Rural Statistics, illustrated by those of the Ather stone Union. 

 By C. H. Bracebridge. 



The author commented upon the absence of statistical facts referring to the agricul- 

 tural districts, and the anti-statistical feeling which existed therein. He thought that 

 the modern establishment of poor-law unions might be rendered highly serviceable 

 in the collection of statistical facts of a certain description. The points on which in- 

 formation might be obtained were, — 1, local taxation; 2, highway rates and distances; 

 3, enumeration of public-houses and beer-houses ; 4, population, acreage and value 

 of land ; 5, wages and cultivation ; 6, sanatory, from an estimate of deaths ; 7, cot- 

 tages, their avei'age rent and size of gardens ; 8, education and schools ; 9, notices 

 of the geology, historical remains and families of the district. On all these points 

 he had collected information in the Atherstone union, of which he had been for many 

 years chairman. He had also formed a tabulated statement of the earnings and weekly 

 expenditure of fifty families at Hinckley. 



On the Statistics of the Criminal Population of Norfolk Island. 

 By Capt. M'CoNOCHiE. 



Alluding to the nature and produce of the island, the author states that its cultiva- 

 tion is very laborious and its returns from crops uncertain. Nothing can exceed the 

 vigour of vegetation on it, but the returns from its sown crops are uncertain. The 

 average produce per acre in 1842 was, of maize, 12^ bushels; wheat, 8 bushels; 

 rye, 26f bushels ; barley, 1 0^ bushels ; oats, 40 bushels. The surface soil is described 

 to be very rich, but not sufficiently heavy to carry the vegetation it produces to ma- 

 turity. Stock of all kinds thrive well on the island. Nothing can surpass the mutton, 

 pork and poultry reared on it. The island is periodically visited with long droughts, 

 when some difficulty is experienced in providing for the sustenance of the stock. No 

 private person is allowed to keep cows or sheep, and only two persons have horses — 

 one each. The following was the quantity of stock belonging to the government at 

 the end of the year 1843 : — 22 horses, 677 horned cattle, 5352 sheep, and 405 swine. 

 The shores of Norfolk Island abound with fish, many of considerable size and good 

 quality. One of the greatest defects of Norfolk Island is the want of a harbour, and 

 the consequent delay and difficulty in maintaining its sea communications. The winds 

 are always high, and there is a remarkable equality of temperature and atmospheric 

 pressure in all seasons of the year. The prevailing winds are from the S.E. and S.W. 

 Norfolk Island was first occupied as a dependency on New South Wales in 1787, and 

 was not then meant as a station for the doubly convicted, or in any way as a place of 

 increased punishment, but merely as affording the means of distributing the prisoners. 

 Free settlers were allowed to go with them, and gradually the population amounted 



* This formula, which in fact contains the Theory of Savings' Banks, is printed in Mecha- 

 nics' Magazine, xli. p. 213. 



