2G8 



EGYPT. 



sion, as Sherif was always opposed to the in- 

 stitution of an inquiry. Riaz Pasha, the native 

 President of the Commission, succeeded Sherif 

 in both offices. 



The Egyptian Parliament, which up to the 

 present year had been little more than a myth, 

 as its proceedings were never published, met 

 this year in April with great pomp, and the 

 viceregal speech at the opening of the session 

 was published for the first time in the official 

 paper. The speech was as follows: 



I am happy to see you near me this new Parlia- 

 mentary year. The drought, resulting from the in- 

 sufficiency of the rise of the Nile an unexampled 

 insufficiency has created much damage and loss. 

 In most of our southern provinces nothing has been 

 sown ; a few of the inhabitants have planted a little 

 near the river, but this amount is a mere nothing. 

 As drought is an exceptional thing, and as it is n^as- 

 sary to take steps to limit its evil result in case it 

 recur, Parliament must examine the question and 

 find some sound solution. Government thanks you 

 for the aid in money given to the war; and although 

 a part is stid uneollec'ed, the contribution you voted 

 last year, together with the collection made at Tun- 

 tah, deserves our thanks. The war is now over, 

 our troops will soon be here, and we shall all rejoice 

 in the presence of our children who have fulfilled 

 their duty to our suzerain. As decided last year, an 

 account will be rendered by the Army and Navy De- 

 partments of the money they received for war pur- 

 Eoses. While the Government must remember what 

 j due to the nation, which must take care that the 

 taxes are within the limits of what is possible, and 

 must see that the expenses are carefully watched, so 

 must it also look to the payment of its creditors, and 

 avoid the accusation that it does not recognize their 

 rights. Thus will each one be respected according 

 to his due. A Special Commission has been ap- 

 pointed to examine into all these questions, and by 

 putting into execution its decisions we shall see our 

 state restored, the taxes levied according to the ca- 

 pacity of the country, our Government working well, 

 and the interest of the creditors paid when it falls 

 due. 



The general meeting of the shareholders of 

 the Suez Canal Company was held on June 

 llth. The president, M. de Lesseps, read his 

 report on the situation of the company. The 

 total expenses during 1877 amounted to 29,- 

 238,721 francs, distributed as follows : interest 

 of bonds, founder's portions, and so-called 

 charges sociales, 11,655,568 f. ; administrative 

 expenses, 1,138,009 f . ; charges of the do- 

 main, 477,026 f. ; transit and navigation ex- 

 penses, 1,619,896 f. ; the keeping in repair of 

 the canal and its accessories, 2,283,388 f. ; in- 

 terest of the consolidated coupons, 1,700,000 f. ; 

 interest of the share capital, 9,967,250 f. The 

 revenue amounted to 33,975,648 f., distributed 

 as follows : produce of the temporary placing 

 of available sums, 246,429 f. ; produce of the 

 domains, 536,273 f . ; receipts of transit and 

 navigation, 32,952,509 f. The surplus is 4,736,- 

 926 f., and deducting from it the statutory re- 

 serve of 236,846 f., there remained a net profit 

 of 4,500,080 f. The partition of this net profit 

 according to the statute gives 3,195,056 f. or 

 71 per cent, to the shareholders, that is, a divi- 

 dend of 9,987 f. per share. 



The Egyptian Government sent to the Exhi- 



ELECTRIC LIGHT. 



bition at Paris collections illustrating the arts 

 and industries of the country, from the earli- 

 est times to. the present day. They included 

 selections from the Boulak Museum chosen for 

 their fitness for illustrating style and the de- 

 velopment of workmanship rather than on ac- 

 count of their intrinsic or purely historical 

 value, and representing the national art down 

 to the time of the Ptolemies ; contributions 

 by the Government and private persons relat- 

 ing to later periods, the Greek, Arabian, and 

 middle ages, and modern; and specimens of 

 arms, musical instruments, and other objects 

 of industry, illustrating the modes of life and 

 customs of the various tribes recently brought 

 under the rule of the Khedive. Maps were 

 sent showing the extent of the country during 

 the times of the French expedition, of Me- 

 hemet Ali, and of Said Pasha, and plans of 

 the city of Cairo in 1800, 1845, and 1878. 

 The Egyptian staff has recently devoted much 

 care to the construction of large-scale maps 

 illustrating the explorations of late travelers, 

 which have been embodied in a large map of 

 Egypt and its dependencies. It gives the 

 southern boundary as assigned by Colonel Gor- 

 don, shows the recently annexed province of 

 Darfoor, the province of Kordofan, the coun- 

 try of Harar, the Victoria Lake as mapped by 

 Stanley, and the Albert Lake by Mason ; in- 

 corporates the results of the explorations of 

 Schweinfurth, and marks some of the more 

 important routes. The map is on a scale of 1 

 to 1,000,000, and covers a space of about 13 

 by 16i feet. 



The inundations of the Nile in the later fall 

 were unusually full, and caused considerable 

 damage in Lower Egypt. 



ELECTRIC LIGHT. The subject of elec- 

 tric lighting has during the past year acquired 

 new and unusual interest, and many ingenious 

 appliances, designed either to overcome exist- 

 ing difficulties in the way of practical results, 

 or to improve the methods already employed, 

 have been brought to the attention of the pub- 

 lic. 



Lighting by electricity is accomplished in 

 several different ways ; all the methods, how- 

 ever, depend on the principle of the resistance 

 encountered by an electric current in passing 

 through its circuit. When such a current in a 

 metal wire or other conductor meets with re- 

 sistance to its passage, the electricity is directly 

 converted into heat. It is in fact a case of the 

 transformation of one species of energy into 

 another. If a thin wire is placed in the cir- 

 cuit the temperature of the wire rises and the 

 amount of heat thus generated is exactly pro- 

 portional to the electric resistance of the wire. 

 This resistance depends among other things on 

 the nature of the metal ; those rnetals which 

 are good conductors, such as silver, offering 

 much less resistance than those which are 

 bad conductors, such as platinum. If a chain 

 formed of alternate links of silver and plati- 

 num have an electric current of suitable intsn- 



