ILLINOIS. 



409 



of these measures were adopted ; but 

 they were regarded as important steps toward 

 a successful revenue system. Meanwhile, of 

 the eight acts relating to revenue which were 

 adopted, one of the most important author- 

 ized the annual assessment of real estate, in 

 lieu of the quadrennial method which has 

 baen followed for many years. Some of the 

 arguments in favor of this law consisted in 

 the fact that, in some cases, assessments have 

 been made at an unreasonably low figure, 

 which, under the four-year system, were per- 

 petuated to the injury of other sections of the 

 State; the fact that in some cases there has 

 been rapid appreciation in the value of real 

 estate, etc. Another important measure em- 

 powered the authorities of certain cities, vil- 

 lages, aud incorporated towns to increase the 

 tax to be levied for corporate purposes, includ- 

 ing the erection of school-houses and the main- 

 tenance of schools, payment of interest on in- 

 debtedness, etc. 



The following is the apportionment of the 

 State into districts for the election of a mem- 

 ber of Congress from each one : 



First Townships of Bloom, Bremen, Calumet, Le- 

 mont, Lyons, Orland, Palos, Rich, Thornton, Worth, 

 Hyde Park, and Lake, in Cook County, and the Third, 

 Fourth and Fifth Wards of Chicago. 



Second County of Du Page, and the townships of 

 Leyden, Cicero, Kiverside, and Proviso, in Cook Coun- 

 ty, and Second, Sixth, Seventh and Twelfth Wards, 

 and that part of the Eighth Ward south of the center 

 line of Taylor Street, in Chicago. 



Third First, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, 

 and Fourteenth Wards, except that part of the latter 

 north of the center line of Division Street and east of 

 the following, viz. : The center line of Ashland Avenue 

 from Division Street north to the center line of Civ- 

 bourne Place, thence northeast along said line to tide 

 csater line of Elston Avenue, thence northwesterly 

 along said line to the city limits. 



Fourth County of Lake, townships of Barrirurton, 

 Elk Grove, Evanston, Hanover. Jefferson, Lake View, 

 Niles, Maine, New Trier, Northfield, Norwood Park, 

 Palatine, Schaumberg, Wheeling, and North Chicago, 

 and that part of the Fourteenth Ward in Chicago which 

 is north of the center line of Division Street, and east 

 of the following line { to wit : The center line of Ash- 

 land Avenue from Division Street north to the center 

 line of Cly bourne Place, thence northeast along said 

 line to the center line of Elston Avenue, thence north- 

 westerly along said line to the city limits. 



Fifth McHenry ? Boone, Winnebago, Stephenson, 

 and Ogle. Population, 123,944 ; Republican majority, 

 8,119. 



Sixth Jo Daviess, Carroll, Whitesides, Lee, and 

 Henry. Population, 139,510 ; Republican majority, 

 5,645. 



Seventh Kane, De Kalb, Kendall, Grundy, and 

 Will. Population, 128,955; Republican majority, 8,119. 



Eighth Kankakee, Iroquois, Livingston, Ford, 

 Woodford, and Tazewell. Population, 162,282; Re- 

 publican majority, 2,002. 



Ninth La Sane, Bureau, Putnam, and Marshall. 

 Population, 124,200 ; Republican majority, 1,029. 



Tenth Rock Island, Mercer, Henderson, Warren, 

 Hancock, and McDonough. Population, 154,846. Re- 

 publican majority j 6*>5. 



Eleventh Peo'ria, Stark, Knox, and Fulton. Popu- 

 lation, 146,237. Republican majority, 1,031. 



Twelfth Adams, Schuyler. Brown, Pike, Scott, 

 Greene, and Calhoun. Population, 163,432 ; Demo- 

 cratic majority, 3,216. 



Thirteenth McLean, Logan, De Witt, Macon, and 



Piatt. Population, 143,424 , Republican majority, 

 2,031. 



Fourteenth Champaign, Vermilion, Douglas, Ed- 

 gar, Coles, and Cumberland. Population, 164,647 ; 

 Republican majority, 1,327. 



Fifteenth Mason, Cass, Menard, Morgan, Sanga- 

 mon, and Christian. Population, 156,419 ; Democratic 

 majority, 1,366. 



Sixteenth Macoupin, Jersey, Moultrie, Montgom- 

 ery, Shelbv, Fayette, and Eningharn. Population, 

 167,491 ; Democratic majory, 2,068. 



Seventeenth Clark, Jasper, Crawford, Clay, Rich- 

 land, Lawrence, Wayne, Edwards, and Wabasn. Pop- 

 ulation, 137,970; Democratic majority, 449. 



Eighteenth Clinton, Marion, Jefferson. Franklin, 

 Hamilton, White.Salins, Gallatin, and Hardin. Popu- 

 lation, 153,851 ; Democratic majoritv, 1,502. 



Nineteenth Madison, Bond, St. Clair, Monroe, and 

 Washington. Population, 161,663; Republican ma- 

 jority, 65. 



Twentieth Randolph, Perry, Jackson, Williamson, 

 Union, Johnson, Pope, Alexander, Pulaski, and Mas- 

 sac. Population, 162,727 ; Republican majority, 886. 



All the outstanding bonds of the State were 

 called in for redemption by the Governor, and 

 holders were notified that interest would cease 

 on the 1st of January, 1882. They amounted 

 to $250,000, and the money was in the Treasu- 

 ry to pay them. This extinguishes the debt of 

 the State. 



An appropriation was made by the Legislat- 

 ure, at its previous session, for an investigation 

 of the food of birds and fishes, to be made at 

 the State Laboratory of Natural History by the 

 director, Professor S. A. Forbes. The results 

 obtained were made public in a bulletin con- 

 taining six papers, which form a connected 

 series, constituting, practically, the first in- 

 stallment of a report on a natural history sur- 

 vey of the State, made with principal reference 

 t& its economical interests. This is the first 

 serious and accurate study of the subject at- 

 tempted in this country. It interests alike the 

 entomologist, the ornithologist, and the hus- 

 bandman. The first of the series of papers 

 lays the foundation for the discussion of the 

 facts obtained. Then follows an elaborate 

 paper on the food of the spiny-finned fishes 

 (the darters, perch, pike, bass, sunfisb, and 

 sheepshead), giving, as the result of a careful 

 microscopic study of 425 stomachs, an account 

 of the food of the various species in different 

 parts of the State and at different times of the 

 year, and at all ages of the individual. The 

 paper is one of importance to practical fish- 

 culture and to zoological science. 



Next comes a similar study of the food of 

 the young of all orders of fishes, demonstrating 

 the fact that nearly all young fishes, however 

 varied the food of the adult may be, live upon 

 substantially the same material, i. e., the minute 

 Crustacea found most abundantly in stagnant 

 water. 



A report is then given of an investigation of 

 the food of some of the most important birds, 

 viz., the robin, catbird, and the other thrushes, 

 and the bluebird. The study of the contents 

 of the stomachs of 423 birds afforded the facts 

 upon which the principal statements of this 

 paper are based. Definite conclusions are 



