180 REPORT — 18G-i. 



indicates the folium where tliu history of th? title is recorded. Transfers, leases, 

 mortgages, and other charges, as provisions for families, as also entails and settle- 

 msnts, are conducted with securitv, facility, and economy, without curtailment of 

 the freedom which landed proprietors enjoy in the disposition of their estates 

 under the pressnt system. The only diftjrence is that we pursue a direct straight- 

 forward procedure "to the accomplishment of what is required instead of a cir- 

 cuitous, intricate, and artificial procedure." 



Stxtistics of Crime in Australia. By AV. WE5TG.vnTH (of Australia). 

 Crime in Australia, a? compared with England, is much greater, owing to the 

 effects of transportation upon the colony. Thefavourable condition, however, of South 

 Australia, New Zealand, and particularly Queen's To^^^l, leads them to hope that the 

 entire group would, but for that cause, have compared favourably with the mother 

 country. In Victoria the cost of police and prisoners for 18G0 amounted to 15s. 

 per head of the population, that for England and Wales being only 2s. Ud. In 

 New South Wales the yearly average of the five years 1858-62 gives 1 criminal 

 in 433 ; and, in Victoria, for 1859-61, the still worse result of 1 in 375. The 

 colonies present considerable diversities with regard to crime, which are to be 

 attributed chieflv to the transportation system. Tliere was no feature of these 

 colonies more satisfactory than their progressive social improvement, as instanced 

 by the j-early diminution of crime there. 



Rer/istration of Births and Deaths in Ireland. Bi/ J. "Wilsox. 

 In accordance with the provisions of the Act of last year, the 16-3 poor-law 

 xmions and 718 dispensary districts have been adopted as areas for the registration 

 of births and deaths. During the first quarter tliere were registered 30,330 births, 

 affording an annual ratio of 1 in 4S of the inhabitants ; the number of deaths was 

 28,540, lieing equal to an annual mortality of 1 in 51 of the population. _ The 

 annual' birth-rate varied in the provinces as follows : — In Leinster it was 1 in 49 ; 

 in Munster, 1 in 41 ; in Ulster, 1 in 52 ; and in Connaught, 1 in 54. The death- 

 rate was, in Leinster, 1 in 46 ; in Munster, 1 in 51; in Ulster, 1 in 50; and in 

 Counau'^ht, 1 in 65. The return shows that, during the three months ended 30th 

 June last, the births registered amounted to 38,701, affording an annual ratio of 1 

 in 37, which was an increase of 8371 on the number of the previous quarter ; the 

 deaths amounted to 24,448, being equal to an annual ratio of 1 in 59, and was a 

 decrease of 4092 when compared with the previous quarter. The annual birth- 

 rate during that quarter varied in the provinces thus : — In Leinster it was 1 in 

 38 ; in Munster, 1 in 34 ; in Ulster, 1 in 38 ; and in Connaught, 1 in 41. The 

 death-rate was as follows : — In Leinster, 1 in 55 ; in Munster, 1 in 60 ; in Ulster, 

 1 in 57 ; and in Connaught, 1 in 77. 



Saiiitari/ Statistics of Cheltenham. Bij Dr. Edwaed Wilson, M.A. 



After a description of the geology, mineral springs, and climate of Cheltenham, 

 the author stated that in 1852 the Local Improvement act was passed, empowering 

 the Commissioners to purchase then existing sewers, and to extend the system 

 wherever needed, requiring moreover that tanks should be constructed communi- 

 cating with mains into which the whole of the sewerage of the town was to be 

 conducted. 



Under these powers the rights of the Sewer's Company passed iato the hands 

 of the Commissioners in 1857, and large additions have been made to the sewers 

 in the denser parts of the town ; but the greater portion of the three large estates 

 of Bays Hill, Lansdowne, and Pitt^-ilie, occupied by the better classes' of houses, is 

 still p'ractically beyond the super\ision of the local authorities, being dependent on 

 private sources for sewerage ; and though the sewers on these estates are assumed 

 by the Commissioners to be adequate to the requirements of the people, it is obvious 

 that where there is no power of inspection except on presentment of nuisance there 

 can be no adequate oifieial knowledge. Whilst, therefore, all credit is due to the 

 Commissioners for what has been done, it would be unwise to ignore the conclusion 

 that the present system of divided responsibility affords no adequate guarantee for 



