TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 135 



more bills of his own. " Hereafter pay " is published when a run is suspected 

 Arrangements with mandarins at " running." Their etfect. Considerations anent 

 gutting of respectable bankers. Two Chinese beheaded for " gutting " a bank. 

 Etfect upon the population. Chinese speculators in silver. Their course of 

 procedure and influence in regard to speculations. Desciiption of coin. 



Value of dollar at different dates. Fluctuations of silver in Fouchaw. Paper 

 money first invented by Chinese. First used by the Government in 9th centiu-y, 

 continued, with intei"vals, till 15th century. Froniissory notes. Gives an account 

 of money-lending clubs Avithout interest. Mode of procedure of head or principal, 

 i. e. the party who wants the money. The shaking club. Illustration of same. 

 The Snake-casting-its-skin Club. Why so called. Mode of procedure. The 

 Dragon-headed Club. Why so called. Illustration of procediu-e. Such are the 

 titles, and the details in Doolittle's book are most complete. 



the careful con- 

 sideration 



Colonel Sykes concludes by recommending the facts stated to 

 deration of the advocates of "free banking/.' 



On the Violation of the Pnnciples of Economic Science caused hi/ the Law of 

 Distraint for Rent. By Charles Tebbutt. 



The author contended that the law of distraint for rent was a violation of the 

 principles of Economic Science, especially as regarded land, the owner of which 

 often had a secm-ity not possessed in houses, in the investment of capital, which 

 was iiTemoveable. The law secured rent to the landlord, even if he had so neg- 

 lected his duty as to choose for his tenant a man utterly without skill, character, or 

 capital. The violation of its equity was equalled by its impolicy, as it affected the 

 occupation and cultivation of the soil. OAvnership was a gi-eat inducement to the 

 development of the cultivation of the soil ; but in "England little land was OAvned 

 by its cultivator. It was needfid that in an an-angement between landlord and 

 tenant nothing should inten-upt the play of motive and interest. Yet at this point 

 in stepped the law of distraint, giving absolute security to the landlord, and remov- 

 ing from his mind that pressiu'e of motive and interest which rendered it needfid 

 for him to have the best tenant he could obtain, and to make him every reasonable 

 concession to obtain this end. The whole equity of the transaction was lost ; little 

 weight was given to the skill and capital of the tenant ; and the landlord was 

 enabled without danger of the loss of rent to bring in any man of straw to compete 

 with the tenant of capital and skill. A lower standard of cultivation prevailed 

 generally than would be the case if the disturbing law were entirely abolished. 



On the Statistics of the General Hospital, near Nottingham. 

 Bi/ Joseph White, F.R.V.S.E., cjc. 



This paper was supplementary to one on the Medical Topogi-aphy of Notting- 

 ham, read before the British Medical Association, and referred to the returns of the 

 Institution dui'iiig 10 years, tabulated as follows : — 



I. Annual admissions, distinguishing sex of patients, and arranged according to 



the diseases or injuries for which they were admitted into the hospital. 

 U. Ages of patients, without distinction of sex, according to the same ai-range- 

 ment. 



III. Duration of illness previous to admission into hospital. 



IV. Time of stay in hospital. 



V. Result of treatment. 



VI. Occupations of patients. 



VII. Period of the year in which they were adnutted. 



VIII. Locality from which they were received, as town, suburbs, coimty of Not- 

 tingham, or other counties. 



There were admitted into the hospital during this period 6936 males and 4880 

 females, being 100 males to 71'3 females, a proportion which had been found to 

 hold very nearly dm-ing each of the ten years, and which agreed, within a very 

 small number, with similar returns from fifteen other provincial hospitals ; whilst 

 in ten of the London hospitals the proportion of males to females was found to be 

 1491 to 1143, or 100 to 757. 



