34 H. A. LENEHAN. 
in house and farm construction, in railway work, in 
municipal work, and in factories and mills. Within 
the last eight years the uses of concrete have been 
greatly extended by the introduction of iron and steel 
re-inforcements, consisting of skeleton structures so 
arranged in the concrete masses, that rods, bars, wires, 
and bands help in resisting stresses in tension. A very 
important application of re-inforced cement concrete in 
Manitoba is the construction of grain elevators. The 
various applications of cement in the province are well 
shown in the photographic illustrations of the report. 
Decimal System.—An important step in the direction of 
the adoption by England of a decimal system of weights 
and measures has been taken by the Board of Trade, in 
which the Board was asked to authorise weights of 
20tbs., 10tbs., and Slbs., as aliquot parts of the cental. 
Lord Salisbury writes :— 
“Your suggestion that new denominations of weights of 20hbs., 
10lbs., and 5lbs., should be legalised for use in trade. The Board 
of Trade have given careful consideration to the representations 
which have been made, and they are prepared to assent to the 
application. Steps will therefore be taken for the preparation of 
standards of the same octagonal form as the present 50tbs. 
weight. The Chambers consider that this concession will save 
time, labor, and expense, as the 50ibs. weight has done already.” 
A Botanical Congress.—A Botanical Congress at Vienna, 
June 11th to 18th, 1905, adjourned from Paris, October 
1900, was an impressive demonstration of the activity of 
botany as a science, and of the enthusiasm of its members. 
Over 600 botanists, men and women, representing nearly 
all the important, and many of the less important 
botanical institutions of the world met there (New South 
Wales was unfortunately not represented). Nearly every 
European country, America, China, and other countries 
