francs for 1884. The following table shows the respective shares of the leading countries in the commerce of Belgium in 1884 :

The commercial intercourse of Belgium with Great Britain is shown in the subjoined tabular statement in each of the five years 1881 to 1885 :

The principal articles of export from Belgium to the United Kingdom are woollen yarn, of the value of 1,255,1171.; silk manufactures, chiefly stuffs and ribbons, 1,782,0797.; flax, 782,4017.; sugar, refined and unrefined, 459,7371.; bar iron and manufactures, of the value of 749,4567.; butter, of the value of 268,6881.; eggs, 708,3001.; and poultry and game, including rabbits, of the value of 384,8787. in 1885. The export of cotton manufacture from Belgium to Great Britain was 513,8267. in 1884, and 333,8551. in 1885. The imports of British produce into Belgium consist in the main of iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 227,317., woollens of the value of 1,501,9671. (yarn, 236,9417.), and cottons of the value of 1,896,553l. (yarn, 461,5787.) in the year 1885.

According to the recently published results of an agricultural inquiry in 1880, 2,704,957 hectares (2.47 acres) out of 2,945,715 hectares are cultivable; of which 1,983,570 hectares are under ordinary cultivation; 489,423 hectares under wood; and 231,964 hectares uncultivated. The number of separate farms (nombre d'ex

ploitations) was 910,396 in 1880, as compared with 579,550 in 1846, and 744,000 in 1866. Over 710,000 of the farms are under two hectares each. In 1884 Belgium imported 1,281,000 tons and exported 500,000 tons of cereals. Beetroot cultivation is important; in 1884 the export of sugar was 50,000 tons more than the import. In 1880 there were 271,974 horses, 1,382,815 horned cattle, 365,400 sheep, and 646,375 pigs.

The coal mines in Belgium in 1884 numbered 264, covering an area of 144,327 hectares, employing 105,582 miners, and producing in 1884 18,051,499 tons, of the value of 172,032,000 francs, of which one-third was exported, mainly to France.

Although Belgium only produces about 200,000 tons of iron ore annually, the iron industry is of great importance in the country; of pig and wrought iron alone 1,270,659 tons were produced in 1883, of the value of 121,463,000 francs, and 1,221,852 tons in 1884, valued at 105,722,000 francs; exclusive of the production of foundries for which no official statistics exist, but which probably averages 80,000 tons per annum, valued at 600,000l. In addition, in 1884, 341,065 tons of steel were manufactured, estimated at 38,180,000 francs. The produce of quarries was valued at 43,088,172 francs in 1883, and 36,939,000 francs in 1884.

The maritime international commerce of the kingdom is almost entirely carried on by foreigners, chiefly under the British flag. The commercial marine consisted on January 1, 1885, of 64 vessels of an aggregate burthen of 80,592 tons, inclusive of 51 steamers of a total burthen of 74,667 tons. There were 324 vessels, of 11,474 tons, engaged in fishing. In 1884, 6,465 vessels of a total tonnage of 4,072,987 entered Belgian ports, 3,483 with a total tonnage of 1,552,520 being British. The total number of vessels leaving Belgian ports in 1884 was 6,524 of 4,060,612 tons, of which 4,431, with a tonnage of 2,468,444, were bound for Great Britain.

The subjoined tabular statement shows the length of railways, distinguishing State and private lines, open in Belgium on January 1, 1886:

The total number of stations in 1885 was 1,080.

The gross receipts in 1885 amounted for the State to 119,772,557 francs, and for the Companies 37,229,787 francs; expenses for the State 70,097,356 francs, for the Companies 20,333,582 francs. Up to the end of 1885 the State had spent 929,697,462 francs on

the first cost of its railways, besides purchasing lines by means of annuities, the capital value of which is estimated at 319,798,631 francs. The total receipts of its railways from 1835 to 1885 amounted to 2,236,716,610 francs, and the total expense of working its railways during the same period was 2,140,652,758 francs, leaving a total surplus of 96,063,852 francs.

The work of the Post Office in Belgium was as follows in the years 1884 and 1885:-

1885 91,498,150

13,917,560
26,539,334

51,473,000

103,559,000

The

On January 1, 1885, there were 855 post offices in Belgium. total revenue of the Post Office in the year 1885 amounted to 14,393,081 francs, and the expenditure to 8,609,871 francs.

The Telegraphs in Belgium carried 6,807,572 despatches, private and official, in the year 1885. At the end of 1885 the total length of public telegraph lines was 3,800 miles, and the length of wires 17,713 miles. There were at the same date 909 telegraph stations. Receipts (1885), 2,666,736 francs; expenses, 3,587,659 francs.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1, OF BELGIUM IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Baron Solvyns, appointed February 21, 1873.
Councillor.-Comte G. Errembault de Dudzeele.
Secretary of Legation.-Comte W. Vanden. Steen. Attaché.-F. Hanon.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN BELGIUM.

Envoy and Minister.-Lord Vivian, K.C.M.G., C.B., formerly Envoy to the Swiss Confederation; Envoy to Denmark 1881-4. Appointed Envoy to Belgium, December 15, 1884.

Secretaries.-M. Le M. H. Gosselin; Hon. E. B. Lyon; George Brooke.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Belgium, and the British equivalents, are as follows:

MONEY.

Intrinsic rate of exchange, 25.22 to £1 sterling. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

2-20 lbs. avoirdupois.
2,200

2.75 imperial bushels.
22 imperial gallons.

3.28 feet.
35.31 cubic feet.

Belgium was one of the five Continental States-comprising, besides, France, Italy, Greece, and Switzerland-which formed a Monetary League in 1865. The five States entered into a Convention by which they agreed upon the decimal system, establishing perfect reciprocity in the currency of the four countries, and giving the franc, lira, or drachma, the monetary unit of each of them, as well as its multiples or fractions in gold or silver, the same course and value throughout the extent of their respective territories.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Belgium. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Almanach Royal Officiel de Belgique, contenant les attributions et le personnel de tous les services publics du royaume. Année 1887. Bruxelles, 1886. Annuaire statistique de la Belgique. 8. Bruxelles, 1886.

Documents statistiques, publiés par le départ. de l'Intérieur, avec le concours de la commission centrale de statistique. Bruxelles, 1857-69.

Moniteur belge. 1886.

Budgets Provinciaux. Exercice 1887. Bruxelles, 1886.

Budgets des Recettes et des Dépenses pour l'exercice 1887. Bruxelles, 1884. Mouvement de l'état civil et de la population en 1885. Bruxelles, 1886. Rapport Triennial sur la Situation de l'Instruction Primaire en Belgique. Treizième Période Trienniale, 1879-81. Bruxelles, 1884.

Situation générale du Trésor Public au 1er Janvier 1886. Bruxelles, 1886. Exposé de la situation du Royaume, période 1841-50. 1 vol. Période 1851-60. 3 vols. Période 1861-75. 2 vols. Publié par le Ministre de l'Intérieur. 8. Bruxelles, 1865-85.

Statistique de la Belgique. Population. Recensement général (31 Décembre, 1880). Bruxelles, 1884.

Statistique de la Belgique. Agriculture. Recensement général de 1880. Bruxelles, 1885.

Statistique générale des recettes et dépenses du Royaume, 1840-80. Bruxelles, 1885.

Tableau général du commerce avec les pays étrangers, publié par le Ministre des Finances. 4. Bruxelles, 1885.

Compte rendu des chemins de fer, postes, télégraphes et marine. Bruxelles, 1885.

Report by Sir Henry Barron, Secretary of Legation, on the finances and railways of Belgium, dated Brussels, April 16, 1880, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1880. 8. London, 1880. Report by Sir Henry Barron on the finances of Belgium, in 'Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part IV. 1882.

Report by Sir H. Barron on the commerce and industry of Belgium in 1881 and 1882, in Reports of H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy.' Part III. London,

1883.

Report by Consul-General Grattan on the trade and commerce of Antwerp for the year 1884 in Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part IX. London, 1885.

Chemins de fer, postes et télégraphes, 1885., Bruxelles, 1886.

Report for 1885 on the trade of Antwerp in No. 23 Diplomatic and Consular Reports.' London, 1886.

Trade of Belgium with the United Kingdom, in Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries for the year 1885.' Imp. 4. London, 1886.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annuaire financier de la Belgique. 8. Bruxelles, 1886.

Bavary (Ch. Victor de), Histoire de la Révolution belge de 1830. 8. Bruxelles, 1876.

Janssens (Eug.), Annuaire de la mortalité, ou tableau statistique des causes de décès et du mouvement de la population. 8. Bruxelles, 1886.

Malou (J.), Notice historique sur les finances de la Belgique. Fol. Paris, 1868. Meulemans (Aug.), La Belgique, ses ressources agricoles, industrielles et commerciales. 8. Bruxelles, 1866.

Nicolai (E.), Les Chemins de fer de l'État en Belgique 1834-84. Étude historique, économique et statistique. Bruxelles, 1885.

Reclus (Élisée), Nouvelle Géographie universelle. Tome IV. L'Europe du Nord-Ouest. Paris, 1879.