In drawing up a specification the invention should be described as clearly and concisely as possible, and in such manner that the salient points for which protection is desired may be seen without difficulty. The description should take as broad a view of the possibilities of the invention as possible, so that it may not be limited in its application. Search should be made at the Patent Office, to ascertain whether the same idea has previously been patented or not. On application for provisional protection, the stamp duty is £1; for complete protection £1; and for complete specification £3: If an Agent is employed, the fee for preparing and lodging the application and provisional specification is usually £2 28. to £3 38., and for preparing the complete specification about £5 5s. If the complete specification is proceeded with in the first instance the Agent's charge is usually about £7 75. The full term of a patent is 14 years, reckoned from original date of application. There is no charge for maintenance during the first four years, but on or before the commencement of the fifth year a renewal stamp fee of £5 is payable; for the sixth, £6; for the seventh, £7; and so on, increasing 20s. per annum up to £14 for the fourteenth year.

In the British Colonies the patent laws are very similar to those in this country, but some of them only allow a limited time for filing an application from the date of the English patent.

For Foreign Countries the procedure and regulations vary so much that it is impossible in a short paragraph to explain them. France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States, allow six or months' priority in cases where an application has been filed in one of them, to enable the applications to be filed in others.

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The German Government make no such allowance, and if a patent in that country is desired care should be taken to apply for it before any publicity is given to the invention.

In the United States an examination as to novelty is made by the Patent Office in Washington before patents are granted, and application should be made for an American Patent immediately after filing that for the English provisional patent, so that the result of the official search may be obtained before the complete specification has to be proceeded with.

The following will give a rough idea of the cost in pounds of patenting in leading foreign countries:-Australian Colonies, £15 each (except Victoria £12); Austria, 12; Belgium, £5; Canada, 12; Denmark, 10; France, 10; Germany, 10; India, 20; Italy, £12; Portugal, 15; Russia, 20; Spain, 10; Sweden, 10; Switzerland, £10; United States, £18.

their deputies, if actually exercising their duties; coroners, gaolers, and keepers of houses of correction, and all subordinate officers of the same; keepers in public lunatic asylums; members and licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians in London, if practising; members of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, if practising; apothecaries certificated by the Court of Examiners of the Apothecaries' Company, and all registered medical practitioners and registered pharmaceutical chemists, if practising; the members of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board; the master, wardens, and brethren of the Corporation of Trinity House; pilots licensed by the Trinity House; all masters of vessels in the buoy and light service employed by the Corporation; pilots licensed under any Act of Parliament or charter for the regulation of pilots; the Household servants of His Majesty; officers of the Post Office, commissioners of Customs, officers, and clerks of the Customs; commissioners and officers, &c., of Inland Revenue; sheriffs' officers; officers of the rural and metropolitan police; officers of the navy, army, militia, and yeomanry, while on full pay; magistrates of the metropolitan police courts, their clerks, ushers, doorkeepers, and messengers; officers of the Houses of Lords and Commons; members of the council of the municipal corporation of any borough, and every justice of the peace assigned to keep the peace therein, and the town clerk and treasurer for the time being of every such borough, so far as relates to any jury summoned to serve in the county where such borough is situate; burgesses of every borough in and for which a separate court of quarter sessions shall be holden so far as relates to any jury summoned for the trial of issues joined in any court of general quarter sessions of the peace in the county wherein such borough is situate : justices of the peace so far as relates to any jury summoned to serve at any sessions of the peace for the jurisdiction of which he is a justice; all soldiers in His Majesty's regular forces. (The exemption should be claimed. before the Jury Lists are revised.) No person shall be summoned to serve more than once in one year, unless all the jurors upon the list shall have been already summoned to serve during such year.

The qualifications for a GRAND JUROR are somewhat uncertain. For County Assizes they should be freeholders of the county, and " they are usually gentlemen of the best figure in the county below peers." For Borough Assizes, where a municipal town is incorporated as a county for assize purposes and has its own quarter sessions, they must be burgesses of the borough. The Grand Jury only hear the witnesses for the prosecution, as their duty is confined to inquiring whether there is sufficient ground for calling on the accused to answer the accusation. The jury must consist of not less than 12 nor more than 23, and to find a "6 true bill" where the evidence submitted is satisfactory, 12 at least of the jury must agree.

SPECIAL JURORS are summoned in civil causes in which the plaintiff or defendant can insist on a special jury. In making out the list of persons within their respective parishes and townships qualified to serve as jurors, the overseers must specify which of such persons are in their judgment qualified as special jurors, and must also specify in every case the nature of the qualification, the occupation, and the amount of the rating or assessment of every such person. A special juryman is entitled to such sum of money as the judge may think fit; in practice he is paid one guinea for each case on which he sits,

JURORS.

A juror must be over 21 years of age. The following are EXEMPT from serving on special or common juries:-Peers, members of parliament, judges, clergymen of every denomination, provided they follow no secular occupation except that of a school-master; barristers-at-law, certificated conveyancers, and special pleaders, if actually practising; attorneys, solicitors, and proctors, if actually practising and having taken out their annual certificates, and their managing clerks; notaries public in actual practice; officers of the courts of law, the clerks of the peace or

BILLS OF SALE.

A most important provision of the Bills of Sale Act, 1882, is that it makes all bills of sale for sums under £30 absolutely void. A bill of sale must be duly attested by one or more credible witnesses not being a party or parties to it; must be registered within seven days of being made, the registration to be renewed every five years; but transfers or assignments need not be registered; and must contain an acknowledgment of the receipt of the money. Mistakes, delays, or omissions in registration may be rectified by order of a judge of the High Court. A copy of the bill when registered, with an affidavit of the time when the bill is given, of its attestation, and of the name, residence and occupation of the giver and of each attesting witness, must be presented to the registrar and filed. The holder of a bill of sale who has left the chattels in the apparent possession of the grantor, a trader, loses the benefit of his security in the event of the trader's bankruptcy. The Act sets forth the five classes of reasons which alone will make property liable to be seized under a bill of sale. They are: (1) If the debtor make default in payment at the proper time of the sum borrowed, or in the performance of any agreement that is contained in the bill, and is necessary for maintaining the security; (2) the become a bankrupt or suffer the goods to be distrained for rent, rates, or taxes; (3) if he fraudulently remove, or suffer the goods to be removed, from the premises; (4) if he fail, without reasonable excuse, to produce upon demand of the lender the last receipt for rent, rates and taxes; and (5) if execution be levied against the goods of the debtor under a judgment at law. When property is seized under a bill of sale, it is not to be removed or sold until after the expiration of five days; and during that time the High Court, or a judge thereof, if he is satisfied that by payment of money or otherwise the cause of seizure no longer exists, may, on the application of the debtor, restrain the removal or sale, or make any other order that seems just.

BANKRUPTCY.

The Bankruptcy Acts of 1883 and 1890 provide that the High Court of Justice and the County Courts shall have jurisdiction in bankruptcy. Except where expressly provided, the Acts do not apply to Ireland or Scotland. When a debtor has committed an act of Bankruptcy, any creditor for £50, or any two or more whose aggregate claims amount to £50, may, within three months thereafter, present a bankruptcy petition against the debtor. As soon as a bankruptcy petition has been presented, the Court may make a receiving order for the protection of the estate, whereby the official receiver is constituted receiver of the property of the debtor, and unsecured creditors are precluded from taking any proceedings against the property or person of the debtor without the leave of the Court. After the receiving order is made, a general meeting of the creditors is to be held for the purpose of deciding if the debtor is to be adjudged bankrupt, and either before or after the meeting of creditors a public sitting of the Court is held for the examination of the debtor, who must attend to be examined as to his conduct, dealings, and property. The debtor must attend meetings of creditors and give required information, with an inventory of his property, and must aid in its realisation and distribution; if necessary he can be arrested, and steps can be taken for the recovery of his property. The composition or scheme of

arrangement which creditors may agree to, and which can be accepted before or after adjudication of bankruptcy, is not to be binding on them unless confirmed by a majority representing three-fourths in value of the proved debts and approved by the Court. The Court shall, before approving a composition or scheme, hear the official receiver's report as to its terms, and the conduct of the debtor, and any creditor's objections to it; after which the Court may approve and enforce it; disobedience to an order of Court in such a case being deemed contempt. Where composition is not accepted or approved the debtor is adjudged bankrupt, and his property becomes divisible among the creditors, and vests in a trustee who may be appointed by the creditors and approved by the Board of Trade, the person chosen giving proper security. If a trustee is not appointed within four weeks of the adjudication, or, if negotiations are then still pending, within seven days of their close, the official receiver is to report to the Board of Trade, and the Board is to appoint, subject to the substitution of a trustee elected by the creditors if they subsequently elect one. A committee of inspection, of not more than five nor less than three persons, may be appointed by the creditors to superintend the trustee's administration of the bankrupt's property, the Board of Trade being empowered to do the necessary acts if no committee is appointed. When the creditors appoint a trustee, his remuneration is to be fixed by their resolution, and is to be in the nature of a commission or percentage, of which one part shall be payable on the amount realised by him, after deducting any sums paid to secured creditors out of the proceeds of their securities, and the other part on the amount distributed in dividend; if one-fourth in number or value of the creditors dissent from the resolution, or the bankrupt satisfies the Board of Trade that the remuneration is unnecessarily large, the Board is to fix the amount. Where no remuneration has been voted to a trustee, he is to be allowed out of the bankrupt's estate such proper costs as the creditors, with the sanction of the Board, approve. A trustee is not under any circumstances whatever to make any arrangement for, or accept from the bankrupt, or any solicitor, auctioneer, or any other person employed about a bankruptcy, any gift, remuneration or pecuniary or other consideration or benefit whatever beyond the remuneration fixed by the creditors and payable out of the estate; nor is he to make any arrangement for giving up, or give up, any part of his remuneration, either as receiver, manager, or trustee to the bankrupt, or any solicitor or other person employed about a bankruptcy. Where

a trustee or manager receives remuneration for his services as such no payment is to be allowed in his accounts in respect of the performance by any other person of the ordinary duties which are required by statute or rules to be performed by himself. Where the trustee is a solicitor, he may contract that the remuneration for his services as trustee shall include all professional services. The first dividend must be declared and distributed within four months after the first meeting of creditors, unless the trustee can show sufficient reason for postponing the declaration to a later date; subsequent dividends at intervals of not less than six months. The following debts have priority:All taxes assessed up to 5th April next before the date of the receiving order, and not exceeding one year's assessment; all parochial or local rates payable within the twelve months

preceding and due at the date of the receiving order; and all wages in respect of services rendered within four months before the date of the receiving order, and not exceeding 450. A landlord may distrain upon the bankrupt's goods either before or after the commencement of the bankruptcy for one year's rent, provided it has accrued due before the date of the order of adjudication. The property divisible among the creditors does not include the necessary bedding and apparel of the debtor, his wife and children, not exceeding £20 altogether, or his tools (if any). The Court may, after hearing a report of the bankrupt's conduct and affairs from the official receiver, give or withhold an order for his discharge, or suspend it, or make it conditional; but no discharge is to be granted where he has been guilty of a misdemeanour under the Debtors' Act, 1869, or the Bankruptcy Act, 1883. It is a misdemeanour for a bankrupt who has not obtained a discharge to get credit to the extent of £20 or upwards without informing the person giving it that he is an undischarged bankrupt. A bankrupt may not sit or vote in Parliament or on its committees; be appointed or act as a justice of the peace, mayor, alderman, County councillor, guardian, overseer, member of school board or parochial boards; if a member of Parliament when adjudged bankrupt, unless the disqualifications arising from the bankruptcy are removed within six months from the date of the order, the Court is to certify the fact to the Speaker, and the seat becomes vacant.

WHAT IS AN ACT OF BANKRUPTCY?

By the Bankruptcy Act, 1883, the following are defined as acts of Bankruptcy:

1. If in England or elsewhere the debtor makes an assignment of his property to trustees for the benefit of his creditors generally; or

2. Makes a fraudulent conveyance, gift or transfer of his property or any part thereof; or 3. Makes any transfer of his property or "creates any charge thereon which would be void as a fraudulent preference, if he were adjudged bankrupt; or

7. If the debtor gives notice to any of his creditors that he has suspended, or that he is about to suspend, payment of his debts.

4. If with intent to defeat or delay his creditors he departs out of England, or being out of England remains out of England, or departs from his dwellinghouse, or otherwise absents himself or begins to keep house; or

5. If he files in the Court a declaration of his inability to pay his debts or presents a bankruptcy petition against himself; or 6. If a creditor has obtained a final judgment against him for any amount, and, execution thereon not having been stayed, has served on him a bankruptcy notice under this Act, requiring him to pay the judg ment debt in accordance with the terms of the judgment, or to secure or compound for it to the satisfaction of the creditor or the Court, and he does not within 7 days after service of the notice (if service is in England, and if service is elsewhere, then within the time limited in that behalf by the order giving leave to effect the service), either comply with the requirements of the notice, or satisfy the Court that he has a counter claim, which equals or exceeds the amount of the judgment debt, and which he could not set up in the action in which the judgment obtained; or

was

By the Bankruptcy Act, 1890, it is enacted that a debtor commits an act of Bankruptcy if execution against him has been levied by seizure of his goods under process in an action in any Court, or in any civil proceeding in the High Court, and the goods have been either sold or held by the sheriff for 21 days.

And that any person who is for the time being entitled to enforce a final judgment shall be deemed a creditor who has obtained a final judgment within the meaning of Section 4 of the Act of 1883.

LAWS FOR CYCLISTS.

A cycle is a "carriage" within the legal meaning of the word, and is not "ordinary luggage within the meaning of Railway Acts. The rider is responsible for the control of his machine in the same way as the driver of a carriage, and is liable for any damage caused by wilful negligence, recklessness, or carelessness. The absence of a brake and bell, or other means of giving warning, is strong evidence against the cyclist in case of an accident.

A cyclist is legaily bound, under penalty, to carry a light from one hour after sunset until one hour before sunrise, and also to give audible and sufficient warning when overtaking any passenger or vehicle on the road.

The "rule of the road" in cycling is the same as for carriages 1. In meeting, keep to the left. 2. In overtaking, pass on the right. The nonobservance of this well-recognised rule throws upon the rider the onus of exercising due care and diligence to avoid collision with others. Foot passengers are not required to observe the rule of the road, nor are they restricted to the use of the footpath, if there is one, but they have equal rights on the road with cyclists.

It is illegal to ride on any path set aside for foot passengers, even when the roadway is unpleasant for the cyclist to ride on.

An hotel keeper is not liable for the loss of a cycle belonging to a person using his hotel, unless it was given into his care for safe custody, i.e., placed in a room or building provided for the

purpose.

A railway company is not liable for loss of, or damage to, a cycle deposited in the Left Luggage Office, unless the value (if exceeding £10) is previously declared.

When a person hires a machine he is bound to use it in a reasonable and proper manner, and to return it to the owner in as good condition as it was at the time of hiring, subject to such deterioration only as may be expected from reasonable wear and tear, and to any mishaps resulting from accidental circumstances, and not from any fault or want of care on the part of the hirer. In case of a dispute on this point, it would be necessary for the hirer to prove that the damage was accidental, and not consequent on his own negligence, and in this case the owner could not make good any claim for damages.

LAWS FOR MOTOR CARS.

A motor car is defined as a vehicle-propelled by mechanical power-under 4 tons in weight, and so constructed that no smoke or visible vapour is emitted therefrom.

A motor car exceeding five hundredweight must be capable of being worked so that it may travel either forwards or backwards.

K

The same law as to carrying a light in force for cycles applies also to motor cars. The lamp must be placed on the extreme right or off side of the motor car, in such a position as to be free from all obstruction to the light-this last rule does not apply to motor bicycles or tricycles.

A motor car, except when it travels at a rate not exceeding 4 miles per hour, must have a brake of a prescribed efficiency.

The usual "Rule of the Road" prescribed for ordinary vehicles applies also to motor cars.

The Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896, which governs the regulations applicable to motor cars, directs that the person in charge of the motor shall give audible and sufficient warning of the approach or position of his vehicle by sounding a bell or other instrument.

A motor must not travel at a greater speed than 14 miles an hour, or than any less speed that may be prescribed by regulations of the Local Government Board. The regulations at present in force prescribe 12 miles an hour as the maximum speed. A motor car must not be driven at any greater speed than is reasonable and proper, regard being had to the traffic on the highway, or so as to endanger the life and limb of any person. If the weight of the car is from 1 tons to 2 tons, the maximum speed must not exceed 8 miles an hour, or, if it exceeds 2 tons, 5 miles an hour.

VARIOUS NOTES.

I. O. U.'s. An I. O. U. is a clear admission of a sum due, and is evidence of the amount stated being due to the creditor if named therein; even if he is not named it is prima facie testimony of the amount stated being due to the person producing such. It is not, however, negotiable. The amount legally due on an I. O. U. may be recovered. It is admissible in evidence without a stamp if it is merely a simple acknowledgment of a debt. If, however, it contains a promise to pay money, it must be stamped as a promissory note, or as an agreement if it contains terms of agreement, the subject of which is of the value of £5. It should be addressed to the creditor by name, but that is not essential to its validity.

Legal Tender.-A Bank of England note or gold coin is a legal tender in England and Wales for a payment of any amount, but no person can be compelled to give change for a Bank Note. Silver is a legal tender for sums not exceeding two pourds, and bronze or copper coin for sums not exceeding one shilling.

lost

Loser and Finder.-Whoever finds a article can lawfully retain possession of it against all parties, except the owner. If a person knows that another has found a bank note or other negotiable instrument, and cashed it, he cannot detain it against the owner who has lost it. If the property of the loser is not restored to him, an action of trover lies for its recovery against the finder if he refuses to restore it.

The Money-Lenders Act, 1900, which came into operation on November 1st, 1900, provides that where proceedings are taken in any court by a

money-lender for the recovery of any money lent, or the enforcement of any agreement or security in respect of money lent, and the Court is satisfied that the interest charged, or the amounts charged for expenses, renewals, &c., is or are excessive, and that the transaction is harsh and unconscionable, or is otherwise such that a Court of Equity would give relief, the Court may re-open the transaction, and take an account between the money-lender and the person sued, and relieve the person sued from payment of any sum in excess of such sum as the Court, having regard to the risk and all the circumstances, may adjudge to be reasonable.

The Court has power to entertain any application under the Act by the borrower or surety, notwithstanding that the time for repayment of the loan or an instalment may not have arrived.

A money-lender is bound to register himself as a money-lender under his own or usual tradename, and in no other name, and with all his money-lending business addresses. Failure to comply with the provisions of the Act with regard to registration is visited by heavy penalties. The fee for registration or renewal is not to exceed

1, and the registration or renewal holds good for three years from the date thereof.

Fraudulent representations on the part of a money-lender or any servant of his as to the terms on which money is to be borrowed are visited by heavy penalties.

The Act does not apply to pawnbrokers carrying on their business of pawnbrokers; Friendly, Building, or Loan Societies within their respective Acts; corporations empowered by special Act of Parliament to lend money; bona fide banking or insurance businesses not having for their primary object the lending of money, in the course of which and for the purpose whereof money is lent; any body corporate for the time being exempted from registration under the Act by order of the Board of Trade.

Ancient Lights.-A prescriptive right to the access of light to a window in any dwelling-house or other building is acquired by a twenty years' uninterrupted user of the light. If windows are put in a new building close to the owner's boundary and overlooking another man's land, the latter may from his own land obstruct the view from the window, so as to prevent the acquisition of a right by prescription.

Hedges and Ditches.-Generally speaking, where a hedge and ditch divide neighbouring owners' lands, the boundary is on the outer side of the ditch, away from the hedge, so that both hedge and ditch belong to the same owner; the reason being that where the owner first made his hedge and ditch he started on his boundary and the soil which was thrown out to make the ditch was thrown on to his own land to form a bank on which to plant his hedge.

Overhanging Trees.-An owner must not allow his trees to overhang a public road or another man's land so as to be a nuisance; if they do so, the inconvenienced party may lop them so as to abate the nuisance, but the lop belongs to the owner of the trees.

of

Life Assurance.-Modern Life Assurance assumes a great variety of forms, but in its essential principles it is a combination mutual protection and co-operative investment. The premiums paid to an Assurance Company are partly contributions to a mutual assurance fund and partly investments in a fund which in the aggregate is more profitably employed than would be possible if the contributors had to find separate investments for their relatively small savings. Not only are the policy-holders assured of a certain sum at death, but under the "with profit" system they are sharers in the profits which are always made on investments by a wellmanaged Company; and in the special form of contract known as Endowment Assurances they are certain to receive at a specified time the sums for which they have contracted in addition to the profits already referred to.

Life Assurance offices are of two kinds Mutual and so-called Proprietary. In the former the funds are entirely the property of the assured, among whom the whole of the profits are divided. The Proprietary class are joint-stock Companies with a body of proprietors or shareholders who have contributed a Capital which forms an additional reserve for the protection of the assured, and who take a certain small proportion-usually a tenth-of the profits in addition to a certain small rate of interest on the Capital, leaving the rest for the assured as in a Mutual Company. It is a question for the intending assurant to decide whether he will prefer the additional security to the possibly somewhat larger bonus, though practically there is no substantial difference between the effective results. In order to secure a life assurance policy the first step is to obtain a form of proposal from the office selected; this will be supplied on application, and should be very carefully filled up, as it is the legal basis of the contract, and any wilful omission, or mis-statement of any material fact, might render it voidable. In a few days the Medical Examination will be made by the Company's medical officer, and, unless there is reason to suspect an attempt to conceal or deceive, he is usually content to accept the proposer's replies to his questions as to past health; and his personal investigation into present condition rarely goes beyond an examination of the chest by the stethoscope and an inspection of the tongue, eyes, state of the skin, and the usual feeling of the pulse.

These formalities completed, the proposal will be duly considered, and in a few days the applicant will probably receive notification of the acceptance of the proposal at the ordinary rate of premium. In some cases, however, the Company may only be willing to effect the assurance on special terms, or at a rate of premium somewhat higher than the rate for his actual age. Even if the applicant has the unwelcome experience of being actually rejected, he should remember that it is only the result of an opinion which may be altogether a mistaken one. Many a man is still living, and in good health, whose application for an assurance policy was declined many years ago.

It is usual to allow a period of thirty days' "grace" after the premiums become due, in which they may be paid without any question. If the premium be not paid within the days of grace, the Company will generally accept payment within a further short period on a personal statement by the assured that the omission was an inadvertence, and that he continues in good health. If, however, payment be long delayed, the Company will probably require a medical certificate of good health before consenting to

revive

the policy which by the conditions of the assurance has lapsed through non-payment of the premium.

If the assured should at any time wish to discontinue his assurance, the Company will in most cases offer him a payment of what is called the Surrender Value. In the case of assurances effected for short terms or at special low rates of premium, a payment on surrender or discontinuance is not usually given. But in all ordinary cases of whole-life or endowment assurances, after the policy has been running for three years (sometimes even earlier), a "surrender value" is almost invariably given. In the case of an ordinary whole-life assurance which has been but a short time in force, about a third of the premiums paid may be expected to be returned on the surrender of the policy. If the assurance has been running for any considerable number of years, and especially if it is an Endowment Assurance, a much larger proportion of the premiums paid will probably be allowed. Instead of actually surrendering it, the assured can generally obtain from the Company a Loan on a Life Policy of an amount slightly less than the surrender value. The loan may be repaid at any time, but need not be repaid until the policy falls in by death or maturity, so long as the premiums and interest on the loan (usually at five per cent.) are punctually paid.

But

Assurances may be effected either with or without participation in profits. The premium payable on a "non-profit " policy is low, the assured being guaranteed a fixed amount and no more, however prosperous the Company may be. the most usual form of assurance is one in which the sum assured may be increased from time to time, usually at intervals of five years, by participation in the Company's profits; or a cash payment at similar intervals may be taken instead of an addition being made to the sum assured; or the premiums may be reduced from time to time. Most Companies offer each of these alternatives at the option of the assured. The premiums demanded by Assurance Companies are fixed by calculations based upon certain assumptions as to the rate of mortality and rate of interest. The rates so ascertained are increased so as to allow for fluctuations and to provide for expenses; and in the case of "profit policies" are yet further increased to ensure a bonus. It may reasonably be asked why anybody should pay the larger "participating" premium merely to have it returned in the shape of bonus; and if only the difference between the participating and non-participating rate, or its equivalent, were so returned, there would of course be no advantage. But as a matter of fact a well-managed Company almost always experiences a lower rate of mortality, and always secures a higher rate of interest than are provided for in its calculations, so that the payment of the difference between the two rates is in effect a very excellent investment, the aggregate of small payments of individual policyholders constituting a fund which is invested by the Company in a far more satisfactory and remunerative form than would be possible by the assured themselves.

Many Life Assurance Companies, in addition to the grant of Assurance Policies, are also prepared to grant Life Annuities, which are a very useful form of investment in certain cases, as where a man in advanced life, whose children are provided for, or who has no relatives whom he wishes to benefit after his death, may secure for himself the largest possible return for his savings, and may protect himself from the unpleasant