Many valuable papers have from time to time appeared among our own Transactions and in the Journal of the Institute of Actuaries bearing upon the Amounts invested by Life Offices in various securities, and the rates of interest yielded by such investments at different epochs. So far as I can discover, however, with the exception of a short, but very instructive, paper on Railway Debenture Stock by Mr. Coles in the 15th vol. of the Journal, nothing has been written in description of the origin and character of the various securities which are usually selected for the investment of Life Offices' and other Funds. Having discovered that many others besides myself have experienced difficulty in obtaining information on this subject, I have ventured to put down in an elementary way the results of my own research in regard to it.

The President of the Institute of Actuaries, in his Inaugural Address, delivered recently, impressed upon his hearers the imperative necessity for the Actuary being now a practical financier also, and I am sure that every one of us knows sufficient about the difficulties that beset the investment of money at the present day to fully indorse his remarks. No one can, however, it seems to me, be a “practical financier” without having an intelligent knowledge of the character of various securities, and it is my desire to-night to try to help in some small measure towards the attainment of that knowledge.