Twenty years ago actuaries were fighting the effects of a falling rate of interest, and they did not then know that the battle would become more acute for the next few years, to be followed by a complete change of front on the side of their opponent. Life offices have, at the present time, chiefly in consequence of a rise in the rate of interest, large amounts of depreciation to face, amounts which in some cases are the equivalent of a substantial part of the quinquennial surplus. The question, therefore, of the proper treatment of this depreciation, with due regard to the enhanced rate of interest secured by the lower capital values, seems to be one that may properly occupy the attention of the Institute at a Sessional Meeting.