In the year 1847, a report by the Special Commission appointed by the Belgian Government to inquire into assurance by the State, led to a project of law, in the first article of which it was proposed that a general system of insurance against fire, hail, and mortality amongst cattle, should be undertaken by the State. The Commission, however, had omitted to state the cost at which the system recommended could be carried out, and it was referred to the Central Commission of Statistics to inquire further into the subject. The report of M. Frére Orban, the Minister of Finance, contains a large amount of very valuable information on each of the subjects referred to; and with regard to fire insurance, he enters upon the general inquiry how far it would be profitable to the State to undertake this branch of business.

In a comparison of the relative sickness of the French and English armies in Spain, there are, however, several points to be considered. The English was essentially an army of operation, constantly engaged in active service, the brunt of every campaign falling principally upon it; the greater part of the French troops consisted of armies of occupation regularly quartered in the country, and having only to contend with guerillas and the feeble Spanish armies, which they so frequently and easily dispersed. A more just comparison would be made with the army of Portugal, which, though smaller in amount, was more constantly engaged in active operations. The lowest ratio of sickness in this army was 64 per 1,000, and the highest 235 per 1,000; the average being 146 per 1,000, which still is lower than the English ratio.

The tables of the values of annuities on lives, as hitherto constructed, only show the rate of interest which a purchaser may make on the money employed, and replace the capital, provided he can reinvest the surplus income, beyond the interest on the purchase money, at the same rate of interest.

Among the many curious facts relative to the duration of human life which have resulted from the persevering inquiries of persons interested in Life Assurance Offices, one very essential question appears to me to have been left undecided—namely, whether, and in what degree, a diet of vegetable food alone increases the length of life. The Vegetarian Society of Manchester pretend, not only that pure vegetable diet renders man almost exempt from many of the most fatal complaints to which we are subject, but also, that it has actually prolonged the average duration of human life. To this question I beg leave to call the attention of your readers: I should like to see it fully investigated and developed. My attention has been directed to the effects of different sorts of food on different kinds of constitution for many years past, and the conclusion to which I have come is certainly in the highest degree favourable to the views of the Society alluded to, particularly as respects longevity, to which the pure vegetarian diet seems to be particularly favourable. Now this circumstance, of which I have not the least doubt, brings the question of diet immediately into the category of facts which are the proper objects of inquiry for all Assurance Companies. Having thus ventured to call the attention of these Companies to the subject, I shall take the liberty of submitting the following facts and experiments to the notice of your readers: they are the result of nearly half a hundred years' observation and experience, made in various countries of Europe.

The facts relating to the siege of Sebastopol would seem to show that the enormously increased powers with which instruments of destruction have been endowed by the improvements of modern science tend much more to the advantage of the besiegers than of the besieged, as might indeed have been expected. We have no means of ascertaining the losses of the Russians during the siege, but from their own statements these must have been immense. The official returns of their casualties in the two assaults of the 18th June and the 8th September have been published, and are given below. The additional losses, from the 17th August to the 8th September, are estimated from Prince Gortschakoff's report of the capture; the proportion of the missing, already mentioned, being added to the killed and wounded.

With the view of turning to some farther account the information afforded by the periodical reports of fires in the metropolis furnished by the London Fire-Engine Establishment to the Offices supporting it, and extending now over a term of twenty-four years, I have drawn out some results in a tabular form, and have attached to them a few comments more suggestive than at present available; premising that these results are necessarily of limited value, in consequence of the indefiniteness of the data in many essential respects. For Mr. Braidwood’s kind assistance I take this opportunity of expressing my obligations; and especially I am indebted to Mr. W. M. Browne, Secretary of the Westminster Fire Office, for the readiness with which he has placed the results of his experience at my disposal.

That the difference is due to the greater amount of attention and of comforts the officer by his position is enabled to secure, appears from the facts relating to the siege of Gibraltar and the battle of Toulouse. At the former, officers were as favourably situated as it is possible to be during actual hostilities, except for a short time when there was a scarcity of provisions; and of 35 that were wounded, only 1 died—a mortality very little more than one third of that in the field. The battle of Toulouse was fought, immediately before the cessation of hostilities, close to a large city, which afforded ample accommodation for the wounded; and out of 117 officers brought to the hospitals there, only 3 died, being 1 in 39, or a less proportion than at Gibraltar.