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being warned that, if he were guilty, the divinities would make his face appear streaked with black. When the thiefs turn came, he tried to outwit the gods by rubbing his finger on the bottom of the saucer; but, to his horror, when he reached the light, his face was all over black marks, the wily commander having held the sau cer over a lamp before commencing the experiment. In another case, where several servants were suspected of theft, each man was given a bamboo of the same length, marked with his name, which had to be deposited in an urn before a small shrine in the outer prison where they were confined. The offi cer announced that the culprit's rod would grow, by interposition of Providence, one inch during the night. The prisoners were then locked up, no watch being kept on the urn. On the reassembling of the court, one rod was found to be an inch shorter than the rest, as the thief had, under cover of darkness, endeavored to circumvent the sup posed divine power by biting a bit off his rod. When any article disappears from a private house, and one of the inmates is suspected of purloining it, it is usual, before having re course to the magistrate, whose underlings exact huge fees for doing anything, or noth ing, to call in a priest and hold a commina-

tion service. This consists in invoking the evil spirits and bribing them by offerings and music to hound the culprit to death within the year. It continues for three days and nights, if the terrified thief does not confess and make restitution before that time, — a result very frequently achieved. Europeans living in China have tried this method, but not with much success, as the gonging and other discordant sounds which constitute the " music " so effectually drive away sleep that the neighboring foreigners insist on its being intermitted during the night, and so, say the Chinese, spoil the charm. Of late years, Chinese newspapers on the European model have been started, and are well supported in the matter of advertise ments. So now the loser of bank-notes or other portable property can, and very fre quently does, announce his loss in good Chi nese in the columns of one of three leading dailies, offering suitable rewards for the re covery of his property and the detection of the thief. The European settlement at Shanghai alone of all the towns of China employs regular detectives at the expense of the ratepayers. When, if ever, the Chinese Government will follow the example set them by this " Western " community, it is impossible to predict. — Chambers Journal.