celebrated Daniel Lambert, the heaviest lump of humanity this country
has yet produced, for he was an apprentice to Mr. John Taylor, button
maker, of Crooked Lane. His indentures were cancelled through his
becoming so fat and unwieldy, and he was sent back to his father, the
then governor of Leicester gaol. Daniel died June 21st, 1809, at
Stamford, where he was buried; his age was 39, and he weighed 52 stone
11 lb. (at 14 lb. the stone), measuring 9 ft. 4 in. round the body, and
3 ft. 1 in. round the thick of each of his legs.

~Lancashire Distress.~--The accounts of the Local Fund raised for the
relief of the cotton operatives of Lancashire were published Aug. 3,
1863, showing receipts amounting L15,115 4s. 10d.

~Lamps.~--The number of ordinary lamps in the borough, under the control
of the Public Works Department, on the 31st of December, 1882, was
6,591, of which number 1,950 are regulated to consume 5.20 cubic feet,
and the remainder, or 4,641, 4.30 cubic feet per hour; their cost
respectively inclusive of lighting, cleaning, and extinguishing, was L2
12s. 4-1/2d., and L2 5s. 2-1/4d. per lamp per annum. In addition there
are 93 special and 53 urinal lamps.

~Lands.~--In Birmingham it is bought and sold by the square yard, and
very pretty prices are occasionally paid therefor; our agricultural
friends reckon by acres, roods, and perches. The Saxon "hyde" of land,
as mentioned in Domesday Book and other old documents, was equivalent to
100, or, as some read it, 120 acres; the Norman "Carncase" being
similar.

~Land Agency.~--An International Land and Labour Agency was established
at Birmingham by the Hon. Elihu Burritt in October, 1869; its object
being to facilitate the settlement of English farmers and mechanics in
the United States, and also to supply American orders for English
labourers and domestic servants of all kinds. Large numbers of
servant-girls in England, it was thought, would be glad to go to
America, but unable to pay their passage-money, and unwilling to start
without knowing where they were to go on arriving. This agency advanced
the passage-money, to be deducted from the first wages; but, though the
scheme was good and well meant, very little advantage was taken of the
agency, and, like some other of the learned blacksmith's notions, though
a fair-looking tree, it bore very little fruit.

~Land and Building Societies.~--Though frequently considered to be quite
a modern invention, the plan of