Curacoa is a well known and esteemed liqueur, usually made in Holland with the dried peel of the Curacoa orange, the peel being macerated with water, and then distilled with spirit and water. The result is sweetened with sugar, and a little Jamaica rum is often added. A palatable imitation can be made from the fresh peel of bitter oranges and whisky.

The fair of Nijni-Novgorod is the greatest in the world, the value of goods sold being as follows: 1841, $35,000,000; 1857, $60,000,000; 1876, $140,000,000; the attendance in the last named year including 150,000 merchants from all parts of the world. In that of Leipsic the annual average of sales is $20,000,000, comprising 20,000 tons of merchandise, of which two-fifths is books.

Coastguard is the name of a British organization formerly intended merely to prevent smuggling, but now constituted so as to serve as a defensive force also. The old coastguardsmen were in the employment of the Customs department; they were posted along the shore at spots commanding extensive views of the beach, and were expected to be always on the lookout for smugglers. In 1856 the coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty.

Ambergris is a fatty substance supposed to be a morbid secretion in the intestinal canal of the spermaceti whale. It is found in lumps weighing from half an ounce to one hundred pounds and upwards, either floating upon the sea or washed up on beaches. Often it is taken immediately from the whale., Ambergris is largely used in perfumery, and is worth about $30 an ounce. In general appearance it is like dirty, gray fat, with yellow or reddish striae. It contains little black spots, caused by the presence of the beaks of the sepia octopodia. Spec, gravity .780 to .920.

In commerce and political economy Barter is the exchange of one commodity for another, as contrasted with the sale of commodities for money. It is simply a primitive form of exchange carried on in countries in which the use of money has not yet been introduced or is not prevalent. It was an economic stage through which all communities must have passed. Even yet in many rude countries barter is very common; and European travelers find it convenient to take with them weapons, tools and ornaments to exchange with the natives for their commodities. In civilized communities barter is a very exceptional thing, having been superseded by the use of money in various forms.

The much abused "potato bug" or Colorado beetle is an oval insect, half an inch long, its body of yellow color, spotted with black, with ten black longitudinal stripes on the elytra. It is a native of the Rocky Mountains. It is specially destructive to potato crops, and has at various times done great damage to those of the United States and even managed to get into England and other countries.

General Washington, in 1789, visited a mill at Hartford, Conn., which made 5,000 yards of cloth and sold it at $5 a yard. Washington wrote in his diary: "Their broadcloths are not of the first quality as yet, but they are good, as are their cassinets, cassimeres, serges, and everlastings; of the broadcloth I ordered a suit to be sent to me at New York, and of the commoner goods a whole piece to make breeches for my servants."

In the working of railways very important advantages have been reaped from what is now known as the "block-system." The line is divided into a number of comparatively short sections, and no train is allowed to pass into a section till the signals at either end indicate that the section is entirely clear of other trains. The signals are directed by telegraph; and, if the system is strictly observed, collisions become impossible.

A viscid and adhesive substance which is placed on twigs of trees, or wire-netting, to catch the birds that may alight thereon, is thence called birdlime. It is generally prepared from the middle bark of the holly, mistletoe or distaff-thistle, by treating with water, boiling for several hours, straining and exposing to fermentation for several weeks. The result is a gelatinous mucilage, consisting mainly of a substance called viscin.

The degrees of alcohol in wines and liquors are: Beer, 4.0; porter, 4.5; ale, 7.4; cider, 8.6; Moselle, 9.6; Tokay, 10.2; Rhine, 11.0; Orange, 11.2; Bordeaux, 11.5; hock, 11.6; gooseberry, 11.8; Champagne, 12.2; claret, 13.3; Burgundy, 13.6; Malaga, 17.3; Lisbon, 18.5; Canary, 18.8; sherry, 19.0; Vermouth, 19.0; Cape, 19.2; Malmsey, 19.7; Marsala, 20.2; Madeira, 21.0; port, 23.2; Curacoa, 27.0; aniseed, 33.0; Maraschino, 34.0; Chartreuse, 43.0; gin, 51.6; brandy, 53.4; rum, 53.7; Irish whisky, 53.9; Scotch, 54.3

"High seas" means the open sea, including the whole extent of sea so far as it is not the exclusive property of any particular country. The rule of international law is that every country bordering on the sea has the exclusive sovereignty over such sea to the extent of three miles from its shores; but all beyond, not within three miles of some other country, is open or common to all countries. The part of sea within three miles' distance is generally called the territorial sea of the particular country, or mare clausum.

Koumiss is an intoxicating beverage much esteemed by the Kalmucks. It is made from the soured and fermented milk of mares, and has an acidulous taste. A spirit is obtained from it by distillation. The tribes which use koumiss are free from pulmonary phthisis, and the observation of this fact has led to the beneficial use of an artificial koumiss made of ass's and cow's milk in cases of consumption. Of late extensive establishments have been founded in the southeast of Russia for treating invalids with genuine koumiss; one at Samara is visited by fifteen hundred patients in a season.

The Non-importation Act was passed by Congress on March 2G, 1806, to prohibit the importation of British manufactures into the United States. The immediate cause of this prohibition was the annoyance caused by the "Leander" cruising off New York, and insisting on searching American vessels under pretence of looking for deserters. In one of these searches an American sailor, named Pearce, was killed, and the hostility of the States, which had long been smouldering, burst into a blaze.