----------------+-------------------------+------------------------- | PIG IRON. | STEEL. COUNTRIES. +------------+------------+------------+------------ | 1897. | 1898. | 1897. | 1898. ----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------ United States | 9,807,123 | 11,962,817 | 7,289,300 | 9,045,815 United Kingdom | 8,980,088 | 8,769,249 | 4,559,736 | 4,639,042 Germany | 6,889,087 | 7,402,717 | 5,091,294 | 5,784,807 +------------+------------+------------+------------ Total | 25,626,296 | 28,134,383 | 16,940,330 | 19,418,664 | | | | Austria-Hungary | 1,205,000 | 1,250,000 | 553,000 | 605,500 Belgium | 1,024,666 | 982,748 | 616,604 | 658,130 Canada | 41,500 | 46,880 | -- | -- France | 2,472,143 | 2,584,427 | 1,281,595 | 1,441,638 Italy | 12,500 | 12,850 | 57,250 | 58,750 Russia | 1,857,000 | 2,228,850 | 831,000 | 1,095,000 Spain | 282,171 | 261,799 | 121,800 | 112,605 Sweden | 533,800 | 570,550 | 268,300 | 289,750 All other | 450,000 | 545,000 | 310,000 | 355,000 +------------+------------+------------+------------ Grand total | 33,506,076 | 36,507,487 | 20,979,179 | 24,030,032 ----------------+------------+------------+------------+------------ [C] A metric ton is about 2,200 pounds. * * * * * Although fewer casual members or members for the year than usual were present at the recent meeting of the British Association at Dover, the attendance of distinguished men of science and of active scientific workers, according to the London Times, seemed to be greater. And so far as the proper work of the association is concerned, the meeting should take a high rank. Excellent and serious work was done in all the sections. * * * * * A paper has been published by Pliny T. Sexton, of Palmyra, N. Y., setting forth reasons for favoring the unification of the whole educational system of the State of New York under the jurisdiction of a single board--that of the Regents of the University. The reasons are presented in the form of various newspaper articles which were published last year against a proposition of an opposite character--to abolish the present Department of Public Instruction and create a State Commission of Education, the affiliations of which would be political. Mr. Sexton has further offered two prizes of one hundred dollars each for articles or essays by women and similar productions by men in support of the proposed unification. * * * * *