[5] I must take this early opportunity of adding my tribute of gratitude to the compiler of these most invaluable volumes, the Hand-books of Northern and Southern Germany, they have been my constant companions, and I cannot do less than unite with every tourist, whom I met on the continent, in pronouncing them as matchless in the value and variety of their contents, as they are faultless in their accuracy. [6] It is the custom in Belgium, in order to distinguish one member of the same family, to append to the surname of the husband that of his lady. [7] At Ghent, this fee has been reduced to one half the sum. [8] De l’Industrie en Belgique, Causes de Decadence et de Prosperité, &c. par M. N. Briavionne, Bruxelles, 1839, vol. ii, p. 345. [9] By the French commercial code, there are three descriptions of trading companies. First, _sociétés en nom collectif_, with all the attributes of an ordinary partnership in England; secondly, _sociétés en commandite_, where the great majority of the associated capitalists are sleeping partners, with no share in the management, no name in the firm, and responsible only to the extent of their registered capital, one or more of the partners, alone, having the conduct of the establishment, and being responsible to the public to the full extent of their property; and thirdly, the _sociétés anonymes_, which are, in every incident and particular analogous to the joint stock companies of England, only with a liability, limited in every instance to the amount of their shares. [10] These engines are in great esteem, and I have found them in almost universal use in Belgium. The one alluded to above, was consuming from 5½ of to 6½ lbs. of coals, per hour, per horse power; whilst a low pressure engine in England, would require from 12 to 14lbs. In this country, they are likewise coming in greater demand, although here the saving of coal is a matter of less importance, and may be, in some degree, counterbalanced by the risk, and more frequent repairs, incidental to high pressure engines. [11] The price of coal at Ghent, when I visited its manufactories was 20 francs for 1000 kilogrammes, or about sixteen shillings a ton for coals of Mons, which are brought from a considerable distance by the Scheldt; those of Charleroi are of better quality, and a shade higher in price. Coals have increased in price in Belgium within the last few years, as well from the greater demand, as an apprehension that the coal fields of the Ardennes were rapidly exhausting, but this alarm has of late been regarded as groundless. England, with a liberality, which manufactoring jealousy scarcely sanctions, has recently permitted the free export of coal both to Belgium, France and Prussia, a boon for which these governments, which are prohibiting British manufactures, and their mechanics and mill owners, who are contending with our own for the market, cannot be too grateful.