I am to add that in order to make the constitution of the committee, when considering this question, agree with that of the statutory life-saving appliances committee indicated in the seventeenth schedule to the merchant shipping act, 1894, the board have followed the course adopted on previous occasions, and have invited Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping and the Institute of London Underwriters to select a representative who will be available to sit on the advisory committee when the question is under consideration. I am, etc., WALTER J. HOWELL. The SECRETARY, _Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee_, _7, Whitehall Gardens, S. W_. * * * * * EXTENSION OF LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS TABLES. It will be seen that I have given priority in importance to the form of ships' boats rather than to their number on the principle that a few reliable boats are of greater value than a large number of indifferent ones; but if the former desirable condition can be obtained by the proposed alterations in our rules as to measurement, etc., we are freer to approach the question of adding to the number of boats provided for in the existing tables. As with the question of ratio D: B dealt with by the advisory committee last year, so with the question of boat increase and relative increase of cubic capacity dealt with by them on the same occasion, perhaps the board might inform the committee that they are not satisfied that a slightly different recommendation might not have been made had the matter been still further considered at the time. Referring to the table of boat capacities computed by them particularly it might be helpful if the board laid before them for consideration the table, which I attach hereto and submit, as showing a more reasonable proportionate increase in capacity than appears so far, in my opinion, in the other papers before us. It will be seen in this statement that the number of boats recommended by the advisory committee is practically retained, but the unit of increase in capacity is put at 300 cubic feet.