the ships on the Admiralty list enjoy almost absolute immunity from loss by this cause. The foregoing indicates the way in which minute water-tight sub-division has come to be widely regarded. Much requires yet to be done to reach the end desirable, as there are many vessels built prior to the movement sadly deficient in the qualities concerned. The bulkhead near the bow—the “collision” bulkhead, as it is termed—has done noble service in many cases of collision, and it is with reason that its position and structural character in all vessels are subject to special supervision and made a condition of classification in the Registries. Recently it has been made imperative by Lloyd’s Society that vessels over 330 feet long should have two additional water-tight bulkheads extending to the upper deck, in the holds, forward and aft of the machinery compartment. The requirements of this Registry, it may be said, constitute at once an anticipation and a reflex of the needs of merchant ship construction. In water-tight sub-division, as in other matters, the Society and its large staff of able surveyors are “powers which make for” sterling efficiency. The extended adoption of double bottoms is specially contributory to the safety of vessels in the event of their running over a reef into deep water, or in going ashore. Numerous instances are on record of steamships so constructed sustaining damage to the outer skin, and yet—because of the inner bottom remaining intact and perfectly water-tight—no serious damage resulting. The case of the _Great Eastern_ is an early yet notable example. This great vessel in 1860 ran over a reef of rocks and tore a hole 80 feet long and 10 feet wide in her outer skin, yet, because of this feature in her construction, she was placed in no jeopardy.