_Number of Surnames._--Probably some of your numerous correspondents could give me some idea as to the number of surnames there are in this country used by British subjects. We have no good work on surnames, as those of Lower and others do not go sufficiently into the subject to satisfy the curiosity of those who wish to know the origin and date of the names in use among us. A work of some study and research, giving all the names in use at present in the country, and showing when they were first adopted or brought into the country, with the changes that have been made in them, would be very interesting, and as worthy, if not more so, than many that are brought before the public. J. H. P.S.--I would suggest that the names should be classed in the different periods of history, beginning with the Britons. LICENSE TO MAKE MALT IN 1596. Among the old family deeds relating to the manor of Wishanger, I find the following curious and interesting document. It affords evidence that in 1596 there was a dearth of corn which was general through the kingdom; that barley was then much used for bread; that there was a custom, either general, or occasioned by the scarcity, that the poor should be served in open market, at an accustomed hour; that one of the means relied upon to supply food to the people was to restrain the making of malt; and, therefore, that malt liquor must have been very generally consumed by our forefathers at that time. The writing is in perfect preservation, and the ink jet black. I give it in the original orthography, according to the literature of those easy times when every man spelled that that was right in his own eyes and the world was little troubled with dictionaries or critics. JULIUS PARTRIGE. Birmingham.