_Abuses in County Prisons._—In the autumn of 1846, one of the officers of the Society, who had personally visited and inspected several of the county jails, made a voluminous report of their condition. His leading representations were, “the entire neglect of wholesome discipline, the intermingling of prisoners of both sexes and all ages, and every grade of crime, from murder to misdemeanor, and the idle and vicious habits in which the prisoners were allowed to live, made it almost a matter of doubt, whether the public would not, in the end, gain by abandoning most of the jails. Cases were mentioned, in which men had escaped and found honest employment, who, if they had staid their time out in jail, would probably, have sunk irreclaimably through the influence of such associations, as they must have encountered there.” _Vindication of our System._—In 1847 a volume was published in Boston, under the title of “Prison Discipline in America,” which was ably written, and though not _intending_ to misrepresent our system, really did so very greatly, from a want of a correct knowledge of the facts. The author being a gentleman of standing, and his work being favorably noticed in two of the principal periodicals published in that city, it was found that the prejudices previously existing against the system we had adopted, were likely to be strengthened and confirmed. To counteract this, and enlighten the public generally in relation to the true character of the “Pennsylvania System,” a pamphlet, written by one of our members, was published by our Society in 1849, entitled “_An Inquiry into the Alleged Tendency of the Separation of Convicts, one from the other, to produce disease and derangement_,” by a citizen of Pennsylvania: 160 pp., 8vo. This work had a wide circulation, and we trust has had a salutary influence in removing unfounded prejudices, and correcting erroneous impressions. _Colored Criminals._—In 1849, the Society entered into an investigation of “what was alleged to be a marked difference between the length of sentences passed on colored convicts, compared with those passed on whites, and also the comparative mortality of the two classes.” For the interesting results of this investigation, see the first number of volume 5th of our Journal, January, 1850.