18.--THAT, the practice prevails among certain of the magistrates of the county of Philadelphia, (names not given,) of committing to the county prison persons known to be guiltless of any offence to justify their commitments--that such persons are sometimes retained in prison for weeks, and it is added, that this reprehensible system puts the county to an increased expense, merely to place costs in the pockets of the committing magistrates. 19.--THAT, instruction on the Phonetic plan has been given with much success in several of the penal institutions abroad, among which are the Preston House of Correction and the Glasgow Bridewell. 20.--THAT, not a single case has yet been known of a convict's losing his reason as a necessary and natural consequence of being separated from other convicts. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We have to express our thanks to various friends for their thoughtful kindness in forwarding us copies of reports, and among them are the following: Annual reports of the Officers of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum for 1852. Twentieth Annual Report of the State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester, Mass. for 1852. Report of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane for the year 1852. Tenth Annual Report of the State Lunatic Asylum of the State of New York, 1852. Annual Report of the State Lunatic Asylum at Harrisburg, Penn. Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Inspectors of the Eastern State Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, 1852. Report of the Inspectors of the Western State Penitentiary of Pennsylvania for 1852. Sixteenth Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, 1852. Twentieth Annual Report of the Managers of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind for 1852. Report of the State Prison of New Jersey for 1852. Sixth Annual Report of the Trustees of the State Reform School at Westborough, Mass. Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the Prison Discipline Society of Boston, 1851-2. Act of Incorporation, By-Laws, &c., of New York Juvenile Asylum. Twenty-Eighth Annual Report of the Managers of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents of New York, 1852. Annual Report of Board of Managers of Philadelphia Charity Schools, 1852. Report of Managers of the Magdalen Society for 1852. Annual Report of the Managers of the Boston Asylum and Farm School for 1852. Eight Report of the Baltimore Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys for 1852. Report of Commissioners on the State Reform School of Pennsylvania. * * * * * PREMIUM FOR AN ESSAY ON JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.--At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the House of Refuge, Philadelphia, the following preamble and resolution were adopted, viz: