surrounding Cantons; a third, Zurich and the Cantons bordering upon it; a fourth, central and part of east Switzerland; and the fifth, Italian Switzerland. The court annually divides itself for criminal business into three sections; a Chamber of Accusation and a Criminal Chamber, each composed of three judges and three alternates, and a Court of Criminal Appeal (_Tribunal de Cassation_), with five judges and five alternates. Sentences are only valid when the court consists of five members. The Criminal Chamber decides at what places in the several districts assizes shall be held. The localities selected furnish at their own cost places of meeting. The cantonal police and court officials serve as officers of the court. The court elects every six years, to hold for the whole term of the court, two “Judges of Inquest” (_Untersuchungsrichter_), who are charged with the preparation of cases. The federal assizes are composed of the Criminal Chamber and a jury of twelve, elected in the Cantons by the people, and drawn by lot from the list of the district in which the assizes are to be held. There is one juror for every one thousand inhabitants in the first four districts as above given; and one for every five hundred in the fifth district. With certain exceptions, every citizen having the right to vote in federal matters is eligible as a juror. The exemptions are: those of the full age of sixty, those whose names were placed on the previous list of jurors, and those who are incapacitated by sickness or infirmity. The names of all the jurors of the district are placed in an urn, and fifty-four are drawn by lot. The _Procureur-général_ or states-attorney, appointed by the Federal Council for the case, has the right to challenge twenty and the accused also twenty; the remaining fourteen are summoned, and two of this number are selected by lot to act as substitutes in case of need. In order to acquit or condemn a prisoner there must be a majority of at least ten out of the twelve; otherwise, a new trial must take place with another jury. These federal assizes are of rare occurrence, the last one being at Neuchâtel in 1879, when an anarchist was condemned for a crime against international law (instigation to the assassination of sovereigns).