eir church is diminished, and, a still more
lamentable consequence, a number of objects of priceless artistic
value destroyed or squandered, whereby the property of the church
suffers a serious loss."

How much richer might we be here in England if only our central
authorities had in the past circulated these admirable doctrines!

Very wisely has the Danish Government prohibited the removal of stones
from monuments of historic interest for utilitarian purposes, such as
is causing the rapid disappearance of the remains on Dartmoor in this
country; and the Greeks have stringent regulations to ensure the
preservation of antiquities, which are regarded as national property,
and may on no account be damaged either by owner or lessee. It has
actually been found necessary to forbid the construction of limekilns
nearer than two miles from any ancient ruins, in order to remove the
temptation for the filching of stones. In Italy there are stringent
laws for the protection of historical and ancient monuments.
Road-mending is a cause of much destruction of antiquarian objects in
all countries, even in Italy, where the law has been invoked to
protect ancient monuments from the highway authorities.

We need not record the legal enactments of other Governments, so
admirably summarized by Mr. Bond in his paper read before the Dorset
Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club. We see what other
countries much poorer than our own are doing to protect their national
treasures, and though the English Government has been slow in
realizing the importance of the ancient monuments of this country, we
believe that it is inclined to move in the right direction, and to do
its utmost to preserve those that have hitherto escaped the attacks of
the iconoclasts, and the heedlessness and stupidity of the Gallios
"who care for none of these things."

When an old building is hopelessly dilapidated, what methods can be
devised for its restoration and preservation? To pull it down and
rebuild it is to destroy its historical associations and to make it
practically a new structure. Happily science has recently discovered a
new method for the preserving of these old buildings without
destroying them, and this good angel is the grouting machine, the
invention of Mr. James Greathead, which has been the means of
preventing much of vanishing England. Grout, we understand, is a
mixture of cement, sand, and water, and the process of grouting was
probabl