900 to
L62,286 in 1905, the most important exporting countries being:--

1900. 1905.
Germany L22,594 L34,752 +L12,158
Belgium 18,800 11,864 - 6,936
Holland 9,771 12,750 + 2,979

Small British re-exports of willows (L1808 in 1900 and L371 in 1905) and of
baskets (L3785 in 1900 and L6633 in 1905) to foreign parts and British
possessions are tabulated. No particulars of exports of British produce and
manufacture are specified in the returns.

(T. O.)

[1] See the report of a paper by T. Okey, published in the _Journal_ of the
Society of Arts, January 11th, 1907.

BASKET-BALL, a game adapted to the open air, but usually played upon the
floor of a gymnasium and in the cold season. It was the invention, in 1891,
of James Naismith, an instructor in the gymnasium of the Young Men's
Christian Association training-school at Springfield, Massachusetts. A
demand had arisen for a game for the gymnasium class, which would break the
monotony and take the place, during the winter months, of football and
baseball, and which was not too rough to be played indoors. The idea of the
game was first published in the _Triangle_, the school paper. It soon
became one of the most popular indoor games of America, for girls as well
as for men, and spread to England and elsewhere.

Basket-ball is played on a marked-off space 60 ft. by 40 ft. in extent,
though in the open air the dimensions may be greater. In the middle of each
short side and 10 ft. above the floor or ground, is placed a basket
consisting of a net suspended from a metal ring 18 in. in diameter, backed,
at a distance of 6 in., by a back-board 6 ft. long and 4 ft. high. The
object of the game is to propel an inflated, leather-covered ball, 30 in.
in circumference, into the opponents' basket, which is the goal, by
striking it with the open hands. The side wins that scores most goals
during two periods of play divided by an interval of rest. Although there
is practically no limit to the number of players on each side, all indoor
matches are played by teams of five, in positions opposing one another as
in lacrosse, centre, right and left forwards and right and left guards (or
backs). A referee has the general supervision of the game and decides when
goals have been properly scored, and an umpire watches for infringements of
the rules, which constitute _fouls_. There are also a scorer and
timekeeper.

The game is started with the two op