The first line of railway was opened in 1839, and the progress of construction was slow till 1861, from the beginning of which year till the end of 1866 the length opened for traffic rose to 2,902 chilometri, or 1,803 English miles. In the following six years, till the end of 1872, the length opened for traffic was 1,663 chilometri, or 1,033 English miles, and in the next three years, till the end of 1875, it was 932 chilometri, or 579 English miles. The construction of railways by the State was begun in recent years, in order to extend, more rapidly than private enterprise was willing to do, the existing network of lines. In October 1875, the government purchased from the South-Austrian and Lombardo-Venetian railway company the Italian portion of the system, or the 'Alta Italia' lines, of a length of 1,444 chilometri, or 897 English miles.

In the sessions of 1878 and 1879 the Italian Parliament passed bills for the construction of additional 6,020 chilometros, of 3,739 miles of railway, to complete the existing system. The new lines are to be built within a period of fifteen years, at a total cost of 1,000,000,000 lire, or 40,000,000l., with a State contribution of 650,000,000 lire, or 26,000,000l., paid in annual instalments of 50,000,000 lire, or 2,000,0007.

The number of post-offices in the kingdom at the commencement of 1880, was 3,272. In the year 1879 the post conveyed 163,477,173 letters and postcards, 67,831,955 parcels, and 143,729,598 newspapers. The revenue in 1879 did not cover the expenditure.

The length of telegraph lines, at the commencement of 1880, was 23,738 chilometri, or 14,742 English miles, nearly two-thirds of the whole belonging to the Government. There were, at the same date, 1,795 telegraph offices. The number of telegrams forwarded in the year 1879 throughout the kingdom was 5,095,200, including 305,422 official telegrams. The revenue in 1879 amounted to 10,593,797 lire, or 423,7491., and the expenditure to 6,924,805 lire, or 276,9921.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. Of Italy in Great Britain.

Ambassador.-Lieut.-General Count Menabrea, Marquis of Val-Dora, accredited May 8, 1876.

Councillor of Embassy.-Chevalier C. Ressmann.

Secretaries.-Chevalier Tomaso Catalani; Jo. Silvestrelli; Count Menabrea.
Military Attaché.-Major Leitniky.
Naval Attaché.-Capt. Labrano.

2. Of Great Britain in Italy.

Ambassador.-Sir Augustus Berkeley Paget, born in 1821; envoy to the Netherlands, 1854-56; to Portugal, 1857-58; to Prussia, 1858-59; to Denmark, 1859-66; and to Portugal, 1866-67. Appointed envoy and minister to Italy, July 6, 1867; raised to the rank of ambassador March 24, 1876.

Secretaries. Hugh Guion Macdonell; Frank Lascelles; John G. Kennedy; W. G. S. Compton.

Naval Attaché.-Capt. Nicholson.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Italy are the same as those of France, the names only being altered, the Franc changing into the Lira, divided into 100 centesimi, the Kilogramme into the Chilogramma, the Mètre into the Metro, the Hectare into the Ettaro, and so on. The British equivalents are:

MONEY.

The Lira, of 100 Centesimi = Average rate of exchange (gold), 25 to 17. sterling.

The common currency of the kingdom in recent years has been paper money of various denomination, gold standing at a premium of from 10 to 12 per cent.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Italy. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annali del Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio, 1879. 8. Roma, 1881.

Annuario Generale dell' Industria e Commercio del Regno d'Italia pell'Anno 1880. 8. Firenze, 1881.

Annuario del Ministero delle Finanze del Regno d'Italia pel 1880. Anno XVIII. 8. Roma, 1881.

Annuario della Instruzione Pubblica del Regno d'Italia pel 1879-80. 8. Roma, 1881.

8.

Roma, 1881.

Annuario Pontificio.
L'Italia economica nel 1880.

Publicazione ufficiale. 8. Roma. 1881. Movimento della Navigazione Italiana e Straniera nei Porti del Regno. Anno XIX. S. Roma, 1881.

Statistica Amministrativa del Regno d'Italia. Riveduta ed ampliata per cura del Ministero dell' Interno. 4. Roma, 1881.

Statistica dei Bilanci Communali per gli anni 1878-79. 8. Roma, 1880. Statistica della Popolazione. Censimento generale (31 dic. 1871) per cura della direzione della statistica generale del Regno. 8. Firenze, 1872.

Statistica elettorale politica. Elezioni generali degli anni 1861, 1865–66, 1867, 1870 e 1874. 8. Roma, 1876.

Statistica del Commercio speciale di Importazione e di Esportazione. Fol. Roma, 1881.

Report by Mr. Edw. Herries, Secretary of Legation, on the financial condition of Italy, dated Rome, February 3, 1875; in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part II., 1875. 8. London, 1875.

Report by Mr. Edw. Herries, Secretary of Legation, on the foreign trade of Italy in 1874, dated Rome, March 1875; in 'Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part III. 1875. 8. London, 1875.

Report by Mr. Edward Malet, Secretary of Legation, on the trade between Great Britain and Italy, dated Rome, March 12, 1877; in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part II. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Reports by Mr. Consul Lowe, on the trade of Civita Vecchia; and by Mr. Consul Colnaghi, on the industry of Florence and the yield of cocoons in Italy; dated October 1877; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1878. 8. London, 1878.

Reports by Mr. Consul Calvert on the trade and commerce of Naples; by Mr. Consul Grant on the trade of Brindisi; by Mr. Consul Pernis on the trade of Cagliari; and by Mr. Consul Smallwood on the commerce and shipping of Venice, dated March-June, 1876; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls." Part V. 1876. 8. London, 1876.

Reports by Mr. Vice-Consul Tomassini on the trade and commerce of Ancona; by Mr. Consul Colnaghi on the silk industry, fisheries, and mineral products of Italy; and by Mr. Acting-Consul Barff on the trade and commerce of Naples, dated September-November, 1876; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part I. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Reports by Mr. Consul Grant on the trade of Brindisi; by Mr. Consul Colnaghi on the industry of Florence and the province of Forli; by Mr. Consul Yeats Brown on the trade and shipping of Genoa; and by Mr. Consul Smallwood on the commerce of Venice, dated January 1877; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part II. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Reports by Mr. Consul Pernis on the trade and industry of the island of

Sardinia; and by Mr. Consul Colnaghi on the industrial condition of Northern Italy, dated March 1877; in Commercial Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part III. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Reports by Mr. Consul Grant on the commerce of Brindisi; by Mr. Consul Colnaghi, Florence, on the decrease of the English iron trade in Italy; and by Mr. Consul Small wood on the commerce of Venice, dated May-June 1877; in • Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part V. 1877. 8. London, 1877.

Reports by Mr. Vice-Consul Tomassini on the trade of Ancona; by Mr. Consul Yates-Brown on the commerce of Genoa; and by Mr. Consul Smallwood on the commerce of Venice, dated January 1878; in Reports of H.M.'s Consuls.' Part II. 1878. S. London, 1878.

Reports by Mr. Consul Joel on the commerce of Brindisi; by Mr. Consul Grant on the trade and commerce of Naples; and by Mr. Consul Smallwood on the commerce of Venice, dated February-May 1878; in Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part IV. 1878. 8. London, 1878.

Reports by Mr. Consul Yates-Brown on the commerce of Genoa, and by Consular-Agent De Zuccato on the trade and commerce of Venice, dated January-February 1879; in 'Reports from H.M.'s Consuls.' Part II. 1879. 8. London, 1879.

Trade of Italy with the United Kingdom; in Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions for the year 1880.' Imp. 4. London, 1881.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Annuario Industriale Italiano pel 1881, ossia Dizionario statistico-storico commerciale d'Italia. 8. Napoli, 1880.

Bodio (Luigi), Sui documenti statistici del Regno d' Italia, cenni bibliografici, presentati al VI Congresso internazionale di statistica. 8. Firenze, 1868. Cesare (Carlo de), Il Passato, il Presente e l'Avvenire della Pubblica Amministrazione nel Regno d'Italia. 8. Firenze, 1865.

Correnti e Maestri (N.), Annuario Statistico Italiano. 8. Torino, 1881. Fornelli (Marchese Giov.), Miscellanea geografico-storico-politica su l'Italia. 8. Napoli, 1869.

Gallenga (A.), Italy revisited. 2 vols. 8. London, 1876.

Giugni (Ferdinando), Dizionario dei Comuni del Regno d'Italia. 2 vols. 8. Firenze, 1870-72.

Guida Generale del Commercio e dell' Industria Italiana per il 1880. 4. Milano, 1881.

Laveleye (Emile da) L'Italie actuelle. 8. Paris, 1881.

Lossa (Augusto), Annuario del commercio ed industria del Regno d'Italia. 8. Firenze, 1881.

Morpurgo (Emilio), La Finanza Italiana della Fondazione del Regno fino a questi Giorni. 8. Roma, 1874.

Muzzi (Prof. S.), Vocabolario geografico-storico-statistico dell' Italia. 2 vols. Bologna, 1873-74.

Stivieri (N.), Geografia e statistica commerciale del Regno d'Italia. 4. Venezia, 1879.

MONTENEGRO.

(TCHERNAGORA-KARA-DAGH.)

Reigning Prince.

Nicholas I., Petrovic Njegos, born September 13 (September 25), 1841; educated at Paris; proclaimed Prince of Montenegro, as successor of his uncle, Danilo I., August 13, 1860. Married, November 8, 1860, to Milena Pétrovna Vucoticova, born April 22, 1847, daughter of Peter Vucotic, senator, and commander of the lifeguard. Offspring of the union are five daughters and one son, Danilo Alexander, heir-apparent, born June 30, 1871.

The reigning prince is descended from Petrovic Njegos, proclaimed Vladika, or prince-bishop, of Montenegro, in 1697, who liberated the country from the Turks, and, having established himself as both spiritual and temporal ruler, entered into a religious and political alliance with Russia. His successors retained the theocratic power till the death of Peter Petrovic, October 31, 1851, last Vladika of Montenegro, a ruler of great wisdom, as well as a widely celebrated poet. He was succeeded by his nephew, Danilo I., who abandoned the title of Vladika, together with the spiritual functions attached to it, and substituted that of Hospodar, or Prince. At the same time Danilo I., to throw off a remnant of nominal dependency from Turkey, acknowledged by his predecessors, obtained the investiture and formal sanction of his new title from Russia. Danilo I., assassinated August 13, 1860, was succeeded by his nephew, second Hospodar of Montenegro.

Former rulers of Montenegro possessed the whole of the revenues of the country, but a general assembly of representatives of the inhabitants of the principality, which met April 10, 1868, decided to separate from the public the private income of the Hospodar, granting him an annual civil list of 2,000 ducats, or 350l. To this small allowance the Emperor of Russia added 8,000 ducats, or 1,4007., and the Austrian Government 20,000 florins, or 2,000l., raising the annual income of the Hospodar to 3,7501.

Government and Population.

The constitution of the country, dating from 1852, with changes effected in 1855 and 1879, is that of a limited monarchy, resting on patriarchal foundation. The executive authority rests with the reigning Prince, while the legislative power is vested, according to an Administrative Statute' proclaimed March 21, 1879, in a State