Thus resolved by the National Council to be submitted to the popular vote of the Swiss people and of the Cantons. Bern, January 31, 1874. ZIEGLER, President. Thus resolved by the Council of States, to be submitted to the popular vote of the Swiss people and of the Cantons. Bern, January 31, 1874. A. KOPP, President. Of all the foreign federal constitutions now in operation, the most important for comparison with the Constitution of the United States is that of Switzerland. Switzerland is composed of the most ancient group of republics which still retain their republican institutions; it is also the oldest confederation now in existence; in many respects it bears a strong resemblance in government to the United States, and many problems common to both federations have been worked out in Switzerland in a manner most instructive to Americans. The foundation of the Swiss Constitution is the old Swiss Federation which lasted from 1291 to 1798. The system of government was loose yet complicated. Privileged classes and inequalities between citizens and between districts prevented a strong feeling of union. By the intervention of the French in 1798 a single centralized state was substituted for the thirteen old cantons. This government was so foreign to the spirit of the people that in 1803 Napoleon granted a moderately centralized federal government under the so-called Act of Mediation. At the downfall of the French Empire a looser confederation, not unlike that still existing in 1798, was substituted, and considerable additions of territory were made. The Constitution proved too narrow for the purposes of the nation, and did not prevent political and religious struggles, which culminated in civil war. In 1848 a new Constitution, modelled in many respects after that of the United States, was adopted. Still later, in 1874, under the influence of the triumph of the federal principle in the American Civil War and the foundation of the Canadian and German federations, that Constitution was remodelled in the form shown above. Several amendments have since been passed and incorporated into the body of the Constitution. By far the best books in English on the constitutional history of Switzerland are: "The Federal Government of Switzerland, An Essay on the Consti tution," by Bernard Moses, San Francisco, 1889; and " The Swiss Confederation," by Sir Francis Ottiwell Adams and C. D. Cunningham, London and New York, 1889. Both books are elaborate descriptions and discussions of the workings of the Swiss government. Briefer accounts in English may be found in Woolsey's "Political Science," Vol. II, pp. 208-223; and in Woodrow Wilson's recent treatise on "The State," §§ 505-577. Edward Freeman in the introduction to his "History of Federal Government" (London, 1863) alludes to rather than describes the Swiss government, but his essay on "Presidential Government” (National Review, November, 1864; reprinted in his " Historical Essays ") is an interesting and valuable comparison of the American and Swiss systems. A somewhat detailed historical account will be found in May's “Democracy in Europe," Vol. I, pp. 333– 403. The article in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth edition, may also be consulted. Statistical and political details for each year are best obtained in the annual "Statesman's Year Book." The topography of the country is excellently shown in Baedeker's standard "Handbook of Switzerland," which is revised every few years, and which abounds in local historical details. The elaborate works on the Swiss Constitution are almost all in German. Oechsli in his "Quellenbuch," Zürich, 1886, gives the texts of all the documents embodying the Swiss Constitution from its foundation. Texts of present Constitutions, federal and cantonal, may be found in Demombyne's "Constitutions Européennes," Paris, 1881, Vol. II, pp. 271320; and in the official "Sammlung" or "Recueil," Bern, 1880. The laws and resolutions of the Confederation, including constitutional amendments, are in the official “ Amtliche Sammlung der Bundesgesetze und Verordnungen," Bern, 1889. Meyer has issued a succession of works: "Geschichte des schweizerischen Bundesrechts," 1875 and 1878; "Eidgenossische Bundesverfassung, Bundesgesetze und Bundesbeschlüsse," 1876; "Staats Kalender der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft," 188.. Bluntschli has published a "Staats und Rechts Geschichte der Schweiz," 1849, and a more important "Geschichte des schweizerischen Bundesrechts von den ersten ewigen Bunden bis auf die Gegenwart," two vols., 1849-52, 2d edition, Vol. I, 1875. More useful are the compact treatises of Jacob Dubs, "Das öffentliche Recht der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft,” 1877–78, two parts (also, in a French edition, “Droit publique de la Confédération Suisse,” Zurich, 1878), and of A. von Orelli, "Das Staatsrecht der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft" (in Marquardsen's "Handbuch des öffentlichen Rechts"), Freiburg, i, B., 1885. Dubs devotes himself to a critical discussion of the workings of the Constitution, with much information not usually to be found in legal works and with frequent references to the United States. The most voluminous work on Swiss history is Dändliker, "Geschichte der Schweiz," 3 vols., Zurich, 1884-1887. In French two works need to be mentioned: A. Morin, "Précis de l'Histoire Politique de la Suisse," 5 vols., Geneva, 1856–1875; and Dareste's "Constitutions Modernes," Paris, 1883, Vol. I, pp. 439-469. There is also a Spanish work, by Moreno, Principales Constituciones o Instituciones Politicas... de la Confederacione Helvetica," Madrid, 1881. 66 Brief bibliographies of the subject are in Wilson's "State," p. 333 ; the "Statesman's Year Book," end of article on Switzerland; Dubs' "Droit Publique," pp. 62-63; Oechsli, pp. 562-566; Dareste, Vol. I, p. 469. OLD SOUTH LEAFLETS, GENERAL SERIES. No. 1. The Constitution of the United States. 2. The Articles of Confederation. 3. The Declaration of Independence. 4. Washington's Farewell Address. 5. Magna Charta. 6. Vane's "Healing Question." 7. Charter of Massachusetts Bay, 1629. 8. Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1638. 9. Franklin's Plan of Union, 1754. 10. Washington's Inaugurals. II. Lincoln's Inaugurals and Emancipation Proclamation. 12. The Federalist, Nos. I and 2 13. The Ordinance of 1787. 14. The Constitution of Ohio.* 15. Washington's Letter to the Governors of the States, 1783. 16. Washington's Letter to Benjamin Harrison, 1784. 17. Verrazzano's Voyage, 1524. 18. Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation, 1874.* *Double number, price ten cents. PUBLISHED FOR SCHOOLS AND THE TRADE BY D. C. HEATH & CO., 5 Somerset St., Boston. Illustrations of Geology and Geography. For Use in Schools and Families. Consisting of twenty-five large photographs and an equal number of colored plaster models. By N. S. SHALER, Professor of Paleontology, assisted by WM. M. DAVIS, Assistant Professor of Physical Geogra phy, and T. W. HARRIS, Assistant in Botany, in Harvard University. Price for the set of 50 pieces, $100. Appended to each photograph and model is a description of the important point or structure illustrated, with occasional small diagrams to show the detailed structure of the field. Guides for Science Teaching. Published under the auspices of the Boston Society of Natural History. 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