directed the appropriation of the uppermost bench of the gallery to the reporters' exclusive use, with s door in the centre, by which they alone had a night to enter. Soon after, a small 'Reporters' Room' was added. The Lords followed the Lower House in providing accommodation for the press. During the debates on Catholic emancipation, a small space below the bar was railed off for them, and a session or two afterwards, a seat was formally set apart for the reporters. When the Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834, an exclusive gallery was allotted to the reporters in both chambers of the temporary structure in which the legislature held its sittings. This arrangement has been continued in the splendid new Palace of Westminster, in which the two Houses now hold their deliberations. In the House of Lords, the Reporters' Gallery faces the throne and the woolsack, and is one of the most prominent internal features of the edifice. Complaint having been made of the inaudibility of the speakers, their lordships appointed a select committee, examined the reporters, the architect, &c., and took all possible measures to make themselves heard in the gallery. In the House of Commons, the Reporters' Gallery is behind the chair. Both Houses provide them with rooms and other conveniences for transcribing their notes. In the Lower House, one of the committee rooms has been set apart for their use; and a room occupying the site of the old Star Chamber has recently been given to them for a club-room.

The modern process of parliamentary reporting may be best described by a sketch of the arrangements made by the Times newspaper for a due and expeditious transcript of the debates. The Times parliamentary corps is sixteen in number, who are equally divided between the two Houses. When one House rises, the entire corps is available for duty in the other, so long as it sits. It thus happens that one of a series of reporters is constantly in the gallery of the Lords, and another in the Commons. Like sentinels, they cannot leave their places until they are relieved by a colleague, but this relief takes place with unvarying regubrity every quarter of an hour. When both Houses are sitting, each reporter has thus an hour and three-quarters for the work of transcribing his shorthand notes for the printer-a sufficiently short interval, when it is remembered that a moderate speaker will fill three-quarters of a column, and a rapid speaker not unfrequently a column, in a quarter of an hour. When his turn again comes round, each reporter must be ready to resume the duty of note-taking, and afterwards that of transcription for the press. By maintaining this quick succession of reporters, the process of writing for the press is never interrupted until the whole debate of the evening in both Houses is in the hands of the printer. Å long speech may thus be said to extend from the mouth of the speaker to Printing House Square. A part will be wet with ink on the reporters' table; one section will be travelling over Westminster Bridge, and another over Blackfriars Bridge, in swift relays of cabs; a portion, becoming larger every few minutes, will be in the hands of the compositors, and a proof-sheet ready printed, of the earlier passages, will be on the desk of the editor. On some few occasions, when a minister has been more than usually anxious to secure the accurate publication of important statements, a proof impression of a verbatim report of nearly the whole of his speech has been placed in his hands, to his extreme astonishment, as soon as he resumed his seat. The mechanical arrangements of the printing-office are equally designed to

secure expedition and accuracy. The parliamentary system of the other morning newspapers resembles that of the Times, but as the numerical strength of their corps does not quite reach that of the leading journal in any case, and sometimes falls considerably below it, the periods of note-taking and relief' proportionately vary. A still more startling application of modern science exists in the introduction of the electric telegraph into the Houses of Parliament, by means of which portions of parliamentary speeches are in the hands of newspaper editors at Birmingham, Liverpool, Edinburgh, &c., and may be read by the public in those towns, before the speaker has resumed his seat.

No parliamentary reporter now thinks of relying upon his memory: all take notes, and the great majority write some system or other of Shorthand (q. v.). A few years ago, the object desired by newspaper proprietors was not a literal report, but what may be called the spirit of a speech-a faithful abridg. ment, in fact, of the sentiment, matter, and style of the speaker. But parliamentary reports may now be said to err on the side of diffuseness rather than brevity, the debates of a single evening not unfrequently occupying between 20 and 30 columns of small type. It is well that the chief speeches should be reported with a fulness and correctness that astonish every one who hears them delivered; but the tendency to report at almost the same length inferior speeches, containing the same ideas in more diluted language, has gone far to make the parliamentary debates less readable of late years

It only remains to say a few words respecting Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, the only publication since the Mirror of Parliament which professes to give all the speeches fully and accurately. We have already pointed out (see HANSARD) that no staff of reporters is engaged for this work, and that when members quote Hansard, for the purpose of convicting an opponent of inconsistency, they are fully aware they are citing from the report of some daily journal; but they take it for granted the passage has been specially brought under the notice of the speaker by the editor of that publication, and it is therefore presumed that the report is authentic. Hansard, however, has no representative in the Gallery, and it is sometimes said that members assume so much licence to correct, add, and erase, that the historical value of this record is materially lessened. The historian of party struggles, who, when he approached the year 1805, had to take leave of the Parliamentary History, remarks: 'It requires no little resolution to sink a shaft into that solid mass of mixed ore and rubbish which succeeds it-viz., Hansard's Parliamentary Debates-and which, however valuable for the purpose of detecting individual inconsistencies, will perhaps render the debates of this century as little known as those of the time of Queen Anne. These voluminous reports of unimportant debates will in time form rather an embarrassing monument of the vanity of our senators.'-See Cooke's History of Party, vol. iii. p. 458.

The constitutional importance of the present system of parliamentary reporting can scarcely be overrated. It enables the entire people to be present, and in a manner to assist in the deliberations of parliament. The English orator addresses, indeed, not only the assembly of which he is a member, but, through it, the civilised world. Publicity has become one of the most important: instruments of parliamentary government. Long before a measure can be adopted by the legislature, it has been approved or condemned by the public voice; and, living and acting in public, parliament. under a free representation has become as sensitive

government, and the chief question is, By what test can the best approximate estimate of social value be arrived at? Two different schemes for this purpose have been proposed by Mr J. S. Mill and Professor Lorimer respectively the former founded mainly on intelligence as indicated by instruction, and the latter on wealth and social position. The attention of political writers has also lately been directed to the question of the representation of minorities, who at present are not even allowed a hearing in representative assemblies. The most feasible scheme for this purpose is perhaps that of Mr Hare, which has the approval of Mr J. S. Mill, by which those who do not like the local candidates, are to be allowed to fill up voting papers by a selection from the names of any persons on the list of candidates, with whose general political principles they sympathise. This system, along with its other advantages, would, it is supposed, bring into parliament numerous men of able and independent thought, who, by the present system, refrain from offering themselves, as having no chance of being chosen by the majority of any existing constituency. See J. S. Mill's Considerations on Representative Government (London, 1861); Professor Lorimer's Pitical Progress not necessarily Democratic (1857); and Hare's Treatise on the Election of Representatives (1860).

REPRIEVE (Fr. reprendre, to take back) is the suspension of punishment for a crime, and is used chiefly in connection with capital crimes. The power of suspending all sentences at any time is vested in the crown at discretion. There are also several grounds on which the judge or a court reprieves a sentence. One is, where the judge is not satisfied with the verdict, or is doubtful of the validity of the indictment, in which case he reprieves the sentence, in order to give time for some application to the crown. Moreover, an ordinary ground of reprieve is acted on generally as a matter of course, whenever the prisoner is a pregnant woman, and pleads that fact, in which case it is considered only merciful towards the offspring to put off the execution of the sentence until after her delivery. This was the law of ancient Rome; and nothing connected with the memory of Queen Mary is more detestable than the bloody proceeding in her reign of burning a pregnant woman in Guernsey, when the child, which was born at the stake, was cast into the fire as a young heretic. When a woman pleads her pregnancy as a reason for reprieve, the practice is for the judge to empanel a jury of 12 matrons, or discreet women, to inquire into the fact, and if they bring in a verdict of quick with child,' execution is stayed, as a matter of course, from Bession to session until the delivery. Another cause of reprieve is the insanity of the prisoner, for if before execution it appear the prisoner is insane, whether the insanity supervened after the crime or not, the judge ought to reprieve him.

REPRI'SAL is the retaking, from an enemy, goods which he has seized, or the capture from him of other goods, as an equivalent for the damage he has wrought.-A reprise is a ship recaptured from an enemy or pirate. If recaptured within 24 hours of the hostile seizure, she must be wholly restored to her owners; if later, she becomes the lawful rize of her recaptors.

REPRISALS, LETTERS OF, the same as LETTERS OF MARQUE (q. v.).

REPRODUCTION, or the propagation of organised beings in the animal kingdom, is accomplished by three different processes. The first of the three processes by which the multiplication of individuals takes place consists in the division of one organism

into two, each of these, again, dividing into two others, and so on. This is termed reproduction by fission. The second mode of increase consists in the formation of a bud at some part of the body of the animal. This bud gradually approximates in form to that of the parent from which it springs; its pedicle or stem gradually disappears; and the liberated bud ultimately assumes a perfect form, resembling in all respects the parent from which it sprung (gemmation). The third mode is far the most complicated. In it the new organism results from a series of changes occurring in an impreg nated egg or ovum. For this process, distinct sexual organs, both male and female (which, however, may be associated in the same individual, although in all the higher animals they occur in distinct individuals), are required; a female organ for the production of cells termed 'germs,' and a male organ for the production of certain cells termed 'spermatozoa.' It is from the union (either within or without the body) and the mutual action of these cells-the germ and the spermatozoon-that the impregnated ovum results. The new resulting body is altogether different from either of the cells which took part in its production. This is the ordinary form of reproduction in all the higher animals, and may be termed true generation, in contradistinction to the previous forms of repro duction by multiplication. The terms Digenesis and Heterogenesis have been applied by recent physiological writers to designate the form of reproduction in which the contact of germs and spermatozoa gives rise to fecundation; while the terms Monogenesis and Homogenesis have been similarly applied to the cases in which non-sexual reproduction takes place by fission or gemmation.

Fissiparous multiplication is best illustrated by a reference to the Infusoria. It may be either longitudinal, as commonly occurs in Vorticella; or trans.

Fig. 1.-Longitudinal Fission of Vorticella.

verse, as occurs in Stentor; or indifferently longi tudinal or transverse, as in Chilodon, Paramecium, &c. The joints of tape-worms multiply in this manner, and when sufficiently developed, become free. Amongst some of the Annelids, or true worms, reproduction of this kind in a somewhat modified form is also observed. This was first noticed in a Nais by the Danish naturalist Müller, by whom it was regarded as a rare and accidental occurrence. The more recent researches of De Quatrefages and Milne-Edwards have, however, shewn that the process is one of far more significance than Müller In the genus Syllis, De Quatrefages supposed. noticed the following appearances: When one of these worms is about to reproduce itself by fission, number of rings become developed at its posterior extremity, and there is a notch or groove between the first of these rings and the part in front of it. The first ring soon becomes organised into a head provided with eyes and antennæ. The two annelids, parent and offspring, continue, however, to be united by the skin and intestine in such a manner that the latter animal lives solely upon the food swallowed by the former. During this period, each possesses independent life, for a struggle may often be observed between the two, each wishing to go its

a

by gemmation and by true generation; while in the higher Mollusca, multiplication only takes place by true generation.

In the ARTICULATA-Insects, Crustaceans, &c. distinct generative organs are always present, and, excepting in one class of Crustaceans the Cirrhopoda-the sexes are distinct.

In the VERTEBRATA, we meet with the highest and most complex development of the generative function. In them, with a doubtful exception in the case of one or two genera of fishes, the sexes are always distinct.

The osseous and cartilaginous fishes present important differences in their reproductive organs and in their modes of reproduction. In the osseous fishes, the essential female organ-the ovary, or roe -consists of a large membranous bag, usually in two lobes, but sometimes single. When distended with ova, this organ fills the greater part of the abdominal cavity, and its lining membrane is arranged in folds, wherein the ova are formed and retained until sufficiently ripe for expulsion. They then escape into the ovarian cavity, and are expelled in almost incredible numbers through a special opening immediately behind the anus and in front of the urinary canal. As a general rule, the ova of fishes are impregnated after their expulsion; and in order that the impregnation of a sufficient number of eggs may be secured, the male secretion of fishes -the fluid containing the spermatozoa is very abundant; the male secreting gland, which in fishes is termed the milt' or 'soft roe,' being equal in bulk to the ovary of the female. In a few instances, however, the young are hatched in the ovary, and grow to a considerable size before they are born, and in these cases-as, for example, in the viviparous blenny-impregnation must take place internally. In the cartilaginous fishes- as the sharks and rays-the generative organs are of a higher type. The eggs are here always impregnated within the body of the female, the male having special organs by which true sexual congress is effected, and the ovaries form two large racemous bunches, placed on either side of the spine. The eggs are large in size, and comparatively small in number; and as each egg escapes from the ovary, it is seized by a true oviduct, which furnishes it with additional protective coverings. About the middle of this tube 'there is a thick glandular mass, destined to secrete a horny shell, in which the yelk and white of the egg become incased. The egg, when completed, has somewhat the shape of a pillow-case, with the four corners lengthened out into long tendril-like cords, whereby the egg is entangled amongst the seaweed at the bottom of the ocean. A brittle egg-shell would soon be destroyed by the beating of the waves; Fig. 4-The Egg of Cartila- hence the necessity for ginous Fish, opened so as to the corneous nature of shew the young animal. the envelope; and yet how is the feeble embryo to escape from such a tough and leather-like cradle? This has likewise been provided for. The egg remains permanently open at one extremity; th slightest pressure from within, therefore, separates the valvular lips of the opening, and no

sooner has the little shark thus extricated itsel from its confinement, than the two sides close se accurately, that the fissure is imperceptible.'-R. Jones's General Outline of the Animal Kingdom, 1841, p. 534.

In the Amphibia or Batrachia, the sexes are more closely associated than in the osseous fishes, the ova being generally impregnated by the male as they escape from the abdominal cavity of the female. The mode of reproduction of one amphibian, the Surinam Toad, is remarkable and anomalous. See PIPA.

In the true Reptiles, the male sexual organs become more perfect, instruments being given to facilitate the impregnation of the female during that congress of the sexes which now becomes essential to fecundation.

In Birds, the generative organs present a close analogy to those of the higher reptiles. There is only a single ovary (the left) that has a bunch-like or racemous appearance; the right, with its oviduct, being always atrophied or rudimentary-a remarkable violation of symmetry, resembling that which occurs in the lurgs of serpents. As prolonged uterogestation would be incompatible with flight, incubation here attains its highest perfection.

In Mammals, a new organ for the first time appears, from which that important class derives its name. In most of them (see MAMMALIA and PLACENTA), a temporary organ, termed the Placenta, is also formed, by which the foetus is nourished during uterine existence.

For further details on the subject of this article, the reader is referred to De Quatrefages's Rambles of a Naturalist, and to his Metamorphoses of Man and the Lower Animals; Dr Allen Thomson's article Ovum' in the Cyclopædia of Anatomy and Physiology; Dr Carpenter's Comparative Physiology; and to Kölliker's Entwickelungsgeschichte des Menschen und der höherer Thiere.

REPRODUCTION IN PLANTS. See PLANT, VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, and FECUNDATION.

REPTILES (Lat. repo, I creep), constitute a class of the subkingdom Vertebrata, lying between the classes of Amphibians and Birds. They may be briefly characterised as being coldblooded, having a heart composed of only three cavities-viz., two auricles and a single ventricle, and as breathing by lungs throughout the whole period of their existence; in which respect they differ from the Amphibians, which some zoologists associate with them, and which, in the early part of their existence, are furnished with gills for aquatic respiration. They are divided into the following orders: 1. Ophidia, or Serpents; 2. Sauria, or Lizards; 3. Loricata, or Crocodiles; and 4. Chelonia, or Tortoises; so that in so far as external form is concerned, the members of this class present a far greater diversity than is observed amongst the members of the other classes of vertebrates.

With the exception of the tortoises, the reptiles in general are of an elongated form, the body being often nearly cylindrical, and usually terminating in a very long tail. In a considerable number (as the serpents and some of the lizards) no traces of limbs are apparent; in some (as certain lizards), the limbs are rudimentary; while in the remainder the limbs are fully developed, although not to the extent to which development takes place in birds or quadrupeds, as the feet rarely suffice to keep the belly from the ground. The outer covering of the body presents several well-marked varieties. In a few of the lizards, the skin is covered with regular scales, composed of a mixture of bony and horny matter, and lying over each other like those of fishes; in most