Balance on hand October 31st.. $155,852 79 The total revenue of the common-school fund amounted to $1;336,762.50. This vast amount of money is distributed exclusively for the benefit of the common schools. The principal of the fund is nearly ten millions, the interest on which can never be reduced or diverted from its proper channel.

The Indiana election occurs on the second Tuesday in October. In 1867 no State officers or members of Congress were chosen, but an animated canvass was carried on in the various counties for the election of local officers, and the returns show a gain on the part of the Democrats over the vote of the previous year. Soon after the local elections in October, the Democratic State Central Committee issued a call for a State convention to be held on the 8th of January at Indianopolis, for the purpose of nominating a State ticket for the next regular election, of electing delegates to a National Democratic Convention, and for the further purpose of selecting candidates for presidential electors for the State of Indiana. A convention was held in each county on the 14th of December to appoint delegates to this State convention, which met in accordance with the call of the committee on the 8th of January. Corresponding action on the part of the Republican party was subsequently taken in the year 1868.

INDIUM. This metal has been obtained from the blue dust which condenses in the zine-works of Gosler, Germany. The dust contains about one part of oxide of indium in one thousand. To extract the metal, the deposit is boiled half an hour with hydrochloric acid, and the clear liquid then digested with pieces of zine for six hours at the ordinary temperature. There is then deposited a black metallic powder, which is washed with water, and which contains copper, arsenic, cadmium, thallium, and indium. By boiling this with a concentrated solution of oxalic acid, a solution of cadmium, thallium, and indium is obtained; the latter is precipitated by ammonia, and the precipitate is boiled with ammonia and afterward with water till the washings contain no more thallium. The oxide of indium is then almost pure, containing only traces of iron, from which it is easily freed, and is reduced to the metallic form by the established method.

INGRES, JEAN DOMINIQUE AUGUSTE, a French historical painter, born at Montauban, France, September 15, 1781; died in Paris, January 14, 1867. He first applied himself, while yet a child, to music, in Toulouse, but his taste for painting was so strong, that his father was finally persuaded to allow him to take lessons in drawing and landscape painting. He made

such progress in these branches that he was sent to Paris, where he became the pupil of the great painter David, and at the age of twenty had gained in two successive years the first and second prizes of the Academy of Fine Arts, receiving the first for his picture of "The Embassy at the Tent of Achilles." His subsequent pictures, exhibited in 1802, 1804, and 1805, won him reputation, that of 1805 (a portrait of the Emperor Napoleon I.) being purchased by the Government for the Hôtel des Invalides. In 1806 he went to Rome, and remained in that and other Italian cities for twenty years; and under the influence of the great masters, and the soft, sunny skies of Italy he abandoned the dry, classic style acquired from David, for the more glowing and lifelike characteristics of the old masters. The Italians greatly admired his paintings, but they were long received with comparative coldness at home. There was not much in them, it must be admitted, to awaken enthusiasm; they were correct, ably drawn, and the idea clearly and definitely brought out; but there was nothing appealing to human emotion, suffering, joy, or aspiration; they were cold and unsympathetic in their tone. He preferred classical subjects, though he painted a vast number of portraits. Ilis best-known pictures are "Edipus and the Sphinx; Jupiter and Thetis; ""A Woman in the Bath; ""Ossian's Sleep; " the Sistine Chapel; "The Vow of Louis XIII." (regarded by many as his chef d'œuvre); "The Birth of Venus Anadyomene; " "Jesus disputing with the Doctors; 'Racine in his Court Dress; "Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII;" "Stratonice; " portraits of the Duke of Orleans and of Cherubini, and "La Source," painted when he was eighty years old. He also painted, on the ceiling of one of the apartments of the Louvre, the " Apotheosis of Homer," and on the ceiling of the Hôtel de Ville the "Apotheosis of Napoleon I." In 1829 he became director of the French Academy in Rome, as successor to Horace Vernet. In the French Exhibition of 1855, at the command of the Emperor, he collected all his principal works from France and Italy, and an entire saloon was appropriated to them. One of the two great medals of honor was adjudged to him, the other being bestowed on his rival, Delacroix. Though reckoned a representative, and almost the last, of the pure classical school as distinguished from the romantic, Ingres's place is properly a middle one between the two. His early leaning and sympathies were with the classicists, but his latest pictures incline, some of them at least, strongly toward the school of feeling and nature. His picture "La Source " was in the Great Exhibition at Brompton in 1862, and excited more interest and admiration than any other single picture in that rich and varied collection. Ingres was made Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1841, Commander in 1845, and Grand Officer in 1855. He was raised to the dignity of Senator in 1862, and at the

same time named member of the Imperial Council of Public Instruction.

IOWA. The population of the State of Iowa has increased very rapidly during the last two years. The State census, taken in 1867, gives the whole number of inhabitants as 902,400, of whom 4,715 are colored. This shows an increase in the total population of 150,000 since the census of 1865. The assessed value of real and personal property in the State is put down at $256,517,184. Though agriculture is the leading interest of the State, manufactures are greatly on the increase, the capital employed in them in 1867 being more than fifteen millions of dollars, while two years before less than one-half of that amount of money was invested in that department of industry.

The fiscal term in the financial transactions of this State is a period of two years, the last one ending November 2, 1867. At the beginning of this period there was a residue in the Treasury of $47,236.62. The total receipts of the State Treasury during the two years amounted to $1,365,158.57, the expenditures to $1,315,654.74, leaving an unexpended surplus of $96,740.45. $300,000 of the disbursements were made under extraordinary appropriations for the Orphans' Home, Agricultural College, and Asylums for the Blind and the Insane. $114,000 have been devoted to the liquidation of the bonded debts of 1858 during this fiscal term, and $85,000 of that debt remain unpaid. Besides this, the State has a debt of $300,000 in seven per cent. bonds, issued in 1861, to raise money for war purposes, and due on the 15th of January, 1881. The State has claims upon the Federal Government to the amount of $300,000 for military expenditures, which are in process of adjustment.

Liberal provision is made in Iowa for the support of common schools. The amount of money expended for this purpose during the year is $2,069,597.82, or over eight dollars for each pupil attending the schools. Aside from this indispensable class of educational institutions, there are in the State already sixty-two academies, colleges, and universities. Among the latter is a State University, provided for by the constitution and placed under the control of the Legislature; a new building for the use of this institution has been completed during the A building is also in course of construction for the State Agricultural College, which will be one of the finest edifices in the State.

year.

Most of the charitable institutions of Iowa were projected on a liberal scale, and have been uniformly under efficient management, but the provision made for the care of the deaf and dumb was felt to be inadequate, and the last General Assembly passed an act permanently locating an asylum for that unfortunate class of persons, at Council Bluffs, and appointing commissioners to choose the site, prepare a plan of the building, and make a contract for its construction. The work of these commissioners has been done during the past season, and a

contract entered into for erecting a suitable building at a cost of $310,000. The Orphans' Home, for the care of the children of deceased soldiers, was originally founded as a private corporation, and supported by voluntary contributions, but was adopted by the State by an act of the General Assembly passed in July, 1866. Since that time, $106,864.58 has been paid from the State Treasury for its support. It is located at Davenport, but there are branches also at Cedar Falls and Glenwood, The whole number of children maintained at the three establishments at the present time is 834. There are 160 convicts in the State penitentiary, which is nearly double the number confined in that institution at the close of the year 1865; as the State has no reform school, a large proportion of these are youthful offenders, who would be fit inmates for an institution of a reformatory character especially adapted to their needs.

A geological survey of Iowa has been going on for two years past, under the direction of C. A. White, the State geologist; two years more will be required for its completion according to present estimates. One of the most important subjects of investigation, and one to which much attention has been given during this survey, is whether coal exists in sufficient quantity for profitable mining. Beds of considerable thickness and of excellent quality are found along the valley of the Des Moines and in Jefferson County. In both these localities successful mining operations have been carried on for some time, and are constantly increasing in extent. Considerable deposits of building-stone are also found and extensively used for local building purposes; it consists chiefly of a variety of limestone. The agricul tural resources of Iowa are unexcelled, the soil being very productive and easily worked. Cattle and hogs are raised in great abundance for exportation. Large quantities of wool are also produced, both for exportation to other parts of the country and for home consumption. The rapidly-growing manufactures of the State are chiefly of woollen fabrics.

The trade of all the States on the Northern Mississippi is seriously impeded by the Des Moines and the Rock Island rapids. The former extend from the city of Keokuk to Montrose, a distance of eleven miles, with a fall of twenty-one feet. The obstructions to navigation consist of a series of ridges of solid rock. A canal on the Iowa side of the river is proposed for the relief of the navigation of the Upper Mississippi at this point. The design is, to cut this canal through the rock in the bed of the river, with sufficient depth and width to float the largest river steamers at any season of the year. The estimated cost of the work is $2,100,000, one-third of which has been already appropriated by the Congress of the United States. The Rock Island rapids extend fourteen miles and a half, from Davenport to Le Claire. The obstructions here consist of reefs of

rock, with navigable spaces between. Here, too, operations are in progress for the removal of the obstructions, and $300,000 have been appropriated by Congress toward the accomplish ment of this object. This immense work is carried on under the direction of General J. H. Wilson, and, if the necessary appropriations are made, will be completed, it is thought, in the course of the year 1869. The opening of unimpeded navigation on the eastern border of Iowa, if accomplished, will give a yet stronger impulse to the advancement in agricultural importance of that State, and of others along the head-waters of the great artery of Western commerce. The want of cheap transportation for their farming produce to the great markets of the country has long been felt in all the Northwest.

It is within two years that Des Moines, the capital of Iowa, first possessed a railroad, and it is now rapidly becoming the railway centre of the State. Three rival lines to Chicago are already near completion. The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway has nearly reached Des Moines, on its way to Council Bluffs to unite with the Pacific road. A railroad traverses the rich valley of the Des Moines from the State capital to Keokuk, and is ultimately to be extended to Minnesota. Other lines are projected to form connections with most of the leading cities of the West. This system of railways in Iowa will be of special importance, in view of the rich supply of coal within her limits, to be furnished to the neighboring States.

The Legislature of the State, which meets biennially on the second Monday in January, held no session in 1867. The political parties began in the spring a vigorous canvass for the State election to be held in October. The State officers to be chosen at that election were Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Judge of the Supreme Court, Attorney-General, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. Calls were made in April, on the part of the State Central Committees of each of the leading political organizations, for conventions to be held in June. The Republican Convention met at Des Moines, on the 19th of that month, and adopted the following platform:

We, the representatives of the Republican party of the State of Iowa, in convention assembled, announce the following as the platform of our principles:

1. That we again proclaim it as a cardinal principle of our political faith, that all men are equal before the law, and we are in favor of such amendments to the constitution of the State of Iowa as will secure the rights of the ballot, the protection of the law, and equal justice to all men, irrespective of color, race, or religion.

2. That we approve of the military reconstruction acts passed by the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Congresses; but as the illiberal construction by unfriendly officials deprives these acts of their energy and vitality, we demand that Congress assemble in July, to carry out, by additional enactments, the true and original intent of said acts the reconstruction of the rebel States upon a sure and loyal basis.

3. That the prompt trial and punishment, accord

ing to law, of the head of the late rebellion, for his infamous crimes, is imperatively demanded for the vindication of the Constitution and the laws, and for the proper punishment of the highest crimes; it is demanded by justice, honor, and a proper regard for the protection of American citizenship, and by a due regard for the welfare and future safety of the Republic; and it is due, not only to the dignity of the nation, but in justice to the loyal people who have been so heroic in their devotion to the cause of the Constitution, the Union, and liberty, and to the soldiers of the Union who survive, and the memory of the heroic dead.

4. That we are in favor of the strictest economy in the expenditure of public money, and that we demand at the hands of all our officials, both State and national, a faithful and rigidly honest administration of public affairs.

5. That the Republican members of the Congress of the United States are entitled to the thanks of the nation for their firmness in resisting the conspiracy

to turn over the control of the Government to the

hands of traitors and their allies, and in defeating the purposes of a corrupt Executive, and thus sustaining the interests of liberty, in a great and dangerous

crisis in our history.

A motion was made to amend the first resolu

tion so as to guarantee equal rights to all persons without regard to sex; but this motion was laid upon the table. The convention then proceeded to nominate the following persons to fill the offices designated above: Governor, Colonel Samuel Merrill; Lieutenant-Governor, Colonel John Scott; Judge of the Supreme Court, Joseph M. Beck; Attorney-General, Major Henry O'Connor; Superintendent of Public Instruction, D. Franklin Wells.

The Democratic State Convention assembled

at Des Moines on the 26th of June, the principles of which were embodied in the following

resolutions:

Resolved, 1. That the maintenance inviolate of the rights of the States, and especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institu

tions according to its own judgment exclusively, is fection and endurance of our political fabric depends. essential to that balance of power on which the per2. That we believe each State has the right to regulate the elective franchise for itself, and we, as citizens of the State of Iowa, are opposed to striking

the word "white" out of our State constitution.

3. That the existing tariff laws are unjust and heavily burdensome to the agricultural States, without being of a corresponding benefit to the Government, and only of advantage to a few manufacturing States, and should be repealed or greatly modified.

4. That all classes of property should pay a proportionate rate toward defraying the expenses of the Government. We are therefore in favor of taxing Government bonds the same as other property.

5. That we are in favor of repealing the present prohibitory liquor law of this State, and in favor of enacting a well-regulated licensé law in lieu thereof.

6. That we are in favor of an amendment to the constitution of our State in giving to foreigners the elective franchise, after they have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, and have resided in this State one year.

7. That we demand of our public officers in the State of Iowa and in the United States the strictest

economy, in order to reduce the present system of burdensome taxation, and we denounce in severest terms the profligacy, corruption, and knavery of our State officers and of Congress.

8. That the denial of the right of representation