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SPKCIAI, PHILANTHROPY. 381B. The systems which have been prepared in variousplaces and which agree in dividing each Chinese soundinto an initial and a final and giving to each of theseinitials and finals a separate Braille sign, so that sh angis shang, sh eng is sheng, sh wai is shwai, and so on.Systems based on this principle are in use for the mandarin as well as for the Cantonese and other smallerdialects. As yet there is no uniform system in use inthe Mandarin regions. Mr. Murray s numeral systemholds the field in North China, while the Crosette systemof initials and finals is used in the David Hill Schoolfor the Blind at Hankow, and Miss Garland s system ofinitials and finals in Kansuh and at Changsha. Thata standard system will be evolved is not beyond theregion of practical politics, though it is doubtful whether,if evolved, it will ever be used with accuracy by theblind, for a standard system must inevitably providemore sounds than are needed in any one region, and theblind will certainly write phonetically even though theymay read the standard system without trouble.The difficulty that was experienced in earlier yearsin securing pupils seems now, in the case of boys, tohave entirely passed away. But in the case of girlsthere is still great trouble in securing pupils, partlybecause girls who go blind in infancy do not alwayslive, and partly because in the case of the poorer classesthe money that can be earned by a girl beggaris considered by her family as of more importance than is herown personal welfare*Little progress has been made in China in thematter of providing manual employment for the blind.Those familiar with similar work in England and Americaare aware that workshops for the blind rarely succeedin paying their way, but are almost always dependenton the aid of the charitable for their development ;they are also limited to a very few lines of trade. InChina, despite many efforts made, no satisfactory solution of this problem has been found, for though various