Punishment by death was originally the form of punishment for all felonies; it is now restricted to cases of murder. Several attempts have been made in England to abolish it. Capital punishment has been abolished in the following European countries: Belgium (1863), Switzerland (1874), Roumania (1864), Holland (1879). In Sweden, Denmark, North Germany, Austria, France, and Bavaria there exists unwillingness to enforce capital punishment. In several States in the United States - e g., Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Maine - imprisonment for life has been substituted for capital punishment. In New York electrocution has been adopted as a mode of punishment.

A favorite amusement of the "good old times" with a certain regiment quartered at Kilkenny, was to tie two cats together by the tails, swing them over a line, and watch their ferocious attacks upon each other in their struggles to get free. It was determined to put down this cruel "sport"; and one day, just as two unfortunate cats were swung, the alarm was given that the colonel was riding up post haste. An officer present cut through their tails with his sword and liberated the cats, which scampered off before the colonel arrived. Another story is that two cats fought in a saw-pit so ferociously that each swallowed the other, leaving only the tails behind to tell of the wonderful encounter.

In the early ages of society, almost everywhere, it was looked upon as the duty of the next of kin as the avenger of blood to avenge the death of a murdered relative; but among some primitive peoples, as the modern Bedouins, as among the ancient Anglo-Saxons, the right is annulled by compensation. The Mosaic law did not set aside this universal institution of primitive society, but placed it under regulations, prohibiting the commutation of the penalty of death for money, and appointing cities of refuge for the involuntary manslayer. The wilful murderer was, in all cases whatever, to be put to death without permission of compensation. The nearest relative, whose duty it was to hunt down the murderer, was called Goel, the "redeemer" or "avenger."

Many scholars contend that a great part of Europe must have been brought into cultivation by means of village communities. A clan of settlers took a tract of land, built their huts thereon, and laid out common fields, which they cultivated in common as one family. The land was divided out every few years into family lots, but the whole continued to be cultivated by the community subject to the established customs as interpreted in the village council by the sense of the village elders. This may yet be seen in the villages of Russia, and even in some parts of England may still be traced the ancient boundaries of the great common field, divided lengthwise into three strips (one fallow, the two others in different kinds of crop), and again crosswise into lots held by the villagers.

Ghee (Ghi) is a kind of clarified butter used in many parts of India, and generally prepared from the milk of buffaloes. The fresh milk is boiled for an hour or more; it is then allowed to cool, and a little curdled milk, called dhye, is added to promote coagulation. The curdled mass is churned for half an hour; some hot water is then added, and the churning continued for another half hour, when the butter forms. When the butter begins to become rancid, which is usually the case after a few days, it is boiled till all the water contained in it is expelled, and a little dhye and salt, or betel-leaf, is added; after which it is put into closed pots to be kept for use. It is used to an enormous extent by the natives of many parts of India, but is seldom relished by Europeans.

The vigilance societies include not only regulators and other extreme exponents of lynch law, but also the illegal associations which spring up from time to time in all parts of the country for the compulsory improvement of local morals, and the punishment of those who either refuse or fail sufficiently to reform their lives. Such organizations as the White Caps, at home in the eastern and central states, have for their professed objects the suppression of vice and idleness; they send formal warnings to those citizens whom they consider to be neglectful of their homes, too partial to card playing, drinking, etc.; and if this warning be disregarded, inflict such punishment as whipping, destruction of property, etc. The methods of the modern White Caps are the same as those of the Ku-Klux Klan.

University extension has for its object the provision of "the means of higher education for persons of all classes, and of both sexes engaged in the regular occupations of life." This movement commenced with the University of Cambridge in 1872, and was subsequently taken up by Oxford University, the London Society for the extension of University Teaching, Dublin University, Owens College, Manchester, the Scottish Universities, the University of Sydney, New South Wales, and the Chautauqua Home Reading Club in the United States. In 1890 Cambridge, Oxford, and the London Society had two hundred and twenty-seven centers, seventy-nine lectures, and 40,336 students attending lectures. The lecture-study system was organized in the United States at the University of Pennsylvania. Other institutions, notably the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin have engaged in the work, and many centers for lectures and study in history, science, art, and literature have been formed.

The Koh-i-noor, i.e., "Mountain of Light," one of the largest diamonds in the world, came into the possession of Ala-u-din soon after 1300. It fell to Baber in 1526, and subsequently to Mahommed Shah, great-grandson of Aurengzebe, who kept it hidden in his turban; but when Nadir Shah took possession of Delhi, Mahommed had to give the diamond to the conqueror. It passed in succession to Shah Shuja, and when driven from Cabul he carried it to Lahore, when Runjeet Sing got possession of it and had it set in a bracelet, 1813 After the annexation of the Punjaub by the English the crown jewels of Lahore were confiscated, and the Koh-i-noor was presented to Queen Victoria by the East India Company and delivered into her hands June 3, 1850. In 1889, in a most insolent letter, Runjeet Sing demanded its restitution. Its weight was 1861/2 carats. It was exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and valued at 140,000/. By order of the Queen it was cut into a brilliant by Herr Voorsanger, whereby the weight was reduced to 1061/16 carats.