a number of rooms in the Royal Exchange of London, frequented by underwriters, merchants, shipowners, ship and insurance brokers, and others, chiefly for the purpose of obtaining shipping intelligence, and of transacting business connected with marine insurance. The principal room is that of the Underwriters, in which two enormous ledgers lie constantly open,—the one containing notices of speaking, or ships spoken with, and arrivals of vessels at their various destinations; the other recording disasters at sea. All intelligence is entered immediately upon its reception, without removing the ledgers from their places, in order that they may at any moment be inspected by those interested in their contents. At the inner end of the room is an ingenious piece of mechanism, by means of which the indications of an anemometer and an anemoscope are inscribed every hour in the twenty-four, by a couple of pencils, upon a sheet of white paper. The advantage to the underwriter, in the conduct of his business, of this information respecting the force and the direction of the wind, can scarcely be over-estimated. The underwriters are persons who, for a premium, grant an indemnity to merchants against risks by sea; and they are so called from the custom of writing their names under, or at the foot of, the policies of insurance. The method of effecting an insurance at Lloyd's is the following:—When a broker receives an order to insure interest to a certain amount in a particular ship, he writes upon a slip of paper the name of the vessel, the master's name, the nature of the voyage, the subject to be insured and its value, and any other information which the circumstances of the case may require. He then offers the risk to different underwriters until the value of the interest to be insured is exhausted, each underwriter subscribing his name opposite to the amount he engages to insure, and all agreeing to accept a uniform premium. The insurance is now virtually effected; the stamped policy being afterwards extended from this slip. This distribution of the risk among many individuals is, of course, very conducive both to the solvency of the underwriter and to the security of the insured. The number of underwriters is under 200; but some idea of the immense amount of insurance business done at Lloyd's may be derived from the fact, that the value of the interest annually insured at present is estimated at about £40,000,000. No person is permitted to transact business at Lloyd's as an underwriter or insurance-broker, until he shall have been duly admitted as a member, and shall have paid an entrance-fee. Communicating with the Underwriters' Room is the Chart Room. Here a valuable collection of charts, and the shipping intelligence as originally received, are carefully arranged, so as to be at all times easy of access. In this room also lies, for the use of members, four ledgers, in which the names of ships are arranged in alphabetical order, each name having under it all the information possessed regarding the vessel. The Merchants' Room is a place of resort for general news; it is, in fact, a news or reading-room. The Captains' Room is employed as an auction-room for sales of ships, &c. Every person who enjoys the privilege of frequenting Lloyd's pays a fixed annual subscription.

The shipping intelligence received at Lloyd's is furnished by agents, who are appointed for the purpose; and as there is scarcely a port of any consequence where one is not resident, their number is very large. The information which each transmits to headquarters is regular, accurate, and complete. It is furnished by means of letters, signed by the agents, and by means of the newspapers and shipping lists which are published at the various ports—the intelligence thus received consisting not only of a list of vessels which had arrived at, and which had sailed from, the particular ports, together with their accomplished and intended voyages, and of casualties which had occurred at or near the ports, but also of notices of ships spoken with, and of casualties at sea, furnished by vessels. No salary attaches to the office of agent for Lloyd's; the labour involved being amply recompensed by the business which it commands, and by the credit which the appointment confers upon its holder as a person of worth and respectability.

The intelligence, besides being made known to the members of Lloyd's by means of the ledgers, of which we have already spoken, is published every afternoon in Lloyd's List for diffusion over the country.

The management of Lloyd's lies with the subscribers, who select a committee from their number for the purpose, called the "Committee for managing the affairs of Lloyd's." This committee appoints the agents and the officials of the establishment. The expenses connected with the establishment are defrayed by the fees and annual subscriptions.

The designation Lloyd's originated with a person of the name of Lloyd, who kept a coffee-house in Albchurch Lane, Lombard Street. From the vicinity of this house to the Old Royal Exchange, it speedily became a rendezvous of merchants for news, and for the transaction of business. It was afterwards removed to Pope's Head Alley, and thence again, in 1774, to the Royal Exchange. After the destruction of the Exchange in 1838 by fire, which originated in Lloyd's, the business was carried on in the South Sea House, in Old Broad Street, where it remained until the opening of the present Royal Exchange in 1844, when it was finally removed to its present splendid apartments. Similar establishments exist in our principal seaports.

Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, a volume published annually, and furnishing information respecting the nature of vessels, their class, place where built, materials, owners, captains, age, repairs, &c. The ships are registered according to the reports of salaried agents appointed at various ports. The office of this Register is in White Lion Court, Cornhill, and is quite distinct from Lloyd's of the Exchange.

Lo, Sr., a town of France, the capital of the department of Manche, is situated on the River Vire, 157 miles N.W. from Paris. In the central part of the town, occupying the top of a rocky eminence, is a square containing several of the principal buildings, while several irregular streets diverge from it, and cover the sides of the hill. The only structures of note are,—the Church of St Thomas, now used as a corn-market; the Church of St Croix, an ancient edifice in the early Norman style; and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, defective and irregular in its architecture, but possessing two imposing towers and finely-painted windows. There are also a museum, a prefecture, a communal college, and a bridge of six arches over the Vire. The square called Champ de Mars is adorned with avenues of trees. Ribbons, linen, lace, drugget, and leather are manufactured; and there are some bleachfields and dye-works. Cavalry horses and cattle form the staples of trade. St Lo is the seat of tribunals of original jurisdiction and commerce, and of a chamber of manufactures. Pop. (1851) 9156.