This little town of Forres, in the northeast of Scot land, is known to most people from its mention in "Macbeth," the opening scene of which play is set on .. A blasted heath near Forres." Local tradition assigns a clump of trees on a moor, some miles to the westward, as being the spot where Macbeth and Banquo met the three" foul and midnight hags." But the real lion of the locality is the lofty runic pillar known as ,. Sueno's stone," with an ornamental cross on the one side and a complicated

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... rray of men, horses, and birds on the other, which is said to commemorate a battle fought between the Scots and the invading Danes in the year 1014. But although no story attaches to it, the stone here pictured, which is hidden away in a dark corner outside the little museum which the town boasts, is surely oneof the most curious among the many quaint and grotesque tombstones which al'e scattel'ed over the United Kingdom. It is said to have once stood in the churchyard, and is probably two or three hundred years old. It i�remarkable that no indication is given as to whose memory it was first el'ected, unless the large capitals at the top are the initials of some un known name. The carving is bold and somewhat original, though not of any artistic merit. The hour glass, coffin, and skeleton are much more like what they are supposed to represent than is (it is to be hoped) the angel with the trumpet. Possibly the skull between two heads at the base of the stone is an alle g'orical representation of Death dividing husband and wife. • • • THE TORPEDO BOAT "VIPER" IN DRY DOCK. It is no exaggeration to say that the remarkable little craft which forms the subject of our illustration is attracting more attention just now than any other vessel afloat. Much of this interest is of a popular nature, and is due to the sensational speeds which she has attained. The public appetite is always whetted by the performance of superlative physical results, and it seldom stops to ask whether these results have any permanent economic value; whether they will or will not further the world's material interests. Popularly considered, the" Viper" is unquestionably the sensa tion of the hour, for it stands to-day with an accepted official lIIean speed of 36-58 knots and a maxiwum speed of 37-1knots an hour. Of the question of the economic value of this per formance, there may be, and probably is, a division of opinion, and we must wait until the full details of the trials are known, and until the vessel has been given a sufficiently extended trial in active service to tlstablilSh its durability J tieutifit �tUtritall. cupyinlJt less space than t,he present cramped-Up re ciprocating engines, considerable reductions in coal consumption at all speeds would result, consumptions which at some speeds would be quite unprecedented in warships, and analogous to the consumptions at tained in the best mercantile marine engine." Our illustration shows the methods adopted for util izing the 12,000 horse power which was developed in the recent official trials of the ',' Viper." Four shafts are used, with two propellers on each shaft, the after REMARKABLE GRAVESTONE AT FORRES, SCOTLAND. propeller having a coarser pitch than the forward one.