MANNHEIM 345 through other bed or living-rooms, or the kitchen ; lodgers of both sexes (except married people or parents and children under 10 years) may not be taken in the same dwelling ; a room so used must afford each person sleeping in it a superficial surface of 4f square yards, and an air space of at least 343 cubic feet. Bedrooms must be lockable from within, and in the case of female lodgers, there must be a bolt as well ; and each lodger must have a separate bed, separate washing and drinking vessels, towel, and chair. When a room in which it is desired to take lodgers has been approved by the police, the tenant receives a “ bedroom certificate,” stating how many lodgers may be received, and this number may not be exceeded. He must also report to the police when the lodger or lodgers arrive, and also on every change. The “ bedroom certi ficate ” must be exhibited in the room to which it refers. The effect of these regulations has been to counteract some of the evils which had become associated with the lodging-house system prior to the introduction of proper measures of supervision. Retail Prices. Groceries and other Commodities. The Mannheim workman has very extensive facilities for supplying his domestic needs to advantage. There are in the town some 540 grocery and food shops ; 45 other shops of the kind known as “ delicacy ” shops, in which are sold such comestibles as prepared meats, dried and preserved fruits, smoked meats and fish, honey, foreign cheeses, &c. ; a large trade is done by house to house dealers ; wholesale provision stores of the English "multiple” type have branches in all parts of the town ; and a co-operative society trades during its own fixed hours in nine several shops. There is a great amount of credit trading, a characteristic of the Mannheim housewife which is doubtless related to the custom of fortnightly wages settlements, but as the workman receives a payment on account in the interval his score is generally reduced if not liquidated when Saturday comes round. The qualities of coffee most bought are those at 11 d. and Is. Id. per lb. The sugar bought by working-class households is exclusively beet sugar, produced in Baden or Bavarian factories from beet usually grown in the neighbourhood of the works. The price of cube sugar in October, 1905, was 2\d. and 2\d. per lb. and of granulated sugar slightly less. Farm produce is sold not only in the ordinary provision shops but in special “land produce” shops (Landesprodu/cte-läden), which confine themselves to butter, cheese, milk and honey. There is a considerable sale of margarine or its German representatives (Palmin, Kokos, &c.), and pork dripping is also a popular substitute for butter. The cheeses mostly eaten are Bavarian " Limburg,” costing in October, 1905, 5¿¿/. per lb., Swiss cheese, which is the genuine product, costing Is. Id. to Is. 3^&, and a small so-called “hand cheese” made in the neighbourhood as well as in the Bavarian Palatinate across the Rhine. The sale of milk is stringently regulated by the municipal authorities, who have taken this commodity into their special care in the interest of infant health and life. The price in October, 1905, was 2fd. and M. per quart. The bread supply of the town is in the hands of some 260 bakers, in addition to the co-operative society, though some of the surrounding villages send into Mannheim a considerable quantity of “land” or country bread, which is highly esteemed. The bakers are united in a Guild, which fixes the price according to the price of flour, while the police authority exercises control over the weight and quality of the loaves sold. There are three staple kinds of bread—a “white” bread, consisting of two-thirds rye and one-third wheat, baked in long round loaves, in weight from one to 4 lb. German, and costing as a rule 6d. per 4 lb. English ; “grey” bread, similarly proportioned as to rye and wheat, though of inferior quality, equal in weight, and costing 5\d. per 4 lb. English ; and “black” bread, known also as “ Pfalz Kornbrod ” (Palatinate rye bread), a coarser kind costing M. per 4 lb. English. The first kind of bread is mostly eaten by the middle class, the second by the working classes. For the Italian labourers a special wheaten bread is made by some bakers. Coal is as a rule bought in small quantities day by day. The standard measure is the “Eimer,” holding about one-seventh of a hundredweight and 2 X 29088