British marine artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth century helped the life-boat service in the latter half of the twentieth century through an exhibition of their paintings at the gallery of N. R. Omell, of Duke Street, St. James's, London, at the end of last year. Through the kindness of Mr. Omell, the very well produced catalogues of the exhibition were sold in aid of the R.N.L.I. This is the second time that Mr.

Omell has allowed the Institution's funds to benefit in this way.

About 40 paintings were on show to the public, giving a good cross section of the marine artists' work during the period under review. Among these were two splendid canvases with a life-boat theme. One was of the Ramsgate life-boat going to the assistance of an East Indiaman foundering on the Goodwin Sands, painted by Edward William Cooke (1811-1880) to bring the public's attention to the work of the R.N.L.I. The other was by Captain Richard Brydges Beechey (1808-1895) and shows an Anglesey life-boat rescuing passengers from a ship in the Irish Sea off the South Stack lighthouse..