The Sun. — London, England, 1865-01-25 00:00:00

Royal Geographical Society• The fifth meeting of the present session of this society was held at Burlington-house, on Monday evening, the 23d inst., Sir R. I. Murchison, presi dent, in the chair. The large hall was quite crowded with members and their friends, assembled to hear Captain Sherard Osborn's paper, on " A Project of an Expedition to Reach the North Pole and Examine the Polar Region." Captain OSBORT commenced by saying that no apology was needed for an attempt to show before the Geographical Society the perfect practicability of an exploration of the blank space around the North Pole. He and his ,brother Arctic explorers did not belong to the new " rest-and-be-thankful school," and were no more prepared to turn their backs on Arctic discovery because a Franklin had lust his life off King William's Land than they would be to do so to an enemy's fleet because Nelson fell at Trafalgar. Besides, it was a superficial and false view that Arctic exploration was especially dan gerous. During 36 years of glorious enterprise, from 1818 to 1854, by ship, by boat, and by sledge, England fairly lost only two ships and 128 men out of 42 successive expeditions. 40,000 miles had been traversed by foot parties in the search of Franklin alone, and yet not one of these parties had been ever lost. An equal amount of geographical discovery had never been accomplished on the earth's surface with so small an amount of human sacrifice. It was also a very superficial view that Arctic exploration had done nothing but add so many miles of unpro fitable coastline to our charts. The discoveries made in the various physical sciences during these expe ditions were full of practical importance. It was in the Arctic region that the clue was obtained of the laws of those mysterous currents which flow through the wastes of the ocean like two mighty rivers—the Gulf Stream and the Ice Stream. It was in Boothia that the two Bosses first reached the magnetic pole —that central point round which revolves the ma riner's compass over one-half the Northern Hemi sphere ; and the mass of observations collected by our explorers on all sides of that pole had added greatly to our knowledge of the laws of magnetic declination and clip. " Every voyage to the North (in the words of Admiral Bee . chey) has tended to remove that veil of obscurity which previously hung over the geography and all the phenomena of the Arctic regions. Before these voyages all beyond the North Cape was a blank ; but since then each suc cessive voyage has swept away some gloomy super stition, has brought to light some new phenomenon, and tended to the advancement of human know ledge." The risks and privations cannot be great, or Arctic service would not be so popular with our sailors. He (Captain Osborn) was frequently asked by old shipmates—" Are we going up that way again, Sir 2 Please don't forget lam a volunteer." The fact was that more sailors had been thrown to the sharks from diseases incident to service in China and on the African coast than ever fell during 30 years of Arctic service, and our seamen and officers knew it. There were two routes to be considered in a project for reaching the North Pole ; the one by Spitzbergen, and the other via North Greenland. Hakluyt's Head in Spitzbergen is about 600 miles from the Pole. Sailing ships have been in this direc tion within 500 miles of it, and Captain Parry on the night of July 22, 1827, stood upon floating ice exactly 435 geographical miles from the Pole. He was constrained to give up the attempt, simply be cause the ice was being swept faster to the south than his men could drag their boats to the north. It was the height of the Arctic summer, and the experience of the last 20 years had shown that instead of start ing on such a journey in June, Parry ought to have wintered in Spitzbergen and started for the Pole in February. The Spitzbergen route, however, has this objection—that no northern land is known on its meridian to give fixed points for the deposit of pro visions. Smith's Sound, in North Greenland, would be a better starting point. It is 120 miles nearer the Pole, and there is good ground for concluding that there is a further extension of continent or islands thence to the northward. The nature of the ice drift tends to prove this, for it consists of icebergs, which are creatures of the land and born of glaciers. Icebergs abound in Smith's Sound, which would not have been the case had the land terminated abruptly near the Humboldt Glacier. These tell us of great lands with lofty mountains and deep valleys, retaining the moisture and snow drift of ages, and promise that continuity of frozen seaboard needed to enable our explorers to reach the Pole. In the year 1853 the lamented Dr. Kane en tered Smith's Sound with his little brig the Advance. At that time he (Captain Osborn) (then serving under Captain Richards) was in Wellington Chan nel with the expedition under Sir Edward Belcher ; Kellett and M'Clintock were in Barrow's Straits ; TlNl'Clure had just reached the waters of the Atlantic from the side of the Pacific ; Collinson and Rae were in Victoria Land, and Inglefieldhad just made one of his summer trips to Beechy Island. There were, therefore, at that time not less than 400 Bri tish subjects in the Arctic seas, all living in compa rative comfort, for the resources of a great navy had been placed at their disposal. Dr. Kane's sufferings arose from the insufficient supplies and imperfect arrangements necessarily attendant on a purely pri vate enterprise ; but this was no reflection on those warm-hearted Americans who had so nobly come forward to aid in Artie enterprises. - The chivalrous and enthusiastic Kane he (Capt. Osborn) well knew never penned those touching episodes to frighten men from these grand undertakings, but rather to caution US to avoid his mistakes and to show us how nobly the worst evils may be borne when the cause is a good one. The brig Advance, by departingfrom an Artic rule to keep to the western shore fell into a bay 60 miles further than Smith's Sound, out of which she never again sailed. The furthest point in Greenland reached was beyond a stupendous tongue of the great glacier, and named Cape Constitution by Mr. Morton, the only man who reached it. He could neither get round it nor scale it. What there is, therefore; beyond Cape Constitution none of us know. Kane thought it the termination of Green land ; but this was a hasty conclusion, for he (Cap tain Osborn) could not believe that such a glacier as that of Humboldt was fed by other than some exten sive parent glacier, the existence of which requires a vast area of land —a continuation of the Greenland continent. In fact Mr. Morton scrambling up the face of Cape Constitution, saw land rolling away to the northward, with a fine range of mountains looming in the interior. Accepting the lower of the two latitudes estimated as that of Cape Constitution (80 and crediting Morto n ' s v i s i on w i t h a deg. 56 min.) range of 60 miles, that would give to Cape p arr y a distance of 484 miles from the Pole. This is the dis tance we have to deal with, and .Cape p arry _ a fixed point more than a degree and a half nearer the Pole than Hakluyt's Head in Spitzbergen—is the best point of departure for an exploration of the 1 great unknown space before us. The distance from Cape Parry to the Pole and back is 968 miles ; a dis tance which has been repeatedly exceeded by our Arctic sledge and boat parties. Thus, whether we believe in Kane's Polyna or open Polar Sea, which there were good reasons for considering of small ex tent, continuous ice, the journey was perfectlY feasibl e: Along this meridian the native race has been found to extend to a higher latitude than in savages yother kn own direction. A fine tribe of Arctic were first discovered by Sir John Ross, in lat. 75 deg. 35 min., and n ame d by him Arctic High landers. Subsequent Pe ditions, besides whale ships, have had intercourseex have so far conciliat e d them these people, and that, th instead of offering to kill Europeans, as they threatened in 1818, w / e find them in 185 1 positively saving Kane a n d hi s fol lowers from starvation. Th e men are square-built, hearty fellows, deep-chested, bass-voiced, and merry hearted, and, though without boats or other weapons than such as are made otbone, they att ac k and slay the walrus and the Polar bear, the flesh of which and other animals constitute their only food. The ex. istenee of so kindly-disposed and well-fed a tribe i n Smith's Sound is so far favourable to the propos e d expedition that it shows how succour may be ob. tamed in case of accident, and how 'abundant animal life in that latitude must be to support them so wel in all seasons. Kane tells us that his Arctic friends would not carry him beyond the Humboldt Glacier, and seemed to have no knowledge of lands to the ' north. Moitou, however, found a fragment of an Esquimaux sledge on the shores between that glacier and Cape Constitution. May it not be that other Esquimaux exist there, and is not the question worthy the attempt at solu tion.—How far does human life extend towards the Pole ? With regard to the mode in which an ex ploration should be carried out ; in the first place, such expeditions should always be sent under naval auspices and naval discipline. He (Captain Osborn) had no faith in purely private expeditions on such a service. Wooden ships of war were now rotting in our arsenals. All the old ladies round our seaports are cooking their tea with heart of oak from poor chopped up gunboats. We don't want three deckers, although you might have them for the ask ing. But you can be more modest, and ask for something smaller than wooden line-of-battle ships. Of course you would not expect the Admiralty to take the initiative in such matters. The immortal Cook would never have made his voyages roundthe world. The illustrious names of Franklin, Parry, and Ross would not have been added to the rolls of Fame, if you had waited for past Admiralties to originate scientific research and geographical explo ration. There was no doubt that men of science, and-men who think that the navy exists for nobler purposes than fighting, will find the Duke of Somer set just as amenable to reason and healthy pressure as former Lords of the Admiralty have been. The Board, like other Boards, will, as good servants of the public, do whatever the enlightened portion of the public call upon them to do, and it is to the action of public opinion, directed by men of science, that he (Captain Osborn) hoped to see a Polar ex pedition sent forth in this generation under naval auspices. The navy needs some action to wake it up from the sloth of routine, and Arctic exploration is more wholesome for it in a moral and sanitary point of view than any more Ashantee and Japanese wars. The navy of England knows well that there are other achievements as glorious as victorious battle, and a wise ruler and a wise people ought to be careful to satisfy a craving which is the life-blood of a profession. Would it be, therefore,.too much to ask for a fraction of the vast sum yearly sunk in naval expenditure for two small screw vessels and 120 officers and men out of the 50,000 men annually placed at the disposal of the Admiralty? Let us suppose it granted, and two vessels ready by the spring of 1866. They would sail for Baffin's Bay and reach Cape York in August. One vessel would then be secured in or about Cape Isabella, leaving only 25 persons in charge ; the other, with 95 men, would be pressed up the western shore in the direction of Cape Parry, taking care not to exceed a distance of 300 milesfrom her consort. During the same autumn the southern ship would connect herself by depots with the northern vessel, and the northern vessel would place out depots towards the Pole ready for spring operations. In the two following years -1867-B—sledge and boat operations should be directed towards the Pole and over the unknown polar area, and in 1869 the expeditionlwould retire, thus spending only two winters and three summers in the Arctic Zone. With respect to the distance to be traversed in going to the Pole and back, we have ample data to show that it has been frequently ex ceeded by our sailors over the most sterile lands yet visited in the Arctic region. In 1853 Commander M'Clintock's party made 1,220 miles in 105 days ; Commander G. Richards 1,012 miles in 102 days; Lieut. Mecham 1,203 miles ; and Captain Richards and himself (Captain Osborn) 1093 miles ; Lieut. Hamilton even accomplished 1,150 miles with a dog sledge and one man. All these distances are in excess of the 964 to be traversed in going from Cape Parry to the Pole and back. Since 1853 still greater dis tances have been accomplished. Thus, Lieutenant Mecham marched, in 1854, 1,157 miles in only 70 days, a gain of a month in time, equal to a distance of 300 miles ; Lieut. Young achieved 1,150 miles ; and in 1859 Captain M'Clintock actually accom plished 1,330 miles. The latter distinguished officer (now Sir L. M'Clintock) agreed with Captain Osborne in thinking that it was quite possible with good management to extend a journey a distance of 1,500 miles, or upwards of 500 miles more than are required for a sledge trip to the Pole and back. The project had the hearty support of Sir L. M'Clintock, who had thus written to the author of the paper : " I am glad you are poking up the embers of the Arctic discovery. I wish I was now preparing for a trip to the North Pole. I regard it as being within the reach of this generation ; for knowledge, you know, in sledge travelling, is power." This statement from an officer who had spent seven win ters and ten summers in Arctic seas was conclusive, and of all men he was the best fitted to lead such an expedition. In conclusion Captain Osborn pressed warmly the advantages to the physical sciences which would accrue from such an expedition. There was an area of 1,131,000 square miles around the Pole at present a blank on our maps, and it was of the highest geographical interest to ascertain whether this space was a silent frozen solitude, or, as some maintained an area of land and water teeming with life. The ethnological problems were no less:interesting, for it was extremely probable that man would be found existing much further north than was at present be lieved ; and his mode of existence in these regions would be very similar to that of our remote ancestors in Europe, who used flint weapons during the period when an Arctic climate prevailed over Britain and a great part of the Continent. There were also many meteorological problems of the highest interest which could only be solved by a series of accurate observa tions made by skilful persons in very high latitudes. But one of the most important services which such an expedition could render to science would be the mea surement of an arc of the meridian in the Arctic Zone, a desideratum that had recently engaged the attention of the Royal Society in connexion with the proposed Swedish expedition for that purpose to Spitzbergen. General Sabine, the President of the Royal Society, in his address of Nov. 30, 1863, stated that he had urged the value and importance of this measurement 40 years ago to the British public, and had planned the means of executing of it, with the in tention of carrying out his plan personally. This great service—a measurement of four degrees of the meri dian—could be well performed by a party from the ship which was proposed to be left near C ape Isabella during the summer season, while the northern exieditionwas on itsroad to the Pole. Gen. Sabine, in his presiden tial address delivered in Nov., 1864, called attention to other subjects which could only be investigated by a new scientific expedition towards the Pole—one was in connexion with the variation in the quantity of saline ingredients in the sea, Professor Forch hammer having recently inferred by the decreasing saltness at increasing depth the existence of under currents from the Pole, an inference which required to be proved experimentally. Another was the direc tion of the Gulf Stream after rounding Spitzbergen. Gen. Sabine added, in a recent letter to the author of the paper, "To reach the Pole is the greatest geo graphical achievement which can be attempted, and I own I should be grieved if it should be first accom plished by any other than an Englishman. It will be which the cro wn i ng en t erpr i se o f th ose A r ctic researches in v ooursbcooratry has hitherto had the pre - eminence;' Capt. concluded by an eloquent appeal to Sir R. Murchison, as President of the Royal Geo graphical Society, w give the enl project ghtene d o f su an ppo e rt xpe th di a - t expedi tion to the Pole the s ame such enterprises had ever received at his hands in order that his long services to science might be crowned by the addition of Polar discovery to the domain of human knowledge. The PRESIbENT said the subject so ably brought forward by Capt. S. Osborn was one which deeply interested all who cultivated geography and the sciences allied to it. It was gratifying to learn that that enlightened portion of the society—the naval surveyors of Britain —had warmly encouraged the views they had just heard propounded. Capt. Osborn iad shown, not by guessing, but by an actual appeal to facts, how himself and his associates had in the Arctic circle accomplished in sledges and on foot far longer distances on the ice than those which were necessary to travel over in order to solve this great geographical problem. He had successfully exposed the erroneous o pi n i ons w hich had been entertained with regard to the perils of Arctic travelling. In the proposed x . damn no such calamity as that which befel tleiPe almost dreaded, fo r tiei late lamented Franklin need be tw o ships asked for would be so stationed as to insure the safe return of the whole pa r t y. As president of the Royal Geo graphical Society, h e felt bound to express his sense of the great importance of measuring an arc of the meridian for the first time in these high latitudes as tending to demonstrate the true figure of the earth. It was not for that society to depart from the dignity of their calling by endeavouring to show that this enterprise would have results profit able to commerce ; it was enough that the scientific objects to be obtained were of great value. He ardently hoped that the British nation, whose bold and skilful voyagers had done so much in the dis covery of Arctic lands, would complete their work by an endeavour to hoist the Union Jack at the North Pole itself. (Loud applause.) General SABINE, President of the Royal Society, most heartily concurred in the scheme proposed by Captain Sherard Osborn. He agreed with that gallant officer that it was of great importance to give to naval officers opportunities of enterprise in times of peace, and he knew of no better field than that offered by Arctic exploration. Many of our most distinguished naval men had been trained in that school. There was no period at which the ex pedition could be so efficiently carried out as the present, when so many officers trained in Arctic ex ploration were still among us, and willing to join in the enterprise ; among whom was Leopold M'Clin tock, who, he understood, was ready to give up, the command of one of the finest frigates in the service to conduct this expedition. On the part of the Royal Society he might say there was no lack of objects of the highest importance to science which they could suggest as requiring investigation by such an expedition, and he was sure that that society would join most heartily in any application to Government for assistance. Admiral Sir EDWARD BELCHER said he should be glad to see the proposed expedition carried out. The only difficulty he saw as likely to occur would be that the floe to the north might be found in a moving condition, just as Parry had found it to the north of Spitzbergen. The ice to the north was in motion much earlier than it was in Baffin's bay. With respect to temperature, it was a curious fact that in the whole of the Arctic region examined by navigators the mean cold for 176 days never varied more than a decimal point between 9 degrees and 10 degrees below zero. If this problem is to be solved, it should be solved by England. It should not be agitated here and the Americans allowed to get the start, as they did in Japan. (Hear, hear.) Mr. J. LUBBOCK, President of the Ethnological Society, spoke of the ethnological questions upon which new light might be thrown, now that the re cent discoveries of traces of an early population living under Arctic conditions in our latitude, had shown on what points new inquiries into the habits of the Esquimaux should be directed. Capt. Hamilton, R.N., Mr. C. R. Markham, Lord Dufferin, Dr. Donnet, Capt. Inglefleld, R.N., Mr. J. Crawfurd, and Capt. Richards, R.N., Hydro grapher to the Admiralty, all spoke at greater or less length in favour of the proposed expedition, after which the meeting separated. Sanitary Condition of the City. Yesterday Dr. Letheby submitted to the Commissioners of Sewers at their meeting at Guildhall his report on the sanitary condition of the city for the last 12 months. Dur ing the year, he said, there had been 2,780 births, 2,900 deaths, and 1,575 marriages in the city. For the first time in the last 16 years, or as far back as his records extended, the number of deaths had this year exceeded the number of births ; and all the numbers were greatly below the average for that time. ' In fact, the mean annual proportion of births for the last 10 years had been 3,295, the deaths 2,955, and the marriages 1,698. And with respect to the marriages it was remarkable . that while the number in the eastern division of the city had declined from an average of 549 in the year to 510, and that in the western from 554 to 421, the proportion in the city proper had advanced from 595 to 644.. The explanation of this was not apparent, but it might be said ,that the number of marriages in the city during the year had been in the proportion of 12.3 per 1,000 of the population of the first-named district, 15.7 in the second, and 13:9 in the third—making a general average of 13.8 for the whole city. This was but little below the com mon proportion (14) for the last 10 years, but it was a good deal below the proportion (16.6) for the whole of . England, although it should not be, considering the large excess of marriageable persons in the city population. The birth-rate also had declined from a general average of 27 per 1,000 of population to 24.3, the numbers of the several districts of the city being 28.3 for the Eastern Union, instead of 32.8 ; 27.8 for the Western, instead of 284 ; and 18.6 for the Central or City Union, instead of 2F2. In the rest of London the birth-rate was about 34 per 1,000 of the popu lation, and in all England it was nearly 35 per 1,000. The birth-rate in the city therefore, during the last year had not only been far below the normal proportion for the country generally, but it had also been below its own pro portion. The distribution of the 2,900 deaths for the year had been as follows :-1,094 were in the eastern district, 795 in the western, and 1,011 in the central. These were in the proportion of 26.5 per 1,000 on the population of the first-named district, 29.7 of the second, and 21.7 of the third —making together a mean proportion of 25.3 for the whole city. In the preceding ten years the average mortality in the city had been only 24.2 per 1,000, and in the several unions it had ranged from 20 per 1,000 to nearly 28. In all England the proportion was but 221 per 1,000 of the popu lation, and in the districts of the chief towns it was 24.3. But last year was unusually unhealthy, for the mortality in the whole of England rose from an average of 22 per 1,000 to 23.5 ; and in the winter quarter of the year it reached to nearly 28 per I,ooo—that of the chief towns being 29.7, and of the metropolis 30.9. " Seldom indeed," said the Registrar-General, in his comments on this fact, "has the winter been more fatal." Taking a retrospect of the past, he found that in the case of the city there had been but three occasions during the last ten years when the mortality had been so high. The cause of that remarkable increase of the death-rate was only to be found in the singularly dry con dition of the atmosphere during many months of the year ; for not only had there been less rain than usual in the pro portion of 17.24 in. instead of 23.27 for the whole year, but the average degree of atmospheric humidity had been but 74 instead of 80, and the number of wet days had been only 47 instead• of 169. And besides this, the temperature of the air had been fully a degree below the average. It would seem, therelore, that frequent showers of rain were beneficial in clearing the atmosphere of impurities, and in keeping it in a normal state of humidity. As regarded the ages at death 37 per cent. of all the deaths in the year had been among children of less than five years of age, and of these about half had died in the first year of infancy. In other words, there had been 2,780 births in the city during the year, and 517 deaths of children less than a year old ; so that rather more thau 18 per cent., or about 1 in 76 of all the children born, had died in the first year of their ex istence. The average proportion during the last 10 years had been about 17 per cent., and in all England it was just 18 per cent., while in France it was rather more than 21 per cent. The infant mortality in the city, therefore, although large, was not in excess of the common propor tion elsewhere, and it was much below the mortality in France. Ono of the most striking facts in the table of deaths, according to age, was the increase in the mortality of persons at from 55 to 75 years of age. In the preceding 10 years, with nearly the same total mortality at all ages, the number of deaths among persons at from 55 to 65 years of age had been but 289, whereas in the last year it had in creased to 315 ; and at from 65 to 75 the number had ad vanced from 282 to 292. This increase had been almost entirely among males ; and the mortality at the first ages had been 57 per 1,000 of the living, and at the last 110. In former years the mortality of males in the city at from ' 55 to 65 years of age had been only 48 per 1,000, and at from 65 to 75, 99 per 1,000. In all England the death-rate at these ages was 32 per 1,000, and 66; and in France it was but 22 and 65; so that the strain upon a city life was very unmistakably manifested at the ages of from 55 to 75. It would seem, too, from the gradual increase in the mortality at these ages, that the strain was becoming more severe year by year ; and it:was probably the result of that intensity of mental labour which the growing activity of commerce de manded. Among the females at those ages the death-rate was not remarkably excessive, for it ranged from 37 per 1,000 at the first period to 80 at the last; the averages for Eng land and France being about 28 and6o. With respect to the causes of death, there had been a slight increase in the mor tality from phthisis, and a decrease in that from tabes and hydrocephalus. Inflammatory affections of the lungs had also declined from a general average . of 503 in the year to 452 ; and with regard to the zymotic class of disease, although they had advanced from 612 to 624, yet some of them,' as continued fever, whooping-cough, and the diarrhoea of adults, had been less severe than usual, while scarier fever, measles, and the diarrhoea of children had been more than commonly fatal ; and here he might remark that the chief increase in the mortality from phthisis had been in the winter quarter, that of measles in spring and summer, that of infantile diarrhoea in summer, and that of scarlet fever in autumn. Looking at the principal facts on record during the last 10 years, it would seem that these diseases were more preva lent and fatal at certain seasons of the year than at others. Thus the largest mortality from phthisis and hydro cephalus was during the cold and changeable weather of winter and spring; while the period for the greatest ac tivity of tabes and scrofula, the other members of the tuber cular class, was summer and autumn ; and so also of zymo tic diseases, there was the greatest difference in their ma nifestations of power at different seasons ; scarlatina, for example, was more virulent in autumn and least so in win ter. The same was the case with continued fever, and with measles, and with the diarrhoea of adults. But the diarrhcea, of infants was most fatal in summer,—so much so, that of THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 25, 1865 a total number of 80 deaths in the year, 65 occurred in the summer quarter, and these mostly in the hot months of August and September. On the other hand, there were some forms of zymotic disease which were most virulent in the colder months of the year. This was so with small pox, which was by far more fatal in the mild weather of spring and early summer than at any other time, and so also of whooping-cough, croup, and erysipelas—these were especially the zymotics of winter. The explanation of that was not altogether clear ; indeed, there was much to be done in the classification of these facts before any notion could be formed of the laws which governed the manifestations of these diseases. That, however, which they did perceive was that whensoever the start was given to any one of them it was more likely to run into an epi demic, and to become seriously virulent at certain seasons than at others. Phthisis, for example, was most fatal in winter, hydrocephalus in spring, and tabes and scrofula in summer, and each form of zymotic disease had its special season of activity ; and lastly, with regard to the ages at which these diseases were most severe, it appeared from the returns of the last ten years that the greatest sufferers from smallpox, pneumonia, and diarrhoea were infants of less than a year old—that, in fact, more than half of the total mortality from those diseases were among infants of that age. The deaths from measles were more numerous at from one to two years of age, and then from two to five. Scarlatina showed the largest mortality at from two to five years of age, and the smallest at less than a year; but whooping-cough was almost equally fatal at each period of infant life. Some of these facts were easy of interpretation. The child was easily susceptible of the morbific influences which hang about the filthy and overcrowded dwellings of the poor ; and in summer time, when these influences were brought into a state of great activity by the putrefying action of warmth the child fell a victim to diarrhoea, or its vital powers were so depressed that it succumbed to an attack of measles or scarlet fever, or it more slowly perished by tabes or scrofula. It was manifest, too, that the young infant was very susceptible of an attack of smallpox, and this indi cated the necessity for early vaccination. As to the greater mortality from scarlet fever at the ages of from two to five, it was evident that it arose from the circumstance that chil dren were then first associated in play and in school, and were thus unusually exposed to infection. Lastly, the sta- tistics showed that all the exanthematous diseases were most virulent in the haunts of the very poorest classes, where there was not merely a total disregard of the, commonest decencies of life,. but where the necessitous overcrowding of members of the same family encouraged the spread of dis ease by intensifying the virus by bringing the healthy into contact with the sick, and by so lowering the vital powers as to render the system very susceptible of attack and less able to endure the effects of it. Nor was it alone in the manifestations of zymotic diseases that this unwholesome state of things exhibited itself. The mephitic atmosphere of the dirty and overcrowded dwellings of the poor acted slowly on the nutritive functions of the body, and engen dered a strumous condition which before long showed it self in scrofula, tabes, mesenterica, and hydrocephalus, or in the early symptoms of pulmonary consumption. All that was seen in the pallid look of the child and in the sickly condition of the parent, or in the longing for artificial sti mulants. How to improve that and to make the homes of the poor consistent with physical and moral wellbeing was one of the most serious questions of the day. Already in the course of the last 20 years much had been done for the improvement of the dwellings of the industrial classes, and the efforts of many societies, as the Labourers' Friend Society, the Metropolitan Association, the Mary lebone Association, the Parochial Association, the Strand Building Company, the Improved Industrial Dwelling Company, as well as the labours of private indi viduals, as Lord Kinnaird, Miss Burdett Coutts, Mr. Barry, Mr. Newson, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Hilliard, and more re cently those of Mr. Alderman Waterlow, the trustees of the Peabody gift, and the Corporation of London, had been de voted either to the improvement of existing houses occu pied by the industrial poor, or to the construction of model dwellings with every appliance for health and convenience. But although about 2,500 tenements had in this way been provided, capable of accommodating as many families, and also nearly 1,000 lodgings for single men, yet the result was insignificant in comparison with the work which was yet to be done. Besides which, the houses in question were only suited for the better and the decent class of arti sans ; they were not fitted for the accommodation of the very poorest of unskilled labourers. And here there was work of no ordinary difficulty for the philanthropist ; for at present the denizens of the worst districts of the city were so little accustomed to the comforts of a decent home that their habits were but little removed from those of the untutored savage, and all their efforts at sanitary improve ment were frustrated by ignorance and carelessness. Every sanitary appliance was abused ; water-butts and cisterns were broken, pipes and taps stolen, drains purposely stopped up, closets intentionally fouled, and the' dust and refuse of the houses cast into every out-of-the-way corner. It was, indeed, almost impossible to deal with that condi tion of things ; and there was little or no hope for any per manent improvement until the* was an education of this class of tenantry to a better use of sanitary appliances, and that could only be done through the example of better homes and more considerate landlords. The sickness re turns among the poor had not been so numerous as usual during the year. Altogether, there had been 10,187 cases of illness attended by the medical officers of the city unions, the average number per annum for the last four years being 11,486. The most important ailments had been fever, 795; diarrhoea, 530; and small-pox, 110—all of which had been the subjects of special sanitary investi gation. The mean temperature of the year had been 50.8 deg. Fahrenheit, which was about 2 deg. below the average ; and the range had been from 221 deg. iu January, to 78-5 deg. in July and August. While, too, the temperature had been less than usual, the humidity of the air had been under the average. The mean proportion of it for the whole year had been rather less than 78 deg, of saturation, the range having been from only 63 deg. in July to 93 deg. in November ; in fact, the mean proportion of moisture in the atmosphere during the whole of the sum mer months was barely 66 deg. of saturation, or scarcely four grains of aqueous vapour in a cubic foot of air. That was due to the remarkably small proportion of rain in these months—a proportion that amounted to only about 3.5 in. in the course of all the summer months ; and so dry was the atmosphere that the rain guages upon the roof of Guild hall showed a larger quantity of rain than those on the ground, the difference being due to the evaporation of the rain in the act of falling. In consequence of that absence of wet the river was charged during the summer and autumn with a large proportion of saline matter. As early as the end of May it contained as much as 124 grains of solid matter per gallon, the average proportion in a normal state of the river being but 24 grains ; and by the end of August the quantity of impurity had risen to 386 grains per gallon. Nearly the whole of that was saline matter from the ocean, the flow of the stream having been upwards instead of downwards ; but with that saline matter there was also brought up a large proportion of sewage, the quantity of organic matter (chiefly of sewage) being 43 grains per gallon. It was fortunate that the weather was unusually cold during the whole of that time, and therefore the river did not become offensive from putrefactive decomposition, but if the temperature had risen to 68 or 69 degs., as it did in the summers of 1858 and 1859, the effects of it would no doubt have been seriously unpleasant. That which kept down the offensiveness of the river during the summer time was either a low temperature or a copious rainfall ; and it was manifest, from the experience which had been gained from the regular examination of the water of the river during the last six years, that there were periods of many months' duration in every year when, from the evaporation of the water and the small supply from above, the flow of the stream was not downwards but upwards, and that at such times the sewage discharged into the river, even so low down as the present outfalls, would flow upwards to a distance far above the city bridges. If at those times the temperature of the water rose above 66 deg. Fahrenheit, and the rainfall was less than usual, the river would undoubtedly become offensive unless some means were taken for the defecation of the sewage before it was discharged into the river at the new outfalls. He had brought that under their notice on several occasions, .because he believed it to be a matter of very great public importance. The last point to which he directed their at tention was that during the year there had been 7,429 in spections of houses for sanitary purposes,and 3,301 visits to the common lodginghouses of the city. Those had resulted in the issuing of 3,091 orders for sanitary improvement. And with regard to the inspections of the markets and slaughter-houses, the officers had condemned 229,1801 b. or upwards of 102 tons of meat as unfit for human food, and of that quantity 96,7791 b were diseased, and 43,4971 b. were from animals that had died from natural causes. The quantity of meat condemned during the last year was greatly in excess of former years, the average quantity being about 154,9001 b. yearly, and that excess was chiefly in the proportion of meat from animals that had died from disease. The amount of that kind of meat had been nearly doubled during the year, and it indicated the necessity for the severest treatment of those who had consigned such meat to the city markets. In the course of the year there had been 20 legal prosecutions and convictions of such offenders, viz., nine at the Old Bailey and 11 before the justices at Guildhall and the Mansion-house, and the penalty had ranged from a fine of 10s. and costs to £5O and 12 months' imprisonment. Besides the meat thus condemned in the city markets, there had also been condemned at Billingsgate, by the meters of the Fishmongers' Company, upwards of 774,000 fish, chiefly whiting, plaice, herrings, haddocks, gurnets, dabs, and dace, and 1,2641 b. of eels, 9,572 gallons of shrimps, and 120 bushels of whelks and winkles, all of which had been destroyed. Finally, Dr. Letheby stated that the bakehouses of the city, 139 in number had been periodically inspected, and that orders had been issued, when necessary, for their sanitary improve ment in accordance with the provisions of the Bakehouses Regulation Act of 1860. FEVER IN LivERPooL. 2 -A short time ago the Government sent down to Liverpool Dr. Buchanan, as a medical commissioner, to report upon the cause and spread of fever in Liverpool. Yesterday a summitry of his report was read before the Liverpool Select Vestry. The report is very minute and exhaustive. The conclusion arrived at by Dr. Buchanan is that drinking and overcrowding are the principal causes of the fever which has so long afflicted Liverpool. Mr. Angerstein, Constituents, Monday night, at eight o'clock, a crowded public meeting of the electors of the borough of Greenwich was held at the Literary Institution, Royal-hill, in that town, to hear an address from Mr. W. Angerstein, M.P., explanatory of his views on various important public questions. _ _ The chair was occupied by Mr. B. Coox, of Blackheath, who briefly referred to the past services of Mr. Angerstein as a member for that borough. Mr. ANGERSTEIN, M.P., who was well received, com menced his address by wishing his constituents ahappy new year, and expressing a hope that the events of the present year, and especially that of the election of a new Parlia ment, would prove beneficial to all classes of the commu nity, and tend to advance the cause of progress, reform, and retrenchment. Although it had been said that the last session was comparatively barren in its results, yet several important measures had become law, and he had felt it his duty to give a general support to the present Govern ment, believing that the course of its legislation, especially with regard to finance and commerce, had produced immense benefits to the country. The Annuity Bill of the Chancellor .of the Exchequer was at first looked upon with some sus - picion, but that was soon overcome, and that measure would prove a great boon to the industrial classes, and tend to foster habits of economy and providence. He gave credit to Mr. Gladstone that nothing in matters of finance 'which would be productive of general good was too small to escape his watchful eye, atd he had thus effected beneficial changes which other men might have overlooked. Mr. An gerstein then passed in review the Poor-law Casual Relief Act, the act relating to convict tickets of leave, and other alterations in the law, which he considered of advantage ; and with reference to the Danish question expressed his belief that the Government had adopted the right course. The treaty between France, Russia, Austria, and this country, of 1852, he believed to be wrong. Unfortunately he believed that poor Denmark had been ill-used, but he did not think that the loss she had sustained would ultimately turn out to her disadvantage. The great struggle which had for so long been carried on in America was much to be regretted by all parties, and he entirely concurred in the policy of the Government to maintain a neutral attitude with regard to both North and South. This country had been abused on the part of the United States as well as by the adherents of the South for not taking a prominent position ; but he be lieved the Government had acted a wise part, and whilst-it had maintained intact the honour of the country—as was proved by the affair of the Trent—it had steadfastly refused to interfere in that which in reality was a domestic quarrel. There was one consideration arising out of this dreadful conflict wbich was, however, of a gratifying nature to the friends of humanity. Whether the war resulted in the North conquering the South or a final separation of the States, slavery was doomed. (Cheers.) He sincerely hoped that this frightful contest would ere long come to an end, and that the fruitful plains of America, which for so many years had enjoyed the blessings of peace, would cease to be drenched with the blood of the people. Mr. Angerstein at some length then referred to the last budget of the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, and entered into statistics for the purpose of showing the immense benefits which had accrued to trade and commerce, and the load of taxation which had been removed since the Government of Lord Palmerston succeeded that of Lord Derby in 1858. During that period the amount of taxes taken off was 13 millions, of which about eight millions was indirect taxation, which pressed most heavily upon the industrial classes ; and not withstanding this large reduction, such had been the ad mirable measures carried into effect by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that last year the deficit amounted only to £308,246. He therefore claimed for the present Govern ment that it had done its duty to the country in a financial point of view, and that was a most important consideration for all classes, and directly affected the well-being of the whole people. He regretted that Mr. Locke King's bill for a £lO franchise in counties, and Mr. Baines's bill for lower ing the franchise in boroughs, had not been passed, but he believed these proposals of reform could not much longer be staved off. As far as he was concerned, he had always supported these measures, and was prepared to do so again. Ile had heard it stated that the vote he gave against Mr. Dodson's bill for abolishing the Oxford University test had given dissatisfactfon to some persons. He was prepared to remove all electoral and educational objections which now existed with regard to Oxford, but when he found that this bill proposed to have a total change in the government of the University—in fact, that its intention was to introduce a member without any test at all—he could not conscientiously vote in its favour. He should, however, be prepared to support a mea sure for an alteration in the present system if divested of the objection he had referred to. Although much had been done of a beneficial nature, it might certainly have done more, but there were at least two reasons why this had not taken place—first, the present Parliament was the bantling of that political party which was opposed to any comprehensive measure of progress and reform ; and se condly, it was very much the fault of the people that more had not been- done. The mass of the people had not given that hearty support out of doors to the passing of measures for their own benefit they ought to have done. With regard to the future, he should continue to support those beneficial changes, and although he did not agree with Mr. Bright in all things, he believed that no man loved his country and its masses more than Mr. Bright, and he coincided with him that a great measure of Parliamen tary reform could not be passed until the people were united in demanding it. He did not mean that an agita tion of violence should take place—the intelligence and im proved education of the mass of the people would prevent that—but he looked upon it as a creditable thing that the honest and industrious classes should seek to take part in the constitution under -which they lived, and which would be strengthened by the extension of the suffrage to those classes. On the motion of Mr. HUNTLEY, a resolution expressive of continued confidence in Mr. Angerstein was unani mously adopted, and the meeting separated. Charge of Libel. At the Guildhall police-coirt yesterday, the Hon. Cap John Colborne, of the 60th Rifles, stationed at Aldershol (brother of the Earl of Sefton), appeared before Mr. Alder man Lusk, in answer to a summons charging him with unlawfully and maliciously publishing a certain defama tory libel affecting the character and reputation of Mr. James Phineas Davis, solicitor of No. 15, Clifford-street, Bond-street. Mr. Gifford, instructed by Messrs. Humphreys and Mo rgan, attended to prosecute ; and Mr. Sleigh, instructed by Mr. Lewis, jun., of Ely-place, conducted the defence. The alleged libel was contained in a pamphlet entitled " Money to any amount advanced at one hour's notice ; or, the vampires of London," and the title-page went on to state that it was "an expose of the usurers of the metro polis, and how they share their victims," by Aperitemos. In one passage of the work, the writer, speaking of the way in which victims are caught in the nets of the money lenders, says—" The clubs are full of their prisoners, and we brush against them at every West-end ball ;we sit next them at every dinner party. To be convinced of the fact, go to any office of the first Jew solicitor, whose clients' names are generally displayed in a most conspicuousmanner on large tin boxes round the room ; go to the office of the notorious Arch Vampire' (a recent photo. of this worthy represents him with horns, sitting in a hot region), Finny Davis, off Bond-street, for instance, who has ruined no less than 800 gentlemen of property, and involved five scores of estates in irretrievable ruin by kindly lending money to carry on lawsuits, which have ended by both sides being well looted." In another part the writer says, " Teach the vulture to live on grain, the wolf on roots, but despair of making the fraternity get their living honestly : that hellish fraternity take counsel together." And a note re ferring to the above says :—" Their name is legion ; but here are the names of a few—Jarer, Finny Davis and Brothers," &c. It was urged that the libel clearly referred to Mr. Phineas Davis, as he has offices within three doors of Bond-street. The only knowledge Mr. Davis had of the defendant was that at one time he had transacted some business of a private nature for him, for which he made no charge, and had also lent him £5 without interest, which it was alleged had not been paid. Evidence was then gone into showing that the defendant had assumed the names of Fitzherbert and of Athol, in his negotiations with the publisher and the printer of the pamphlet. For the defence it was maintained that the pamphlet was directed against a class, and not against an individual, and that it was published for the public benefit. Mr. Alderman Lusk committed the defendant for trial, but admitted him to bail, he himself in £5OO, and one surety of £l5O. Mr. Sleigh applied that he should not be committed to the next Old Bailey sessions, but his application was over ruled, and he was told to apply to a judge if he wanted the trial adjourned. The bail was tendered and the defendant liberated. THE WEATHER IN SC OTLAND.—A keen frost, which set in at the end of last week, though broken by one or two short intervals of semi-fresh weather, during which showers of snow fell, have prevailed for several days past. On Monday the lochs in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were covered with ice, and a number of skaters appeared on Duddingston, Dunsapie, and St. Margaret's Lochs. The ice, though otherwise good, was not suffi ciently strong to bear any considerable weight, and the consequence was several immersions, though fortunately no serious accidents took place. The Holyrood Curling Club met at Dunsapie Loch in the morning, and found the ice in very good condition. Last night the weather continued cold, and several heavy showers of snow fell.— Scotsman. [ADTERTISEMEST.]—FfoIIoway's Pills—Nervous Irrita bility.—The very perfection of the human body renders it like a complete machine, very liable to be thrown out of order—a state that is at once made manifest by the nerves. Holloway's Pills are always the seasonable and reasonable remedy, that relieves every ailment that is not mortal in the human system. As alteratives, stomachics, tonics and aperients, these pills occupy a proud pre-eminence, from which no other medicine can dislodge them—they restore health and strength which nervous and dyspeptic sufferers have failed to recover elsewhere. Holloway's Pills act with such directness on the organs of digestion, assimila tion, and circulation that they immediately arouse torpid organs, augment diminishing vital power, and support failing energies. _ . SPIRIT OF TIMES.—Of all the anomalies in the anomalous organisation of this most heterogeneous and ill di gested metropolis the London Fire Brigade is not the least. It is natural to suppose when we see a fire engine dashing at full speed, with its complement of firemen, to the scene of a fire that it is being em ployed in some public service. The uniform of the men, the sort of general air of authority they assume, the instinctive habit of making way for them, and our natural anticipations of the necessities of the case, all combine to create the impression that the Fire Brigade is the agent of some public authority, acting for the public benefit. As if to confirm this idea, they are always ready to attend a fire any where, however slight, and, indeed, are so ready with their services on the slightest alarm that people who have ever had any experience of their ope rations rather dread their interference than fear their neglect. At all events, if the Fire Brigade is not a Government or a public institution, one would sup pose it to be the creation of some benevolent society, like the Royal Humane Society or the Royal Society for the Preservation of Life from Fire. The plain fact, however, is that it is simply a private institu tion, having no other object whatever but to protect the interest of the shareholders of the several in surance companies. Its officers and men are, as was shown in the case of the well-known Mr. Braidwood, men of undaunted courage, humanity, and even- enthusiasm ; but all these qualities are called out, not in the first instance to save the pro perty or lives of the public, but to diminish the amount of loss which in case of any fire might fall on the companies. The admirable officer we have referred to, being asked by a committee of the House of Commons what he would do if, having been summoned to a fire in the British Museum, which is uninsured, a fire were meanwhile to break out in a block of insured houses adjacent, replied that "of course " he should knock off from the Museum." When a fire breaks out it is true the Fire Brigade do not wait to inquire whether the property is insured or not before going to it, but they do so only because the adjacent property may be insured. All their energy, in short, is set in motion by the most ordinary of all considerations — the desire of persons whose money is in danger to save as much of it as they can. There is nothing public, or humane, or disinterested about it, except the generous feelings which long habit raises in the minds of the officers and men of the Brigade them selves. For the rest, all is pure business, and no more. The report of the London Fire Brigade for 1864, which we analysed yesterday, opportunely reminds us, while the recent Edinburgh disaster is yet in our memories, of the existence of this singular anomaly, and of the public interests en dangered by it. When we read that the fre quency of fires continues to increase in a far larger ratio than either the population or the number of houses, it cannot but be increasingly unsatisfactory that duties of such vast importance to the whole metropolis should be left in private or ' unauthoritative hands. The evil might not be serious if we could be sure of the companies find ing it to their interest to maintain an establish ment sufficiently large to answer all the public requirements. That such, however, is not the case was admitted by the managers of the Brigade before a Select Committee of the House of Com mons, where they openly stated that " as they con sider their staff sufficient for the protection of that part of London where the largest amount of insured property is located, they have no desire or intention to add, to their expense by placing additional sta tions in situations where if a fire occurs it is not likely to cause such comparative injury to the offices as if it occurred in the great city warehouses." A. great part of the metropolitan district must there fore, so far as the Fire Brigade goes, be necessarily unprotected. The efficiency . and character of the Brigade which exists leave, indeed, nothing to be desired. The only fault is that it is not large enough. The present Report contains almost direct admissions that its services are overtasked. There is an increase on the sick list, for example, of more than 50 per cent. as compared with the preceding year ; and the only way in which the surgeon can account for the additional sickness " is the increase of fires, in consequence of which the men have been called upon to perform a greater amount of duty." There is at the same time very little evidence in the Report that the establishment is being propor tionately enlarged. Its expenditure of labour and time is, indeed, being economized by the introduc tion of steam-engines and the employment of tele graphs ; but these improvements cannot be sufficient to keep pace with the growing demands of such a vast metropolis as London. It is no wonder, there fore, if Captain Shaw speaks of the last year as having been " a period of unprecedently severe and trying labour." But increasing labour to the Brigade means increasingly less protection to the public. This, however, is far from being the only evil which results from the unofficial character of the Fire Brigade. Its inadequacy to fulfil the severe labours imposed on it leaves a great opening for pri vate exertions. In point of fact, various volunteer and private fire-engine establishments have been started, and have been supported by private in dividuals or firms, and in one or two instances by public bodies within the metropolis. It might be thought at first sight that those volunteer addi tions to the regular service would be nothing but an advantage, but as matters now stand they are not without a considerable draw back. The Fire Brigade being a merely private establishment, has no authority over them whatever, and when the two work together at a fire there is always danger of rivalry and confusion. In any scene of confusion like a fire it is everything to have one management, and two or three Volunteer Bri gades all working at the same time in different direc tions and in mutual rivalry might do as much harm as good. Of course, a Volunteer Brigade ought always to make a point of placing itself strictly un der the orders of some recognised• officer at every fire. At all events, it ought to be perfectly willing to do so. But why should there be any occasion left for this 'conflict of authorities in a case where everything depends upon complete unanimity ? To put out a fire effectively requires as much organisa tion and skill as to manage a battery, and the work ought to be in the hands of a regularly organised and authoritative force. A Fire Brigade is as neces sary to the safety of a city as a force of police, and it ought to be publicly maintained and invested with public authority. As we noticed yesterday, the Brigade is now dependent, in so important a matter as obtaining a sufficient supply of water, upon such lethargic functionaries as turncocks and church wardens. We hope it will not be long before some steps are taken to remedy so serious an omission in our metropolitan organisation. We have no fault to find with the way in which the existing Brigade discharge their perilous duties. They are admirably commanded, and have repeatedly displayed the highest qualities of courage, discipline, and self sacrifice ; but that is no reason why the public should trust the protection of their lives and pro perty from so terrible an enemy as fire to the partial mercies of insurance companies. HERALD.—Skating is, no doubt, an elegant amusement, and delightful to all except nervous and unsteady persons, who associate with it only ideas of being stunned, fractured, submerged, and brought back into a shivering condition of life by the shampooingg of a hospital nurse. We have Imperial authority for the fact of its being respect able, and national testimony to the fact tha t it is popular. But it becomes a question, whether in great towns, which are supposed as amply guarded by police, some regulations are not necessary in order to prevent so fearful an excitement as that witnessed in the parks on Monday, and the con stant peril of thousands who would persist in ven turing upon the unstable ice. The parks were thronged ; the ornamental waters, imperfectly frozen over, were loaded with the weight of an extraordi nary multitude. In one place 50 individuals fell through the thin crust of congelation, and these were for the most part boys. Several of the cases are reported as dangerous. In St. James's Park cer tain persons, whose conduct we have no hesitation in describing as brutal and atrocious, threw oranges and halfpence upon the ice, which induced a bevy of children to rush and scramble, with imminent danger to themselves, and which was an act not less morally criminal than as though the fruit and money had been flung upon a railway in front of an express train approaching at full speed, to tempt a thought less youngster to his death. The law provides no safeguards for these silly urchins ; for were it not for that noble institution the Royal Humane So ciety, there would be a Morgue, or dead-house, in every park ; and the parks, by the way, are governed upon a singular principle. You may be drowned within their pleasant circuits without let or hin drance, unless on the part of a private association, while you may not sleep upon their sward by night. Here were little ones struggling, ten at a time, in water at zero ; two or three were battling for assist ance beneath the ice ; for half an hour some were thus miserably soaked, their lives were imperilled, and—in the name of all that is manly, we say, it was a villanous outrage—the act of miscreants and cowards, after an elaborate warning from the police, to throw oranges and halfpence on the breaking ice, as though these poor creatures were rats in a pit, to be brought into peril of their lives for the sake of a stupid and ferocious joke. Every man who takes a part in these malign jests should be scouted by his friends. No act of Parliament can reach him ; but the parks, which are the property of the Crown, might be placed under better supervision. The police, under authority from the ranger, may keep you off the grass. Why may they not keep you off the ice ? Would it not be pos sible to prohibit skating until some one compe- THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, Theretent to judge had announced that the Thera surface was firm, solid, and safe? would be no tyranny, no interference With the or l o t' berty of the subject, in that. The la w which f ; railway passengers to alight from a train wh ile motion, the law which prevents a publican Jolla, lowing children of tender age to drink a t tr:'e , " aro and the law which regulates the sale of poisonhl een all interventions in their several degrees beto. why, personal right and the public interest. we repeat, is the protection of the parks, at tn r r dangerous period of the year, left almost altogeffthe to the good and excellent efforts of the Royal 1111 ,,g mane Society ? 'That society placarded the bae4 t of the Serpentine on Monday with warnings,,.t.%, the ice was no more that : an inch and a half tw e n d Yet five hundred people Weye allowed to skate 11 ,, slide, wantonly, foolishly, and wickedly, as if i n c° -o tempt of the mercies of Providenese. Can this way be prevented? The waters ill Ken i , Sin , i t of Gardens were similarly thronged, and the i i -is „ o , - ing ten persons were for a considerable time lam" at upon the doctor's fiat. In the Regent's r i l", ts, Battersea, and at Hampstead, there were azei°, l o ce which in all cases, ho matter whether the pools only knee deep or, as at Hampstead, floating °' , e strangulating depths of slime and mud, might. 'le been fatal. It would be absurd to make hs Li , text of a homily against skating. Th e sport is 30 mirable and healthy. If the perform ers adopt `'io necessary precautions it may be of benefit W thee cies many ways. Btit; so many of our amateurs, h esl o n risking the thin ice, ialeur injuries by venturing tile the very rough and the very smooth alternately be most perilous error possible. They thin tolaat do V wn fearless they must be violent. They ok re , either at the ice or at their own feet, and thas cipitate formidable collisions. They fancy that ' 1 (1 ' o '; can imitate the Dutch travelling roll in a park, and hence a large proportion of the cas ua pt which take place. It seems a truism, and /We seems necessary, to remind young peop le, strat i e and intrepid qualities, that, in order to enjoy they must have the ice to skate over—not a - ;t frost upon the water. In the north of Europe "ers, common to travel in skates on the gulfs and ri; g and, with a favourable wind, the men thus J° jor neying go faster than ordinary ships. Th ei l rs the iiiv moreover, a kind of flight, for they only totte-L,, ground in the slightest possible of delicate I,at The Frieslander, as a rule, can run across the 'cep half the common velocity of a steam-ene le ' t wo 1801 two young women, making 30 miles in , a ce hours, won a handsome prize at a skating 's e d instituted by the good burghers of Gottingen ; as a creditable historian relates, 2 0 years afterw3"o, a Lincolnshire man, for a wager of 100 glu ll s . skated a mile within two seconds of three so that we are by no means anxious to disPrB;,it this favourite English recreation. But even its most facile practitioners should not be indifferent Tot dangers they confront. Who needs to be tel u i , s gs men with an irritable state of the blood or .-- te n(l should never skate against the wind, or that, stead of skimming, in the way of bravado, along b y') ice, he should get away from it by the laul n .„'" m of ethod of locomotion practicable • but, in sir t i l o all this, tens of thousands need to' be told, an d a' over and over again, and that without much 111 ;` e r rent effect, that they should never, howeve r t i suaded, hazard themselves upon ice less than inches thick. We fancy we hear the bola °„ s . crying "Bogey !" Let us ask them a simple 4. 1$ tion—ls all the skating sport of the season vilog, single human life ? That poor boy who, at StP fr o endeavoured to save his brother, and came 13 -P f an abyss of ooze and weed, with a mouthful. ° l ,' t nnnute4l 10 wretched child's hair between his teeth, min e .J.' expected to warn, in one way or another, the fog less fools who fling fruit and money on the crac the ice, and cruelly and abominably lure them of the risk of their lives. Is it conceivable that any fellows who behaved thus on Monday last weIL ,O A parents of families ? They utterly misaPPr e # let us tell them, the uses of the metropolitall ,'it%tioo The parks are no more designed for the satislt'iljng of their inane tastes than they are for the lig+iinel ruffians who 101 l upon their lawns in summer hick unnoticed by constables, or for the waterfowlt,„'' the enjoy better protection than is vouchsafed public. Evelyn and Pepys both record how before Christmas in St. James's made the w , tiog , pleasantly of a Dutch winter with its P- 5 . 4 1 4 " which is a very pretty art," but neither efrode " the sliding rabble" which " pretended to I °, l n dill s up of gay flatterers, and incited the boys an'', ',yell to risk the. breaking of their necks on the 1 - 1. pool." Whenever we have a frost, however, pestered with this nuisance, the abatement of would be a public benefit. COUNTRY MARKETS ------ ' LEEDS-TUESDAY. The show of wheat i 9 not large this week. Our appear very anxious abqut buying, and we have bad 00 0 doing this morning, without any change in value. AolVi barley quite as well sold, but secondary sorts area "" No alteration in oats and beans. •/ The average prices for the week ending Jan. 23 vi l e re c ,;Ot Wheat, 41s Old per qr. ; barley, 31s 41-d; an 20s 81d. LIVERPOOL—TUESDAY. of t lj° At this day's market there was a fair attendance ion town and country trade; however, no great dispoi buy was evinced. Wheat met with a fair sale 'jet over the prices of this day week. Flour was fan'd oa t at late rates, but the sale very limited. In oats a' jp ,rleP meal there was no change in value or deman, (l 'dio beans, and peas were also without alteration. ' l 'm r was more inquired for, and fine Danube broil: 4801 b, being about 3d per qr. dearer on the wee MELTON MOWBRAY.—TUESDA Y. 36 sios f White wheat, 41s to 45s ; red, 38s to 42s Per 2se rd ßarley for malting, 31s to 33s per qr ; feed, 25 ! ; i ted, gis 30 stone. The supply of other articles was Jan a fair business done, the rates unchanged. SHEFFIELD—TUESDAY• oa R w e h d it w o heat, per l d o o ad of 3 imp. b d u o shels : .. ::1 15 7 5 s New red do do l 5B 04, 170 1 ; 4 1 New white do do l6s 6 u js " o t Beans do 0 0 d d t 0 ties ! s e 0 1 do lss 0d do oa Peas, per qr. Grinding barley, per qr 308 Ou 3 ,5 s v„, Malting barley, co 32s od ,oout. Oats, do 2lB Od - F10ur....1s 5d to is 9d per 141 b. MONMOUTHSHIRE--MoNDA T. till- , A lit A change of weather took place on Friday , w„ — welcomed by the agricultural community genenT'Nvili;s last there is a probability that the young Nr.r." e , -- rcl Dv ? ) thoroughly strengthened and tempered by the 1- " . ) :6 0‘ which has set in. Buyers of wheat are holdingbo much as possible with the idea that there w c il lhe n 1 ' : , further reduction in prices, but the tende ncl 1 51 a for the last few days does not favour this "ue oa ts r euott, Good quality malting barley is firmer, tol d without change. -whet" 0 The following are the average uotations 3s to 5s 8d per bushel ; barley, 3s act to as ad ; oatm to 28 6d. P Foreign Mail . packet List. ____-40---- • eb Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton - ' il• ret S. Ditto, via Marseilles Few , e Brazil and Cape Verde, by British pao.et p Ditto, by Britis h p acket . ........... . o e l ' itt• Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.....t: f. China, Penang , and Singapore, via Sou t hampton. .r !„ 16' Ditto, via Mars eilles ........................... •111"'"' Falkland Islands ............. . G ib ra ltar, via Southampton ....... • • ••• ‘ , O , .so ; In di a (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via S o uthampton••••' 0. Ditto, via Marseilles 2 6 India (Bombay), via Southampton.. ... i ............ •11 b. ' Ditto, via Marseilles .. ....... ...r e . 1 1 ............... , eD , ~ Mauritius, via Southampton 1b; Ditto, via Marseil e 3 ....... . ...... . ......... • • . Feb 3 • Newfoundland ...... . ..................................... Portug .1 Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon... ............ I United States and British North America, 133 ,1311- velt• r tish packet ........ •••- Ditto. by United States packet, via Southangr ton . .• . _.2l' Ditto, via Cork . ........ Ditto, by Canadian packet, via LondonderrY.. fe l). ' West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Tenerife ..... as , West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cub a 'jo• g. and Mexico. ................. ....... .......... • • • 1 . Bahamas, via New Y ork. ....................... • ... reb. Bermuda, ditto Cuba and Mexico ........................... . London: Printed and PublihhedhiiilCLl-.01: 14titi of No. 112, Strand, Mater, at TUE SUS °:; -e' Cow Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy , in Middlesex.—Wednesday, January 25, 1865. of - • • Births. th ee fil GArrsKELL.— ni On the 18th inst., at Cheltenha, 0,11 Lieut.-Col. J. G. Gaitskell, of a daughter. isTdell HORNCASTLE.—On the 22d inst., at Albert-roadi.i'dit!f:y the wife of Thomas Horncastle, Esq., of a cl i '''', P l ;f ° WATERLOW.—On the 24th inst., at Fairseat 1:1011Sfaii, gate, N., the wife of Mr. Alderman W 3tei. daughter. l'A Marriages. i t• t' AP leti f BERENS—SIIAW-HELLIER.—On the 21st inst., a t '1 i r: a r °L Knightsbridge, Alexander A. Berens, ES(l. , , ° o 3 "ifor' Hall, Cambridge, to Mary Ellen, the eldest " ft pv Thomas Shaw-Hellier, Esq.,of R lb t oc as on 1011, Al l shire. t )f shire. PURSSELL--WARE.—On the 23d inst., at f e .,,, -e y r' - i' Purssell, of Cornhill, and Laura House, O'r" ° Ellen, second daughter of John Ware, Esq. lf Deaths. , At P , GRIFFIN.—On the 6th Dec., 1864, killed in act'° ooc-13 limkote, Bhootan, India, Major Frederick- 04 # Griffin, R.A., aged 31. , .t n -0 P 4 ' CROSSWELL.—On the 24th inst., at 34, Kensolv, ° .ol l , A square, Hyde-park, Stephen Hawes Cr°6' r 0 aged 57. jo Gnu/gnaw—On the 23d inst., at Highbury"-gr°lle' f, Gruning, Esq., aged 79. ...a , 0.- , LODDIGES.—On the 20th inst at Hackno.y , C .../- '7 diges, aged 44: • __--• 41 ---_-.4{111,4,