The Express.
London, England, 1853-09-16 00:00:00

NAVAL.

PORTSMOUTH, SEM'. ls.—The Edinburgh, 38,
screw steam guunery-ship, Captain Hemlett, has r,Teived
orders to proceed to Plymouth forthwith. She his the
signal, calling her men on hoard, flying from her mast-
head.—The Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir T. F.
Cochrane, K.C.8., struck his flag en board the Victory,
flag-ship, Captain J. Shepherd, and proceeded on leave of
absence.—The Prince's Royal, 9J gun screw two decker,
fitting out for commission, was taken into the Sidon dock
to-day to be coppered, &c. The Sidon is the
only dock of the ten iu the yard capable
of accommodating the Princess Royal, and the
other large screwships built in the present day.
The Sprightly, steamer, arrived to-day from Plymouth,
whither she had taken supernumeraries. The American
Eagle arrived at Spithead to-day from Gravesend, and
having taken passengers and stock on board, sailed for New
York. Two other very Hilo merchant ships, Indiamen, had
also sailed from Spitbead to-day, for their respective desti-
nations, having been lying at that very fine anchorage,
sailed yesterday taking passenger,, stock, &c. on board.

THE NORTHUMBERLAND HERRING FISHER n

The herring fishery along the coast, more espe-
cially since our last, has been remmkably successful. A
great number of boats ate engaged in the employment, end
there would be a glut of herrings in the local markets were
it not fur the railways, which convey immense quantities
into the interior. Prices have ranged within the past eight
days from 10s. to 20s. per thousand. Our fishermen, how-
ever, suffer considerable obstruction from the French lug-
gen., nearly a couple of hundreds of which are engaged in
fishing on the Northumberland coast. With the exception
of the Yorkshire boats, our men generally employ small ca-
bles in the fishing, whilst the French loggers bare crews of
15 hands each on board; and, notwithstanding the fishery
laws prescribe that they shall not cast their nets within
three leagues of the nearest promontory, they come so
close as a mils and a mile and a half from the beach,
and • greet amount of unpleasantness has arisen, and
serious injury has been done to the nets and gearing of
our men. The Frenchmen's gear is much heavier than
those used by the fishermen on cur coast, and they
have also a strong warp, and innumerable tubs attached
to their nets. The men also on board their loggers
being in the proportion of three to one to the men in our
boats, they shoot their nets over those of the English
fishermen, and do them considerable injury. Several Eng-
lish boats' companies have sulfured considerably in this way.
Tho English fishermen accuse, the Frenchmen of cut-
tieg their nets and stealing their fish, and altogether,
for want of the ft king regulations being eliforced, a most
unhappy feeling has sprung up between the fishermen of the
two nations. There is, indeed, one sloop of war, the
Archer, on the coast, but she is insufficient to protect the
entire fishery. The French also havo a sloop of war
cruising off toe coast, employed to see that the fishermen
of that country are really engaged in the fishing, as the
government give a bounty to their fishermen upon the
quantity of fish they catch ; and in former years they have
touzd that their men, instead of heaving their nets and fill-
ing theis vessels with the produce of their own industry, pur-
chased their cargoes of the English fishermen, and on arriv-
ing in port claimed the bounty. It is highly desirable that,
as in North America, where the same regulations prevail,
and the fisheries, thanks to Lord Malmesbury, are now
properly protected, the Admiralty should send down some
additional force to protect our fishermen and compel the
French to observe the boundary line. At Berwick, lest
, week, three French fishermen were brought before the
mayor and John Pratt, Esq., by the commaeder of 11. M S.
Archer, charged with fishing within the preserib.l.l limits.
They all pleaded guilty, and two of them were fined 61.
each, and the third 61. and 11. additional for damage done
to a net belonging to one of the English fishing bouts. The
mayor stated that the next time any of them were brought
forward he would inflict the full penalty of 101. in each case.
—Newcastle Journal.

FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—On the morning
of Thursday last, a child about three years of age, whore
mother was shearing in a field adjoining the Deedee and
Perth Railway, in the neighbourhood of Glencarse, wan-
dered away from its parent, and, coming to the bank of the
railway, slipped down and fell across the rails. The 8.40
train from Dundee, passing about the time, ran right over
the body of the child, mangling it to a fearful extent, and
that before any means could be taken to prevent the
sad catastrophe. Death, of course, was instantaneous.
Yesterday morning, we regret to say, another accident,
attended with an equally fatal result, took place near
Kinfauns, on the same railway. It appears that
two waymen were working on the down line, and
Fraser (the deceased), instead of going off the line
altogether, to avoid the train coming from Perth to
Dundee, and thus keeping himself entirely clear of the
rails—a rule which is enjoined by all railway directors, but
we fear very often broken by the waymen—stepped over to
the up-line, where he stood, and was watching the Perth
train so intently that he seemed neither to hear nor see a
train coming from Dundee at the same time, the buffer of
which struck the unfortunate man on the chest, killing him
on the spot. On seeing the deceased standing on the line,
every thing was done to stop the Dundee train, and the
whistle was sounded, but it was of no avail. The poor man
has left a widow and family to mourn hie untimely death.
In neither of these cases can the slightest blame be attached
to the railway guards or drivers, who used every exertion
in their power, although without effect, to prevent the
fatal consequences really brought upon the unfortunete par-
ties by themselves.—Dundee Advertiser.
CHILDREN POISONED AT LIVERPOOL—A serious
and fatal case of poisoning by eating plants took place on
Friday last. On Friday morning a boy named Thomas
Guest, seven years old, with his sister, a younger child,
residing with their parents iu Audley-strect, London-road,
and accompanied by two other children, named Evans,
went into the fields in the neighbourhood of Green-lane,
and on their return were met by John Ileyworth' one of
the county police, who asked them where they had been
to, when they replied that they had been gathering black-
berries. This was opposite to Green-lane. Soon after-
wards lleyworth was returning towards Liverpool, and saw
the children about 200 yards in advance of him. After fol-
lowing them a few moments, he saw one of them fall down,
as if he was in a fit. Ile ran forward to his assistance, and
when he arrived at the spot the boy was buck in the
face. In a few moments afterwards another of the boys,
named Evans, also fell clown, and he too appeared to be in
a fit, and vomited what seemed to be unripe blackberries.
Heyworth took them to a house iti the road, where the boy
Guest began to vomit blood. The other children were also
taken ill shortly afterwards, and Heyworth took Guest and
the two Evansea to the infirmary, where Guest died on
Saturday, and the other two boys are both lying in a dan-
gerous state. The dceess.d's sister, who was taken Immo
to Andley-street, is also in a precarious state. Herworth
found souse roots in the pockets of one of the toys, named
Evans. The house surgeon at the infirmary states that the
boy Guest's death was caused by his having eaten the root
of a poisonous plant ; and there can be little doubt that all.
the children partook of the same plant.
ACCIDENT HY LIGHTNING. Last week, says
in the commune of Garonne' (Allier),
wGaaifigvnaerliale a faenwiter, n at work in his field by o violent storm.
lie prope'cal to a young man, who was with him, to take
shelter under a lerge oak, but the latter refused, saying
that it was dangerous. " Nous:ate," replied the farmer,
" the tree has stood where it now is for a hundred years'
and the lightning has never touched it; I shall get undo
its shelter." He accordingly went, but had not been there
a minute before the tree was shivered by the lightning,
and the man knocked senseless to the ground. AssiAtince
was procured, and he was carried home, whegelii. .....
afterwards was restored to consciousness, and.he if' u,
fair woe of recovery. The electric fluid -bad isolired 1;r, -.71
bat, and torn off the hair to the width eT os trine)* . :; ...-
then passed down his body, the skin of whieli to arms .4:
~.,
tent was blackened ; the skin was alto torn off fnakikt
thigh and leg. - .

,

It was in studying these magnificent ban.relielk
that I ilia/veered the microscopic vegetation to which the
Parthenon and all Eastern edifices owe their beautiful golden
bee. The theories built upon the subject of this tint of the
marbles of the Parthenon are well known. Some have as-
serted that this beautiful building hid been painted, and
that the pale yellow celoorin4 was the only remains of the
so? kin.. painting. In fact, some traces of painting, mufti-
eular.y an the compartments of the etilisq, are stile visible.
Others assert that it is the effect of the sun itself, which has
bad the I rivilege of tinting with its heat the marble in title
manner. It is, however, nothing of the kind: it is 'lichen,
with imperceptible oceans, which botanists up to this hour
have not described, which Wends in immense layers over
all the marbles of Greece, either carved by the chisel, as in
buildings, et in a natural state at the elide of a outline.
The numerous svccimens of this lichen which I have brought
from the Parthenon, from the old enclosure of the Temple
of 3..1m50n, and from the ruins of Dauber, place the fact
beyond a doubt; and these are the observations which
brouoht me to this interesting discovery. The bas-refit fs of
Phidias have especially tuffs beautiful golden tint, which
contributes so much to give the appearance of a velvety
softness which it is diflicu tto describe. And when, at dif-
ferent epeeha, the projecting parts, such as the noses or
fingers, had been broken off, I observed that the yellow
tint hail covered the broken parts, and that they differed in
so respect from the hollow parts of the has reliefs which
bad never suffered mutilation. I might conclude from thir,
that the colour was not paint, as the marble, when broken
first, is of dazzling whiteness, and in time becomes as yellow
as the rest. This was conclusive. I also observed, that af-
ter the habit of all lichens, this colouring penetrated the
fissures of the marble wherever it was broken in any past,
so that in stellar( off the outside, you find that the two in-
terior aides have equally received this general tin; and
that the tint diminishes in intensity with the size of the
crevice. This colour follows the habit of lichens, which
generally cover the rocks, and penetrate the imperceptible
fissures.
I afterwards studied what would be the action of the Inn
upon the columns of the building, and the following is the
result. The columns placed is the south are perfectly white
on those parts which are for the greatest length of time ex-
posed to the burning rays of the sun. Ily degrees, they
become yellow on those parts where the sun shines upon
them with less ardent rays. In short, on thou parte
scarcely reached by the sun, the yellow tint has become
blackish, and there are frequently long, blackish lichens,
trailing along, well known by botanists, extending in long,
Satlayers, over the walls a here water or the rain has re-
mained the longest time. Thew lieu, thus a • d at, led
me to the following conclusions:—Since the marble, in
those parts least exposed to the sun, becomes nearly black,
and we know that this colouring is derived from the lichen
called Lepraria; since the marble retains its whiteness
where it is most exposed to the sun, and that the yellow
tint is only strongly marked in the intermediate parts ; it
follows that it is a lichen, which, needing moisture, cannot
vegetate under the burning action of the sus, on the front
of the column, it therefore vegetates the mere strongly on
thew parts where the marble is most sheltered trum the
beet.
I had hers the solution of my problem, Afterwards,
upon the north side of the walls of Jerusalem I detached
fragments of mortar that had been carefully polished by the
trowel. The lichen on the stun is which form these walls
was spread upon the mortar itoelf, and had given to it the
nine golden tint as to the stone. It is not, therefore the
action of heat which has thus gilded the marble, since the
columns of the Parthenon, on those parts most exposed to
the 8101 rays, remain white; and upon the walls of Jeru-
salem I found the same tints upon the nothern side, which
is never warmed by the sun's rays. Men of microscopical
science will allow me to give the name of Lepraria Par-
shenonisca to this lichen, if, as I have reason to think,
no other botanist has been beforehand with me in the dis-
covery of this microscopic parasite.
It is a little plant, of which the wonderfully fine net-
work covers ties marble wrought by the hand of man ; and
which gives to oriental buildings the warm colouring
denied tee those of Europe.—,46se de St. Alidiun's Narratice.