Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-24 00:00:00

to the Himalaya, where he still is. The chief results
obtained from this careful exploration of Asia are the
following :—Theji. Himalaya mountains everywhere
exercise a decided influence over all the elements of the
magnetic force; the declination ',everywhere presents a
slight deviation, causing the needle to converge towards
the central parts of that enormous mass, and the magnetic
intensity is greater than it would be anywhere else under
an equal latitude. In the south of India the increase of
the magnetic intensity from south to north is extremely
rapid. The lines of equal magnetic intensity have a
remarkable form, similar and perhaps parallel to those of
certain grdups of isothermal lines. The three travellers
have collected all the materials necessary to ascertain th's
important fact. Irregular local variations in terrestrial
magnetism are rare in those regions. On the Himalaya,
at altitudes of 17,000, and even 20,000 feet, the daily maxi-
mum and minimum variations of
•the barometer'occurred
nearly about the same hours as in the :plains below.
Again, at the above altitudes, the inversion of the curves
of daily variation which is met with on the Alps does not
take place. At the altitude of 17,000 feet the diminution
of transparency produced by a stratum of air of the
thickness of 3,000, feet, is no longer distinguishable by the
eye. Daring the Dist storms which frequently occur in
India, the disk of the sun is seen of a blue colour ; if
small bodies are made to project their shadows on a white
surface, under such circumstances the shadow is of an.
orange colour—that is, complementary to blue. The
transparency of the waters of the Ganges, the Barram
pooter, and the Indus, was tested by letting down a stone
into them, which generally became invisible at a depth of
from 12 to 15 centimetres (5 to 6 inches), showing that
they are overcharged with earthy particles, for in th,
sea near Corfu a stone is visible to the depth of 50 feet,
and in the seas under the tropics it remains visible at a
depth of 30 feet.

AM USE 3IE NTS, &c.

THE I.IVA.L OPERAS AT THE THEATRE ROYAL
AND THE ROYAL AMPaITHEITRE.

Mr. Sims Rceves, on Thursday evening, attracted the
largest audience which has been present at the Theatre
Royal during the week, to hear Donizetti's opera, " Lucia
di Lammermoor." His perlormince of Edgard° was the
great fact of the opera, and certainly the best performance
we have ever witnessed from Mr. Sims Reeves. Madame
Gassier was not successful as Lucia. She sang the music
with great brilliancy, but somewhat was wanting in
pathos and passion. Signor Borchardt was not equal in
Ashton. At first he was very coarse, but improved in the
latter portion of the music. He has a sweet tone and
considerable poorer, and with care should take a high
position among the baritones of the day.

At the other house, Lucy Escott's benefit was not
attended at she deserved. She mad) a spirited Mari-
tan; but a little more grace woeld not not have
boon amiss. Mr. Henry Haigh male a reckless Doe aesar
de Bazan. Last night that opera was performed at the
Theatre-Royal to an equally thin house. Mr. George
Perren was the Don Cedar, and has been seen here in that
character before. He was vary good, bat scarcely so
effective as when we last saw him perform it. Madame
Borchardt took the part of Mlricans, and sang a great
deal of the music very well, but her personal appearance
is not suited to such characters as vivacious gipsies.
The performance of the whole opera was in no respect
superior to that of the National English Opera Company
at the Amphitheatre. !Last night the latter rei eated
"It Trovatore," but an apology was made for Mr.
Henry Squire, on account of severe cold, as he nailed
in "Ah 1 si ben m'o," and " quells pira," in
which he was so successful last week. He recovered
a little in the " Miserere," but when that was en-
cored, his voice showed sympto las of weakness. The
" Trovatore" was announced as this evening's performance
at the Theatre Royal, but it will be seen by the letter of
Mr. Sims Reeves, in the advertisement in oar columns,
that he is afraid of that opera, and that he proposed to
substitute a second performance of " Lucia di Lammer-
moor," and, in addition, to carry out the rivalry to the
last moment with the National:English Opera Company,
to take the part of TOM Tug in " the Waterman," in which
Mr. Manvers, of the other company, has been so
successful, We wish we could record that more remune-
rative audiences had greeted both companies, for their
own sakes and fur that of iNIr. Copeland, who certainly
deserves more supp art. There will be highly
attractive performances at both houses to night, and,
under ordinary circumstances, large attendances might
have been calculated on. At the one house Simi Reeves
inlEigardo and Tem Tug,' at the other, two operas, " Der
Freischutz" and " the Daughter of the Regiment." Tne
bands, choruses, and conductors are very good at both
houses, and the appointments at both equally good. We
shall be glad if we can record good attendances.

Sr. GEORGE'S CONCERT Ito min.—This place of amuse-
meet continues to fill nightly, and the talent engaged by
the spirited proprietor, is deservedly appreciated. The
choruses are effective, and the glees and duets elicit
hearty encores. We cannot refrain from noticing the
very excellent execution of Miss Cantrell, w:tu is a great
and deserved favourite.

HENGLER'S CIRCUS, DALE S.TREET•—ool7ething new
is almost daily added to the attractions of the Cirque, and
we find that the first grand day performance will take
place at two o'clock this afternoon. In conjunction with
the accomplished artistes that we have already noticed,
we have to mention this week, the astounding, and at the
same time, delightfully daring performance of Mr. J. M.
Hengler, on the tight rope. Performances of this
description are rare, because few cin be found capable of
doing so. Mr. Hengler has, however, in this instancee
eclipsed all the rope performers of modern times. His
fetes are daring, yet gracefully performed, and at the
time we admire him, we are lost in admiration at how
such things can be, and overc)me us like a summer
cloud, without our special wonder ! Descriptio❑ would
fall short of conveying a true notice of Mr. Hengler's
walking in the air, as it were—he must be seen, and then
will he be appreciated. Mr. Powell, as "Shaw, the life
gaarasinan," is equal to anything of the sort, we have
observed i❑ his various and
_interesting personations of
celebrated individuals. M. M. Leopold and Boultelier,
are amongst the finest grotesques in the world, and the
" S ar and Waltz Cotillon," by the principal performers
of the company, are graceful and attractive. We must
defer noticing other portions of the performance, until
next week, but still the excellence of the company is
unrivalled.