The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-19 00:00:00

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_able nwabtrs
.11 as brei in the garden s
and iz now dif•trihnted in rsriouF
Virious kintii of foreign doves and pigeontstavell S
been introduced and lib:rated.
The curossow has been obtained, and has bred in
the aviaries at the Botanical Gardens.
Of the angler and lover of fish diet the society has
not been forgetful. At the recommendation of the
SUeeeEL'iVe votes have been placed on the
Estimates, cud passed, towards 4ssitting the spirited
enterprise of the Tasmanien Govern:lN:it in the in-
troduction of the king of fresh water fishes—the
salmon. The gourarnie, a &It which has been re-
pres•nnted as the best fresh-water pc3nd-fisli in the
world, is already in the posFession of the society,
having been presented after many trials by a Met-
boaroe firm, and the difficulties. of their intredlic-
tioa riuw Lti,e.r2 overcome, the society expects
soon to obtain further supplies in considerable
numbers.

PRICE ......
....sd.

ACCLIMATIZATION,

-

The following lettcr has been addressed to the
Editor of the limes:--

Sir,—You have so faquently devoted a large
portion of your space to the details of what is being
(lone in the novel and interesting project of aactitna-
; ization, that I think you will ha glad of the oppor-
tunity of furnishing your readers with a few facts
as to the past history and present condition of an
association which may fairly claim to rank among
the most energetic, successful, and progressive
acclimatization societies in the world.

The carp, tench, roze'a, and dace, as specimens of
poldfl.;11, have been introduced and distributed
the not very valuable pond-fishes of England, and
the
in various localities favourable to their multiplica.
Lion.

The following statement is just about to be issued,
for the reasons it itself explains. It conveys in a
concise form all that we have at present done,
and I feel sure that its publication in your
columns will not only give pleasure to thousands of
kind-hearted persons who are gratified by the pros-
pect of increasing the happiness of their fellow-
creatures, but will incite other British dependencies
to take active measures to add to the comforts,
lukuries, and legitimate pleasures of their people,—
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
EDWARD WILSON.
Melbourne, March 26.

But as illustrating by a small success the won-
derful results capable of attainment by acciiim,tisa.
Sion if adopted on a proper E cale, the Council would
refer to the fact of having introduced living speci.
mens of the sea fishes of Europe is the shape of the
gray mullet and the edible crab; not, indeed, in
numbers sufficient to justify a hope of establishing
the breed, bat amply suggestive of what will be
done in the future.
In a country so subject as this to the ravages of
insects, the case of the agriculturist has also been
carefully considered. Hundreds of indasttions
farmers have, even this year, been ruined by the
caterpillar, and similar visitations must necessarily
be expected. The introduction of insect-destroying
birds has therefore been carefully attended to and,
with this has been combined an effort to surround
our colonial residences with those interesting asso-
ciations which constitute no slight portion of the
charms with which the name of " home" is ever
surrounded. The thrush, the blackbird, the skylark,
the starling, the chaffinch, the sparrow, the Chinese
sparrow, the Java sparrow, and a most active and
interesting bird, the Indian mino, may now be
considered thoroughly established, and are rapidly
extending by natural means through the colony.
The goldfinch, the linnet, the greenfinch, the yellow
hammer, the ortolan, the canary, the robin, and
many kinds of the smaller birds of other countries,
are being accumulated in the aviaries of the society,
and many of them have already bred there.
The nightingale and the hedge sparrow have been
promised us by benevolent ladies at home, and the
Queen herself has made an effort to supply us with

the rook. To other liberal friends of the cause we
are indebted for promises of the gazelle and the
edible crab.

As a contribution of very particular interest to
the cottager, the introduction of the Ligurian bed
mly be adduced, that insect being probably, from
its industrious and wonderfully prolific properties,
the most valuable in the world. This bee is multi-
plying with almost incredible rapidity, and will
soon be accessible to all classes.

A widely-extended correspondence and a system
of kindly interchange are knitting us in interesting
relations with kindred societies in all parts of the
world; and to gentlemen in England, France, India,
Ceylon, and China the society is, in particular,
under deep obligations.

The very great distances at which the operations
of the society have to be carried on, and the diffi•
culty of getting placed in communication with the
right class of persons and institutions calculated
to aid the enterprise, should argue in favour of a
steady persistence of effort, protracted over many
years, and should show the false policy of any
considered interruption of a great national scheme.
The British Government has recently been in.
duced to take up the project of acclimatization with
an amount of consideration altogether without pre-
cedent, the Foreign and Colonial-offices having
recently sent to British emissaries in all countries
in the world a series of questions as to the various
desirable natural products of each country, and the
Admiralty has issued a circular to all commanders
of her Majesty's ships, directing them to render
every service in their power to the cause of aced•
matization in the conveyance of specimens.
In almost every colony in these seas acclimatiza-
tion societies have been founded, most of them pay-
ing that of Victoria the compliment of taking it as
their model, and with Sydney, Hobart Town, Ade-
laid, Brisbane, Auckland, Ly ttelton, and Dunedin,
the Melbourne Society is thus brought into friendly
and frequent communication. A French man-of-
war is at the time of the preparation of this states
ment engaged in bringing the society specimens of
the yak, the ostrich, and other animals.
There is something so attractive, and at the same
time so novel, in the nature of acclimatization, that
paragraphs referring to the proceedings of the
society attain a circulation more general than
almost any other subject in English and foreign
newspapers, and such notices are calculated greatly
to interest strangers in the progress of the colony.
Even the very disasters and deaths inseparable from
this kind of experiment are not without their uses,
as many interesting specimens have been contrie
buted to the National Museum from the collection
of the society.

The Council of the society ss composed of gentle.
men who have no personal object to serve. They
attend the weekly meetings at the cost of consider-
able valuable time taken from their business hours,
and the reports of their meetings will show that
the attendance is such as no other non-commercial
body in the colony can boast of.

The Council think that in this brief enumeration
of facts they may consider that results' have been
obtained sufficient to carry conviction to any nn,
prejudiced mind to show how impolitic it would be
to allow their proceedings to be rashly or wantonly
interfered with,
and to justify them in expressing a
doubt whether any other public money is as advan-
tageously expended in regard to the future as that
portion with which they have been intrusted.
From the very novelty of the project of systes
matic acclimatisation, and from the almost illimit-
able range of the objects with which it seeks to
deal, a fertile topic is afforded to the sneers of the
thoughtless and the misrepresentations of the ills
informed. But in seeking to stock this country
with new, useful, and beautiful things, to add to
new
our national
ind
industries, wealth, tosuggest
vid e
f to
p manly sports
colonial
forms for our
recreation on the river's bank and mountain side
rather than in the cafe and casino, to surround
every homestead and the path of every wayfarer
with new forms of interest and beauty, and to add
new elements to the food of the entire people, the
Council conceive that they are engaged in a work
sufficiently noble to secure the sympathies of every
And of parents, ;
good man. in particular, they
would ask, what may not be made of this fine colony
i
seed this society when the is now diligently seeking
to sow shall have had time to fructify in a complete
harvest ? "

tw i TestedoilitTh oft THE
rEotehnaMetAss theuiCacKec CAeosYrfse. stGhs bTel ty
The
iron Se aTs nhpdGo
Ist
a,l GUN.--This
t epNda. near—rs ae
d Liverpool,th
Agincourt;wi si
e guneth wasouygshat againen:ddsaeoyea:
being tested for range with a charge of 30Ib. of powder,
made the first graze at a distance of 4,500 yards, which is,
we understand, a satisfactory proof of the value of the gun.
The Gazette de France says :—" Our letters
direct from Rome, written by persons who aro perfectly
well-informed on the subject, state that the Pope has now
recovered, and is in good health."
A MAN DECAPITATED ON A RAILWAY.—AII ilia
quest which was not concluded until a late hour on
Tuesday night, was held before Mr. W. Carter, coroner for
East Surrey, at the Wandsworth and Battersea Union on
the body of Stephen Largent, aged 36, 'who was horribly
mutilitated by an engine on the line near the Battersea
Park Station of the Brighton Rail-way. On Sunday after-
noon, about four o'clock, the 'deceased was proceeding
along the line towards London, w hen an engine and tender
struck him with tremendous forct!. He was found with his
head and one arm completely severed from his body. It
was shown that the deceased, who was a respectable
mechanic, had doubtless gone on to the line to seek for
groundsel and cotton waste, acme of whit! L were found in
his pockets. The Coroner h aving suminL :d up, the jury
retained a verdict of Accident; xl Death.