The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-21 00:00:00

The Insurrection in Friuli.

OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF THE AUSTRIAN
COMMANDERS.

Armed bands endeavouring to disturb public orderhaving
appeared in several mountain districts of Friuli, the under-
signed by his quality of commander of the Imperial and
oyal troops stationed in the said districts, has been in-
structed by his Excellency Chevalier von Benedek, general
of artillery, commander of the army, to assimilate all active
participation in the revolt, as w3ll as any act tending to
increase the insurgent bands, or render them assistance. to
a crime against the armed force of the Stem, and to deliver
the culprits to the military tribunals, by proclaiming, as I
hereby proclaim, summary punishment or all the s,:id
crimes. Smtence of death wid in consequence be passed
not only on every individual forming part of the armed
bands, buf'also upon whoever shall enrol others for the said
bands; divulge the movements of the Imperial and Rovsl
troops; furnish the said malefactors with provisions, arms,
or munitions, or in any way aid and assist them; and lika.
wise upon whoever shall act in concert with these bands to
the detriment of the Imperial and Royal troops,
" I moreover make it known:—

" 1. That all sentinels and patrols have orders to fire
upon any person who shall not immediately stop when
challenged, but, on the contrary, attempt to fly.
"2. That, by order of his excellency the commander of
the army, the penalty of death will be remitted in the case
et any offender who, having been privy to the revolt or
rendered assistance to the same, shall voluntarily present
himself or be delivered up to the authorities by the popu-
lation.

"The present order will come in force from the time of
its publication in every district:occupied by the troops under
my orders—namely, in the districts of Sacile, Pordencne,
Maniago, Spilimbergo, San Danielo, Gemona, Moggio, Tal-
mezzo, Ampezzo, Pieve di Cadore, Aurcnz9, Longarone,
Belluno, Agerdo, Feltre, For z xso, Ceneda. and Conegliano.
" KRISMA.NIC, M9jlr-General.
"Udine, NovcHber 11, 1864,"

ASTRONOMY IN THE ELEVENTII CENTURY.—
M. Leverrier last week presented to the Academy
of Sciences the third volume of the astronomical works of
Alphonse X., King of Castile, published by Don M. Rico
y Sinobas. It consists of various treaties translated from
the Arabic by order of that monarch, viz., a treatise on the
universal luminary Astrolabe of Toledo; the Az ifeha of
Seville, the Book of the Seven Planets, a treatise on
a Universal Planetarium, and another on (ha astro-
nomical quadrant. Alt' these were written in the
eleventh century, that is, two hundred years before
the reign of Alphonse, who cAused them to be
added to his " Great Book on the Knowledge of
the Heavens," The treatises on the astrolabe were written
by Azarquiel, a well-known astronomer of Toledo, remark-
for the simplicity of his style, his practical knowledge, and
his rejection of idle theories. Azarquiel improved the
spherical astrolabe of Hipparchus by adding alidadas or
sights, quadrants, and trigonometrical lines, dividing the
radius into 60 parts instead of 60,000, the division adopted by
Regiolnontanus. His work also contains numerous
rules and problems solved by his two ezifehas astro-
labes. The treatises on the planets are equally re-
markable, from the fact that they contain cer-
tain important data closely resembling tilos) we owe to tie
period of Kepler. The instruments described in them con-
sisted of metallic circular plates provided with sights, and
upon which the orbits of each of the planets were delineated.
From these it appears that the Arabian astronomers endea-
voured to discover the real figure of the planetary orbits.
The result at which Azarquiel and Aboulcacin arrived
was an oval orbit for Mercury, while Kepler, several
centuries later, found an elliptical one for Mars.
Kepler followed up his immortal laws as the truth-
ful expression of the motion of the heavenly bodies,
but Azarquiel, in his book written at so remote a period as
the eleventh century, says in the simplest language that the
curve described by Mercury, though difficult to find, owing
to the many lines it requires, is the best for observing Mer-
cury in its irregular motion in the heavens, This opinion,
though clearly expressed and geographically represented,
remained barren and neglected from the 11th to the 17th
century, when Kepler published his "Laws" and " Rudol-
phine Tables."

FREEZING OF THE BLACK SEA.—In M. de Tohi •
hatchet's interesting work, "Le Bosphore et Can.
stantinople," we find the following curious information
concerning the Black Sea, and the possibility of its
ever being frozen over. History records seventeen
instances of the partial congelation of its vast surface
since the beginning of the Christian era, viz , in 401, 753,
739, 755, 762, 928, 931, also about 950, and in the reign of
the Emperor Basilius, and then in 1232, 1620, 1669, 1755,
1823, 1849, and 1862. The year 762 is positively men-
tioned by histoiians as having witnessed the all but
total congelation of the Euxine. Ovid, indeed, who
lived in exile on its shores between the years 7 at d 17 of
our era, asserts that within that period the mouths of the
Danube were frozen up ; but since the remarkable year 762
there is no positive evidence of their having ever been so.
In speaking of that year the Patriarch Nicephorus states
that the ice was 13 metres in thickness I M. Da Tchihat-
chef very justly remarks that at'Brussels, which is about
nine degrees more to the north than Constantinople, the
ice has never, in the severest winters, attained a thickness
of more than half a metre. Reducing, therefore, the
Byzantine historian's extraordinary statement even to
half the amount, our author is of opinion that
there must have been at least 20 degrees centigrade
of cold (four degrees below Fahrenheit's zero). Ha further
remarks on the curious circumstance that the severe winters
of the region of the Black Sea, above recorded, have very
seldom coincided m ith !hoe() remarked in other parts .of
Europe. Thus, for instance the Adriatic was nearly frozen
over in 859 and 1234, dates which do not correspond with
any of the years mentioned above. Hence he thinks it
more than probable that the great frosts of the Euxine must
have been owing to local causes, especially as the'northern
coasts are subject to much lower temperatures than the
southern ones, and much more so than difference of latitude
might warrant.

SCENE IN MUSSELBURG COURT.—A COUN-
CILLOR. AT BAR,-At this Court on Friday, Provost Lawrie
presided, supported by his brother magistrates, Messrs
Charles, Feerns, and Leitch. The first called was one of
assault against Councillor A. Millar. Upon the complaint
being read the defender was asked to plead, when ho said
he was not guilty. Several witnesses were examined, from
whose evidence it appeared that on a recent day, when the
defender was carrying furniture from a cart into his
shop a number of boys were playing on the footpath,
when ono of their number was kicked by the defender
twice or thrice, The magistrates found the case
proved, and sentenced the accused to pay a fino
of 20s, or suffer twenty days' imprisonment. Councillor
Millar paid the fine, and asked the Provost what he was to
do when annoyed in his business by boys playing about his
shop-door. In addressing the Provost, the defender stood
at the bar with his hands in his trousers pockets. The Pro-
vost said—Sir, take your hands out of your pockets, and
stand in a respectful manner; if you don't, sir, I shall
commit you for contempt of Court. Councillor Millar—l
have paid my fine, and I think I have a right to stand how
I like. Provost Lawrie—Sir, if you say another word, I'll
commit you, Councillor Millar remained quiet, but still in
the same position, until the sentence was read by the clerk,
when Mr Millar turned round saying, " Good-bye, gentle-
men." The business of the Court was then proceeded with.
—Scotsman.

LONDON NCD3ES.—Oh! for the pen of Gay or
honest Stow to chronicle all the noises that make
the sublime hubbub of mighty London I The din is so
perpetual, that we who live in the city have learned to dis-
regard it. Seldom, indeed, do we reflect on all the consti-
tuents of the general uproar, the key-note of which seems
to be the rattle of cabs and omnibuses over the granite,
accompanied, now and then, with the labouring,
crunching, heavy bass of Pickford's waggons grind-
ing all the stones to powder in their progress. Over
these rise the resounding blows of the smith's hamrs3r
rivetting iron bolts into girder bridges; the shrill screech
of the railway whistle, the chiming of church bells, and,
pre-eminently, the sonorous throat of old Paul's, with
the grand swell of the melodious monster in the clock
tower of Westminster, which may be heard with a fair
wind, half over London; the rustle of autumn leaves,
the patter of the descending rain, and the dolorous
sighing of the east wind as it beats against the
churches; anon, something more familiar strikes the
ear—the cheerful chirrup of the sparrow among the
house tops, the whistle of the errand boy going to his
morning's work, or the wild laugh of the wanton mocking
at her own despair; then the rifle bands break in with their
stirring melody, and the tramp of martial footsteps vibrates
down the lung street. As the echoes of fife and drum die
away, the " Buy, buy" of the butcher twangs upon the
senses. "Standard, sir," becomes importunately obtru-
sive. "Any hare skins P.' accompanies the postman's knock.
The "Ethiopian Serenaders" rattle their bones. and
" Punch" pierces the dun air with his lively squeak, Worse
than all, a gigantic Cochin- China cock protests against his
imprisonment in a hen-coop by a series of astounding crows ;
a mercurial donkey cuts shines with his heels, and breaks
out exultingly with a bray like an ophicleido. Succ:ssive
fl9elrs of sheep driven from the cattle market to the
slaughter-houses baa awfully; calves bleat, cows low, and
dogs bark, until every other sound is hushed into silence by
a tremendous hurrah from a miilion-voiced crowd who are
cheering my Lord Mayor as he rides in state to West-
minster to be enthroned, for one year, as Ring of the City.
—City Press.

TROOPS FOR MExico.--Messrs, Pothonier and
Co., shipbrokers, of Liverpool, have chartered for
tho Mexican Government three fine steamers—the Bolivian,
the Peruvian, and the Brazilian, each of 2,000 tons burden
and 600-horse power—for the purpose of *conveying the
recently formed contingent of Austrian and Belgian troops
raised for the service of the new Emperor of 111txieo to
that kingdom, Each of these steamers has been fitted up
to convey about 1,000 men, and the Bolivian was expected
to leave Trieste yesterday.
RECIPE FOR LONGEVITY.—Get yourself chafed a
member of the French Acatterny. All members attain a
great age—for instance,lll, Dupin is 82, M, Berryer is 76,
Guizot is 75, &c,