The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-16 00:00:00

THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

i oto
TO THE EDITOR. OF THE SUN.
Sin,-1 'nave read in The Sun, this evening, a
f.rotmhe tohbetaAintliineanceoufibno,
orkesspiencttihnigs
National Repository.
Whether
statement,the
delay i
12
e takenl
rred
in
such is the case or not I cannot
state,
recommendation, since I forwarded to the librarian
anlotthhouarhnag
wyeetascucceeded in obtaining the entree,
a written recona signed 't
iy a gentlemen
the privilege.l
was informed this evening that an additional
who is a member of the bar, for my
required, although a few
sponsor is now years since
in my case one was deemed sufficient, in order to
enter the reading room; but this addition appears
to be merely a whim of the principal librarian, as
the names of the trustees are not mentioned.
Is the demand usual, can any rd your readers say ?
Yours obediently,
14th Sept., 1863. C.
used certainly to h
[One sponsor -e deemed quite
sufficient, years ego, when Sir Henry Ellis was
The fact that it Librarian.was so before Mr.
Panizzi's time is within our OWIL recollection and
But, how comes ,-,
experience. our correspondent—
having once been a Reader there, no matter how
many years ago—to require a re-introduction of any
kind in order to obtain access to the Library of the
British Museum P—ED. ,s,zn.]

----- ---_,-_.
INVISIBILITY OF LlOnt.—The Abbe Moigno ex-
described NI. Soleil's Tenebroscope, for
invisibility of light Aat one of the recent
appreciate the fact
the British Association. It is well known to
sittings of
1,
scientific men, although l•-`0 general public do not suffi-
cientlyihniubsittreadting andth 0
eye be so placed as to receive the rays as they
unless the 1 that light in itself is invisible
approach it, or unless soave. object be placed in its course,
light way be reflected to the eye,
wince the 1
which will if give notice of the presence of
Thus, the
that object.strong beam of sunlight be
darkened
ad-
mitted into a Chamber through a small opening
from whoseg
and received on some blackened surface glaced against the
wall, the entire chamber will remain in perfect
generally thus
all the objects in it invisible, except in as far
opposite
as small
refiectinn•
sunbeam by b portions of its light. Upon project-
ingin the air mark the course of the
and all
floating
a fluid or small dust across the course of the beam its
taco also becomes perceptible. The instrument, exhi-
bitedprese
of
darknessm,
consisted a tube with an opening at one end to be
looked into, the other end closed, the inside well blackened,
and a wide opening across the tube to admit strong light to
pass only across, On looking in, all is perfectly dark, but
ra „van trigger raises at pleasure a small ivory ball into the
course of the rays, and its presence instantly reveals the
existence of the crossing beam by reflecting a portion of its
light.

AGREEABLE INTERRUPTION TO A DRAMATIC
SUCCEss.---The success of lrnnani was secured by the
monologue of Charles V. in the fourth act ; that tremendous
monologue was interrupted at almost every verse by bravos,
and ended in interminable rounds of applause. These
shouts were still going on, when some one came to tell the
author that he was wanted. He went out and saw a little
man with„ around belly and staring eyes. "My name's
blame," said the little man. " I'm the partner of M.
Baudoin, the publisher : but we can't talk here : " will you
spare me a
minute outside the house ?" When they were
in the street,
"Now, then, he said. "M. Baudoin and I
were at tle performance
, and we should like to publish
Hernani'—will you sell it ?" " What do you offer ?"
" Sig thousand francs" (L 240). "We will talk about it
when the performance is over." " I beg your pardon,"
said the publisher, " but I make a great point of settling
the matter at once." "Why
? You don't know what you
are buying. The success may be less complete." " Ah,
that's true, but it may be much greater. At the second act
I thought of offering 2,000 francs ; at the third act I got up
to 4,000; I now, at the fourth act, offer 6,000 ; and after
the fifth lam afraid I should have to 10,000." " Well,"
said M. Victor Hugo, laughing, "since
you have so much
fear about the play, you shall have it. Come to-morrow
morning, and we will settle the matter." "If it's the same
thing to you, I should prefer settling it at once. I have
get the 6,000 francs in my pocket." " I've no objection, but
how can it be managed ? we are in the street." "Here's a
tobacco shop." The publisher entered with the author,
bought a sheet of stamped paper, and asked for a pen and
ink. The treaty was written and signed on the counter,
and the author received the money, which was by no means
unacceptable, as he had not more than 50 francs in his pos-
session. He went back into the theatre as fast as possible,
and saw, by the universal attention paid, that the success
had not diminished,— VictQr Zroyo's Life, by his Wife, its
intielsl