The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-18 00:00:00

Modern Naval Wounds,

M. Dufour, a surgeon of the French navy, has published
an interesting account of the wounded seamen who were
brought to the naval hospital at Cherbourg after the engage-
ment between the Alabama and the Kearsarge. Of 15 men,
1 is dead, 2 remain is a dangerous state, the others, favoured
by a strong constitution and the great care with which they
were attended in the hospital, are recovering. Far some
days victors and vanquished lying near each other in the
same room forgot the civil discord of which they were the
victims. They were visited with the same solicitude and
the same humanity by the officers of the ship which sur•
vived the engagement. One of the first remarks suggested
by reading M. Dufour's statement is that the greater num-
ber of the wounds were caused net by cannon shot or shell,
but by splinters from the ship. It has been observed by
naval surgeons that since the use of shells in naval engage-
ments the destruction of human life has been greater than
when round shot alone was used. It has been learnt from
the same sea engagement that it is an error to suppose
that the plating of wooden ships protects the crew
from the splinters scattered about. The still increas-
ing calibre of the guns used in modern warfare requires a
greater number of men to serve theta, and it follows that
one shot may cause more destruction by striking a compact
group of men. This was the case on board the Alabama.
A shell fired from the Kearsage falling among 19 men who
were serving one of the Alabama's guns killed or wounded
15. The Alabama fired altogether 270 shots, of which the
greater number were fired from howitzers, There were but
163 shots fired by the Kearsage. Nobody appears to have
teen killed by the round shot—all the injury was inflicted
directly or indirectly by the shells. The captain of the
Kearsage very soon ceased firing from his four 32-pounders,
which produced little effect, and used his two 11-inched
howitzers and a rifled 20-pounder placed forward. The
victory was gained by these three pieces alone.

THE LATE MR. C. W. DILKE,—Tho remains of
the late Mr. C. W. Dilke were consigned yesterday
to the family vault at Kemal-green Cemetery. The funeral
was strictly private, attended only by members of the family
and two or three old intimate friends, among whom we may
mention Messrs. John Forster, Hepworth Dixon, and W.
J. Thems. The last number of Notes and Queries con
tains the following well deserved tribute to the memory of
the deceased :—" In the death of Charles Wentworth Dilke,
Esq., Notes and Queries has sustained a groat loss ; for
among the many able writers who have from time to time
contributed to its pages, no one has enriched them with so
many valuable papers illustrative of English history and
literature as ho whose death it is now our painful duty to
record. Mr Dilke was one of the truest hearted men, and
kindest friends it has ever been our good fortune to know,
He died on Wednesday last, in the seventy-fifth year of
his age. The distinguishing feature of his character was
his singular love of truth, and his sense of its value and
importance, even in the minutest points and questions of
literary' history. In all his writings the enforcement of
this great principle, as the only foundation of literary hon-
our and respectability, was his undeviating aim and object.
What the independence of English literary journalism owes
to his spirited exertions, clear judgment, and unflinching
honesty of purpose, will, wo trust, be told hereafter by an
abler pen than that which now announces his deeply la-
mented death."

110YALIGALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.—The annual
exodus from the metropolis does not daunt the
enterprising manager of the Gallery of Illustration, for he
advertises the closing of his present excellent entertainment,
and the commencement of a new one at the same time.
The season will terminate on the 27th instant, when the
"Pyramid," the "Bard and his Birthday," and the new
story of the " Seaside " will be withdrawn, to be followed
on the following Monday by a new opera di camera, er
ballad operetta, by MrW. Balfe, which will re-introduce the
" Jesh'y Lea" company, with the exception of a new soprano,
a Miss Finlayeon, of whom we have heard some favourable
reports.

POST- OFFICE BLUNDER.—About half a league
from the town gates of Konigsberg:, in Prussia, is a place
called Jerosalem. A resident gentleman there has just
received a h. tter which the commissary of his district had
addressed to him two years ago. It appears that tho let-
ter had been .sent to the Holy Land, and had afterwards
made nearly tha tour of the world.