The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-03 00:00:00

GAME PROSPECTS.

We have the usual contradictory accounts from
the North of Scotland. Last season, about this
time, all was couleur de rose—assurances of nume-
rous and abundant coveys before the eggs were
hatched, while, as unfortunately happened, a ;ion-
siderable portion of them were never hatched at all.
This season there are rival prophets, one set of whom
rejoice the sportsman with the intelligence that "on
all the extensive moors grouse are abundant, the
hatching season well advanced, and the more early
nests containing young grouse." The other set
revel in accounts of deep snow, hail, rain, dead
birds, and black prospects—the writers warning
the Cockneys against high rents and barren hills.
Possibly both speculatiors are exaggerated, and,
as with us on the low ground, the real prospects
of sport on the 12th of August (which, by the
way, falls this season on a Wednesday) can-
not as yet be anticipated with any degree of
accuracy. All that can be said about the Ayr-
shire moors, as yet, is that the stock left last season
was, notwithstanding an almost universal jubilee
by sportsmen, under an average ; and, where they
were not spared, very low indeed ; so that, even for
anything like a fair show of birds in August, a very
dry and warm spring is indispensable. So far as it
has yet gone the season has not been unfavourable ;
and, after E 0 wet an early spring, we may hope for
dry weather and heat. Even on the best moors,
where there was scarcely any shooting last season,
the old birds, though healthy, are scarce. The cause
of this scarcity has been the subject of many inte-
resting communications in the Field, and the fact
of the scarcity, with occasional dead birds on moors
little shot last season, is rather freely, we think,
ascribed to disease. Those who ;have paid much
attention to the habits of grouse might, we think,
discover another, if not the chief, cause. A jubilee
to be of much consequence to numbers would need
to be universal, or at least much more general than
can possibly be attained. Late in the season
grouse join passing packs, and will go miles from
home to cornfields, casting in their lot with the
pack they chance to join, the survivors generally
returning to their native ground at the pairing
season. But their numbers are severely thinned
by constant shooting for the market by parties who
take a licence and a small extent of ground, and
make a trade of "rickle-shooting." And a very
remunerative trade it is, however ruinous to the
fair sportsman. These " rickle shooters," who pay
£5 or /8 for the right to shoot over from 500 to 800
acres of ground which possibly never bred a grouse,
lay down sheaves of corn lavishly in a line, and,
themselves concealed in houses made of straw, shoot
at the flocks that come the entire autumn and winter
days. Each of these men will, after harvest, when
the fair sportsman can scarcely get a shot, kill more
grouse in one week than the average sportsman, on
the best ground, kills in a season. No wonder
grouse are scarce and occasionally diseased after
such wholesale slaughter. Half-a-dozen grouse are
often killed at a single shot, and probably twice as
many wounded ; and our theory is that these
wounded birds which languish and die are the
diseased birds, whose ailments are speculated about
so scientifically in the sporting papers. The fact of
a bird being reduced to a skeleton is assumed to be
conclusive of disease, but when we have the know-
ledge that birds are thus woanded wholesale
towards the close of the season, it seems more than
probable that their emanciated appearance is the
result of pining under wounds for months. In con-
clusion, we do not think last season's blank was to
be ascribecLto unusual disease, but simply to the wet
season having rotted almost all the eggs; and we
see no reason to anticipate any other than fair sports
this season, if we are spared heavy rains till the
coveys are on the wing. This applies equally to
black game.—Ayr Advertiser.

HEALTH OF LONDON.

(From the .Registrar-General's Weekly Return.)

In the week that ended last Saturday the total
number of deaths registered in London was 1,296,
exhibiting a slight increase on that of the previous
week, which was 1,259. The average number, as ob-
tained from the returns of corresponding weeks in
the ten years 1853-62, and corrected for increase of
population, is 1,139. The number contained in the
present return is, therefore, 157 more than it would
have been if the average rate of mortality had pre-
♦ailed.

The births in last week exceeded the deaths in
the same period by 701.
Sixty-eight deaths from smallpox were registered
last week, 21 of which occurred at the age of 20 and
upwards. Typhus was fatal in 46 cases, diarrhoea in
12, scarlatina in 78, measles in 39.
Of 178 deaths assigned to diseases of the respira-
tory organs, 93 were caused by bronchitis, 54 by
pneumonia, Bby asthma. Phthisis was fatal in 159
cases. The son of a labourer, residing at Plum-
stead, died from the effects of poison, the paper on
the walls of the bedroom containing large quantities
of arsenic. A girl, aged 14 years; died in the West-
minster Hospital from tetanus. A man, aged 57
years, died from carbuncle. The deaths of four
persons were caused by delirium tremens, and one
person died from intemperance. Six deaths oc-
curred from burns or scalds ; five children and one
adult were suffocated.

The deaths of two nonagenarians were recorded ;
they were aged respectively 94 and 98.
Last week the births of 1,005 boys and 992 girls,
in all 1,997 children, were registered in London. In
the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1853-62
the average number (corrected) was 1,770.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29.978 in.
The barometrical reading was 29.71 in. at the be-
ginning of the week, and rose to 30.14 in. on Thurs-
day. The mean temperature of the air in the week
was 55.4 deg., which is 0.4 deg. above the average
of the same week in 43 years (as determined by Mr.
Glaisher). The highest day temperature was 79.7
deg. on Friday. The lowest night temperature was
34.9 deg. on Tuesday. The entire range of tempe-
rature in the week was therefore 43.8 deg. The
mean temperatures of the water of the Thames was
55.3 deg. The difference between the mean dew
point temperature and air temperature was 5.5 deg.
The mean degree of humidity of the air was 76,
cowplete saturation being represented by 100. The
direcLion of the wind was north-east and west.