The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-17 00:00:00

RESULTS OF ADA I'S DREDGIVG.

First in numbers, activity, and certainly in self-
assertion, are the crabs; not the familiar crustacean
of Hungerford market, but relatives of all sizes and
every conceivable form. Here are flat, fat, com-
fortable crabs, well fed, contented with things as
:hey are, manifest marine tories, differing utterly
in appearance and habits from other truculent
revolutionary fellows with ungainly limbs, mali-
cious eyes, and absolutely blood-thirsty aspect.
Then there are spiny crabs, the porcupines of the
sea, squinting with horrible persistence; tiny deli-
cate crabs, smaller than a silver threepence; and,
strangest of all, the slender Arachniche, ocean
spiders, with legs of threadlike thinness and astound-
ing length, and eyes set curiously on long foot-
stalks, pointing, fingerlike. in all directions. Next
come fierce Paguri, or soldier-crabs, snugly housed
as to their hinder parts in the shells of defunct
whelks and trochi, their ruling passion for warfare
strong even in the dredge, fighting here beneath our
very eyes each for the possession of a neighbour's
more desirable habitation. Then there are the star-
fishes, with long rosy arms twining over every-
thing, alarmed brittle stars strewing the heap with
suicidal fragments, neat Cribellas, charmingly
marked Optliocornas, and here and there the
beautiful Palmipes. Less conspicuous, but mere
►ovely than either of these two families, come
the molluscs and their brilliant representatives,
Eolis and Doris of the waving plumes, majestic
Aplysia, and the emerald Acteon, accompanied
by their testaceous relatives spiry Turritellas,
ribbed cowries, murderous whelks, the gem-
eyed Pecten, " butterfly of the Ben," and the pearly
esrshell. As for zoophytes, their name is legion.
All the finer specie s of Actinia are represented.
.ed Sertularia, Laomedea. and Campanularia crowd
the stones, weeds, and pebbles, till every portion of
their several surfaces is alive with the beautitul
itomies. Dwarf corals and Lepralia3 meet us et
every turn, and Low then we may detect, half
hidden in the mud, the tube of an Edwardsia, or
perhaps even the brilliantly spotted covering of
the rare cloak anemone. Then there are the worms,
not only Serpula and Sabelle, the pride of all
liquarian naturalists, but Phyllodoce,Nais, and the
strange rainbow-hued sea-mouse (Aphrodite).
Nereides of all forms and dimensions, some bril-
liantly phosphorescent, others of a comeliness need-
ing no such enhancement, and last, not least, the
rarer Auricomada.— Once a It eek.

A CONFEDERATE PRIVATEER IN THE CHINA
SEAS.—A rather startling announcement (says a Hong
Kong letter of the Ist March) was made a few days ago
of the presence of a Confederate privateer in the China
seas, She is reported to have been fallen in with by her
Majesty's ship Pioneer, on the coast of Borneo, and, if
there at all, must evidently have been on the look out for
American ships outward bound, being just in their track
by the Palawan passage against the north-western mon-
soon. This rumour, so alarming to American vessels, will,
however be speedily pnt to rest one way or other ; but it
is particularly unfortunate for them that the Federal Go-
vernment has not a single war vessel of any description
in these waters, except the Saginaw, and she is rotten and
useless.

THE DEEPEST " DIIG" WELL IN THE WORLD.—
A clever lecture by Mr. Henry Catt tells us that the War-
ren farm well is not an Artesianf having been dug, not
bored. Thelscientific facts, he says, leartied from this great
work are :—That the upper green sand has no existence
in this locality ; that the gault is double its usual thick-
ness; that Mr. Martin, of Pulborough, is right in saying
that gault should be classed with chalk ; and, lastly, that
digging is better than boring a w ell. The upper chalk
extends 418 feet; the lower, 214; the gray marl, 155;
blue marl, 173; firestone, 8; gault, 282; ditto with
green sand, 25 ; clay, 5; green sand, 5; ferruginous
beneath; from which we may deduct 10 per cent. for the
dip. In the strata pierced fossil oysters and ordinary gault
fossils were found ; also fossil wood, perforated by the
teredo, in some cases having the cavities filled with bisul-
phate of iron. He believed the water came from Ditchling
Commons Mr. Hollis said that the Artesian well at the
County Lunatic Asylum at Hayward's Heath was nearly
900 ft deep, and its supply derived from the ferruginous
strata. The water was very wholesome, and the supply
abundant that, after they had pumped out 40,000 gallons, it
hardly lowered the level one inch. —Sumo; Express,
POPERY IN EDINBURGH.—The Cowgate of Edin-
burgh was the scene of an unwonted spectacle on Sabbath
morning, the 6th inst. The large church acquired by the
Roman Catholics some time ago at the corner of St.
Mary's Wind was visited by tlishop Gillis, who was
met at the entrance to the court of the chapel by a pro-
gags, and banners, and other insignia of
wands,cession corfoss"ews,ee brokers" and others, bearing painted
the " Holy Guild." of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Joseph.
" His lordship," on alighting from
his carriage, was
greeted with the blare of a brass band, the bells of the
church were rung, and the flags which adorned the ex-
terior of the church flaunted a welcome. The bishop—
with some reasow—congratulated the crowded congregation
on the progress of the Itomish system in Edinburgh, when
such a public demonstration was possible. The proces-
sionists have, perhaps, kept within the letter of the law by
confining their movement for the most part within their
own grounds; but IL is time that Proiestant worshippers
were inquiring whether they can legally be disturbed by
the ringing of bells and the noise of brass bands during the
hours of Divine service on Sabbath.—Edinburgh Week.

GREAT EXPLOSION OP GAS IN -ROL
BORN.

Yesterday afternoon a fearful explosion of gas
took place in Holborn, opposite Great Turnstile,
the result of which has been to seriously injure se-
veral workmen employed on the works at the time.
For some time past the roadway from Gray's-inn-
lane towards Oxford-street has been under repair,
.and the London Gas Company have availed them-
,;:lves of the opportunity of relaying their pipfla.
This has been carried on successfully up to the pre-
sent time without any accident; but it appea ra
that yesterday, from some cuse or other, there was
an extraordinary escape of gas, and about half-past
four an explosion took place, which caused the
greatest consternation, not only to the inhabitamts
and passers by, but to the men employed upon the
works.

The explosion was terrific. Part of the main was
burst, and the fragments of iron pipe went in every
direction, and the most extraordinary part of the
affair is that, considering the violence of the shriek,
it did so little damage. One piece of pipe, about
71b. in weight, was cast up into the air and fell in
Great Turnstile, breeking the pavement by the force
of the fall, but fortunately not injuring any person,
the place being clear at the time. Another pioce
was cast into one of the stories of a house on the
south side of the road, but without doing any
material damage. The explosion, however, being
close to the north side of the road, took effect there
with all ita violence. The shop of Messrs. Warr,
stationers, at the corner of Featherstone-buildin gs,
had the front completely smashed in, while the win-
dows of the upper stories were broken from the top
to the bottom of the house—we do not mean every
individual pane, but panes in every window-frame.
The house that suffered next was that of Mr. Mul-
ler, an artist's colourman, residing next door to
Messrs. Warr. Many of the panes in his windows
were broken ; and although the large plate glass

windows fronting the street that must have re-
ceived the shock obliquely withstood it effectually,
those placed obliquely from the street to the shop
door,which must have met the concussion full upon
their surface, though smaller, were broken.

So much for the damage done to property, but
the injury to individuals is much more serious. One
poor fellow, named John lVorrissy, residing at 17,
Charles-street, Oakley-street, who was at work

near the mouth of the pipe which burst, had
both of his legs literally shattered below the knees,
and escaped from his perilous position by dragging
his legs along the ground after him. Another poor
fellow, named Edward Rawley, of 28, Francis-
street, Westminster-road, had part of his jaw blown
away, and a compound fracture of the right arm.
A third, John Morgan, of 19, Walnut-tree-place,
Kennington-road, had a compound fracture of the
ankle; and John Dooley, of 40 Gloucester-street,
Oakley-street, received a severe shock, but did not
complain of any very serious injury.
As soon as the explosion took place, police con-
stable Smart, 148 E, promptly procured assistance,
and had the sufferers conveyed to King's College
Hospital, where they met with prompt attention.
On examining the men it was found that Morrissy's
wounds were of so serious a nature that amputation
was indispensable, and the operation was ably per-
formed by Mr. Francis Mason, a surgeon belonging
to the hospital. It may be stated that the operation
was performed while the patient was under the in-
fluence of chloroform. The wounds of Itawley
were dressed and his fracture set ; and the fracturo
of Morgan's ankle was also set by Mr. Henry
Smith, surgeon to the hospital, and his opinion
was, that as the patient was a young man
and apparently of a vigorous constitution, be
might be able to avoid amputation," notwithstand-
ing that it was a very serious compound fracture.
As regards Dooley, Mr. Smith considered hie inju-
ries very slight, and we should not be surprised to
find that he would leave the hospital this day.
The exact cause of the accident is at present not
decided, but it is believed that in the laying of the
pipes the gas escaped in great quantities, and reach-
ing at last the fire which was used for melting the
lead for making the joints, it became ignited, and
the explosion took place. No doubt an inquiry into
the circumstances will be instituted by the authori-
ties, particularly if death should occur in any of the
cases. At present they are all going on favourably.