The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-03 00:00:00

THE _INSURRECTION IN GREECE.

" Private letters from Athens," says the Moniteur,
"give more circumstantial details relative to the
events at Nauplia. Argos is said to have been
occupied by the Royal troops without firing a shot.
Nine soldiers and one officer were made prisoners.
General Hahn is said to have completely invested
Nauplia, and the fort will be also blockaded on the
sea side. The insurgents attempted a sortie on the
19th of February, in order to procure water by
taking possession of the springs of Glykia, near
Tirynthus, but they were repulsed. The town is
in great want of water and provisions, which will
lead to numerous desertions. Gen. Colocotroni,
who commands the Peloponnesus, has also attacked
and defeated two companies of infantry who wera
going to Nauplia to join the insurgents. The bag-
gage and ammunition of this detachment fell into
the hands of the Royal troops, who made many
prisoners." Other adviccs from Athens, dated Feb.
22, by no means gives so favourable an account.
They state that Nauplia is difficult to be taken, and
in any case impossible for the troops which the
Government has at is disposal. It is occupied by

1,500 regular troops, or one quarter of the Greek
army—by a large number of volunteers from diffe-
rent points in the Peloponnesus and Arcadia, and
by a population of 5,000, who have ranged them-
selves on the side of the insurrection. The town has
provisions for several months, order reigns in it,
and it is governed by a committee, composed of the
most influential persons of the population. The de-
mands made in a proclamation addressed to the
Hellenic people by this committee are as follows :
" 1. The removal of the system followed with so
much perseverance by the Government until now,
and the establishment of a new one which shalloffer
guarantees for the liberty of the people and for the
application of really liberal principles. 2. The dis-
solution of tha Chamber of Deputies, which was
elected by violent means. 3. The convocation of a
National Assembly, which shall promise to recover
the national liberties that have trampled under foot,
and to attain accomplishment of all our noble and
patriotic desires. Raise your suppliant hands,
fellow. citizens, towards the Almighty for the sue-

cess of our cause, and further with all your means
the re-establishment of your liberties, and the
establishment of good faith and salutary principles
for our country."
The King, as is known, at the first news of the

insurrection, hastened to Corinth, and thence
addressed to the troops the following allocution :
" It is with profound grief that I have learnt that
men to whom I will no longer give the noble title
of soldiers, which you bear, have by insurrection
tarnished the honour of the army. These men have
rendered themselves unfaithful to the Constitution
and the laws, which impose, for the welfare of the
country, as a first duty on every soldier, fidelity and
submission to the King, chief of the army. In call-
ing on you to put down the revolt, I have confided
to you the honour of the Greek army. By your
fidelity and courage you will wipe out the stain
which they have attempted to cast on your honour.
I announce to you that all my faithful people offer
themselves with good will to co operate with you in
the maintenance of the existing state of things,
which they consider as the surest guarantee for
their present welfare and their glory in the future."

ROYAL INSTITUTION.

" SLEEPING AND DREAMING."

There was a crowded meeting of the members of
the Royal Institution and their friends on Friday
evening, on which occasion Mr. A. E. Durham de-
livered a lecture " On Sleeping and Dreaming." In
his preliminary observation on the beneficial effects
of sleep as a restorer of the exhausted energies of
the brain and nerves, Mr. Durham said that the
daily average duration of sleep required by an adult
is eight hours ; that persons advanced in life re-
quire more, and that for younger persons a still
longer proportion of sound slumber is necessary.
Many persons, he said, can do with less sleep than
others, but that generally a healthy state cf body
cannot be maintained with a less proportion of sleep
than eight hours in the 24. He did not think it
very material whether the necessary quantity of
sleep be taken in the night or during the day,
though it is desirable that the mind when in an
active state should be invigorated by the oxygenis-
ing rays of the sun. He mentioned many facts
showing the necessity of sleep to sustain life, and
among others the sentence of death inflicted on a
murderer in China of being kept awake till he died.
The torture of such a death is extreme, and on the
eighth day the convict implored the attendants to
kill him. After the eighth day he became partially
insensible, and died on the 16th. Mr. Durham
took a material view of the action of sleep, re-
garding it as a chemical process during which
the brain tissue regains from the
.blood the
power that had been exhausted during the
activity of the mind. He said that to
enable him to ascertain the condition of the brain in
the states of sleep, of dreaming, and of complete
activity, he administered chloroform to a dog, and
when the animal was insensible he removed a por-
tion of the skull and substituted for it a piece of