The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-13 00:00:00

lIIZ' NAVY.

The Promet'ilus, 5, 200 horse power, paddlewheel
steamer, v-A-hich was placed in No. 4 dock at Chatham
a few "weeks since, to undergo a thorough overhaul
and. repair, has been found, on examination, to be
ti3O rotten that Admiralty orders have been received
that her intended alterations and repairs are not to
be effected. She was accordingly undocked yester-
day afternoon, and placed at moorings off the dock-
yard until final orders have been received at Chat-
ham respr:eting her.

The target which has been under construction at
Chat i.am dockyard to be used in the approaching
trirAls with the MO pounder Whitworth gun at
FJhoeburyness Was completed yesterday, and re-
moved to the wharf in readiness for shipment. The
target is constructed of a strength much greater
than those hitherto us©d at Shoeburyness, the ob-
ject being to ascertain the bursting power of the
shells from the Whitworth guns. With this view
the tides and top of the target are completely closed
with stout oak planking, to represent the section of
h ship, so that on the shell penetrating the armour-
plates and bursting inside the target the ravages
made by it will be more easily apparent, The ar-
mour plates with wb.ich the target will be covered
are five inches in, thickness up to a certain height,
after which ',:rtey have a thickness of four inches.
On its arrival at Shoeburyness, the target, which
has bee-ii constructed at Chatham, under the direc-
tion of Mr. Bascombe, who is superintending the
ht;;lding of the iron frigate Minotaur, 50,
1-250
iorse power, at Blackwall, will be erected in its
position by the mechanics stationed there, the for-
mer arrangement of despatching workmen from
Chatham Dockyard to perform the work being at-
tended with considerable inconvenience.

The Algiers, screw line-of-battle ship, Capt. E. B, I
Mice, was paid out of commission at Portsmouth
yesterday, under the superintendence of Capt. H.
Broadhead, senior officer in command at the port.
Itoliert Carter, schoolmaster, William Searle and
John Edmunds, quartermasters, and Charles
Ya-4-ran, chief petty officer, were recommended to
the Lords of the Admiralty for long-service medals
and gratuitiss.
An important event in connexion with the cora-
pletirn of the Royal Sovereign shield ship took
Plfiee at Portsmouth yesterday—the bending to the
required shape of the first of the armour plates for
that vessel. The plate was brought to the necessary
form in two heats. The bottom of each furnace
which has been built for heating the plates is move-
able, and consists of a strong iron frame mounted on
.our wheels ; the top of the framework, which is
covered with layers of fire brick, thus forming the
bottom of the annealing furnace. On these layers
of fire brie,' the plate for heating was laid by the
aid of ponderous cliphooks, from a beam suspended
from a travelling tubular crane. The plate in posi-
tion, the carriage or bottom of the furnace was
d'zawn into the necessary heating position, The
plate having been brought to a sufficient heat, was
withdrawn from the furnace on its carriage, and
was then seized by the cliphooks, and conveyed by
the travelling crane over two rows of iron bars, each
about 'lit. apart, fixed upright on an iron bed, the
rows of bars exceeding in length the length of the
ptate. The upper ends of these upright bars are
secured by two transverse bars of great strength,
and are fastened by nuts and bolts. Between
these upright bars are thrust other massive bars,
which have been forged to the exact curve wanted
to be given to the inner surface of the armour
plate. These moulded bars rest on the iron bed
below, their ends being held securely by the lower
ends of the upright bars on each side. The heated
armour plate was next lowered by the crane and
cliphooks upon the moulded bars, and between
the rows of upright bars. Other massive bars,
moulded to the same form as those underneath,were
then laid on the top of the plate with their ends
projecting through the upright bars. Heavy iron
wedges were driven over each end of the upper
moulded bars by slung iron bars of some hundred
'weight each, and the gigantic armour plate gradu-
ally yielded to the strain thus brought to bear on it.
Some dozens of the deck plates for the Royal Sove-
reign -nave aisoueen heatea in the same furnace and
fiat!cened afterwards ou ;au itvu tmt). Oitil iron and
Wooden mauls, in readiness to lay on the upper deck
beams prior to the laying of the wooden planking.
This deck plating is one inch in thickness, and each
plate is from 16ft. to Mt. in length and 3ft. in
width. The shop in which the plate was bent yes-
terday has just been erected for the purpose of pre-
paring and bending armour plates, and contains two
furnaces, one hydraulic press for bending the plates
cold,one planing machine for smoothing the edges of
the plates, two radial drilling machines for drilling
the bolt holes, and one 40 horse engine for driving
the machinery, &c. Although the workshop is not
yet quite complete in its fitment, nor all the ma-
chinery in correct working order, yet all is suffici-
ently advanced to keep any required number of men
at work, and we hope, therefore, that every exer-
tion may be used to get the ship afloat as speedily
UP possible in order that we may make ourselves
fully acquainted with the merits and demerits of
the cupola, or shield principle. Upon the results
then to be obtained must depend in a great measure
the future construction of our iron war ships.
Rear-Admiral Sir John Kingcome paid a visit on
Thursday to the senior officers of the Gefion and the
other Prussian corvette now in Plymouth Sound.
On leaving be was complimented with the usual
salute, which was acknowledged by his ship, the
screw steamship Sutlej, 51, Capt Connolly, which
sail( d in the evening for her station in the Pacific.
The paddlewheel steam tender Medusa, Master-

Commander T. Laane, left Plymouth on Thursday
for Sheerness, with men just paid off from the screw
steam corvette Pelorus, Commodore Seymour, C.B.
The screw steamsloop Shear water, 11, was placed

cm Thursday in the basin in the Devonport Dock-
Yard, for the purpose of having her bottom cleaned
and valves examined, preparatory to her being put
in commission.

The screw steam frigate Emerald, 35, Captain A.
Cumming, was expected at Plymouth yesterday
evening or this morning.

The screw steam sloop Royalist, 11, at Devon port,
is ordered to be prepared and placed in the first di-
vision of the steam reserve, In succession to the screw
steamsloop Shearwater, ordered to he commissioned.
The seamen and marines of the steam reserve in
Hamoaze, Devonport, have, through Capt. A. Key,
their commanding officer, just subscribed the sum
of £B3 for the distressed Lancashire workmen,
making a total of £llO from the officers and men of
that department.

LADIES AND THE STUDY OF MEDICINE.—The ,
Paris journal Le Temps notices the case of Miss Garrett
Who was recently refused permission to study medicine at
St. Andrews, and after applauding the example set by this.
Youngul energy she
and declaring that example and
tuatt,
prgyoc she has displayed worthy of every encourage- 1
s--" We cannot understand the prejudice,
coraparativeedl
contrary to
to the i„,eat / modern as it is, which closes against women
etriment of their personal independence, and
liberal theprofewen obvious interests of society, any of the
study
or
went of se, ahloniki It does not appear to us that the ele-
deration in the a be regarded as of more material consi-
or letters, in practice of science than of arts
entered. The apherer of which studies has it ever
by the limitations of ofil woman should be prescribed only
takable and brilliant,
and
owu faculties—faculties unmis-
so only on account of inmifEtwebil °ll when feeble are too often
Daubie has just addressed ezt development. A Mdlle.
which she says :—" Permit nie Missb Garrett a letter, in
witting to you some portion of th— the means of trans-
which
is felt for the bold initiative ;ot universal sympathy
noble and persevering struggle you. u
ha
have taken, and the
the vindication of a common right. TheettAglY, sustained
to you are entirely arbitrary, and we may hope—caes opposed
case is not even yet finally determined. * that Your
half a century a portion of Europe has excluded ll:ring
from the legal exercise of the medical profession, In
France, to the honour of my country be it said, the
social initiative has failed rather than liberty to exercise
it,
for I was last year admitted to examination for the degree
of bachelio• by the Faculty of Letters in Lyons, without
any exceptional application. Even in
Russia women
take university honours;
can we believe that the free in-
stitutions of free England are less liberal than those of
absolute Governments ? But whatever m
opinay be the pre-
'c ion, the
sent issue, your cause is favoured by publi
good wrought
supreme judge in all such cases; the great
by the female physicians of America leaves no room for
tergiversation on the subject. * * Europe observes
you, France applauds you ; and I rejoice to be able to con-
vey to you a feeble echo of the general sympathies of my
country," 1