The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-10 00:00:00

HEAT VERSUS LIGHT.

The celebrated chemist Chaptal once remarked
that when a number of capillary crystals shoot up
the sides of a glass vessel containing a saline solu-
tion, they attach themselves only to that side of the
vessel which is most strongly illuminated. About
15 years ago Professor Brande made a similar state-
ment, and in the latest edition of Professor Miller's
" Elements of Chemistry" we find that camphor,
" if kept in glass bottles, is gradually sublimed and
condensed in octahedral crystals on the side of the
vessel which is exposed to the light." Dr. Draper,
who has more particularly investigated the subject,
states that the camphor vessel may be kept in the dark
for any length of time without producing a deposit ;
that artificial light produces none, and that reflected
light causes crystallisation on the opposite side of the
vessel—viz., that not exposed to the light. In this
month's number of the Philosophical 31a9anne Pro-
fessor Tomlinson questions this property, attributed
to light, and describes experiments tending to show
that heat, and not light, is the agent which pr( -
duces the results described. First, he statesi that
during about a week of fine weather. in May yof i ahstis,
camphor bottles placed in the
laboratory showed deposits furtheste
et rifrnom the light,
whilst those placed in the western
light. windows had de-
posits on the side nearest to the Again, in
another experiment, an is-door bottle formed a de-
posit farthest from the light, while a corresponding
to the
out-door one had its deposit
was p
the rotected l
fr ight.
cm
Now, since the former erother not, Mr. Tomlinson
the weather, and
the
vapour of camphor which
concluded that
filled the bottle was disposed of on the coldest sur-
face of the glass, which might or might not be
vessels
furthest from the source which supplied the light.
tihdeeahebaytisegx
He therefore
paoestiinogn f the
containing test
ehdo rt htios
camphor
light,
apart from its first, by enclosing them in
sun
' ters then by covering the • •
tin can's' m with tin-foil,
and lastly with brown paper. The latter being a
bad conductor of heat, the vessel it protected pro-
duced a copious deposit furthest from the source of
beat, where the vessel was coldest; whereas the
other vessels, protected by good conductors, were
made nearly equally warm all round, and accord-
ingly the deposits obtained were extremely faint.
This naturally leads to the conclusion that the phe-
nomena above attributed to the action of light are
really produced by heat.

Mr. Mayo, from the Board of Trade, has been
selected by Mr. Milner Gibson to succeed that distinguished
old officer, Captain Brown, R.N., C. 8., as Registrar-
General of Seamen. Mr. Mayo will have a comparatively
easy chair to fill, as its previous occupant has so zealously
attended to his work as to leave but little to his successor
to devise. The machinery of the office is in perfect work-
ing order, and there will be bad management somewhere if
it be permitted to get out of gear,—,drwly and Navy
aneetc

SPORTING-THIS DAY.

HEREFORD RACES.-THIS DAY.
EY ELECTRIC TELEGRIPH.
TRIAL STAKES.

Gasconade .
Pinkie Poe
Olive Branch

Five ran.
HEREFORDSHIRE STAKES.

Shepherdess
Nosegay
Donne Canne

Eleven ran.

THE METROPOLI7 AN RAILWAY.

The disappointments and delays with which the
Metropolitan Railway had to contend at its earlier
stages nppear destined to follow it to its compieticn.
Mr. Fowler, the engine: of the line, stated in his'
last report that everything would be ready for the
opening on Oct. 1. Since that time there have bean
numerous excuses put forward es the reason for not
opening the line to the public. Last week it was
stated that the line would be opened for traffic on
the day on which the new Lord Mayor would be in-
augurated, and on which the Prince of Wales would
attain his majority. There is now a further pact-
ponement of the opening till Monday, the 17th
There is reason, however, to believe that the line
will not be open much before Christmas. It is re-
ported that there is some " hitch" between the
Metropolitan and the Great Western Railway as to
the working of the line. The latter company had
entered into a provisional agreement to work tile
railway for 45 per cent, of the gross receipts. This
was considered a most advantageous bargain for the
Metropolitan Railway, and proportionately disad-
vantageous for the Great Western Railway. It is
now rumoured that the Great Western Company
have repented of their bargain, and seek to restrict
the agreement of working to the through traffic
only, and that they are willing to work that portion_
of the traffic with which the Great Western is con-
nected for 45 per cent., but not the local and inter•..
mediate traffic of the line.

The Courrier du Havre states that an important
innovation is in contemplation at the cathedral of Rouen—
that of lighting it with gas instead of oil. At present the
idea is merely to introduce it partially in different parts of
the building, but there is reason to believe that the plan
will not stop there, but be adopted throughout the whole
edifice. Mgr. de Bonnechose has charged the Abbe Robert,
one of his canons, to examine the question.
Advices from Pondicherry state that the Gov'er.
nor-General, by order of the Emperor, has decided that all
persons who engage in the cultivation of cotton in the
French possessions in India, shall be exempted from taxa-
tion, as an encouragement.

The last advices announce the death of M. Pellrerin,
Apostolic Vicar of Northern Cochin-China, on the 13th
September, at Poule-Pinang. The deceased was only 49
years of age.

The Turin journals announce that the Po has
risen very considerably at rerrard, and that an inunda-
tion is expected in the neighbourhood of that town.
We have gro-ands for believing that his Royal
Highness ilia Commander-in-Chief has under considera-
tion the whole of the circumstances connected with the
trial of Captain Similes, from the very beginning of these
troubles down to the recent remarks of his Excellency Sir
Hugh Rose on the finding of the court-martial. It VMS
natural that the officers interested in the reputation of the
Inniskilling Dragoons, and in their own good, hame as
officers, should demand inquiry into the truth of the very
damaging statements made by his Excellenty as to the past
and p esent condition, internal economy, and efficiency of
that distinguished cm ps.—Army cold Navy Gazette.
The coming of age of tis Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales was an ev,..nt to which many old naval offi-
cers for years past have been looking forward, as the epoch
on which fortune v7as to smile upon them, however backward
she had been 'z,n former occasions in visiting them with her
favours.. Their hopes were doomed to be dampened when the
evc,nt (to which it will not be necessary t ) allude more di-
rectly) which for now nearly twelvemonths has thrown a
heavy gloom over the country occurred. As time wore on
they met with no encouragement from the press to urge their
claims, and when it was found that the Prince had made
arrangements to pass the anniversary of his birth abroad,
expectation seems to have dwindled down to something
more than a state of doubt, and only last week we alluded
to the almost then existing certainty that no honours would
be Conferred on the navy; but as her gracious Majesty has,
with that singular abnegation of self which so much dis-
tinguishes her, resolved that 'her grief shall not deprive all
those of her gallant subjects who, under other circum. tances,
would have received distinction at her hands, we under-
stand that a certain number of officers of the Royal Navy
will be selected for the various grades of the honour of Ihe
Bath. The rule applied to the sister service will doubtless
be taken as a guide in the case of the navy, and thus at the
eleventh hour the depression which seemed to have settled
down upon the service will be partially removed.—Army
and Navy Gazette.

By the death of General William Jervols,
the following promotions will take place, viz. :—Lieut,-
General Sir G. Leigh Goldie, K.C.8., Colonel of the 35th
Regiment, to be General; Lieut.-General Sir Hugh Rose,
G.C.8., Commander-in-Chief in India, and now on the
supernumerary list of those promoted for distinguished
service, to take his place on the fixed establishment between
Lieutenant-Generals Gascoigne and St. John Clerko;
W. S. Newton, late of the Coldstream Guards, to be Major-
General; Lieut.-Colonel James Cockburn, Staff Officer of
Pensioners at Norwich, to bo Colonel ; Major John Single-
ton, Royal Artillery, to be Lieutenant-Colonel ; and W.
G. Margesson, 56th Regiment, to be Major in the Army.—
Army and Navy Gazette.

We understand that, in honour of the Prince of
Wales's birthday, next Monday, the 10th inst., will be ob-
served as a holiday at most of the public departments, so far
as is not inconsistent with the interruption of pressing busi-
ness.—Army and Navy Gazette.

We understand that Major-Genera? H. K. Bloom-
field, commanding the Cork district, and Colonel Henry
Cooper, Inspecting Field Officer at Bristol, are likely to
have two of the pensions for distinguished or meritorious
service now vacant. The former officer has been in the
army nearly 50 3 ears, was at Waterloo, and has been con-
stantly in active employment; the latter commanded the
45th for several years at the Cape. The appointment of
Major-General Hassell Eden to a colonelcy leaves another
of these rewards at the disposal of the General Command..
ing-in-Chief.—.Ariny and Navy Gazette.

ELOPEMENT IN HIGH LIFE,.A good deal of
gossip and some consternation prevails in fashionable circles
of the metropolis, in consequence of the discovery of the
circumstances of an elopement, which took place on Satur-
day, the Ist inst. It appears that theyoung lady is daughter
of a gentleman of aristocratic position, and resided at the
house of her father, in the vicinity of Eaton-square. She
bad a young man named M— attending her as music and
singing master. It is stated that an attachment was mutu-
ally formed, and on Saturday evening the parties met by
appointment at the Victoria Station, proceeded to Dover, and
embarked for the Continent. The lady, it is said, possesses
a fortune of £5,000 in her own right. She is 20 years of
age, and very handsome. The young gentleman is 24.
GROSS OUTRAGE.—CARRICK-ON-SHANNON.—On
the night of the 2d inst. the house of Owen M'Brien, of
Rossann, was fired into through the window, breaking 12
panes of glass and lodging several slugs in the wall opposite
and in the room where M'Brien and his wife were in bed at
the time. Suspicion attaches to a man named William
Newman as being the party who fired the shot. He was.
immediately arrested by the police, who searched his house
and found paper therein corresponding with the wadding
found in 31‘Brien's room, He was brought before Mr.
hheolcommitted r
dhai
ym,
At op tßhrei
epne
ht tayvsi ens:sown
%oaf
eilai r
re ki sgoann,
eRn Ntlo. ,b we
an information that he was before threatened by Newman.
Abad feeling existed between these parties for a long time.
Voo EL.—lnformation has just reached Malta
from the coast of Barbary which gives some faint reasca to
hope that Dr. Vogel, the African traveller, who had been
given up as lost, is still alive, though a captive of the Sul-
tan of Wadai. Lieutenant Von Bournman, of the Prussian
Artillery, who went in search of the traveller's papers, ar-
rived at Murzuk on the 20th June, and was to leave for
Wadai on the 22d. Since that period the rumours which
have reached Bengazi regarding him have been such as to
lead to the fear that ho was plundered on the road, if not
murdered. The Prince of Prussia while at Valetta evinced
a lively interest in the fate of these travellers, and an.
earnest desire to obtain every information respecting them.
The Duke of Somerset is expected to return to
the Admiralty in the early part of the week. Lord Clarence
Paget is in Wales, and not expected back for some days.
Rear-Admiral Frederick's short leave of absence expires
almost immediately, and he may therefore be looked for in
Whitehall some time next week. Captain John Moore,
H N., C. 8., the private secretary of the First Lord is in
town and is naturally very much engaged in attending to
the heavy correspondence entailed upon him by the expec-
ted distribution of naval honours. Vice-Admiral the Hon
Sir Frederick W. Grey yesterday accompanied the Con-
troller of the Navy and some of his professional advisers to
Woolwich, where they minutely inspected the
steeringrecently
qualities of the iron-plated screw ship
Caledonia
in the
course Sir Frederick returned to the Admiralty
course of the afternoon. Rear-
Admiral Charles Eden,
C. 8., paid a short visit to Whitehall yesterday,
but as his
official leave has not yet s
d he did not transact any
e))•rer; y Gazette.
public business.—Army and Aa
Several platforms for heavy guns have been
ordered to belaid down at Shoeburynesa.—Army and aivy
Gazette.