The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-08 00:00:00

attractions and arrangements, is one which is emi-
nently deserving the attention of all lovers of horses

—that is to say, the public generally. It will re-
main open till Thursday next, and the exercise and
hurdle jumping of the hunters will commence each
day at 3 o'clock. We are also requested to state
that one of the directors of the Agricultural Hall
Company will be on duty at the hall each day of
the show to answer all inquiries of visitors, and be
responsible for the care of the horses. To-day the
director in charge will be Mr. R. Leeds ; on Mon-
day, Mr. S. Druce; on Tuesday, Mr. W. J. Brown;
on Wednesday, Mr. J. Giblett; and on Thursday,
Mr. J. Banister.

The Wivern Iron Turret Ship.

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The Wivern, 4, screw iron turret-ship, ono of the two
vessels purchased by the Admiralty from Mcssrs.Laird, of
Birkenhead, is in dock at Portsmouth, having the iron
. plates of her bottom scraped preparatory to their being
payed over with a preservative composition, and the ship
otherwise prepared for her trial over the measured mile and
for commission. This vessel, carrying as she does with her
sister ship, the Scorpion, the heaviest armament in her
Majesty's Navy, in comparison with tonnage and draught
of water, is exciting considerable attention among naval
officers and artillerists. Being also fitted with Captain
Coles's tripod masts, she represents more completely than
any other ship the turret principle, in the form advocated
by that officer. For these reasons a brief account of the
ship may not be at present without interest. The Wivern,
with her tripod rig, spreads ample canvass for her
tonnage, is buoyant on the water, and particularly
so for an ironclad, has a handsome appearance, and
is evidently a much better sea boat than many wooden
vessels on the Admiralty navy list. Yet the Wivern was
not built for a seagoing vessel. She was built to order for
a special purpose for service on coasts and in rivers where
her load draught of water of 16ft would have permitted
her to anchor with efficiency. Had she crossed the Pacific
or the Atlantic, she would on reaching the coast line have
cleared her upper deck of the commodious poop and fore-
castle now upon it, and have gone into her work as a
double-turreted Monitor ; but a Monitor with an ordinary
ship's bottom in lieu of the double flat boxes of the American
Monitors' bottom. In her present form of hull and rig she
differs in her main features from our turret-ship Royal Sove-
reign, in having only two turrets on her deck instead of four,
like that ship, in having a poop and forecastle at either end
of the upper deck instead of having those portions of the
deck clear for the fire of her guns in a line with her keel, in
having much less beam or width of hull, and in being
masted and rigged in a manlier that enables her to spread
nearly 16,000 square feet of canvas in her sails in lieu of
only carrying short poles for hoisting a signal flag upon, or
for drying the hamocks and clothor of her crew, as is the
case with the Royal Sovereign. The Wivern, in fact, seems
fitted to go to any part of the world, and to do good and
efficient service on any station. The hull of the Wivern is
constructed of iron, the stem falling inboard slightly above
the water-lino, and projecting slightly below. The stern is
cone-shaped, and well overhangs and protects the rudder
and screw. From the level of the upper deck to the usual
distance below the water-line the hull is clothed with 4/
inch armour-plates, tapering round the stem and stern to
three and a half and three inches. The interior of the
hull is divided into water-tight compartments, longitudi-
nal and cellular at the ends, at the bow and stern, and
transverse amidships. In the latter are fixed the en-
gines, boilers, turrets, &c., each standing in its
own separate compartment. The engines are on
the direct action, horizontal principle, of 350-horse
power nominal, and drive a three-bladed fixed screw, hav-
ing a diameter of 14ft., and a pitch of 21ft. The diameter
of the cylinders is 56in., and the length of stroke, 3ft. The
boilers are four in number, and the coal bunkers have a
capacity of 350 tons, or sufficient for 11 days' steaming at
full power. Thb ship's upper deck is covered with rolled
and stamped boiler-plating, filled in with cement, to save
the wooden planking from being scorched by the fire of the
guns. The fear of any such damage has been proved by the
firing from the turrets of the Royal Sovereign to be a com-
plete fallacy. The turrets of the ship are of precisely the
same height and diameter on their tables as the forward or
double-gun turret of the Royal Sovereign, and are similar
in bulk, being fitted to carry two guns as large as can be
made for them. Their outer circumference is clothed with
51-inch armour-plates resting on their iron rib and teak
backing in their unbent shape as received from the manu-
facturer, the teak backing being levelled to receive the
plate. The outer face of the turret's armour, with its
21 armour-plates, is polygonal. There is much to be said
for and against this plan of armour. In the first place the
cost is considerably less, and there is also a considerable
saving in time and labour. On the other hand the deflective
surface is very much diminished as compared with the bent
plates of a circle, as with the Royal Sovereign's turrets,
and the chances of a direct impact from shot increased.
On the whole the chances appear to be greatly in favour of
the course that has been followed in fitting of the Royal
Sovereign's turret armour. Round the ports the Wivern's
turrets, like those of tho Royal Sovereign, have 10 inches
of iron in two solid forgings on the outer circumference.
The inner walls of turrets are lined with wood over their
inner boiler plate skin. Two carriages for the guns stand
on the floor of each turret, but the guns are not yet
mounted on them. It is, however, a noticeable feature that
each carriage is fitted with a winch and chain for running
the gun in and out, such as Captains Osborn, Cole; and
Key have hitherto asked the Admiralty for in vain for the
Royal Sovereign. The four winches to the Wivern's car-
riages were fitted under a fortnight from the time the
rough drawings of them were received at Birkenhead. The
framing of the Wivern's turrets below the armour-plating
are stronger than those of the Royal Sovereign, and theyaro
also set up on their base in a better manner than those of
the latter ship. The turn-table, resting on iron girders and
plating, is of immense strength. The beds on which the
Royal Sovereign's tables rest are only of wood, and their
destruction is therefore only a question of time. There are
a few matters of detail in the fittings on board the Wivern
which require attention, such as the removal of the crew's
cooking galley from below forward to under the forecastle,
and the want of a door cut through from under the forecastle
to the " head" for the use of the men in rough weather.
There is great height between decks in the several compart-
ments below, but it is necessarily dark from the armour-

plating not being pierced for scuttles. The poop contains
excellent accommodation for the officers, and the cabin ap-
propriated to the senior lieutenant is perhaps the largest
and best ventilated of its kind in her Majesty's navy. As
reference has been made to the interference given to the
fire of the guns from the turrets by the ship's poop and fore-

castle, we append here the following angles of fire that can
be attained from the ship's guns, separately and combined,
with the poop and forecastle on the deck as they now stand :
—From foremost turret—firing forwards, from one gun, 68
deg. ; from both guns, 47 deg.; firing aft, from one gun, 80
deg.; from both guns, 72 dog. ; from after turret, firing
forward, from onelgun, 80 deg. ; from both guns, 65 deg. ;
firing aft, from one gun, 51 deg. ; from both guns, 40 deg.
The fore and main masts of the vessel each consist of ono
long tube of Niroughtiron, c,:anbining lower and topmast in
one. On each side of this main tube, just under tho level
of the lower yard, are rivetted by flanges, boiler-plate
fashion, two shorter legs which extend down to the deck at
its extremity on each side, forming the tripod. Abaft the
short head of the upper part of the main tube is fidded a
wooden topgallantmast and royalmast in one spar. The
lower yards are of steel ; the upper—that is topsail, top-
gallant, and royal, aro of wood. The mizenmast carries
only fore and aft canvas, is iron built, and telescopic. The
approximate weight of the masts and spars is 40 tons. The
area of sail that can be spread by the vessel is 15,748 square
feet. The whole of the workmanship on board, hull, spars,
and fittings, and especially so the make of the tripod masts,
is excellent, and reflects the highest credit on the Messrs.
Laird. As an instructive comparison we close our pre-
sent remarks upon the Wivern by placing her principal
features in juxtaposition with those of the Royal Sove-
reign. Of the Wivern the tonnage is 1,875 ; the engine
power, 350-horse; the draught of water, 16ft ; the number
of turrets, 2 ; and the number of guns, 4. Of the Royal So-
vereign the tonnage is 3,765 ; the engine power, 800-hore;
the draught of water, 26ft ; the number of turrets, 4; the
number of guns, 5. The guns in both ships aro of the
same calibre.

The screw gun vessel Mullet, 5, 80-horse power, Com-
mander Cortland IL Simpson, has arrived at the Nore from
the West Coast of Africa, to be dismantled and put out of
commission. She yesterday steamed into harbour, and
commenced transferring her guns and ammunition to the
Ordnance vessels, to be landed at Chatham. She had been

on commission rather more than three years, and on being
paid off will be placed in third division of the Steam Re-

serve on the Medway.

LIEBIG'S NEW FOOD FOR INFANTS.—TIIO theory
proposed by Liebig is, that ordinary flour as food
is not of itself sufficiently easy of digestion; but when
malt is mixed with the flour the diastase assists the
stomach in digesting the starch of the flour. In the earlier
preparations of Liebig's food, the flour was used raw; and
the result was, that a process, similar to " mashing,"
was required before boiling, inasmuch as boiling at once
decomposes the diastase, and leaves behind nothing ex-
cept flour; while if cold or cool water is added, and the
mixture is taken at once, the food is raw and disagree-
able to the stomach. To meet these objection; Messrs.
' Savory and Moore have modified the process by careful
baking of the flour before the admixture of the malt; this
modification is most important ; it cooks the flour ready for
nse, and converts it partly into dextrine, with traces of
grape-sugar; in plain word; it partially digests the flour.
When after this the malt is added, a very little heat is re-
quired in the preparation of the food, and thus the neces-
sity of boiling is dispensed with. Whatever may be the
objections to, or the advantages of, Liebig's food, it is cer-
tain that the simple improvement made by Messrs. Savory
and Moore is mcst scientific and important. We have heard
on good authority that the infant Prince has taken this food
for some months past, and that he thrives upon it as a
prince AhOuld.—SocialFcienco Review, of July 1.