The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-22 00:00:00

City Corporation Reform.

A -public meeting of City ratepayers, convened
by the Aldgate-ward Ratepayers' Association, was
held last night at the Cheshire Cheese Tavern,
Crutchedfriars, to consider the advisability of re-
form in the corporation. Mr. T. F. Salter presided,
and the business of the meeting having been intro-
duced, Mr. Wright proposed a resolution to the
effect that reform in the corporation was necessary,
and that any proposition for such a purpose should
receive the earnest support of the members of the
Aldgate ward Mr. Whiteside, C.C., in the course
of some remarks advocated the enlargement of the
constituencies of the different wards in proportion
to the amount of assessment. Mr. Proctor (Crip-
plegate ward) said the members of the Common
Council were amenable to their constituents annu-
ally, and he thought there could be but little diffi-
culty in dealing with them. He thought that the
principal charges were required in the Court of
Common Sewers and the Court of Alderman. He
was sorry that the latter body had betrayed the
trust reposed in them, and he thought it was
monstrous that the power of imposing the obnoxi-
ous county rate should have been given to them.
He believed a most beneficial change would be
effected if the aldermen of the corporation were
elected every five years, and not for life. Mr. Isaacs
(Aldgate ward) believed there was room for a
certain amount of reform, and thought that the
franchise should be given to every citizen house-
holder. He feared that in trying to accomplish the
desired reform they would be furthering the
attempts at centralisation made by the Govern-
ment. He had given full consideration to the
question, and he had come to the conclusion that
"it was better to bear the ills they had than fly to
others they knew not of." Mr. Davis, C.C., and
other gentlemen, addressed the meeting, and the
resolution proposed by Mr. Wright was carried
nem. con. A vote of thanks to the gentlemen of
the other wards who had come to the meeting ter-
minated the proceedings.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This day.

LONDON, Nov. 22.—Wind this day at noon—South-
Easterly; strong breeze, and fine weather, but rather
cloudy.
CARDIFF, Nov. 21.—Wind N.W.—Arrived—Nile,
from Quebec. .

OFF ROCHE'S POINT, Nov. 21.—Arrived—City of Boston,
steamer, from New York.
CowEs, Nov. 20.—Wind W.—Arrived.—Elephat Greely,
from Callao.

PLYMOUTH, Nov. 21.—Wind S.W.--Arrived—Espoir,
from Rio Grande.

WATERFORD, Nov. 20.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Eliza-
beth 11‘Lean, from St. John's, Newfoundland.
GRIMSBY, Nov. 21.—Wind S.W.—Sailed—Edward
Hunkens, screw stoamer, for Now Orleans.
LBY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. I

GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning.
Arrived, Nov. 21.—William and Clara, steamer, from
Dordt.

Arrived, Nov. 22.—Holland, steamer, from Ostend; Leo,
steamer, from Dordt ; Batavier and Cologne, steamers,
from Rotterdam ; Velocity, steamer, from Calais ; Volga,
steamer, from St. Petersburg.

DEAL, Wednesday Morning.
Passed.—Her Majesty's ship Fox, from Woolwich for
the westward.

An amount of gold, representing £162,000, was
received at the Bank yesterday.

COLONEL STODARE AT WINDSOR CASTLE.—OOI.
Stodare had last night the distinguished honour to
appear, by command, at Windsor Castle, in his entertain-
ment of magic and ventriloquism, on the occasion of the
birthday of her Royal Highness the Princess Royal. Her
Majesty the Queen graciously honoured Colonel Stodare
with her presence during the performance, and was at-
tended by their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess
Frederick William of Prussia, the Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse, Princess Helena, Prince Arthur, Prince
Leopold, and all the members of the Royal family and
Court present at the Castle. A portion of tho programme,
consisting of the Sphinx, the Indian basket trick, and a
ventriloquial sketch, was performed twice, in compliance
with a special desire that it should be repeated.

DEATH OF ADMIRAL O'BRlEN.—Admiral Joseph
O'Brien's death is announced. He was a flag officer on
reserved half-pay, and had achieved considerable distinc-
tion in his profession. He was 73 years of age at the time
of his death.

ACCEPTANCE OF THE LORD RECTORSHIP OF
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY.-0.0 Monday afternoon, at a meet-
ing of Conservative students held in the College, it was
reported that a deputation of students had waited upon the
Lord Justice Clerk at Edinburgh, and that his lordship
expressed the pleasure which it afforded him to accept the
honour conferred upon him by his election to the office of
lord rector.— Courant.

GRACEFUL AND GRATEFUL.—We cut the follow-
ing letter from the Dublin Evening Mail, signed
" A Conservative :"—" The peerages of two of her Ma-
jesty's premiers—their country's friends—are extinct—
Melbourne and Palmerston. Could a more graceful and
grateful act be done than to revive them ? —the Melbourne
and Beauvais titles in Lady Palmerston's heirs, and the
Palmerston and Mount Temple Peerages in the Right Hon.
Laurence Sullivan's family, who are heirs to the Irish
estates of the deceased premier ; the prorerties of both
being ample to support the dignity without any pecuniary
call on the country. Sir William Temple, the friend and
patron of Dean Swift, and Sir John Temple, are historic
names in Irish history."

MEXICAN FROGS. —ln a paper read last week to
the Academy of Sciences, M. Auguste Dumeril de-
scribes a series of observations made by him on certain
Mexican batracians or frogs, called Axolotl (Siredon
canus or S. Humboldtii), born at the Garden of Plants, their
Mexican parents being still living. Between the 17th of
April, the date of their birth, and the beginning of Sep-
tember, the young had attained the length of 21 centi-
metres, very nearly that of the old ones, which is 25
centim. At the latter period M. Dumeril remarked
considerable changes in one of them: the bronchial
appendages had disappeared, or left only a few
faint traces ; the membranous crests of the back and
tail were gone; the form of the head was somewhat modi-
fied, and numerous little specks of a whitish yellow were
perceptible all over the body, strongly contrasting with
the general black tint. The other individuals of the brood
also gradually underwent the same transformation; whence
M. Dumeril concludes that the Axolotl, instead of being a
species by itself, with perennial bronchia), or gins, is
nothing else but the larva of another species capable of
transformation and deprived of bronchia); and if so,
then the parents which have boon at the museum for
upwards of two years are only larva, notwith-
standing their power of reproduction. And if this be ad-
mitted, how can it be explained that the small fry born in
April should in so short a time have undergone the trans-
formation just described, when the parents, brought over
from Mexico to France at the end of 1863, have under-
gone no such change, and have only increased in size
Again, have the Azolotla in their new state, which ex-
cludes them from all known species of unrodelous batra-
cians, at length arrived at a permanent form, or are they
likely to undergo another metamorphosis ? These ques-
tions, of the highest interest to zoologists, M.Dumeril hopes
to solve by continuing his observations.
TIIE HOURS OF EMPLOYMENT ON RAILWAYS.—
Yesterday Dr. Lankester opened an inquiry at the
University College Hospital as to the death of J. Clark. a
shunter, employed on the London and North Western Rail-
way, which occurred accidentally on the 16th hist , while
passing a truck from one line to another by means of a
turntable. Ono of the witnesses (a lad of about 16 years
of age) stated that deceased, himself, and the other men
worked from six one evening to seven the following morn.
ing. The accident happened during the last hour of work-
That morning they had one hour and a half's rest in
the stables. Some mornings they had three hours and a
half's rest. Emma Reeves, a young woman, who appeared
on behalf of deceased's wife, who was ill now, created a
great sensation in court by declaring that for two nights
and one day before the accident, deceased had been at work
on the railway without intermission. Witness went with
deceased's wife to get the week's salary, and there wero
two and a half days' overtime credited on the bill. Several
of the jurymen expressed themselves warmly on what they
considered the monstrous conduct of the company, in allow-
ing a men to work two days and one night without inter-
mission. The ordinary hours they considered disgraceful
for night work, and would not return a verdict until the
statement as to the number of hours deceased had worked,
was proved or disproved. It had been said that the accident
happened through deceased scotching the wheels of his
truck before it was fairly on the turn-table ;if that was the
case they (the jury) were not surprised, after the manner
in which the man had been overworked. The coroner said
the jury had nothing whatever to do with the number of
hours during which the man worked. If a man worked for
a great number of hours it was at his own option, and he
was sure that they as Englishmen would be the first to re-
ject with indignation any law for compelling a man to only
work for a certain number of hours. The jury still refused
to return a verdict, and, after a lengthened conversation,
the coroner adjourned the inquiry for the production of the
evidence they required.

A frightful attack of neuralgia in the face and
mouth cured by a tew doses of MORISON'S PILLS, the vege-
table universal medicine of the British College of Health,
Euston-road, London, atter other means had failed. Sold
by the hydeian a;ents and all medicine vendors,