The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-01 00:00:00

THE ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH,

No news has yet reached London as to the cause
of the last abrupt break-down of the cable, and of
its prompt repair within so short a time. Yet, among
electricians and electrical engineers well used to all
the sudden casualties incident to cable laying, very
little doubt is expressed as to hoW the accident arose,
and still less as to its having been most thoroughly
repaired. It will be recollected that, when the first
fault was occasioned by the stray piece of wire, the
Great Eastern was 90 miles from land, and iu 300
fathoms water. This mishap, however, onlS' caused
defective insulation, and that of so slight a charac-
ter as not to be discovered till nearly 11 miles of the
wire had been paid out and it had been nearly two
hours under water. Yet, to haul this amount of
cable back, cut out the faulty piece, make a new
splice, &c., occupied nearly 21 hours, the wire itself
being only raised from its depth of 300 fathoms at
the rate of rather less than half a mile an hour, six
IRnm----1...-,k.s—..onsutackl.
miles. The accident which occurred on Saturday
was totally different. It was not defective insulation
which was then discovered at Valentia, but, as the
telegram said, a total loss of insulation ; in other
words, either the copper conductor was stripped of
all its outside protection, and was communicating
with the water, or the cable had been cut or com-
pletely broken. The Admiralty charts of the bottom
of the Atlantic—charts constructed from soundings
I especially made to forward this great undertaking

—show by the distance from land that the Great
Eastern was then in 1,800 fathoms water, or,
allowing for slack, a little more than two miles of
rope was stretching from her stern to the bottom
of the ocean. The enormous pressure and friction
of the water on the saturated outer hemp covering
of the line at its depth would render it a difficult
matter to wind in this two miles' length, if it
could be done at all, in less than 12 hours. It
is almost certain, however, that it could not have
been done at all had the cable been so injured as to
leave its conductor bare—an injury that would at
least take off two-thirds of the rope's strength.
That such a fault could not have occurred is gene-
rally considered as sufficiently evidenced by the fact
that the fault, whatever it was, was repaired in little
more than half the time it would have taken to haul
back the cable, supposing the accident to have
occurred to the portion submerged, and even close
at hand. It is therefore conjectured, with the utmost
appearance of probability, that the fault was caused
by a " kink" having been seen to pass into the pay-
ing-out machine, and the vessel was instantly stop-
ped, the kink extracted, the piece cut out, and a new
splice made. It is certainly worthy of attention that
this theory is borne out by the fact that the time
consumed in repairing the accident—which is known
by the cessation of signals—is almost to a minute
the time that would be required to make and test
such a splice on board the Great Eastern. Those in
charge, then, knowing that all was right behind
them, and that time was of vital importance, would
not be likely to waste it by putting the severed end
of the wire in communication with the instruments
at Valentia, while the electricians at the latter sta-
tion could send no response to their signals through
a cut cable, but, on the contrary, there was a total
'loss of insulation.

The intelligence we publish from the Great Eastern
to-day is more hopeful for the success of the under-
taking than appears on the mere face of it ; 900 miles
have been paid out, which means not only that the
after tank, Which kept her so heavily down by the
stern and so seriously impeded her speed, is empty,
but that the passage of the cable from the stern. tank
to that forward has been successfully accomplished,
and the end is now fast lightening also. The after-
most tank held 830 miles of cable and 400 tons of
water. By this time, therefore, it is vacant, and a
good length will have been taken out of the forward
tank, which only contained7oo miles. In round num-
bers, the vessel has now expended nearly 3000 tons of
cable and water and 2000 tons of coal. Every 1,000
tons makesa difference of 11 inches in her immersion,
so that, counting the consumption of stores, &c.,the
Great Eastern is now six feet higher out of the water
than she was at starting, in perfect trim to enable all
the engines to do their work fairly, and keep the
vessel's course against almost any weather she is likely
to meet: That the latter has as yet been singu-
larly mild is shown by the small amount of slack
paid out. As high as 25 per cent. is a usual allow-
ance for rough weather, but up to the present the
Great Eastern has not exceeded 12. This ought
to bring her on the coast of Newfoundland with
only 1,900 miles paid out, leaving still 400 miles of
cable on board to complete another submarine link
wanted there. Our description of the shore end of
the cable was so worded as to convey an impression
that it was a continuous taper from its thickest part
at Valentia out to where it terminated in its great-
est depth at 100 fathoms. This is not so. The cable
is of a uniform thickness of 2i inches throughout
its entire length of 27 miles. At the sea end of
this length there are 500 yards of rapid tapering
till it ends in being the size of the main deep-sea
portion of the cable. This shore end is the strongest
and heaviest ever constructed, weighing upwards of
20 tons a mile, and being equal to a breaking strain

The Armenian Bookworm.
-c-- -
On Wednesday last, writes the Paris correspondext
of the Times, were borne from the church of St.
Eugene, in the Rue du Conservatoire, to their last
resting-place, the remains of a man who for nearly
40 years had been one of the notables of that por-
tion of the Parisian population who inhabit the
Faubourg Poissonniere, or who frequent the Biblio-
theque Imperials in the Rue Richelieu. I tdlude to
the Armenian, Kasangian, commonly called the
" Armenian de la Bibliotheque, who had been for so
long the constant visitor to that treasury of learn-
ing that he came to be considered as one of its
fixtures. Librarians, attendants, porters, as well
as habitues, were in consternation when, on mis-
sing him from his familiar place in the reading-
room, they were told that he was no more ; for
they had seemed to regard him most exempt
2ge
from the iti m•. Ett.;; niete..ality. —4l * colairStnlY4
be guessed at. Persons who have hardly missed
a day at the library for 30 years affirm that the
Armenian looked as old when they first knew
him as he did up to the last moment. The punc-
tuality of his attendance in the library was some-
what wonderful. It was even said that when
the timepieces of the establishment got out of
order they were regulated on his appearance.
It is certain that the last stroke of 10 still
rung in the ears when his well-known person was
seen at the entrance. He was tall, lank, narrow-
chested, with thin legs, terminating in feet of pro-
digious size. His neck was long as a crane's,
scraggy, and always bare. He had a horror of
neckcloths of every description, and he had for
years tried to induce the employe's of the establish-
ment, with whom he was a great favourite, to dis-
card their cravats. His features were long, ema-
ciated,
and pale, though it is not known that he was
ever seriously ill. His costume consisted of a loose
black stuff robe, like a dressing gown, with wide
sleeves, open in front, and reaching half-way be-
low his knees, a vest and pantaloons made in the
Turkish fashion, and bound round at the waist with
a sash. His headdress used to be a little green
calotte, like that worn by the clergy ; to this,
however, he lately added a hat made of black
stuff. When passing before the office where the
walking-canes and umbrellas are deposited, he
mechanically nodded his head to the left by way
of salute, and to the porter's lodge on the
right, whether there was any one there or not. He
then strode on to the fountain in the court, which
the hospitality of the establishment keeps always
supplied for the thirsty, who refresh themselves by
means of a tin goblet fastened by a chain. If the
sun shone brightly he would stand for a few minutes
to warm himself in its beams, but when the weather
was cold and snow covered the ground he mounted
at once to the large and well-warmed reading-room.
It was not often that the attendants were there
before him, but if they were they received the same
mute salute as he moved on straight to the shelves
in front of the central desk to take down the
volumes which he had left there the previous evening.
His place at the table was the same he had always
held. Everybody seemed to admit his right. to it, just
as, I believe, the usage of the House of Commons
allows to a member who has once received its thanks
for some great ptimirst,mar.-- ale' ctecinioa the MU
of any one who offered to help him in taking down
his heavy folios, but acknowledged their courtesy
with a nod and a melancholy smile. The works
the Armenian generally aakcd for were very rare.
Indeed, they became more so, for they were seldom
out of his hands ; and though the 13iblioWipte Im-
pth•iale is, perhaps, the richest collection on the Con-
tinent, he hasbeen heard to complain of its poverty.
Half hid behind the rampart of huge tomes, he used
to set himself to his daily task—the compilation of
an Arabic Dictionary,—which to him was one of
love, and which, I believe, he left unfinished after
so many years' labour. It is said he applied some
few years back for a subsidy of 30,000 f to enable
him to publish it, but without effect.
His mode of existence was the simplest ; his wants
were the fewest possible, and such as they were he
supplied them by giving lessons in Arabic early in
the morning and late in the evening, at the moderate
cost of a franc a lesson. His pupils were not numer-
ous, but he devoted to them all the time he spared
from his studies in the library and his brief repose.
He was never seen, I believe, at any place of public
amusement, seldom out of his beat, and I doubt
whether he knew more of modem Paris than the
part 'which is comprised between the Faubourg
Poissonniere, where he occupied a small room in the 1
fifth story, and the Church of the Madeleine. He
held little communication out of doors with any but
the employe's of the Bibliot-nque, and those he fre-
quently had recourse to for information about the
books he wanted.
Besides his theory on the inutility,
or rather
the disadvantage, of wearing neckcloths, he had
d
another on the decay of man, which he maintained
as identical with that of tiees. Man, as life ad -
vances, becomes bald, just as the tre.e loses its
leaves. His limbs lose their vigour, just as the
branches lose their sap and wither at the extre-
mities. The human skin loses its moisture, grows
dry and shrivelled, just as the trunk of the tree
grows discoloured and parched and lifelwithdraws
from the roots, when it perishes utter y. For a
year or two before
.his death the theory ap-.
peared to be realised with Kasangian. It was re-
marked that
and he worked every week more slowly,
that his work fatigued him more and more.
Before this he used occasionally to lean back in his
chair, his spectacles thrown up to his forehead, his
pen stuck behind his hear, and with his hands crossed
on one of the thickest of the folios before him,
slumber for an hour. But of late the siesta grew
more frequent and longer, and when he entered or
left the reading room his movements were slow and
hesitating.
The last time he was seen in the old-familiar chair
was this day week, when he drank from the foun-
tain, read, wrote, and slumbered as usual. His
absence on Monday excited attention. On inquiry
at his lodgings it was found that at 10 &clock on
Sunday morning he had an attack of apoplexy, from
which he never rallied. He died in the course of
the same day, seemingly without pain, and as calm
as if he had dropped asleep among his beloved folios
in the library. Of his age or of the earliest period
of his life little certain is known. It is said that
he first came to Europe with the French army on
its return from Egypt in 1800, and fie was then a
priest. If so, he must have been close upon 90,
though he looked, notwithstanding his emaciated
figure, 20 years younger.

CAST OF PRITCHAIID'S HEAD.—The cast taken of
the head of the murderer for the Phrenological Museum of
Edinburgh gives a very different impression of the cerebral
development from what one gets from the portraits, or even
from having seen the man himself. His baldness concealed
the deficiency iu the intellectual part of the brain, by mak-
ing the forehead appear larger than it in reality is. The
fact was found to be that the animal part of the brain was
fully four-fifths of the whole; as an eminent phnologist
expressed it, the skull was bestial. Tho same gentleman
remarked that he had only known one head of a sane per-
son to equal it in its unfavourable development. The
organ of amativeness was immensely large, and also that of
love of approbation. A request was made to have the
brain for scientific purposes, it being an opinion on the part
of some that the quality as well as the size and form of the
brain has something to do with natural disposition. This
request was declined, on the ground that it is opposed to
the modern act, which forbids the dissection of the bodies
of malefactors.—Daily Review.

expressed
On !May
.forenoon ,the Rev. Mr. Greenwell, of
Durham-Ciathedral ; the Rev: Mr. B' -11'
.bo, , .)t,,1i..-
silicaul'ilnogf a remote ',
fordham ; and Dr. Embleton, Beadnell, Northum-
berland; along with Mr. John Hilson, panufac-: ..
turer (members of the Berwickshire Naturalists'
Club), made some ~ excavations on Murray's
aGsretreonn,
gJeddebsiurregtho,
oobnteaplifl
:tthielui:ialaritiy.
period, and this being the likeliest place, from its i
contiguity to the abbey, the fact that a.Roman urn ~
containing bones had been found. in the vicinity of
1
'the abbey in this direction, and frorn'the fact that
when a drain was lately cut across the green, a 0
number of stone slabs and human bones were come t
upon by the workmen, the party were not (limp- I
pointed. On one of the workmen shovelling the
earth from a stone coffin (the edges of which were
before visible, as is also another to the south of it) 1
beent‘:vhoi
which
1 feet
et
,aevkto ennfl
rd o. offnl: i
:lb:
ate%
syst::ffeaaccee
nothing interesting was turned up, which may be .:
eitherstr ttek
been
ns om
halvede liii:oiii hard,th
ewuleici
accounted for by nearly two feet of earth having
stol 1 interfered
OUeworkman's ilnvtithe
with
gaot,
ptahincakdt
,time. Another spot was tried, and when about
eeadrttiol
übreontihte,
:':
ghhit)lo'ofT
top of a stone coffin. This stone or slab which had
or more probably had been broken when being lifted
to allow of additional sepulture, having been
care-
fully removed, and the earth which had accumulated I
under it having been carefully
human skulls were exposed, all of
preserved, but unfortunately one of them had been
struck with the pick. The skulls were found face !
downwards, all of which were lifted, being in 1 and
good state of preservation, were taken pos-
session
of by the gentloman who had mainly
instituted 'the search. ',, 11,5hipg to ascertain
4201,403 x,
.. th 6,
...i.,iek., fp...1 o.liovel -:, As-ere • al; lied,
when it was found that only one entire body
had been interred, stated by -Dr. Embleton
to be that of a male of middle size, with crooked
spine ; and as the two other skulls were much smal-
ler, they were supposed to be those of females. The
body lay with the head towards the abbey, lying
directly east and west, said to be a sign that the
ground had been used as a burying place by the
ancient British Christians. While the workmen
were clearing the earth off the body, a boar's tusk
was found on the right side, and about the place
where the feet had lain was found the perfect lower
jaw only, with a fine set of teeth, of a person seem-
ingly much younger, from its size, than those at the
other end of the coffin, from which we infer its hav-
ing been used as a sort of family cyst. Two oxi-
dised large petal nails, having broad heads like
those used by slaters, with wood sticking to them,
were also found, thereby suggesting the use of a
wooden coffin which might have contained the body
of the person whose lower jaw was found intact,
and placed inside the larger one containing
the entire body and two skulls—the nails being
found near by the lower jaw. On the north side of
this place, about five yards apart, the workmen came
upon another body lying in the same direction, but
with the face ups ards about a foot and a half from
the surface. This one seemed not to have been in
a coffin, as there was nothing of the kind discernible ;
and out of the place where this was found a small
brass linked chain was turned out, which had small
pieces of oxidised metal attached to both ends. An-
other spot was tried in the forenoon, nearer Mr.
John Ililson's house, and about four yards distant
from the place the three skulls were lying side by
side, and the earth on being dug about a foot and
thrown out showed that interments had there also
been made at an early period from the large quanti-
ties of human bones, teeth, and charcoal, which had
been employed in burning the bodies before being in-
terred. The search was continued in the afternoon
on stone cysts on the side of the road at Abbey
Brae—the edges of these, like the one first tried,
being visible—and on the other spots on the green,
but with the exception of human bones being ex-
posed, nothing else was come upon.