The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-22 00:00:00

THE CONFO.RIII.ATION OF 7HE ALPS.

The September number of the Philisophical Magazine
contains a highly interesting paper by Professor Tyndall,
powerful
sr
ewhe have
rfaasu 1
P.R.S., on the agencies which must have been at work to
excavate the valleys of the Alps in their present form. Can
the formation of that stupendous chain be entirely ascribed
to upheaval in certain spots, and sinking in certain others ?
of thosethetovtorrents present
pvraollfeesyssorb,lye:deaxlclltuheinivkelsyntohte. wlour kt
the
ces.vdaacrikasant alitthtdhe
uplifting of the land, cracks and fissures would probably be
produced, and the valleys might be regarded as the traces
. bu
Our
t hut their et
authori rt
those
oi directions
consequentlytvioanil se a
valleys
ehna have
et
fissures
st
conclusionospu rine sio n;
been excavated by descending glaciers. I
known that those stupendous t is
well
masses of ice are
gradually detached from the subjacent soil by the warmth
of the earth, and being thus set at liberty, acquire a sliding
motion downwards,le, and ploughing their way through every
sins the rocks with longitudinal marks
which the lapse of
blocks lying on their passage insufficient to efface, while the
tinned friction.
shralDassage are polished by their con-
Shall "that the glaciers fiwueedassume," says Professor Tyn-
dall,water .denudation, or shall We valleys previously formed by
the excavators which have furrowed
cenclude that they have been
with the valleys which now late the uplifted land
to accept the latter view, and this
it ? Ido not hesitate
further. According to it thea al
.view will carry us still
calf-
destructive. The more deeply gitaclier is essentially
the earth, the more must it retreaPtonghs the surface of
Alpine valleys be filled to the level ofL et the present
ridges, and vast glaciers would again
into the adjacent
start
but every one of these valleys is a kind offurnace
existence ;
sends draughts of hot air up to the heights,and
thusrnace which
ally prevents the formation of ice. while
a effectu
summit of the Graughaupt a short time age, adeleg on the
astonished at the force with which these fine was perfectly
air rose vertically from the Val du Lys. materhedf heated.
precipitated vapours which chanced to be afloat at sl Y, the
the:vertical gusts were often as violent as - -40 time,
from a factory chimney. Thug, given the:
tipliftcebe draught
d land, and
we have a glacial epoch ; let the ice 4
Work downwor the rth,
every foot it sinks necessits+ ' ea
em fts own diminution; the
glaciers sink as the van- -.2
end 'many we have
dye deepen,.
state of things in..- -died to limits a
which the ice has dwindled its which
barely Berra
sea key to the stupendous of of a
bygov
geological ago,"
.0

711 L NAVE

The following is a letter from Malts, dated Va-
letta, Sept. IG:—We have news from the Corn-
mander-in- Chief to the 11th inst., by the gunvessel
Alacrity, 4, Commander K. E. Baird, which arrived
from Corfu on Sunday. The Marlborough, 131,
Capt. W. IL Steward, C. 8., had left the island on
the 9th for ten days' cruise, the Admiral having
previously transferred his flag temporarily to the
Algiers, 89, Capt. E. B. Rice. The Trident, 3, Com-
mander C. J. Balfour, had gone to Ancona and
other ports of the Adriatic. There were very strong
rumours that the Admiral and a portion of the Me•
diterranean fleet would winter at Corfu. But the
cessation of hostilities between the Turks and Mon-
tenegrins renders the presence of the Admiral and
his fleet in thosewaters unnecessary. We were visited
with a slight shock of earthquake at 1.45 a.m. of
the Bth, and some persons affirm having felt another
on the previous day. From the coast of Syria we
have nothing of a very late date, except the depar-
ture of her Majesty's sloop Icarus, 11, Commander
Salmon, V.C., from Beyrout for this island, where
she is daily expected. The remainder of the squad-
ron on the coast of Syria had orders to assemble at
Beyrout about the middle of September. Nothing
more is said about the Mars, 80, Capt. J. N. Strange,
going home, although her time has expired. The
Wanderer, 4, Commander C. M. Seymour, had been
ordered to Malta. The London, 86, Capt. H. Chads,
and the Neptune, 86, Capt G. J. Hornby, continue
at Naples; but the Amphion, 36,Capt. A. C. Gordon,
and the Doris, 32, Capt. Sir F. L. M.Clintock, have
changed places, the former vessel having proceeded
from Naples to Messina, and the latter from Mes-
sina to Naples. The naval movements in Malta har-
bour during the week comprise the departure to and
arrival from Corfu of the Alacrity, and the departure
yesterday of the Foxhound, 4, Lieut. Doughty,with
mails for that island; the arrival of the Shannon,
35, Capt. C. 0. Jones, on the Bth inst., from Ply-
mouth and Gibraltar, and her departure on the 13th
to join the Admiral. The Pelican, 17, Commander
P. Brook, has also left to join the Commander-in-
Chief at Corfu. Admiral Codrington will probably
return to Malta by the French packet due from
Italy t -morrow. The Magicienne is expected to
leave for Sicily and Italy some time next week. The
following officers of the garrison have recently left
Malta for Engiand on leave of absence :—per Vectis
on the sth inst., via Marseilles, Brigadier• Gen. H.
Bates, Lieut. C. F. Legh, and Ensign R. Higgins,
25th Regiment, Lieut. F. T. Bircham, R.A., and
Ensign S. P. Majoribanks, 15th Regiment—per
Mooltan, on the sth inst., via Southampton, Lieut.-
Col. J. Gubbins, 23d, R.W.F. ; per Euxine, on the
Bth inst., via Marseilles, Capt. J. J. Dudgeon, Ist
battalion, 22d Regiment, and Lieut. R. N. Camp-
bell, R.E. ; per Pera, on the Bth inst., via South-
ampton, Major F. M. Ommanney, R.A. The Ripon,
which arrived from Southampton on the 13th inst.,
brought out Ensign Linley, Serg. Esmond, and 24
sailors; and the Vectis, from Marseilles, on the 14th,
had on board for Malta, Capt. and Mrs. Bonavita,
R.M.F.A. Mr. Andrews, engineer and superin-
tendent of the Mediterranean Extension Telegraph,
and Mr. Gibson, inspector of telegraphs, left in the
Foxhound, for Corfu, to test the Corfu end of the
Otranto cable. The working of the telegraph to
England continues to be most satisfactory. A tele-
gram was received from Liverpool the day before
yesterday in two hours. A marble tablet, with a
suitable inscription, was laid on the 10th inst., in a
conspicuous part of the Malta Exchange, in com-
memoration of the honour which his R.H. the Prince
of W ales conferred on the establishment by visiting
it during his stay at Malta. The inscription is sur-
mounted by his Royal Highness's crest.
The Revenge, 73, Capt. C. Fellowes, of 3,320 tons
and 800 horse power, bearing the flag of Rear-
Admiral Robert Smart, K.H., Commander-in-Chief
of the Channel squadron ; the Defence, 18, iron
frigate, Capt. R. A. Powell, C. 8., of 3,668 tons and
600 horse power; the Emerald, 36 guns, Captain
Arthur Cumming, of 2,913 tons and 600 horse
power ; the Galatea, 26 guns, Capt. R. Maguire, of
3,227 tons and 800 horse power; and the Princulo,
gunboat, of 60-horse power, arrived at Spithead on
Saturday morning on their return from their cruise
in the Baltic,

The Resistance, 18, iron frigate, Capt. Chamber-
lain, in No. 10 Dock at Portsmouth, has had the
starboard side of her bottom paid over with Pea-
cock and Buchan's preservative composition, and
her port side with the composition prepared by %Ir.
Hay, the Admiralty chymist.
The Sutlej, 36, screw frigate, bas been commis-
sioned at Portsmouth by Capt. M. Connolly.
The Sharpshooter, iron gunvessel, on being
docked at Portsmouth on Friday, was found to
have her bottom so thickly covered with oysters
that the only means to remove them was by dubbing
them off with the shipwright's adzes. Flakes of
shells from 18in. to 2ft. square were got off in this
manner, in all cases bringing off with them a con-
siderable amount of the scale of the iron from the
vessel's plates.
The paddle-wheel steamer Terrible, 21, 800-horse
power, attached to the steam reserve in the Med-
way, is to undergo a most complete and thorough
repair, at a cost amounting to about £15,000, after
which she is to be again commissioned.
Her Majesty's iron screw troopship Adventurer,
Commander Lethbridge, from Canada, with a de-
tachment of troops, the detail of which was given in
Sunatdeathsly o
of lFrywofii
cd
haloo
nol af sstha,
te
urarrdpr
aiavys es. de n
Hag leoernrs gl
dos igud
reice :oho ert
dhTse
invalids)voyag e htionmde
pt 7 bee
re
—viz.,
children,three
of( c
whomon su m t
theiv e
entire family of one woman, dt •ed on three succes-
sive days of measles, and were b • urted at sea. The
Adventurer is ordered to be docked, to be over-
hauled and to repair damages sustained on the coral
reefs at Bermuda.

The undermentioned gentlemen have been nomi-
nated to naval cadetships :—William E. Adderley
John Dunn Auberton, Hans Hamilton Brooke,
Harry Bryant, Robert Boyle, Anthony Marcus
Hammond, Alexander Bohun Hawkes, Charles
Hervey, Edmund Samuel Poe, Francis Powell,
John Grey Russell, Charles Arthur Stephenson,
Foster Lechmere Wade, Wm. Moore West, Wm.
Henry Young, George,Heotor Bruce, and Edward
Paken ham Brooks.

The following appointments were made at Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieuts. T. Stackhouse, H.
M. Fox, C. R. Buckle, and R. E. Stopford, to the
Sutlej ; Sub-Lieuts. G. R. Keating, H. B. Stewart
and A. T. C. Warrington, to the Sutlej ; A. D.
Fanshawe, midshipman, to the Edgar, as supernu-
merary ; F. L. C. Reece, G. S. La Coste, R. C.
Jolliffe, J. D. Maycock, and E. T. Wingfield, mid-
shipmen, to the Sutlej ; J. Noble, assist.-surg., to
the Placebo ; A. W. Miller, second master, to the
Sutlej ; S. H. Liddell, second master, to the Phmbe;
H. D. Stanistreet, acting assistesurg., to the Placebo ;
J. H. Datton and H. Bath, masters' assistants, to
the Sutlej.