The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-23 00:00:00

Court of Common Council.

Yesterday a special meeting of the Court of Com-
mon Council was held at Guildhall, the Lord Mayor
in the chair.
The Town Clerk (Mr. Woodthorpe) read a letter
from Mr. John Pollard, the clerk of the Metropo-
litan Board of Works, forwarding copies of a report
from the streets committee urging the laying down
of water mains in a subway of Southwark-street.
This report was referred to the improvements com-
mittee, with instructions to communicate with the
commissioners of sewers on the subject.
Mr. Deputy De Jersey laid upon the table a case
relative to the commissioners of sewers which had
been submitted to the Attorney and Solicitor
Generals and their replies, and moved that the same
be printed and circulated among the members.
The motion was agreed to.
The Town Clerk read a letter from the daughters
of Mr. Deputy Lorkin, acknowledging with thanks
the receipt of a letter of condolence upon the death
of their father, which was passed at the last meet-
ing of the council, and it was ordered to be entered
on the journals of the court.

Mr. ISAAC moved the following resolution—" That
having in view the great loss and inconvenience to
which a large number of citizens are subjected by
the non-progress of the works for the proposed dead
meat and poultry market, it is desirable that addi-
tional professional assistance should be provided by
the markets improvement committee, in order to
accelerate the progress of the said works." He ad-
verted to the great number of important works now
thrown upon the office of the City Architect, which,
he said, required extra assistance for the purpose of
carrying them out. The Holborn Valley improve-
ment, for instance, was a work of great magnitude,
requiring the utmost care and ability. The dead
meat market in Smithfield was one of a similar
nature. He deemed it due to the architect himself,
as well as to the markets improvement committee,
that additional professional assistance should be pro-
vided.

Mr. R. N. PHILIPPS seconded the motion, and in
doing so said he had no intention of reflecting in the
slightest degree upon the ability of the architect, but
he thought the great amount of labour which would
be required in carrying out the works expeditiously,
works, the commencement of which had been re-
tarded by the delay that had taken place in the
production of the plans—proved the necessity that
existed for granting immediate professional assist-
ance. The amount of money which at present was
locked up, in consequence of the non-usage of the
ground at Smithfield, was somewhere about £lO,OOO
a year, and this might be reckoned as the annual
loss the corporation were incurring by the present
state of things. He estimated the cost of the erec-
tion of the new market at a quarter of a million, and
he argued that no time should be lost in expediting
the works, in order to meet the requirements of the
trade and the wants of the public.

Mr. H. L. TAYLOR defended the markets improve-
ment committee, aid said the delay which had arisen
was unavoidable, owing to the excavations not having
been completed by the railway companies for the sta-
tion underneath, which they had to form in connec-
tion with the Metropolitan line. He stated that the
plans of the new market were now upon the walls
of the court for the inspection of the members, and
that no unnecessary time would be lost in carrying
them out.

Mr. Rudkin, Mr. Alderman J. C. Lawrence, Mr.
Alderman Sidney, and other members took part in
the discussion which ensued, and at the close a divi-
sion took place, when there appeared—For the mo-
tion 78 ; against, 44 ; majority in favour of it, 34.

Mr. BEDFORD then moved—" That the Markets
Improvement Committee be directed to report to
this Court forthwith the reasons for the extraordi-
nary and ruinous delay that has taken place in the
erection of the dead meat market in Smithfield, and
also when, in their opinion, their labours in that
matter may be expected to terminate."
After a short debate this motion was withdrawn,
it being the general opinion of the Court that the
main facts of the case had been elidited during the
discussion on Mr. Isaac's motion.

Mr. Deputy FRY moved the following resolution
—"That in the opinion of this Court it is desirable
that Mansion-house-street should be widened on the
north side, and this Court doth accordingly request
the Commissioners of Sewers to give notice under
their powers to take the ground now vacant, and
that being built upon in Mansion-house-street, for
widening and improving the said street."
The resolution was adopted, and the Court ad-
journed.

A New Parasite•

M. Lacaze-Duthiers has sent an interesting paper
to the Academy of Sciences on a curious parasite
observed by him on the polypifer of an Antipa-
tharia (black coral) called Gerardia. This parasite
has a small flat body, of the form of a bean, and
of a rose colour, being to all appearance capsules
in the soft tissues of the Gerardia. On opening
one of these small bodies, M. Lacaze saw a
swarm of minute and living animalcules issue forth,
and, upon examination, found them to be the em-
bryos of certain crustacea. The shell of the bean
seemed to be a sort of nest intended to protect a
quantity of eggs in progress of development ; but,
on examining some portions of its substance through
a microscope, our author became aware of the
existence of certain histological elements, revealing
a living body, and by no means a secretion. M.
Lacaze describes it as follows :—" Imagine a very
small lobster, not more than one or two
centimetres in length ; imagine the thoracic
part of the shell, comprised between the head
and the abdomen, to be extended beyond all
measure—in other words, this part of the
body to be enormously developed with
respect to the rest ; let this thoracic portion now be
bent double, so as to form a large flat pocket, open
only on one side ; you will then have a tolerable idea
of this creature, which has shut itself up in a shell,
from the centre of which its body is suspended by
the back." The body, or fleshy part of the animal,
is small, not more, as stated above, than one or two
centimetres in length, but its shell as described is
from three to four centimetres long. It is con-
siderably arched, and its head, the functions of
which are extremely limited, remains verysmall. The
abdomen, composed of articulated segments, is pro-
vided with six pairs of legs symmetrically placed ;
the only inner organ is a large digestive tube of a
yellowish colour. This shellfish is not inscribed in
the catalogue of crustacea ; our author accordingly
makes a new genus of it under the name of Laura,
to which he adds the specific name Gerardim, on
account of its having been discovered on the Anti-
patharia of that name. The animal creeps into
the tissues of the Gerardia, and derives its chief
nutriment from it. The shell is very curiously
constituted. Its substance is nearly grisly ; it is
pierced with an innumerable number of small pores,
from each of which capillary tubes radiate to the
body, and it is through this sort of hair, if we may
call it so, that the juices which are to serve the
polypus as a nourishment are sucked in. Other
parasitical crustacea are generally attached to the
body on which they feed by their mouths or by means
of suckers ; but in the case of the Laura there is
nothing of the kind, for its mouth and members
have no communication with the external world.

THE NATIONAL POULTRY COMPANY.--Minasi's
machine for artificial incubation is now in active
operation at these works at Bromley, Kent, where numbers
of fine and healthy fowls, hatched and reared by the new
process, incontestably prove that the cheapening of poultry
to a great extent, and yet to admit of a highly remunera-
tive return upon the capital invested, is an accomplished
fact. The share list of this company will close shortly,
after which we shall hope to find that so practical and im-
portant a movement is spreading its benefits far and wide.
VALUE OF LAND IN YORKSHIRE.—At the Talbot
Hotel, Malton, on Friday, Messrs. Boulton and
Son offered the South Holme and West Ness estates, in
the North Riding, the property of the late Rev. Charles
Hall, rector of Terrington, for competition by public auc-
tion. The estates are situate about nine miles north of
Malton, and are purely agricultural. The area is about
566 acres, and in one lot Mr. Barker, of North Shields,
was the last bidder at £30,000, or rather over thirty-
three years' purchase. The estates were bought in at
£32,000, and afterwards offered in three lots, Mr. E. Rose,
of Malton, being the last bidder in each case, the totals
being £29,400—0r £6OO less than in one lot. The reserves
were £33f000.