The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-06 00:00:00

THE QUARTERLIES.

The journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England. Volume the fifteenth. Murray.
There is a long account of the " Farming of Ox-
fordshire" given here, which presents many instruc-
tive details of that county. It is observed at the
commencement of the article, that many things may
be better or worse than is mentioned in some cases,
but that for the most part they will be found true.
It appears that Oxfordshire is cold in climate, the
amount of rain is more considerable than in Lon-
don, while the thermometer is one degree lower.
Some remarks are made on the necessity of drain-
age in the county. We select the following pas-
sage as a sample of the arguments :
" When it is considered that the water passing through
Oxford is drained from 850,000 acres of land, it is time
that the weirs on the Thames, which have now only a:
water way of thirty feet, should have double that space ;
for the evil of floods is a growing one, and the more
extensively land is under-drained, the more rapidly will
the water be poured into the valleys, and the greater
should be the facilities devised for its speedy out-fall by
a proper system of arterial drainage. Lower down the
Thames, from Wallingford to Henley, the floods do lit-
tle damage as they seldom occur in the summer. The
traffic is considerable, and the locks, being under the
superintendence of the Thames Commissioners, are kept
in excellent order. Moderate winter floods are even
beneficial. In passing rapidly over the land the water
leaves a deposit equivalent to a coat of manure. A high
level of the river is also desirable. The Thames mea-
dows chiefly rest on gravel, and through this porous
subsoil the water percolates, and by capillary attraction
supplies nourishment to the roots of the grass in sea-
sons of drought.
" The Thames stream is in a dreadful state ; in some
parts the river is nearly silted up. A good rain is sure
to send the waters out. There have been 17 floods in
12 months, and a third of the hay this season has been
washed away. Many years ago a commission was ap-
pointed, and the bed of the river was cleared out ; a
rate being levied on the landowners to provide for the
necessary outlay. This measure needs to be repeated ;
and the occupiers of the meadows would gladly submit
to an annual charge of 5 per cent. on the cost. The
banks of the river are planted with willows, and weeds
and rushes for the most part enjoy unmolested security.
Waterstock and Waterperry are exceptions, and at those
parts all impediments to the free course of the water are
carefully removed. If all proprietors of land intersected
by this river would adopt the same plan the destructive
summer floods would become less frequent.
" The waters of the Cherwell are soon out, and soon
off : they rise with astonishing rapidity, and last July
full three-fourths of the hay was swept away by the
floods. In addition to the impediments already adverted
to, the numerous mills on this stream considerably aug-
ment the mischief, and the same may be said of those on
the Evenlode and Windrush.

"There are not many water-meadows in the county.
At the foot of Blenheim-park are 70 acres on the Even-
lode ; these are well shaped and highly productive. The
soil of the Thames meadows is well adapted for irriga-
tion. At all the mills and locks on the river there is
sufficiency of fall to water at a small expense a large
tract of meadows below. There are a few patches of
catch-meadows at the foot of the chalk-hills ; some grow-
ing an abundance of grass ; the most extensive are at
Shirburn, where about 50 acres of the park are irrigated.
A very well contrived catch meadow has recently been
formed on a hilly piece of ground at Chadlington, which
shows how easily streams can be diverted for purposes
of irrigation."

An outline is given of the geology of Oxfordshire,
which will be of service in explaining the facts men-
tioned. There is altogether much to attract atten-
tion in this prize essay. There remain, besides,
some other papers of general interest, which we
have not space to enter upon at large. A transla-
tion is given from Esprit Fabre, on the " Species
of Agilops of the South of France, showing forth
their Transformation into Cultivated Wheat,"
which is interesting. Several figures are annexed
to the account, which represent the different ears of
the grain, natural size and magnified.

The London Quarterly Review.
Some very interesting subjects are considered
in this number. It opens with an article on
" Russia's Place in Christian Civilisation, "
which subject has been so much discussed
historically, geographically, morally, theoretically,
and practically, that it can certainly no longer
be considered an original oue. An essay on the
" Modern British Pulpit " gives some extracts
from a recent work by the thoughtful and talented
writer, Professor Vinet, of Lausanne. " A Memoir
of the Dukes of Orleans," after a catalogue of the
misfortunes and misconduct of the race, in giving
a summary of their deaths, most of which were un-
fortunate, adds :—" Not one fell in the field, or
died of the effects of over-zeal in the service of his
country." It is followed by "An Account of the
History and Progress of Anatomical Science." An
interesting criticism on " The Recent Poets of
America " selects three authors for consideration,
Longfellow, Lowell, and Poe. A striking contrast
—for the direct purpose and moral elevation of the
poet of " The Psalm of Life " is hardly more differ-
ent from the wild and irregular enchantment of
the bard of " The Raven," than the satirical wit
and buoyant enthusiasm of the writer of the
"Fable for Critics" is distinct from either. An
article on "England undor Henry- tho Eighth"
affords much entertainment to the reader. A paper
on " New Grenada, the Gate of South America,"
concludes the number.

The Journal of Agriculture. Blackwood.

This Quarterly contains much information on
agricultural matters. The second article in the
present number will arrest the attention of the
scientific. It is on " The Steam Engine, and its
Application to Agriculture," continued from the
last number. It is illustrated by several figures,
and a plan of a portable steam boiler. A paper on
" Italian Irrigation" gives some curious particulars
respecting the physical aspects of Italy. It may
not be generally known that the mean winter tem-
perature of Lombardy is even lower than that of
Scotland. The summer temperature is much
higher, which produces striking effects on vegeta-
tion. In the south of Italy the winters are very
mild, and the grasses then flourish most, as the
summer heats make the fields look as bare as our
winter frosts. The farming is adapted to suit these
singular circumstances. The sheep graze on the
high grounds in summer and only visit the plains
in winter. "In the great plain of Apulia, extend-
ing along the Adriatic from Bari to Otranto, about
one million of sheep are grazed in winter, and re-
turn to the heights of the Appenines when the
heats dry up the herbage in the low country."
Papers on " The Breadstuffs of the United States
and the Prices of the different Counties of Scot-
land" may also be noticed. They are followed by
tables of the average prices of grain, foreign mar-
kets, butchers' meat, wool, &c. The usual account
of the transactions of the Highland and Agricul-
tural Society of Scotland appears at the conclusion.

The Journal of Pyschological Medicine and Mental
Pathology. Edited by Forbes Winslow, M.D.,
D.C.L, &c. Churchill.
This quarterly is well known, as affording desir-
able information on a most important subject. It
presents researches and details of an abstruse and
scientific nature, which, if not attractive to the
general reader, are nevertheless of vast interest to
those engaged in such matters, or concerned in
their carrying out. There is an article on " Para-
lysis and Diseases of the Brain," in which it is
observed that clinical lectures, which is the form of
the work referred to, are the best. " Remarks
and notes made at the bed-side are indeed speci-
mens of the natural history of disease freshly
gathered, and not a mere hortus siccus of pathology,
concocted from the stores of a well-stocked library."
In the "Autobiography of the Insane " some really
remarkable facts are elucidated. The details are
furnished by persons who have recovered from
attacks of madness, and the reader is enabled often
to trace the cause and occasion of the malady from
the untoward circumstances in which the sufferer
has been placed. No. 111. of the Lettsomian Lec-
tures is "On Medico-Legal Evidence in Cases of
Insanity," a subject which is truly remarked as
being of vast importance. After observing on the
great difficulty of the task assigned to those sum-
moned before a bar of their fellow-countrymen to
decide the existence or non-existence of insanity,
the writer thus proceeds :

" There is no possibility of our placing the diseased
mental elements submitted to our critical examination
in a psychological crucible or test tube ; we cannot avail
ourselves, in these delicate investigations, of the aid of
the microscope; there is no mode by which we can pene-
trate the curtain, or tear aside the veil that divides the
material from the immaterial—mind from matter; there
is no possibility of our obtaining access to that myste-
rious chamber where the spiritual portion of our nature
is elaborated ; we have no gauge, no square rule, by
which we can ascertain in all cases, with any approach
to chemical or mathematical accuracy, an accurate idea
of the actual condition of the mind, when apparently
under a cloud. In the elucidation of these points, W 8
are in a great measure left to our unaided mental sense
—to the uncertain guidance of our own deceptive expe-
rience, and alas ! often, fallible judgment.

M
The Freemasons' Quarterly agazine. Routledge.
This quarterly, which has recently commenced,
is chiefly interesting to freemasons, as it is prin-
cipally- devoted to characteristic subjects. A
large portion is occupied by.
.masonic intelligence
accounts of meetings, charities, (ke. It is not,
however, without some papers suited to the gene:.
ral reader, one of, which is on " Silence and its
Ancient Symbols., Some verses are introduced,
of average merit.

THE SATURDAY HALF-HOLIDAY,--The merchants and
brokers engaged in the. tobacco trade have agreed that
business shall cease in future at two o'clock on Satur-
days.