The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-13 00:00:00

YEARLINGS.

A bay colt by Flatcatcher, dam by Lanercost, out
of the Nun, by Catton
A brown filly by lago, out of Belle Dame 94
A bay filly by lago, out of Palma
A bay filly by The Anchor, out of Cuba
FoaLs.

A bay colt, by Flatcateher, out of Ellen
A brown colt, by Flatcatcher, out of Cuba 3O
A bay filly, by lago, out of Madame Pelerine (Cane-
zou's dam)
A bay filly, by lago, out of Palma
A brown filly, by lago, out of Belle Dame l5
A bay filly, by The Anchor, out of Speedwell
A bay filly, by The Anchor, out of Pharsalia
STALLION.
The Anchor (late Erin Lad), by Sheet Anchor, out
of Erin Lass
ALSO,

. 150
. 19

53

A brown mare, by Mr. Martin, 5 yrs (clever hunter) 48
A bay hack mare
A grey carriage horse

REAPING MACHINES.

It will be recollected that at the last meeting of the
Yorkshire Royal Agriculture Society Mr. W. Crosskill
received the gold medal, as the exhibitor and maker of
"Bell's Reaping Machine." This gentleman has now,
in the most praiseworthy manner, handed it over to the
inventor, whom he considers to be its right possessor,
and who, it may be mentioned to the honour of Scot-
land, is a hard-working parochial clergyman near
Arbroath. In the letter inclosing the medal to the
Rev. Mr. Patrick Bell, for that is the name of the
author of this beautiful and most useful machine, Mr.
Crosskill says :

" The excellent parochial clergy of Scoland, of
whom you are so meritorious a member, have been long
distinguished for their zeal in the acquisition and dis-
semination of that description of knowledge which has '
formed the basis of our most valuable agricultural im-
provements. The publication, in the year 1791, of the
first volume of the " Statistical Account of Scotland,"
compiled by Sir John Sinclair, from information supplied
by the parochial clergy, gave the first impulse to im-
proved husbandry south of the Tweed. These gifted men
were the first to call national attention to the state of the
soil—the different modes of cultivation—the manures
employed—the farming implements in general use—the
quantity and value of each description of crop—the
price of grain—the quantity consumed—wages of labour
—cattle-breeding, rent, and the whole theory and prac-
tice of farming. It is impossible to say how much we
are indebted to them for all our recent improvements ;
and, for my part, I am always proud to acknowledge my
deep obligations to them, and to that system of clerical
training which qualified them, not only to discharge
their sacred functions worthily, but to mark out that
path of physical improvement in which we are now so
securely treading.
" And here I must congratulate you, rev, and dear
sir, upon the recent justice done to your fame as one of
the most successful of modern inventors in the arts of
peace, so entirely in harmony with the food-dispensing
requirements of your sacred calling. Not that I would
either say or insinuate that the enterprising persons on
the other side of the Atlantic, who were among the first
to appropriate, and to seek to profit by your invaluable
discovery, were influenced by any intention of robbing
you of the merit due to you. Every appropriation of an
invention is not a piracy, especially on the part of men
so remote from us, as regards distance, as the people of
the United States. Plans of machines are variously ob-
tained, and the first to procure them are not always the
persons to direct or to profit by their manufacture. But
as I doubt not that, in perfecting your noble invention,
you were intent only upon benefitting agriculturists
throughout the world, you will have received real
pleasure from ascertaining the extent to which you were
the unknown benefactor of the farmers of America."

After acknowledging the receipt of the medal, Mr.
Bell observes—

" It is gratifying to me to receive such a proof of the
success of a contrivance which occupied a great part of
my attention during a few of my younger years ; and if
it shall be found by experience that I have been instru-
mental in the smallest degree in lightening the toil of
the husbandman, and in cheapening the food to our grow-
ing population, I shall be more than rewarded for the
trouble and anxiety I experienced when I was thinking
and rethinking—modelling and remodelling--and in
putting my thoughts into a practicable shape."

TEE ROYAL PANOPTICON INSTITUTION,

LEICESTER-SQUARE.

There are few persons in the habit of moving about
the west end of London whose attention has not been
attracted to the Oriental-looking structure which has
been in progress during the last two years, and which,
with its dome and minarets, and the variegated colours
with which its surface is decorated, look as if a rich
Moorish palace in all its freshness and beauty had
been miraculously transported into the midst of our
muddy and smoky metropolis. As we learn from Mr.
E. M. Clarke, the managing director, by whose taste
the style and many of its details had been suggested,
the building is not Turkish, nor Moorish, but Saracenic,
the walls presenting plane surfaces decorated with com-
binations of scrolls, fretwork, and mosaic designs, from
which all organic forms are severely excluded.
As the building, although its decorations are not
quite completed, is already open to students in the
chemical and photographical departments, and to per-
sons wishing to sit for their portraits—the character of
the interior has ceased to be a secret to many ; and we
believe that none who have seen it have failed to regard
it with the greatest admiration. It appears from a
paper read before the Institute of Architects, by the
architect, Mr. J. H. Lewis, the large central hall is 98
feet in diameter in the clear of the walls, about the same
height to the top of the centre lights, beside the very
large recess occupied by the monster organ.
Very great difficulty had to be overcome in the con-
struction of the vast and beautiful roof, in consequence
of there being no means of getting a continuous tie at
the springing, nor till more than half-way, as the arched
roof of the organ gallery cut into it.
But these details give no picture of_the scene which
meets the eye as soon as the visitor Vaves the portals,
and enters the spacious rotunda. The ground floor is
cirsular, above which is an octagonal gallery, above which
is another gallery of 16 feet, and which is surmounted
by a third gallery, which is circular, and forming the
lower part of the dome.
The roof and the galleries are supported by 17 columns.
The galleries are fronted with iron pannels of fretwork,
carrying out the Saracenian style of the building, and
are approached by slate staircases, the steps of which
are of cut slate, and the pannels supporting the handrail
present the pecularity of being at right angles with the
enclosure of the stairs. The ornaments of the whole,
from the floor to the summit of the dome, present a gor-
geous mass of pristine colours, lavishly enriched wit h
gold.
Perhaps the best idea of this magnificent scene may
be formed, from the statement that the mere gold leaf
for the decorations cost 1,0001. The pillars on the
ground-floor have a peculiar effect, being covered in
slabs of gold-coloured glass, the capitals being formed by
wide-spreading ornaments, enriched with the three posi-
tive colours (blue, red, and yellow), relieved by delicate
traceries of gold. These are succeeded by pillars richly
worked out in the polychromatic style, the effect of
which are heightened by gilding.
The ceilings of all the galleries present an illustration
of decorative art, being divided into pannels, containing
a rich decription of scroll rosettes. The dome, which is
purely hemispherical, presents a ground-work of ultra-
marine, thickly studded with gold stars, a fine effect as
to elevation being produced by the gradual paling of the
ground from the base to the summit.
To ascend from the ground-floor to the photographi-
cal department, in the highest gallery, a carriage has
been constructed, which travels up a perpendicular
shaft, capable of seating six persons and a conductor,
put in motion by a steam-engine.
The arrangements in progress for the working of
the institution are proceeding with rapidity. On the
basement story is constructed a circular railway, the
diameter of which is 98 feet, the rails being in ac-
cordance with the narrow gauge. On the ground-floor
there are several valuable engines, and a stand of tools
already at work (having been furnished by Mr. Whit-
worth, of Manchester), for the purpose of giving in-
struction in mechanics and engineering. There is also
a large number of casts from the best works in the
studios of eminent English sculptors. One of the lead-
ing features of this floor is the gigantic electrical
machine, the glass-plate of which is 10 feet in diameter ;
it has a pear-shaped conductor ; the weight of the whole
is about a ton.

There is a voltaic magnet of soft iron, weighing half a
ton, capable of supporting 30 tons. The chemical labo-
ratory is most complete in all its apparatus.
The philosophical apparatus-room is complete with
apparatus of most novel construction for illustrating 411
departments of the physical sciences. The scientific lec-
ture-room will hold 1,000 persons, besides which there is
a literary lecture-room for six hundred. Arrangements
are in progress for the illustration of musical composi-
tion and Psalmody, for which purpose Mr. Hill,
from Tottenham-court-road, has constructed an or-
chestral organ, at the cost of three thousand guineas ;
the bellows of this instrument are worked by a steam-
engine of two horse-power, and to do justice
to the organ three performers are required. From the
centre of this organ will proceed an oxy-hydrogen light,
which will pass through condensers of 27 inches dia-
meter, and by this arrangement dioramic views will be
formed on a transparent screen, of dimensions hitherto
unattempted.
One of the remarkable features of the institution is its
Artesian well, of 385 feet depth, and from which the
water is pumped up by steam to the summit of the
building for constant use, and to be ready in the case of
a fire breaking out, which, from this brief notice of the
edifice, the public would most earnestly deprecate.

DESERTION FROM MERCHANT SHIFS.—Tho Lords
Commissioners of her Majesty's Treasury have caused
to be transmitted to the Customs' authorities, for the
information of themselves, and their officers at the seve-
ral ports throughout the Kingdom, an order for appre-
hending seamen, not being slaves or subjects of her
Majesty, who desert from merchant ships belonging to
subjects of the King of Denmark, when within her Ma-
jesty's dominions, or the territory of the East India Co.
The order sets forth, that it appearing that clue facili-
ties have been, or will be, given, for recovering and
apprehending seamen who desert from British merchant
ships in the territories of his Majesty the King of Den-
mark, it is hereby ordered and declared that seamen, not
being slaves, and not being subjects of her Majesty,
who desert from merchant ships belonging to subjects of
his Majesty the King of Denmark, when within her
Majesty's dominions, or the territories of the East India
Company, shall be liable to be apprehended and carried
on board their respective ships. The Commissioners for
the affairs of India are to assist the Lords of the Treasury
in this matter, and give the necessary directions accord-
ingly.
THE FUGITIVE BANKRUPT.—The detective officer who
followed Todd, the fraudulent bankrupt distiller of New-
castle, to America on behalf of his creditors, has, it is
stated, written to his employers to say that he traced
him all the way to the State of Wisconsin, where he has
purchased a large farm. The officer found the delin-
quent in the field busy at work, but the latter, with
some other hostile parties, resisted the efforts of the
officer to arrest him ; and finding his warrants not suf-
ficiently legal to call for the interference of the local
authorities, the officer has written home for fresh in-
structions.
HENLEY.—The shooting on several of the manors in
this neighbourhood has been postponed until this
day, in consequence of the backward state of the har-
vest.