The Sun.
London, England, 1838-08-14 00:00:00

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BRITISH ASSOCIATION OP
SCIENCE.

1 (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
ith the approaching meeting of the British As-
soeigion may be h.:
NEwt,: STLE- UPON- T NE, Aug. 11.—The first grand move,
in connexion ;7'
id to have taken place this forenoon, when
his Grace the Duke ehe Northumberland, the President of the
Society this year, arrive.: at Newcastle, en route, for his
Grace's seat. Alnwick Castle, As usual, the head of the
truly noble house of Percy, was greeted with the music of
the merry le'ls, as he passed through bur ancient and grate-
fully-minded town. His amiable consort, the Duchess, did
not accompany the Duke, her Grace having alighted a few
miles off, in the county of Durham, to pay a short visit at
Ravensworth Castle. Of course the all-engrossing topic here
jost now, is the grand "gathering" about to take place ; and,
front "hat is already known, there can be no doubt that it will
be one or the most numerously-attended, if not the most
brilliant asserchlage of individuals that has yet been wit-
nessed in this cztuntry, to do honour to Science and
Litera!ure.

" Ingenuas dididise fideliter artes,
Emotlit mores, rice sinit erse feros "
- In point of fact, what is mostly dreaded is, that, with
the most unwearied exertions on the part of the
Managing Committee, to render every accommodation
possible, the actual number of subscribers is such in
i —j
this district, being 1,110, instead of 600, as was originally es-
timated from what took place at Liverpool and
.ll3ristol on similar occasions, 1. e., with reference to the popu-
lation of these towns, as compared with Newcastle. The
great matter of dread, therefore, is, that there may be some dif-
ficulty in making all the arrangements so replete with comfort
as might be wished. At the same time it is is only proper to
state that, after a careful inspection of the various build-
ings, rooms, &c , available for the purposesof the Association,
Piofessor Phillips has reported the whole as eminently ap-
propriated to the purposes of the meeting. The following
programme has in consequence been adopted by the Corn-
-
11.,tee of Management, namely :
ATICAL AND PHYSICAL SECTION—The Lecture-
room of the Lit. and Phil. Society.
CHEMICAL SECTION-..-NtZTURAL HISTORY SECTION.-- The
two Courts in the Most Hall.
MECHANICAL SECTION.--GEOGRA.,,HICA L SECTION—Upper
and lower rooms of the Music Hall.
MEDICAL SECTION—The Surgeons',l:3ll.
STATISTICAL SECTION—OId Academy of Arts.
GENERAL COMMITTEE—Grand Jury-room, 1;50ot Hall.
COUNClL—Committee-room, Lit. and Pliq. Society.
ROYAL GRAMMAR- SCHOOL. CORPORATION-SCHOOL, &Ca.....
To be reserved for such purposes as may arise.
In all probability, there will be a greater attendance on the
part of the fair sex than has yet been witnessed at any of the
previous meetings. The number of ladies' tickets, however,
is limited at presc.nt to 800, nearly the whole of which are
enge.ged. If, therefore, we adopt the calculation of Pro-
fessor Phillips, which is that there will be 1,000 members
from a distance, the entire aggregate will amount to 2,900
persons.

Besides Sir John Herschel, who, it is e:cpected, will be the
guest of the Mayor, the following Professors have already
announced their intention of being present, viz., Professors
Sedgwick, Buckland, Lyall, and Gardner.
As regards the gastronomic section the Purveyors report
most favourably—abundance of fine venison having been pro-
mised by Lords Tankerville, Prudhoe, the Bishop of Durham,
Mr. Beaumont, &c.
The circus has been fitted up as a dining saloon, capable of
accommodating 600 persons. Perhaps it would have- been
better adapted to the exigencies of the case bad there been
room fur 1,000.

DETECTION OF A COV.FEE-HOUSE BOOK

THIEr.—A few days ago Mr. Lunt, the ICeeph7r of the old established

ICoffee and Chop house on Clerkenwell Green, discovered a shabby-
dreised, middle aged man, who gave the name of Wii:iam Stanley, steal.
ing a volume of Cooper's popular work "The Pilot." He was imme-
diately given into the custody of a constable, taken befot:t the sitting
magistrate at Hatton-Garden Police-office. H. Witham, Esq,...ans! coo.
mated for trial upon the charge. Mr. Lamb suspects the same gun to
have plundered him only the day before of another volume of "The
Pilot." The losses sustained by coffee-house keepers who provide li-
braries for the entertainment of their customers, are very serious. Mrs.
Lunt complains, that within these last two years, no less than 200 vs_
lumen of valuable books have been stolen from their reading and cofte-
room, independent of the daily journals and small publications they
lose week'y.
The beauties of San Sebastian are not without the
common dangers to hearts that are vulnerable. On this occasion we
maralied towards the fight cheered by their cries of" Viva l'ingleses,''
I believe there were some of us forgot the coming danger for a short
time, to revel in the luxury of imaginary love. They seemed so pecu-
liarly lovely amid the surrounding circumstances, that an onlooker
could have wished to go into the fight, or not go at all, just as he might
have the affections that looked through the black eyes to win c'r had
eready won them. I observed one particularly. She was the younger
of two davgliters of a merchant of considerable note in San Sebastian.
There was con.l7ined in her person the whole of that beauty that poets
have embodied in the wordsfairy and angel, and she btit so tenderly over
' the body of a dying Englishman, as she prayed for his parting spirit (an
office performed read;:y by all Spaniards)—washed the blood from his
temples, and gave him a cordial to drink, that it seemed uncertain
whether she whispered a praer, or gave him a kiss! whichever it was,
the one or the other, or both, there were some who saw her who could
have been content with a wound riot too deadly) for the sake of such
tender consolation. Ihrt it was a passing scene. Some saw. it for a mo-
ment, as if Heaven had permitted them a parting glance of earth's
choicest pleasures 'ere the world closed on them for ever. A short

counter march—a wheal to the right, and a run at iioutile;;Cl,
brought us under the tire of the enemy, and death, which had by this
time thinned other regiments, commenced among us.—Somervilles
History of the British Legion in Spain.

NEW FUEL FOIL STEAM NAVIGATION.---We

understand Mr. Williams, the chief direc:or of the Dublin Steam Com-
pany, his discuvered a new description of fuel applicable to the use. of
steam navigation, and particularly for vessels intended for a long voyage,
. _

as it consideraVy diminishes the weight to he carried. It is sta►ed that

experiment has pro Ned one ton of the new fuel to be equal in eficct to
four tons of the best coal. Mr. IVilliams has already secured the benefit
of this important discovery n; a patent, and the public are likely soon
to be put in possession of the nature of this new kind of fuel. A desi•
deratum of this kind was alone wan,;;Nl to
.remove the last remaining
.obstaete to transatlantic steam navig,:tio.:--narnely, the enormous dead
weight of coal required for engines of grLet power by large vessels on
long voyages. This new fuel, a spvimen of which we have seen, we
hear, is manufactured from a description of peat I.: turf found in Ireland,
called stone turf, from its weight and solidity, ano which produces a
most intense heat. This stone peat when mixed with ta. •and subjected
to a very high pressure, has all the appearance of the best Cannel coal.
—Liverpool Paper.

ACCIDENT FROM A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.-

On the afternoon of Wednesday last, a dreadful accident betel a person
named Williams, when coming on the road towards Merthyr, he seeing
01:0 of the Dowlais locomotive engines, got on part of the tender, whets
not adopting the necessary precaution of taking . hold of the chain he
was thrown Of; and before the engine could be stopped it had passed
over his right thigh, which it nearly severed from his body, presenting a
most frightful appearance.—Silurian. _ _

On Sunni ly last, two mad does were killed at
Hampstead, in which village, during the last fortnight, upwards of a
dozen others have met with a similar fate at the of the pc.lioivaiThl

the inhibitatits fifth,. place; a cow and a pig were a few days ago bitten
by a d:,g in a rabid state, :tad in consequence of the alarm excited by
these cceurrences, the constables of the district have received such Ma-
gisterial orders as will justify them in dispatching all the canine stni.
mats which may be found roaming about the streets without being
muzzled, or otherwise prevented from indicting injury,

- -
ST ATE OF TRADE.—Business continues much as
reported last week ; the demand being moderate, and wools maintain.
ing their prices. The advance on manufactured goods is not yet
realized, or obtained with difficulty. More goods from this market have
been shipped this week, than during the previous weeks; but the fo-
reign demind, upon the whole, as compared with former seasons, is very
t filling.—Leicestershire Merczry.
MIDLAND COUNTIES ItAlLwAY.—The neigh-
bourhood of Spondon, near Derby, has presented a busy scene for the

.. . . last week. A diversion of the canal had to be made by the Railway
Company, which could not be effected without stopping the navigation,
for u hich there is a penalty of '2l. per hour. The ccntrhctor (Mr.
Mackenzie) taking advantage of a stoppage of the canal, mustered his
forces from the other parts of the contract, and has succeeded in exe-
cuting the diversion while the repairs of th e canal were going on, to the
astonishment of the natives. Between 200 and 300 men were cm.
pmyed in a very small space, and when all busily at work presented A
very animated spectacle. To induce the men to persevere and work an
extra number of hours, Mr. Mackenzie supplied them daily with a sub-
stantial dinner of beef and ale (in addition to their wages), which was
s_rved out and eaten on the works.—Railway Times of Saturday.
.
Two servants, in the employ of Mr. Jones, of
Buarthylocl, in the parish of Llanbadrig, went at midday on the
divested
himself to bathe in Porthwen Creek. The head servant in great hast-t:,
bank was of a most absupt steepness. Ile instantly disappeared
himself of his garments, and plunged into the water at a spot
flrioeri.ne
the
view of his compassion,
io more. Nearly
that only for a moment.. Ile sank instantly, and rose s
found, and life was totally
an hour and a half elapsed befu.c the body was
extinct. The general opinion is that deceased as suddenly seized
and was seen but once again on the surface,
, and
vaenr,yopstrobable is, that he had
profuse sweat. The
ii','3'may account tor the haste with
with Cramp;
inii,„iu,j and di tivhh.„atmroernic,l,e6rt,s,t laiii,sdopiiliiiiocinil
perspiration which he was wide rgx.o ~
but fats] element.
. The same fact, doubtless,
Is frequent under such cireum...
accounts for the fatal result,
.1 the timetesfiens—" Drowned whilst bathing,"
which he sought the c
stances. The verdict on
a caution to our readers.— Cart:etyma
We trust the event will serve as
Herald. •
'°1111:j
as cramp
ii the ve-
, / yda loin ney Marsh, has, in the course of hisprofessional
nerable sex tun n , ,
h he commenced in October, 1791, put to bed with a shovel
carer, n hick A v INDusTitrous " .r
AN
enjoyment of robust health ; aisd to
icipulatinn of the parish timid ever boast at any one given time.
no lev.cr than 1,556 sullrcts, considerably more in round numbers than
all ap;searancc he may clap under the 'clod another generation of the
theit: ei,n!,.iiireb,
67,1,
year,
and in the
dwellers in t he Nlarsh, cre yet some other trusty brother of the trade shall
have occ.lsion to " do P-ir him what he has done for --L
thousand,• " ' . over

CAUTION TO MUSHROOM-EATERS.—A cabi-

tiet-inaker named Rivett, residing in Ogle-street, Cavendish-square, and
!its family were nearly poisoned yesterday from eating " toad.stoolx,"
which they had gatheTed in the dads, 6uppoging them to be mushrocroa.

'4's• s ~.I..AAsi
__,
-4-.,
. ' : >
:=4-114; t-P' 3
it., DII.
to in the first part of my Jester, from which it w ..-.6scarthat fro one:, :w 4
middle of April to the Ist, or it may be the .rn '..51,-: OctOber.thire
were 2,480 per-ons Without a particle of food fr t Vast year's c1*.;,‘,7
.1
The public will soon be put in possession of snore. ' ' th'e-saine/
effect. • ' ..:.,3213.T WI sm :q V.
Abstract of the state of 490 families in the parish of Unst, in respect.
of food, from a survey wade on .`he 6th, 7th, Bth, 9th, 10th, 17th, 12th,
and 13th days of March, /03.8. :.-- ,qO2 persona, having no' provision ;
three weeks'; 202 one month's ;
207, one week's ; 250, two weelksik,2i,l
946,. five weeks'; '207, six werAr; 1 16, seven. weeks'; 188 two
months'; 16, nine weeks; 66, ten Wffisks',* .123.14)*ce months'; 51,
fourteen weeks'; 47, four months'; 10, eitrhte:n weeks'; 17, nineteen
'
weeks'; 15, five months'; 4, six months'. ,r,tas, 2,480.
in conclusion, let inc ask the rump how, with the evidence which I
have shown that they pos'essed of the distress in the ~Shetland I''ands,
they could have the effrontery to attempt to gull the pubis.. by stating, in
vindication of the Strathpeffer job, as they have done in tt. e preface to
their celebrated resolutions of the 12th July, that the 1-1:1011f,nda and .
Islands were then in their " ordinary circumstances P"
I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
54, Burton .street, Tavistock.square, AugCARHIBALD BARCLAY.
Aug` BALD