The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-14 00:00:00

'rrHE BEST COUGH MEDICINE FOR
CHILDREN is "SPENCER'S PIILMONIC ELIXER."

For the nursery it is invaluable, as it is as agreeable to the palate
as it is useful in all cases of kooping-cough, chin-cough, or common
coughs, arising from colds, teething, Sec.
To invalids, whose ailments aro increased by frosty and Pggy
weather, it is a never failing source of comfort and case from suffer-
ing; enabling them to breathe with freedom during the keenest
frost and thickest fog. In fine, it possesses every property which
can be beneficial in cases of Coughs, Colds, Asthma, and all com-
plaints of the Chest and Lungs.

Prepared only by T. Roberts and Co., Crane-court, Fleet-street,
London; and sold by E. Edwards, 67, St. Paul's Churchyard ; Bar-
clay and Sons, Farringdon-street ; Sutton and Co., Bow Churchyard;
Sanger and Co., and lllmnay and Co., Oxford-street, London; Mot-
tershead and Roberts, 3lsitchester; Ratlines and Co., Edinburgh and
Liverpool; Remhardt, Leeds; and by ad respectable Medicine
Vendors In the Kingdom. In Bottles, at Is. IMd. and 2s. 9d. each.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGIIVEERS.-JAN. 11.

The paper read was "On the Nature and Properties
of Timber, with notices of several methods, now in use,
for its preservation from decay," by Mr. Henry Potter
Burt, Assoc. Inst. C. E. The author first examined the
different species of home and foreign grown timber, their
various properties, uses, tendencies to decay, under cer-
tain circumstances, the moss apparent causes of dry rot,
the formation of fungi, and the action of wet and of heat ;
noticing the extraordinary duration of specimens of tim-
ber found in Egypt, in the ruins of Nineveh, and in the
more recent monastic and castellated edifices of this
country. The chemical constitution of wood was
examined, in order to trace the origin of decay, and to
lead to the consideration of the most efficient means of
arresting it. The necessity of some efficacious and yet
moderately cheap system of preserving timber, was
insisted on, from the great demand for railway and other
engineering works, not only in Europe, but even in the
East Indies ; where it was remarkable, that the wood
which would resist the climate and the ravages of the
white ant, was only to be found at such distances inland
that the expense of carriage, in a country devoid of good
means of communication, rendered it more economical to
buy fir timber in the north of Europe, convert to the
required dimensions, and saturate it with creosote in
England, and convey it by sea to India, for the use of
the railway now in course of construction in that
country. The earliest record, of preserving animal and
vegetable substances were traced back to the Egyptians,
whose mummies were embalmed by being boiled in pitch,
found floating in the lakes ; the linen and the timber, so
preserved, gave the first idea for adapting the process to
the wants of the present period, and several of the
patents granted were enumerated and commented on ;
the greatest space being devoted to those of Kyan, for
chloride of mercury ; Burnett, for chloride of zinc ;
Margary, for acetate, or sulphate of copper ; Payne, for
the use of two solutions in succession, mutually decom-
posing each other, and forming an insoluble substance in
the pores of the wood ; and Bethell, for creosote, or oil
of coal-tar; which last had, by its extensive employment
iuharbour, railway, and other engineering works, proved,
that when properly executed, the preservation of the
timber from decay and from the ravages of insects,
might be considered complete. The paper was illustrated
by a series of models and drawings, showing the various
apparatus for the several processes, enlarged diagrams of
microscopic views of sections of several kinds of timber,
both in the natural state and after being creosoted ;
experiments on the degrees of saturation by the process,
and on the transverse strength of the timber ; with the
results of the improvements introduced into the system,
by the author, whose experience had been very exten-
sive. The discussion was commenced, but was adjourned
until Tuesday evening, January 18th, at 8 p.m. ; when,
if the timepermitted, the following paper was announced
to be read - "On the construction of Fire-proof Build-
ings," ld-
duly
ember • and Messrs.
elected ;—Mr. S. C. Court, as a m ,
iate
E. Bagot, J. Hodgson, and A. Sinclair, as assoc s.
tinhgesm,"onbtyhl Mr.
y alljoatm, the e BfarrolloewttingAscsaonedi. Inst.
ow. eEre.

DEATH FROM DRINKING FOR A WAGER.—On Tues-
day, Mr. W. S. Rutter, county coroner for Lancashire,
held an inquest at the Manor Inn, Church-street, Sal-
ford, on the body of Robert Farnworth, a labouring
man. It appeared that on Monday morning, the de-
ceased was at the Mount Tavern beer-house, in Rosa-
mond-street, Salford, kept by James Tipping ; that some-
where about noon there were many persons drinking in
two of the lower rooms ; that two fiddlers were playing,
and that dancing was going on. The deceased had
apparently had a good deal to drink before he got to
the beerhouse, and he talked about having been drinking
for a wager in Oldfield-road. He also drank freely in
the beerhouse, there being present the traveller or
" townsman" of a brewer, who "stood" drink for all
present ; a witness stating that he saw two half gallon jugs
on the tables of the room in which the deceased was,
which he thinks were re-filled once, if not twice. The
witness heard the deceased offering to make a wager that
he would drink a certain quantity of ale • and he thought
he afterwards made a bet that he would drink twelve
gills of ale within an hour, taking one every five minutes.
The witness was sitting by the fire, and only saw the
deceased drink one gill after this. The men in the
room had told him to " chalk down" upon the chimney-
piece, so as to show how many the deceased drank ; he
made a mark whenever the men called out to him to do
so, and he had no doubt that he had made nine or ten
marks, if not more. The !gill of ale which he saw the
deceased drink was poured out from a quart jug by Tip-
ping, the landlord. After he had made the nine or ten
marks, the witness observed that the deceased was ill,
and he went to him and advised him to go to a druggist
and get an emetic, or else to go to a doctor ; the deceased
asked for "more ale." The deceased was afterwards
removed to another room, and soon afterwards, while the
witness was looking at a man dancing on,one leg in the
room in which the deceased had been drinking, a girl
came to the door, and said, " Yon man's dying." Wit-
ness and others went to him, and found him stooping
over a pail, with his hands "stuffed into his mouth,
like," and quite black about the neck and ears. They
got him up and rubbed him, and sent for a doctor, who
administered an emetic, but all to no purpose. The jury
returned a verdict of "Died from excessive drinking ;"
the foreman remarking that they thought great blame
attached to the landlord, for not only allowing, but
taking part in, such a disgraceful proceeding.
GLASGOW TOMS' REVENIIR.—The Glasgow Citizen
publishes a statement of the Customs' revenue returns
at Glasgow for the quarter and the year ending sth
January, 1853, from which it appears that, while there
is an increase on the former as compared with the corres-
ponding quarter in the preceding year, there has been a
1.
as considerablecomparisongo Glasgow
theworcefi
occasioned
sl i
itiaihnga offof
increase
the
e previoust heen
tpastle
twelvemonth.qyneaa r
quarter
'esr revenuee2 55 At
5d.,, and on the year a decrease of 21,7611. is ld
At Greenock there is an increase on the year of 10,3. 28/..
plr3isn.eBipda.l;lyand at Port Glasgow a decrease of 10,3181.
n3dp.laeTe The atbhoeovnde
ddecrease, says the Citizen, has been
ittake
is haspre
presented
resultededon
th
is abundantly evidernotm
from
tonnageom
entiebeyonthenegraerdauncdtiomnsolawssheiec.h
Thathave
any falling off in our river traffic,
threetnernheserionng
the year.
which
general trade of the Clyde, w
t never in a more flourishing coendagonhappy to state, was