The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

ECLECTIC REVIEW.

The Eclectic Renew, as usual, contains several
well-written criticisms upon interesting subjects,
such as " The Poetry of Science," " The Rupert and
Fairfax Papers," &c. In this last criticism we cannot
think that justice is done to Mr. Eliot Warburton.
Our opinions differ from those of the critic in the
Eclectic, inasmuch as he tells us he read Mr. War-
burton's book " with much commiseration," and we
ourselves have perused it with infinite delight.

THE LONDON JOURNAL OF PATENT
INVENTIONS.

Among other interesting matters in this Repertory
of Patent Inventions we find the following :

METHOD OF RENDERING IVORY SOFT AND SEMI
TRANSPARENT. BY M. LE DOCTEUR L. ELSNER.

" For some time past ivory has been manufactured in
Paris into semi-transparent articles, which, on being
plunged into hot water or milk, are rendered soft and
pliant, like leather. Necks of children's sucking bot-
tles, rings, and other articles, which it is customary for
children to put into their mouths, have been manufac-
tured from this substance with so great advantage, as to
have induced M. Geisler to undertake some experiments
in relation thereto. He has found that the ivory articles
may be thus prepared, by immersing them in a solution
of phosphoric acid, known in commerce as acid. phos-
phoric. per., of ap. gr. 1.130, and leaving them there
until they become transparent; they are then to be taken
out, washed with water, and dried with a soft cloth,—
and will, by this means, be rendered as flexible as
leather. The ivory hardens again on exposure to the
air; but will resume its pliancy on being plunged into
hot water. Phosphoric acid of a less degree of con-
centration has no effect. With regard to the duration
of the immersion, this cannot be determined, as it mate-
rially depends upon the quality of the ivory.
" [A curious characteristic of ivory has been made
known through Mr. Layard'a discoveries at Nineveh. In
the ruins of one of the excavated palaces, he found some
ivory ornaments, in good preservation, although they
must have been buried for more than two thousand years;
but, on being exposed a short time to the air, they
crumbled at a touch. Some specimens of these °nut-
meats were forwarded to the British Museum, where
they underwent an examination, which showed that the
gelatinous portion of the ivory had perished ; when,
however, this was restored, by boiling the ivory in gels•
tine, its original quality of hardness and durability re-
turned.]—En. Lon. Jour."

MISCELLANEOUS.
Sharpe's London Magazine gives a continuation of
" Lewis Arundel," and the conclusion of Dinah
Muloch's beautifully told " History of a -Household."
We miss the admirable "Diary of Mrs. Milton" this
month. "The Story of a Family" is con tinucd, and
is full of interest. The Sporting Review and the
Farmers' Magazine each contain a
‘portrait of the
Earl of Yarborough. The Jo.nrnal of Design is as
graceful and instructive as usual; among other papers
in this number is Mr. Redgrave's " Lecture on the
Study of Botany." The Colonial Church Chronicle
contains a most interesting account of a " Conference
with a Mussulman." The Colonial Magazine gives
an abstract of a prize essay by Mr. J. A. Leon, on
" Improvements for Growing and Manufacturing
Sugar in the British Possessions," to which was
awarded Prince Albert's gold medal at the Society for
the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Com-
merce, on the 14th of last month. The Patent Journal
as usual, abounds in matter of scientific and mechani-
cal interest, among which is an abstract of Sir
Charles Lyell's Lecture on the Alluvial Condition
of the Valley of the Mississippi. The Belle Asmra-
We gives a beautiful portrait of the hapless Bride of
Lammermoor. Dr. Shelton Mackenzie has com-
menced a serial tale in this number, which also' con-
tains one of Elizabeth Youatt's always delightful
papers, and a poem by the accomplished editress, Mrs.
Newton Crosland. Le Follet is as charming as
ever ; it has reached us in company with Le Lion
and a similar brochure of Children's Fashions. These
last are as graceful as Le Follet, but the gentlemen
who figure in Le Lion are far from rivalling the at-
tractions of their fair companions. One in
particular is attired in a sky-blue coat, which would
excite considerable attention in St. James's.
The Land we Live In conducts us this month to
" Nottingham and the Hosiery district." It contains
a fund of interesting information, historical, manu-
facturing, and picturesque. Charles Knight's" Studies
of Shakspere,' Part VI., forms the sixth number
of the National Library of Select Literature. The
Pictorial History of England (containing a map of
North America) chronicles the death of the Due de
Reichstadt. Frank Fairlegh proceeds with its
wonted spirit. The pencil of Cruikahank exhibits,
by way of illustration, the melancholy "results of
giving satisfaction."

LITERATURE.
ALISON'S HISTORY OF EUROPE.
Illustrated Edition. Vol. IV.

If any previous historian ever saw more numerous
editions of his masterpiece during his lifetime, we are
convinced that no one has ever before witnessed in
the prime of his manhood such various and costly
reprints as Archibald Alison. The present volume
of this beautiful republication of the " History of
Europe," embracing the interval between 1796 and
1799 inclusively, is embellished with portraits of
General Bonaparte, of Moreau, and of Ney. Per-
haps this particular division is about the most en-
thralling as it most certainly is the most marvellous
of all the periods described by the annalist. In proof
of this it is only necessary to remind the reader that
it narrates the naval glories of Great Britain during
the time when Jervis, and Howe, and Collingwood,
and Duncan, and Nelson were in their zenith—that it
records the rise of Murat, of Junot, ofDuroc, of Mas-
sena, of Augereau, of Lannes, ofNey, of Moreau, and
of Marmont to celebrity—end that it recounts the
appearance upon the field of European warfare of the
most wonderful man of modern times, in battle a
Cid, in generalship a Hannibal, in legislation a
Justinian, in grandeur an Augustus, in ambition
an Alexander, in pride a Sesostris, in daring of
enterprizes a Caesar, in capacity of administration a
Charlemagne. The miraculous campaigns in Italy,
and the chivalrous expedition to Egypt, are here
pourtrayed in succession ; :and, turning over the
leaves of the volume casually, it is scarcely possible
for the reflective student not to be struck by the
sad and solemn omen contained in the superb quota-
tion from Livy, on the fly-leaf, that final sentence,
we mean, where the master-annalist remarks—"et
adeo variabellifortuna ancepsque Afars fult, ut propius
periculum fuerint qui vicerunt." The words thrill
upon our comprehension in all their astonishing and
antithetical truthfulness when we pause in the flush
of our admiration at the account of the dazzling vic-
tories of the young General Bonaparte over the Aus-
trians and the Arabs, and suddenly remember the
crumbling away of his colossal empire, and his hor-
rible incarceration for six dismal years on the rock
of St. Helena. Several points in the present portion
of Mr. Alison's narrative arc directly opposed to our
own unimpassioned and deliberate opinions. For
example, he reprobates for their atrocity the massacre
of the prisoners and the poisoning of the sick at Jaffa,
when the former was manifestly a bitter necessity,
and the latter has been proved to be a fabrication by
the declaration of the surgeon that, at the period in
question, there was not a single grain of poison in the
medicine chests ! The three engravings are highly
finished, and admirably characteristic.

THE BRITISH POLITICAL, COMMER-
CIAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND HIS-
TORICAL GAZETTEER; Travelling Road
Book, and County Atlas.
The seventh part of this enterprising and useful
publication has reached us ; it contains an excellent
map of Kent, accurately marking the division of
counties, boundaries of boroughs, distinguishing those
boroughs returning two members, and those return-
ing one, those wholly disfranchised and those dis-
franchised of one member, principal places of county
election, rolling places, market towns, with the dis-
tance from London, churches and chapels, seats of
nobility and gentry, railways, turnpike•roads, bye.