The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-25 00:00:00

THE ADELAIDE GALLERY.
MNEMONICS.
On Saturday evening we attended at this lit;, of !el
ence to hear Major Beniowaki's Lecture on
:artificial Me-
mory, and to observe the progress r .his Tbe
Lecturer commenced with a ge..-
aerai explanation of the
principles of his system,
our satisfaction, ho:, pointed out, very much to
the exploded greatly that sytyt.an differs from
that he
one of Von Feinagle, at the same time
•
l`
professes to have derived vast benefit from the
..ours of
the Luxemburg quack, who, in our opinion,
did no more than encumber the Mnemonics, which were
in use before his time, with an absurd and mischievous
machinery. Referring to the doubts which we have
expressed in The Sun, as to the possibility of communi-
eating to anotherperson by an artificial system a memory
of similar powers to that of which the very learned Major
gives such wonderful proofs in his public lecture, he in-
vited us to test the mnemonical acquirements of a class
of gentlemen, who had received but three lessons. The
exercise was proposed. to he of such a nature as would
exemplify the application of his system to the recol-
lection of foreign words in connection with their Eng-
lish interpretation. He said that we might propose
any list of words selected from languages of which the
pupils were totally ignorant, or of artificial words in-
vented on the instant and having an arbitrary meaning
in English assigned to them on the instant. Such a
task as the latter part of the alternative would impose
upon us was beyond, our powers of invention, and we
chose rather the following list composed of such wordsas
most readily occurred to us, from languages very little
studied (we regret) in England, and not likely to be
familiar to the members of this class. We dictated
the words, as nearly as we can recollect, in the follow-
ing order, and the Major wrote them accordingly in
large letters upon a black board, to which the pupils
directed their attention :-
HINDUSTANEE.—Rance, Queen ; Chitnees, Secre-
tary ; Ehaderee, Favour ; Sahib, Lord.
HEBREW.—Aretz, Earth ; Harnmayin, The Waters ;
(whence) Hummums, The Baths ; Beth, House ;
Jegar, Heap.
GERMAN.—Anfang, Beginning ; Pferde, Steed;
Kind, Child ; Zeitung, Journal.
SLAVONIC.—Bogiu, God ; Czort, Devil ; Slowo,
Word ; Siawo, People ; B) 10, Was.
ARABIC.—Rap, Head ; Gibbel, Mountain ; Zeitoun'
Olives ; Fortin, Mice ; Marabout, Saint ; Shouke, Thorns.
This list having been completed, one of the gentle-
men stood up, and, with his back to the board, made
several efforts to repeat the words from memory, and in
five minutes, by the dial in the room, he succeeded
perfectly. He then repeated them backwards, that is,
beginning with the last and ascending to the first. We
then put them to him in an irregular manner—the
English word " was," and he gave the Slavonic
" b) to "—the Arabic " Gibbel," and he answered,
" mountain." The lines of the list were then num-
bered, by figures prefixed to them on the board, and
in a few minutes the gentleman under examination
was able to repeat any word upon its number being
given. We need scarcely say, that in this exercise we
observed enough to induce us to forego some of our
long-cherished prejudices against a system of artificial
memory. The importance of the experiment may
justify us in detailing it at length.
THE GYDINOTUS, OR ELECTRICAL EEL.--Mr Jar-
dine delivered a lecture in the Gallery upon the proper-
ties of this unique animal. The specimen in this esta-
blishment is the only one which has ever been brought
alive to Europe. Mr. Jardine explained that the elec-
trical organs of the eel appear to consist of cells, similar
to the cells of a voltaic battery, placed side by side in
very great regularity, extending from nearly the head
of the eel to the extreme end of the body. Therefore,
if a saddle, or an apparatus of copper, made to the
shape of the eel's body, be placed, one part near the
head, and another near the tail, the whole of the elec-
tricity from all of the organs will be obtained, and be
conducted to any other apparatus upon which we wish

to experiment, by means of wires attached to both
sets. The spark is obtained by attaching a piece of
gold leaf to the end of one wire, and any round obtuse
surface to the end of the other ; such as a small brass
ball. These—the gold leaf and the ball—are inclosed
in a cylinder of glass. By connecting the saddles with
the eel, the electricity, passing from the gold to the
ball, or from the ball to the gold, w►ll devtlope a small,
but brilliant spark ; and that this spark possesscs con-
siderable heat, is shown by the fact of a small por-
tion of the gold being deflagrated or burnt away.
The Lecturer illustrated the above by a series of suc-
cessful and brilliant experiments, which gave intense
gratification to his numerous hearers, and elicited reite-
rated applause.

The angelic warblings of the Infant Sappho con•
tinue to attract several hundreds to the gallery every
evening of her performance ; and we understand that
on Tuesday evening next, another musical prodigy will
be produced, in the person of an Infant Harpist, who,
according to the Dublin newspapers, has for some time
past been delighting the Viceregal Court and the nobi•
lity in Ireland. She is said to be about five years old,
and is the niece of the celebrated " Infant Lyra," who
was so greatly admired by George the Fourth, and all
the musical word, fifteen or eighteen years ago.

.
DISTRESS OF THE PRINTERS.
The following is the address of the unemployed
printers of London, to which we alluded on Friday :
The Committee appointed by the unemployed printers of
London to issue a public address, in appealing to their
benevolence, to filo so with full confidence of their sym-
pathy and support. It is calculated that at the present
time there are upwards of twelve hundred unemployed
compositors and pressmen, and many of them, with large
families, are in an absolute starving state. Numbers of
our worthy brethren have already applied for parochial
aid, and, as the public must well know, from the present
state of our Poor-laws, any assistance from that quarter
but that of entering the union workhouse is denied; and
we rogret to say, that many honest and industrious mem-
ben of our trade have been compelled to submit to that
alternative. The Committee beg to inform them that
the sedentary occupation, and many hours which they
must necessarily apply to their business, preclude them
from any chance of obtaining a livelihood in any way
unconnected with the printing business. And no class of
men are sooner debilitated, with the loss of sight and
paralyzed limbs, than your humble supplicants, which
the noble and generous patrons of the Printers' Pension
Society are fully aware of, from the reports of that
Society. The principal cause of their great distress being
that of the numerous failures among booksellers and
others connected with the printing business, also the little
business done by Parliament in consequence of the un-
settled state of public affairs, the public must be aware
that these are the chief sources from which their labours
are called into action, The generous nobility and public,
on a former occasion, in the years 1825-6, having so
nobly responded to the call of benevolence in their be-
half, the Committee have every reason to believe that in
the present distressed state of the printing business a like
sympathy will crown their efforts. This address, which
is signed by J. T. Gregg, the Chair Man, and W. Dargan,
the Hon. Secretary, announces that subscriptions will
be received by Messrs. Williams, Deacon, and Co.,
Birchin-lane, Cornhill ; Spooner, Attwood. and Co.,
Gracechurch-street, London, bankers ; also by Mr.
Hodson, bookseller, 112, Fleet-street ; Mr. Harrild,
printers' broker, Great Distaff-lane, Friday-street ;
and by Mr. Lake, Three Herrings Tavern, Bell-yard,
'Temple-bar.

Slit WILLIAM FOLLETT , LORD
CHANCELLOR'
We find the following paragraph l t rhe Sun paper
received by the last post, Our Learned Representative
is about to reap the reward of his patriotism earlier than
was generally expected. We hope our Tory friends
will be on the alert. There are plenty of good berths
about the Court of Chancery, and those who have booked
promises of early patronage, should apply to Sir William
instanter% We hope that they will not lose a single post.
Every titan who feels fit for a place, or whose circum-
stances a place would fit, should be on the alert, and
not be advised to delay application by • Sir William's
agents—a personal application is better than a letter i
and let it be recollected that Sir William rollett owes
this approaching Chtneellorship, to that noble band the
Conservatite electors of Exeter. "Walk up," "be in
time," should be the motto of every one of them.
" APPROACHING LAW CHANGE AN-It is ettrrehtlt Fel&
ported in the professional Cifeles, thitt Lord Lyndhurst
will relintittilsh the seals at the commencement of January
Tani, Audi that Sir W. Follett, the Solicitor-General,
will be his successor. In connexion with this arrange:
ment, it is also said that Lord Abinget wlll at the ettitie
time vacate the Chiefship of the lachequer, and that
Sir Fredetielt Will be his successor therein,"—
Iresferit
T

Hl3 MUiDEIt IN EA(llT44l3At..—; roin
r ill
,
juiries made on Friday of somenf,the friend'S.Of 'the, lath
Mr. Burdon, the landlord of ths
cheap, ivspeictii* the Milib bi airs. Blakesley, the wife
of the hint dahr, we regret to state, that she
is, in so bad
a condition that serious fears are entertained of her ulti=
mate recovery. It was stated et the tnitSet that the tint
fortunate woman was eneiente at the tittle she Ivtut stabbed
by her husband. A few dap eintves owing th tlin atite-
ment, which it may naturally be expected she has ever
since laboured under, a miscarriage took place, since
which event very unfavourable symptoms have eppehred.
She is still under the care of Dr. English, who daily, attends
upon her. The next Session of the Central Criminal Court
commences on Monday. It is not as yet tlel2l4cti h 3 lb who
is to be the public prosecutor in this case. The parish of
St. Mary-at-Hill have refused, on the ground that they
have no funds to appropriate to such et purpose. The
Corporation of the City of London will not do so, on the
ground of want of precedent—the last murder which took
place within the City having crecurred sixty sears agb.
Mr. D. W. Harvey, the City Pollee Colunnssioner inti-
mated also that the police hare no money for such a pur-
pose, and Mrs. Burdon absolutely retnies. It is said
that sonic of Blakesley's friends have ett ]list come fbr-
ward, and that lie is to be provided, at their expense,
with Counsel of great celebrity. The King's Read still
attracts a great number of people to view the scene of
the horrible deed. The conduct of Blakesley is still
very taciturn. He has, within the last few nights, been
much disturbed in his sleep, and continually speaks of
his wife. He frequently inquires as to her condition,
and with that exception, never refers in any way to the
ihnasallovnroirtdtesnocseevewriatlh
tlettershewtioshhoefr athned
mur-
dered
ru.pCp
appears
verytakes s
sincere
e theyin
n arehis udeo.t
Ais Carver, the Ordinary.
erseat attention to the exhortations of
man's:and brother,pryi pays
great
Bmthuu:didoieD but,
dt:arnesdmittet
ey.

TELE SUN, LONDON, IvIOI,ZDAY, OCtOTIER, 25, 1841;

CHINES.

was a very s'ffift start; tc,p fetid being taken by Campbell
laid down well to their
and his partner. ...4_illyfiTties
work, and Cawbell's tgiat weitt..almest a length in ad-
ranr.:,! but could not maintain it IN:'wel.Slnslied up, and
off the iforrtf,Try they were oaf o'.l r. A most de-
termined strugglr followed, in whiclif 4fter .r.scowing a few
yards, Newel and his partner took th 6 lead; and fir:A
passed through Vauxhall-bridge a length aheat:• The
strength of the men throughout the next reach api. eared
unabated, litid they arrived At Battersea in much the
same position as lit V.guxhall, 50 slight was the diffe—
rence as they gained Tran44wortil' Meadows that a stroke
would have changed the fortune et' the day ; but Newel
enntitmed to lead; and lie and ,;t is parti2er won the match
by about five sott:ontls tmly, Coi:6iderh.:,* the time of
year the match was well t!ttg,nded:

,-"11" ir A
r'• ROTH'S CALCULATING A,

We have seen these raXrlanesin operation, and the
results more than equalled the expectations which vto
had &fined fq them. There are two machines ; one of
which, by far the simp'eet and least expensive, performs
addition and subtraction ottlyi by the other, any pro-
blem in multiplication and division can be accurately
selVetb The results are unerringly accurate in both
cases. As the lnfetior of the apparatus is not ehown by
the patentee, we can only cleteribe the external forms of
the machines, and state the effects prodtiCM, The adding
and subtracting apparatus is about one foot long, three
inehee wide, and one inch deep. On the top are seleeel
small dial plates movable en their centres, on which
dials figures are engrstted; There is a small aper-
ture at the upper part of each dial, made in the
Metal plete Which covers the top, through which other
figures, engi'afetl P_iff k white ground, are seen, As the
dials are moved round, theet.' figures, which must be en-
graved on small rollers, also move, and at tire Cud of the
operation show the amount of the sums &Med or. sub-
traeted. In.a sum of addition, consisting of man", rows
of figtlfesi the dpe,rator; almost as fast as the figures at*
called, brings them to fhb tip of thl: different dials, which
indicate units,tens, hundreds, &de And it il-i't. conclusion
of the operation the figures which retMiti xxipef6ee the
Anna of the %vliole. In subtraction, the dials afd ffiffieil
in the reverse directiem, after a small slide has bed?
drawn out ; the figures in like Matinee show the result:
The wonderful operation of this machine IS elieeert most
strikingly when the fraction of a pound is subtracted froM
an even number. For example, when one halfpenny is
subtracted from 1,0001. all the figures change simulta-
neously, and exhibit the amount of 9991. 19s. 1 lid.
The multiplying and dividing apparatus is much more
complicated than the simple addition and subtraction
machine. It would be impossible, unless at great length,
to give an intelligible description of its mode of opera-
tion, but it was shown to be no less attain; and in the
working nearly as simple as the former. This machine
is circular ; it is about one foot in diameter and nearly
three inches deep. Its disc Contains numbers of small
dials with apertures, similar to those of the smaller ap-
paratus ; and in the centre there is a handle for the
operator to turn. As the handle is turned the figures
in the different small apertures are seen moving, and
after all the figures of the multiplier have been worked
separately, the product is exhibited by figures in an
outer circle of the &sc. The great use of these machines
is the certainty of the calculations. t:ipert accountants
may possibly go through the operations as quick, but
Some error may be committed which requires the repe-
tition of the process. They will serve, therefore, as a
useful check in making out complicated accounts. We
believe the inventor is about to take out a patent for the
invention on an improved scale.