The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-02 00:00:00

THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

At the second meeting of the Royal Geographical
Society, a highly interesting paper on the
geography of the sea bed was read by Captain
Sherard . Osborne, R.N.. who illustrated his
explanations by diagrams shewing transverse
sections of the North and South At-
lantic and Mediterranean. The remarkable equality
of the ocean bed was pointed. out, and it was
remarked that so level is the bottom of the Indian
Ocean that Captain Halpin stated in laying the
Indian cable that for hundreds of miles there was no
variation in the cable's descent, and it could have
been laid at the full speed of the Great
Eastern. The general belief in the extreme depth
of the ocean is considered to be exaggerated, as no
depth has been found greater than 2,000 fathoms.
The Pacific, however, has not been investigated.
Professor Huxley gave great praise to the British
Government for the encouragement they had given
to these deep sea surveys, maintaining that they had
been unjustly assailed for unwillingness to fur-
ther science, as they were always ready to
aid when a good case was made out. Other
speakers thought there were great inequalities in
the Atlantic bed, and one of them, Mr. Jeffreys,
stated that in soundings he had himself taken, the
same dredging gave depths of 1,050 and of 740
fathoms. He mentioned that the animals which he
dredged up from great depths were a ugly provided
with organs of sight, shewing that light of some
kind was existent there.

DOMESTIC WATER PURIFIER.

An interesting account of the manner in which
water is filtered in Hamburg has been furnished by
a correspondent of the English Mechanic, The com-
plaints with respect to the unhealthy water supplied
by the Hamburg Waterworks have caused some im-
portant steps to be taken. A firm has started an un-
dertaking which aims at purifying the water as it
is drawn from the taps of the several houses.
An apparatus is connected with the pipes of the
waterworks, composed of a charcoal filter, encased in
a hermetically closed enamel iron vessel. The
pressure in the pipes forces the water through the
filter, the dirty unhealthy matter is kept back, and
the water runs out in a perfectly pure crystal clear
stream. This plan has worked so well that
during the two years that have elapsed since
the unlertaking was started more than six thousand
apparatus have been in constant use. The manufac-
turers charge five shillings quarterly, and by the
payment of this trifling sum more than 200 gallons
of water are daily purified in houses where the water
is drawn from the cistern. It is suggested that great
benefits would ensue from the adoption of a similar
system in London and other large towns in
England.
THE WHIRLGIG OF TIME.

Some comical things happen even in the course of
this terrible war, and the action of the Municipal
Council at Grenoble is one of them. This body
after a discussion on the equestrian statue of the First
Napoleon erected in the town, decided that the horse
should remain its property, while its rider should
be destroyed or placed at the disposal of the Prefect.
A French provincial paper supposes that this deci-
sion was suggested by the judgment of Solomon,
but doubts whether it will give the council a similar
reputation for wisdom. A German paper thinks
the riderless horse should remain in its place as a
type of the France of the present clay, and that the
Prefect, as a sagacious man, should put the Emperor's
figure in safe keeping, so es to be able at the proper
time to restore it to the horse amid the acclamations
of the inhabitants. These jocose comments are
perhaps rather too severe. After all it would be a
very convenient thing if horses and pedestals could
be provided to fit any statue, The incon-
venience of keeping representives of unpopu-
lar personages would be avoided, and an
agreeable variety kept up. In London, for instance,
we might give a great many deserving but neglected
personages a temporary mount, and the system
of change would prevent their effigies from
becoming quite so lamentably smoke-dried.
The Grenoble people are quite • right in
keeping their horse ready for an emergency.
There is no knowing who might need it. It is pos-
sible that a grim figure of anarchy may sometime
bestride the charger. It is also possible, considering
the remarkable expansiveness of the German Father-
land idea, that King William may some day be up-
lifted.