The Sun.
London, England, 1870-02-05 00:00:00

only distinct stages of a long series of continuous phy-
sical changes.—The expiration of Bessemer's patent next
month is likely to increase the general use of steel instead
of iron. The London and North-Western has already
made arrangements for laying a considerable dis-
tance with steel rails in place of worn-out iron one 3.—

Dr. Thudichum has produced a wine from Pekoe and
Congou.—Professor Woehler, of Gottingen, has discovered
some very minute diamonds in a specimen of platinum
from Oreg-On,—Professor Giobel, of Halle, has made a
thorough investigation with regard to the food of the
swallow. He examined the alimentary canal in forty-six
full-grown birds and in seventy-three young ones. Of
the latter, more than half had been fed on insects alone;
the stomachs of• the others contained, besides insects, a

few fruit-stones. Tho general result of the Professor's
inquiry is to shew that those French naturalists who have
asserted that swallows are more injurious to cereals and
fruits than to insects are entirely in the wrong.—The
.recently-introduced Cinchona seems to thrive in St.
Helena. About 4,000 plants have been put in the ground,
and are doing well.—We have not yet, it appears, heard
the last of " Formosa," which is about to be produced at
the Princess's. At Easter this theatre will pass into the
hands of a French company.
.2rature this week has the following "notes":—The Royal
Society and the Royal Astronomical Society have both ap-
pointed committees of council, to report upon the steps
which it may to desirable to take in connection with
the total eclipse of the sun, visible in Algeria, Spain,
and Sicily in December next.—ln the matter of
1 sewage, as in so many other particulars, the metropolis
allows itself to be outdone by provincial towns. Lea-
mington, for example, has had its sewage examined by Dr.
Letheby; one sample after it had passed the charcoal
I filter, the other before Icing subjected to that process,
although it bad undergone chemical influences. In one
of these, Dr. Letheby found only 8.40 grains of organic
matter (in solution) and in the other, only 9,10 grains;
whereas, ordinary London sewage contains 15-03
grains. Again, of mineral or organic matters
in suspension, the two Leamington samples yielded
none whatever, but on the other hand the
L. ndcn sewage contained 22.0-1 grains of mineral, and
16.11 grains of organic Matters in suspension.
Now, why is there this contrast? And yet nearly all the
towns of the Thames Valley are under strict orders from
the Conservators to discontinue draining into the river at
a given time.—M. Schafarik, Professor of Chemistry in the
Polytechnic Institute of Bohemia, writing on the 15th ult.
to the Bohemian newspaper rolitik, announces the dis-
covery of a diamond in a granite quarry in the Misch-
kowitz estate of Count Schonborn, about eight miles north-
west of Prague. The stone weighs fifty-seven milligrams,
is of a light yellow colour, and nearly cubtical in
shape, the edges and corners being slightly rounded. In
hardness it equals the East Indian, and exceeds the Brazi-
lian diamonds. After the careful examination which the
stone, has been subjected to by Professor Schafarik, there
can be little doubt of its genuineness ; but that simple
fact will hardly justify us in believing that a diamond has
really been found associated with basalt and other mine-
rals of plutonic origin, seeing that the beds which, in
other parts of the world, have yielded this precious
stone are all sedimentary deposits. The Dlaschlcowitz
diamond had confessedly passed through the hands of a
lapidary (who was unable to polish it on account of its
hardness) before it reached M. Schafarik, and it would be
reasonable, for the present, to suppose that an East India
diamond had by some accident become mixed up with
the various Bohemian stones sent to the lapidary. It
has been suggested in Bohemia that the Dlaselikowitz
diamond is nothing but zircon ; but the stone does
not agree with that mineral, either in specific: gravity or
in hardness.
The Orchestra says that another Miss Terry, youngest
sister of Mrs. Lewis (Kato Terry) and Mrs. Watts, is
shortly to make her debut in a London theatres—Mr.
Barry Sullivan, it is reported, has received from
a noble lady, a cheque for the munificent sum of Ten
thousand pounds, to coverhislosses at the Holborn Theatre.
—While the legitimate dramainvariablybringsitabelievers
to grief, it is cheering to note that the Alhambra Palace
continues to pay 25 per cent. dividend.—An unpublished
autograph Serenade of Mozart's (included in Dr. von
Kochers catalogue of that composer's works) will be
performed in the course of the month at St. James's Hall..

London.
The Building 2tiews denies the truth of the statement
that the exhibition of paintings by the old masters would
not again be held at the Royal Academy, but would take
place in a gallery specially erected for the purpose at the
South Kensington Museum.—The ironwork for the roof of
the Royal Albert Hall is now completely rivetted tegether,
and the wedges on which it is temporarily supported will
shortly be removed.—An important series of copies of
Early Christian fresco paintings, executed between the
fourth and ninth centuries, and recently discovered in the
subterranean catacomb of San Clemente, at Rome, has
lately been acquired by the South Kensington Museum.

TAXING THE DEAD.