The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-09 00:00:00

111 E SUN, LONDON, '1 DAY, DECEMBER 9,187 C.

DEATH OF THE MARQUIS OF HEAI)FORT.

We.have to announce the death of the Marquis of Head-
fort, which took place on Tuesday moaning, at Headfort,
in the county of Meath, after a very short illness. He was
born in 1787, and was conseouently in his 84th year,
Thomas, second Marquis of Headfort, Earl of Bective,
Viscount Headfort, Baron Kenlis (by which title beholds
his seat in the. House of Lords), was the son of the first
marquis by the only daughter of Mr. George Quin, of
Quinsborough, county Clare. He married, first, 1822,
the eldest daughter of Sir John Stevenson, widow of Mr.
Edward Dalton (she died 1834) ; second, 1852, Frances,
widow of Sir William Macnaghten. He succeeded his
father in 1829, having previously for some years repre-
sented the county of Meath in the House of Commons ;
was created a Knight of St. Patrick in 1839; and was a
lord in waiting to the Queen during Lord Melbourne's
' .Administration. He was also lord lieutenant of the
county of Cavan, and colonel of the Meath militia. The
late marquis was a resident landlord, and universally
esteemed by his numerous tenantry, whose confidence
in his justice and liberality was unbounded. By his
family and friends he was regarded with sentiments of the
deepest affection, due to the warmth of his feelings for
others and the unselfishness of his character. In politics,
beyond giving his support to the Liberal
.party, the late
marquis took generally little part ; but it ought not be
forgotten that he was always a strong advocate for
' Catholic emancipation, and took an active interest in
the passing of that great measure of justice towards his
Roman Catholic fellow-countrymen. He is succeeded by
his eldest son, Thomas, Earl of Bective, M.P. for West-
moreland, born 1822.

:NSTBUCTION IN SCIESCE AND ART FOR

WOMEN.

Professor Huxley delivered the ninth of his course of
lectures on the elements of physical seience—" Physio-
graphy "—on Wednesday, at the South Kensington
Museum, to a numerous attendance. Having pointed
out in his previous lecture some of the effects which
would ensue with regard to the temperature of the earth
in the event of its axis coinciding with a prolonged radius
of the sun, or being perpendicular to a prolonged radius
of the sun, instead of being, as it is, in an intermediary
position, the lecturer now proceeded to discuss some other
phases of the same subject. He reminded his audience of
what he had previously demonstrated, that if the sun and
the earth had no motion relating to each other, and if the
earth were all solid and did not rotate upon its axis, the
hemisphere which happened to be turned towards the
sun would be intensely hot in the middle, and cooler
towards the circumference. Great changes in the
climatic condition of our planet must take place also if
it did not perform its annual course in addition to its
diurnal revolutions. The earth moves round the sun
somewhat as a stone moves round the hand in a sling. It
moves round, in the space of about 365& days, in a path
nearly circular. The average distance of the earth from
the sun is about 90 millions of miles, and the maximum
distance about 93 millions. This is a difference of about
three millions of miles, but even that difference, in such a
vast space, is almost imperceptible, in so far as it affects
the circular outline of the orbit. While the earth moves
round the sun the positions of its axis remain the same.
The positions of the earth's axis in all parts of its orbit
are parallel to one another ; hence the pole which is at
one time directed towards the sun is at another turned
from it, and the result is that in the course of the year
every part of the earth's surface undergoes a certain de-
gree of change in relation to the sun. The climate of any
place on the earth's surface is determined primarily by
the lengths of the days and nights, and by the relative
duration of the seasons, while these again depend upon
the latitude of the place. In a secondary degree our cli-
mate is determined by the nature of the surface, whether
it be water or land. A large proportion of the surface of
the globe is dry land. Land heats much more rapidly
and cools much more rapidly than water. Water takes
up heat slowly and cools slowly. Therefore, on a great
land surface there would be a much more rigorous climate
—hotter in summer and colder in winter—than on a
small surface of land. That is the reason why it actually
happens on our globe that all the most rigorous climates
are in the midst of great masses of land, and all .the
mildest in the vicinity of great masses of water ; although,
of course, the law is subject to certain modifying circum-
stances. Climate is also deter.mined by the height of the
land. Above the lower strata of the atmosphere which
surrounds the earth the tops of the mountains are liable
to become very rapidly heated and very rapidly cooled,
and consequently their climate is exceedingly rigorous. It
may be said in a general way, and upon a rough calcula-
tion, that, taking any given average temperature at the
surface of the sea, the temperature of the air diminishes
by elevation at the rate of about 1 deg. in 300 feet. Sup-
posing we take the average temperature of London at 50
deg. all the year round. The freezing point is 32 deg.; the
difference between that and 50deg. is 18, and that multiplied
by. 300 gives 5,400 feet as the snow line, or the elevation
at which, upon the basis assumed, the temperature would
all the year round be at freezing point. As a matter of
fact the snow level of our island is below that elevation.
There are other circumstances to be taken into considera-
tion as determining the climate, such as currents of air
and currents of water, and various modifying circum-
stances more or less dependent on local conditions. But
in every part of the world there is a certain height at
which snow would lie all the year round if there were
land rising to that height. That height is the level of
the " perpetual snow line." With regard to currents in
the air, these modify climate by transporting heat and
watery vapour from one place to another. They are
caused, as formerly shewn, by the unequal distribution of
heat in different parts of the globe. Over a large part of
the surface the winds are nearly constant in their direc-
tion. Such are the " trade winds," as they are called.
Currents in the air transport heat from one place to
another, and are caused partly by the unequal heating of
the sea, partly by the winds ; these currents, as in the
case of the winds, are to a large extent constant in their
direction.

THE GREAT' COMMERCIAL FRAM).

The extent of the fraudulent issue of Stourbridge Rail
way Scrip is believed to be now fully known. £2,500
has been obtained from individuals who purchased scrip
at current market value, and about £6,500 in advances on
scrip of the nominal value of £17,000. The loss will have
to be borne by the shareholders, and will be spread over
a capital of £250,000. A Worcestercorrespondent says :
Nothing lllis yet been heard of Mr. Adcock, and no trace
has been found of him beyond Evesham, but it is con-
jectured that, from the station where he was last seen, he
made his way to Birmingham. Many years ago Mr. Ad-
' cook came to this city an uncertificated bankrupt, but
subsequently he was granted his certificate, and
then, having achieved a position of responsi-
bility, with proportionate remuneration, he paid
off his debts. This was looked upon at an act of
exceeding honesty, and this in a very great degree led to
his being so generally trusted. A few years since he also,
it is said, met with other losses, being largely interested
in undertakings which fell after the " Black Friday "
,so well known and bitterly remembered on the
Stock Exchange. This loss was rumoured at
the time, and may or not be true, but his
early bankruptcy is a matter of fact. Previous
to , his coming to Worcester he was an innkeeper and
failed in business. Subsequently he was a station master
at Tunbridge Wells, next the station master in connection
with the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Rail-
way, then manager of the same company, in which office
he was succeeded by Mr. Sherriff, one of the members for
Worcester, on Mr. Adcocks being appointed secretary ;
and on the undertaking being merged into the Great
Western he commenced business on his own account.