The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-25 00:00:00

OROIn
GMl2VondayaFeven-EinLgElaCstTaßpublic
METALLURGY.
dinner was given
at the Waterloo Hotel, Liverpool, to Mr. Thomas
Spencer, the discoverer of electrotype, originator of
ekctro-metallurgy, and improver of the galvanic pile,
on the occasion of his departure
reside in London. The chair was taken by George
Holt, Esq., and among the company were William
Rathbone, Esq., and other distinguished gentlemen
of the vicinity, both patrons and
pursuit.
In the course of the evenieg Mr. Maier, gold-
smith, placed on the table an elegant copy
of the cup so well known as that
lini, and feelingly described the sensation nbve n uito _
in Mr. Spencer on first beholding that triuemw bt n
oe
fs,
his d
invention. The cup is so exquisite in finishp and accurate in detail, that, with all the assistanc hso
optician can bring to bear upon it, the original t e
be told from the copy. "It was from me," said cannot
Mayer, " that so long ago as the year 1837,
jrr.
Spencer used to purchase his gold and silver to make
his experiments with; but I little thought that he
was then silently and unceasingly at work upon an
idea which his unsubduable perseverance and genius
would successfully realise, or that he would raise him-
self to the high position he now occupies in the esti-
mation of the scientific men of Europe, and be destined
to bear that honourable adjunct to his name, the dis-
coverer of the electrotype.'"
" The Health of Mr. Spencer " was proposed, and
received with great enthusiasm, and in the course of
the evening a purse, containing 200 guineas, was
presented to him, as a mark of the esteem in which
he is held by his fellow-townsmen.
Mr. SPENCER, in acknowledging the compliment,
gave the following graphic account of the origin of
those experiments which resulted in the discovery of
the art of metallurgy :—" In September, 1837, the
British Association for the Advancement of Science
met in this town,tand during the week of its sitting I
attended the chemical section, where I heard Dr. Bird
state that, while he was repeating an experiment of
Becquerel's, he had met with a very unexpected re-
sult. After having passed a feeble voltaic current for
a considerable period through a disc of clay mois-
tened with a salt of copper, he found on breaking it
up that the metal contained' in the cupreous salt was
reduced, and in a crystalline state in the interior of
the clay disc. Now, the remarkable part of this
gentleman's communication consisted in the supposi-
tion that the crystals of copper had originated out of
contact with eitberof the metals employed in generating
the current. At that time (1837) I had sufficient
acquaintance with the leading principles of electro-
chemical science to enable me to judge of the im-
portance of this statement, should it be true; while,
on the other hand, it was contrary to all analogy--
not to say experience—that I could hardly help sus-
pecting that the gentleman had :fallen into some mis-
take. To resolve the doubts I had on this score, I
determined to take an early opportunity to repeat the
experiments in the manner they were described by
their author ; and it was while I was repeating these
experiments that I was led step by step to the dis-
covery of the electrotype. Moreover, the apparatus
which I adopted for these operations in 1837 is the
same as that now sold in the shops as the 'single-
cell electrotype apparatus.' I began in September,
1837, and in little better than a month I arrived at a
knowledge of that wonderfully plastic power of me-
tallic depositions which we possess in galvanic or
voltaic electricity. It was then that I discovered
that branch of metallurgy which has since been de-
signated the electrotype, but which implies
the practical application of electro-chemistry
to most of the metals used in the arts.
There are several gentlemen now present
who saw these experiments in operation at the time ;
but as many attempts have been made to deprive me
of the credit of the discovery, let me not be accused of
egotism in thus distinctly stating the particulars and
dates of my proceedings. A statement was made in
the Mechanics' Magazine in 1844 (and most indus-
triously disseminated throughout Europe) to the
effect that I had copied my experiments from a letter
written by a Mr. Jordan, and published, I think, in
the June number of that print for 1839. Nothing
could be more absurd than this last charge. In fact,
I had never seen the letter until it was thus pointed
out; and if I had, I could not have obtained anything
practical from it. My claims have been usually ad-
mitted as dating from May, 1839, because at a public
meeting of the Polytechnic Society, held on the 9th of
that month, a letter was read from me to the secretary
which is entered on the books of the society,
and mentions some of the results of the dis-
covery, and also that I had been engaged in per-
fecting the process for a considerable period.
This letter fact was spoken to by several mem-
bers then present, some of whom had been made
acquainted with my experiments at the first meeting
of the society io October previous. Along with this
letter a number of voltaic specimens were shown to
the meeting, consisting of medals and copper moulds.
and specimens of engraving, all of which had been
formed by the electortype. In a conversation which
ensued I explained the process to the meeting, and
further showed some specimens of silver plating and
gilding, which I had with me. I had hitherto for-
borne to give public denials to those statements to
which I have referred until this evening. In sup-
porting a claim of this nature, however, there is a
higher principle than mere personal vanity. I feel
that my honesty of purpose is involved should I fail
in supporting that to which in the first instance I laid
claim, and which I never suspected would be ques-
tioned. I have always felt it to be degrading to
science to clog its history with considerations merely
personal, yet looking at is past history I fear that
controversies of this character must be pronounced
inevitable."

..,ONDOIsT AND_
T RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
Traffic for the week endineDee. 21:—
Passengers, parcels,mails, &c. £21,015 6 7
.NORTII-WESTERN RAILWAY. Return of
Merchandise ~
Cattle .. "• 1,(7)78 13 8

otal____---
...£12,366 18 10
T
Corresponding week last Year "' 45'200,1,8m Smilas
LANCASHIRE AND YonRsIDRE RAILWAY.— l'-`-'-' -----
opeu.)—Traffie for week ending Dec. 21 £16,259 12 3
year (260
Corresponding week in last
miles open) ..
...
...
....£14,42S 14 1
LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAr.— Amount of
Traffic for the week ending Dec. 21 :
Passengers ...
...
...
£6,948 15 11
Goods *** -- -.. 2,345 4 2

Total ...
..
£9,294 0 1
. ....
Corresponding week last year... 9,195 2 li
NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY.— (Miles open 112.)—
Return of traffic for the week ending Dec. 14 :....." '
Railway and canal ..• £4,706 0 0
Corresponding week last
.year ... 4,390 0 0
Note.— The above is. exclusive of the receipts available
under the agreement. with the London and North-Western
Railway Company.
TAIL GRRAT NORTHERN RAILWAY._- (iv, i
--7 k -aa ilea an Work, 241 i)
—Return of Traffic for the I% eek ending Dec 14, 1851:_
Passengers, parcels, carriages,
horses, dogs, and mails ... £5,026 13 ti
Merchandise and minerals ... 5,827 19 6
Cattle ... ... ..
... 308
19
11

11,163 12 E

Total .. ...
Corresponding week, 1850 (236 miles) :
Passengers, parcels, &c. ... £4,367 2 9
Merchandise, Cattle, &c. ... '2,965 6 9

Tot al ...

... £7,332 9 6
MANCIIESTER, BUXTON, MATLOCK, AND MIDLANDS JITNC.
TION
Dec. RAILWAY.—Return of traffic for the week ending
21 :
Passengers, &e. •••
I}l erch an d s e
••• •••
Total
... £l:2-1 17 6
Corresponding Week last. rear 127 17 4
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffic for the
week ending Dec. 21:—

MAIN LOTz.

Passengers ...
Parcels, H. C. and D.
Goods, cattle, &c.
Mails ... ...

Total

-•
MOLD.

... £46 13 10
... 78 3 8

... £917 7 7
••• 76 1 7
... 580 17 1
••• 575 0 0

... £2,149 6 3

Passengers ...
Parcels, H. C. and D. ...
Goods, cattle, &c.

... .£3l 12 0
••• 2 3 0
.« ... 102 19 8

Total ... ... ... £136 14 8
STEAM-BOATS.

Passengers . •••
Parcels, 11. C. and D. ...

... £143 14 10
... 13 17 8

... £157 12 6

PROFITABLE SPECULATION.—At a final meeting
of the shareholders of the Wisbeach. Steam-towing Com-
pany, held in the Exchange Hall on Tuesday last, 11. M.
Esq., in the chair, for the purpose of winding up the
affairs, a dividend of 20s. upon the original 201. shares was
declared. The above company has been is existence tea
years, during which time the shareholders have received no
interest whatever.—Lynn Advertiser.

PLEASING SENSATION.—MISS D., of New York,
says, that the first time a young man squeezed her dress, she
felt as if she was in the laud where rainbows come from.
How poetic a little hugging makes people.
DEATH OF COLONEL DRAKE, C.M.G.—Colona
Drake, late of the Grenadier Gnards, died on the 22d inst.,
aged sixty-nine. His commissions in the army were dated
as follows :—Ensign, 1805; lieutenant, 18J6; captain, 1s07;
major, 1813; Leutenat-colonel, 1826; and colonel, 1841. In
16:05 and 1806 he served with the army in the Elbe under
Lord Cathcart; in 1803-0 in Spain and Portugal, under Sir
John Moore; and with the expedition to Walcheren in
1609. Ile was present at Busaco, Fuentes d'Onor, and
Nivelle, for which he had received the war medal with three
clasps. In 1833 he was nominated a companion of the mili-
tary order of St. Michael and St. George.
Letters from Paris mention that a notice was about
to appear in the Moniteur that the Government will forth..
with pay the claims of the several railway companies who
sustained damage in the revolution of 1848. The amounts
will he 1,200,000 f. to the St. Germains line, 800,000 f. to the
Northern, and 300,000 f. to the Rouen.

Advices from Oporto mention that the house of
Messrs. Quarles Harris and Sons stopped payment in that
city on the 11th inst. A meeting of creditors took place on
the 16th inst., and the total amount of liabilities was stated
to be 89,185/., including 15,222/. bills drawn on Londen. No
definite steps could be taken until the arrival of the state-
ment from the London house, but it was reported the as-
sets would yield about 55 per cent. Much sympathy was
expressed for Mr. J. D. Harris, the partner at Oporto.
PARLIAMENTARY DISPATCH.—Mr. Popham, when
he was Speaker, and the Lower House had eat long, and
done, in effect, nothing; coming one day to Queen Eliza-
beth, she said to him, "Now, Mr. Speaker, what has passed
in the Lower House?" He answered, "If it please your
Majesty, seven weeks."—Bac.
On Tuesday the box of an emigrant, on board the
ship Oregon, 13 ing iu the Prince's Dock, Liverpool, was
forcibly broken open and 8001. stolen ; 5701. was in sove-
reigns; there were also four 50/. Bank of England notes,
two, la, and two 51. notes.

RAWMARSH COLLIERY EXPLOSION.—RAwmAusa,
WEDNESI)Ay.—Our yesterday's report closed with the evi-
dence of John Roebuck, the engine-driver. After the dis-
patch of our account Mr. J. C. 1). Charlesworth, one of the
proprietors of the Warren Vale Colliery, Mr. NV. Goodison, the
superintendent of Merrrs. Charlesworth, and several colliers,
were examined. The jury then adjourned to Tuesiay next
week. The pit will be in the interim examined by Mr.
Morton, the Government inspector. On Saturday Mr. Mor-
ton will inspect the pit, unattended, except by some of the
surviving colliers. On Mouday be wilt also
_rinspect__a_itthz-
the
mine, attended by Mr. Byrom,
mining agent of F' E
; Mr. Locke, colliery viewer, Barnsley; and Mr. T.
D. Jeffcock, colliery viewer, Sheffild.

o —The Spanish
relative
the following details to the
Military Gazette gives
English who have fallen into the hands of
ENGLISH.
shipwrecked
16.—The English crew
Moorish pirates:— "Melilla, Nov..
PRIsoNSRs IN MO.ROCC .
arepower of the people of Riff; one sailor is
dead,
remaining ; it was believed that they would speedily be de-
livered, as whetherin naturally or not is unknown. There are five
the
livered, as a merchant vessel freighted by the English consul
at Malaga had come to convey them to Gibraltar, but the
natives have raised their claim, and now demand 200 dourcs
(401.) per head. These poor sailors, since the beginning of
their captivity, have slept on the bare ground, wich is a
great hardship in the present season, and after being deprived
of their clothes. Their only food is a coarse kind of colts-
coussou, very different fare front that to which English
sailors are accustomed, and which is of no service'in enabling
them to support the inclemency of the weather."
THE NEW FOREIGN SECRETARY or STATE.—
Granville George Leveson Gower, second Earl Granville, and
now her Majesty's Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, is a comparatively young man, having been born graduated at Christ Church, Oxford ; was for a
in 1815.
t tine
d subsequently
attaché to t? .e British Embassy in Faris, and
was appointed
under Secretary of State for Foreign *ifs
„h ebirysear he succeeded
a Railway Commissioner in 1816, in en-- lis LiuckhollUdE4 July,
to the earldom ; Master of the Queen
of Trade, May, 1848 ;
1846 ; 'Vice-President of the 1837 to F b
from February, , e rnary,
was M.P. for Morpethaifrom September, 1841, to Janu-
ary, ;and sat for Lichfield a Deputy-Lieutenant of Salop,
ary, 1846; was appointed
Yeomanry., 1848. Earl
1. 46 ; as
_ short
m be remembered, Chairman of the
Granville /me, it -,1 Commission of the Great Exhibition of
Council of the Royal
t zed was a distinguished' diplomatist; he
185'. 'the firs second Duke of Sutherland, and was long
Lord Granville Leveson Gower.
known as Lo
IN A PRINTING-OFFICE.—Last night an 111.
DEATII
rywas taken by Mr. W. Payne, at Mr. Ireland's, Fecal
Vi - Ftt lane on the body of Henry Lihud, aged
Fetter-lane, er- ,
'tavern,
9 42. The:deceased was, it appeared, in the service of
was. uncle to the
Messrs. Pater and Duff, printers, of 3, Crane-Court, Fleet-
street, as pressman. On Monday he was going down some
stairs, when' he fell down from the top. lie „as found by
some of his fellow-workmen lying on his side, and medical
aid was sent for, but before any one arrived he was dead.
The partners had done everything ler his, while thus at-
tacked, but all efforts were unavailing. From the testi-
money of his wife, who lives in Clement's-lane, Strand, he
had long suffered from palpitation of the heart, and it was
further shown that just before his attack in the office he had
complained of pain in his side and back. Verdict—. Natural
death."

MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE AT A RAILWAY STA-
TlON.—Yesterday morning (Wednesday)a genteellYla"reea..
young man, wlio gave his name Solomons,
far
asked
e s
ehtcamhhr
ieienfmnpugtnes re-
freshment-rooms
roibosor rinni ago
tfino,
hrtebetutwoh;t
waiter,
Lime-streetbbtteeuirtrn,hngaot n
coasto timetmh eewgaap station,spr :
..
Liverpool,Tois reuest
d that it might set
entered
dand
ilr:ula had no suspicion of
wasa
theny
afterwards offered Si. to
burn the papers, he suspected all a
twechteinvet'hoeffiy
de-
municated with the police.abortntoinit
erigthwot,
oarthceoin
ofth Seapleemrsrosinvitaos enuostt°dthya
so strange in his conduct that
asussupregeetoend
correct one ; but the DI
cfeorusndartrhiavtedt
LI
in notes,
parchments.3o-
- and doubts are entertained of the
lin his right mind. He had about 501.
, being in
and a large quantity of papers and
He gold,
to be brougdt up at the police-court.
--e bf re Mr. Mansfield, the Li-
♦erpool be f( .
last evening for. examination,,
thlartruit of a robbery.
i the money IS —0 sewodasnEo,l:
verpool stipend ) magistrate. 'I il! detectives do not think
Ipvaasrty7lid

prisoners were removed to Liverpool on Tuesday 1 TIIE APPIN
morning. Notwithstanding this committal they A correspondent of the BSA IVA Y
ller SB ;,....._
displayed a sort of stoicism as to their fate, and up to the S. S-bastian-gate, drove along the course of the
I left Rome by
tt e
.ireus of oinulus, the tomb of C'swilia
the last moment addressed each other by the adopted Appian.lc Way—thel old pavement often showing—palsing
Aletella and
titles of " Jack Sheppard" and " Dick Turpiti."— 1
i entering up_m the open Campagna, about fo ' •
ur miles
Stockport Paper,
from the city walls. here begin the new excavations
making for the purpose of giving a direct road fr
' Rome to Albano—restoring it nearly to the course of ohme
old Appian Way. A considerable number of workrEt.‘n
have been employed in blasting and destroying those of
the frequent shapelesss masses of old unknown tombs
which arc in the way, in levelling road, and in carefully
excavating its foundations, so that nothing worthy may
be buried, in pursuing on either side anything that
oilers to tempt the search. Ali that are found of ancient
remains are collected and stored up temporarily on the
roadside (being numbered for the sake of reference):
the best are removed at once to the Vatican: the imper-
fect and inferior ones ri main till further eesrch may
have brought to light other portions; or if still found
unworthy of removal, to be built into those sorts of
monumental walls by the roadside, suggested by Canova
for this purpose, and already made by him in the first
part of the Appian 'Way. I remained at the excavations
—sometimes wandering about watching the workmen,
who each minute would turn up something fresh—here
a fragment of a statue, there a frieze—an inscription—a
broken column—uncover perhaps a tesselated pavement,
or often would break through into a tomb, on looking
into which would be seen the bones, cineraria, lamps,
&e., in sifii, as first placed. The constant interest of
this can be conceived by all, while those who have been
to Rome know well how beautiful is the surrounding
scenery