The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 28, 1860.

PRIZE CATTLE SHOW of the Smithfield
Club. The Annual Exhibition of Prize Cattle, Seeds,
Roots, Implements, &c., commences on Tuesday Morning
awl Closes on Friday Evening, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th
December.—Bazaar, King-street and Baker-street. Open
from daylight till nine in the Evening. Admittance One

rrHE BUCKLEYS IN LONDON, at the ST.
-11- JAMES'S HALL, Piccadilly, Every Night at 8, and
Saturday Afternoon at 3. Full Programme and Tickets may
be obtained at 28, Piccadilly, from 10 till 5, and at the Prin-
cipal Libraries and Musicsellers.—Admission, Stalls, 3s. ;
Area, 2s. ; Gallery, ls.—Doors open at Half-past Seven, and
Saturday Afternoon, at Half-past Two.

CAPTAIN MORTON PRICE and Miss
‘_} CATIIARINE LUCETTE every evening at the Prim e
of Wales-hall, Regent-street, in their MUSICAL ME-
LANGE, and with which they achieved their great success
in the United States and Canada. Doors open at half-past
7. Admission 35., 25., and ls. ; children in arms, £1 Is.
Tickets to be had at the hall from 12 to 4.—Charles Dudley,
General Manager

CAFE ROYAL, Leicester-square.—Mrs. KATE
HAMILTON begs most respectfully to inform the
Nobility and Gentry that her ANNUAL GRAND FULL
DRESS BALL takes place TO-MORROW (Thursday)
EVENING, at the above Rooms. Dancing to commence at
li o'clock.

4 RGYLL ROOMS, Windmill-street, Piccadilly,
RE-OPENED for the WINTER SEASON for PRO-
MENADE CONCERTS, with the following powerful cast,
;onsisting of selections from Il Trovatore, Martha, Lurline,
Huguenots, L'Etoile du Nord, &c. Dancing at Ten o'clock.
The Original Band, established ten years. Conducted by M.
LAMOTTE. Admission, ls.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
High Holborn.—This establishment, pre-eminently
distinguished for the elegance and matchless beauty of its
decorations, combined with the perfection of its manage-
ment, is OPEN EVERY EVENING. Mr, W.. AL Packer's
highly talented Band performs -nightly selections from the
operas and the most admired and favourite dance music.
Doors open at eight o'clock. Admission to all parts of the
establishment, is.

ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

On. Monday evening the large room at Burlington House,
in which the Geographical Society hold their meetings, was
crowded to hear a communication from Captain Maury, of
the Unqed Sta:es, on the physical geography of the
Antarctic Regions. Tho president (Lord Ashburton) occu-
pied the chair; and before the business appropriated
for the evening commenced, he mentioned that
another letter had been received from Captain Spoke, who
is endeavouring to reach the sources of the Nile, and
he stated that the Geographical Society were so much im-
pressed with the importance of sending an armed expedi-
tion to assist and protect Captain Speke from the hostile
tribes in the north of Africa, that the council had,contrary

to their usual custom, contributed £lOO for that purpose,
and the Foreign-office had contributed a similar amount.
It was hoped, therefore, that these sums, added to the pri-
vate subscriptions, would enable Mr. Consul Petherick to
start on his proposed route.
Mr. GALTON, of the Foreign-office, read extracts from
Capt. Speke's letter, dated the 23d October from Zanguebar,
in wb'ch he stated that he started on the 25th September
with his Hotten tot guard, and that they had proved ex-
tremely useful, though he feared they would not be proof
against the influence of the climate, as some of them had
already been attacked with fever. Capt. Speko wrote in
terms of confidence that he should accomplish the objects of
his expedition, and expressed a hope that Mr. Petherick
would meet him,

Captain MAURY was heartily greeted when he came for-
ward to address the meeting, which he did in a forcible
manner, and only occasionally referred to his notes. He
commenced by noticing the nautical congress at Brussels
in 1553, at which a plan of observations was determined
on by the representatives o 1 England, the United
States, Holland, France, and Russia ; and, in accord-
ance with that plan, instructions were given to the
commanders of the ships of those nations to make observa-
tions in all latitudes. The result had been the collection of
upwards of a million observations on the currents of the
ocean, the direction of the winds, the temperature, the
height of the barometer, and other meteorological phe•
nomena, the whole of which Captain Maury undertook to
discuss, and some of the results of which he described. He
stated that, in pursuing the investigation of the physical
geography of the sea, the inquirer is led into the exami-
tion of phenomena connected with various sciences,
which he must pursue to arrive at satisfactory conclu-
sions. The points to which he especially directed the
attention of the meeting were the directions and variations
of the trade winds north and south of the equator, and the
difference in the temperature and in the height of the
barometer. Taking bands of latitude five miles wide from
the equator, he fund that on the south the direction of the
wind in the bands nearest the equator was more southerly
than in the bands more remote, until, on arriving at
south latitude between 35 deg. and 40 deg., the wind
during exactly half the year was southerly, and for
the other half northerly. The much larger propor-
tion of water in the southern hemisphere is sufficient to
account for its warmer temperature, and Captain Miaow
supposes the effect to be produced by the greater fall of
rain observed in the south. On the coast of Patagonia
the annual fall of rain, if estimated from the observed fal 1
during 41 days must be nearly 12ft., instea d of 2ft.,
as in the neighbourhood of London; and this great con-
densation of tie vapour he assumes causes it to part
with its latent heat and warm the atmosphere. The
lowest state of the barometer in the southern hemi-
sphere he did not attempt to explain, but contented him-
self with mentioning the fact that the average of a
vast number of observations shows that the mean
height of the barometer is half an inch less than north
of the equator. Beyond 50 degrees south the wind blows
generally towards tie pole, and this regular current of air
Captain Maury attibutes to the comparative heat of the
antarctic regions. .another curious fact is that the wind
is much stronger in the south of the equator than on the
north. The frequent appearance of large icebergs in the
antarctic seas indicates that there must be land there, for
icebergs are never formed at sea ; and he called on the
Royal Geographical Society to promote explorations to the
South Pole, which might open important resources. Ho I
said that the region to be explored, of which we now know
no more than of the moon, is only ten days' steam from
Australia; and if this country did not shortly undertake
to investigate the hidden treasures of the antarctic circle,
the United States would "go a-head."
Admiral FITZROY eulogised Captain Maury's exertions in
promoting the knowledge of the physical geography of the
sea, and mentioned some of the important practical results
which had been obtained from his labours in facilitating
the navigation of the ocean. The Government of the
United States, he said, had acted with the utmost liberality
in a upplylug gratuitously the 700 quarto voluniea of sailing
directions, compiled by Captain Maury, and 12,000 charts,
which were of the greatest use to all navigators.
Captain WASHINGTON was of opinion that little benefit
would be derived from antarctic exploration, and he re-
minded Captain Maury that Cooke, Ross, and other cele
brated navigators had already made the attempt. lie said
that the United States had done less than any other mari-
time nation in making explorations, and as their whalers
were very numerous in the south seas, he advised Captain
Maury to recommend his own Government to make the
attempt, for he was sure the Government of this country
would not. He wished to know what was likely to be
found in the frozen antarctic regions that would be worth
the search P

A NEVER FAILING REMEDY.-
Dr. SCOTT'S BILIOUS and LIVER PILLS, pre-
pared without any mercurial ingredient, from the recipe of Dr.
Scott, of Bromley, Kent, are a sure remedy for affections of the
liver, indigestion, bile, sick headache, giddiness, loss of appe-
tite, lowness of spirits, &c. They can be taken at any time,
without any danger from wet or cold, act mildly on the bowels,
without pain or griping, clear the skin, remove sallowness
and pimples, purify the ,blood, brace the nerves, and invige-
-ate the whore system. Sold by most druggists, in boxes,
(s. 144. and 2s. 9d. each. Be sure to ask for Dr. Scott's
Bilious and Liver Pills. The genuine are a square green
package, with " William Lambert, 20, Jermyn-street," en-
graved on the Government stamp.

Captain MAURY—Everything. (Loud laughter and ap-
plause.)
Sir LEOPOLD M'CLINTOCK confirmed Captain Maury's
opiaion, that icebergs are formed on land and launched on
the water.

Sir E. BELCHER was inclined to attribute the warmer
temperature of the southern hemisphere to the Gulf Stream,
which flows along the whole coast of South America, and
even around Cape Horn.
Captain JANSEN, of Holland, mentioned that by taking
advantage of Capt. Maury's sailing directions the passage
from Holland to Java and to Australia had been made in
10 and 15 days' shorter time than by the previous course.:
Capt. MAURY replied to the remarks of Capt. Washing-
ton, observing that he was " stealing his thunder," for he
(Captain Maury) claimed Captain Cooke as an American/
(Loud laughter.)
After some observations from the President, thanks were
voted to Captain Maury, and the meeting adjourned.