The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-17 00:00:00

STATUE TO DR. ISAAC

BARROW.

•
Yesterday afternoon the companion statue to
Lord Bacon and Sir Isaac Newton was erected in
the ante-hall to the chapel of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge. For some time past the choice of a subject
had puzzled not only Trinity College, but the Uni-
versity generally ; and it was not until after much
piquant but friendly controversy that the point
was settled by a majority of votes of the Fellows
of Trinity College in favour of the celebrated Dr.
Isaac Barrow. The person to whom the idea of
the statue first occurred, and who is the donor of
it, was the Marquis of Lansdowne—himself a mem-
' ber of Trinity College, who, when on visits to the
present Master of Trinity, and cherishing affection-
ate remembrances of his college life, frequently
noticed the fact that the niche in the ante-hall, cor-
responding to that in which the statue of Lord
Ba;!on is placed, required filling up, in order to
c't3mplete the triangle which should be formed with
the figure of Sir Isaac Newton, at the other extre-
mity
of the hall. The noble marquis proposed to
become the donor of the statue, but modestly left
the selection of the subject of it to the college.
An amusing rivalry, therefore, sprang up as
to the worthy upon whom the choice should
fall, and for a time" Shall Cromwell have a statue?"
was a question easy of solution in Cambridge, com-
pared with the settlement of the claims of others
of the illustrious dead. The great name of Milton
suggested itself to many, but then it was remem-
bered that the poet was of Christ's, and not of
Trinity. Lord Macaulay, it is said, suggested the
celebrated Dr. Bentley, whose claims might have
been indisputable but for certain conflicts into
which that eminent divine had entered even with
Trinity College itself. Past generations of Fellows
of Trinity had not forgotten that when Dr. Bentley,
a " Johnian," had been nominated by the Crown
to the Mastership of Trinity, they disputed a sup-
posed interference with their privileges, and that
Dr. Bentley, when denied entrance at the college
gates, actually scaled the walls and made good his
right by stratagem. Other names were freely can-
vassed, but unsuccessfully until, at the sugge.tion
mainly, we believe, of Professor Sedgwick, the
Vice-Master of Trinity, a majority of votes were
obtained for the name of Dr. Barrow as one less
likely than any other to challenge any feelings of
university etiquette or punctilio. The commission
for a statue was given to Mr. Matthew Noble, and
he certainly has succeeded in producing a statue
which will bear the test of criticism as compared
with the two principal statues with which it is to
be in company. The statue of Lord Bacon is in
imitation of the one .in St. Michael's Church, St.
Alban's. It was begun by Chantry and finished
by Weekes, and bears the noble inscription which
is upon the original statue. This was presented to
Trinity College by Dz. Whewell in 1845. The
statue of Sir Isaac Newton, by Roubilliac, at the
other end of the hall, is a constant object of admi-
ration, and it is said that the likeness is the most
perfect that is extant in sculpture. The statue of
Dr. Barrow, which, like that of Lord Bacon, is in a
sitting posture, is executed in the finest Carrara
marble, which stands out like the driven snow in
comparison with the other statues, busts, and mural
monuments in the hall, to which time has given a
dingy look. There is a fine academic air about the
figure, which admirably comports with the classical
associations of the place. Dr. Barrow is represented
with a pair of compasses in one hand, denoting his
mathematical predilections, and a volume of ser-
mons in the other, suggestive of his celebrity as a
divine, and more particularly of the copiousness
and luxuriance of his style in this class of compo-
sition. From the causes we have named the erec-
tion of the statue has occasioned no little stir in the
University, and, indeed, among the townspeople.
Throughout the afternoon considerable numbers of
the authorities, Fellows and others, of Trinity and
the other colleges, have visited the ante-hall, to
revive old memories of the distinguished scholar
and mathematician, and pass_ judgment upon the
statue as a work of art. Dr. Whewell, we believe,
has undertaken to supply the inscription, and the
Marquis of Lansdowne is shortly expected on a
visit to that gentleman to view -the statue in its
resting place.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE
WEEK.

(From the Registrar-Generar Report.)
Under the influence of cold air and fogs the mor•
tality has much increased. The deaths registered
in London were in the two previous weeks 1,133
and 1,217 ; in the last week ending Saturday, Nov.
13, they rose to 1,349. In those three weeks the
mean weekly temperaturehas constantly fallen, and
having been 51 deg. in the third week of October,
it was only 39 deg. last week. The weather was
cold even for the second week of November, and on
the last five nights the thermometer fell below the
freezing point of water.
In the ten years 1848-57 the average number of
deaths in the weeks corresponding with last week
was 1,050, but as the deaths that are now returned
occurred in a population that has increased, they
should be compared with the average when the lat-
ter is raised in proportion to the increase, a correc-
tion by which it becomes 1,155. The comparison
shows that the deaths of last week were more nu-
merous, to the extent of nearly 200, than they would
have been if the average rate of mortality for the
same season had prevailed.

If the deaths of last week had been according to
the rate of mortality that prevails in autumn in
the healthiest country districts of England,
they would have been 770 ; and the greater
part of the excess above this limit which the return
exhibits, amounting to 579, is therefore to be re-
ferred to causes that are only or chiefly found in
operation in London and other city populations. A
certain number of the 579 persons died from the
unusual cold ; and a certain number, though less,
would have died in the country, from the same
cause.

In comparing the results of the last two weeks
the increase of mortality is found chiefly amongst
young and old persons, the deaths of the former
class having risen from 677 to 766, and those of the
latter from 211 to 237. The increase is found also
under most of the general heads under which the
causes of death are arranged, but chiefly in diseases
of the respiratory organs, which were fatal in the
two weeks in 230 and 312 cases respectively.
Phthisis in the tubercular order decreased from 141
to 131.

Scarlatina is still very fatal. The deaths from it
last week were 145, which is nearly double the cor-
rected average for ten corresponding weeks. The
north districts, in which nearly a third of the deaths
from it occurred, continue to suffer most. Nine-
teen fatal cases arc returned in the Pancras district,
six in the sub-district of Bow, and six in that of
Kennington (Ist part). The deaths from small-pox
have increased from 3 to 15, of which eight occurred
in the Small-pox Hospital, Islington, to which
many patients are brought from country parts.
Last week the births of 910 boys and 904 girls,
in all 1,814 children, were registered in London.
In the ten corresponding weeks of the years
1848-57 the average number was 1,547.
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 30.062 in.
The mean daily reading was about 30 in. till Fri-
day. The barometrical readings varied from
30.34 in. to 29.31 in. The mean temperature
of the week was 39.0 deg., . which is 5.3 deg.
below the average of the' same week in 43 years
(as determined by Mr.lGlaisher). The mean daily
temperatuee was below the average throughout the
week, and on Wednesday the extent of depression
was 9.7 deg. The thermometer in the shade fell from
50.5 deg., its highest point which was attained on
Sunday, to 26.8 deg. on Wednesday, its lowest point
in the week. Its entire range was 23.7 deg. ; the
mean daily range was 15.6 deg. The difference
between the mean dewpoint temperature and air
temperature was 3.6 deg. The mean degree of
humidity of the air was 84. The mean tempera-
ture of the water of the Thames was 45.8 deg., or
about 7 deg. higher than that of the air. The wind
blew on the first three days from the north, after-
wards from the south-west and east. Dense fog
prevailed on the night of Wednesday. No rain was
measured by the gauge.

FORGERY OF AUSTRIAN BANK-NOTES. The
Suisse of Berne announces that the police of Saint Gall have
just made a very important capture in the person of a native
of Baden, who has just returned from New York with an
American passport. He was arrested on a charge of issu-
ing false Austrian paper money. On his being searched
there were found on him bank notes of all countries, which,
it appears, were intended to serve as specimens for carrying
on a manufacture of forged notes in America on a large
scale. A man residing at Romanshorn, who is implicated
in the affair, has been also arrested.
POISONED LOZENGES.—It is stated in a commu-
nication from a firm of wholesale confectioners, that the
adulterating article called daft, duck, stuff, derby, plaster,
or by some more classically named terra alba, is used in the
manufacture of lozenges to the alarming extent of 25 to 35
per cent. This article is very injurious to the system, being
indissoluble ; it precipitates in the body and forms stone,
especially if taken in large quantities, as in the case with the
lozenges that caused this calamity. It is used in the cheap
lozenges which are largely consumed by children. Its
existence may be ascertained by dissolving throe of the
lozenges in a wino glass of water, when the terra alba will
precipitate to the bottom of the glass; and precisely in the
same manner will a largo proportion remain in the body,
producing gravel or stone. The temptation to use it arises
from the following facts :-1. It makes the lozenge much
harder and whiter. 2. It enables the manufacturer to svll
a cheaper article than his neighbour who conscientiously re-
fuses to use it. 3. The price. Terra alba may be I roeured
at 7s. per cwt. or less, while the price of fine powdered sugar
is 63g. per cwt. ; the great difference in the above prices
allOwA it larger profit to the clithoueEt 'manufacturer,