The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-16 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS.

Since the date of our last summary, the colony
has suffered a serious, and, for the present, at lea-t,
almost irreparable loss, by the death of two of the
ablest philo,ophioal chemists in Australia—Count
John Dembinski and Dr. John Maun,l. The for-
mer, who was son of the distinguished commander-
in-chief of the Hungarian patriotic at my, in the
campaign of-1850, had made himself a colonial re-
putation by his scientific attainments ; his sug-
gestions-on the subject of the dissolirt'ou-orauri-
ferous quartz by- common chemical agencies,
and which originally appeared in the columns
of this journal, having particularly attracted
the at ention of the Australian public.
Count Dembinski died on the 24th of March
under circumstances which called for the inter-
position of the coroner. At the inquest it tran-
spired that the pecuniary position of the unfortu-
nate gentleman was lamentably beneath that to
which the name he bore, and his character and
talents, enti,led him. The fact seems to have 'if-
footed his mind, the more so as his high s:nse of
honour not only forbade his placing himself in
the position of a debtor, but even restrained him
from making his frieos acquainted with the em-
barrassments which were breaking hie heart. Ho
died rather suddenly, at the residence of a Catholic
clergyman, the Rev. J. Bleasdale, where he had
been lodging for a short time ; and although it
appeared from the evidence at the inquest that he
h-d made some remarks to a perm3n from which it
might be inferred that he intended to commit
suicide, and that poisonous alkaloids, such as mor-
phine and aerophine, had been in his pass,-scion
shortly before his death, the disclosures of the
autopsy did not justify such suspici,m as might
previously have 1), en excited of his having com-
mitted self-destruction. Dr. B:ownless, who had
attended him a few days prior to. his death for
gastric fever, was of opinion that the cause was
attributable to extreme mental anxiety acting upon
a body previously weakened by disease ; and the
jury, after patiently investigating the circum-
stances, decided that there was not sufficient evi-
dence to show the cause of death. The deceased
was thirty years of age, and was much esteemed
by all who had made his acquaintance.

The decease of Dr. Maned inflicts a loss upon
this community such as will be most severely felt.
The deceased gentleman occupied a prominent po-
sition in the front rank of the medical profession
in the colony, while his more public services as
chemical analyst to the government have made his
name honourably familiar through the length and
breadth of the land. After a brief illness of a
week, originally produced by a slight febrile
attack, but rendered serious by the supervention
of dysentry, he expired at his resi.!ence in
Latrobe-street on the 7th instant. Hi re-
mains were followed to the glare by a nume-
rous body of his private friends, whos3 grief
found au echo in the bosom of every Victorian
colonist.

The complete destitution of the Corporation of
Melbourne, in respect of funds to pay for the un-
dertaking of necessary works, coupled with the re-
cent refusal of the legislature to improve the con-
dition of the corporate purse, has suggested a
movement which at present bids fair to culminate
in the "crumpling up" of the city. Several of the
wards, finding that the suspicion of being in bad
company has seriously affected their own condition,
are contemplating separation from the city proper,
and setting up for themselves, by establishing in-
dependent municipalitie, a course which is open to
them under the provisions of the Municipalities
Act. Whether the separatists will be able to carry
their puiut remains to be seen ; the movement,
however, is being vigorously pushed on, and finds
many supporters, local and otherwise. A hint
thrown out by Mr. Duffy, the other night, that the
government contemplated placing the city corpo-
ration in a position to enable it to perform the
duties entrusted it, may, however, have some effect
in breaking the force of the agitation. The city
was shamefully used by the late government, but
the men in office being assured of the patronage of
the public so long as their actions continue to jus
tify its being extended to them, have no cause to
wish the dissolution of the corporation, that they
may increase their adherents by finding places f r
them, by the establishment of a city commission on
the ruins of the City Council.
Robberies, with violence, or in colonial pbras
" sticking up," are still rife in some of the country
euntrydisti ids, but Melbourne has, of late, b
mode-
rately exempt from the perpetration ofe the more
serious crimes. Mr. Lionel Levi, who had come
under the ban of the police, in consequence of a
presumed fictitious credit from the London bank-
ingfirm of Smith, Payne, and Smiths, having
b been thrice discharged from custody through failure
of evidence, has at leugth been committed for trial,
' on the information of the Solicitor-Geieral, for for-
gery. Mr. Samuel Calvert, a well-known wood-en-
graver, has also fallen under the frown of t'iie law,
in consequence of his being suspected to have em-
bezzled a number of sheets of postage stamps, Which