The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-19 00:00:00

Liverpocl Cotton Market. —Tlis Day.

Market very flat, and prices are lower. Sales
probably 5,000 bales.

DISEASED MEAT.—Last night, at a meeting of
he Society of Arts, Dr. J. L. W. Thudicum read
t paper on the diseases of meat and their effects on man.

There is only one disease of a specific nature which can ha

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transplanted to man from the lower animals, and that is the
malignant pustule or anthrax, a malady of rare occurrence.
The entozoa, or "worm" class of diseases, are more com-
mon and more dangerous. The lecturer stated that fish
introduce into man their own claSs of worn, veal and beef

supply the great hookless tape-worm, whilst pork gives
the hooked tapeworm. All of tiles() were shown in a
magnified form by the aid of the oxyhydrogon microscope.
Most of the worms have flat heads, with a circle of hooks
hi the centre, and four or five suckers round the circum-
ference. These hooks are worked and wrenched into the
flesh of the sufferer by strong muscles in their rear; the
suckers then hold on firmly, so that the worms can rarely
be dislodged without tearing away some of the intestine or
other part of the body to which they are attached. The
Trichina spiraliB, at the root of the pork disease now
causing such devastation in Germany, is a worm, which it
is believed produces about 1,000 living young in the course
of a fortnight. Dr. Thuddicum produced a living rabbit
full of the disease, and, picking a small piece of flesh out
of its back, put it under the microscope ; several of the
worms wore then observed curling on the screen. They
are not killed till boiled a very considerable time, and the
best measures to prevent the disease are to give the pigs
good food, to examine the flesh under the microscope, and
to coDk it thoroughly before eating. Mile and rats are
' much infected by the worms, and the pigs sometimes
catch the disease by eating the dead bodies of these
animalt. After a few remarks from Dr. Cobbold, F.R.S.,
the chairman, and Professor Owen, the meeting broke up.
NATIONAL INSTITUTION AND HOME FOR LADIES.
Yesterday the annual meeting of the friends and pro-
moters of this institution took place at Willis's Rooms,
King-street, St. James's, Mr. J. B. Talbot in the chair.
After a few preliminary observations from the Chairman,
the secretary read a report, which stated that the institu-

tion was established in March, 1864, for the purpose of
providing a respectable and comfortable home, at very low
charges, for gentlewomen, who, having received a good
education, have been cast upon their own resources by
bereavement or loss of property. It also undertook to
render all possible assistance to them in obtaining situa-
tions, and to guard them against danger and imposition ;
. . .

and there was, moreover, in connection with it a relic.
fund, out of which many applicants had received tempo-
rary assistance. Applications have been made at the insti•
tution by upwards of 300 ladies in search for situations,
and between 80 and 90 had entered the Home, which they
had left on obtaining suitable situations. Others are con-
stantly applying, and many of them fail to obtain relief
for want of funds and sufficient room. During the past
year eleven cases of extreme need have been relieved at
a cost of .£l3 12s. 6d., and the eommittee only regret
that the means at their disposal were not such as
to enable them to increase the benefits they conferred.
Applications are constantly being made by individuals and
by institutions requiring ladies in various capacities, as
housekeepers, companions, secretaries, matrons, &c., and
the best endeavours are made to meet their wishes, but
such cases are few in comparison with those of persons
seeking engagements. Every lady and genileman who has
become acquainted with the home has given it the most
unqualified approbation, and it has received the patronage
of many parsons of the highest distinction ; but still the
need is groat and the contributors are few. The mana-
gers are working gratuitously, and they aro oppressed
by remaining liabilities which they are most anxious to
remove. They therefore look forward to the day when the
patrons and subscribers to this work shall be multiplied
all debts liquidated, and a large number share in the
benefits of the institution. The report was adopted, and a
resolution was passed to the effect that the meeting consi-
dered the design and objects of this institution to be most
needful and useful, and as such to be wotrhy of public
patrongo and support.
COCKS AND CURS.—When Parliament is re-
formed it is to be hoped that the representatives
of the people will do justice to rich folks in the matter
of dogs. At present the laws are unjustly in favour
of the poor. From the way in which the dog tax is
planned and levied, every disreputable fellow in town and
country contrives to keep a cur as disreputable in look and
in morals as himself, and to shirk the payment of the dnty
which is half-yearly extracted from more decent dog lovers
with rigorous punctuality. But here we have an unfortu-
nate gentieman at Hammersmith applying to the magis-
trate, and learning that it is not only in the matter of the
dog tax, but in that of doehowlings, that the poor are
exempted from the penalties which afflict the rich. It ap-
pears from the magistrate's statement that if you keep a
pack of hounds so near to other people's houses that they
are annoyed by their barkings in the kennels which sport-
ing men call " music" when in the field, you may be in-
dicted for a nuisance. But, at the same time, if some
wretched little mongrel entertains itself with nightlyyelp-
ing, to the ruin of your sleep and the discomfort of your
whole household, you have no remedy, and must suffer on
in such silence as your self-control can endure. All this the
Hammersmith gentleman learnt in reply to his complaint
about a dreadful cock that would insist upon perpetually
crowing, to the distress of a sister, who seems to have been
ill. Mr. Dayman confessed his inability to deal with the
matter, saying that he never heard of an action successfully
brought against the owner in such a case, and the com-
plainant departed unsoothed. Those who have learnt by
experience what it is to pass night afternight in theneigh-
bourhood of much poultry are aware that it is merely a
popular superstition which supposes that cocks crow only
at sunrise and midday, and occasionally also at midnight.
This may be the case, indeed, with all healthily-constituted
cocks, whose passion for crowing is restrained by proper
sentiments of decorum. But it is equally certain that there
do exist other cocks who, like certain members of Parlia-
ment, suffer from a most morbid passion for hearing their
own voices, and who will crow at short intervals all the
night through; while the misery these ill-regulated animals
inflict upon their human fellow-creatures is a thing not to
be laughed at by those persons who, as they think very
little by day, are able to sleep soundly by night though
all the cocks in a village are crowing in their ears. It is
to be hoped that the suffering gentleman will ascertain
how the law really stands, both as to cocks and curs.—
Pall-Mall Gazette.
FOR BETTER? OR WORSE ?—Society knows all
about Jones, had examined Jones from top to toe, and has
decided that it can stand him—he will do. Suddenly the
rumour goes forth that Jones is going to be married. So-
ciety bridles up in a moment, as on the qui vice directly,
and justifiably enough, as you will admit, if you will bear
in mind what was said just now on the "other half." For
what is this marriage of Jones from Society's point of
view ? Jones, a nimble, presentable, useful, and convenient
creature, has gone away for a little season, to return pre-
sently with another human being belonging to him, part
and parcel of him, and inseparable from him. Society
knew half of Jones and approved. The other half, which
he has gone to fetch, it does not know, and waits to examine
with eager, and somewhat critical curiosity. What will it
turn out to be like? Can anybody tell us? Shall we be
able to stand it ? Is it like the demi-Jones with whom we
have been hitherto acquainted, presentable, initiated? or is
it a clumsy and impracticable addition to our old friend ?
Is it a better-hall or a worse ? The half-Jones originally
known to us. Is the complete Jones to be a success -or a
failure ? This is how the matter stands when Jones's other
half is unknown to the world in which Jones has hitherto
lived. But when, on the contrary, Jones's other half is
already perfectly well known to Jones's monde, then indeed
all things are different. Jones's new half has already got
its credentials, it is as well known as Jones himself—better
known, more popular, more influential, perhaps. Let
them set up in the social business together by all means,
says the world. We liked Mr. Demi-Jones and Miss
Demi-Jones very well separately, and we shall continue
to countenance them in a state of union•-:-...Dickens' All the
Year Round.
A -SNAKE STORY.—LA correspondent of the Uiten-
hage Times, writing from the Winterhock, says :
"An extraordinary snake affair occurred in this neigh-
bourhood a few Sundays ago. A large snake of the cobra
tribe, about 4ft. bin. long, got unseen into a farmer's house,
it is supposed on the Saturday afternoon, and concealed
himself under au harmonium. On the Sunday afternoon,
the children being at school, the farmer and his wife were
quietly reading, the wife sitting in front of a window.
The snake quietly crawled out, got unperceived under
the good woman's crinoline, and twisted itself round her
from the ankle to the knee, which position it kept for
upwards of half an hour. The farmer's wife all the while
thinking it was her favourite kitten, took no notice of
it, until at length, wishing to eject the intruder, she
slightly raised her dress for the purpose. Judge of her
surprise on finding so deadly a creature twisted round her
leg. She sat perfectly still, not oven looking at her hus-
band lest he should disturb the reptile. At last it uncoiled
itself, and then twisted itself about her foot. The shoe
fitted loosely, and she softly withdrew her foot, made one
bound across the room, and called her husband's attention
to the cause of the disturbance. The savage creature
now charged the wife, and was only kept off by the hus-
band with his Sunday coat. It soon retreated and
got under a footstool, putting out its head as if to
threaten death to any one wno should approach it. A stick
was brought to the farmer, who struck a terrible blow at
its head, but hit the stool instead, shivering the stick to
pieces. This exasperated the creature, which darted out
at the farmer, and was again kept'at bay by the coat. It
at length retreated into the bedroom, where it was killed."
MR. LAYARD AND " THE CORRUPTORS."--Five
Liberal members have been unseated by petition up to the
present time—Sir John Acton, Mr. Parry, Mr. P end er,
Mr. Young, and Mr. Leveson Gower, representingills rere-.
spectively Bridgenorth, Boston, Totnes, eto n
Reigate—on the ground of bribery, &c. Only one' and
Con-
servative member has lost his seat—Mr. Forsyth, Q.C.,
who was disqualified as holder of an office under the
Crown.—Lteraid.