The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-15 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PDBLIO JOURNALS,

" THE LANCET" ON SCIENTIFIC TOYS.—It is ev
dent that the sports of children no longer satisfy
the child. The modern five-year-old young person
is so far ahead of a child who completed his -first
lustrum any time in the last century that he turns
with contempt from the simple toys of a generation
to whom science was unknown. This change May
be traced to various causes, and possibly one of the
most influential is attributable to that charming
little work on the science of sport which is now
known to have been written by the late Dr. Paris
when he was President of the College of Physicians.
Science in earnest has, since he wrote, made a pro-
fitable business by supplying philosophy in sport.
Auy scientific recluse wishing to ascertain the pro-
gress of society in the direction to which his own
studies tend may possibly gain information from the
lectures of the Royal Institution, but is just as likely
to obtain what he wants by making a tour of the
toy-shops. If the word " science" means that which
is known, and if the term " knowledge" indicates that
which is demonstrated and understood, then a child
who comprehends the true story of any half-dozen
of the new scientific toys would be a serious anta-
gonist to tackle in a discussion. It is probable, how-
ever, that the rising generation is content with the
charming results, and inclined to fight shy of all
expectations. This is lucky for pastors and masters,
who might be rather bothered by close questioning,
unless possessing the ingenuity of that paterfamilias
who shirked the responsibility of explaining the
meaning of hydrated sulphocyanide of mercury by
gravely informing the inquisitive urchin that Pha-
raoh's serpents belonged to the venomous kind of
snakes, sad therefore should be avoided. This play-
thing has had its day in this country, although the
number sent to China and Japan is said to be enor-
mous. There is_ some reason to fear that boys and
girls, as they grow up, may still retain the belief
that toymakers invent all these new scientific play-
things. Content with the result, they aceord a sort
of half belief to the imaginative statements which
accompany the toy ; so that it is probable that
there are many thousand young folks to
whom it is a matter of faith that some
relation exists between Pharaoh and the serpents
produced by setting fire to a bit of mercurial salt,
which was first diseoirered a thousand years after
Pharaoh was forgotten. There are numerous mo-
dern toys which in reality only present in an attrac-
tive form results attained by abstruse scientific in-
vestigation—" non sine Dis animosus infans." That
delicious moment of expectant observation which
accompanies the moistening of one of those bits of
mysterious white paper sold as magic photographs
is a practical source of daily enjoyment to many
children. But the beautiful picture which then comes
to view conveys to them no information about the
history of its appearance ; for this child's delight,
this play-room toy is in reality a very complex
chemical process, where the printed image is first
removed by bichloride of mercury, and then revived
by hyposulphite of oda. Another eminently popu-
lar toy just now—the " rainbow bubble" —is a
passing result that was obtained in the course of
certain abstruse experiments on the refraction of
fluid media. It is of exquisite beauty, but its re-
sources as an amusement are not half developed.
Thus, it is easy to blow one bubble within another
by simply thrusting a fine glass tube charged with
the fluid through the very material of the bubble
itself, and then blowing an inside sphere. So, also,
the finger, similarly moistened, may be introduced,
and the bubble left to hang on a digit like one of
the fruits in Aladdin's garden. Again, the in-door
fireworks that are such a screaming delight to the
rising generation represent years of study. The
paper which, crumpled, lighted, and thrown into
the air, blazes like a meteor, is but a mitigated
pyroxyline ; one of the many results of the discovery
of gun-cotton by Schonbein. More curious still
are the little matches which throw . out beautiful
star-spangles, and are known as Japanese fireworks.
These are due to a composition which involves the
most delicate processes of the pyrotechnic art, and
has been known for nearly two centuries as " spur
fire." Its perfection depended upon the extent of
the trituration of the simple materials, for if the
nitre was too minutely powdered the effect ceased.
The Japanese have afforded the clue to the Mystery,
as these matches show that it was necessary for the
nitre to be, melted into a ball before the spur-like
sparkles appeared. Another equally curious, but
also somewhat dangerous amusement, consists of
little globules appropriately named " crocodiles'
tears" and " larmes de diable," which blaze when
thrown into water. These of course consist of po-
tassium in soluble casing. It would be easy to cite

a whole series of illustrations all proving the remark-
able ingenuity with which practical minds turn to
account the researches of science, even for the con-
struction of toys. Rightly directed, the new stimu-
lus thus afforded to thought, to investigation, and
to that curiosity in action which is one of the roads
to knowledge, may prove of far more educational
value than the dull, meaningless, and frequently
abortive experiments which used to be considered
vastly instructive, and particularly suited to rear the
tender thought. In this work Dr. Paris was the
pioneer. - _ _

- THE "EXAMINER" ON TIIE SIMLA COURT-MARTIAL.
—The telegraph has brought the decision of the
Simla court-martial. As yet unknown to the Bom-
bay forces when the last mail left, their inevitable
expression of surprise and indignation has not reached
us. We can easily conceive it. Sir William Mans-
field's young aide-de-camp has been acquitted of
the grave charge of embezzlement, and of making
profit out of the wine and mutton committed to his
charge. But for certain hasty expressions, and
especially for having refused to deliver up his sword
when asked to do so, long after his'arrest, Lieut.

Jervis has been dismissed the service. It was quite
evident, from the passionate tone in which the Com-
mander-in-Chief gave his evidence, that he was
prepared to avenge himself on all who thwarted
him ; that the officers of the court-martial, if they

gave an acquittal, could expect no promotion from
William Mansfield. Some of the members

of the court he even promoted during the trial,
to make sure of them. And yet in ordering the
aide-de-camp to be dismissed the service for one
or two hasty slight acts of insubordination,
they passed that sentence subject to the revision and
consideration of the Commander-in-Chief. Seeking

to acquit, they left Sir William Mansfield the credit
of doing this. But the Commander-in-Chief in India
knew no such feeling as generosity. Like Shylock,
he would have his pound of flesh, and he has taken
it in the shape of Lieut. Jervis's commission. There
is but one opinion on the subject throughout the army
and the press of India. And we should think there
could be no difference of opinion at home. There is
first of all the odious system of employing officers as
menial servants, making use of them as stewards,
butchers, and butlers, and subjecting them in the
performance of these duties to the lady of the house.
In an official document Sir W. Mansfield informed
his aides-de-camp that they must obey Lady Mans-
field and take her orders in certain household ar-

rangements. These things have to be stated in or
der to be appreciated. The cost of the staff forms a
considerable item of English military expense. It
forms one of the reasons why the English army is so
much more costly than any other. When this ex-
pense goes to provide the mutton or clothe the car-
riage horse of an Indian Commander-in-Chief
surely it ought to be looked to. After the system
comes the consideration of Sir William Mansfield's
personal conduct. On this subject we shall have
opportunities to reason, for the circumstances of the
court-martial cannot fail to come before Parliament.
ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES. A few days since
a number of gentlemen met in the room of a
building which now stands where once stood
the East India House. A few years have
wrought a great change in this locality. A " cir-
ciimlocation office" on the grandest scale then
showed a massive portico abutting on Leadenhall-
,street. No new-fangled doctrines found favour
_with the oligarchy that there ruled supreme. Itself
an innovation alike on commerce and government,
it had been sanctioned by time, and had grown into
. the. most Tory of communities. A range of hand-
some - offices now look down from that site on
Leadenhall-street, and through their centre passes
a broad flagged way penetrating to the end of the
block, lined by edifices containing storeys of offices.
This passage has been named after the old house—
" The East India Avenue." Any person who now
saunters along these buildings must be struck with
the contrast between the business now and formerly
transacted on this spot. His eye is caught by the
names of numerous companies which figure each
day in the Stock Exchange list of prices. There
are many, we grieve to add, that figure
in another list—the list of failed and insolent con-
cerns. With scarcely an exception these com-
panies represent to their proprietors an enormous
loss—a loss in the aggregate so gigantic that its
consideration almost takes one's breath away. As
the lounger passes down the avenue he will see on
the left hand side an entrance, about mid-way, on
which handsome plates announce a nest of Assam Tea
Companies, and in an apartment where one of these
transacted its business the meeting we have
noticed had assembled. Those who have the mis-
fortune to hold shares in companies are familiar
with the business transacted and the mode of pro-
cedure. By a long table sat five or six gentlemen,
and before them some eighty victims,, looking on
with that stolid countenance which the Englishman
can so well assume even in the midst of ruin. Here
and there were exceptions—the knit brow and flash-
ing eye showing the indignation that boiled within.
In the centre of the group at the table sat the chair-
man, a gentleman of high character betrayed into
a false position, and trying to make the best
of a very bad business. Nor was be the only mem-
ber of that Board more to be pitied than blamed,
for there were others whom a high sense of honour
alone retained at a post which had been ruinous
to themselves, dangerous to their reputation, and
the end of which was involved in anything but an
agreeable obscurity. There are certain noble traits
in the character of the English which make them
a fine class to deal with when in a position of
difficulty, such as that overwhelming the members
of this Board. An honest sense of right • and fair
play, a just appreciatiq of upright and straight-
forward endeavours, and a patient hearing, are the
general characteristics of such assemblies. But at
the Board sat one to whom this meetinglelt any-
thing but amiable, and this was the vendor of the
estates the assembled gentlemen had the misfortune
to call their property. The homely old proverb of
"B
anythinguying
a pig in a poke" was being illustrated in
but a satisfactory manner. The estates
which constituted the property were situated in
Upper Assam, and had formed the ground-work
less than two years ago of a delightful thing
in prospectuses. The Arcadia there depicted
was a mine of wealth. The soil was the
original home of the tea plant. China had
but_ borrowed from this locality the shrub which had
given to that country one of the greatest and most
profitable exports the world had ever seen. India
was the true region for this product, and Assam
was its indigenous province. A few hundreds of
thousands only were required to produce a result
which would revolutimaise the trade in tea. Here
were estates already in profitable cultivation offered
by a philanthropic proprietor to the English public,
by which these brilliant results were to flow into the
pockets of the enterprising individuals who knew
how to avail themselves of opportunities in a con-
tinued stream of gold. Cases were quoted which
showed that the most sanguine expectations had in
other instances been already more than realised ;
and here at this meeting were assembled the unfor-
tunates who had swallowed the bait. It is a
strange fact that to a ruinous result should
tend an enterprise which in reality pos-
sessed more than. an average capability
of success. Assam is the finest tea-growing
district in the world. There a fertile and unap-
propriated country is open, and fair means of water
carriage. All that was required was an honest and
truthful statement, a valuation of the estates, an
estimate which accurately told the cost of supplying
labour, the probabilities and the contingencies of
failures in the crop, and losses by the deaths of im-
ported coolies. The vendors had but one object in
view, and that was to extract from the purchasers
the largest possible sum. When men are asked to
pay down £150,000, they usually take steps to as-
certain what the money is given for. But a body
of shareholders may be easily hoodwinked when
payment is made in debentures spread over a long
series of years and covered by a guarantee of a cer-
tified dividend. The provisions are all based on the
object to secure, on easy terms, a number
sufficient to absorb the shares. The calcula-
tions are made without any provision for
a rainy day, and when the time of trial
conies, the dismayed subscribers to this " Limited"
Liability, find all the burden thrown on them, and
then in fear and trembling they begin to inquire
narrowly into the nature of their purchase, too late
discovering what they ought to have discovered
at first, that most of their hopes and expectations
were as delusive as the mirage in the desert to a
thirsty traveller. Bat the singular part of our
story is that no one benefits—not even the vendor.
Extremes meet—the extreme of grasping, as well
as others—which ends in toppling over those who
had stretched too far to bring in a great haul, as
well as the victims from whom the prize is to be
secured. As the vendors fall under their greedy
snatch, so the shareholders sink under their
heavy burden. All collapse, and none gain ;
while a legitimate and fair distribution of the weight
would probably enable all to tide over the difficulty,
and permit a company that ought to be great and
prosperous to proceed on a career which might soon
lead to success. For the benefit of the vendor, we
will tell a story which happened under our notice.
There were two steamers proceeding from the West
Indies to England. Both were fine boats in the early
days of ocean navigation, but the one had struck
a rock, and was proceeding home under,the convoy
of the other in a leaky and damaged state. Several
of the passengers preferred to remain in the par-
tially disabled vessel, anticipating no danger, and
not seeing the damage. A hard gale sprang up
when the ships wee in mid-ocean. The water
gained the mastery; the fires of the injured steamer
were extinguished, and when morning dawned her