The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-29 00:00:00

ture of the vine by Noah, and the wines Made in
some of the districts there named were still in re-
repute. Homer, in " The Odyssey," spoke of the
wine made on the coast of Thrace, which was so
strong that it would bear twenty times its volume
of water. The Romans did not acquire perfection
in the manufacture of wine till much later, but the
conquest of Greece enriched the vineyards of Italy,
and afterwards out of twenty different sorts of
wine, Italy, according to Pliny, furnished two-
thirds. France had assumed now the first place
among wine countries. The vine from which the
celebrated Tokay wine was made was now accli-
matised near Montpellier, and experiments were in
progress in the environs of Rheims with Portuguese
vines for the manufacture of port. Russia was
entirely dependent upon France for her vines and
wine. Australia was beginning to make good wine
with the produce of the vines from France. California
had been able to make wine for ten years past with
French vines. In conclusion, M. Drouyn de Lhuys
said that for two centuries the world had made an
advance in acclimatation without knowing it, and
France, guided only by the instinct of her cultivat-
ing genius, bad made great progress in wine making
before science had discovered the first germs of the
art. Aided by science, however, the improvement
in the wines of France would now be sure and rapid.
In the pamphlet on cholera by Dr. Charles
Shrimpton, to which I have already alluded, the
author, after citing various authorities to prove
that the disease is not propagated by contagion,
a doctrine which he supports by powerful argu-
ments, the author gives his own opinion. As Mr.
Shrimpton is considered in Paris to be a first-rate
authority upon all points connected with the medi-
cal art, your readers will naturally be interested in
knowing his views regarding this terrible disease.
He says, " Frankly, it seems impossible in the pre-
sence of facts so positive, which are repeated daily
and which are patent to all the world, not to attri-
bute the propagation of cholera to some electrical
action, yet unknown, but very real, particularly as
the direction and the violence of the winds do not
exercise any influence upon this formidable disease."
This theory well deserves investigation by the pro-
fession and by men of Science generally. In Paris
the pamphlet has excited great interest.

The Abyssinian Prison-rs.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE sus.

Reuter's Telegram Company (Limited), 1, Royal
Exchange-buildings, E.C., London, March 28.
Sir,—•l beg to call your attention to the fact that
the letter from Dr. Beke, alluded to in the telegram
received to-day at the Foreign Office from her
Majesty's Consul-General in Egypt, bears a date
antecedent to that of the letter from the same gen-
tleman communicated by me to the journals on
Monday last, the one being' dated 12th February,
and the other 17th February. 'ln forwarding the
latter communication Dr. Beke referred to a letter
he had written previously, but which has never come
to hand, wherein he had stated that Mr. Rassam had
met the Emperor Theodore, and was well received.
This statement Dr. Beke declares to be false, he
having been deceived by Mr. Rassam's messenger.
His own words are :—"I have been grossly deceived
by Mr. Rassam's messenger, whose report of that
gentleman having met the Emperoi Theodore and
been well received by him is as untrue as the tele-
gram announcing Consul Cameron's return, sent by
Mr. Rassam from Suez on the sth September last."
This denial was not given by me because the state-
ment to which it referred had not been received.

From these facts it would appear that the contents
of the missing letter have come into the hands of
the English Consul in Egypt, who has doubtless
telegraphed them in ignorance of the later in-
formation.

The latest news from Dr. Beke is contained in
his letter of 17th February, received by me and
published yesterday, in which he states that Mr.
Rassam was to await at Debra Tabor or Korata the
Emperor's return from his campaign in Go-djam.---
I am, Sir, yours, &c., Jumus REUTER.