The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-15 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The bulletin of the Paris Observatory gives the
following as the atmospheric situation yesterday :
" A gale was blowing on Tuesday morning on the
Channel and the North Sea. The weather is squally,
and rain is falling on France. Some storms broke
on Tuesday night over Holland, France, and Switzer-
land. The air is calm on the Mediterranean. The
wind is between S. and W. on France ; N. on the
British Isles, and N.E. at Corunna." At Paris, yes-
terday, the weather \vas exceedingly fine until about
five, when a rather heavy shower fell. At 3 p.m.
thermometer ' marked 22.7 Centigrade (72 4.5
Fahrenheit).
The Moniteur publishes the comparative receipts
of the French railways during the first quarter of
the year 1866 as compared with the corresponding
period of 1865. In the old network, on an average
of 7,584 kilometres (4,740 miles) open to the public,
the receipts were 107,020,207 francs in the three
months of 1866, against 96,656,406 fr. in 1865,
showing an increase of 10,363,801 f. On the new
network, for 5,829 kilometres (3,640 miles), the
receipts were 29,088,170 fr., against 24,007,646 fr.
for 5,375 kilometres in 1865; the increase being
5,080,524 fr. The combined totals for both classes
showing 136,108,377 fr. for 1866, against 120,664,052
francs for the previous year, the total augmentation
being nearly 15 millions and a half.
Altona, which has of late been mentioned so
frequently, is situated on the south-west extre-
mity of the Duchy of Holstein, and touches im-
mediately the free city of Hamburg. The two
cities, which almost form one, are placed on the
right bank of the Elbe, not far from the
mouth. Opposite is Harburg, where the Hano-
verian railway terminates, and by this road
the Austrian troops will make their retreat. In
quitting Altona they definitively abandon Holstein.
The first detachment embarked two days since, and
all the troops commanded by General de Gablenz
have successively crossed the Elbe. At one o'clock
in the morning the movement of evacuation was
completed, and the passage of the Austrian army
to the Hanoverian territory was effected without
accident.

BOURSE, June 14.—Two o'Clock.---The com-
munication of the Emperor to the Legislative Body
is generally construed by speculators as indicating
the pacific intentions of France in the pending

hostilities ; the Stocks most affected by the recent
state of uncertainty on that point, viz., French
Threes and Italian Fives, have therefore been ac-
tively dealt in to-day, and are now held firmly at a
formidable advance in quotations. Threes, for the
Account, are at 64f. 5c., or an improvement of 60c.;
whilst Italian Fives have rebounded lf. 10c., to
38f. 40c. Mobilier Shares are 2f. 50c. better, viz.,
at 492 f. 50c., and Northern Railway 3f. 75c. ;
Lyons and Austrian have, on the other hand, receded
2f. 50c. each ; and Orleans and Lombard remain
unvaried. The following are the sums being " dis-
counted " to-day :—viz., 306,000 f. French Threes,
92,500 Italian Fives, 2,325 Credit Mobilier Shares,

125 Northern, &c. From London a decline of k
per cent. is telegraphed on Consols. _ _

Three o'clock.--The close of business has been
marked by a fall of 41f. 25c. in Mexican Stock, the
prices now being 180 f. Other Securities have con-
tinued their progressive movement, and closed as
follows :

41- per Cents 92 50

Bank Shares 3430
Italian Loan 39 50
Do. end month 39 50
Mexican Loan 2O

10. Ofl

mon'

3 per Cents. 64 25
. _

D. end month 64 15

Credit Mobilier ... 510
Do. end month ... 495

Do. Bonds
Spanish Threes
Home Debt
Deferred
-AYS.

Credit Fonder —
Do. end month 1127 50

For Account.
Orleans 792 50
Northern 1067 50
Lyons and Mediterranean 783 75
Southern 512 50
Western
518 75
Eastern
488 75
Sardinian
Austrian
287 50
Lombard
275
North of Spain 9O
Saragossa l2O
Ditto to Barcelona —
Roman

Mr. Charles J. Plumptre, the well known lec-
turer and elocutionist, has just been appointed to the Lec-
tureship of Public Reading and Speaking at King's College
Evening Classes.
THE SUSPECTED MURDER OF A CHILD NEAR
PLYMOUTH.—John Grant, a private in the 13th
Regiment, who is in custody at Plympton for having mur-
dered a boy named Philip Boobier, has made a sort of con-
fession of the crime of which he stands charged. After he
had been remanded by Mr". Bowes he called Sergeant
Hicks to the cell, and said he wished to be taken before a
magistrate. He was informed that his wish could not be
granted, and the prisoner then said that he wanted to make
a confession. The sergeant cautioned him that what he
might say might be used in evidence against him, and ho
then made a. statement to the effect that he left the camp
in company with the little boy Boobier, for the purpose of
having a bathe. On their way to the beach the lad re-
marked that there were rabbits about. Shortly afterwards
he (Grant) took up a stone with the intention of throwing
it at a rabbit ; but he missed his aim and struck the boy on
the head. The deceased rolled for 30 or 40 yards, and pri-
soner went to him and found that he Was suffering much
pain. Ho wrapped the deceased in his greatcoat and went
away ; but on his return he found that he was dead.
—Westernpforning News.

MURDER IN DURIIA3I.—An adjourned investiga-
tion took place yesterday at Easington-lane, in the
county of Durham, relative to the death of James Cooper,
75 years of age, a miner, who lived in a house directly op-
posite with a woman named Jane Craggs, who was his
housekeeper. The deceased was found covered up in the
bed in his own house in a state of considerable- decom-
position. Cooper was missed after Monday night tho 14th
of May last, and his appearance was accounted for by the
housekeeper stating that he had gone to Coshoe at four
o'clock in the morning of that day. She always en-
deavoured to prevent the neighbours, and lastly the police,
from approaching the bed, where the body was afterwards
found, and, as the evidence previously published showed,
she had made several threats and peculiar expressions re-
specting the doing away with Cooper. The discovery that
the deceased was in bed, and had been there all that time,
was made by a fellow-workman of his, who having bad
his suspicion'aroused, went to the house and unloosened
the bed curtains, which were closely drawn and pinned,
and then made the shocking disclosure that Cooper was
dead. The housekeeper was thereupon taken into custody
by the police on the charge of being concerned in his death.
A verdict of "Wilful murder " was returned against her,
andwas received with great demonstrations of approval by
hundreds of persons who had congregated at the outside 'of
the inn where the incinefot was held.

.71,*-17511
E.
ern ei tam Tar
• -

The Queen's Journey to Scotland.

ABERDEEN, June 14.
The Queen arrived at Aberdeen and left again
after five minutes' stoppage. Shortly before the
advertised time a large and fashionable assemblage
was present, including Sheriff Thornton in Court
costume. The journey to Aboyne occupied an hour.
The Queen posted thence to Balmoral, arriving at
4 o'clock. The day was fine.

Their Royal llighnesses the Prince and Princess
of Wales honoured the Earl and Countess de Grey
with their company at dinner yesterday evening at (licit
residence in Carlton-gardens. The prince and princess
arrived at 8 o'clock, attended by the Countess of Maccles-
field and Lieut.-Colonel Keppel. There were present t°
meet their royal highnesses at dinner—the Duke and
Duchess of Sutherland, the Eall and Countess of Tanker-
vine, the Earl and Countess Spencer, the Earl and Countess
of Clarendon, the Earl and Countess of Listowel, Lora
Henry Hercy, Captain Lane Fox, &c. The Countess de
Grey had a dance after dinner, at which a select and dis-
tinguished company assembled.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Cambridge
and the Duke of Edinburgh honoured the llar"
chioness (Maria) of Ailesbury with their presence at dinner
yesterday evening, at her ladyship's residence in Hertford-
street, Mayfair. There were present to meet the inns"
trious guests —their Serene Highnesses Prince and Plincess
Edward of Saxe-Weimar, the Duke of St. Albans, the.
Duchess of Manchester, the Marchioness of Ely, the Bari
and Countess of Dalkeith, the Countess of Westmorland,
Viscount Hamilton, Lord and Lady Foley, Lord and Lady
( harlesßruce, Lord and Lady Cecilia Bingham, Sir iteurli
Des Vceux, Sir Thomas and Lady Louisa Moncreiffe, (10
Hon. James and Mrs. Macdonald, Dr. Quin, &c.
The Duke of Roxburghe and the Marquis °f
Bowmont have left_the Clarendon Hotel for Norway.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury an
family leave town next week for Hatfield House, gems
for the season. The noble marquis, as Lord Lieutenant a
Middlesex, will give his annual entertainment on Satnr-
day, the 23d inst., to the Middlesex magistrates and the
officers of the several regiments of county militia.
The Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter an
Lady Victoria Cecil left town yesterday for Brighton for
short period.
The Earl and Countess of Lichfield left town 0
Tuesday for Paris.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE.—MIRACULOUS ESCAPE, vy
SEVERAL PERSONS.—This morning about 25 Mint°
past one o'clock a fire, nearly attended with fatal ease-
qugnces broke out in the premises belonging to Mr. 131.0°'
a shell-fish monger and luncheon-room proprietor, situate
at No. 10 in the Minories. The discovery was made by
gentleman, who at once called the police and sent off foI.
the assistance of the Royal Society's escape. In the course
of a few minutes Conductors Preston and Wood ut-
tended with their machines, when they found tvr°
persons on the roof and three at the second floor screaluing
for assistance. Having ascended the escapes they brought
down five endangered persons in safety. The 1311
steamers by Shand, Mason, and Co., and several mattes
power ones quickly attended, and the firemen, under the
dinction of Mr. Gatehouse, went to work, and the fire ur3.5
in the course of an hour extinguished, the damage being CO:
fined to the basement and shop. The origin of the fire '-
unknown.
WINE.—ln a letter addressed to M. Pasteur, g'
Mares gives an account of certain experiments a hi°
on some red wine of Grenache of last year. This hill
had remained more than a fortnight in the vat with thes
lees ; and though bottled at the end of October last, it stli
has a sugary taste, though containing a strong proportions
of alcohol (about 13 per cent.). It is apt to turn and ge
muddy whenever displaced, and requires to bo oce3"
sionally strengthened with alcohol to make it keep. 14.
Mares subjected several bottles (of this wine to it
high temperature according to M. Pasteur's wwa'
Some of these bottles had become muddy elllle+t
by being jolted in carts, by the influence of ill
mospheric changes, or some other cause. On being 13u
into a water-bath at a temperature of 60 degrees, they tie-
came clarified at the end of half an hour, and without tia
deposit. Those bottles which had not been warmed die'
posited a ferment which presented the appearance of gf;
bular and opaque matter. M. Mares has made sine.
experiments with other winos, .tied always obtained tli°
same result. They were all vt Ines requiring an additi°
of alcohol to prevent their being spoilt by trayelliuP,
Wine which clarifies spontaneously is less limpid than
which has been heated. When decanted and violent',
shaken, it is still subject to becoming muddy, while OW
which has been warmed is not affected by the same oper6,,
tion. The same wine strengthened with 2 per cent. of 0013°6'
also becomes clear in the course of a fortnight, depositiug.e.
quantity of matter of the same nature as that of wine is
its natural state ; the microscope shows that the deposit it.
composed of living ferment and fragments of dead fernieual
On the other hand, clouded wines subjected to heat &I):
deposit, but remain as they were. Hence M. Mares COmt:
eludes that on wines that are still sweet, ready to ferro
ceues
and easy to turn, a heat of from 55 to 60 degrees proci,uhey
beneficial effects, by imparting to them the stability „
are in want of ; an effect which is not always obtaineanovi'
repeated additions of alcohol. If they do not contain e.
lees in suspension, their clarification by heat is inalne,bi
METEOROLOGY.—In an able paper publisheL'iest
the Cosmos, M. W. de Fonvielle, one of our ab'ev,
meteorologists, examines certain results obtained ill Ae•
higher regions of our atmosphere by Mr. Glaisher,th cii-10,
brated scientific aeronaut. It is well known that a tilt ve
meter with a blackened bulb marks a much higher the:a. it
rature when exposed to the direct rays of the still tred
would otherwise do. It is with an instrument so Pret'il,, to
that 'Mr. Glaisher has endeavoured to inve'''of
the temperature of the higher regions ; and c:„1:11or
the results at which he arrives is of the highest '",t'oto
tance, he having found that the maximum telnPer`hace
thus obtained is lower in proportion as the altitude °vide
the level of the sea increases. This, M. de l'°/iwialon
rightly observes, is in direct contradiction to the f—atiog
opinion that the atmosphere is a sort of screen proc:n the
us from the effects of the incandescent body We ht
pe-
sun. If it were so, the maximum temperature oug De-
cessarily to rise in proportion as the supposed sore
tDO5°,
comes thinner, and would be immeasurably high, fto 1131'
regions where the barometer has, for instance, fallen
,nd the
its ordinary altitude. Mr. Glaisher having construe to to
curve of the temperatures, by taking them as ordiS,
abscissas representing the corresponding altitudes, 1.1 040'
this curve differs very little from a sight perceptiblY°Torca;
towards the axis of the abscissas. From theseoe
tions, M. Warren dfria Rue concludes that the ,ocre a
temperature of solid bodies is a result of the 10: lat.,ler
ambient air, and depends upon the density of I"ra,°.s.
quite as much as upon the intensity of the solar er.
de Fonvielle hero rightly remarks that this 1a113.11 iu
perimentally tested by enclosing a thermal°tor
al ioe
transparent vessel containing air at a high artidel, sel°
sure. He then points to the curious diversity oleo'
obtained by M. Dolfuss-Ausset on the heights of Shero he,
dule, 3,800 metres above the level of the sea-,
passed a whole fortnight, in August, 1864, in the fr°l:
eternal snow. In this atmosphere, very differetiaes,
that in which Mr. Glaisher conducted his obsorTueratoo",o
found very great differences in the readings of tl'aittisiieri
ters in the sun and in the shade, whereas 311% its of °hilt,
results tend to prove that at the extreme lino t
atmosphere the thermometer with a naked bulb,coet'
shade would give the same reading as the the'''
with a blackened bulb in the sun. n net Pliling
EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING.—In an able
lished by the Cosmos, M. W. do Fonvielle
eau
frog a
the singular fact that lightning may kill a Pe''sils
considerable distance. A few days ago, be tecicteut'lnct
English revenue-officer was struck blind, being
on its 11 ac .00; aPo
tot
near the path of the electric fluid, but not vot
ad
our author attributes the late explosion at f'sruhich is us
vy
an electric tempest. Fulminate of inercurtiLooposeci
for percussion-caps, is at least as easy to be oee'lectrio ciijo
explosion through the intervention of an cf that atoa
rent, as by mere friction. It so haPP„e'`leietto I'l° tof
very moment the powder-magazine at La oresaci,
a violent detonation occurred by lightning lu ware str,,t
Vesinet, near St. Germain. Seventeen trees .ovecl
to be ronsideof
at the same instant; but it still rem!
atmospheric electricity can make itself
1 tteral
able a distance. Certain it is that the . a felt frOc"o3,
powerful discharges can make theinselveNsv. 1-) iad
great distance on the human frame,
tr
of „WO, '0
infselt at $ frectS
more sensitive to electricity than fulmin
rmrageo(s,
On the 29th of May, 1861, a -violent tsuvitich
the commune of Chisey, Isere, , of SCa at
sion M. Seguin, a correspondent of the Aoatv'brgb. roOrocl
ascertained that the electric fluid fell ou tne
direction, 1111°1 wa°
place where telegraphic wires follow
tree .soic,
being planted with walnut trees. `1 and and leoa,
roofed with metal; there being conscquoya'_,, to the '-`,.lopg
struck on this occasion stood near pa
suocica,!ooo,
ducting surface, tho lightning did no
haa.l7loo,etro;loitti
but the current continued for more than
",bile all
trees along that length were mark:
_ks woo
_eves
the wires, which were broken in tw,a
furrow denuded of bark. About 00
aw„hree
marked, the nearest being at a distanceno;
a'
co, :vo
from the wires. Our author further q
f rst vefo y,
occurred in the mines of Him
u t:.O 51,0c0
many workmen in different parts of fich,g vie
same time, some roe' -'1 u'v toef
denly struck at the l, 0
in their backs, others in their anus .turne coved a
vnith a lon tueS
ry
who were at work with their backs reed
were struck so that each thought he 1, 1 rt:
from his companion.