The Sun.
London, England, 1866-04-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 26, 1866.

ELECTION COMMITTEES.—This Day.

WAKEFIELD.

The case for the petitioner against the return of Mr. W.
11. Leathern (Liberal) having closed yesterday,
Mr. Gifford, Q.C., opened the case for the sitting mem-
ber. He said that after the statement made by the chair-
man, on the part of the committee, that bribery had been
proved to their satisfaction, be would not attempt to dis-
prove that fact. Tho learned counsel directed his argu-
ments entirely to establish the fact that there was no
complicity on the part of the sitting member with what
had been done by persons acting on his behalf.
Several witnesses were then called who, denied in the
most emphatic manner the statements of some of the most
material witnesses in support of the petition. _

Tho proceedings are not likely Co terminate until late
to-morrow.

HUDDERSFIELD.

Tho members of the 'committee re-assembled this
morning at 11 o'clock (Lord Naas in the chair.)
Tho case for the petitioner was proceeded with, and
several witnesses were examined, whose testimony tended
to corroborate the evidence of preceding witnesses as to the
corrupt practices alleged. One witness said that his prin-
cipal duty was similar to that of a witness examined yes-
terday, namely, to see that voters whom he had bribed
voted for the right man, and is discharging this duty he
had much difficulty. (Laughter.)

The New Factory Act.

The Factory Inspectors report most favourably of
the first year's working of the Act of 1864, plac-
ing under the Factory Act regulations several manu-
factures which till then had been a law to themselves.
Some master potters, indeed, are desirous that "full
time" should begin at an earlier age than the Act
will allow ; but, says Mr. Baker, " I have seen so
many masters recant their objections to the Factory
Act system. There are some few who even in this
trade, in which art is everything, do not seem to
appreciate thoroughly the value of an educated class
of artisans." Young hands may be scarce at pot-
tery wages ; coal and iron works compete more
and more for them every year ; but immigration
is taking place to some extent, and machinery is
likely to be adopted more rapidly than was an-
ticipated. The old system, with its reckless
expenditure of life and disregard of morals, will
give place to a more extended and less costly method
of production. There is alreaCy a visible improve-
ment in workrooms. The Act has the effect of
making more regularity necessary. Mr. Campbell,
of the firm of Minto and Co., states that the qua-
lity of their ware has been improved ; they have less
spoilt ware since the greater regularity of work has
put a stop to hurried produCtion. Masters find
that the men come earlier and lose less time, and as
much work is produced as before. Mr. Baker hopes
that we are on the eve of great sanitary improve-
ments in the Potteries. The workshops, in which
28,000 artisans are employed, have been white-
washed and cleansed, which in some instances have
not been done for 20 years ; the means of ventila-
tion have been greatly multiplied, the hours
of child labour have been diminished without
diminishing production ; 1,600 children, most
of them never at day school before, have
been placed in good schools, where they sit side by
side with children of the upper working classes
and of tradesmen ; and the effect is seen in the
altered tone of conversation in the workshop, in
greater tractability, more cleanliness, less preco-
ciousness, streets quieter at unseasonable hours, and
homes with more of domestic enjoyment. Masters
are stirred up to make improvements as the
workers become more respectable. Stoves are
being ventilated, and the heated chamber cut
off from the workshop, and this with a great
economy of fuel. So in the manufacture of
lucifer matches, of which such sad disclosures
were made, we are told of a firm who have the
dipping of the matches, the most unhealthy part of
the employment, done by machinery. Here again
some manufacturers complain of the limitation
of the hours of work and the consequent hindrance ;
but, as a sub-inspector says, " there's a certain
amount of work in a person, and when that's out
it's all he can do ;" and were it otherwise, children
should not be subjected to an amount of labour
which destroys their health and strength. Of the
percussion-cap manufacturers, one of the largest
manufacturers at Birmingham says that the cap-
fillers earn as good wages and do as much work as
before, and all are away at 6 p.m., instead of being
kept late at night from the desultory manner in
which the work used to be done. He observes a
great improvement. Paper-stainers also declare that
they find no decrease of production, and this with-
out additional hands being employed ; the work is
done with more energy than when the hours were
irregular and unrestricted. " The young folks are
not so wearied as with the former long hours, and
more work is produced in the same time." The
fustian cutters also with factory hours cut as much
as they were ever required to do ; " the hands stick
at work, knowing they will have to give over at a
certain hour." " The character of the trade is
raised." The prices of the work have been raised
greatly ; the earnings of a fustian cutter used to be
the earnings of a child, as child and man had the
same amount of daily labour ; but, under the new
Act, the child is forbidden to work until fully equal
to it, and the man earns a fair day's wages. Un-
fortunately the Act applies only to work for hire,
and parents may work their own children, therefore,
as long as they please ; young workers go home from
the factory when it closes, tobe compelled to work foe
their parents. But the result of the act is nothing but
a series of gains. It is true that children prohibited from
working full time in these manufactures may be, and
are, sent by their parents to other employments not
less injurious, where they may work full time ; but
Parliament will before long consider the condition
of these trades also. Three or four firms in Bir-
mingham, engaged in manufactures, reported upon
but not yet made the subject of legislation, have
already in anticipation of it begun to work Factory
Act hours. Mr. Baker gives the following as the
result of his long knowledge of factory life:—" Com-
merce seems to be growing faster than the popula-
tion, and as the power of wages strengthens we may
be certain of what the result will be without the
controlling influence of education. My belief is
that factory labour may be as pure, and as excel-
lent, and as obedient as domestic labour, and per-
haps more so, where the master wills a discipline
and enforces it. I have known many such examples."

lIORRIBLE TRAGEDY : SEVEN PERSONS MUR-
DERED.—A horrible butchery has been committed
on a farm near Philadelphia—the victims being a man,
named Christopher Dearing, his wife, his four children,
and his neice, a young woman about 23 years old. The
Philadelphia Ledger, of April 11, says:—" Yesterday a
friend of Mr. Dearing went to the house and found it fas-
tened up. He raised one of the sashes and entered. No
ono was within, and while the interior was not entirely in
order it did not exhibit such unusual disorder as to create
suspicion of foul play. The barn and stable were then
visited, and in the former the foot of a man was seen
protruding from under a pile of hay. The hay was re-
moved, and not only was the murdered body of Mr. Dear-
ing uncovered, but that of his niece also. Both wore in
full dress, he having even his gloves on, and both had their
heads nearly severed from their bodies. The pockets of his
pantaloons had been turned inside out, and his body
seemed to have been searched, as if for a money belt
They had doubtless been carried there and the hay piled
over them to prevent immediate discovery. The bodies of
the mother and children were found in a corn crib attached
to the barn, and all, as Mr. Dearing and niece were, with
their throats cut and their bodies concealed under a pile of
hay. The mother had, in addition, the top of her head
crushed in. One of the children was a mere babe, less
than two years old. The police found• an axe which was
bloody, and which had evidently been used by the mur-
derer. The wounds upon some of the victims show that
the throat& had been cut with an axe. A careful conside-
ration of all the facts and circumstances led to the conclu-
sion that the wife and children were murdered before the
husband and niece got home. On what part of the pre-
mises the slaughter took place could not be determined.
The supposition was that all the victims had been carried
to the place whore they were discovered. The disappear-
ance of the hired man andof the boy Cornelius led to
suspicion against them, and a reward has been offered for
their apprehension."

STEAM SHIPBUILDING IN FRANCE.—The largest
of the Transatlantic packet-boats built in France was
launched on Thursday last at the Chantier de Penhouet,
St.; Nazaire. This vessel is named the St. Laurent, and
having been originally intended for a paddle wheel steamer
has been lengthened, to provide space in tho stern for a
screw propeller. She is the largest craft of her class ever
built in France, and will compare favourably with any of
length
ise d3wsiGtfht. ; a four-bladed screw breadth, 43ft. Gin. ;
the finest vessels of the Transatlantic or any other com-
pany's
floee. He
, ft. t
Bin. She liesisfitted
propeller of 19ft. diameter and 23ft pitch. The spar deck,
which occupies her whole length, gives her an appearance
S
of great height in the water, while it increases the internal
accommodations. The latter aro calculated for a company
of 300 passengers. Since the establishment of the Trans-
atlantic Company's agency at St. Nazaire, and of the ship-
building yard of 3,1 r. John Scott, nearly four years ago,
the population of that town has increased from 8,000 to
20,000 inhabitants.
__

HORRIBLE ACClDENT.—Yesterday, &[r. C. St.
Clair Bedford, coroner for Westminster, held an inquest at
St. George's Hospital, on the body of Charles Congdon, a
painter, aged
.33 years. James Collis, a painter, who had
been working at Lady Truro's, E. 3, Eaton-square, stated
that deceased, who had also been working there as a painter,
ascended a ladder with a pot of colour in his band. He
was in excellent health and perfectly sober at the time, he
being generally a sober and steady man. He fell a depth
of 14 feet and was caught on the sp,kes of the area railings.
He stuck there firmly, and it required some force to lift
him off. One spike was driven deeply in the fleshy part
of the thigh. James Lintott, of Winchester-street, Pimlico,
upon the pavement,
he said he went up
jaonidneorn, saasikdinhgehfiomunhdowdeheeeascearad
elytiorg fall,
the ladder, and having got to the top of the cornice his
foot slipped and he fell en a spike. Giffard Randsford,
house surgeon at St. George's llosrital, said deceased was
conscious when admitted. He had a large wound in his
back and an incised wound in the thigh. He suffered great
pain, sank gradually, and expired on Sunday, the 22d inst.
A verdict of " Accidental death " 1146 returned.

THE MURDER IN CANNON STREET.

RE-EXAMINATION OF THE SUPPOSED MUR-
DERER AT THE MANSION-HOUSE THIS DAY.
This afternoon the man named William Smith, appre-
hended at Eton on suspicion of being the murderer of the
unfortunate woman Sarah Millson, the housekeeper to
Messrs. Bevington, No. 2, Cannon-stroot, was placed be-
fore the Lord Mayor for re-examination.

Colonel Fraser, Chief-superintendent Foster, Inspector
Hamilton, chief of the detective department, and Sergeant
Moss of the detective force, watched the case for the police
authorities.

Mr.Wontner appeared for the prosecution ; the prisoner
was defended by Mr. Searth.
The evidence was in fact a repetition of that given at
the coroner's inquest yesterday, and which will be found
iu another column.

Mrs. Robins, iu her cross-examination, adhered to the
evidence she had given with respect to the prisoner being
the man she saw leave the door of Messrs. Bevington's ou
the night of the mu: der. She did not know the prisoner
was blind in his left eye, which must have boon towards
her when the prisoner passed her in Cannon-street.
The young woman Collins also repeated her evidence.
George Terry was next examined, but nothing in addi-
tion to that which ho deposed yesterday was elicited. In
cross-examination, he said the prisoner wrote a letter,
which was found in Mrs. Millsoru's desk, for him in the
George public house. He road a :portion of it
over to her. He didn't go to her for the money
himself from Mrs. Millsom because she had told
him to send some one better dressed than himself.
Ho had hoard that Messrs. Bevington had been robbed,
but never proposed to the prisoner to mention the fact of
the robbery in the letter. He had been in trouble for
illegally pawning a carpet, but he had only been in prison
21 days. On the night of the 11th of April he was in bed
in St. Olave's Union Workhouse from eight o'clock in the
evening until eight in the morning.
Sarah Webber said the deceased had borrowed £33 15s.
from her. She had lent the money through Mrs. Terry.
The deceased had paid her about .£8 of the amount, by
instalments of 10s. a week. She never authorised Terry
to send any person to Mrs. Millsom. About two months
ago Mrs. Millsom called upon her and said that some one
had called upon her for some money, but she (witness)
told her she had done wrong in paying any to any person.
Police-constable 34 M, said he knew deceased, and a
short time ago she showed him a letter she had received
(the one that has been so often referred to), and she ap-
peared to be in very great fear. And on the Wednesday
following ho went with her to see if it was possible to find
the writer. Deceased showed him two receipts for certain
instalments, signed "W. Denton." In cross-examination
witness said he first saw the letter on the 4th of February.
Ho could not find out the writer or Terry.
By the Lord Mayor—Mrs. Millsom said the person whom
she was in fear of was Denton, who represented himself as
a solicitor.

Henry Child said he lived in Brocas-lane, Eton, and
knew the prisoner, and saw him in the Jolly Miller beer-
shop one evening in the early part of the month, but he
•ould not say whether it was the 11th or the 12th. He wa■
dressed in a black suit. He was asked if he would
make one at dominoes. Prisoner replied that he couldn't,
as he had got 40 miles to go. Witness said, " You can't go
40 miles to-night ;" to which he said, "Suppose I get to
London to-night—that will be 40 miles ? He (witness)
said, " Well, yes, but you are not going to London." Pri-
son•r said "Yes, he was," at which remark he called the
prisoner a I—r, and left the house.
(We shall continue the report in a later edition.)

The following appeared in our late edition of last even.
Ing:—

The adjourned inquiry by the coroner for the City of
London into the circumstances connected with the death
of Mrs. Sarah Millson, who was found murdered in the
premises occupied by Messrs. Bevington, wholesale leather
dealers, No. 2, Cannon-street, was resumed this afternoon.
The accused man William Smith was not present.
Mr. Scarth asked whether he might interrogate the wit-
ness on the part of the accused man Smith ?

Mr. Payne told him he had no right to do so, aid there-
fore he must refrain from doing so.
Mr. Scaith considered the decision extremely unfair,
especially as he should bo able to show that the accused
man had no more to do with the murder than the man in
the moon.
The first witness examined was

Mrs. Robins, of No. 1, Cannon-street, West, widow—
She said she knew Messrs. Bevington's premises. Had
seen a man in custody, and to the best of her recollection
she first saw him come from the street door of Messrs.
Bevington on the night of the murder. The violent slam-
ming of the door first attracted her attention. It was at
10 minutes past 10. The noise quite frightened her, and
as she turned she saw the man leave the steps of the door.
Mr. Scarth—There are two doors.

The Coroner—There was only one at the time of the
murder. I know about the additional door now in use. I
must make you remain quiet, or I shall order you to quit
the room.

Witness continued—He got as far as the end of the
pavement, and then turned in the direction of Budge-row.
In doing this he had to pass by her. He averted his face
a little as he passed, but she caught his eye.
Coroner—You say his face?
Mr. Scarth—She says she only caught his eye.
Coroner—Will you be quiet, sir.
Mr. Scarth—l only wish to have matters fairly--
Coroner—Bo quiet, sir, or I will have you put out of the
room.

Mr. Scarth still persisted in addressing the Coroner,
when Mr. Payne called in the officer, and told him to re-
move Mr. Scarth, the Coroner threatening him with com-
mitment if he further interrupted the proceedings.

Mr. Scarth—l will leave the room. There is no need of
violence.
Witness continued—She believed the man she had seen
at the Mansion House to be the person she saw leave Mr.
Bevington's door. She saw a number of men in a kind
of dark passage in the Mansion House. About 14 other
persons passed. Vv hen she first saw the man she felt it was
the person she had seen in Cannon-street. She did not
say so until they repassed before her. He was the third
man in the 14. She did not feel any doubt in her own
mind that he was the man she saw in Cannon-street. Sho
thought she had seen the man about Cannon-street, but of
that she would not be certain.

By a Juror—She did not know of the inquest until after
it was held last Friday week.

Tho Coroner said with respect to the interruption
which had taken place, the jury were simply sitting as
grand jurors ; they were not trying any person, and his
motive for preventing the gentleman from putting ques-
tions to the witnesses was that he felt it could be better
done to-morrow at the Mansion-house, when the accused
would be present.

Inspector Shelford proved the finding in the writing-
desk of the deceased the letter of George Terry, which
led to the apprehension of Smith.

John Moss, a detective sergeant in the City police, re-
peated the evidence he gave at the Mansion-house relative
to the arrest of Smith at his mother's house at Eton.
The Coroner said the spots spoken to on the clothes of
the prisoner found at Eton were not those of blood. They
had been examined closely by one of the greatest scientific
authorities of the day, and pronounced not blood.
Moss said he was present when Mrs. Robins saw the
prisoner Smith at the Mansion House on Wednesday, the
18th. She was placed in a room, and about 14 or 15 per-
sons were got together, some as near the height of Smith
as could be procured, and then they all passed her. Smith
was the third man. After they walked past they returned
in the same order when Mrs. Roberts pointed out the pri-
soner Smith saying, " That's the man."
Coroner—What was done then ?

Moss—Nothing as far as Smith was concerned. The
recognition took place after the examination at the
Mansion-house.

Coroner—Have you any witness who saw the accused
in London on the night of the murder ?
Moss—No, sir. We have witnesses who heard him say
he was going to London on the night of the murder, and
also some people who saw him near Slough on tho night in
question. They are not in attendance to-day.
The Coroner said Dr. Letheby was present, but all he
wished to say was that the spots on the clothes found by
the police were not blood. This fact had only been arrived
at of for the most minute examination ; and Dr. Letheby
wished it to be known that the spots so resembled blood in
appearance that the most practised eye might have been
deceived by their appearance.
- - -

Catherine Collins, servant to Mrs. Robins, said she saw
the prisoner Smith at the Mansion-house. About two
months ago she saw him come out of Bevington's. She
had seen him again a short time after come out of the
same house, but she could not say who let him out.
The door was shut after him. On both occasions she
had seen the man Smith it was after 9 o'clock. When
Mrs. Robins came in she remarked she had just seen some
one leave Bevington's, which called forth from her (wit-
ness) the remark, "How late."
Wm. Bettinson, a warehouseman to Messrs. Bevington,
said he had seen the prisoner Smith in Messrs. Bevington's
house. He was on the second floor. It was not customary
for strangers to be seen in that part of the house, and
therefore he took particular notice of him.
George Terry said he was now an inmate of St. °lave's
Workhouse. About a year ago he lived in Fair-street,
He knew the deceased Mrs. Millson when she lived next
door to him in Neckinger. He know the man in custody.
He was known as "Bill." He became acquainted with him
nine months ago. He lived at 3, Dencey-street, Redcross-
street. He told Smith that he had some money owing to
him, and Smith replied "I will get it for you." He told
"Bill" the particulars of the affair, how the money had
been had, and mentioned Mrs. Webber's and Mrs. Mill-
son's names. After that they both swat to a public-house,
and "Bill" wrote two notes, but the one found in the de-
ceased's desk was not one of the two. He went
with "Bill" on one occasion to Bevington's, and
waited while he went in. It was too early to see
her, and he was told to call at 3 in the afternoon. They
then went to No. 10, 4.l4ermaatu-s, and_ Omith Trout in,

and after he had seen two or three persons there they both
returned to Bevington's, and Smith went iu. After waiting
some time Smith came out, and said " What do you think
I've got ? " Witness said "Two pounds," to which he
replied " No ; this is all," pulling out about 12s.
He thought he was deceiving him, and he told him
ho should go back and see Mrs.Millson. Smith replied, "it's
all right, leave it to me. I've got to go again on Wednesday.
We then went to a public-house, and Smith got drunk. It
afterwards came to his knowledge that Smith had had £2
when he told him he had only got 12s. ; and Mrs. Kelsey
blamed him (Terry) for employing Smith in his affairs.
He afterwards told Smith he was a - rogue.

The Coroner said the jury would now say whether they
were in a condition to return their verdict. They could
postpone their decision in the hope of getting more evi-
dence, but he thought the evidence of Mrs. Robins was
important, as she spoke very positively as to seeing
the prisoner Smith leave the house of Mr. Bevington on
the night of the murder ; and, taken with the other
facts, he thought the jury quite in a position to
return a verdict. However, he would adjourn the inquiry
again if it was the wish of the jury he should do so.

The inquiry was, however, adjourned until the 2d of
May.

Li werpod. Cotton Market. —Ttis Day.

The Market opens quiet, and prices are in favour
of buyers. Sales probably 6,000 or 7,000 bales.

Foreign Mail Packet List

Mll:SDsUouEt.harap
Australia and New ZealandA
via
Ditto, via Marseilles ton 3fay 20
Brazil and Cape Vmds. by Brill May 14
Ditto, by French packet .. sh packet May 4.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension ....... s. Map 2,.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via 8— Helena May 25.
Ditto, via Marseilles ....... outhampton May 3.
Falkland Islands ........................... April 27
Gibraltar, via Southampton
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Sontha April 23.
Ditto, via Marseilles
........
India (Bombay), via Southampton. ............
. • ...April 27
Ditto, via Marseilles ..
..... May 8
Malta. Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton ..,,,,April 28.
Ditto, via Marseilles April 27.
Mauritius, via Southampton May 14
Ditto, via Marseil:e 3 May 8.
Newfoundland .......................... ... , May g.
Portugal • .................. • . • • • May t
Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon
United States and British North America, by Bri-
tish packet ...• • May 3
Ditto, by United States packet, via BOuthamp-

ton
Ditto, via Cork ...
Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry.. April 27.
West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas and
Honduras) ...April 28.
Cuba and Mexico
Bahamas, via New York. May 3.
Bermuda, via Halifax May 9.
West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Tenerife May 13

TAE PRINCESS ALICE'S BlRTHDAY.—Yesterday
was the anniversary of the birthday of the Princess Alice.
Her Royal Highness was born on the 25th of April, 1843,
and was married on the Ist of July, 1862, to his Royal
Highness Prince Louis of Hesse, K.G. At Windsor and
London the usual loyal demonstrations were made.
PIPER TO PRINCE ALFRED.—Mr. Colin Cameron,
at present piper to Mr. Wm. Malcolm, of Glenmoraig, Ar-
gyllshire, has been appointed piper to Prince Alfred, and
enters upon his duties next month at Windsor Castle,
where he has already played before her Majesty. Mr.
Cameron is a nephew of the champion piper of Scotland,
Mr. Alexander Cameron.

PUBLIC-HOUSE POLITICIANS.-Ist Costermonger:
Vell, I calls this ere Reform Bill a half-and-half measure.
—2d Costermonger: Sitch half-and-half as I never heer'd
on.-Ist Costermonger : Didn't yer ?-2d Costermonger :
No. All the half-and-half as ever I drinked was mixed
together. I never know'd nobody drink his half-and-half
swallerin' one half first and the tother arterwards. Punch.

A NEW USE FOR RAILWAY ARCHES.--The Duke
of Wellington, colonel of the Victoria Rifles, has approved
the use of an arch at the Ludgate-hill Station, which has
been lent by the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway
Company, and parades of the corps now take place there
every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday night.

WHEN THE WORLD WILL END.—M. Delaunay,
at the last meeting of the Academy of Sciences, Paris,
read a communication on the nocturnal growth of plants,
in the course of which certain facts were advanced tending
to prove that the earth's motion is gradually slackening.
M. Delaunay's facts show this by proving that the days are
insensibly lengthening to the extent of a second in 100,000
years, and that at this rate in eight thousand six hundred
and forty millions of years it will stop altogether, sup-
posing its destruction not to have been brought about
before that period has elapsed.—English Mechanic and
Mirror of Science.
PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN.—Father
Secchi of Rome halting offered some objections to the re-
sults at which M. Raye has arrived by calculation in the
question of the physical constitution of the sun, M. Faye
replied at last week's sitting of the Academy of Sciences.
As the nature of the objections may be guessed from the
answers,he will at once proceed toM.Faye's communication.
He denies that the measures taken by M. Carrington (of
whose long and patient observations of the sun our readers
aro well aware) are in any way insufficient, M. Faye hav-
ing been quite surprised at their general precision. He
states that, far from believing them to be anything but
mere approximations to truth, he had treated them as such,
until he became convinced of their exactness by a more
minute scrutiny ; and it was thus he was enabled to dis-
cover the existence of two periodical inequalities which,
added to the diurnal variation of velocity from one parallel
of the sun to another, complete the theory of the motion of
the spots, from which alone the rotation of the photosphere
can be determined. In speaking of the deformation of the
image, Father Secchi must mean the Kew photographs
and not Mr. Carrington's methods. When the sun is pro-
jected on a sensitive plate through an objective only,
there is no deformation but an enormous focal length is
necessary in order to get at once proofs of large dimensions
At Key, on tha contrary, where a very short telescope is
used, some additional enlargement must be obtained
by means of the eye-piece, and then there may be some
suspicion of a defect of proportionality between the en-
larged image and the focal one. But this cause of error
cannot have influenced Mr. Carrington's results. Father
Secchi thinks that M. Faye attributes to the photosphere
a depth three times greater than it has. To this M. Faye
replies that the learned Jesuit has measured the thickness
of the penumbra of a spot when the latter had reached
the margin of the solar disc ; but that in such an extreme
position, in which the effect of perspective reduces one of
the dimensions enormously, it is impossible to be quite cer-
tain that the bottom of the spot is-still visible, and conse-
quently the measure obtained is liable to the same uncer-
tainty. M. Faye's calculations, on the contrary, are based
on the exclusion of those extreme positions, and therefore
in his opinion more reliable.
ETHER.—The dispute still going on between the
Academies of Medicine of Paris and Lyons as to
the relative advantages of choloroform and ether as anms-
thetic agents, and which our readers wore well
acquainted with, gives peculiar interest to Dr. Richardson's
new apparatus for producing local antesthasia by means
of either. The apparatus is exceedingly simple. An
India rubber ball attached to a tube of the same
material communicating with the interior of a bottle con-
taining ether, will, by a squeeze of the hand, force air
enough into the bottle to exercise a strong pressure on
the ether, which is consequently ejected from a thin tube
tapered off at the outer end. The jet of ether thus
formed will, on being directed to the particular spot
to be rendered insensible, produce that effect by
means of the intense cold occasioned by the
rapid evaporation of the ether. On this subject
the Revue Medicate says : —"At a recent sitting of the
Societe do Chirurgie a discussion arose touching the in-
convenience arising from the vaporisation of ,ether in the
place whore the operation is conducted, it being urged
that both the patient and physician were liable to
be seized with a very inconvenient feeling of intoxi-
cation. Knowing that Mr. George, an English
dentist long settled in Paris, and always well acquainted
with all the improvements introduced into his art, was in
the habit of using Dr. Richardson's apparatus, we con-
sulted him on the subject, and learnt from him that he
had often extracted teeth without giving pain, by means
of local anwsthesia induced by ether, and had never
met with any case in which general ansesthesia was caused
by that process. We question whether chloroform could
be used with equal safety in such operations. Mr. George's
experience on this subject is certainly of considerable
weight, since, with laudable liberality, ho operates gra-
tuitously on the poor, and has therefore ample opportunity
of testing the advantages and disadvantages a the
An important archacoloiCardiscov just
station some
e y
been made in Egypt at Chalouf,
leagues north of Suez, prtmucss.
neity
o
Persian origin has long
been knownscriptions found there
that gentleman
xist.
having been sent to
copy of someld. Marietta, inwherea monumentA
cuneiforml
of
nildriecinataioinnshetlhoawt
thea portion
e
in hieroglyphics must
inferred from certain
de Lesseps, who ordered excavations
of the soil. He accordingly communicated his con-
jecture to M.
to be made, which brought to light a translation of
the cuneiform writing in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
The stone bearing this bilingual inscription, which
belongs to the reign of Darius, will shortly be con-
veyed to the museum of Boulac.
The Algerian papers state that immense clouds
of locusts have arrived from the South and com-
mitted great ravages. Every exertion is being
made by the inhabitants to destroy them, and in
order to stimulate those efforts the authorities
have,
111044 offered rewards.
•