The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-13 00:00:00

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lthboeustg-
the two ProiluAimiss his opinion that—
a hththineg"tllLat M. Lake of tlienasten" means
the
d'ElniLry lus done, and that
its SUCCCSS 11-.)r,, is in great part due to the excellent
acting of Aldine. Jane Esslcr—yet it is a chef
d'a'utre in comparison with that " shapeless mon.
strosity" called " Colleen Bawn!" I have seen
neither of the two pieces, and consequently have
no opinion as to their respective merits, but it
occurs to me that the rights of the question be
tween the French and English dramatist depend
upon other considerations. M. S. arcey pro-
cuds to censure M. l3oucicault's conduct as incon-
sistent, as well as unhandsome, in repudiating hos-
tile criticism of the "Lady of Glenaston," while he
receives half the uthor's profits. lam disposed to
think there is something to be said on the other
side, and M. Boucicault will probably find means
to say it. The money rights and the literary repu-
tation of an author are two things essentially differ-
ent in their nature, and one is surprised to see such.
a champion of his country's chivalry as M. d'Ennery
mixing them up together. It is quite clear that
the use of M. Boacicault's name has contributed
very materially to the success of the " Lake of
Glenaston" in Paris, and it may well be that M.
d'Ennery has borrowed the leading idea of " Colleen
Bawn" in such a way as to give M. Boucicault a
legal claim to his part of the author's rights, while,
at the same time, the latter may be justified in
explaining to the public the small part which he
was allowed to take in putting the piece upon the
French stage. There is nothing discourteous in
M. Boucicault's letter. He does not say a word
against the " Lake of Glenaston ;" he only desires
to make it known, since French critics have run it
down very severely, that he did not write it, and
this M. d'Ennery admits. But then M. d'Ennery
says, "I volunteered to pay you money which I
and-therefore you are a brute

of an Englishman for not allowing your name to
be responsible for my writing." I cannot think this
either a logical or a chivalrous argument.

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING 2HE WEEK.

(From the Registrar-General's Weekly Return.)

The London returns for the week that ended last
Saturday exhibit a great increase. The deaths,which
were less than 1,100 in each of the last three weeks
of October, rue to 1,251 in the first week of Nov.
Last week they exceeded by 41 the number which
would have been returned if the average rate of
mortality had prevailed.
There is au increase under many heads in the
Table of Fatal Diseases. In the last two weeks
scarlatina rose from 94. to 111, whooping. cough from
35 to 45, phthisis from 124 to 159, apoplexy from
18 to 33, disease of the heart from 47 to 67, pneu-
monia from 70 to 89, and disease of the liver from
8 to 21. Scarlatina appears to be very prevalent in
some parts of the metropolis. Four deaths occurred
from it in the North-west sub-district of Chelsea, 4
in Camden-town, 7 in the East sub-district of Isling-
ton, 4 in South Hackney, 8 in Clerken well, 4 in the
sub-district of Whitechapel Church, 4 in that of St.
Paul's (St. George's in-the-East), and 9 in the two
Waterloo-road sub-districts of Lambeth. There
were 19 deaths from diphtheria. There was 1 from
privation.
Three children died of diphtheria in the Children's
Hospital, Great Ormond-street. The Registrar of
the first Waterloo-road sub-district records 4 deaths
from scarlatina, and reports that Sea Lion-place and
Brad-terrace are in bad sanitary condition. He
states that recent railway operations in that neigh-
bourhood had deprived the people of the little light
and air they formerly possessed. In the sub-district
of Woolwich Dockyard, in a house 2, Andrew's-
buildings, 4 children of one family have died since
Oct. 13-1 of cholera, 3 of scarlatina; and 2 others
are now suffering from fever.

Last week the births of 840 boys and 870 girls,
in all 1,710 children, were registered in London.
In the 10 corresponding weeks of the year 1851.60
the average number was 1,647.
COMPOSITION OF TIIE THAMES WATER IN 1860.
Dr. Letheby, the medical officer of health to the
city, has prepared a set of tables which exhibit the
mean composition of the water of the Thames for
the whole of the year 1860, as it was obtained at
high tide at London-bridge in mid-stream and at 6
feet from the shore on the city side. The results are
also stated for each month and each quarter of the
year. The analysis shows the several proportions of
organic and mineral matter in dissolution, and those
of organic and mineral matter in suspension ; the
ammonia, the combined sulphuric acid, and alkaline
chlorides. The " appearance on standing," odour
of the water, colour of deposit, have been observed
and the results as ascertained at different times are
seen in connexion with the highest and mean tem-
perature of the river, and with the rain-fall.
The rain-fall of 1860 was rather large.; it amounted
to 27 inches, and the volume of the river was in
consequence more than usually adequate to resist
the current of sea water, only a small proportion of
which advanced with the tide to London-bridge.
For this reason the composition of the water in that
year may be fairly taken to represent the normal
condition of the river, and to furnish a standard
with which the water as obtained at similar times
and places in subsequent years may be compared.
In the year the mean quantity of matter in mid-
stream was 38,6 grs. in au imperial gallon, of which
32.2 grs. were dissolved, 6'4 grs. suspended. The
proportions were rather less at six feet from the
shore. Of the 38.6 grs., 33.9 grs. were mineral, 4.7
grs. organic. The monthly means of total quantity
rose to 57.2 grs. in August, and 67.6 grs. in Sep-
tember, and fell to 26 grs. in December. Though
the mean temperature of the water was higher in
July than in August and September, the quantity
of matter was then much less than it was in either
of the two subsequent months, and even less than
it was in May, when the temperature of the water

was much lower, but the rain-fall considerable. In

August and September there was an increase in
dissolved organic constituents, but the augmented
weight of matter was found almost entirely in the
alkaline chlorides.
The suspended matter is subject to great varia-
tion. Dr. Letheby states that "it averages about six.
grains to the gallon, but during strong winds and
heavy seas, as at the equinoxes, the proportion rises
to 14 or 15 grs. per gallon. It consists for the most
part of finely divided clay from the shores of the
river, and of living organisms of the diatomacions
class, as navicula and bacillaria. There is also a
small proportion of sewage matter, as broken up
muscular tissues, and the cellular tissue of wheat,
as well as the peculiar yellow fungus which is cha-
racteristic of sewage."
lie adds that " the condition of the river during
the summer of 1860 presented a marked contrast to
that of 1858 and 1859, when the proportions of dis•
solved constituents ranged from 158 to 410 gre. per
gallon, of which from 16 to 23 were organic, and
the odour was most offensive. The circumstances
which determine the production of this effluvium
are the presence of sewage mixed with large quan-
tities of sea water, and a high temperature."
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the week was 29 460
inches. The barometrical readings rose to 29.86
inches on Monday, and fell to 29 21 inches on Fri-
day. The mean temperature of the air in the week
was 42 deg., which is 34 deg. below the average of
the same week in 43 years (as determined by Mr..
Glaisher). The mean daily temperature was 6 and
The 6 d
lowesteg. b elcwntihgeh averagesttem peraotiu.
temperature
eouwr days of
Monday, or 2.8 deg. below the freezing point of
90 f
2 thed e week.o
n
t f
day.
water. The highest day temrature wrfahsesrs:lnsdeegof,
and occurred on the following
wa
sasl6tl.l6erdeefgo r. e 2161:13e
dthee thermometerg.Themean diralilytheranwgeeekw
mweaasn
3d4ewd-epgo.int
Them tempera-
difference
of the air was 89, complete
degree of humidity
and
air betweentemp
saturation being represented by 100. The mean
t u r e e rtthuer e
temperature of the water of the Thames Was 48.1
deg. The general direction of the wind was south-
west. The amount of rain was 081 inch, most of
which fell on the morning of Tuesday. There was
lightning on the evenings of 'Wednesday and
Thursday.

An auction of the foreign Redeemable Debt of
Spain will take place at Madrid on the 29th instant. The
assigned for the purpose is 4,015,072 realm