The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-17 00:00:00

o,tiltan 6 per Cent —
no. 4i per Cent —
Do. 3 per Cont.,
,I'o. 6 per co-A. 1867 -
10. 7 par Cent., 1866
C lo übian, 6 per Cent.
Dan!sti, 3 pm- Cent., 1825 , —
Danubian Principalities, 7 i.,er Cent —
Do 8 per Cent., 1867 ...•
Equador New Consolidated, 1 per Cent
Egyptian, 7 per Cent
Do Second issue
Do. .£5tA, Bonds —
Do. £lOO Bonds ....; 83
Do. 1864
Do. Account ,
Do. £5OO Bonds
Do. £lOO Bonds B4l
English Scrip, 1868 74i 31
Do do. £l5 pd dis
Government Railway Debentures
Greek 5 per Cent., 182-1 5, ex Coups
Do. Account .
Do. Coupons
Do. Account -
Guatemala ii per Cent ..
Honduras Gov. Rail. Loan., 10 p. Ct., all pd
it . Ilan 5 pa; Cert., 1865
•-10. Account ...
Do Maremmana Railway
11t•xicak 3 per Cent
Ditto for Account
Lin. 1864 —
Do q per Cont. Anglo-French —
c (Jules-illy:1h 6 per Cent.
Vloorish imperial 5 per Cent ,
New Granada —

Do 3 per Cen —
Do. Deferred
Do Lauct Warrants (Hectares) 1 —
Peruriat. 5 per Cent. 1865
Do Account .. 811 i
Portk,guese 3 per Ct., 1853, '6, 7, '9,'6o,'z,'t>
Do. do. 1867 —
Do. do. Scrip, £2O paid —
Russian 5 per Cent., 1822, £ St
Do 4} per Cent. 1850
Do 4} per Cent., 1860
Do 3 per Cent., 1859 . —
Do 5 per Cent., 1862 ... 84 1.
Do. Anglo-Dutch, 1864, £lOO Bonds.,„
Do. du. £B4 15s. do. ... --
Do., 1866, .£lOO Bonds B9i 90
Do. do? £B4 los. do —
Do Nicolas Railway —
SaNinian 5 per Cent —
Do 4} per Cent. (Uribarren)
Do 4} per Cent.. 1862 -, —
Do Account —
. .

Spanish 3 per Con
Do. Accmint
. Do. 1867
Do. Account
Do. New Deferred
Do. Account
Do. Passive
Do. Com. Cert. of Coup. not fuuded
Do. Account
Swedish Provincial Mortgage Loan
Do Government, 1864
Do do, 1868
Do do, Scrip
Turkish 6 per Cent.l
Do Account
Do 6 per Cent. 185.8
Do Account
Do £lOO Bonds
Do 6 per Cent., 1862
Do Account
Do £lOO Bonds
Do 5 per Cent. 1865
Do Account
Do 6 per Cent., 1860 a —
Do 4 por Cent., Guaranteed
Venezuela 3 per Cent.:
Do. Accaant
Vo 6 per Cent. 1864
Do 6 per Cent., 1862
Dividends on the above payable in Lon•loL
Austrian o psr Cent. Ex 10 Florins
Belgian, 44 per cent., Ex. 25f.
Dutch 2§ per Cent. Ex. 12 Guil „
Do. 4 per Cent. Certificates
French Routes, 3 per Cent., Ex. 25f —
Do Account

321

ifaLTsper Cent. 1831, Ex. z5l.
Do. Account 561
TTIr• O'CLOCK
Consuls, Money 92+ / xd
Do. Account, Jan. 5 921

CRIMINAL COURT—(This day).

THE WILL FORGERY.

The case of John Sponge, who was charged with
forging the will of henry Trimmer, was about to
be proceeded with this morning, but in consequence
of the illness of one of the jurymen Baron Cleasby
discharged the jury,' and the trial must commence
de 1102,0.

(Before the Common Sergeant.)
William Blackburn, 53, bricklayer, was indicted
for stealing the sum of £l7 3s. Old., the moneys of
Joseph Derry and others. The jury found the pri-
soner guilty, and he was sentenced to six months'
imprisonment.

MARICE 7 S-2 MS DAY.

METROPOLITAN CATTLE.

The market to-day maintained a Christmas character in
tho superiority of a large proportion of the stock on sale,
us in the extent of the supplies- In the former
particular the market compares well with the corre-
sponding market last year, but in point of num-
bers there was to- day, as cn the grand day, a perceptible
falling off, Quotations were as follows :—Beef, 3s 6d to
6s ; mutton, 3s 4d to 5s 6d ; veal, 3s 8d to Gs ; pork, 3s 4d
to 4s 10d. per stone.

Numbers at market—Beasts, 1,940; sheep, 8,440; calves
212 ; p'gs, GO. The proportions of foreign were, 445 beasts
and 113 calves.
SMITHFIELD AND LEADENHALL.

The dead meat trade is firm, and in consequence of the
near approach of Christmas prices maintain their present
high figure.
BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS.
The demand continues good for potatoes.
LIVERPOOL COTTON.

December 17.—Sales probably 10,000 bales. Marke
quiet, and unchanged.

SHIPPING INTRLLIGENCE.

GRAVESEND, Thursday Morning.
Arrived, Dcc. 16.—Sir Robert Peel, steamer, from
Dunkirk.

Arrived, Dec. 17.—St. George, from Guernsey; Panther,
steamer, from Boulogne.
Sailed, Dec. 16.—Argos, steamer, for Calais.
Sailed, Dec. 17.—Storm Queen, steamer, for Dunkirk ;
Rhine, steamer, for Boulogne.
bEAL, Thursday Morning.
Anchored.—Seine and Tamise, screw steamer, from
London, for Rouen.

Passed.—Narva, screw steamer (of London), from the
westward, for London.
Sailed.—Superb, for Ipswich.

ROYAL GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.—After a
somewhat prolonged recess, the above gallery will re-open
on Wednesday evening next. with F. C. Burnand's clever
entertainment "Inquire Within." While Mr. Parry is
away Mr. German Reed makes some alterations in his
programme. Mr. Frank Matthews is to appear in " The
Entertainment Proper," in which Mdlle. Rosa D'Erina will
make her debut, as well as in a musical extravaganza (taken
from the French), by R. Reece, entitled "The last of the
Paladins."'

Despatches were received yesterday at the Colo-
nial Office from the-Governors of Prince Edward Island
and Malta. Despatches were bent to the Governors of the
West India Islands and the Australian Colonies.

An interesting paper appears in a recent number
of the San Francisco Xining and Scientific Press on the
orchids of California. One specimen is described whose
exquisite blossom, called the" Flower of the Holy Spirit,"
has in its centre the perfect semblance df a beautiful white
dove. Three thousand different species of orchids have
been described ; and in the American Naturalist Mr. 0. M.
Tracy says that only a beginning has been made. He gives
three characteristics which, amid their extraordinary
variety of appearance, are always present. First, irregular
flowers; second, stamens and pistils consolidated; third,
seeds around the sides of the pod, not around its centre.
" If," ho adds, " we fled a plant in which these three occur
together, we are safe in looking up to it as a well-accre-
dited member of this regal order. It is remarkable that
this class of plants, while distinguished for their beauty,
have scarcely a family of any known utility. The Manila,
the Salep, the Coral-root, and the Ladies' Slippers are
almost the only members of any commercial value.

At the meeting of the Californian Academy of
Science, Oct. 19, Mr. Theodore Bradley read an able ad-
dress on the Value of the Study of Science in its Historical
Relations. He gave a summary of the scientific discoveries
of the ancients, and an account of the theories built upon
them, showing the fallacy of their conclusions in conse-
quence of their deficient knowledge of science. lead they
taken pains to explore the hidden mysteries of nature
and to accumulate facts before constructing systems
of the universe and accounting for the pheno-
mena of the earth, their philosophy and science would
not have been deformed by such absurd theories
as we now find attributed to them. He pointed out
the dawn of correct science, and traced its progress to
the present time. At the close ho made some experiments
in hydrostatics to illustrate some of the principles dove-
Icped by the ancients. Tho first experiment was designed
to show that the pressure of a large column of water on a
disk of a certain size is no greater than that of a smaller
column of the same height on the same disk. The second
proved that the loss of weight of a body immersed in
water is equal to the weight of the volume of water dis-
placed. The third experiment proved that the lateral and
the vertical pressuie of water are equal.
An American correspondent writes from Flo-
rence that the poet Longfellow is in that city, looking
hearty and well, and that he will leave in about three
weeks for Remo and Naples.--Naples and k'lorence Ob-
server.