The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-01-21 00:00:00

LOCAL MEETINGS.

ST. THOMAS'S Scnooas.—The annual meeting of the
subscribers to St. Thomas's Sunday, day, and evening
schools, was held on Tuesday evening. The chair was
occupied by the Rev. T. L. Pain. The number of
children on the books of the day school is 122 ; daily at-
tendance, 96. The library contains 218 volumes. The
expenditure last year exceeded the income by nearly £l5.
WEST DERBY GUARDIANS.—At the usual weekly
meeting on Wednesday it was ordered that a reward
of £5 be offered for the mother of a male child which
was found deserted in Kirkdale on the previous day. Mr.
Dry gave notice of motion to an amount hereafter to be
named. A letter was received from the Poor-law Board
with reference to the proposed alterations of salaries and
duties of relieving officers. It was resolved that the same
be referred to the committee appointed in October last, to
take the matter into consideration.
Docx COMMITTEE.—At the weekly meeting on Thurs-
day, it was ordered that a loading shed be placed on the
south side of the Wellington Docks, and that tenders for
the same should be obtained.—Vault No. 1 of the Albert
Dock Warehouses was directed to be_prepared for the re-

ception of saltpetre.—The Harbour ICias'ters' Committee
announced the death of Mr. Bennett, master of the
Harrington Dock. Mr. Bold intimated that at present
the vacancy would not be filled up.—A complaint from
Messsrs. Chaloner and Fleming respecting the want of
dock accommodation for the timber trade, led to a long
discussion which ended in nothing.—The new footpath at
St. George's Pier was directed to be made four yards wide
instead of seven.—A communication was read from the
collector of customs, intimating that at the expiration of
three months the use of the Crown scales would be refused
for weighing goods duty free, and would be restricted to
weighing goods on which duty was payable.
NORTHERN HOSPITAL.—OH Tuesday the trustees of
this charity held their annual meeting, Wm. Brown, Esq.,
M.P., in the chair. The Chairman having announced
the resignation, in consequence of severe indisposition,
of Mr. Ashcroft, one of, the physicians, tha statement of
accounts was read. It'Bllowed an expenditure during the
past year of £2854 125., to which was to be added a ba-
lance of the account current of 1849 amounting to £3olos.

The total receipts were £3lll 7s. leaving u balance in
favour of the institution of £226 4s. Of the receipts
£2050 arose from subscriptions, £527 from donations, £350
from the American Seamen's Board, and the remainder

from property belonging to the institution. During the
year there had been admitted 3138 patients, being a great
increase compaired with previous years. Thanks were vo-
ted to the office-bearers and others who had promoted the
interests of the institution. There being a desire that
the period for which the medical officers were reeligible
should be extended to fifteen years, it was agreed that a
meeting of trustees be held on Thursday, the 30th instant,
at the Clarendon•rooms, to take into consideration the
expediency of making the change.
THE DEAF AND DUMB INSTITUTION.—The annual
meeting of the subscribers to this institution was held on
Thursday, at the school in Oxford-street. The chair was
occupied by the Rev. Augustus Campbell. The report
was favourable. The following is an extract :—" Eight
pupils have left school, and two have died at home of
consumption during the year ; and ten additional, namely,
five boys and five girls, have been admitted, making the total
number on the register the same as last year, namely, 60.
Of those children now belonging to the institution, there
are 37 boarders and 23 day scholars, of whom 29 are boys
and 31 girls." The Institution has now been in exist-
ence above a quarter of a century, during which period
267 deaf mutes have been blessed with the advantages
conferred by its instrumentality. The committee cannot
conclude their report without expressing their deep sense
of the loss which the institution has sustained by the
death of a long and faithful friend, the late Mr. Will

Lassell, and paying their humble tribute of respect to his
memory. He promoted its best interests as treasurer
during seven years, and, when he retired from that office,
continued, by his valuable services on the committee, to
evince his undiminished anxiety for its welfare." Mr.
A. Thompt.on, the treasurer, read the financial account
for the past year, from which it appeared that, after de-
fraying all expenses, there was a balance in the hands of
the treasurer of £5l 19s. 7d. A committee for the
ensuing year was then appointed.
HEALTH COMMITTEE.—At the weekly meeting on
Thursday, Mr. Inspector Fresh stated that he was di-
rected to represent to the committee the nuisance created
by the Corporation boats on the river not consuming
their own smoke. Several members said they were sure
smoke could not be entirely destroyed. A letter was read
from Mr. Willoughby, asking, on behalf of the proprie-
tors of the river steamboats, that no more smoke infor-
mations should be laid until the result of a memorial they
were about to place before the Council should be known.
The Chairman said they had no objection to comply with
the request.—The Medical Officer of Health reported
that the continuance of unseasonable weather had again
raised the mortality of the town, chiefly by increasing
the prevalence and severity of diseases of the lungs. The
deaths registered the last week were 248, being 75 in
excess of the previous week, but 25 below the average of
the same week of the three preceding years.—A report
was brought up from the Parliamentary Sub-committee
relative to an interview with a deputation from the House-
owners' Society. The report stated that an interview had
taken place between the committee and the deputation,
and that the latter urged that the landowners had not
time to consider the proposed bill, and that it might be
withdrawn for the ensuing session ; but if proceeded with,
it would be strenuously opposed. After some discussion,
ib was decided that a special meeting of the committee
should be held to discuss the provisions of the bill when
an interview has been had with Mr. John Stewart.
BAZAAR IN AID OF THE SAILORS' HOME.-011 Friday
an influential meeting of the principal merchants and
shipowners was held in the council chamber of the Town-
hall,. called at the instigation of Mr. Thomas Littledale,
for the purpose of taking into consideration the desirabi-
lity of holding a bazaar in aid of the funds of the Sailors'
Home. There were about fifty gentlemen present,. and

an unanimous opinion was expressed in favour of the pro-
posal. Mr. Thomas Littledale was called to the chair,
and in a brief speech explained his views with regard to
the proposed bazaar. He said that, notwithstanding the
liberality ,with which the public had responded to the ap-
peals of the trustees of the Sailors' Home, there was still
a sum of about £6OOO wanting to free that admirable in-
stitution from debt. Mr. James Aikiri.,entered into an
explanatory. statement of the financial 'position of the
institution, and denied the truth of the statement that too
much money, had been expended on . the architectural
portion of, the Sailors' Home. He said, that had the
building been constructed as plain as possible, of mere
brickwork, the cost would only have been £7OO less than
the sum which had been expended in making it one of
the finest architectural ornaments of the town. They did
not (he said) appeal to the public under the plausible
name of charity. They did not wish to keep able people
in idleness, but their object was to make men intelligent
and respectable, so that they would aspire to something
lofty and" ennobling. On the motion• of Mr. William
Brown, M:P., seconded by Mr. T. B. Horsfall, the meet-
ing formed itself into a committee for the purpose of car-
rying outtthe bazaar, and Mr. Thomas Littledale was
unanimously elected chairman. After a vote of thanks,
proposed' by Mr. Cardwell. the meeting separated.

THE COLUMN OF
&dente anb alortirtilture.

The conversazione of the Chemists' Association, to
which we called attention in our last publication, took
place on Friday evening, and proved to be one of the
most brilliant and interesting scientific meetings ever
held in Liverpool. The whole of the Royal Institution
was filled with a well-dressed and respectable assembly,
including all the talent both of the pharmaceutical and
the medical professions. The chair was taken by Robert
Clay, Esq., the president of the association, at six o'clock;
after which, Dr. D. P. Thompson gave a pleasing dis-
course, in the gallery of the Museum, upon Fossil Geo-
logy.. Dr. Thompson is a gentleman who has but lately
taken up his residence amongst us, but already his talents
have attracted the attention of the men of learning who
are best capable of judging, and he has been appointed
secretary of the Philosophical Society, a post for which
he is admirably qualified. We may here mention that
Dr. Thompson is the author of the most practical work
on the science of Meteorology ever published in our lan-
guage.—Dr. Nevins, the well-known talented lecturer of
the Collegiate Institution,. then described the distinctive
'haracters of the Carnivorous and Herbivorous Animals.
Mr. T. C. Archer gave a sketch of the natural and com-
mercial history of the Materia Medics collection; after
which, Dr. Dickinson,,our well-known and justly-appre-
ciated botanist, delivered a short discourse upon English
Botany. The company then dispersed through the spa-
cious museum and refreshment-rooms, and, after an in-
terval of an hour, met in the large lecture-room, where
Mr. George Hamilton, professor of chemistry in the
society's laboratory, gave a most interesting lecture on
the Chemistry of the Gases, in which he introduced the
whole of the brilliant experiments in which the subject is
so prolific. The combustion of iron wire, phosphorus,
sulphur, and charcoal, in oxygen, were each shewn with
a precision and clearness no less pleasing to the profes-
sional than to the non-professional part of the audience.
After this lecture another interval ensued, during which
refreshments were plentifully supplied ; and a great fund
of amusement was afforded by Drs. Inman and Higgins,
both of whom exhibited their fine Microscopes and ex-
tensive series of microscopical objects ; and Mr. Evans
shewed the beautiful phenomena of the Polariscope.
Dr. Higgins is another gentleman to whom we wish our
readers to be introduced : he has lately settled in Birken-
head, and bids tair, from his abilities and pleasing man-
ners, to become one of our most valuable scientific men.
The concluding lecture was by Dr. Brett, who described
the phenomena of Voltaic Electricity with his accustomed
clearness, and illustrated his subject with striking experi-
ments, such as the combustion of mercury, gold, tin, &c.,
and the production of the voltaic light, during which Mr.
Sweetman partially succeeded in taking a likeness from
an admirable bust of Sir Robt. Kane, but the atmosphere
was so much vitiated by the gaseous results of former
experiments, that the surface of his Heliotype plate was
greatly impaired, and the experiment was rather spoiled,
more to the disappointment of the operator than of the
audience, whose good temper had been too much excited
by the pleasures of the evening to be interfered with by
an unavoidable occurrence.

At the last meeting of the Literary and Philosophical
Society in 1850, our distinguished townsman, Mr. Lassell,
of Starfield, communicated some interesting personal
observations on the planet Saturn. In the proceedings
of the Royal Astronomical Society, now before us, a much
fuller account of these observations is given ; and we do
not doubt that our readers will be pleased to receive an
abstract of them. It will probably be recollected that
about the beginning of December an announcement of
the discovery of a new ring of Saturn had been made in
the United States by Mr. Bond, a zealous astronomer. It
was upon the 15th of that month that the discovery took
place, and it was first announced in the Liverpool Albion,
from which paper it was copied into the Times of Dec. 3.
Mr. Lassell was then at Wateringbury, in the south of
England, on a visit to the Rev. Mr. Dawes, who possesses
a fine private observatory. The evening before the news-
paper reached, and previous to any communication re-
specting Mr. Bond's prior discovery, Mr. Lassell was
watching the planet at Wateringbury. "On putting my
eye to the telescope," says he, " I was forcibly struck by
the beauty of the image, and set myself diligently to ob-
serve whatever might present itself. After surveying the
planet for some time, I was struck with a remarkable phe-
nomenon, which I shall proceed, as well as I can, to de.
scribe. It appeared as if something like a crape veil co-
vered a part of the sky within the inner ring. This ex-
tended about half-way between what I should have for-
merly considered the inner edge of the inner ring and the
limb of the planet, while there was a darker, ill-defined
boundary-line separating this crape-like appearance from
the solid body of the inner ring. There was an exceed.
ingly thin line or shadow, running along the southern
edge of the northern portion of the ring where it crossed
the planet, and this line seemed somewhat broader at each
end, where it touched the limbs of the planet. Mr.
Dawes had previously drawn my attention to the appear.
ance of this line, before scrutinising the planet." The
observation of Mr. Lassell was subsequently confirmed by
Mr. Hind. Neither could detect a separation between
the rings, although both beheld what, under more fa-
vourable circumstances, might have proved an indepen-
dent rink. " I could not discern," says Mr. Hind, "any
thing like a division between the faint light and the inte-
rior edge of the ring : this might very possibly be owing
t 9 want of higher power, which the night did not bear ad- ,1
vantageously."

The report of these observations furnished by the Rev.
Mr. Dawes is equally important. "On Dec. 2d," says
he, "I was favoured with a visit from Mr.Lassell; and the
evening of the 3d provizg fine, the telescope was turned
upon Saturn. A wheel of convex lenses, made by Dol-
land for Mr. Lassell, was applied to the telescope; and
with these the planet was subjected to a careful scrutiny;
immediately after which, Mr. Lassell made the following
I •

entry in my observatory journal, accompanied by a sketch
of the planet :—' 1850. Tuesday. Dec. 3 ; 9h. 15m.
G.M.T., Saturn : Bi-foot achromatic [6i in. aperture, by
Mezz], powers 298 and 363. I find I cannot do justice to
the view of the planet ; but the phenomenon which struck
me as most peculiar was, that the space between the inner
diameter of the inner ring and the ball was bisected, or
rather half covered, by an appearance as if a crape veil had
been thrown over it. There is a dark inner edge to the
bright ring, which shades off a little ; the dark ring is
then of a uniform grey colour : the sky is seen black be-
tween Bond's ring and the planet.' "
in our next we may return to this interesting subject.