The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-03 00:00:00

it to the mighty republic

stranger

for the Sandwiel

the ca

tinting that America is the
in all such cases, he tells us that

History of Russia from the foundation of the
Empire by .Rourick, to the close of the Hunga-
rian War. By Alphonse Rabbe and Jonathan
Duncan, B.A. London : H. Ingram and Co.
At a period like the present, when the aggres-
sive policy and subtle as well as obstinate designs

of the Russian court confer upon its movements
an interest rarely bestowed upon the feelings and
springs of action of a barbarous people, a history
of that empire from its first establishment becomes
a matter of much interest, and of unusual import-
ance. The work before us is chiefly a translation
of Rabbe's systematic work ; but besides trans-
lating it, Mr. Duncan has added separate and ex-
plicit treatises on the fundamental principles which
form the disting*shing characteristics of Russian
internal government, including the subject of
Serfdom and Land Tenure ; the Church ; the
Nobility ; Trade, and the Laws. Mr. Duncan
makes the following observations on

THE MINERAL PRODUCTS OP RUSSIA

Russia is rich in metals,—in platinum, in iron, copper,
lead, zinc, and pewter ; and the official lists state that, at
the fair of Nijni Novogorod in 1842, the value

of native

metals amounted to 7,700,000 silver roubles. The govern-
ments of Tomsk, Perm, Vologda, Viatka, and Orenburg
are the richest in iron and copper. Poland also produces
iron, but Finland has none. Lead is found in the

govern-

whom most of thes,

a 1844, Russia imr

)0,000 pounds of salt

althimgh there are abundant saline fakes in t'

le Crimea,

in the Nogais Steppes, in Bessarabia, and in the govern-
ment of Irkeusk. The government of Penn has saline
springs ; saltpetre is found in Bessarabia ; asphalte and
sulphur in the government of Orenburg ; and naphtha it
the neighbourhood of Bakou. Central Russia is
stone ; but the governments of Penn and Olonetz possess

is rich in precious stones

thysts, agates, and dia:

In southern Russia, and even in some provinces

f central Russia, where wood is wanting, peat is of great
nnd that article is furnished by the governments of
Tonla, Kalonga, and Kharkoff, and up to the Dnieper.
It has also been found in Siberia. _ _

Besides the articles enumerated in the above
list, gold is found in great quantities in the Ural
Mountains, among the sands of the mountain
streams, and in mines ; and lapis lazuli is also
found in considerable quantities in the same region.
The total annual value of the raw produce of the
Russian soil, Mr. Duncan tells us, is computed at
2,093,500,000 silver roubles, which, he also informs
us, is beneath the real value.

of the political resources of Russia the two
volumes before us do not convey a very alarming

idea. The vast extent of territory , and the sparse-
ness of its population, constituting insuperable
barriers to combined or energetic military move-
ments of great magnitude. Upon the past history
of Russia much information will be found in Mr.
Duncan's volumes, among which a considerable
amount of new light is thrown upon the personal
history and political influence of Peter the Great,
in which that potentate is brought considerably
nearer to the dimensions of ordinary mortals, than,
following the romantic and fabulous Ili'

'ative of

Voltaire, it has hitherto been customary to regard
him. These volumes are illustrated by two well-
executed maps of the Russian territories, and they
are embellished by numerou

;pititedly-

mecuteel

Efungarian Sketches in Peace and War

MOritz Jokai. Edinburg'

T. Constable and Co

The volume before us is the first of a series
which, from the prestige of its name, must be dear
to the reading public. It is the first volume of
" Constable's Miscellany," a title which, in the
olden day, when cheap literature was less a fashion
than good literature, acquired and deserved an
honourable name and position in the estimate of a
discerning public. The new series proposes to be
a miscellany of Foreign Literature, which, in the
language of the prospectus," will be made as varied
as possible, that there may be something in it to
suit the tastes of all who seek instruction or
healthful recreation for the mind,—and its range
will therefore be as extensive as the field of litera-
ture itself; while, at the same time, it shall be the
endeavour of all its editors to select, for the most
part, works of general or universal interest." It
is, of course;. impossible to judge by one of the
volumes how far the intentions above expressed
are to be carried out ; it is quite safe, and also
gratifying to know, however, that the specimen
produced is in strict accordance with the profes-
sions issued. In the first volume we have eleven
sketches of Hungarian life and manners, executed
with tact and discernment ; they are generally
lively and suggestive, and may be taken as fair
specimens of Hungarian literature. The sketches
are possessed of great liveliness, are executed with
ease and vigour, and in the writings of M. Jokai
the reader is agreeably familiarised with the man-
ners and habits of life which prevail among the
Hungarians. If the Miscellany be carried out in
the same style and spirit as that in which it has
been begun, it will speedily become a great, as it
will be a valuable, public favourite. The volume is
very handsomely and tastefully got up, and it is
published at a cheap rate.

lhe Museum of Science and Art. Edited by Dr,
Lardner. London : Walton and Maberly.

This interesting popular repertory of science has
now reached its third volume, and continues to
deserve the general favour with which it has been
received. The subjects are treated of with an easy
comprehensiveness ; it is well printed, and is
copiously embellished by illustrative engravings.

A Shilling Cookery for the People. By Alexis
Soyer. London : G. Itoutledge and Co.

To deeply-studied practical knowledge of his
subject, M. Soyer adds the glowing fancy of the
romancist and the recondite skill of the artist, and
combines both with the vivacity of the enthusiast.
In this little treatise, which is eminently calculated
to be popularly useful, the author introduces each
separate style and department of cookery by a
generalised essay on the uses and nature of the
instruments chiefly employed in its processes.
This enables him to give general instructions in a
pleasing and easily-remembered form ; after which
he proceeds, seriatim, with the different varieties
of dishes prepared through the instrumentality of
those culinary implements. The book is cheap
and really useful.

Tio MERCANTILE . .ge of habitual
drunkenness having been preferred against Thomas Burt,
late master of the Hyndford, an investigation has been in.
stituted by the Local Marine Board of Glasgow, under the
provisions of the Mercantile Marine Act, and that board
having found him guilty of the above charge, the Board
of Trade have determined to cancel his certificate.
EAGER roil TILE FIIAY.—In a letter from one of the 79th
Highlanders, published in the Kelso Chronicle, the writer
says, " I earnestly wish we were somewhere out of this ;
for I believe there is neither luck nor grace in this country.
Our men have grown so wicked at the delay, that you can
scarcely hear a pleasant word going. Warhawk' with the
Russians, if they can get at them. I believe plenty will
throw down their firelocks and ' fist' them."

k.CT.-A char

PROOF OF CONVICTIONS TO BE GIVEN IN CIVIL CASES.
—Under the new Common Law Procedure Act, a witness
in any cause may be questioned as to whether he has been
convicted of any felony or misdemeanour, and if he denies

of more partieni

successful one—tl

which took

he fact or refuses to answer, the opposite party may prove
he conviction and put in a certificate, which, upon proof
)f the identity of the person, is to be evidence of the con-
7iction, without proof of the official character of the person

,going it

Ruiz or NlSllEGolloD.—Accounts from Nishegorod,
in Russia, state that the fair of that place was well fre-
quented this season, both by buyers and sellers, Russians
and foreigners. The tea brought from China by the Russian
caravans sold well. In one week the quantity of goods
sold represented the sum of 8,000,000 francs, and in the
same short space of time merchandise to the amount of
17,000,000 of francs was forwarded into the interor of the

empire

IMURDIATE CHANGES are to be effected in the ad-
ministratioik of the office of Judge Advocate. The scandal
a military tribunal, where the Judge Advocate occupies
isition, where the military jury are without the a.ssis-
-hich the judge affora- gild where

tance v

s in civil appeal

appears as a prosecutor when la(
it frequently a party directly implicated in the trial
put an end to. Competent judicial authority wil:
1, and a public prosecutor will be appointed.
AL POR PirER.—A Detroit journal states tha
can be made from a weed wh
er the northern stal
Whitetop. The
11 becomes entirely a•
"1--- and 1

vody tibr

tent has been

I that the a

BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE.

THE MEETING IN LIVERPOOL

n the various sec

al interest c

s,

Iguishin

such as, fron

attention

local importance, seemed deserv-
e. On Tuesday, the hul-
as brought to a close, sec-

ness in most of the sections WE
tions C, E, and G only having

on the whole, has been a mos'

rtures, too, have

for what w

in the Herring I

ugh variec

which a

~sntil t

arrived

frequent d

quired. There were 30,000 persons in Liverpool rated at
£l2 a-year, who ought to contribute something for educa-

1, whereas not
;h. A rate of I

more than 2,ooosubscribed,

..d.s required, and the perfect equity of the plan
seemed to be unanswerable, for nothing could be more un-
satisfactory than the present state of affairs. A protracted
discussion ensued, which ended in the section passing a
vote of thanks to Dr. Hume. This paper was followed
by the reading of papers on " The reformation of
Juvenile Offenders ;" on "The Decimalization of the Tariff,"
a " Gold Digging," and on " The Causes of Fluctuations
n the Herring Fisheries," after which the business of the
of a highly in- i section was closed.

Section G., devoted to Mechanical Science, had its atten-
tion first occupied by Colonel Chesney, who brought up a
report on lifeboats, according to an arrangement made at
the last meeting of the association at Hull. Col. Chesney
stated that there had been for many years a well-organized
system of lifeboats in Liverpool, by which 1,329 lives had
been saved since 1830, and 312 vessels rescued, which would
probably give 60,000 tons, and, taken at £lO a ton, would
give an amount of £600,000 property saved by that means.
Prizes were awarded by the Duke of Northumberland, as
First Lord of the Admiralty, but as yet no life-boat had
been invented which satisfactorily answered the requisite
purposes. On the southern coast of England there were
only fifteen life-boats. On the eastern coast there were
forty-nine, and the western thirty-three. On the eastern
coast of Scotland six, and on the western coast two. In
the Hebrides and Shetland Islands there were none. On
the eastern coast of Ireland there were five, and on the
western coast none, The number of casualties during the
last four years, in ships, had been 1,236, varying from total
shipwreck to slight collision. Of these 204 ships had left
our ports and were never heard of again, 517 were driven on
shore, and their cargoes totally or partially lost ; 2,265 cases
of collision occurred, by which vessels were driven into port
in a sinking state; 2,295 vessels were wrecked; 883 foundered;
679 abandoned by their crews; 87 burned by accident;
and 51 damaged by ice. The casualties of steam vessels
during the same period were 103 driven ashore but floated
again, 146 cases of collision had occurred at sea, 17 wrecks,
30 foundered, 15 burned, 2 abandoned by the crew,
1 capsized, 1 lost and never heard of, and 7 returned
into port in a sinking state. The losses were chiefly
among the smaller vessels of about 100 tons. The annual
loss of life averaged about 1,250 ; the gross number re-
turned for the last four years being 4,290. The tonnage,

250 tons, would give £lOO,OOO tons,
If £lO a ton would give' ten millions
roceeded to notice thwseveral

ey then

experiments_ made from time to_ time. in the

at the tubular lifeboat, invented by

Henry Richardson, of Merioneth, and afterwards success-
fully adopted in 1848 by his son' Mr. Henry Thomas
Richardson. Col. Chesney appealed to the experience of
Mr. Fairbairn to say whether iron boats were not dura-

ble. Col. Chesney Urged that the attention of Gove
ment should be directed towards the' lifeboat questi
and that some centralized and extensive, means should

adopted for the preservation of life from shipwreck. Since.
every British seaman contributed from his small pay
something annually towards this purpose, he had a right
to expect that the funds so raised should be turned to this
account. The• momentous question of efficient lifeboats
could only be safely dealt with after the most sufficient
consideration, attended by the most extensive experiments.
The present coast-guard establishment would form a great
portion of the' crews required for a lifeboat force, and a
small reward would induce the• poor fishermen of the
coasts to undertake their share of the duty, who were
always found ready to expose their lives to save others
without any reward. A brief conversation succeeded,
which was followed by an interesting paper by Dr.
Scoresby " Upon the principles and measures by which
safety in the navigation of iron ships might reasonably
be looked for." In the course of his paper, Dr. Scoresby
observed that since.the first promulgation of these views
at the British Association in Oxford, in. 1847, he had to
contend with either the denial or non-reception of them
from the principal body of scientific men engaged in the
consideration of compass adjustment and compass action
in iron ships. But it was now most gratifying to find,
from the paper of Mr. Archibald Smith,- a gentleman emi-
nent as a mathematician, and having all the records of her
Majesty's ships, as to compsses, at command, that every
essential principle for whicl he contended, as to the prin-
ciples which affect the development, destruction, and
changes in the magnetism of iron ships, is admitted and:
supported. These principles, so supported by Mr. Smith,
might be thus enumerated :-1. That the- magnetism of
iron ships, in its action on the compass, may be repre-
sented by a vertical and. a• horizontal iron or magnetic bar
swinging round a compass ; a mode of illustration which
he (Dr. S.) had adopted some years ago, and described in
lectures, as well as in his publication, of 1851. 2: That
changes in the magnetic-distribution and compass action
in iron ships, which he predicted, do take place. 3. That
the changes take plate in a ship's magnetism- by change of
magnetic latitude, a fact inferred from the Admiralty ob-
servations which his (Dr: Scoreby's) experiments satisfac-
torily elucidated as a necessary correspondence of the
resistance in iron to change in regard to the denomination
of retentive magnetism. 4. That there are influences in
a ship, derived from the varieties of form and position
(relatively to the compass) of particular masses of iron,
which may act as naturetl'correctives. 5. That the plan
of correcting the duration of iron ships by fixed `magnets
. .

(unless in fed places or limited voyages) is unsafe, and in
going to southern regions aggravates the error. 6. That the
twisting of the iron materials of aship will tend, especially in
ships recently launched; to alter the magnetic action on the
compass. 7. That it requires time to effect the changesin a
ship's magnetic distribution, which, ultimately, may in re-
gions distant from the place of buildingbe effected: Andthe
whole of the results plainly go to the establishment of a
proposition, of the accuracy of which he has lbng endea-
voured to convince those interested in the navigation of
iron ships, that the magnetism of such ships i:s, in all its
qualities, changeable; the most enduring, or apparently
fixed, being of a description changeable under severe
straining and mechanical violence, which he has denomi-
nated retentive magnetism. No large changes may be
expected under the following circumstances :-1. In iron
ships long in use, and ordinarily pursuing the same voyage,
because extreme distribution gets shaken down, as it were,
into a medium or average state. 2. Great changes do not
take place in the retentive magnetism (by far the greatest
portion) in latitudes not farther south than the Mediter-
ranean, because, 3; in ships trading in the Channels, or
east and west to. America, the liability to new or unex-
pected changes greatly diminishes. In such cases, an
intelligent captain, observing the changes, duration,
alteration, and allowances, may generally run with great
confidence. Experience will establish the effect of circum-
stances in this case. He suggested A standard
azimuth compass to be placed on a high pedestal, where
(on the Admiralty plan) a position of small duration may
be found. 2. A compass at mast-head he believed best of
all for reference, by which the great body of error will be
demonstrated. 3. The wheel-compass required for ships
engaged in the home-trade, or traversing mainly parallels
of latitude not southward of the Mediterranean, if adjusted
with magnets and pieces of iron, may not be then unsafe,
where reference may always be had to the standard for
verification. 4. No standard compass in great distances.
G Care in selection of compasses, to have ample directive
fOree,, His improvements had trebled the directive force,
weight for weight, of the compasses used in the navy up
to 1839 or 1840. 6. Captains must be made to take
observations for verifying their compasses by azimuth
compasses, stars, positions of /and—a subject for exami-
nation. 7. Captains should have a special knowledge for
the charge of iron ships, for here, in addition to the ordi-
nary dangers of navigation. is a new source of error and
misguidance, as to which, it is most important, he should
never be thrown off his guard. 8. He should be supplied
with rules of caution.

Mr. GRANTHAM said, it would strike at the root of one
of the greatest improvements of modern times, if the im-
pression should prevail to a great extent, that iron steam
vessels were dangerous. These views became much more
dangerous in the hands of their learned friend, Dr. Scores-
by, because of his well known experience and ability.
They all understood, and admitted to a great extent, that
there was an immense amount of local attraction disturbing
the compasses in iron ships; but he (Mr. Grantham) con-
tended that this was corrected, and from his own experience
of upwards of twenty years, he declared that the impression
left upon the minds of many which a few solitary cases
brought under their notice did leave, was altogether an
erroneous one.—(Hear, hear.) The instances of the Tay-
leur, and of the Birkenhead, hid been alluded to ; but he
would ask the gentlemen who spoke of these cases to in-
vestigate with equal care the instance of every woodenship
which ever went ashore upon the Irish coast, or fancying
itself in the Mersey, found itself in the Solway Firth, and
they would find that the losses of these vessels every year
far exceed the proportionate amount of the losses of iron
ships. (Hear.) The experiment which Dr. Scoresby
spoke of was well understood, but was not at all parallel
to the case of an iron ship. A bar of iron would have its
polarity entirely changed by being placed in a peculiar
position, and struck with a hammer ; but an iron ship was
not a single bar, or a single plate of iron, and it should
receive blows from some mighty instrument, while in a
peculiar position, to make the case analogous. He also
spoke of a bar when bent losing its polarity ; but an iron
steam-ship was not bent and twisted by the sea, if so, every
plate would open, and the ship would founder. He had
examined the Tayleur himself, by the direction of the Ad-
miralty, and his belief was that that vessel was not lost
through an error of the compass. He believed no captain,

knowing the channel, wotild venture to beat for three or
four days together in stormy weather without using a lead.
(Hear, hear.) Yet it was proved that Captain Noble did
neglect this precaution. When the ship got into danger the
cause of her going against the rocks was very simple. She
was not very well trimmed, and her canvas did not stay
well. When the captain saw the island it seemed at a
distance, and was said by some of the passengers to be
six miles off—he tried to stay the ship, but she would not
stay; he tried to wear her, but she would not wear. She
drifted towards the rock, entirely lost her steering power,
and went broadside on to it. As to the loss of the Bir-
kenhead, did no ship ever before run upon the point of a
reef by cutting it too fine ? (Hear, hear.) He wished to
caution mercantile gentlemen not to allow themselves to
be too much influenced by particular and striking cases,
such as had been alluded to in elucidation of the subject,
but to look at the whole question ' • look at the masses of
iron ships which were being built, and which had been
working for years and years, and then say whether the
combined information, to be derived from all these which
were properly managed, did at all bear out the influences
drawn by the, statement which had, unfortunately he
thought, been so carefully and so elaborately made.
(Hear, hear, and applause.)
Mr. Towsox contended that in all iron ships there was
a variation in the compass. No one was more convinced
than he that the existence of our mercantile superiority
must rest upon the progress of iron ships, yet that pro-
gress could be only established upon a proper basis, by
guarding them against dangers ; and so far from iron
ships being brought into disrepute by this means, it would
only establish them upon a firmer foundation. (Hea
hear.)
A conversation ensued, i

which Captain Wenny,
Captain Henderson, Captain Dryden, and Mr. Archibald
Smith took part, and Admiral BEECITY expressed his
opinion that the best precaution would be always having
an azimuth compass on board, and making daily a very

The remainder of the business was adjourned until next
he section having niet, a very valuable paper
ITENDEUON, Esg,, "On Ocean

IDREN

Steamers and Clipper Ships, and their Descriptive
Measurement." Having traced the progress of ship-
building in Liverpool, and the character of the vessels
which visit its port, from the bluff-bowed and short, to
the famed " liners" of the present day, he proceeded to
point out their defects and the improvement which he
would introduce into them. Mr. Henderson illustrated
his arguments by a reference to the most celebrated
clipper mail steam-ships which now sail the waters, and
contrasted their relative speed, tonnage, length and
breadth, and other qualities, He then referred to the
new ship, or rather Modern Ark," being built by Mr.
Scott Russell, of London, and expressed it as his opinion
that her huge size would be an effectual bar to her com-
bining all the requisite qualities of an ocean steamer.—
Papers were then read " On Railway Signals ; on Railway
Carriages and the application of Breaks to them," and
"On an .Iron Floating Graving-dock ;" after which an
elaborate and long paper was read by Mr. Prosser, C.E.,
New York, " On the use of Surcharged Steam, particularly
in reference to some experiments which were made pre-
vious to its introduction into the American steamer
Arctic, with some remarks on the great advantages pos-
sessed by steam over every other medium, and suggestions
for an improved application of it to Ocean Steamers,
which closed the business of the section.