, 1890-10-11

Ct6ulISIy lIOuu VI Ultli COili)bI dIlN6 lltlb-
pendence OF mOmentary opinion. We trust
the House of Commons will take the lesson
to heart, and understand that the democra-
Cy which trusts them with such a danger
Gus am0unt Of power, does not desire to
see a small faction break It's own weapon
in it's hands. She first resolve of every
true democrat ought to be the diSuIiSsal of
any Member, OF either side, who has either
promoted or convinced at the practice of
obstruction. He must at heart be an enc
my to popular power.
On Thursday, all extremely interesting
paper on the geography OF the Mediter-
ranpan and its coasts was read by Sir E..
Lambert Playtair, her Majesty's Consul
General III AlgierS. He pointed out that
the Medite rranean had formerly been
divided into an Eastern and Western sea
by an iSthmus running from Sicily, by way
of Malta, to Cape Bon III TunisiA. In the
caves and assures Of Malta were three
species Of fossil elephants, a hippop0tamus,
a gigantic %dOlmouse, and other animals
which could never have lived on so small
an island. LII Sicily, remains OF the exist
ing ellen liant have been found, as well as
the eIephas 0ntiqupS and two species of hip
pOpot anus, while nearly all these and many
'5ther animals OF African type have been
found in the pliocene deposits and cavernS
of the Atlantic region. The Submersion
of this iSthmus no doubt occurred when
the waters Of the Atlantic were intruded
through the Straits of GibraltaT.' "The
almost constant temperature of $50, COM
pared with $50 to 400 III the Atlantic, en-
abled DR.. Carpenter to distinguish betweem
Atlantic and Mediterranean water"
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Sir Lambert Playfair'S address included
a very interesting account OF Corsica and
its pine-tOreSts, and also its chestnut
forests, on the fruit Of which the COrsicanS
Subsist more entirely than the Arabs do on
dates indeed, the chtstnuts require much
less care, and as they shed the fruit when
it is ripe, it costs extremely little to gather
them. Then~t the COrSicau maCChie or brush
wood, which covers more than half the
island, diffuSeS a delicious perfume, and
lights up the landscape with d blaze Of
colour. There is a constant succession Of
wild flowers, lilies, orchids, cyclamens,
pr;mr0seS, violetS, and rare ferns; so that,
as The French have carried the most splcn.
did roads through the island, so we'll
metalled with granite chat they are hardly
ever dusty, Corsica seems TO be nearly Il
paradise for travellers. 1t was to Corsica
that Seneca was eXiled by the Emperor
ClaudiuS, and where he poured forth such
bitter complaints of his exile, not taking
any comfort from the beauties which Sir f..
Abel describes. But classical genius was
certainly more gregarious and less disposed
to take delight in Nature and in solitude,
and general y, perhaps, more peeyish under
privation, than modern genius has learned
to be.
The failure is announced Of Mr.. William
SteenStrand, known as the Cotton King,
who raised the price of cotton 50 high last
year i'll the middle of September. This
year he found ohimSelf unable to continue
the struggle against the tendency of the
Cotton Market to fall. Three weeks ago
it was said that Mr.. Steenstrand held
$50, 600 bales of cotton. In the interval
prices have so tar fallen as to render his
losses very great. They are stated, indeed,
to amount to 9200,0 900 on the past month,
the greater part of this sum belonging to
the last fortnight. 1t is asserted that he
has already made a very fairly satisfactory
arrangement with his creditors, paying
them a substantial dividend, and that
great sympathy is felt for him in his losses.
1t is clear that these corners" never really