the way. Watching the Gap' is a more prosaic work under way, as the boy evidently thinks who has flung himself sullenly on the rails, his dog by his side, to guard some lazy sheep cropping daisies in the field below." ... a tree at least ten years old must be destroyed. This costly delicacy had a very tempting appearance, looking as it did like thick sticks of white candy. It is said to be when fresh the most delicious vegetable known. On this same table I noticed a small basket, bearing the imposing title of "Genuine Karakauri, from Algiers," which strikingly-named article was no other than that well-known refreshment of Bowery boys and theatre-going youths in general at home, which we know by the less important title of pea-nuts. We must go abroad to learn what things really are curious and wonderful. One of the prettiest inventions exhibited was a frame for the display of cut flowers. It was composed of hoops of gilt brass rising in diminishing ratio in the shape of a pyramid-or rather like an oldfashioned stand for custard-cups; these hoops were set thick with tiny crystal cups, each hooked on with a brass pin, and intended to be filled with water, and to contain each a single flower. The ART JOURNAL for July, in continuation of its series of papers, with examples on wood, of our American painters, will give a sketch of Mr. E. Wood Perry, with well-executed engravings of two of his recent paintings. It will also contain an article on the French painter Corot, with portrait and two examples of his style. The usual variety of steel plates and detached articles will also be given. The German landscape - painter, Karl Reichardt, recently discovered in Venice six large tapestries of Gobelins manufacture, copied from Rubens's celebrated paintings in the gallery of the Prince of Liechtenstein, in Vienna, representing events in the life of Decius Mus.... A large panel-painting by Rubens, representing the Virgin appearing to St. Francis, has, it is reported, been discovered in the church of Notre-Dame, at Cassel. The circumstance that led to its discovery is thus related in the Chronique: It having been judged necessary that some of the pictures that ornamented the church of Cassel should be restored, the work was confided to a young artist of the town, who, on cleaning the pict-hibitors of the azaleas and the roses; a special ure of St. Francis, found to his astonishment that, as the thick coating of dirt that covered the picture gradually disappeared, a work by Rubens came to light. THE R From Abroad. OUR PARIS LETTER. HE Horticultural Exhibition in the orangery of the Tuileries has just closed. It was really wonderfully well worth visiting, notwithstanding the fact that in extent it could not compare with similar displays at home. But every article on exhibition was the choicest of its kind, and merited close examination and much admiration. The long terrace, stretching along the Place de la Concorde, was devoted to the display of garden-tools, summerhouses, small hot-houses, and decorative articles in porcelain and majolica ware, as well as various specimens of patent manures and insect-killers. The orangery itself was filled with palms and azaleas, the show of the latter being very fine and wonderfully brilliant. Another long building was given up to the other flowers. Of roses there was a peculiarly fine display, some giant specimens being as large as an ordinary tea-saucer. There were some exquisite specimens of the lovely rose known as the Gloire de Dijon, which attains far greater perfection here than it does in our more changeable climate. The geraniums were the most beautiful flowers exhibited; some varieties of richest carmine, with the petals edged with white, were perfectly marvelous in their loveliness. A beautiful fountain in rock-work surmounted by a figure of Neptune in iron painted white, was much admired, the water dripping down the front of the rock-work serving to keep fresh and beautiful long fronds of fern and dainty specimens of moss. display of fruit and vegetables was not very extensive, but among the last was exhibited asparagus with stalks literally as thick as the arm of a plump baby of three months old. A table of tropical fruits, among which were some gigantic lemons from Algiers, attracted much attention. There was displayed on it a jar of the so-called palm-cabbage, the heart of the palm-tree, to obtain each one of which The It was filled for the exhibition with pansies of every style, and the effect of this mass of velvety, soft-shaded blossoms thus grouped close together in a pyramid was very beautiful. A lady sat opposite to it engaged in making a drawing of it in water-colors. The gold medals were gained by the ex premium being awarded to the proprietor of the giant asparagus. The funeral of the regretted George Bizet, the young composer of the most successful new opera of the past season-namely, "Carmen," at the Opéra Comique-took place last Saturday. The church was densely crowded, many of the leading musical celebrities of Paris being present, and many being moved to tears. The event was certainly one of unusual sadness as well as of importance in the world of art. The pall-bearers included Gounod, Ludovic Halévy, Ambroise Thomas, and the celebrated dramatist Camille Doucet. The young composer was only thirty-six years of age. His career, though brief, has been a brilliant one. At the age of thirteen he gained the first prize of the Conservatoire for the piano. At eighteen he carried off the grand prize of Rome. He afterward successfully competed for a prize offered by Offenbach for the best comic opera, his composition being entitled "Les Pêcheurs de Perles." Several morceaux from it attained great popularity. He afterward wrote the music for a melodrama called "L'Artésienne." The play was a failure, but the music was much admired, and was subsequently performed at the Pasde- | loup concerts with great success. His greatest triumph was achieved, however, by his opera of" Carmen," which was rapturously received at the Opéra Comique last winter. Only one more step remained to him, the boards of the Grande Opéra, and M. Halanzier was in treaty with him for a five-act opera for that establishment. Fame and Fortune, after eighteen years of toil, had already begun to smile upon him when sudden death, in the shape of an apoplectic attack, struck him down while in apparent enjoyment of undiminished health and vigor. He leaves behind him a wife, the daughter of the eminent composer Halévy (the author of "La Juive"), and one child. The music of the funeral-mass was executed by the Pasdeloup orchestra, and the solos of the requiem were sung by the leading artists of the Opéra Comique. No recent death in artistic circles in France has called forth more heart-felt and widely-expressed regret. The past week has witnessed some important announcements from the book-publishers. Glady Brothers announce for speedy publica The tion their long-talked-of edition of the "Imitation of Jesus Christ," for which Alexandre Dumas is to write a preface, as I mentioned in a former letter. The work is to be illustrated from drawings by Jean Paul Laurens, and is to contain over three hundred and fifty woodcuts in the text, besides five large plates, including a head of Christ after Leonardo da Vinci. "Our Manon Lescaut' will be completely eclipsed," announce the publishers, with odd but unconscious irreverence. edition will cost over twenty thousand dollars, and is to be one of the finest specimens of the typographical art of France which this century has yet produced. The "Acts and Words of Victor Hugo, which is to be issued by Michel Levy Brothers, is divided into three parts, comprising as many volumes, which divisions are to be entitled, respectively, "Before Exile," "During Exile," and "After Exile." The first part is to appear in a day or two, preceded by a preface called "Law and Right," which preface is also to be issued as a separate pamphlet. The same firm also announce as nearly ready Count de Gasparin's "Thoughts on Liberty," the third and fourth volumes of the Count de Paris's "History of the Civil War in America," with further numbers of the atlas thereunto belonging, and the "Life and Works of Sainte-Beuve," by the Vicomte d'Haussonville. The firm of Didier & Co. will issue, in the course of the month, Mignet's "Rivalry between Francis I. and Charles V." Richard Lesclide has in press a translation of "The Raven" of Edgar A. Poe by Mallarmé, which is to be illustrated with five plates from designs by Manet. As Manet's new theories in art do not, we believe, extend to drawing, it is to be hoped that these illustrations from his pencil will be more acceptable than his recent paintings have been. And, à propos of Manet, I was recently told that the wife of an American artist of distinction was congratulating Madame Manet one day on the excellent position in which her husband's much laughed at "Argenteuil" had been placed in the Salon. Ah, yes," made answer the poor lady; "but I cannot bear to go near it, for, whenever I do, I hear such unkind remarks about it." There is, of course, a good deal of gossip afloat respecting the award of medals at the Salon. It is said that the medal of honor would have been bestowed upon George Becker, whose "Respha," though a most unpleasant picture, is undoubtedly one of great originality and power. But Cabanel, who once painted a picture of the same subject, and Carolus Duran, who had hoped for the medal himself, opposed the award, and that successfully. An important musical discovery has just been made at Bergamo, in Italy. An examination was recently made of a chest preserved there which contained the manuscripts left unfinished by Donizetti (who was a native of Bergamo) at his death. Therein was found the original partition of a musical farce called the "Campanello dello Speziale," of which Donizetti had composed not only the music, but the words; the partition of "Two Men and One Woman," of which the words were by Gustave Vaez; and, most important discovery of all, the manuscript of an opera in three acts entitled "The Duke of Alva," with the original libretto in French, by Eugène Scribe. The first act is completely finished, and ready for representation; of the two others, the principal morceaux only are composed.. These being ready, however, it will be an easy matter to prepare the recitatives, and with this task three young composers have been charged. It is expected that the whole work will be ready for representation early in the fall. It will first be performed in Italy, and, if successful there, will probably be transferred to the boards of Paris and London. If it be as good in its way as was "Don Pasquale," which was, I believe, Donizetti's last-represented opera, the discovery is, indeed, an important one. The Grand Prix de Paris, that leading event in social and sporting circles here, came off last Sunday, that being the first Sunday in June. The Observatory, which attempts over here to fill the office of "Old Probabilities" with us, but with lamentable ill success, announced rain-storms and lowering clouds for the whole day. Of course not a drop of rain fell, and, if the sky were not completely cloudless, so much the better, as the soft haze which obscured the atmosphere toward the close of the afternoon served to temper the heat, which might else have been thought extreme for this latitude. The crowd was enormous, even exceeding in numbers that of last year, and the toilets were radiant to behold. Such exquisite combinations of color and material can hardly be imagined. The favorite tint was pale blue, certain groups of ladies on the tribunes looking like clusters of animated forget-me-nots in their exquisite costumes of silk and surah. Madame de MacMahon looked her very worst in a dress of écru yellow with a bonnet of yellow straw trimmed with oats and poppies. Her face was flushed with the heat, and altogether she looked thoroughly uncomfortable. Madame de Molins, the embassadress of Spain, and her two daughters, occupied places in the presidential box; the young ladies are very pretty and animated brunettes, and looked very charming in their Spanish mantilla-veils of white guipure-lace. The great race of the day, the Grand Prix, created an intense excitement, Claremont, the English horse, being looked upon as a most dangerous competitor for the prize. It was whispered abroad that the Prince of Wales, his owner, had come over incognito to witness his triumph, and that he was present on the ground in disguise. Be this as it may, the English horses fared but badly, none of them being even placed, while Salvator, who was not one of the favorites, carried off the victory from the French favorites Nougat and St.Cyr. The drive home was only to be accomplished at a snail's pace, so densely were the Avenue de l'Impératrice and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées packed with carriages, the throng extending from the gates of the Bois de Boulogne fairly down to the rond-point. The colors of M. Lupin (black and red) were conspicuous in many carriages on the homeward drive. Isabelle, ex-bouquetière of the Jockey Club, was present on the ground, but neglected and shorn of all her importance and all her glory. Poor M. Bagier, the ex-director of the Italian Opera, has not yet seen the end of his troubles. He sued the members of his orchestra the other day for damages on account of their having broken up his season by striking work and refusing to play, and that, too, when their salaries had been regularly paid. He lost his lawsuit, and immediately one of his ex-prima donnas, Mademoiselle Angeli, sued him for two months' salary on the ground that the season ought to have continued for two months after it came to an abrupt close. But the lady was unsuccessful, and very justly, too. The odd fact came out on the trial that this young lady's salary amounted to only one hundred dollars (five hundred francs) a month. Please take notice, O ye aspiring mu sical students who aim at the position of prima donna to the Italian Opera of Paris! It is rumored that Strakosch is to be the director of that institution next winter, that he has already taken the Salle Ventadour, and that he has engaged Patti for a brief series of representations, all of which is pleasant news if it be only true. Our young country woman Miss Abbott went over to London some three weeks ago to prepare for making her debut under the auspices of Manager Gye, of Covent Garden. She was to have made her first appearance in "La Fille du Regiment," but after her first rehearsal she was told that the version she had studied was not that usually presented on the English boards, and she would be obliged to relearn the opera entirely. So her debut is again postponed, and this time for an indefinite period. She has been studying under Wartel, the celebrated instructor of Nilsson, so it is strange that he should have guided her so far astray as regards the opera in question. LUCY H. HOOPER. OUR LONDON LETTER. THE series of articles now appearing in Mr. Yates's paper-the World-on "The English Press," are creating quite a sensation among journalists. They (the articles, not the journalists) are terribly caustic. You will remember I quoted from one of them the other week. The last is on the Athenæum - a paper Mr. Yates has little reason to be friendly with. This is how it opens: "In some parts of the country the Athenaum is believed to be the final arbiter upon all literary questions, great or small. Its judgments are obediently accepted as the highest expression of cultivated opinion, and there is an odd superstition that authors who fail to gain the applause of the Athenæum at once retire from the profession. The journal is, in fact, regarded as a sort of literary Warwick, whose time is spent in making kings of literature; and those who indulge this strange belief would as soon think of questioning the validity of a legal sentence as of doubting the authority of the Athenæum. We in London who know the journal better would not do it this wrong. For some time past we have been wont to look to our Athenæum rather for amusement than instruction, and to trust it if at all more as a newspaper than an organ of criticism." The writer-a gentleman who at one time was on the staff of the Times, 'tis rumored— then goes on to rail against "the style of" the Athenæum's 66 criticism," " which he declares "remains for the most part curiously devoid of power or courage. . A new poem is boiled down as if it were a statistical report," adds he; "its verdicts are, as a rule, commonplace; the errors it falls into are many." A propos of these last, let me quote the final sentences: ... "Readers of the Athenæum will remember the sad blunder about Keats, when it published as new a letter which had long been familiar to every reader of Lord Houghton's charming biography. But this was as nothing compared to the review of Mr. Tennyson's 'Holy Grail,' in 1869, on which occasion, and in order to prove that the poet's powers had not failed, the innocent journal quoted a long passage from the Morte d'Arthur,' published in 1842. There are some journals, as there are some men, who never get too old to sow wild-oats, and of the wild-oats of the Athenæum these are fair samples." næum. 6 Let its best-known writers express a wish to review such and such a book, and he is sure not to get it. He would not ask for it if he were not for some reason or other inclined to praise or slate' it." Sir Charles or his lieutenant, Mr. McColl, would say: "Of course, however unjust notices occasionally appear, they ever will appear in the best-regulated papers so long as authors and critics have gallbladders, and are so touchy.' 6 I wish I were Dr. Kenealey-yes, I really do. One could put up, I imagine, with a great deal of censure and ridicule -one wouldn't mind writing one's self down an ass-for four hundred pounds a week, and that is what the irrepressible doctor-the "member for Orton," as the World has dubbed him-is making out of the Englishman. A little bird has been whispering to me how he does it, and, in duty bound, I must confide it to you. Well, the circulation of the doctor's paper is over a hundred thousand copies weekly-say a hundred thousand. These he sells at two shillings and tenpence a quire of twenty-seventhat is, he sells three thousand seven hundred and four quires. Now, three thousand seven hundred and four two and tenpences is, if I mistake not-how I hate figures!-five hundred and twenty-four pounds fourteen shillings and eightpence-the total sum derived from the sale of the scurrilous sheet. As to the expenses, they are comparatively trifling. Suppose we say that in all they amount to one hundred and twenty-four pounds fourteen shillings and eightpence-they certainly do not amount to more-and four hundred pounds remain. Verily, the member for Stoke must bless the day that he came across that "tun of a man," Arthur Orton! Mr. Henry Blackburn, the author of "Artists and Arabs," has hit upon an excellent idea. He is about to produce, through Messrs. Chatto and Windus, a shilling hand - book, called "Academy Notes," the letter-press of which will be interspersed with forty etchings of the principal pictures just now on view at Burlington House. He intends, he tells me, to bring a similar volume out yearly. Some one should take the hint in regard to your own Academy. A new sixpenny monthly magazine will very soon be started here. It will consist entirely of light literature-of matter that those who run may read. The first number will contain about ten contributions-poems, sketches, stories-by well-known English and American authors. Your humble servant will edit it. I feel certain there is room for a really readable sixpenny; at present Mrs. Henry Wood's magazine-the Argosy-is the only one in the field worth mentioning. Mr. George Barnett Smith informs me that he is going to issue a book from the essays on well-known authors which he has contributed to the Edinburgh Review, the Cornhill, the Contemporary, and other periodicals. Some of these essays are very well worth preserving, notably those on Thackeray and Shelley. Messrs. Smith, Elder, & Co. will be the publishers. Browning, I may tell you, takes a great interest in young Mr. Smith. He is constantly writing to him, and the poet's letters are ever a delight for two reasons. They are not only always prettily couched, but they are invariably written in the neatest of neat hands. So far as handscript goes, Mr. Browning would have made an admirable lawyer's clerk. A and nothing more; but the World, as you word as to another well-known poet whose see, sets it up on a higher pedestal, in order to name begins with a B. Mr. Buchanan has pull it down again. Of one thing I am cer- been engaged for some months past on a magtain: there is not a more fairly-conducted pe- num opus. He is still staying "far from the riodical in the universe than this same Athe-madding crowd"-in short, in one of the most Sir Charles Dilke has often told me that the Athenæum claims to be a literary newspaper, outlandish parts of Ireland, a place where meat is to be had at about fourpence a pound, eggs for a halfpenny each, and milk for next to nothing. Verily, a poet's paradise! You will, by-and-by, have one of our most ardent disciples of Izaak Walton among youMr. W. Senior, "Red Spinner" of the Gentleman's Magazine. Mr. Senior intends writing a book on "The Rod in America." A volume of his Gentleman articles has already been published over here under the title of "Waterside Sketches," and has sold remarkably well. All lovers of the "gentle art" who are off for their holidays are putting it in their knapsacks. Mr. Senior, I should add, is one of the "specials" of the Daily News, and there is scarcely a British river that he has not fished in. He is looking forward to rare sport on your side the Atlantic-a bad lookout for the finny tribe! One of your enterprising American correspondents has been "interviewing" my friend Mr. John Ingram, Poe's new editor. Said correspondent had seen a paragraph in one of your papers stating that Mr. Ingram was about to start for the States on a lecturing tour; so, naturally, he at once determined to ascertain that gentleman's views of things in general. However, he was doomed to disappointment. Mr. Ingram is a somewhat reticent young man, and-at least so he tells me-was not to be drawn out. Moreover, he has not the slightest idea of taking to lecturing. Mr. "Special" naturally, therefore, went away not a little crestfallen. Why doesn't he call on Kenealey? The doctor's voice falls upon mine ears as I write. My office is above his. Just now he is holding forth to his shop-boy. Mr. Bronson Howard, who is mixing a great deal in "society" here, is going to Berlin in a few weeks to see a German version of his "Saratoga." Just now he is enjoying himself amazingly on our silver-flowing Thames. He is a capital oarsman. The quiet beauty of our English scenery seems to have many charms for him. He has, by-the-way, more than one new play in hand. Mr. Charles Gibbon, the author of "Robin Gray," has determined on altering the title of his forthcoming novel. It will not be called "Ravelston," but "What will the World say?" The world will, I have no doubt, say that the story is a very good one indeed. WILL WILLIAMS. Science, Invention, Discovery. IS LIGHT A MECHANICAL FORCE? WE only wish it were possible to so ap proach the subject now under review as to impress upon our readers at the outset the true significance and value of the discovery to which it relates. It appears almost incredible that, in spite of the untiring labors of mind, begun with the first dawn of human intelligence, and continued with constantlyaugmented activity through the ages, such a truth as that now demonstrated should have so long remained uurevealed, and that, with our knowledge of the so-called physical forces, and the laws which govern their action, we should have until this late day remained in ignorance regarding the true nature of the familiar phenomenon of light. That in many of its properties light is a force has been clearly demonstrated, and, by the aid of certain chemical agencies, it has been fully proved that the force exercised by the light-waves is but another manifestation of that which, as electricity, makes the magnet powerful, or, as heat, results in combustion and the consequent generation of mechanical motion; but that light possesses a motive power in itself-that is, that these light-waves, as we call them, exercise a direct repellent force when interrupted, just as do the waves of the sea as they beat upon the coast, or the wind-currents as they press against the mariner's sail-who ever dreamed of this? It is to this new conception respecting the motive power of light that attention is now briefly directed, and, if we are content to go no further at present than the mere notice of the discovery, and a description of the methods by which the truth is demonstrated, it is because its possible results are so numberless and far-reaching that to name them, even without discussion, would carry us beyond our allotted limits. From several recent sources of information on this subject we glean the following facts: In August of 1873 Mr. William Crookes read a brief paper before the Royal Society, in which he just hinted at the possible results which might be obtained through a course of experiments he was then conducting. It was not, however, until the month of May last that this earnest worker came boldly forward and, by the aid of ingenious mechanical and physical appliances, proceeded to the visible demonstration of the theory which, in his eyes, had already attained to the dignity of a natural law. "Mr. Crookes began," says the report, "by stating that, in the paper from which he had previously read to the society, he had made known how a lever arm of pith, delicately suspended in a very perfect vacuum, was repelled by the impact of light or radiant heat." Now, if any school-boy will consult even the latest work on natural philosophy, he will there read that light, apart from heat, has no physical force whatever, and the fact that an ordinary balance suspended in vacuo was not affected by light-rays has been used as an argument against Newton's emission theory. Yet it now appears by Mr. Crookes's experiments that certain of the needed conditions had not been properly observed, and that it was possible, under proper conditions, to secure positive and even rapid mechanical motion by the aid of light-waves alone. Passing by the more complicated of these demonstrations, attention is directed to the form and construction of one of these appliances, for the better understanding of which the accompanying illustration is given. This device is known as the "radiometer," and by it the true character of radiant heat and of lightwaves may be demonstrated. As described, this apparatus consists of four arms suspended on a steel point resting on a cap, so that the arms are able to revolve horizontally upon their central pivot, just the same, in fact, as the arms of an anemometer revolve. To the extremity of each arm of straw in the apparatus made by Mr. Crookes is fastened a thin disk of pith, white on one side and black on the other, the black surface of all the disks facing the same way; the pith disks are each about the size of a sixpence. The whole arrangement is inclosed in a glass globe, which is then exhausted to the highest attainable point and hermetically sealed. Now, in order to demonstrate the motive power of light by aid of this apparatus, it was only needed that the globe, with the inclosed mimic windmill, be so placed that it should receive direct rays either of sunlight or from some artificial source, when the fans would at once be acted upon, resulting in their rapid revolution about the central pivot, continuing as long as the light remained. Lest there should be a doubt as to whether it might not be heat-waves which, coming from the same source as the light, were yet in truth the motors, a screen of alum was introduced between the light and the globe, and by this means the light only was transmitted. Still the same result followed. Again, thinking that there might possibly be some electrical conditions about the pith which incited it to action, these disks were removed, and those of thin platinum substituted, and, to cover the possible effects of disengaged moisture in causing the motion, these metal disks were heated to redness, and the globe put in a perfect non-electrical condition. All these changes were made in obedience to objections raised by doubters, and yet the little windmill, obedient to the repellent force of the light-rays exercised against B the dark sides of the disk, moved the same as before. We are informed that, with one of the instruments, the arms revolved once in one hundred and eighty-two seconds, when a candle-flame was placed at a distance of twenty inches; when this distance was decreased to ten inches, the time occupied for one revolution was forty-five seconds; and at five inches the revolution was made in eleven seconds. By this it will be seen that the motive force of light seems to obey the same law as that governing its intensity—that is, it varies inversely as the square of the distance. It is the approach to exactness in these results which affords the strongest proof of the justice of Mr. Crookes's conclusions, and it also appears that in this instrument we have a new and exact method of making actinometrical measurements. While, as before suggested, we have no intention of reviewing at greater length the possible effect of this discovery upon established theories, astronomical and physical, yet there can be no doubt that, when the new theory shall have been sufficiently verified to justify its adoption, the result will be manifested in a modification of certain established opinions regarding the character of centrifugal force, the influence of light upon the celestial waves, the true nature of comets' tails, etc. President Barnard, in an extended review of this discovery, does not hesitate to affirm that “it may give rise to much more important discoveries perhaps than any contribution to celestial mechanics since the law of gravitation was demonstrated by Newton." And, so far as the inquiries have progressed, we learn that "such eminent men as Professors Stokes and Huxley, Dr. Carpenter, Mr. Norman Lockyer, and others, agree that the demonstration was perfect." At present, the chief opponent of the theory is Professor Osborne Reynolds, and, when the full report of this gentleman's views is received, we shall again return to the discussion of the subject. Indeed, it may not be necessary to await this protest, since, should the facts as they now stand be indorsed by other observers, our readers may expect to become as familiar with the new theory as they are now with that of gravitation. Regarding the possible effects of this discovery upon the present views, a recent enthusiastic reviewer closes the report of his observations as follows: "It seems not impossible that our mathematicians, calculating from the small surface of these disks the motive force of sunlight, may soon tell us pretty accurately what is the aggregate power which the luminous rays of the sun command, and nothing of this, by the law of forces, can be really wasted. Let there be light: and there was light,' seems to derive a new majesty of meaning from the discovery which shows us this subtile something, no mere undulation nor mode of motion,' but a living force as well as the illumination of all life. It does appear as if a marvelous expansion of knowledge is about to open as a result of these delicate experiments." In a recent note on submarine tunnels, we announced that it had been proposed to open a tunnel beneath the Straits of Gibraltar. At that time, however, we were not in possession of certain valuable information which is now given to our readers. This information comes to us in the form of a letter from Ensign Busbee of Admiral Worden's staff, in which the writer ventures the theory that an opening already exists beneath the strait, and is in constant use as a highway between Europe and Africa. It is true that the frequenters of this route are only monkeys; but if monkeys, why not men? Leaving it for the engineering commission to settle the fact of the tunnel, the story of the monkeys as told by our correspondent will be found sufficiently entertaining to merit a perusal, while the possible truth of the tunnel theory seems to justify us in giving it a place in the science column. The communication is as follows: "Few places in Europe have been more thoroughly written up' than Gibraltar. Each transient visitor feels called upon to dilate in glowing rhetoric upon its 'craggy cliffs,' its frowning batteries,' etc.; but, in the descriptions that I have seen, an important omission has struck me. Of course I refer to the monkeys for in Gibraltar alone, of all Spain, of all Europe, can be found veritable wild monkeys. "That this almost inaccessible rock should be the only place in Europe in which these animals are found is singular, but the manner in which they get there is much more wonderful. "The doubter may hesitate to believe what I am about to state, but let him that hesitates keep away from Gibraltar; as for myself, I had rather face the muzzles of the Garden Battery than to hint a suspicion of unbelief to the old sergeant at the Signal-Tow er. This sergeant is the legal guardian of the monkeys, and it is his duty to provide them with food and drink when berries are scarce and rain infrequent. When he gives them drink he has to chain the saucers to trees, for the wretches used to amuse themselves, after drinking, by shying the saucers around in a very indiscriminate manner, some at the old man, others far out into the sea, and added to their enormities by laughing and chattering at the very natural expletives of their benefactor. "These monkeys are seen in Gibraltar only at certain intervals, and at intervals they disappear. They come from Africa, from Mo rocco across the strait. There is a cave running down from the top of the rock, and underneath the strait there must be a passage. So strongly is this believed, that the nearest point in Africa, Apes' Hill, receives its name from the circumstance. These monkeys are in all respects like the little monkeys of Northern Africa, and when they are scarce on Apes' Hill, they abound on the Rock of Gibraltar; when there are none on the rock, they are much more numerous on the other side. The cave has never been explored by man, though several adventurous engineers and oth ers have lost their lives in the endeavor to descend it. "These animals could not come from Spain, for they would be obliged to cross the 'Neutral Ground,' a perfectly barren strip of land, and certainly at some time traces of them would have been found: besides, if any were in Spain, such inveterate sportsmen as the English officers, hunting constantly as they do, would find them. "One can imagine a young monkey of Africa, a nascent Kane or Livingstone, fired with enthusiasm, leaving home and friends with many a tearful remonstrance from his mother, resolving to explore the chasm in Apes' Hill, or to perish in the effort. Not Columbus nor Vasco de Gama so challenges our admiration as this dauntless monkey, and when, after daring the dangers of sea and land, he returned to his tribe, we may well imagine how the choicest fruit was plucked in honor of the voyager. As his comrades listened to the story of his adventures, and heard his recountal of the sights he had witnessed, many doubtless vowed to emulate his courage, until finally the passage came to be regarded as a simple matter, and all aristocratic monkeys came to pass the season on the rock, and Gibraltar became the Saratoga of the apes. "The plan to tunnel the English Channel may eventually be carried out, and massive arches, erected with line a plummet, may support the water's weight; but when one takes in Calais the cars for Dover, let him remember that this idea is not original. The monkeys as they cross and recross in their tunnel will have the keen satisfaction of knowing that their Darwinian brothers are but copyists of them, and that theirs is the original submarine passage. Whether it was not made with hands, or whether the monkeys made it before they descended into man, matters not. Here these little fellows will journey at their leisure until the waves of the two seas may prove too strong, and the earth, giving way over their thoroughfare, shall separate them forever from their forefathers' graves. "Every one in Gibraltar is deeply interested in the monkeys, and the fine for troubling them is heavy. When one dies, the fact is noted in the record kept by the old sergeant, and generally finds its way into the newspapers." THE introduction of electric indicators and signals into our hotels and other buildings has at present been made of service only as indicating the room from which the bell was rung. This signal has to be answered by a waiter, who is then often dispatched on some slight errand, such as bringing water, calling a general messenger, etc. Recognizing the value of some improvement which would enable the occupant of the room to indicate within a limited range the purpose of the signal, M. Detrayeux has devised the following plan, which is favorably noticed in the Bulletin de la Société Encouragement: Under each number of the indicator at the clerk's desk there is placed a board on which is a printed list of the more common requirements in hotels. Over this list an index-needle is so adjusted that it may move freely up or down, stopping before any name upon it. In the traveler's room is a corresponding list and index-finger in addition to the common button now in use. The general operation of the device is as follows: The occupant of the room adjusts the indexneedle so that it shall point to the desired object, and then touches the electric button. The signal is transmitted to the indicator, which, being constructed with a view to these complications, rings a bell, at the same time causing the index-needle to move in accord with the one at the more distant end of the line. The attention of the waiter or hall-boy is attracted by the bell, and he reads its purpose from the list indicated by the needle, and, having restored the latter to its place, proceeds to answer the request without further inquiry. It is proposed to so adapt the needle in the room that when the current is checked by the waiter below it will take its normal position automatically; thus the one ringing will be informed that his request is about to be answered. All this may seem to involve mechanism too complicated to be of service, and yet the method is essentially the same as that now in general use in the "district telegraph," whereby either a doctor, messenger, or policeman, may be summoned. We have frequently taken occasion, in our reviews of scientific progress in England, to notice the violence with which the journal Nature has expressed its opinions regarding any lack of zeal manifested by the government in the cause of science. The present, however, being a dull season at home, the pen of this editor is forced to seek other objects for denunciation and rebuke, as is illustrated by the following from that journal of June 3d: "We are very much sprised, and on all accounts it is greatly to be regretted, that the Legislature of Massachusetts has rejected the bill for a new survey of the State to which we have already referred. Massachusetts is known all the world over as being one of the most intelligent and best-educated States in the Union. Evidently, however, the State schools are too strong in arithmetic; a Mr. Plunkett brought some extraordinary calculations before the House, showing that the survey would cost nearly a million and a half of dollars, and occupy nearly a hundred years! Besides an advanced and accomplished calculator, the Massachusetts Legislature is also happy in the possession of a funny man,' a Mr. Rice, who seems occasionally to relieve the severity of Mr. Plunkett's extreme calculations by bright flashes of buffoonery. Mr. Rice described the proposed survey as sending young men with muck-rakes to scratch the sterile soil of the State and make pictures.'" THE sudden death of Joseph Winlock, late director of the observatory of Harvard College, is an event which will be sincerely mourned by the world of science, where he had attained so high and worthy a fame, and by the many associates whom he honored by his friendship. It is seldom that the philosopher creates for himself a fame of such a nature as to attract the attention and command the reverence of the poet; hence the following sonnet by Lowell, composed in memory of the dead astronomer, will be received as a special mark of honor: Thy soul and stalwart, man of patient will Through years one hair's-breadth on our Dark to gain, Who, from the stars he studied not in vain, Of Science, only witness of his skill: known Of orbs dim-hovering on the skirts of space, Unprescient, through God's mercy, of his own!" 66 The first question invariably addressed to every traveler on his return from the East is, "Well, and the women?" To which each responds by a smile, more or less mysterious according to his degree of fatuity, implying, however, a fair amount of romantic adventures. Whatever it may cost my self-love, I humbly avow that I have, in this particular, no story to tell;" but am compelled, to my great regret, to send forth my narrative devoid of all incident of love or romance. A few such would certainly have served admirably to vary my descriptions of cemeteries, mosques, tekkės, palaces, and kiosks. Nothing is more charming in an Eastern tale than to read how an old woman, in a deserted street, made you a sign to follow her cautiously, and at a distance, and introduced you, by a secret door, into an apartment heaped with all the luxuries of the Orient, where, reclining upon a superb divan, a sultana, gleaming with jewels-which, however, paled beside her superb loveliness-impatiently awaited your coming, and received you with smiles of tenderness and welcome. In due course the adventure should terminate by the sudden arrival of the master, who scarcely leaves you time to fly by the back-door; unless, indeed, a more tragical climax is attained, by a contest from which you barely escape with life, and the plunge into the Bosporus, at dead of night, of a sack which bears some vague resemblance to the human form. This orthodox narrative of Eastern adventure, slightly varied in details, always passes current, and interests all readers; and, THE students at Caius College, Cambridge more especially, all "fair readers;" and, doubt(England), have recently founded a society on less, it is not entirely without precedent that a basis that might be imitated among our own a young Giaour, handsome, rich, knowing institutions. The organization is designed for thoroughly the language of the country, and the diffusion of scientific knowledge among residing in his own house in the Turkish fashthe members of the college, for the reading of ion, should, with great peril to himself and essays on scientific subjects, and for the hold- absolute danger to the life of the lady, have ing of scientific discussions. Whatever may an intrigue with a Turkish woman; but, if be the view taken by undergraduates, we do such a thing occurs, it is very rarely, indeed, not question that the alumni of American and this for many and obvious reasons. First, colleges are often led to regret that the zeal the bolts and the gratings which intervene bedemanded of them in the support of their so- tween the females and the rest of the world called secret organization had not been put to are tangible and unmistakable obstacles; then better service in advancing their intellectual the difference of religion, and the unconquerculture. And now that the scientific depart-able suspicion with which every Turk-the women not excepted-instinctively regards all unbelievers, not to mention the difficulty, or almost impossibility, of that previous acquaintance which might awaken a mutual regard between the parties. Besides this, it is to be remarked that in most European countries the world at large are rather disposed to connive and smile at any "flirtation" which is observed, even though the lady be a married woman; while in Turkey a cawas, a hammal, any man, of even the lowest grade, who should observe a Mohammedan woman speaking in the street to a Frank, or even exchanging the slightest sign of intelligence with him, would literally fall upon her with hand, and foot, and cudgel, and be warmly applauded for such brutality by any casual spectators, especially among the women. No one here understands the remotest approach to raillery on the subject of conjugal infidelity. The purely material jealousy of the Turks, and the precautions which it involves, protect them, almost invariably, from any cause of domestic scandal; although jocose allusions to the subject are made familiarly enough in the theatre of our friend Karagheuz, and in the course of the comic disputes incidental to his performances. It is true that the Turkish women go out freely, take their walks and drives to the Valley of Sweet Waters, to Hyder Pasha, or to the Place of Sultan Bajazet; seat themselves beside the tombs of the Little Fields of Pera or Scutari; pass entire days at the bath, or in visits to their friends; talk beneath the porticoes of the mosques; lounge in the shops of the Bezetin; and sail, in caïques or steamers, upon the waters of the Bosporus; but they have always some companion, be it a negress, or an old woman in the capacity of duenna, or, if they are rich, a eunuch, often more jealous than his master. If they are not thus accompanied which exception is rare-a child, led by the hand, insures them respect; or even, in default of this protection, the tone of public manners watches over them, and "protects" them, perhaps a little more rigorously than they altogether desire. The excessive liberty of action which they enjoy is only apparent. Foreigners have sometimes fancied themselves beloved by a Turkish woman, when they have, in fact, confounded the Armenians with the Turks, whose costume they wear, except the yellow boots, and whose manuers and allurements they imitate so closely as to deceive any but a resident of the country. For this it suffices to have an old woman, who arranges her plans with a pretty young Armenian coquette, a rather credulous and romantic young man, and a rendezvous in a lonely house. Vanity does the rest; and the adventure generally terminates in the extortion of a sum of money-an insignificant circumstance, omitted from the subsequent narrative of the deluded Giaour, who imagines in his heroine at least the favorite slave of a pasha, if not one of the harem of the Grand-Seignor himself. But, in real truth, the actual Turkish life is not less "hermetically sealed" than we have always supposed; and it is very difficult to even conjecture what passes behind those closely trellised windows, the only view through which is that from within, each being furnished with a sort of bull's-eye, to enable those on the inner side to command a perfect view of all that passes without, while they themselves remain rigorously invisible. Nor is it of any use to think of obtaining information from the natives of the country. As the author says at the commencement of "Namouna" "Utter silence reigns throughout this narrative." |