distinction have been put down as members of the provisional committee, among which, figure several peers of the realm, extensive holders of mines, forges, the constructing of machinery, and many other perfections in the metallic, as well as the manufacturing, industry of the different departments. It is expected that this will be one of the best attended of any association that has ever been projected or established in Paris, or any other part of France, being purely of a scientific nature, confined to the improvement of the resources of the country, now that such a rapid progress is making in every branch of national industry in England, Belgium, and Germany. SCOTCH AND WELSH IRON. Notwithstanding the increased consumption of iron which must arise from the carrying out our numerous railways, as well as fulfilling export orders, there has been, during the week past, a tendency to a decline wholly unaccountable; in Scotland, particularly, makers have been more inclined to sell, and some thousands of tons of pig iron have changed hands at 75s. per ton; one parcel of 1,000 tons was done at 72s. 6d., and we have heard of as low as 70s. having been accepted. Welsh has retained its price from 95s. to 110s., and railway bar has been obtaining £12 per ton; the consumption continues to be very large, while prices remain lower than those of the corresponding period of last year, which may, in a measure, be attributed to the absence of all transactions for delivery next year, which must materially have increased the amount of business. In Staffordshire, and Wales generally, prices remain firm, and manufactured iron keeps its position in the market. It is expected the works in operation will be unable to meet the demand; and in France, with the certainty that they must shortly import largely from England or elsewhere, prices are gradually advancing: railway iron is now selling in that country for from £14 to £16 per ton, and at that figure there is not sufficient to meet the demand. THE LONDON TIMES.-GREAT SHEET. By far the greatest novelty of the past week has been the Railway Broad Sheet published by the Times. Spread out, it is, beyond all comparison, more like the maintop-sail of one of her Majesty's vessels than a letter-press folio. Homer's Catalogue of the Ships is, perhaps, the most extraordinary book in the great Iliad, and, certainly, this railway chapter is the most extraordinary one in the vast volume now for some weeks issuing from the presses in Printing-House Square. The steady, calculating mind of England is charged with madness by that practiced and public exascerbator-the Times. We merely meant to treat this little island to all the new highways it wanted; and, lo! we are charged with a set purpose of railwaying the whole world: every prospectus— good, bad, and indifferent; home, foreign, and colonial; past, present, and to come; continental, Indian, and Canadian; to the pole, and to the equator-have found a place in his vast indictment. Of course, it is meant as a joke, and we shall endeavour so to relish it; but, we know there are some quarters, and the Times knows its customers better than we do, where the wildest exaggerations are received for truth, and fiction occupies the place of facts. It will be so with all who give credibility to the romance of the Broad Sheet. LATEST CURRENT PRICES OF METALS.-LONDON, Nov. 25, 1845. £ s. £ s. d. Bara, Wales,....ton 9 0-9 5 0 IRON 46 London, Nail rods, London,.. TIN £ s. £ s. d. Com'n blocks g,..cwt. 0 Refinded,... 9 15-10 0 0 66 TIN PLATES Scotch pig b, Clyde,. 3 12- 3 15 0 Rails, 0 0-5 5 0 0-5 6 6 000000 0 0- 5 10 0 !!! 4 15 0 0-12 0 0 ..... 0 66 IX,. 0-20 5 0 0-13 15 0 0 0 0 0 0-93 0 0 ZINC-(Sheet)m, expt.* 0 0-30 0 0 0 0—0 4 6 COPPER-Tile f,...... 66 bottoms,... a Discount 2 per cent. b Net cash. e Discount 2 per cent. d Ditto. 00-96 0 e In kegs, & in., in bd. 0-0 0 11 REFINED METAL.,..ton 0 0 7 2 6 f Discount 3 per cent. h Net cash. i Discount 3 per cent. [From our Correspondent.] 1 Net cash. m Discount 1 per cent. n Ditto 14 per cent. * For home use it is £32 per ton. Iron.-Welsh and Staffordshire: business limited, but makers maintain their prices. Scotch pig: sales made in Glasgow, on 26th instant, at 72s. 6d. : this market looks dull. Copper continues firm at quotations, with a good demand. Tin.-Firm at late advance, and stock of all descriptions low. Sales this week of Straits at 93s., and of Banca at 95s. Tin Plates.-A fair business doing, and the stock of coke quality inadequate to the demand. Lead. Very firm in price. Spelter. Rather lower than the quotations of last week's Mining Journal. GLASGOW PIG IRON TRADE, Nov. 23. To-day, several thousand tons of pig iron could have been purchased at 75s. ; and we understand that one or two small transactions were made at this figure. The principal feature among the trade to-day, was a general reluctance to buy for immediate cash, which shows that dealers do not look forward to any immediate improvement. A parcel of about 1,000 tons might have been had for 72s. 6d., net, which we are not aware has been sold. Looking at the regular supply coming forward, and the general appearance of trade, we cannot but fear a further decline. COPPER ORES. Copper Ores for Sale on Thursday next, at Andrew's Hotel, Redruth : MINES AND PARCELS.-East Wheal Crofty, 747-Wheal Seton, 593-Camborne Vean, 517-Tincroft, 447-Fowey Consols, 322-Dolcoath, 284-South Wheal Basset, 271-Treviskey, 175-West Wheal Jewel, 172-North Roskear, 162-East Pool, 80Godolphin, 74-Tretoil, 51-Condurrow, 33-Great Work, 31. Total, 3,990 tons. Copper Ores for Sale on Thursday week, at Andrew's Hotel, Redruth: MINES AND PARCELS.-Carn Brea Mines, 582-Wheal Prosper, 451-Par Consols, 265-United Hills, 229-Trenow Consols, 191-Wheal Brewer, 153-Wheal Trewavas, 121-Ting Tang Consols, 100-Wheal Providence, 99-Wheal Busy, 77-Wheal Virgin, 72-Carn Perran, 65-West Fowey Consols, 47-Wheal Rodney, 31-East Seton, 28-North Basset, 21-Redruth Consols, 23-Hanson Mines, 22-Treffry's Slag 14-West Grambler, 12-West Wheal Maria, 10-Relistian, 7-Wheal Uny, 2. Total, 2,028 tons. COPPER ORES, Sampled Nov. 12, and Sold at Pearce's Hotel, Truro, Nov. 27, 1845. 7 19 6 Perran St. George,. Average standard, £107 16s. Average produce, 7 5-8. Average price per ton, £5 9s. 6d. Quantity of ore, 4,872 tons, Quantity of fine copper, 370 tons. Amount of money, £26,496 11s. Average standard of last sale, £97 14s. Average production, 9 5-8. COMPANIES BY WHOM THE ORES WERE PURCHASED. A GLANCE AT THE OLD WORLD. ONCE more, by the mighty influence of steam, we are placed very near to the Old World. The arrival of the Cunard steamer, at Boston, puts us in possession of the periodicals of the last month. We give the following resumé of their most interesting contents. SCIENTIFIC. It has been a matter of complaint that there are certain impurities in commercial sulphate of copper, or blue vitriol. A chemist, named Piesse, asserts that it arises from the treatment of brass and German silver articles, technically called dipping, which consists in plunging them for a short time in a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids, which removes the coat of oxide from the surface of the metal, and leaves the latter in a clear state, proper for the reception of varnish, or other finishing. In time this dipping liquid becomes in a great manner saturated, and after neutralization with old copper, yields, on evaporation in leaden pans, a large quantity of sulphate of copper in crystals. According to Piesse, not less than one hundred tons of dipping liquid are thus disposed of annually, at Birmingham, by the makers of buttons and other articles. The crystallized sulphate of copper, so obtained, is often largely contaminated with sulphate of zinc, which may be sometimes seen in the form of slender white needles on the surface of the dark blue crystals, and in some of the applications of this salt may prove injurious. In the transactions of the Linnean Society of London, we find the death of Dr. Richard Harlan, a native of Philadelphia, noticed in a very interesting manner. Natural History is becoming a subject of study in the University of Dublin. There should be in all our American Colleges a professorship in this science. It is one of the most fascinating, and humanizing of all mental pursuits. Its range is vast, its results are valuable, and its effect on the mind most salutary and happy. The Philosophical Magazine, for December, contains some interesting papers on the comets seen since 1844, and one on the diurnal changes of the aqueous portion of the atmosphere and their effects on the barometer, by Mr. Hopkins, of Manchester. Some propositions are laid down which are worth reporting. 1st. The various quantities of aqueous vapour which exist in the atmosphere during the different hours of the day, contribute to the production of the variable atmospheric pressure and the semi-diurnal fluctuations of the barometer. Therefore, at a certain hour of the morning it is at its minimum quantity, from which it increases during the day up to its maximum, after that it declines, and its variable pressure is exerted on the mercury of the barometer, and affects the height of the column. This takes place in a greater or less degree in all latitudes, though to the greatest extent near the equator. 2. The quantity of vapour existing in the atmosphere is ascertained from the dew point, or point of condensation. It thus becomes the measure of the quantity of aqueous vapour in the atmosphere, and of the vapour pressure; the amount, thus ascertained, being deducted from the whole atmospheric pressure, furnishes the amount of the gaseous pressure. 3. M. Piesse thinks, however, that the dew point is not a correct indicator everywhere, and promises a number of curious facts to sustain this position. The whole article is exceedingly curious and instructive. We find in the same number an interesting article on the subject of a remarkable difference between the rays of incandescent lime and those emitted by an electric spark, from the pen of Dr. Draper, of this city. The conclusion at which the Doctor arrives, is that the idea that phosphorence is merely the light of electric discharges from particle to particle, seems wholly incompatible with the results obtained by him in his experiments. As China has become an important country to the commercial world, since the treaty made with it, by the English and ourselves, various facilities for navigating the China seas, are now suggested. Several propellers having gone from the United States to the Celestial Empire, we copy a direction from Mr. Allen, of the Vixen, for small steamers, that seek to pass up from Singapore to Hong Kong, in the strength of a northeast monsoon. It is recommended to pass up on the west side of the Anambas, and then, hauling out to the northeast, pass a few miles to the northward of the Natunas, and continue steering about northeast until the meridian of 110 deg. east is gained, where a north course may be steered, with the fore and aft sails set. When past the Paracels, haul up direct for Hong Kong, and face the monsoon. Deposites and incrustations in steam boilers have long been a serious injury to them, as well as a great difficulty with engineers. On board the British steamer Echo, Dr. Ritterbandt's patent has been applied with success. The substance employed is chloride of ammonium, a harmless salt. It does not affect the water, communicate to it any unpleasant taste or smell, injure the metal, increase the density of the fluid, nor require any alteration of the present forms of the boilers. Its action is this. It changes the carbonate of lime into chloride of calcium, which is not deposited by heat, and as the crystallization of other salts, such as the sulphate of lime, depends in a great measure upon contact, the absence of nuclei of solid carbonate prevents in a great measure their formation. In marine boilers, says our authority, this is very evident, for after adding chloride of ammonium, and thus preserving the precipitation of insoluble carbonate of lime, it is almost impossible to obtain crystals of common salt. Blowing off thus becomes unnecessary, and it is asserted that an English steamer, plying between Northampton and Portsmouth, worked twelve days without blowing off, merely by using a small quantity of the material every day, and on the boilers being examined, it was found there was not apparent in them any evidence of even a tendency to deposite. If this be true, and it certainly looks like truth, our own steamers should have the benefit of the discovery. The great locomotive factory in St. Petersburg, under the direction of Messrs. Eastwick and Harrison, Philadelphia, is attracting great attention among the Russians. The theory of electro culture, or applying electricity to cultivation, is receiving attention from the learned. It is now maintained that the action of galvanism, (according to Becquerel,) if it be energetic, cannot but be injurious, since it destroys the tissues of a plant, and alters the natural |