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diff --git a/40498.txt b/40498.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5c2d81b..0000000 --- a/40498.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19721 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Curiosities of Civilization, by Andrew Wynter - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Curiosities of Civilization - -Author: Andrew Wynter - -Release Date: August 14, 2012 [EBook #40498] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - - - - - - - - -CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION. - - - - - CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION. - - REPRINTED FROM THE - "QUARTERLY" & "EDINBURGH" REVIEWS. - - - BY ANDREW WYNTER, M.D. - - - SEVENTH EDITION. - - - LONDON: - ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY, - AND ALL BOOKSELLERS. - - [_The Right of Translation is reserved._] - - - - -TO THE READER. - - -The following Essays have been reprinted from the pages of the _Quarterly_ -and _Edinburgh Reviews_, with the kind permission of their proprietors. It -may be necessary, however, to state that, with the exception of the paper -on the "Mortality in Trades and Professions," which was published in the -_Edinburgh Review_ of January, 1860, the whole of them have appeared in -the _Quarterly Review_ during the last six years. The date of each essay -is given in the list of contents; but, where necessary, corrections have -been made, so as to bring each article up to the knowledge of the present -day. - -A. W. - - COLEHERNE COURT, OLD BROMPTON. - _August, 1860._ - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE. - - ADVERTISEMENTS (1855) 1 - - FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS (1855) 53 - - THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS (1855) 93 - - RATS (1857) 128 - - LUNATIC ASYLUMS (1857) 150 - - THE LONDON COMMISSARIAT (1854) 200 - - WOOLWICH ARSENAL (1858) 245 - - SHIPWRECKS (1858) 288 - - LODGING, FOOD, AND DRESS OF SOLDIERS (1859) 325 - - THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH (1854) 349 - - FIRES AND FIRE INSURANCE (1855) 401 - - THE POLICE AND THE THIEVES (1856) 451 - - MORTALITY IN TRADES AND PROFESSIONS (1860) 499 - - - - -ADVERTISEMENTS. - - -It is our purpose to draw out, as a thread might be drawn from some woven -fabric, a continuous line of advertisements from the newspaper press of -this country, since its establishment to the present time; and, by so -doing, to show how distinctly, from its dye, the pattern of the age -through which it ran is represented. If we follow up to its source any -public institution, fashion, or amusement, which has flourished during a -long period of time, we can gain some idea of our national progress and -development; but it strikes us that in no manner can we so well obtain at -a rapid glance a view of the salient points of generations that have -passed, as by consulting those small voices that have cried from age to -age from the pages of the press, declaring the wants, the losses, the -amusements, and the money-making eagerness of the people. - -As we read in the old musty files of papers those _naive_ announcements, -the very hum of bygone generations seems to rise to the ear. The chapman -exhibits his quaint wares; the mountebank capers again upon his stage; we -have the living portrait of the highwayman flying from justice; we see the -old china auctions thronged with ladies of quality with their attendant -negro boys, or those "by inch of candlelight" forming many a Schalken-like -picture of light and shade; or, later still, we have Hogarthian sketches -of the young bloods who swelled of old along the Pall-Mall. We trace the -moving panorama of men and manners up to our own less demonstrative but -more earnest times; and all these cabinet pictures are the very -daguerreotypes cast by the age which they exhibit, not done for effect, -but faithful reflections of those insignificant items of life and things, -too small, it would seem, for the generalizing eye of the historian, -however necessary to clothe and fill in the dry bones of his history. - -The _English Mercurie_ of 1588, which professes to have been published -during those momentous days when the Spanish Armada was hovering and -waiting to pounce upon our southern shores, contains, among its items of -news, three or four book advertisements, and these would undoubtedly have -been the first put forth in England were that newspaper genuine. Mr. -Watts, of the British Museum, has, however, proved that the several -numbers of this journal to be found in our national library are gross -forgeries, and, indeed, the most inexperienced eye in such matters can -easily see that neither their type, paper, spelling, nor composition are -much more than one, instead of upwards of two centuries and a half old. -Newspapers, in the strict sense of the word--that is, publications of news -appearing at stated intervals, and regularly paged on--did not make their -appearance until the latter end of the reign of James I. The _Weekely -Newes_, published in London in 1622, was the first publication which -answered to this description; it contained, however, only a few scraps of -foreign intelligence, and was quite destitute of advertisements. The -terrible contest of the succeeding reign was the hotbed which forced the -press of this country into sudden life and extraordinary vigour. Those who -have wandered in the vaults of the British Museum and contemplated the -vast collection of political pamphlets and the countless Mercuries which -sprang full armed, on either side of the quarrel, from the strong and -earnest brains which wrought in that great political trouble, will not -hesitate to discover, amidst the hubbub of the Rebellion, the first throes -of the press of England as a political power. At such a time, when -Marchmort Needham fell foul with his types of Sir John Birkenhead and the -court party which he supported, with as heavy a hand and as dauntless a -will as Cromwell hurled his Ironsides at the Cavaliers at Naseby, it is -not likely that we should find the press the vehicle to make known the -goods of tradesmen, or to offer a reward for stolen horses. The -shopkeepers themselves, as well as the nobility, were too hard at it, to -avail themselves of this new mode of extending their trade: they had to -keep guard over the malignants, to cover the five members with the shield -of their arms, to overawe Whitehall, to march to the relief of -Gloucester,--objects quite sufficient to account for the fact that the -train-bands were not advertisers. After the king's death, however, when -the Commonwealth had time to breathe, the people seem to have discovered -the use of the press as a means of making known their wants and of giving -publicity to their wares. The very first advertisement we have met with, -after an active search among the earliest newspapers, relates to a book -which is entitled-- - - Irenodia Gratulatoria, an Heroick Poem; being a congratulatory - panegyrick for my Lord General's late return, summing up his successes - in an exquisite manner. - - To be sold by John Holden, in the New Exchange, London. Printed by - Tho. Newcourt, 1652. - -This appeared in the January number of the Parliamentary paper _Mercurius -Politicus_. It is evidently a piece of flattery to Cromwell upon his -victories in Ireland, and might have been inserted at the instigation of -the great Commonwealth leader himself. Booksellers appear to have been the -first to take advantage of this new medium of publicity, and for the -obvious reason that their goods were calculated for the readers of the -public journals, who at that time must have consisted almost exclusively -of the higher orders. From this date to the Restoration the quaintest -titles of works on the political and religious views, such as were then in -the ascendant, are to be found in the _Mercurius Politicus_: thus, we have -"Gospel Marrow;" "A few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul;" -"Michael opposing the Dragon, or a Fiery Dart struck through the Kingdom -of the Serpent." And in the number for September, 1659, we find an -advertisement which seems to bring us face to face with one of the -brightest names in the roll of English poets:-- - - Considerations touching the likeliest means to remove Hirelings out of - the Church; wherein is also discours'd of Tithes, Church Fees, Church - Revenues, and whether any maintenance of Ministers can be settled by - Law. The author, J. M. Sold by _Livewell Chapman_, at the Crown in - Pope's Head Alley. - -In juxtaposition to these illustrious initials we find another -advertisement, which is the representative of a class that prevailed most -extensively at this early time--the Hue and Cry after runaway servants and -lost or stolen horses and dogs. Every generation is apt to praise, like -Orlando, "the antique service of the old world;" but a little excursion -into the regions of the past shows us how persistent this cry has been in -all ages. Employers who are in the habit of eulogising servants of the -"old school," would be exceedingly astonished to find that two hundred -years ago they were a very bad lot indeed, as far as we can judge from the -advertisements of rewards for the seizure of delinquents of their class. -Here is a full-length portrait of apparently a runaway apprentice, as -drawn in the _Mercurius Politicus_ of July 1st, 1658:-- - - If any one can give notice of one _Edward Perry_, being about the age - of eighteen or nineteen years, of low stature, black hair, full of - pockholes in his face; he weareth a new gray suit trimmed with green - and other ribbons, a light Cinnamon-colored cloak, and black hat, who - run away lately from his Master; they are desired to bring or send - word to _Tho. Firby_, Stationer, at Gray's Inne gate, who will - thankfully reward them. - -It will be observed that the dashing appearance of this runaway -apprentice, habited in his gray suit trimmed with green ribbons, and -furbished off so spicily with his cinnamon-coloured cloak, is rather -marred by the description of his face as "full of pockholes." Unless the -reader has scanned the long list of villanous portraits exhibited by the -Hue and Cry in the old papers of the last portion of the seventeenth and -first portion of the eighteenth centuries, he can form but a faint -conception of the ravages committed by the small-pox upon the population. -Every man seemed more or less to have been speckled with "pockholes," and -the race must have presented one moving mass of pits and scars. Here, for -instance, is a companion picture to hang with that of Edward Perry, -copied from the _Mercurius Politicus_ of May 31st, 1660:-- - - A Black-haired Maid, of a middle stature, thick set, with big breasts, - having her face full marked with the smallpox, calling herself by the - name of _Nan_ or _Agnes Hobson_, did, upon Monday the 28 of _May_, - about six o'Clock in the morning, steal away from her Ladies house in - the Pal-mall a mingle-coloured wrought Tabby Gown of Deer colour and - white; a black striped Sattin Gown with four broad bone-black silk - Laces, and a plain black-watered French Tabby Gown; Also, one - Scarlet-coloured and one other Pink-coloured Sarcenet Peticoat, and a - white watered Tabby Wastcoat, plain; Several Sarcenet, Mode, and thin - black Hoods and Scarfs, several fine Holland Shirts, a laced pair of - Cuffs and Dressing; one pair of Pink-coloured Worsted Stockings, a - Silver Spoon, a Leather bag, &c. She went away in greyish Cloth - Wastcoat turned, and a Pink-coloured Paragon upper Peticoat, with a - green Tammy under one. If any shall give notice of this person, or - things, at one _Hopkins_, a Shoomaker's, next door to the Vine Tavern, - near the Pal-mall end, near Charing Cross, or at Mr. _Ostler's_, at - the Bull Head in Cornhill, near the Old Exchange, they shall be - rewarded for their pains. - -Scarcely a week passes without such runaways being advertised, together -with a list of the quaint articles of which their booty consisted. At the -risk of wearying the reader with these descriptions of the "old-fashioned" -sort of servants, we give another advertisement from the _Mercurius -Politicus_ of July 1st 1658:-- - - One _Eleanor Parker_ (by birth _Haddock_), of a Tawny reddish - complexion, a pretty long nose, tall of stature, servant to Mr. - _Frederic Howpert_, Kentish Town, upon Saturday last the _26th of - June_, ran away and stole two Silver Spoons; a sweet Tent-work Bag, - with gold and silver Lace about it, and lined with Satin; a Bugle - work-Cushion, very curiously wrought in all manners of slips and - flowers; a Shell cup, with a Lyon's face, and a Ring of silver in its - mouth; besides many other things of considerable value, which she took - out of her Mistresses Cabinet, which she broke open; as also some - Cloaths and Linen of all sorts, to the value of Ten pounds and - upwards. If any one do meet with her and please to secure her, and - give notice to the said _Frederic Howpert_, or else to Mr. _Malpass_, - Leather-seller, at the Green Dragon, at the upper end of Lawrence - Lane, he shall be thankfully rewarded for his pains. - -An advertisement which appears in the same paper, of the date of August -11th, 1659, gives us the first notice we have yet found of the service of -negro boys in this country. From this period, however, as we shall -presently show, England, at least the fashionable part of it, seems to -have swarmed with young blackamoors in a greater degree than we should -have imagined even from the familiar notice made of them in the pages of -the "Tatler" and "Spectator." These early negroes must have been imported -from the Portuguese territories, as we did not deal in the article -ourselves till the year 1680. The amusing point of the following -advertisement, however, is the assurance it gives us that the Puritans -"polled" their negroes as well as themselves. - - A Negro-boy, about nine years of age, in a gray Searge suit, his hair - cut close to his head, was lost on Tuesday last, _August 9_, at night, - in _S. Nicholas_ Lane, _London_. If any one can give notice of him to - Mr. _Tho. Barker_, at the Sugarloaf in that Lane, they shall be well - rewarded for their pains. - -About this time we find repeatedly advertised the loss of horses. It is -observable that during the "troubles" such things as highwaymen were -unknown. The bold, unruly characters, who at a later date took to the -road, were then either enlisted under the banners of the state or had gone -over the sea to Charlie. The great extent to which horse-stealing -prevailed during the Commonwealth period, and, indeed, for the next -half-century, might possibly be ascribed to the value of those animals -consequent upon the scarcity produced by the casualties of the -battle-field. We cannot account, however, for one fact connected with the -horse-stealing of the Commonwealth period, namely, that when at grass they -were often kept _saddled_. The following advertisement, which is an -illustration of this singular custom, is very far from being an uncommon -one:-- - - A small black NAG, some ten or eleven years old, no white at all, - bob-Tailed, wel forehanded, somewhat thin behind, thick Heels, and - goeth crickling and lamish behind at his first going out; the hair is - beat off upon his far Hip as broad as a twelvepence; he hath a black - leather Saddle trimmed with blew, and covered with a black - Calves-skin, its a little torn upon the Pummel; two new Girths of - white and green thread, and black Bridle, the Rein whereof is sowed on - the off side, and a knot to draw it on the near side, Stoln out of a - field at _Chelmsford_, _21 February_ instant, from Mr. _Henry Bullen_. - Whosoever can bring tidings to the said Mr. _Bullen_ at _Bromfield_, - or to Mr. _Newman_ at the Grocer's Arms in _Cornhil_, shall have - 20_s._ for his pains.--_Mercurius Politicus_, February 24, 1659. - -It could scarcely have been, in this particular case at least, that the -exigencies of the time required such precautions, as the only rising that -took place this year occurred six months afterwards in the county of -Chester. The furniture of the nag, it must be confessed, seems remarkably -adapted for service, and might, from its colour, have belonged to a -veritable Ironside trooper. Another reason, perhaps, of the great value of -horses at this period, was the establishment of public conveyances, by -which means travellers as well as letters were conveyed from one part of -the kingdom to the other. Prior to the year 1636 there was no such thing -as a postal service for the use of the people in this country. The court -had, it is true, an establishment for the forwarding of despatches, but -its efficacy may be judged of from a letter written by one Bryan Tuke, -"master of the postes" in Henry VIII.'s time, to Cromwell, who had -evidently been sharply reproving him for remissness in forwarding the -king's papers:-- - - "The Kinges Grace hath no mor ordinary postes, ne of many days hathe - had, but betweene London and Calais.... For, sir, ye knowe well that, - except the hackney-horses betweene Gravesende and Dovour, there is no - suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as in the - accustomed places of France and other partes; ne men can keepe horses - in redynes withoute som way to bere the charges; but when placardes be - sent for suche cause (to order the immediate forwarding of some state - packet) _the constables many tymes be fayne to take horses oute of - ploues and cartes, wherein can be no extreme diligence_." - -This was in the year 1533. Elizabeth, however, established horse-posts on -all the great routes for the transmission of the letters of the court; and -this, in 1633, was developed into a public post, which went night and day -at the rate of seven miles an hour in summer and five miles in winter--not -such bad travelling for those days. Still there was no means of forwarding -passengers until the time of Cromwell, when we find stagecoaches -established on all the great roads throughout the kingdom. We do not know -that we have ever seen quoted so early a notice of public stage -conveyances. We have evidently not given our ancestors so much credit as -they deserved. The following advertisement shows the time taken and the -fares of a considerable number of these journeys:-- - - From the 26 day of April 1658 there will continue to go Stage Coaches - from the _George_ Inn, without Aldersgate, _London_, unto the several - Cities and Towns, for the Rates and at the times, hereafter mentioned - and declared. - - _Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday._ - - To _Salisbury_ in two days for xx_s._ To _Blandford_ and _Dorchester_ - in two days and half for xxx_s._ To _Burput_ in three days for xxx_s._ - To _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_ in four days for xl_s._ - - To _Stamford_ in two days for xx_s._ To _Newark_ in two days and a - half for xxv_s._ To _Bawtrey_ in three days for xxx_s._ To _Doncaster_ - and _Ferribridge_ for xxxv_s._ To _York_ in four days for xl_s._ - - _Mondays_ and _Wednesdays_ to _Ockinton_ and _Plymouth_ for l_s._ - - Every _Monday_ to _Helperby_ and _Northallerton_ for xlv_s._ To - _Darneton_ and _Ferryhil_ for l_s._ To Durham for lv_s._ To - _Newcastle_ for iii_l._ - - Once every fortnight to _Edinburgh_ for iv_l._ a peece--_Mondays_. - - Every _Friday_ to _Wakefield_ in four days, xl_s._ - - All persons who desire to travel unto the Cities, Towns, and Roads - herein hereafter mentioned and expressed, namely--to _Coventry_, - _Litchfield_, _Stone_, _Namptwich_, _Chester_, _Warrington_, _Wiggan_, - _Chorley_, _Preston_, _Gastang_, _Lancaster_, and _Kendal_; and also - to _Stamford_, _Grantham_, _Newark_, _Tuxford_, _Bawtrey_, - _Doncaster_, _Ferriebridge_, _York_, _Helperly_, _Northallerton_, - _Darneton_, _Ferryhill_, _Durham_, and _Newcastle_, _Wakefield_, - _Leeds_, and _Halifax_; and also to _Salisbury_, _Blandford_, - _Dorchester_, _Burput_, _Exmaster_, _Hunnington_, and _Exeter_, - _Ockinton_, _Plimouth_, and _Cornwal_; let them repair to the _George_ - Inn at _Holborn Bridge, London_, and thence they shall be in good - Coaches with good Horses, upon every _Monday_, _Wednesday_, and - _Fridays_, at and for reasonable Rates.--_Mercurius Politicus_, April - 1, 1658. - -Other announcements about the same time prove that the Great Western road -was equally provided, as well as the Dover route to the continent. It is -not a little singular, however, that regularly-appointed coaches, starting -at stated intervals, should have preceded what might be considered the -simpler arrangement of the horse service. That the development of the -postal system into a means of forwarding single travellers did not take -place until some time afterwards, would appear from the following:-- - - _The Postmasters on_ Chester _Road, petitioning, have received Order, - and do accordingly publish the following advertisement_:-- - - All Gentlemen, Merchants, and others, who have occasion to travel - between _London_ and _Westchester_, _Manchester_, and _Warrington_, or - any other Town upon that Road, for the accommodation of Trade, - dispatch of Business, and ease of Purse, upon every Monday, Wednesday, - and Friday Morning, betwixt Six and ten of the Clock, at the House of - Mr. _Christopher Charteris_, at the sign of the Hart's-Horn, in - West-Smithfield, and Post-Master there, and at the Post-Master of - _Chester_, at the Post-Master of _Manchester_, and at the Post-Master - of _Warrington_, may have a good and able single Horse, or more, - furnished at Threepence the Mile, without the charge of a Guide; and - so likewise at the House of Mr. _Thomas Challenor_, Post-Master at - _Stone_ in _Staffordshire_, upon every Tuesday, Thursday, and - Saturdays Morning, to go for _London_. And so likewise at the several - Post-Masters upon the Road, who will have all such set days so many - Horses with Furniture in readiness to furnish the Riders without any - stay to carry them to or from any the places aforesaid, in Four days, - as well to _London_ as from thence, and to places nearer in less time, - according as their occasions shall require, they ingaging at the first - Stage where they take Horse, for the safe delivery of the same to the - next immediate Stage, and not to ride that Horse any further without - consent of the Post-Master by whom he rides, and so from Stage to - Stage to their Journeys end. _All those who intend to ride this way - are desired to give a little notice beforehand, if conveniently they - can, to the several Post-masters where they first take horse, whereby - they may be furnished with so many Horses as the Riders shall require - with expedition._ This undertaking began the 28 of _June_ 1658 at all - the Places abovesaid, and so continues by the several Post-Masters. - -The intimation that these horses might be had without the "charge of a -guide" gives us an insight into the bad condition of the roads up to that -period. We can scarcely imagine, in these days, the necessity for a guide -to direct us along the great highways of England, and can with difficulty -realize to ourselves the fact that as late as the middle of the -seventeenth century the interior of the country was little better than a -wilderness, as we may indeed gather from Pepy's journey from London to -Bristol and back, in which the item "guides" formed no inconsiderable -portion of his expenses. - -In turning over the musty little quarto newspapers which mirror with such -vividness the characteristic lineaments of the Commonwealth period, not -yet left behind us, we chanced upon an advertisement which tells perhaps -more than any other of the dangerous complexion of those times. It is an -advertisement for some runaway young "sawbones," whose love of desperate -adventure appears to have led him to prefer the tossing of a pike to -pounding with a pestle:-- - - _George Weale_, a Cornish youth, about 18 or 19 years of age, serving - as an Apprentice at _Kingston_ with one Mr. _Weale_, an Apothecary, - and his Uncle, about the time of the rising of the Counties _Kent_ and - _Surrey_, went secretly from his said Uncle, and is conceived to have - engaged in the same, and to be either dead, or slain in some of those - fights, having never since been heard of, either by his said Uncle, or - any of his Friends. If any person can give notice of the certainty of - the death of the said _George Weale_, let him repair to the said Mr. - _Graunt_ his House in Drum-alley in Drury Lane, _London_; he shall - have twenty shillings for his pains.--_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 8, - 1659. - -Here at least we have probably preserved the name of one of the fameless -men who were "slain in some of those fights," a phrase which in these days -opens to us a chapter in romance. - -With the exception of book advertisements and quack medicines, we have not -up to this date met with a single instance of a tradesman turning the -newspaper to account in making known his goods to the public. The very -first announcement of this nature, independently of its being in itself a -curiosity, possesses a very strong interest, from the fact that it marks -the introduction of an article of food which perhaps more than all others -has served to wean the nation from one of its besetting sins of -old--drunkenness. Common report, Mr. Disraeli informs us, attributes the -introduction of "the cup which cheers but not inebriates," to Lord -Arlington and Lord Ossory, who are said to have brought over a small -quantity from Holland in 1666. The author of the "Curiosities of -Literature" does not think this statement satisfactory, and tells us that -he has heard of Oliver Cromwell's teapot being in the possession of a -collector. We never knew before of these teetotal habits of the Protector, -but we can so far back the story as to find chronologically correct bohea -to put into his pot; for though it is true that the date of the following -advertisement is three weeks after the death of his highness, it refers to -the article as a known and, by physicians, an approved drink, and -therefore must have been some time previously on sale:-- - - That Excellent and by all Physitians approved _China_ Drink called by - the _Chineans Tcha_, by other Nations _Tay alias Tee_, is sold at the - _Sultaness Head Cophee-House_, in _Sweetings_ Rents, by the Royal - Exchange, _London_.--_Mercurius Politicus_, September 30, 1658. - -This is undoubtedly the earliest authentic announcement yet made known of -the public sale in England of this now famous beverage. The mention of a -"Cophee-house" proves that the sister stimulant was even then making way -in the country.[1] It took, however, a couple of centuries to convert -them, in the extended sense of the term, into national drinks; but, like -many other good things, it came too early. Tea may have sufficed for -fanatics, Anabaptists, Quakers, Independents, and self-denying sectaries -of all kinds; and for all we know, its early introduction, had the -Commonwealth lasted, might have accelerated the temperance movement a -century at least; but the wheel of fortune was about to turn once -more--mighty ale had to be broached, and many deep healths to be drunk by -those who had "come to their own again;" and tea, for full half a century, -was washed away by brown October and the French wines that came in with -the Merry Monarch. - -We have now brought the reader upon the very borders of the period when -Charles, with his hungry followers, landed in triumph at Dover. The -advertisements which appeared during the time that Monk was temporizing -and sounding his way to the Restoration, form a capital barometer of the -state of feeling among political men at that critical juncture. We see no -more of the old Fifth-Monarchy spirit abroad. Ministers of the -steeple-houses evidently note the storm coming, and cease their -long-winded warnings to a backsliding generation. Every one is either -panting to take advantage of the first sunshine of royal favour, or to -deprecate its wrath, the coming shadow of which is clearly seen. Meetings -are advertised of those persons who have purchased sequestered estates, in -order that they may address the King to secure them in possession; -parliamentary aldermen repudiate by the same means, charges in the papers -that their names are to be found in the list of those persons who "sat -upon the tryal of the late King;" the works of "late" bishops begin again -to air themselves in the Episcopal wind that is clearly setting in; and -"The Tears, Sighs, Complaints, and Prayers of the Church of England" -appear in the advertising columns in place of the sonorous titles of -sturdy old Baxter's works. It is clear there is a great commotion at hand; -the leaves are rustling, and the dust is moving. In the very midst of it, -however, we find one name still faithful to the "old cause," as the -Puritans call it: on the 8th of March, 1660--that is, while the sway of -Charles's sceptre had already cast its shadow from Breda--we find the -following advertisement in the _Mercurius Politicus_:-- - - The ready and easie way to establish a free Commonwealth, and the - excellence thereof compared with the inconveniences and dangers of - readmitting Kingship in this Nation. The Author, J. M. Wherein, by - reason of the Printers haste, the Errata not coming in time, it is - desired that the following faults may be amended. Page 9, line 32, for - _the Areopagus_ read _of Areopagus_. P. 10, l. 3, for full Senate, - true Senate; l. 4, for fits, is the whole Aristocracy; l. 7, for - Provincial States, States of every City. P. 17, l. 29, for _cite_, - _citie_; 1. 30, for _left_, _felt_. Sold by _Livewel Chapman_, at the - Crown, in Pope's-head Alley. - -The calmness of the blind bard in thus issuing corrections to his -hastily-printed pamphlet on behalf of a falling cause, excites our -admiration, and gives us an exalted idea of his moral courage. In two -months, as might have been expected, he was a proscribed fugitive, -sheltering his honoured head from the pursuit of Charles's myrmidons in -some secret hiding-place in Westminster, whilst his works, by order of the -House, were being burned by the common hangman. - -The lawyers were not slow in perceiving the way the wind was blowing, and -set their sails accordingly--if we may take the action of one Mr. Nicholas -Bacon, as shown in the following advertisement, as any index of the -feelings of his fellows:-- - - Whereas one Capt. _Gouge_, a witness examined against the late Kings - Majesty, in those Records stiled himself of the Honorable Society of - _Grays_ Inne. These are to give notice that the said _Gouge_, being - long sought for, was providentially discovered in a disguise, seized - in that Society, and now in custody, being apprehended by the help of - some spectators that knew him, viewing of a Banner with his Majesties - arms, set up just at the same time of His Majesties landing, on an - high Tower in the same Society, by _Nicholas Bacon_, Esq., a Member - thereof, as a memorial of so great a deliverance, and testimony of his - constant loyalty to His Majesty, and that the said _Gouge_ upon - examination confessed, That he was never admitted not so much as a - Clerk of that Society.--_Mercurius Politicus_, June 7, 1660. - -Whilst all London was throwing up caps for the restored monarch, and -England seemed so glad that he himself wondered how he could have been -persuaded to stop away so long, let us catch the lost luggage of a poor -cavalier, who has just followed his royal master from his long banishment, -and turn out its contents for our reader, in order to show that even -ruined old courtiers carried more impedimenta than the famous "shirt, -towel, and piece of soap" of our renowned Napier. The _Mercurius Publicus_ -is now our mine, in which we sink a shaft, and come up with this fossil -advertisement, which bears date July 5th, 1660:-- - - _A Leathern Portmantle Lost at_ Sittingburn _or_ Rochester, _when his - Majesty came thither, wherein was a Suit of Camolet Holland, with two - little laces in a seam, eight pair of white Gloves, and a pair of Does - leather; about twenty yards of skie-colourd Ribbon twelvepenny broad, - and a whole piece of black Ribbon tenpenny broad, a cloath - lead-coloured cloak, with store of linnen; a pair of shooes, slippers, - a Montero, and other things; all which belong to a Gentleman (a near - servant to His Maiesty) who hath been too long Imprisoned and - Sequestered to be now robbed when all men hope to enjoy their own. If - any can give notice, they may leave word with_ Mr. Samuel Merne, _His - Majesties Book-binder, at his house in Little Britain, and they shall - be thankfully rewarded._ - -The king had not been "in" a month ere his habits appear through the -public papers. The _Mercurius Politicus_ is now turned courtier, and has -changed its name to the _Mercurius Publicus_. Its columns, indeed, are -entirely under the direction of the king, and, instead of slashing -articles against malignants, degenerates into a virulent oppressor of the -Puritans, and a vehicle for inquiries after his majesty's favourite dogs -that have been stolen. In the number for June 28th, 1660, for instance, we -find the following advertisement:-- - - [Hand] A smooth black DOG, less than a Grey-hound, with white under - his breast, belonging to the Kings Majesty, was taken from Whitehall, - the eighteenth day of this instant _June_, or thereabouts. If any one - can give notice to _John Ellis_, one of his Majesties servants, or to - his Majesties Back-Stairs, shall be well rewarded for their labour. - -It is evident that "the smooth black dog" was a very great favourite, for -the next publication of the journal contains another advertisement with -respect to him, printed in larger Italic type, the diction of which, from -its pleasant raillery, looks as though it had come from the king's own -hand:-- - - [Hand] _We must call upon you again for a Black Dog, between a - Grey-hound and a Spaniel, no white about him, onely a streak on his - Brest, and Tayl a little bobbed. It is His Majesties own Dog, and - doubtless was stoln, for the Dog was not born nor bred in_ England, - _and would never forsake his Master. Whosoever findes him may acquaint - any at Whitehal, for the Dog was better known at Court than those who - stole him. Will they never leave robbing His Majesty? must he not keep - a Dog? This Dogs place (though better than some imagine) is the - only place which nobody offers to beg._ - -Pepys, about this time, describes the king with a train of spaniels and -other dogs at his heels, lounging along and feeding the ducks in St. -James's Park; and on occasions still later he was often seen talking to -Nelly, as she leaned from her garden-wall that abutted upon the Pall-Mall, -whilst his canine favourites grouped around him. On these occasions -perhaps the representatives of those gentlemen to be seen in -Regent-street, with two bundles of animated wool beneath their arms, were -on the look-out, as we find his majesty continually advertising his lost -dogs. Later we find him inquiring after "a little brindled greyhound -bitch, having her two hinder feet white;" for a "white-haired spaniel, -smooth-coated, with large red or yellowish spots," and for a "black -mastiff dog, with cropped ears and cut tail." And when royalty had done, -his Highness Prince Rupert, or Buckingham, or "my Lord Albemarle," -resorted to the _London Gazette_ to make known their canine losses. We -think the change in the temper of the age is more clearly marked by these -dog advertisements than by anything else. The Puritans did not like -sporting animals of any kind, and we much question whether a dog would -have followed a fifth-monarchy-man. Hence the total absence of all -advertisements bearing upon the "fancy." Now that the king had returned, -the old English love of field-sports spread with fourfold vigour. We -chance upon the traces too of a courtly amusement which had been handed -down from the middle ages, and was then only lingering amongst -us--hawking. Here is an inquiry after a lost lanner:-- - - Richard Finney, Esquire, of Alaxton, in Leicestershire, about a - fortnight since lost a LANNER from that place; she hath neither Bells - nor Varvels; she is a white Hawk, and her long feathers and sarcels - are both in the blood. If any one give tidings thereof to Mr. Lambert - at the golden Key in Fleet-street, they shall have forty shillings for - their pains.--_Mercurius Publicus_, September 6, 1660. - -As London was the only place in which a newspaper was published during the -reign of Charles, and indeed for nearly fifty years afterwards, the hue -and cry after lost animals always came to town, as a matter of course. It -sounds strange to read these advertisements of a sport the very terms of -which are now unintelligible to us. What ages seem to have passed since -these birds, in all the glory of scarlet hoods, were carried upon some -"faire lady's" wrist, or poised themselves, with fluttering wing, as the -falconer uncovered them to view their quarry! We have skipped a few years, -in order to afford one or two more examples of these picturesque -advertisements, so different from anything to be seen at the present -day:-- - - Lost on the 30 of October, 1665, an Intermix'd Barbary Tercel Gentle, - engraven in Varvels, Richard Windwood, of Ditton Park, in the County - of Bucks, Esq. For more particular marks--if the Varvels be taken - off--the 4th feather in one of the wings Imped, and the third pounce - of the right foot broke. If any one inform Sir William Roberts, Knight - and Baronet (near Harrow-on-the-Hill, in the County of Middlesex), or - Mr. William Philips, at the King's Head in Paternoster Row, of the - Hawk, he shall be sufficiently rewarded.--_The Intelligencer_, Nov. 6, - 1665. - -The next paper contains an inquiry for a goshawk belonging to Lord William -Petre, and two years later a royal bird is inquired after in the _London -Gazette_, as follows:-- - - A Sore ger Falcon of His Majesty, lost the 13 of August, who had one - Varvel of his Keeper, Roger Higs, of Westminster, Gent. Whosoever hath - taken her up and give notice Sir Allan Apsley, Master of His Majesties - Hawks at St. James's, shall be rewarded for his paines. Back-Stairs in - Whitehall. - -This Sir Allan Apsley is the brother of Mrs. Hutchinson, who has given us -such a vivid picture, in the memoir of her husband, of the Commonwealth -time. The _London Gazette_, from which we quote, is the only paper still -in existence that had its root in those days. It first appeared in Oxford, -upon the Court taking up its abode in that city during the time of the -Great Plague, and was therefore called the _Oxford Gazette_. On the return -of Charles to London it followed in his train, and became the _London -Gazette_, or Court and official paper, and the latter character it has -retained to the present hour. The gazettes of the seventeenth century were -widely different from those of our day. They contain foreign news, as well -as state papers, royal proclamations, &c., and, stranger still, -miscellaneous advertisements are mixed up with those upon the business of -the Court. The quack doctors, with an eye, we suppose, to the "quality," -were the first to avail themselves of its pages to make known their -nostrums. It will astonish our readers to find what an ancestry some of -the quack medicines of the present day have had. "Nervous powders," -specifics for gout, rheumatism, &c., seized upon the columns of the -newspapers almost as early as they were published. Here is a specimen -which might still serve as a model for such announcements:-- - - _Gentlemen_, you are desired to take notice, That Mr. _Theophilus - Buckworth_ doth at his house on _Mile-end Green_ make and expose to - sale, for the publick good, those so famous _Lozenges_ or _Pectorals_ - approved for the cure of Consumptions, Coughs, Catarrhs, Asthmas, - Hoarness, Strongness of Breath, Colds in general, Diseases incident to - the Lungs, and a sovoraign Antidote against the Plague, and all other - contagious Diseases and obstructions of the Stomach: And for more - convenience of the people, constantly leaveth them sealed up with his - coat of arms on the papers, with Mr. _Rich. Lowndes_ (as formerly), at - the sign of the White Lion, near the little north door of _Pauls - Church_; Mr. _Henry Seile_, over against _S. Dunstan's_ Church in - Fleet Street; Mr. _William Milward_, at _Westminster_ Hall Gate; Mr. - _John Place_, at _Furnival's Inn Gate_, in Holborn; and Mr. _Robert - Horn_, at the Turk's-head near the entrance of the Royal Exchange, - Booksellers, and no others. - - _This is published to prevent the designs of divers Pretenders, - who counterfeit the said Lozenges, to the disparagement of the - said Gentleman, and great abuse of the people._--_Mercurius - Politicus_, Nov. 16, 1660. - -The next is equally characteristic:-- - - Most Excellent and Approved _Dentifrices_ to scour and cleanse the - Teeth, making them white as Ivory, preserves from the Toothach; so - that, being constantly used, the parties using it are never troubled - with the Toothach: It fastens the Teeth, sweetens the Breath, and - preserves the Gums and Mouth from Cankers and Imposthumes. Made by - _Robert Turner_, Gentleman; and the right are onely to be had at - _Thomas Rookes_, Stationer, at the Holy Lamb at the east end of St. - Paul's Church, near the School, in sealed papers, at 12_d._ the paper. - - _The reader is desired to beware of counterfeits._ - - (_Mercurius Politicus_, Dec. 20, 1660.) - -Other advertisements about this time profess to cure all diseases by means -of an "antimonial cup." Sir Kenelm Digby, the same learned knight who -feasted his wife upon capons fattened upon serpents, in order to make her -fair, advertises a book in which he professes to show a method of curing -wounds by a powder of sympathy; and here is a notification of a remedy -which shows still more clearly the superstitious character of the age:-- - - Small baggs to hang about Children's necks, which are excellent both - for the _prevention and cure_ of the _Rickets_, and to ease children - in breeding of Teeth, are prepared by Mr. Edmund Buckworth, and - constantly to be had at Mr. Philip Clark's, Keeper of the Library in - the Fleet, and nowhere else, at 5 shillings a bagge.--_The - Intelligencer_, Oct. 16, 1664. - -It was left, however, to the reign of Anne for the mountebank to descend -from his stage in the fair and the market-place, in order to erect it in -the public newspapers. But we have yet to mention one, who might appear to -some to be the greatest quack of all, and who about this time resorted to -an advertisement in the newspapers to call his patients to his doors;--the -royal charlatan, who touched for the evil, makes known that he is at home -for the season to his people through the medium of the _Public -Intelligencer_ of 1664:-- - - Whitehall, May 14, 1664. His Sacred Majesty, having declared it to be - his Royal will and purpose to continue the healing of his people for - the Evil during the Month of May, and then to give over till - Michaelmas next, I am commanded to give notice thereof, that the - people may not come up to Town in the Interim and lose their labour. - -No doubt there was much political significance in this pretended efficacy -of the royal touch in scrofulous afflictions; at the same time, there is -reason to believe that patients did sometimes speedily recover after -undergoing the regal contact. Dr. Tyler Smith, who has written a very -clever little book on the subject, boldly states his belief that the -emotion felt by these poor stricken people who came within the influence -of "that divinity which doth hedge a king," acted upon them as a powerful -mental tonic; in a vast number of cases, however, we might impute the -tonic to the gold coin which the king always bestowed upon his patient. Be -that as it may, the practice flourished down to the time of Anne, at whose -death it stopped; the sovereigns of the line of Brunswick never pretending -to possess this medicinal virtue, coming as they did to the throne by only -a parliamentary title. The reaction from the straightlaced times of the -Commonwealth, which set in immediately upon the Restoration, seems to have -arrived at its height about the year 1664, and the advertisements at that -period reflect very truly the love of pleasure and excitement which seized -hold of the people, as if they were bent on making up for the time that -had been lost during the Puritanic rule. They are mostly taken up, in -fact, with inquiries after "lost lace-work;" announcements of lotteries in -the Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, of jewels, tapestry, and lockets of "Mr. -Cooper's work," of which the following is a fair specimen:-- - - Lost, on the 27th of July, about Boswell Yard or Drury Lane, a Ladyes - Picture, set in gold, and three Keys, with divers other little things - in a perfumed pocket. Whosoever shall give notice of or bring the said - picture to Mr. Charles Coakine, Goldsmith, near Staples Inne, Holborn, - shall have 4 times the value of the gold for his payns.--_The News_, - August 4, 1664. - -The love of the people also for the strange and marvellous is shown by -announcements of rare sights; for instance, we are told that,-- - - At the Mitre, near the west end of St. Paul's, is to be seen a rare - Collection of Curiosityes, much resorted to and admired by persons of - great learning and quality, among which a choyce Egyptian Mummy, with - hieroglyphicks; the Ant-Beare of Brasil; a Remora; a Torpedo; the Huge - Thigh-bone of a Giant; a Moon Fish; a Tropic Bird, &c.--_The News_ of - June 2, 1664. - -A rather scanty collection of articles, it is true, but eked out -monstrously by the "huge thigh-bone of a giant," which in all probability -belonged to some huge quadruped. The ignorance of those times with -respect to natural history must have been something astonishing, as about -the same date we find the following print of what were evidently -considered very curious animals advertised in the _London Gazette_:-- - - A True Representation of the Rhonoserous and Elephant, lately brought - from the East Indies to London, drawn after the life, and curiously - engraven in Mezzotinto, printed upon a large sheet of paper. Sold by - PIERCE TEMPEST, at the Eagle and Child in the Strand, over against - Somerset House, Water Gate.--The _London Gazette_, Jan. 22, 1664. - -In the succeeding year all advertisements of this kind stop; amusements, -from some great disturbing cause, have ceased to attract; there is no more -gambling under the name of lotteries at Whitehall; no more curiosities are -exhibited to a pleasure loving crew; no more books of amorous songs are -published; no more lockets or perfumed bags are dropped; all is stagnation -and silence, if we may judge as much from the sudden cessation of -advertisements with reference to them in the public papers. Death now -comes upon the stage, and rudely shuts the box of Autolycus, crops the -street with grass, and marks a red cross on every other door. It is the -year of the Great Plague. Those who could, fled early from the -pest-stricken city; those who remained until the malady had gained -irresistible sway were not allowed to depart, for fear of carrying the -contagion into the provinces, the Lord Mayor denying to such a clean bill -of health, in consequence of which they were driven back by the rustics as -soon as discovered. A singular instance also of the vigilance of the -authorities in confining, as they imagined, the mischief within the limits -of the metropolis is afforded by the succeeding advertisement:-- - - _Nicholas Hurst_, an Upholsterer, over against the Rose Tavern, in - Russell-street, Covent-Garden, whose Maid Servant dyed lately of the - Sickness, fled on Monday last out of his house, taking with him - several Goods and Household Stuff, and was afterwards followed by one - Doctor Cary and Richard Bayle, with his wife and family, who lodged in - the same house; but Bayle having his usual dwelling-house in - Waybridge, in Surrey. Whereof we are commanded to give this Public - Notice, that diligent search may be made for them, and the houses in - which any of their persons or goods shall be found may be shut up by - the next Justice of the Peace, or other his Majesty's Officers of - Justice, and notice immediately given to some of his Majesty's Privy - Councill, or to one of his Majesty's principal Secretaries of - State.--_London Gazette_, May 10, 1666. - -Antidotes and remedies for the plague are also commonly advertised, just -as the visitation of the cholera in 1854 filled the columns of the _Times_ -full of all sorts of specifics. Thus, for example, the _Intelligencer_ of -August the 28th, 1665, announces "an excellent electuary against the -plague, to be drunk at the Green Dragon, Cheap-side, at sixpence a pint." -The great and only cure, however, for this fearful visitation, which -carried off a hundred thousand persons in London alone, was at hand--the -purgation of fire. The conflagration, which burst out on the 2nd of -September, and destroyed thirteen thousand houses, gave the final blow to -its declining attacks. Singularly enough, but faint traces of this -overwhelming calamity, as it was considered at the time, can be gathered -from the current advertisements. Although the entire population of the -city was rendered houseless, and had to encamp in the surrounding fields, -where they extemporized shops and streets, not one hint of such a -circumstance can be found in the public announcements of the period. No -circumstance could afford a greater proof of the little use made by the -trading community of this means of publicity in the time of Charles II. If -a fire only a hundredth-part so destructive were to occur in these days, -the columns of the press would immediately be full of the new addresses of -the burnt-out shopkeepers; and those who were not even damaged by it would -take care to "improve the occasion" to their own advantage. We look in -vain through the pages of the _London Gazette_ of this and the following -year for one such announcement: not even a tavern-keeper tells us the -number of his booth in Goodman's Fields, although quack medicine -flourished away in its columns as usual. In 1667 we see a notification, -now and then, of some change in the site of a government office, or of the -intention to build by contract some public structure, such as the -following notice relative to the erection of the old Royal Exchange:-- - - All Artificers of the several Trades that must be used in Rebuilding - the Royal Exchange may take notice, that the Committee appointed for - Management of that Work do sit at the end of the long gallery in - Gresham Colledge every Monday in the forenoon, there and then to treat - with such as are fit to undertake the same. - -The remainder of the reign of Charles is unmarked by the appearance of any -characteristic advertisements which give a clue to the peculiar complexion -of the time. If we go back two or three years, however, we shall find one -which bears upon the introduction of those monstrous flowing wigs which -continued in fashion to the middle of the succeeding century:-- - - Whereas _George Grey_, a Barber and Perrywigge-maker, over against the - _Greyhound Tavern_, in _Black Fryers, London_, stands obliged to serve - some particular persons of eminent Condition and Quality in his way of - Employment: It is therefore notifyed at his desire, that any one - having long flaxen hayr to sell may repayr to him the said _George - Grey_, and they shall have 10_s._ the ounce, and for any other long - fine hayr after the Rate of 5_s._ or 7_s._ the ounce.--_The Newes_, - February 4, 1663. - -Pepys describes, with amusing minuteness, how Chapman the periwig-maker -cut off his hair to make up one of these portentous head-dresses for him, -much to the trouble of his servants, Jane and Bessy; and on the Lord's -day, November 8th, 1663, he relates, with infinite _naivete_, his entrance -into church with what must evidently have been the perruquier's latest -fashion. "To church, where I found that my coming in a periwig did not -prove so strange as I was afraid it would; for I thought that all the -church would presently have cast their eyes upon me, but I find no such -thing." Ten shillings the ounce for long flaxen hair shows the demand for -this peculiar colour by "persons of eminent condition and quality." We -have shown, from the advertisements of the time of Charles II., what was -indeed well known, that the age was characterized by frivolous amusements, -and by a love of dress and vicious excitement, in the midst of which -pestilence stalked like a mocking fiend, and the great conflagration lit -up the general masquerade with its lurid and angry glare. Together with -the emasculate tone of manners, a disposition to personal violence and a -contempt of law stained the latter part of this and the succeeding reign. -The audacious seizure of the crown jewels by Blood; the attack upon the -Duke of Ormond by the same desperado, that nobleman actually having been -dragged from his coach in St. James's Street in the evening, and carried, -bound, upon the saddle-bow of Blood's horse, as far as Hyde Park Corner, -before he could be rescued; the slitting of Sir John Coventry's nose in -the Haymarket by the king's guard; and the murder of Sir Edmondbury -Godfrey on Primrose Hill, are familiar instances of the prevalence of this -lawless spirit. - -We catch a glimpse of one of these street outrages in the following -announcement of an assault upon glorious John:-- - - Whereas _John Dryden, Esq._, was on Monday, the 18th instant, at - night, barbarously assaulted and wounded, in Rose Street in Covent - Garden, by divers men unknown; if any person shall make discovery of - the said offenders to the said Mr. Dryden, or to any Justice of the - Peace, he shall not only receive Fifty Pounds, which is deposited in - the hands of Mr. Blanchard, Goldsmith, next door to Temple Bar, for - the said purpose, but if he be a principal or an accessory in the said - fact, his Majesty is graciously pleased to promise him his pardon for - the same.--_The London Gazette_, Dec. 22, 1679. - -And here is another of a still more tragic character:-- - - Whereas a Gentleman was, on the eighteenth at night, mortally wounded - near Lincoln's Inn, in Chancery Lane, in view, as is supposed, of the - coachman that set him down: these are to give notice that the said - coachman shall come in and declare his knowledge of the matter; if any - other person shall discover the said coachman to John Hawles, at his - chamber in Lincoln's Inn, he shall have 5 guineas reward.--_London - Gazette_, March 29th, 1688. - -To this period also may be ascribed the rise of that romantic felon, the -highwayman. The hue and cry after these genteel robbers is frequently -raised during the reign of James II. In one case we have notice of a -gentleman having been stopped, robbed, and then bound, by mounted men at -Islington, who rode away with his horse; another time these daring gentry -appeared at Knightsbridge; and a third advertisement, of a later date it -is true, offers a reward for three mounted Macheaths, who were charged -with stopping and robbing three young ladies in South Street, near Audley -Chapel, as they were returning home from visiting. The following is still -more singular, as showing the high social position of some of these -gentlemen who took to the "road" for special purposes:-- - - _Whereas Mr. Herbert Jones_, Attorney-at-law in the town of Monmouth, - well known by being several years together Under-Sheriff of the same - County, hath of late divers time robbed the Mail coming from that town - to London, and taken out divers letters and writs, and is now fled - from justice, and supposed to have sheltered himself in some of the - new-raised troops. These are to give notice, that whosoever shall - secure the said Herbert Jones, so as to be committed in order to - answer these said crimes, may give notice thereof to Sir Thomas - Fowles, goldsmith, Temple-bar, London, or to Mr. Michael Bohune, - mercer, in Monmouth, and shall have a guinea's reward. - -The drinking tendencies of these Jacobite times are chiefly shown by the -numberless inquiries after lost or stolen silver tankards, and by the -sales of claret and canary which constantly took place. The hammer was not -apparently used at that time, as we commonly find announcements of sales -by "inch of candle," a term which mightily puzzled us until we saw the -explanation of it in our constant book of reference, the Diary of Pepys:-- - - "After dinner we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship - hulkes; where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid; - and yet, when the candle is going out, how they bawl, and dispute - afterwards who bid the most. And here I observed one man cunninger - than the rest, that was sure to bid the last man and to carry it; and - inquiring the reason he told me that, just as the flame goes out, the - smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that - he do know the instant when to bid last." (Sept. 3rd, 1662). - -The taste for auctions, which became such a rage in the time of Anne, had -its beginning about this period. Books and pictures are constantly -advertised to be disposed of in this manner. The love of excitement born -in the gaming time of the Restoration might be traced in these sales, and -in the lotteries, or "adventures" as they were sometimes termed, which -extended to every conceivable article capable of being sold. The rising -taste of the town was, however, checked for the time by the Revolution, -which was doubtless hastened on by such announcements as the following, -which appeared in the _Gazette_ of March 1, 1688:-- - - Catholic loyalty, [Hand] upon the subject of Government and Obedience, - delivered in a SERMON before the King and Queen, in His Majesties - Chapel at Whitehall, on the 13 of June, 1687, by the Revnd. Father - Edward Scaraisbroke, priest of the Society of Jesus. Published by His - Majesty's Command. Sold by Raydal Taylor, near Stationers Hall, - London. - -Up to this time advertisements only appeared in threes and fours, and -rarely, if ever, exceeded a dozen, in any newspaper of the day. They were -generally stuck in the middle of the diminutive journal, but sometimes -formed a tail-piece to it. They were confined in their character, and gave -no evidence of belonging to a great commercial community. Now and then, it -is true, sums of money were advertised as seeking investment; more -constantly a truss for a "broken belly," or an "excellent dentifrice," -appeared; or some city mansion of the nobility is advertised to let, -showing the progress westward even then, as witness the following:-- - - The Earl of Berkeley's House, with Garden and Stables in St. John's - Lane, not far from Smith Field, is to be Let or Sold for Building. - Enquire of Mr. Prestworth, a corn chandler, near the said house, and - you may know further.--_London Gazette_, August 17, 1685. - -Here is an instance of the singular manner in which fire-insurances were -conducted in that day:-- - - There having happened a fire on the 24th of the last month by which - several houses of the friendly society were burned to the value of 965 - pounds, these are to give notice to all persons of the said society - that they are desired to pay at the office Faulcon Court in Fleet - Street their several proportions of their said loss, which comes to - five shillings and one penny for every hundred pounds insured, before - the 12th of August next.--_London Gazette_, July 6th, 1685. - -Sometimes it is a "flee-bitten grey mare" stolen out of "Mary-le-bone -Park," or a lost lottery-ticket, or a dog, that is inquired after; but -they contained no hint that England possessed a commercial marine, or that -she was destined to become a nation of shopkeepers. As yet, too, there was -no sign given of that wonderful art of ingenious puffing which now exists, -and which might lead a casual observer to imagine that the nation -consisted of only two classes--cheats and dupes. - -From the settlement of 1688 the true value of the advertisement appears to -have dawned upon the public. The country evidently began to breathe -freely, and with Dutch William and Protestant ascendancy, the peculiar -character of the nation burst forth with extraordinary vigour. Enterprise -of all kinds was called forth, and cast its image upon the advertising -columns of the public journals, now greatly increased both in size and in -numbers, no less than twenty-six having been set up within four years -after the Revolution. It is observable, too, that from this political -convulsion dates a certain rough humour, which, however latent, was not -before expressed in the public papers, especially on matters political. -Let us further elucidate our meaning by quoting the following from the -_New Observator_ of July 17, 1689, setting forth a popular and practical -method of parading the Whig triumph:-- - - Orange cards, representing the late King's reign and expedition of the - Prince of Orange: viz. The Earl of Essex Murther, Dr. Otes Whipping, - Defacing the Monument, My Lord Jeffries in the West hanging of - Protestants, Magdalen College, Trial of the Bishops, Castle Maine at - Rome, the Popish Midwife, A Jesuit Preaching against our Bible, - Consecrated Smock, My Lord Chancellor at the Bed's feet, Birth of the - Prince of Wales, The Ordinaire Mass-house pulling down and burning by - Captain Tom and his Mobile, Mortar pieces in the Tower, The Prince of - Orange Landing, The Jesuits Scampering, Father Peter's Transactions, - The Fight at Reading, The Army going over to the Prince of Orange, - Tyrconnel in Ireland, My Lord Chancellor in the Tower. With many other - remarkable passages of the Times. To which is added the efigies of our - Gracious K. William and Q. Mary, curiously illustrated and engraven in - lively figures, done by the performers of the first Popish Plot Cards. - Sold by Donnan Newman, the publisher and printer of the New - Observator. - -The editor of the _New Observator_ was Bishop Burnet, and these political -playing-cards were sold by his publisher; perhaps the great Protestant -bishop knew something of their "performers." In the year 1692 an -experiment was made which clearly shows how just an estimate was getting -abroad of the value of publicity in matters of business. A newspaper was -set up, called "The City Mercury, published gratis for the Promotion of -Trade," which lasted for two years, and contained nothing but -advertisements. The proprietor undertook to distribute a thousand copies -per week to the then chief places of resort,--coffee houses, taverns, and -bookshops. Even in these days of the "Times" double supplement such an -experiment has often been made and failed; our wonder, therefore, is not -that the _City Mercury_ went to that limbo which is stored with such -countless abortive journals, but that the interest felt in advertisements -should, at that early period, have kept it alive so long. - -If the foregoing scheme proves that an attempt was then made to subdivide -the duties of a newspaper--that of keeping its readers informed of the -news of the day, and of forming a means of publicity for the wants and -losses of individuals--the advertisement we are about to quote clearly -shows that at the same time there was a plan in existence for combining -the printed newspaper with the more ancient written newsletter. It is well -known that long after the institution of public journals the old -profession of the newsletter-writer continued to flourish. We can easily -account for this fact when we remember that during the heat of a great -rebellion it was much more safe to write than to print the intelligence of -the day. Many of these newsletters were written by strong partisans, and -contained information which it was neither desirable nor safe that their -opponents should see. They were passed on from hand to hand in secret, and -often endorsed by each successive reader. We are told that the Cavaliers, -when taken prisoners, have been known to eat their newsletters; and some -of Prince Rupert's, which had been intercepted, are still in existence, -and bear dark-red stains, which testify to the desperate manner in which -they were defended. It is pretty certain, however, that, as a profession, -newsletter-writing began to decline after the Revolution; although we find -the editor of the _Evening Post_, as late as the year 1709, reminding its -readers that "there must be three or four pounds a year paid for written -news." At the same time the public journals, it is clear, had not -performed that part of their office which was really more acceptable to -the country reader than any other--the retailing the political and social -chit-chat of the day. We have only to look into the public papers to -convince ourselves how wofully they fell short in a department which must -have been the staple of the news-writer. This want still being felt, John -Salusbury devises a scheme to combine the old and the new plan after the -following manner, as announced in the _Flying Post_ of 1694:-- - - If any Gentleman has a mind to oblige his country friend or - correspondent with the Account of Public Affairs, he may have it for - twopence of J. Salusbury at the Rising-Sun in Cornhill, on a sheet of - fine paper, half of which being blank, he may thereon write his own - private business or the material news of the day. - -It does not say much for the energy with which the journals of that day -were conducted, that the purchasers are invited to write therein "the -material news of the day;" that, we should have thought, was the editor's -business to have supplied; but it was perhaps a contrivance by which the -Jacobites might circulate information, by means of the post, without -compromising the printer. We have seen many such papers, half print, half -manuscript, in the British Museum, which had passed through the post, the -manuscript portion of which, the Home Secretaries of our time would have -thought sufficiently treasonable to justify them in having broken their -seals. - -As advertisements, from their earliest introduction, were used to make -known the amusements of the day and the means of killing time at the -disposal of persons of quality, it seems strange that it was not employed -sooner than it was to draw a company to the theatres. We have looked in -vain for the announcement of any theatrical entertainment before the year -1701, when the advertisement of the Lincoln's Inn Theatre makes its -appearance in the columns of the _English Post_. The lead of this little -house was, however, speedily followed by the larger ones, and only a few -years later we have regular lists of the performances at all the theatres -in the daily papers. The first journal of this description was the _Daily -Courant_, published in 1709. In this year also appeared the celebrated -"Tatler," to be speedily followed by the "Spectator" and "Guardian," the -social and literary journals of that Augustine age. The first edition of -the "Tatler," in the British Museum, contains advertisements like an -ordinary paper, and they evidently reflect, more than those of its -contemporaries, the flying fashions of the day and the follies of the -"quality." In them we notice the rage that existed for lotteries, or -"sales," as they were called. Every conceivable thing was put up to -raffle. We see advertisements headed "A Sixpenny Sale of Lace," "A Hundred -Pounds for Half-a-crown," "A Penny Adventure for a Great Pie," "A -Quarter's Rent," "A Freehold Estate," "Threepenny Sales of Houses," "A -fashionable Coach." Gloves, looking-glasses, chocolate, Hungary water, -Indian goods, lacquered ware, fans, &c., were notified to be disposed of -in this manner, and the fair mob was called together to draw their tickets -by the same means. This fever, which produced ten years later the -celebrated South Sea Bubble, was of slow growth. It had its root in the -Restoration, its flower in the reign of Anne, and its fruit and -_denouement_ in the reign of George I. Before passing on from the pages of -the "Tatler," we must stop for a moment to notice one or two of those -playful advertisements which Sir Richard Steele delighted in, and which, -under the disguise of fun, perhaps really afforded him excellent matter -for his journal. Here is an irresistible invitation to his fair readers:-- - - Any Ladies who have any particular stories of their acquaintance which - they are willing privately to make public, may send 'em by the penny - post to Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., enclosed to Mr. John Morpheu, near - Stationers' Hall.--_Tatler_, May 8, 1709. - -An excellent lion's mouth this wherein to drop scandal. A still more -amusing instance of the fun that pervaded Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq., is to -be found in the series of advertisements in which he ought to have -convinced John Partridge, the astrologer, that he really had departed this -life; an assertion which the latter persisted in denying with the most -ludicrous earnestness. Of these we give one from the "Tatler" of August -24th 1710:-- - - Whereas an ignorant Upstart in Astrology has publicly endeavoured to - persuade the world that he is the late John Partridge, who died the 28 - of March 1718, these are to certify all whom it may concern, that the - true John Partridge was not only dead at that time, but continues so - to the present day. Beware of counterfeits, for such are abroad. - -The pleasant malice of the above is patent enough, but we confess we are -puzzled to know whether the following is genuine or not. We copied it from -among a number of others, from which it was undistinguishable by any -peculiarity of type:-- - - _The Charitable Advice Office_, where all persons may have the opinion - of dignified Clergymen, learned Council, graduate Physicians, and - experienced Surgeons, to any question in Divinity, Morality, Law, - Physic, or Surgery, with proper Prescriptions within twelve hours - after they have delivered in a state of their case. Those who can't - write may have their cases stated at the office. * * The fees are - only 1_s._ delivery, or sending your case, and 1_s._ more on - re-delivering that and the opinion upon it, being what is thought - sufficient to defray the necessary expense of servants and - office-rent.--_Tatler_, December 16, 1710. - -To pass, however, from the keen weapons of the brain to those of the -flesh, it is interesting to fix with some tolerable accuracy the change -which took place in the early part of the eighteenth century in what might -be called the amusements of the fancy. The "noble art of defence," as it -was termed, up to the time of the first George seems to have consisted in -the broadsword exercise. Pepys describes in his "Diary" several bloody -encounters of this kind which he himself witnessed; and the following -advertisement, a half-century later, shows that the skilled weapon had not -at that time been set aside for the more brutal fist:-- - - A _Tryal of Skill_ to be performed at His Majesty's Bear Garden in - Hockley-in-the-Hole, on Thursday next, being the 9th instant, betwixt - these following masters:--Edmund Button, master of the noble science - of defence, _who hath lately cut down_ Mr. Hasgit and the Champion of - the West, _and 4 besides_, and James Harris, an Herefordshire man, - master of the noble science of defence, who has fought 98 prizes and - never was worsted, to exercise the usual weapons, at 2 o'clock in the - afternoon precisely.--_Postman_, July 4, 1701. - -The savage character of the time may be judged from this public boast of -Mr. Edmund Button that he had cut down six men with a murderous weapon. We -question, however, if the age which could tolerate such ruffianism was not -exceeded by the change which substituted the fist for the sword, and -witnessed women entering the ring in the place of men. Some of the -earliest notices of boxing-matches upon record, singularly enough, took -place between combatants of the fair sex. In a public journal of 1722, for -instance, we find the following gage of battle thrown down, and -accepted:-- - - CHALLENGE.--I, Elizabeth Wilkinson, of Clerkenwell, having had some - words with Hannah Hyfield, and requiring satisfaction, do invite her - to meet me upon the stage, and box me for three guineas; each woman - holding half-a-crown in each hand, and the first woman that drops the - money to lose the battle. - - ANSWER.--I, Hannah Hyfield, of Newgate Market, hearing of the - resoluteness of Elizabeth Wilkinson, will not fail, _God willing_, to - give her more blows than words, desiring home blows, and from her no - favour: she may expect a good thumping! - -The half-crowns in the hands was an ingenious device to prevent -scratching! A still more characteristic specimen of one of these -challenges to a fisticuff between two women is to be found in the _Daily -Post_ of July 7th, 1728:-- - - At _Mr. Stokes' Amphitheatre_ in Islington Road, this present Monday, - being the 7 of October, will be a complete Boxing Match by the two - following Championesses:--Whereas I, Ann Field, of Stoke Newington, - ass-driver, well known for my abilities in boxing in my own defence - wherever it happened in my way, having been affronted by Mrs. Stokes, - styled the European Championess, do fairly invite her to a trial of - her best skill in Boxing for 10 pounds, fair rise and fall; and - question not but to give her such proofs of my judgement that shall - oblige her to acknowledge me Championess of the Stage, to the entire - satisfaction of all my friends. - - I, Elizabeth Stokes, of the City of London, have not fought in this - way since I fought the famous boxing-woman of Billingsgate 29 minutes, - and gained a complete victory (which is six years ago); but as the - famous Stoke Newington ass-woman dares me to fight her for the 10 - pounds, I do assure her I will not fail meeting her for the said sum, - and doubt not that the blows which I shall present her with will be - more difficult for her to digest than any she ever gave her - asses.--_Note._ A man, known by the name of Rugged and Tuff, - challenges the best man of Stoke Newington to fight him for one guinea - to what sum they please to venture. N.B. Attendance will be given at - one, and the encounter to begin at four precisely. There will be the - diversion of Cudgel-playing as usual. - -Other advertisements about this time relate to cock-matches, sometimes "to -last the week," to bull-baiting, and, more cruel still, to dressing up mad -bulls with fireworks, in order to worry them with dogs. The brutal tone of -manners, which set in afresh with the Hanoverian succession, might be -alone gathered from the so-called sporting advertisements of the day; and -we now see that Hogarth, in his famous picture, had no need to, and -probably did not, draw upon his imagination for the combination of horrid -cruelties therein depicted. - -The very same tone pervaded the gallantry of the day, and we print two -advertisements, one of the time of Anne, and the other of the age we are -now illustrating, in order to contrast their spirit. We give the more -polished one precedence:-- - - A gentleman who, the twentieth instant, had the honour to conduct a - lady out of a boat at Whitehall-stairs, desires to know where he may - wait on her to disclose a matter of concern. A letter directed to Mr. - Samuel Reeves, to be left with Mr. May, at the Golden Head, the upper - end of New Southampton Street, Covent Garden.--_Tatler_, March 21, - 1709. - -A certain courtly style and air of good breeding pervades this -advertisement, of which Sir Richard Steele himself need not have been -ashamed; but what a falling-off is here!-- - - Whereas a young lady was at Covent Garden playhouse last Tuesday - night, and received a blow with a square piece of wood on her breast; - if the lady be single, and meet me on Sunday, at two o'clock, on the - Mall in St. James's Park, or send a line directed for A. B., to Mr. - Jones's, at the Sun Tavern in St. Paul's Churchyard, where and when I - shall wait on her, to inform her of something very much to her - advantage on honourable terms, her compliance will be a lasting - pleasure to her most obedient servant.--_General Advertiser_, Feb. 8, - 1748. - -It would seem as though the beau had been forced to resort to a missile to -make an impression, and then felt the necessity of stating that his -intentions were "honourable," in order to secure an interview with his -_innamorata_. Imagine, too, the open unblushing manner in which the -assignation is attempted! We are far from saying that such matters are not -managed now through the medium of advertisements, for we shall presently -show they are, but in how much more carefully concealed a manner! The -perfect contempt of public opinion, or rather the public acquiescence in -such infringements of the moral law, which it exhibits, proves the general -state of morality more than the infringements themselves, which obtain -more or less at all times. Two of the causes which led to this low tone of -manners with respect to women were doubtless the detestable profligacy of -the courts of the two first Georges, and the very defective condition of -the existing marriage law. William and Mary, and Anne, had, by their -decorous, not to say frigid lives, redeemed the crown, and, in some -measure, the aristocracy, from the vices of the Restoration. Crown, court, -and quality, however, fell into a still worse slough on the accession of -the Hanoverian king, who soiled afresh the rising tone of public life by -his scandalous connection with the Duchess of Kendal and the Countess of -Darlington; whilst his son and successor was absolutely abetted in his -vicious courses by his own queen, who promoted his commerce with his two -mistresses, the Countesses of Suffolk and Yarmouth. The degrading -influence of the royal manners was well seconded by the condition of the -law. Keith's chapel in May Fair, and that at the Fleet, were the Gretna -Greens of the age, where children could get married at any time of the day -or night for a couple of crowns. It was said at the time, that at the -former chapel six thousand persons were annually married in this off-hand -way; the youngest of the beautiful Miss Gunnings was wedded to the Duke of -Hamilton, at twelve o'clock at night, with a ring off the bed-curtain, at -this very "marriage-shop." The fruits of such unions may be imagined. The -easy way in which the marriage bond was worn and broken through is clearly -indicated by the advertisements which absolutely crowd the public journals -from the accession of the House of Brunswick up to the time of the third -George, of husbands warning the public not to trust their runaway wives. - -We have referred, in an early part of this paper, to the taste for -blackamoors, which set in the reign of Charles II., and went on increasing -until the middle of the next century, at which time there must have been a -very considerable population of negro servants in the metropolis. At first -the picturesque natives of the East were pressed into the service of the -nobility and gentry, and colour does not appear to have been a _sine qua -non_. Thus we have in the _London Gazette_ of 1688 the following -hue-and-cry advertisement:-- - - Run away from his master, Captain St. Lo, the 21st instant, Obdelah - Ealias Abraham, a Moor, swarthy complexion, short frizzled hair, a - gold ring in his ear, in a black coat and blew breeches. He took with - him a blew Turkish watch-gown, a Turkish suit of clothing that he used - to wear about town, and several other things. Whoever brings him to - Mr. Lozel's house in Green Street shall have one guinea for his - charges. - -The next advertisement we find also relates to what we must consider an -East Indian. The notion of property in these boys seems to have been -complete; their masters put their names upon their collars, as they did -upon their setters or spaniels:-- - - A black boy, an Indian, about thirteen years old, run away the 8th - instant from Putney, with a collar about his neck with this - inscription: 'the Lady Bromfield's black in Lincoln's Inn Fields.' - Whoever brings him to Sir Edward Bromfield's at Putney shall have a - guinea reward.--_The London Gazette_, 1694. - -The traffic in African blacks, which commenced towards the end of the -seventeenth century, seems to have displaced these eastern servitors -towards the end of the century, for henceforth the word negro, blackamoor, -or black boy, is invariably used. No doubt the fashion for these negroes -and other coloured attendants was derived from the Venetian Republic, the -intercourse of whose merchants with Africa and India naturally led to -their introduction. Titian and other great painters of his school -continually introduced them in their pictures, and our own great bard has -for ever associated the Moor with the City in the Sea. In England the -negro boys appear to have been considered as much articles of sale as they -would have been in the slave-market at Constantinople. In the _Tatler_ of -1709 we find one offered to the public in the following terms:-- - - A black boy, twelve years of age, fit to wait on a gentleman, to be - disposed of at Denis's Coffee-house in Finch Lane, near the Royal - Exchange. - -Again, in the _Daily Journal_ of September 28th, 1728, we light upon -another:-- - - To be sold, a negro boy, aged eleven years. Enquire of the Virginia - Coffee-house in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal Exchange. - -These were the overflowings of that infamous traffic in negroes, commenced -by Sir John Hawkins in the year 1680, which tore from their homes, and -transferred to Jamaica alone, no less than 910,000 Africans between that -time and the year 1786, when the slave-trade was abolished. - -We have brought the reader up to the date of the final battle which -extinguished the hopes of the Stuarts and settled the line of Brunswick -firmly on the throne. The year 1745 witnessed the commencement of the -_General Advertiser_, the title of which indicates the purpose to which it -was dedicated. This paper was the first successful attempt to depend for -support upon the advertisements it contained, thereby creating a new era -in the newspaper press. From the very outset its columns were filled with -them, between fifty and sixty, regularly classified and separated by -rules, appearing in each publication; in fact, the advertising page put on -for the first time a modern look. The departure of ships is constantly -notified, and the engravings of these old high-pooped vessels sail in even -line down the column. Trading matters have at last got the upper hand. You -see "a pair of leather bags," "a scarlet laced-coat," "a sword," still -inquired after; and theatres make a show, for this was the dawning of the -age of Foote, Macklin, Garrick, and most of the other great players of the -last century; but, comparatively speaking, the gaieties and follies of the -town ceased gradually from this time to proclaim themselves through the -medium of advertisements. The great earthquake at Lisbon so frightened the -people, that masquerades were prohibited by law, and the puppet-shows, the -rope-dancing, the china-auctions, and public breakfasts henceforth grow -scarcer and scarcer as the Ladies Betty and Sally, who inaugurated them, -withdrew by degrees, withered, faded, and patched, from the scene. - -The only signs of the political tendencies of the time to be gathered from -the sources we are pursuing, are the party dinners, announcements of which -are now and then to be met with as follows:-- - - To the Joyous.--The Bloods are desired to meet together at the house - known by the name of the Sir Hugh Middleton, near Saddler's Wells, - Islington, which Mr. Skeggs has procured for that day for the better - entertainment of those Gentlemen who agreed to meet at his own house. - Dinner will be on the Table punctually at two o'clock.--_General - Advertiser_, Jan. 13, 1748. - -Or the following still more characteristic example from the same paper of -April 12:-- - - Half-Moon Tavern, Cheapside.--Saturday next, the 16 of April, being - the anniversary of the Glorious Battle of Colloden, the Stars will - assemble in the Moon at Six in the evening. Therefore the Choice - Spirits are desired to make their appearance and fill up the - joy.--ENDYMION. - -Within five-and-twenty years from this date most of the existing morning -journals were established, and their advertising columns put on a guise -closely resembling that which they now present. We need not therefore -pursue our deep trenching into the old subsoil in order to turn up -long-buried evidences of manners and fashions, for they have ceased to -appear, either fossil or historical; we therefore boldly leap the gulf -that intervenes between these old days and the present. - -The early part of the present century saw the commencement of that liberal -and systematic plan of advertising which marks the complete era in the -art. Princely ideas by degrees took possession of the trading mind as to -the value of this new agent in extending their business transactions. -Packwood, some thirty years ago, led the way by impressing his razor-strop -indelibly on the mind of every bearded member of the empire. Like other -great potentates he boasted a laureate in his pay, and every one remembers -the reply made to the individuals curious to know who drew up his -advertisements: "La, sir, we keeps a poet!" - -By universal consent, however, the world has accorded to the late George -Robins the palm in this style of commercial puffing. His advertisements -were really artistically written. Like Martin, he had the power of -investing every landscape and building he touched with an importance and -majesty not attainable by meaner hands. He did perhaps go beyond the -yielding line of even poetical license, when he described one portion of a -paradise he was about to submit to public competition as adorned, among -other charms, with a "hanging wood," which the astonished purchaser found -out meant nothing more than an old gallows. But then he redeemed slight -manoeuvres of this kind by touches which really displayed a genius for -puffing. On one occasion he had made the beauties of an estate so -enchanting, that he found it necessary to blur it by a fault or two, lest -it should prove too bright and good "for human nature's daily food." "But -there are two drawbacks to the property," sighed out this Hafiz of the -Mart, "the litter of the rose-leaves and the noise of the nightingales!" -Certainly the force of exquisite puffing could no further go, and when he -died the poetry of advertising departed. Others, such as Charles Wright -of Champagne celebrity, have attempted to strike the strings; and Moses -does, we believe, veritably keep a poet; but none of them have been able -to rival George the Great, and we yawn as we read sonnets which end in the -invariable "mart," or acrostics which refer to Hyam and Co.'s superior -vests. Twenty years ago some of the daily newspapers admitted illustrated -advertisements into their columns; now it would be fatal to any of them to -do so. Nevertheless, they are by far the most effective of their class, as -they call in the aid of another sense to express their meaning. All but -the minors of the present generation must remember George Cruikshank's -exquisite woodcut of the astonished cat viewing herself in the polished -Hessian, which made the fortune of Warren. But in those days tradesmen -only tried their wings for the flight. It was left to the present time to -prove what unlimited confidence in the power of the advertisement will -effect, and a short list of the sums _annually_ spent in this item by some -of the most adventurous dealers will perhaps startle our readers. - - "Professor" Holloway, Pills, etc. L30,000 - Moses and Son 10,000 - Rowland and Co. (Macassar oil, &c.) 10,000 - Dr. De Jongh (cod-liver oil) 10,000 - Heal and Sons (bedsteads and bedding) 6,000 - Nicholls (tailor) 4,500 - -It does seem indeed incredible that one house should expend upon the mere -advertising of quack pills and ointment a sum equal to the entire revenue -of many a German principality. Can it possibly pay? asks the astonished -reader. Let the increasing avenue of assistants, to be seen "from morn to -dewy eve" wrapping up pills in the "professor's" establishment within the -shadow of Temple Bar, supply the answer.[2] Vastly as the press of this -country has expanded of late years, it has proved insufficient to contain -within its limits the rapid current of puffing which has set in. -Advertisements now overflow into our omnibuses, our cabs, our railway -carriages, and our steamboats. Madame Tussaud pays 90_l._ monthly to the -Atlas Omnibus Company alone for the privilege of posting her bills in -their vehicles. They are inked upon the pavement, painted in large letters -under the arches of the bridges and on every dead wall. Lloyd's weekly -newspaper is stamped on the "full Guelph cheek" of the plebeian penny; the -emissaries of Moses shower perfect libraries through the windows of the -carriages which ply from the railway stations; and, as a crowning fact, -Thackeray, in his "Journey from Cornhill to Cairo," tells us that Warren's -blacking is painted up over an obliterated inscription to Psammetichus on -Pompey's Pillar! - -Having shown the reader the slow growth of the advertising column; having -climbed, like "Jack in the Bean-stalk," from its humble root in the days -of the Commonwealth up its still increasing stem in the succeeding hundred -years, we now come upon its worthy flower in the shape of the -sixteen-paged _Times_ of the present day. Spread open its broad leaves, -and behold the greatest marvel of the age--the microcosm in type. Who can -recognize in its ample surface, which reflects like some camera-obscura -the wants, the wishes, the hopes, and the fears of this great city, the -news-book of the Cromwellian times with its leash of advertisements? -Herein we see how fierce is the struggle of two millions and a half of -people for dear existence. Every advertisement writhes and fights with its -neighbour, and every phase of society, brilliant, broken, or dim, is -reflected in this battle-field of life. Let us tell off the rank and file -of this army of announcements. On the 24th of May, 1855, the _Times_, in -its usual sixteen-paged paper, contained the incredible number of 2,575 -advertisements. Amazing as this total appears, we only arrive at its full -significance by analyzing the vast array. Then, indeed, we feel what an -important power is the great British publie. Of old the antechambers of -the noble were thronged with poets, artists, publishers, tradesmen, and -dependants of all kinds, seeking for the droppings of their favour; but -what lordly antechamber ever presented such a crew of place-hunters, -servitors, literary and scientific men, schemers, and shopkeepers as -daily offer their services to the humblest individual who can spare a -penny for an hour's perusal of the _Times_? Let us take this paper of the -24th of May and examine the crowd of persons and things which cry aloud -through its pages, each attempting to make its voice heard above the -other. Here we see a noble fleet of ships, 129 in number, chartered for -the regions of gold, for America, for India, for Africa--for every port, -in fact, where cupidity, duty, or affection holds out an attraction for -the British race. Another column wearies the eye with its interminable -line of "Wants." Here in long and anxious row we see the modern "mop" or -statute-fair for hiring; 429 servants of all grades, from the genteel -lady's-maid or the "thorough cook," who will only condescend to accept -service where two footmen are kept, to the humble scullery-maid, on that -day passed their claims before us for inspection. Another column is noisy -with auctioneers; 136 of whom notify their intention of poising their -impatient hammers when we have favoured them with our company. Here we see -a crowd of booksellers offering, hot from the press, 195 new volumes, many -of which, we are assured by the appended critique, "should find a place in -every gentleman's library." There are 378 houses, shops, and -establishments presented to us to select from; and 144 lodging-house -keepers, "ladies having houses larger than they require," and medical men -who own "retreats," press forward with genteel offers of board and -lodging. Education pursues her claims by the hands of no less than 144 -preceptors, male and female; whilst the hair, the skin, the feet, the -teeth, and the inward man are offered the kind attention of thirty-six -professors who possess infallible remedies for all the ills that flesh is -heir to. The remainder is made up of the miscellaneous cries of tradesmen, -whose voices rise from every portion of the page like the shouting of -chapmen from a fair. In the midst of all this struggle for gold, place, -and position, which goes on every day in this wonderful publication, -outcries from the very depths of the heart, passionate tears, bursts of -indignation, and heartrending appeals, startle one as they issue from the -second column of its front page. Here the father sees his prodigal son -afar off and falls upon his neck; the heartbroken mother implores her -runaway child to return; or the abandoned wife searches through the world -for her mate. It is strange how, when the eye is saturated with the thirst -after mammon exhibited by the rest of the broadsheet, the heart becomes -touched by these plaintive but searching utterances, a few of which we -reproduce:-- - - The one-winged Dove must die unless the Crane returns to be a shield - against her enemies.--_Times_ of 1850. - -Or here is another which moves still more:-- - - B. J. C.--How more than cruel not to write. Take pity on such patient - silence.--_Times_, 1850. - -The most ghastly advertisement which perhaps ever appeared in a public -journal we copy from this paper of the year 1845. It is either a threat to -inter a wrong body in the "family vault," or an address to a dead man:-- - - To the Party who Posts His Letters in Prince's Street, Leicester - Square.--Your family is now in a state of excitement unbearable. Your - attention is called to an advertisement in Wednesday's _Morning - Advertiser_, headed, "A body found drowned at Deptford." After your - avowal to your friend as to what you might do, he has been to see the - decomposed remains, accompanied by others. The features are gone; but - there are marks on the arm; so that, unless they hear from you to-day, - it will satisfy them that the remains are those of their misguided - relative, and steps will be directly taken to place them in the family - vault, as they cannot bear the idea of a pauper's funeral. - -Sometimes we see the flashing eyes of indignation gleaming through the -very words. The following is evidently written to an old lover with all -the burning passion of a woman deceived:-- - - It is enough; one man alone upon earth have I found noble. Away from - me for ever! Cold heart and mean spirit, you have lost what - millions--empires--could not have bought, but which a single word - truthfully and nobly spoken might have made your own to all eternity. - Yet you are forgiven: depart in peace: I rest in my - Redeemer.--_Times_, Sept. 1st, 1852. - -Sometimes it is more confiding love "wafting a sigh from Indus to the -pole," or, finger on lip, speaking secretly, and as he thinks securely, -through the medium of cipher advertisements to the loved one. Sweet -delusion! There are wicked philosophers abroad who unstring the bow of -harder toil by picking your inmost thoughts! Lovers beware! intriguers -tremble! Many a wicked passage of illicit love, many a joy fearfully -snatched, which passed through the second column of the first page of the -_Times_ as a string of disjointed letters, unintelligible as the -correspondents thought, to all the world but themselves, have we seen -fairly copied out in plain if not always good English in the commonplace -books of these cunning men at cryptographs. Here, for instance, we give an -episode from the life of "Flo," which appeared in the _Times_ of 1853-54, -as a proof:-- - - Flo.--Thou voice of my heart! Berlin, Thursday. I leave next Monday, - and shall press you to my heart on Saturday. God bless you!--_Nov. 29, - 1853._ - - Flo.--The last is wrong. I repeat it. Thou voice of my heart. I am so - lonely, I miss you more than ever. I look at your picture every night. - I send you an Indian shawl to wear round you while asleep after - dinner. It will keep you from harm, and you must fancy my arms are - around you. God bless you! how I do love you!--_Dec. 23, 1853._ - - Flo.--My own love, I am happy again; it is like awaking from a bad - dream. You are, my life; to know that there is a chance of seeing you, - to hear from you, to do things to enough. [There is some error here.] - I shall try to see you soon. Write to me as often as you can. God - bless you, thou voice of my heart!--_Jan. 2, 1854._ - - Flo.--Thou voice of my heart! How I do love you! How are you? Shall - you be laid up this spring? I can see you walking with your darling. - What would I give to be with you! Thanks for your last letter. I fear - nothing but separation from you. You are my world, my life, my hope. - Thou more than life, farewell! God bless you!--_Jan. 6, 1854._ - - Flo.--I fear, dearest, our cipher is discovered: write at once to your - friend "Indian Shawl" (P.O.), Buckingham, Bucks.--_Jan. 7, 1845._ - -The advertisement of January 7th is written in a great fright, and refers -to the discovery and exposure of the cipher in the _Times_ newspaper; for -whenever the aforesaid philosophers perceive that a secret correspondence -has arrived at a critical point they charitably insert a marplot -advertisement in the same cipher. The "Flo" intrigue was carried on in -figures, the key to which is as follows:-- - - 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - y. u. o. i. e. a. d. k. h. f. - s. t. n. m. r. l. d. g. w. p. - x. c. b. - v. - -The reader will perhaps remember another mad-looking advertisement which -appeared in the year 1853, headed "Cenerentola." The first, dated Feb. -2nd, we interpret thus:-- - - Cenerentola, I wish to try if you can read this, and am most anxious - to hear the end, when you return, and how long you remain here. Do - write a few lines, darling, please: I have been very far from happy - since you went away. - -One of the parties cannot frame an adequate explanation of some delicate -matter clearly, as we find on the 11th the following:-- - - Cenerentola, until my heart is sick have I tried to frame an - explanation for you, but cannot. Silence is safest, if the true cause - is not suspected; if it is, all stories will be sifted to the bottom. - Do you remember our cousin's first proposition?--think of it. - -The following, which appeared on the 19th of the same month, is written in -plain language, and is evidently a specimen of the marplot advertisement -before alluded to:-- - - Cenerentola, what nonsense! Your cousin's proposition is absurd. I - have given an explanation--the true one--which has perfectly satisfied - both parties--a thing which silence never could have effected. So no - more such absurdity. - -The secret of this cipher consisted in representing each letter by the -twenty-second onward continually. One more specimen of these singular -advertisements and we have done. On Feb. 20, 1852, there appeared in the -_Times_ the following mysterious line:-- - - Tig tjohw it tig jfhiirvola og tig psgvw.--F. D. N. - -The general reader, doubtless, looked upon this jumble of letters with -some such a puzzled air as the mastiff gives the tortoise in a very -popular French bronze; but not being able to make anything out of it, -passed on to the more intelligible contents of the paper. A friend of -ours, however, was curious and intelligent enough to extract the plain -English out of it, though not without much trouble, as thus:--If we take -the first word of the sentence, Tig, and place under its second letter i -the one which alphabetically precedes it, and treat the next letters in a -similar manner, we shall have the following combination:-- - - T i g - h f - e - -Reading the first letters obliquely we have the article "The;" if we treat -the second word in the same manner, the following will be the result:-- - - T j o h w - i. n. g. v. - m. f. u. - e. t. - s. - -which, read in the same slanting way, produces the word _Times_, and the -whole sentence, thus ingeniously worked out, gives up its latent and -extraordinary meaning, thus-- - - "The _Times_ is the Jefferies of the press." - -What could have induced any one to take so much trouble thus to plant a -hidden insult into the leading journal, we cannot divine. "East," "He -Blew," "Willie and Fanny," "Dominoes," and "My darling A.," need not feel -uncomfortable although we know their secrets. We have said quite enough to -prove to these individuals that such ciphers as they use, are picked -immediately by any cryptographic Hobbs; indeed, all systems of writing -which depend upon transmutations of the letters of the alphabet, or the -substitution of figures for letters, such as we generally find in the -_Times_, are mere puzzles for children, and not worthy of the more cunning -or finished in the art. - -It is not to be expected, with all the caution exhibited by the morning -papers to prevent the insertion of swindling advertisements that rogues do -not now and then manage to take advantage of their great circulation for -the sake of forwarding their own nefarious schemes. Sir Robert Carden has -just done good service by running to earth the Mr. Fynn, who for years has -lived abroad in splendour at the expense of the poor governesses he -managed to victimize through the advertising columns of the _Times_. One's -heart sickens at the stream of poor young ladies his promises have dragged -across the continent, and the consequences which may have resulted from -their thus putting their reputation as well as their money into his power. -Such scandalous traps as these are, of course, rare; but the papers are -full of minor pitfalls, into which the unwary are continually falling, -sometimes with their eyes wide open. Of the latter class are the -matrimonial advertisements; here is a specimen of one of the most artful -of its kind we ever remember to have seen:-- - - To Girls of Fortune--Matrimony.--A bachelor, young, amiable, handsome, - and of good family, and accustomed to move in the highest sphere of - society, is embarrassed in his circumstances. Marriage is his only - hope of extrication. This advertisement is inserted by one of his - friends. Ingratitude was never one of his faults, and he will study - for the remainder of his life to prove his estimation of the - confidence placed in him.--Address, post-paid, L. L. H. L., 47, King - Street, Soho.--N.B. The witticisms of cockney scribblers deprecated. - -The air of candour, and the taking portrait of the handsome bachelor, -whose very poverty is converted into a charm, is cleverly assumed. An -announcement of a much less flattering kind, but probably of a more -genuine and honourable nature, was published in _Blackwood_ some time ago, -which we append, as, like Landseer's dog-pictures, the two form a capital -pair illustrative of high and low life. - - Matrimonial Advertisement.--I hereby give notice to all unmarried - women, that I, John Hobnail, am at this writing five-and-forty, a - widower, and in want of a wife. As I wish no one to be mistaken, I - have a good cottage, with a couple of acres of land, for which I pay - 2_l._ a year. I have five children, four of them old enough to be in - employment; three sides of bacon, and some pigs ready for market. I - should like to have a woman fit to take care of her house when I am - out. I want no second family. She may be between forty and fifty if - she likes. A good sterling woman would be preferred, who would take - care of the pigs. - -The following is also matter of fact, but it looks suspicious:-- - - Matrimony to Milliners and Dressmakers. A young man about to EMIGRATE - to SOUTH AUSTRALIA would be happy to form an alliance with a young - woman in the above line possessing 60_l._ or 100_l._ property. Any one - so disposed, by applying by letter (post-paid) to T. Hall, 175, Upper - Thames Street, till Saturday next, appointing an interview, may depend - on prompt attention and strict secrecy.--_Times_, 1845. - -The matrimonial bait is so obviously a good one, that of late years we see -advertisements of institutions, at which regular lists of candidates for -the marriage state, both male and female, are kept, together with -portraits, and a ledger in which pecuniary and mental qualifications are -neatly posted. Such springes are only suited, however, for the grossest -folly; but there is another class of advertisements which empties the -pockets of the industrious and aspiring in a very workmanlike manner: we -allude to such as the following:-- - - Gentlemen having a respectable circle of acquaintance may hear of - means of INCREASING their INCOME without the slightest pecuniary risk, - or of having (by any chance) their feelings wounded. Apply for - particulars, by letter, stating their position, &c., to W. R., 37, - Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square. - -Gentlemen whose feelings are so delicate that they must not be injured on -any consideration, who nevertheless have a desire for lucre, we recommend -not to apply to such persons, unless they wish to receive for their pains -some such a scheme as was forwarded to a person who had answered an -advertisement (enclosing, as directed, thirty postage-stamps) in _Lloyd's -Weekly Journal_, headed "How to make 2_l._ per week by the outlay of -10_s._":-- - - "First purchase 1 cwt. of large-sized potatoes, which may be obtained - for the sum of 4_s._, then purchase a large basket, which will cost - say another 4_s._, then buy 2_s._ worth of flannel blanketing, and - this will comprise your stock in trade, of which the total cost is - 10_s._ A large-sized potato weighs about half a pound, consequently - there are 224 potatoes in a cwt. - - "Take half the above quantity of potatoes each evening to a baker's, - and have them baked; when properly cooked put them in your basket, - well wrapped up in the flannel to keep them hot, and sally forth and - offer them for sale at one penny each. Numbers will be glad to - purchase them at that price, and you will for certain be able to sell - half a cwt. every evening. From the calculation made below you will - see by that means you will be able to earn 2_l._ per week. The best - plan is to frequent the most crowded thoroughfares, and make good use - of your lungs; thus letting people know what you have for sale. You - could also call in at each public-house on your way, and solicit the - patronage of the customers, many of whom would be certain to buy of - you. Should you have too much pride to transact the business yourself - (though no one need be ashamed of pursuing an honest calling), you - could hire a boy for a few shillings a week, who could do the work for - you, and you could still make a handsome profit weekly. - - "The following calculation proves that 2_l._ per week can be made by - selling baked potatoes:-- - - "1 cwt., containing 224 potatoes, sold in two - evenings, at 1_d._ each L0 18 8 - Deduct cost 0 4 0 - ------- - L0 14 8 - 3 - ------- - Six evenings' sale L2 4 0 - Pay baker at the rate of 8_d._ per evening for - baking potatoes 0 4 0 - ------- - Net profit per week L2 0 0" - -One more specimen of these baits for gudgeon, and we have done. We -frequently see appeals to the benevolent for the loans of small sums. Some -of these are doubtless written by innocent persons in distress, who -confide in the good side of human nature; and we have been given to -understand that in many cases this blind confidence has not been -misplaced; for there are many Samaritans who read the papers nowadays, and -feel a romantic pleasure in answering such appeals: at the same time, we -are afraid that the great majority of them are gross deceptions. The -veritable whine of "the poor broken-down tradesman" who makes a habit of -visiting our quiet streets and appealing, in a very solemn voice, to "my -brethren" for the loan of a small trifle, whilst he anxiously scans the -windows for the halfpence, is observable, for instance, in the following -cool appeal:-- - - To the Benevolent.--A Young Tradesman has, from a series of - misfortunes, been reduced to the painful necessity of asking for a - trifling SUM to enable him to raise 10_l._ to save himself from - inevitable ruin and poverty; or if any gentleman would lend the above - it would be faithfully repaid. Satisfactory references as to the - genuineness of this case.--Direct to A.Z., Mr. Rigby's, Post-Office, - Mile-end Road. - -The receipt of conscience-money is constantly acknowledged in -advertisements by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the day, and the sums -which in this manner find their way into the Exchequer are by no means -inconsiderable. It is honourable to human nature, amid all the roguery we -have exposed, to find that now and then some conscience is touched by a -very small matter, and that great trouble and no little expense is often -gone to in order that others may not suffer through the inadvertency or -carelessness of the advertiser. The following is a delicate example:-- - - To Hackney-Coachmen.--About the month of March last, a gentleman from - the country took a coach from Finsbury Square, and accidentally broke - the glass of one of its windows. Being unwell at the time, the - circumstance was forgotten when he quitted the coach, and it would now - be a great relief to his mind to be put in a situation to pay the - coachman for it. Should this meet the eye of the person who drove the - coach, and he will make application to A. B., at Walker's Hotel, Dean - Street, Soho, any morning during the next week, before eleven o'clock, - proper attention will be paid to it.--_Times_, 1842. - -The more curious advertisements which from time to time appear in the -public journals, but particularly in the _Times_, do not admit of -classification; and they are so numerous, moreover, that if we were to -comment upon one tithe of those that have appeared within the last six -years, we should far exceed the limits of this article. We make no -apology, therefore, for stringing together the following very odd lot:-- - - Do you want a servant?--Necessity prompts the question.--The - advertiser OFFERS his SERVICES to any lady or gentleman, company, or - others, in want of a truly faithful confidential servant in any - capacity not menial, where a practical knowledge of human nature, in - various parts of the world, would be available. Could undertake any - affair of small or great importance, where talent, inviolable secrecy, - or good address would be necessary. Has moved in the best and worst - societies without being contaminated by either; has never been a - servant; begs to recommend himself as one who knows his place; is - moral, temperate, middle-aged; no objection to any part of the world. - Could advise any capitalist wishing to increase his income, and have - the control of his own money. Could act as secretary or valet to any - lady or gentleman. Can give advice or hold his tongue, sing, dance, - play, fence, box, or preach a sermon, tell a story, be grave or gay, - ridiculous or sublime, or do anything, from the curling of a peruke to - the storming of a citadel, but never to excel his master.--Address, A. - B. C., 7, Little St. Andrew Street, Leicester Square.--_Times_, 1850. - - The Mighty Angel's Midnight Roar.--"Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go - ye out to meet him." This awful cry, as is demonstrated, will very - shortly be heard, viz.: at the commencement of "the great day (or - year) of God's wrath," or the last of the 2,300 days (or years) in - Daniel's prophecy. By the authors of "Proofs of the Second Coming of - Messiah at the Passover in 1848." Price 6_d._ Fourth Edition. - -This is a Muggletonian prophecy of the destruction of the world at a -certain date. The prediction failed, however, and the prophet found it -necessary to explain the reason:-- - - The Mighty Angel's Midnight Roar.--The authors, owing to their - disappointment, most sedulously investigated its cause, and instantly - announce its discovery. Daniel's vision, in chap. 8, was for 2,300 - years, to the end of which (see 5-12) the "little horn" was to - practise and prosper, after which comes the year of God's wrath, which - was erroneously included in the 2,300 years, and thus the midnight cry - will be a year later than stated.--_Times_, 1851. - - To P. Q. How Is Your Mother? I shan't inquire further, and must - decline entering upon the collateral branches of the family.--_Times_, - 1842. - - To Widowers and Single Gentlemen.--WANTED, by a lady, a SITUATION to - superintend the household and preside at table. She is agreeable, - becoming, careful, desirable, English, facetious, generous, honest, - industrious, judicious, keen, lively, merry, natty, obedient, - philosophic, quiet, regular, sociable, tasteful, useful, vivacious, - womanish, xantippish, youthful, zealous, &c.--Address, X. Y. Z., - Simmond's Library, Edgeware Road.--_Times._ - - The Title of an Ancient Baron. Mr. George Robins is empowered to SELL - the TITLE and DIGNITY of a BARON. The origin of the family, its - ancient descent, and illustrious ancestry, will be fully developed to - those and such only as desire to possess this distinguished rank for - the inconsiderable sum of 1,000_l._ Covent-garden Market.--_Times_, - 1841. - - Postage stamps. A young lady, being desirous of covering her - dressing-room with cancelled POSTAGE STAMPS, has been so far - encouraged in her wish by private friends as to have succeeded in - collecting 16,000! these, however, being insufficient, she will be - greatly obliged if any good-natured persons who may have these - (otherwise useless) little articles at their disposal would assist in - her whimsical project. Address to E. D., Mr. Butt's, glover, - Leadenhall Street; or Mr. Marshall's, jeweller, Hackney.--_Times_, - 1841. - - To the Theatrical Profession.--WANTED, for a Summer Theatre and - Circuit, a Leading Lady, Singing Chambermaid, First Low Comedian, - Heavy Man, Walking Gentleman, and one or two Gentlemen for Utility. To - open July 9th. - - Address (enclosing Stamp for reply) to Mr. J. WINDSOR, Theatre Royal, - Preston, Lancashire.--_Era_, July 1, 1855. - - Wanted a Man and his Wife to look after a Horse and Dairy with a - religious turn of mind without any incumbrance. - -The variety is perhaps as astonishing as the number of advertisements in -the _Times_. Like the trunk of an elephant, no matter seems too minute or -too gigantic, too ludicrous or too sad, to be lifted into notoriety by the -giant of Printing-house Square. The partition of a thin rule suffices to -separate a call for the loan of millions from the sad weak cry of the -destitute gentlewoman to be allowed to slave in a nursery "for the sake of -a home." Vehement love sends its voice imploring through the world after a -graceless boy, side by side with the announcement of the landing of a -cargo of lively turtle, or the card of a bug-killer. The poor lady who -advertises for boarders "merely for the sake of society" finds her "want" -cheek-by-jowl with some Muggletonian announcement gratuitously calculated -to break up society altogether, to the effect that the world will come to -an end by the middle of the next month. Or the reader is informed that for -twelve postage stamps he may learn "How to obtain a certain fortune," -exactly opposite an offer of a bonus of 500_l._ to any one who will obtain -for the advertiser "a Government situation." The _Times_ reflects every -want, and appeals to every motive which affects our composite society. And -why does it do this? Because of its ubiquity: go where we will, there, -like the house-fly or the sparrow, we find it. The porter reads it in his -beehive-chair, the master in his library; Green, we have no doubt, takes -it with him to the clouds in his balloon, and the collier reads it in the -depths of the mine; the workman at his bench, the lodger in his two-pair -back, the gold-digger in his hole, and the soldier in the trench, pore -over its broad pages. Hot from the press, or months old, still it is read. -That it is, _par excellence_, the national paper, and reflects more than -any other the life of the people, may be gathered from its circulation. -They show in the editor's room a singular diagram, which indicates by an -irregular line the circulation day by day and year by year. On this sheet -the gusts of political feeling and the pressure of popular excitement are -as minutely indicated as the force and direction of the wind are shown by -the self-registering apparatus in Lloyd's Rooms. Thus we find that in the -year 1845 it ran along at a pretty nearly dead level of 23,000 copies -daily. In 1846--for one day, the 28th of January, that on which the report -of Sir Robert Peel's statement respecting the Corn Laws appeared--it rose -in a towering peak to a height of 51,000, and then fell again to its old -number. It began the year 1848 with 29,000, and rose to 43,000 on the 29th -of February--the morrow of the French revolution. In 1852 its level at -starting was 36,000, and it attained to the highest point it has yet -touched on the 19th of November, the day of the Memoir of the Great Duke, -when 69,000 copies were sold. In January, 1853, the level had arisen to -40,000; and at the commencement of the present year it stood at 58,000, a -circulation which has since increased to 60,000 copies daily! -Notwithstanding all the disturbing causes which make the line of its -circulation present the appearance of hill and dale, sometimes rising into -Alp-like elevations, its ordinary level at the beginning of each year for -some time past has constantly gone on advancing; insomuch that within ten -years its circulation has more than doubled by 7,000 daily. - -This vigorous growth is the true cause of that wonderful determination of -advertisements to its pages, which have overflowed into a second paper, or -supplement, as it was formerly called. That this success has been fairly -won, we have never ourselves doubted; but a fact has come to our knowledge -which will pretty clearly prove that this great paper is conducted on -principles which are superior to mere money considerations; or rather its -operations are so large that it can afford to inflict upon itself -pecuniary losses, such as would annihilate any other journal, in order to -take a perfectly free course. In the year 1845, when the railway mania was -at its height, the _Times_ advertising sheet was overrun with projected -lines, and many a guess was made, we remember, at the time as to their -probable value; but high as the estimates generally were, they came far -short of the truth. We give the cash and credit returns of advertisements -of all kinds for nine weeks:-- - - Sept. 6 L2839 14 0 - " 13 3783 12 0 - " 20 3935 7 6 - " 27 4692 7 0 - Oct. 4 6318 14 0 - " 11 6543 17 0 - " 18 6687 4 0 - " 25 6025 14 6 - Nov. 1 3230 3 6 - -During the greater part of the time that the proprietors were reaping this -splendid harvest from the infatuation of the people, the heaviest guns -were daily brought to bear from the leading columns upon the bubbles which -rose up so thickly in the advertising sheet. The effect of their fire may -be measured by the falling off of nearly 3,000_l._ in the returns for a -single week. A journal which could afford to sacrifice such a revenue to -its independence, certainly deserved some consideration from the -Government; but, on the contrary, it appears to have been singled out for -annoyance by the act which relates to newspapers. We see certain trees on -our lawns whose upshooting branches are by ingenious gardeners trained -downwards, and taught to hold themselves in a dependent condition by the -imposition of weights upon their extremities. The state gardeners have -applied the same treatment to the journal in question, by hanging an extra -halfpenny stamp upon every copy of its issue--a proceeding which, in our -opinion, is as unfair as it is injudicious: and this they will find in the -future, when the crowd of mosquito-like cheap journals called forth by the -measure, and supported by the very life-blood of the leading journal, -begin to gather strength and to attack Whiggery with their democratic -buzz. - -We have dwelt chiefly upon the advertising sheet of the _Times_, because -it is the epitome of that in all the other journals. It must be mentioned, -however, that some of the morning and weekly papers lay themselves out -for class advertisements. Thus the _Morning Post_ monopolizes all those -which relate to fashion and high life; and the _Morning Advertiser_, the -paper of the licensed victuallers, aggregates to itself every announcement -relating to their craft. _Bell's Life_ is one mass of advertisements of -various sports; the _Era_ is great upon all theatricals; the _Athenaeum_ -gathers to itself a large proportion of book advertisements. The -_Illustrated News_ among the weeklies, like the _Times_ among the dailies, -towers by the head above them all. A hebdomadal circulation of 170,000 -draws a far more cosmopolitan collection of announcements to its pages -than any of its contemporaries can boast. We have said nothing of the -advertisements in the provincial journals; but it is gratifying to find -that they have more than kept pace with those which have appeared in the -metropolitan papers. Their enormous increase is best shown by the returns -of the advertisement duty; from which it appears that in 1851 no less than -2,334,593 advertisements were published in the journals of Great Britain -and Ireland--a number which has vastly augmented since the tax upon them -has been repealed. - -It is curious to see the estimate which the different journals place upon -themselves as mediums of publicity, by comparing their charges for the -same advertisement. Thus the contents of the _Quarterly Review_ for -January, 1855, precisely similar as far as length is concerned, was -charged for insertion as an advertisement by the different papers as -follows:--_Times_, 4s.; _Illustrated News_, 1_l._ 8s.; _Morning -Chronicle_, 5s. 6d.; _Morning Post_, 6s.; _Daily News_, 5s. 6d.; -_Spectator_, 7s. 6d.; _Morning Herald_, 6s.; _Punch_, 15s.; _Observer_, -9s. 6d.; _English Churchman_, 5s. 6d.; _Examiner_, 3s. 6d.; _John Bull_, -5s. 6d.; _Athenaeum_, 10s. 6d. Now the _Times_ did not "display" the -advertisement as all the others did, it is true, and therefore squeezed it -into half the space; but with this difference, its charge was absolutely -the lowest in the list, with the single exception of that of the -_Examiner_. How this moderation on the part of the Leading Journal is to -be accounted for we know not; but the apparent dearness of the -_Illustrated News_ meets a ready solution, and affords us an opportunity -of showing how vastly the prime cost of an advertisement, during the -present high price of paper especially, is augmented by a great increase -of the circulation of the paper in which it appears, and what the -advertiser really gets for his money. If we take the advertisement of our -contents (_Quarterly Review_), it will be found to measure about one inch -in depth; it is obvious, then, that we must multiply this measure by -170,000, the number of separate copies in which it appeared. Now 170,000 -inches yield a strip of printed paper the width of a newspaper -column--_upwards of two miles and three-quarters long!_ Thus we have at a -glance the real amount of publicity which is procurable in a great -journal; and with so remarkable a statement it will be well to close our -paper. - - - - -FOOD AND ITS ADULTERATIONS. - - -A story is told of a European who, wishing to convince a Brahmin of the -folly of his faith in interdicting, as an article of food, anything that -once possessed life, showed him, by the aid of the microscope, that the -very water which he drank was full of living things. The Indian, thus -suddenly introduced to an unseen world, dashed the instrument to the -ground, and reproached his teacher for having so wantonly destroyed the -guiding principle of his life. We, too, have at home a Hindoo, in the -shape of the believing British public, to whose eye Dr. Hassall nicely -adjusts the focus of his microscope, and bids him behold what unseen -villanies are daily perpetrated upon his purse and person. - -The world at large has almost forgotten Accum's celebrated work, "Death in -the Pot;" a new generation has indeed sprung up since it was written, and -fraudulent tradesmen and manufacturers have gone on in silence, and, up to -this time, in security, falsifying the food and picking the pockets of the -people. Startling indeed as were the revelations in that remarkable book, -yet it had little effect in reforming the abuses it exposed. General -denunciations of grocers did not touch individuals of the craft, and they -were consequently not driven to improve the quality of their wares. The -_Lancet_ Commission went to work in a different manner. In Turkey, when of -old they caught a baker giving false weight, or adulterating the staff of -life, they nailed his ear to the door-post, "pour encourager les autres." -Dr. Hassall, like a modern Al Raschid, perambulated the town himself, or -sent his trustworthy agents to purchase articles, upon all of which the -inexorable microscope was set to work, and every fraudulent sample, after -due notice given, subjected its vendor to be pinned for ever to the -terrible pages of the Commissioners' report. In this manner direct -responsibility was obtained. If the falsification denounced was not the -work of the retailer, he was glad enough to shift the blame upon the -manufacturer; and thus the truth came out. - -A gun suddenly fired into a rookery could not cause a greater commotion -than this publication of the names of dishonest tradesmen; nor does the -daylight, when you lift a stone, startle ugly and loathsome things more -quickly than the pencil of light, streaming through a quarter-inch lens, -surprised in their naked ugliness the thousand and one illegal substances -which enter more or less into every description of food that it will pay -to adulterate. Nay, to such a pitch of refinement has the art of -falsification of alimentary substances reached, that the very articles -used to adulterate are adulterated; and while one tradesman is picking the -pockets of his customers, a still more cunning rogue is, unknown to -himself, deep in his own! - -The manner in which food is adulterated is not only one of degree, but of -kind. The most simple of all sophistications, and that which is most -harmless, is the mixture of inferior qualities of the same substance. -Indeed, if the price charged were according to quality, it would be no -fraud at all; but this adjustment rarely takes place. Secondly, the -mixture of cheaper articles of another kind. Thirdly, the surreptitious -introduction of materials which, taken in large quantities, are -prejudicial to health; and, fourthly, the admixture of the most deadly -poisons in order to improve the appearance of the article "doctored." - -The microscope alone is capable of detecting at one operation the nature -and extent of the more harmless but general of these frauds. When once the -investigator, by the aid of that instrument, has become familiar with the -configurations of different kinds of the same chemically composed -substances, he is armed with far greater detective power than chemical -agents could provide him with. It is beyond the limit of the test-tube to -show the mind the various forms of animal and vegetable life which exist -in impure water; delicate as are its powers, it could not indicate the -presence of the sugar-insect, or distinguish with unerring nicety an -admixture of the common Circuma arrowroot with the finer Maranta. -Chemistry is quite capable of telling the component parts of any article: -what are the definite forms and natures of the various ingredients which -enter into a mixture, it cannot so easily answer. This the microscope can -at once effect; and in its present application consists Dr. Hassall's -advantage over all previous investigators in the same field. The precision -with which he is enabled to state the result of his labours leaves no -appeal: he shows his reader the intimate structures of a coffee-grain, and -of oak or mahogany sawdust; and then a specimen of the two combined, sold -under the title of genuine Mocha. Many manufacturers and retailers who -have been detected falsifying the food of the public, have threatened -actions; but they all flinched from the test of this unerring instrument. - -The system of adulteration is so wide-spread, and embraces so many of the -items of the daily meal, that we scarcely know where to begin--what corner -of the veil first to lift. Let us hold up the cruet-frame, for example, -and analyze its contents. There is mustard, pepper (black and cayenne), -vinegar, anchovy and Harvey sauce--so thinks the unsuspecting reader; let -us show him what else beside. To begin with mustard. "Best Durham," or -"Superfine Durham," no doubt it was purchased for; but we will summarily -dismiss this substance by stating that it is impossible to procure it pure -at all: out of forty-two samples bought by Dr. Hassall at the best as well -as inferior shops, all were more or less adulterated with wheaten flour -for bulk, and with turmeric for colour. Vinegar also suffers a double -adulteration. It is first watered, and then pungency is given to it by the -addition of sulphuric acid. A small quantity of this acid is allowed by -law; and this is frequently trebled by the victuallers. The pepper-castor -is another stronghold of fraud--fraud so long and openly practised, that -we question if the great mass of the perpetrators even think they are -doing wrong. Among the milder forms of sophistication to which this -article is subjected, are to be found such ingredients as wheaten flour, -ground rice, ground mustard-seeds, and linseed-meal. The grocer maintains -a certain reserve as to the generality of the articles he employs in -vitiating his wares; but pepper he seems to think is given up to him by -the public to "cook" in any manner he thinks fit. This he almost -invariably does by the addition of what is known in the trade as P. D., or -pepper-dust, _alias_ the sweepings from the pepper warehouses. But there -is a lower depth still: P. D. is too genuine a commodity for some markets, -and it is accordingly mixed with D. P. D., or dirt of pepper-dust. - -A little book, published not long since, entitled "The Successful -Merchant," which gives the minute trade history of a gentleman very much -respected in Bristol, Samuel Budgett, Esq., affords us a passage bearing -upon this P. D. which is worthy of notice. - - "In Mr. Budgett's early days," says his biographer, "pepper was under - a heavy tax, and in the trade universal tradition said that out of the - trade everybody expected pepper to be mixed. In the shop stood a cask - labelled P. D., containing something _very like_ pepper-dust, - wherewith it was usual to mix the pepper before sending it forth to - serve the public. The trade tradition had obtained for the apocryphal - P. D. a place amongst the standard articles of the shop, and on the - strength of that tradition it was vended for pepper by men who thought - they were honest. But as Samuel went on in life, his ideas on trade - morality grew clearer; this P. D. began to give him much discomfort. - He thought upon it till he was satisfied that, after all that could be - said, the thing was wrong: arrived at this conclusion, he felt that no - blessing could light upon the place while it was there. He instantly - decreed that P. D. should perish. It was night; but back he went to - the shop, took the hypocritical cask, carried it out to the quarry, - then staved it, and scattered P. D. among the clods and slag and - stones." - -Would we could say that the reduction of the tax upon pepper had -stimulated the honesty of other grocers to act a similar part to that of -Mr. Budgett; but P. D. flourishes as flagrantly as ever; and if every -possessor of the article in London were to stave his casks in the roadway, -as conscientiously as did the "Successful Merchant," there would be hard -work for the scavengers. In the days of Accum it was usual to manufacture -peppercorns out of oiled linseed-cake, clay, and cayenne-pepper, formed -into a mass, and then granulated: these fraudulent corns were mixed with -the real to the extent of seventeen per cent. This form of imposition, -like that of wooden nutmegs among our American friends, has, we are happy -to say, long been abandoned. The adulterations we have mentioned are -simply dirty and fraudulent; but in the cayenne-cruet we find, in -addition, a deadly poison. Out of twenty-eight samples submitted to -examination, no less than twenty-four were adulterated with white -mustard-seed, brickdust, salt, ground rice, and _deal sawdust_, by way of -giving bulk; but as all of these tend to lighten the colour, it is -necessary to heighten it to the required pitch. And what is employed to do -this? Hear and tremble, old Indians and lovers of high-seasoned food--with -RED LEAD. Out of twenty-eight samples, red lead, and _often in poisonous -quantities_, was present in thirteen! Who knows how many "yellow admirals" -at Bath have fallen victims to their cayenne-cruets? Nor can it be said -that the small quantity taken at a time could do no permanent mischief; -for lead belongs to the class of poisons which are cumulative in their -effects. - -He who loves cayenne, as a rule is fond of curry-powder; and here also the -poisonous oxide is to be found in large quantities. Some years ago, a -certain amiable duke recommended the labouring population, during a season -of famine, to take a pinch of this condiment every morning before going to -work, as "warm and comforting to the stomach." If they had followed his -advice, thirteen out of every twenty-eight persons would have imbibed a -slow poison. Those who are in the habit of using curry, generally take it -in considerable quantities, and thus the villanous falsification plays a -more deadly part than even in cayenne-pepper. Imagine a man for years -pertinaciously painting his stomach with red lead! We do not know whether -medical statistics prove that paralysis prevails much among "Nabobs;" but -of this we may be sure, that there could be no more fruitful source of it -than the two favourite stimulants we have named. - -The great staple articles of food are not subject to adulteration in the -same proportion as many other articles of minor demand. We need scarcely -say that meat is exempt so long as it remains in the condition of joints; -but immediately it is prepared in any shape in which its original fibre -and form can be hidden, the spirit of craft begins to work. The public -have always had certain prejudices against sausages and polonies, for -example; and, if we are to believe a witness examined on oath before the -Smithfield Market Commissioners in 1850, not without reason. It is a very -old joke that there are no live donkeys to be found within twenty miles of -Epping; but if all the asinine tribe in England were to fall victims to -the chopping-machine, we question if they could supply the _a-la-mode_, -polony, and sausage establishments. Mr. J. Harper, for instance, being -under examination, upon being asked what became of the diseased meat -brought into London, replied:-- - - "It is purchased by the soup-shops, sausage-makers, the _a-la-mode_ - beef and meat-pie shops, &c. There is one soup-shop, I believe, doing - five hundred pounds per week in diseased meat. This firm has a large - _foreign_ trade [thank goodness!]. The trade in diseased meat is very - alarming, as anything in the shape of flesh can be sold at about one - penny per pound, or eightpence per stone.... I am certain that if one - hundred carcases of cows were lying dead in the neighbourhood of - London, I could get them all sold within twenty-four hours: _it don't - matter what they died of_." - -It must not be imagined that the _a-la-mode_ beef interest is supplied -with this carrion by needy men, whose necessities may in some degree -palliate their evil dealings. In proof of this we quote further from Mr. -Harper's evidence. In answer to the question, "Is there any slaughtering -of bad meat in the country for the supply of the London market?" he -says,-- - - "The London market is very extensively supplied with diseased meat - from the country. There are three insurance offices in London in which - graziers can insure their beasts from disease. It was the practice of - one of these offices to send the unsound animals dying from disease to - their own slaughter-houses, situate a hundred and sixty miles from - London, to be dressed and sent to the London market.... Cattle, sheep, - &c., are insured against all kinds of diseases; and one of the - conditions is, that the diseased animal, when dead, becomes the - property of the insurance company, the party insuring receiving - two-thirds of the value of the animal and one-third of the salvage; - or, in other words, one-third of the amount the beast is sold for when - dead." - -Upon being asked, "Do you believe it is still the habit of this company to -send up the diseased animals to London?" he replied,-- - - "Yes, I do; until lately they were regularly consigned to a - meat-salesman in Newgate market of the name of Mathews.... The larger - quantities are sold to people who manufacture it into soup, meat-pies, - sausages, &c." - -We have no wish to destroy the generally robust appetite of the persons -who visit such shops by any gratuitous disclosure; but we question whether -the most hungry crossing-sweeper would look any more with a longing eye -upon the huge German sausages, rich and inviting as they appear, if, like -Mr. Harper, he knew the too probable antecedents of their contents. The -only other preparations of flesh open to adulteration are preserved meats. -Some years ago, "the Goldner canister business" so excited the public -against this invaluable method of storing perishing articles of food, that -a prejudice has existed against it ever since; and a more senseless -prejudice could not be. Goldner's process, since adopted by Messrs. Cooper -and Aves, is simple and beautiful. The provisions, being placed in tin -canisters having their covers soldered down, are plunged up to their necks -in a bath of chloride of calcium (a preparation which imbibes a great heat -without boiling), and their contents are speedily cooked; at the same time -all the air in the meat, and some of the water, are expelled in the form -of steam, which issues from a pin-hole in the lid. The instant the cook -ascertains the process to be complete, he drops a plug of solder upon the -hole, and the mass is thus hermetically sealed. Exclusion of air, and -coagulation of the albumen, are the two conditions which enable us to hand -the most delicate-flavoured meats down to remote generations,--for as -long, in fact, as a stout painted tin canister can maintain itself intact -against the oxidating effect of the atmosphere. We have ourselves partaken -lately of a duck that was winged, and of milk that came from the cow, as -long as eight years ago. Fruit which had been gathered whilst the -free-trade struggle was still going on, we found as delicate in flavour as -though it had just been plucked from the branch. Out of the many cases of -all kinds of provisions opened and examined by Dr. Hassall, scarcely any -have been found to be bad. When we remember that the graves of so many of -our soldiers in the Crimea may be justly inscribed, "Died of salt pork," -we cannot forbear to call attention to a neglected means of feeding our -troops with good and nutritious food, instead of with the tough fibre -called meat, from which half the blood-making qualities have been -extracted by the process of boiling, whilst the remaining half is rendered -indigestible by the action of salt, and poisonous by the extraction of one -of its most important constituents. It would seem as if we were living in -the days of Anson, who lost 626 men of scurvy, out of a crew of 961, -before he could reach the island of Juan Fernandez, or of the still later -cruise of Sir C. Hardy, who sent 3,500 to hospital with this fatal -disease, after a six weeks' sail with the Channel fleet. It may be urged -that the sailors in the late war did not sicken on salt pork; but while -they had the necessary amount of potass, which the stomach requires to -make blood, in the lime-juice served out to them, our troops were without -this indispensable accompaniment, and consequently died. In the preserved -meats, which are made up with potatoes and other vegetables, the needful -potass exists, and such food may be purchased as cheaply as the pernicious -salt junk which is patronized by the Government. - -Bread, the great blood-producer, claims particular attention. It often -surprises persons who walk about the metropolis to find that prices vary -according to the locality; thus the loaf that costs in the Borough or the -New Cut 7_d._ a quartern, is 10-1/2_d._ at the West End. Can plate-glass -windows and rent cause all this difference? Certainly not. We are glad, -however, to find that many of the adulterations mentioned by our older -writers have vanished with free trade. Prince and Accum mention plaster of -Paris, bone-dust, the meal of other cereal grains, white clay, alum, -sulphate of copper, potatoes, &c. All of these sophistications have -disappeared, with the exception of potatoes, which are occasionally -employed when the difference between their value and that of flour makes -it worth while for the baker or miller to introduce them. When we see a -loaf marked under the market price, we may rest assured that it is made of -flour ground from inferior and damaged wheat. In order to bring this up to -the required colour, and to destroy the sour taste which often belongs to -it, bakers are in the habit of introducing a mixture called in the trade -"hards" and "stuff," which is nothing more than alum and salt, kept -prepared in large quantities by the druggists. The quantity of alum -necessary to render bread white is certainly not great--Mitchell found -that it ranged from 116 grains to 34-1/2 grains in the four-pound loaf; -but the great advantage the baker derives from it, in addition to -improving the colour of his wares, is, that it absorbs a large quantity of -water, which he sells at the present time at the rate of 2_d._ a pound. -Out of twenty-eight loaves of bread bought in every quarter of the -metropolis, Dr. Hassall did not find one free from the adulteration of -alum; and in some of the samples he found considerable quantities. As a -general rule, the lower the neighbourhood, the cheaper the bread, and the -greater the quantity of this "hards" or "stuff" introduced. We must not, -however, lay all the blame upon the baker. This was satisfactorily shown -by the Sanitary Commissioners, when dealing with the bread sold by the -League Bread Company, whose advertisement to the following effect is -constantly to be seen in the _Times_:-- - - "The object for which the above company was established, and is now in - operation, is to insure to the public bread of a pure and nutritious - character. Experience daily proves how much our health is dependent - upon the quality and purity of our food; consequently, how important - it is that an article of such universal consumption as bread should be - free from adulteration. That various diseases are caused by the use of - _alum_ and other deleterious ingredients in the manufacture of bread, - the testimony of many eminent men will fully corroborate. Pure - unadulterated bread, full weight, best quality, and the lowest - possible price." - -Upon several samples of this _pure bread_, purchased of various agents of -the company, being tested, they were found to be contaminated with _alum_! -Here was a discovery. The company protested that the analyses were -worthless; and all their workmen made a solemn declaration that they had -never used any alum whilst in their employ. The agents of the company -also declared that they never sold any but their bread. The analyst looked -again through his microscope, and again reiterated his charge, that alum -their bread contained. It was then agreed to test the flour supplied to -the company, and three samples were proved to contain the obnoxious -material. Thus we find that the miller still, in some instances, maintains -his doubtful reputation, and is at the bottom of this roguery. - -Our succeeding remarks will fall, we fear, like a bomb upon many a -tea-table, and stagger teetotalism in its stronghold. A drunkard's stomach -is sometimes exhibited at total-abstinence lectures, in every stage of -congestion and inflammation, painted up to match the fervid eloquence of -the lecturer. If tea is our only refuge from the frightful maladies -entailed upon us by fermented liquors, we fear the British public is in a -perplexing dilemma. Ladies, there is death in the teapot! Green-tea -drinkers, beware! There has always been a vague idea afloat in the public -mind about hot copper plates--a suspicion that gunpowder and hyson do not -come by their colour honestly. The old duchess of Marlborough used to -boast that she came into the world before "nerves were in fashion." We -feel half inclined to believe this joke had a great truth in it; for since -the introduction of tea, nervous complaints of all kinds have greatly -increased; and we need not look far to find one at least of the causes in -the teapot. There is no such a thing as pure green tea to be met with in -England. It is adulterated in China; and we have lately learnt to -adulterate it at home almost as well as the cunning Asiatic. The pure -green tea made from the most delicate green leaves grown upon manured -soil, such as the Chinese use themselves, is, it is true, wholly -untainted; and we are informed that its beautiful bluish bloom, like that -upon a grape, is given by the third process of roasting which it -undergoes. The enormous demand for a moderately-priced green tea which has -arisen both in England and China since the opening of the trade, has led -the Hong merchants to imitate this peculiar colour; and this they do so -successfully as to deceive the ordinary judges of the article. Black tea -is openly coloured in the neighbourhood of Canton in the most wholesale -manner. - -Mr. Robert Fortune, in his very interesting work, "The Tea Districts of -China and India," gives us a good description of the manner in which this -colouring process is performed, as witnessed by himself:-- - - "Having procured a portion of Prussian-blue, he threw it into a - porcelain bowl, not unlike a chemist's mortar, and crushed it into a - very fine powder. At the same time a quantity of gypsum was produced - and burned in the charcoal fires which were then roasting the teas. - The object of this was to soften it, in order that it might be readily - pounded into a very fine powder, in the same manner as the - Prussian-blue had been. The gypsum, having been taken out of the fire - after a certain time had elapsed, readily crumbled down, and was - reduced to powder in the mortar. These two substances, having been - thus prepared, were then mixed together in the proportion of four - parts of gypsum to three parts of Prussian-blue, and formed a light - blue powder, which was then ready for use. - - "This colouring matter was applied to the teas during the process of - roasting. About five minutes before the tea was removed from the - pans--the time being regulated by the burning of a joss-stick--the - superintendent took a small porcelain spoon, and with it he scattered - a portion of the colouring matter over the leaves in each pan. The - workmen then turned the leaves round rapidly with both hands, in order - that the colour might be equally diffused. During this part of the - operation the hands of the workmen were quite blue. I could not help - thinking, if any green-tea drinkers had been present during the - operation, their taste would have been corrected, and, I believe, - improved. - - "One day an English gentleman in Shanghae, being in conversation with - some Chinese from the green-tea country, asked them what reason they - had for dyeing the tea, and whether it would not be better without - undergoing this process. They acknowledged that tea was much better - when prepared without having any such ingredients mixed with it, and - that _they never drank dyed teas_ themselves, but justly remarked, - that, as foreigners seemed _to prefer having a mixture of - Prussian-blue and gypsum with their tea_ to make it look uniform and - pretty, and as these ingredients were cheap enough, the Chinese had no - objection to supply them, especially as such teas always fetched a - higher price. - - "I took some trouble to ascertain precisely the quantity of colouring - matter used in the process of dyeing green teas, not certainly with - the view of assisting others, either at home or abroad, in the art of - colouring, but simply to show green-tea drinkers in England, and more - particularly in the United States of America, what _quantity_ of - Prussian-blue and gypsum they imbibe in the course of one year. To - 14-1/2 lbs. were applied 8 mace 2-1/2 candareens of colouring matter, - or rather more than an ounce. To every hundred pounds of coloured - green-tea consumed in England or America, the consumer actually drinks - more than half a pound of Prussian-blue and gypsum. And yet, tell the - drinkers of this coloured tea that the Chinese eat cats and dogs, and - they will hold up their hands in amazement, and pity the poor - Celestials." - -If the Chinese use it in these quantities to tinge the genuine leaf, how -much more must the English employ in making up afresh exhausted leaves! -That every spoonful of hyson or gunpowder contains a considerable quantity -of this deleterious dye will be seen by any one who places a pinch upon a -fine sieve, and pours upon it a gentle stream of water, when the tinging -of the liquid will show at once the extent of the adulteration, and the -folly of drinking painted tea. Assam tea, though not so inviting in -colour, is free from adulteration. A word to the wise is enough. - -Of fifty samples of green tea analyzed by Dr. Hassall, all were -adulterated. There is one particular kind which is almost entirely a -manufactured article--gunpowder, both black and green--the former being -called scented caper. Both have a large admixture of what is termed "lye -tea," or a compound of sand, dirt, tea-dust, and broken-down portions of -other leaves worked together with gum into small nodules. This detestable -compound, which, according to Mr. Warrington,[3] who has analyzed it, -contains forty-five per cent. of earthy matter, is manufactured both in -China and in England, for the express purpose of adulterating tea. When -mixed with "scented caper," it is "faced" with black lead; when with -gunpowder, Prussian-blue: turmeric and French chalk give it the required -bloom. Mr. Warrington states that about 750,000 lbs. of this spurious tea -have been imported into Great Britain within eighteen months! Singularly -enough, the low-priced teas are the only genuine ones. Every sample of -this class which was analyzed by Dr. Hassall proved to be perfectly pure. -Here at least the poor have the advantage of the better classes, who pay a -higher price to be injured in their health by a painted beverage. - -The practice of redrying used-up leaves is also carried on to some extent -in England. Mr. George Philips, of the Inland Revenue Office, states that -in 1843 there were no less than eight manufactories for the purpose of -redrying tea-leaves in London alone, whilst there were many others in -different parts of the country. These manufacturers had agents who bought -up the used leaves from hotels, clubs, coffeehouses, &c., for twopence -halfpenny and threepence per lb. With these leaves, others of various -trees were used, and very fine pekoe still flourishes upon the -hawthorn-bushes, sloe-trees, &c., around the metropolis. As late as the -year 1851 the following account of the proceedings of one of these -nefarious manufacturers appeared in the _Times_:-- - - "CLERKENWELL.--Edward South and Louisa his wife were placed at the - bar, before Mr. Combe, charged by Inspector Brennan, of the E - division, with being concerned in the manufacture of spurious tea. It - appeared, from the statement of the inspector, that, in consequence of - information that the prisoners and others were in the habit of - carrying on an extensive traffic in manufacturing spurious tea, on the - premises situate at 27-1/2, Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell Green, on - Saturday evening, at about seven o'clock, the witness, in company with - Serjeant Cole, proceeded to the house, where they found the prisoners - in an apartment busily engaged in the manufacture of spurious tea. - There was an extensive furnace, before which was suspended an iron - pan, containing sloe-leaves and tea-leaves, which they were in the - practice of purchasing from coffeeshop-keepers after being used. On - searching the place they found an immense quantity of used tea, - bay-leaves, and every description of spurious ingredients for the - purpose of manufacturing illicit tea, and they were mixed with a - solution of gum and a quantity of _copperas_. The woman was employed - in stirring about the bay-leaves and other composition with the - solution of gum in the pan; and in one part of the room there was a - large quantity of spurious stuffs, the exact imitation of genuine tea. - In a back room they found nearly a hundred pounds weight of redried - tea-leaves, bay-leaves, and sloe-leaves, all spread on the floor - drying.... Mr. Brennan added, that the prisoners had pursued this - nefarious traffic most extensively, and were in the habit of dealing - largely with grocers, chandlers, and others in the country." - -This poisonous imitation green tea, "so largely supplied to country -grocers," was no doubt used for adulterating other green teas already -dosed with Prussian-blue, turmeric, &c. These have found their way into -many a country home of small means. When the nephew comes on a visit, or -the curate calls of an afternoon, the ordinary two spoonfuls of black are -"improved" with "just a dash of green," and the poor innocent gentleman -wonders afterwards what it can be that keeps him awake all night. - -We often hear the remark from old-fashioned people that we have never had -any good tea since the monopoly of the East-India Company was broken up: -in this remark there is some truth and much error. There can be no -possible doubt that the higher-priced teas have fallen off since the trade -has been open, as the buyers of the company were perfectly aware of the -frauds perpetrated by the Hong merchants, and never allowed a spurious -article to be shipped. On the other hand, the great reduction which has -taken place in the price of the common black teas, both on account of the -cessation of monopoly and the reduction of the duty, has in a great -measure destroyed the English manufacture of spurious tea from indigenous -leaves. The extent to which this formerly took place may be judged from a -report of the Committee of the House of Commons, in 1783, which states -that no less than four millions of pounds were annually manufactured from -sloe and ash leaves in different parts of England; and this, be it -remembered, when the whole quantity of genuine tea sold by the East-India -Company did not amount to more than six millions of pounds annually. - -If the better class of black and all green teas[4] are thus vilely -adulterated, the reader may fancy he can at least take refuge in -coffee--alas! in too many cases he will only avoid Scylla to fall into -Charybdis. Coffee, as generally sold in the metropolis and in all large -towns, is adulterated even more than tea. The Treasury minute, which -allowed it to be mixed with chicory, is at the head and front of the -offending. In the year 1840, this celebrated minute was issued by the -sanction of the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir C. Wood, the -immediate consequence of which was that grocers began to mix it with pure -coffee in very large quantities, quite forgetting to inform the public of -the nature of the mixture, and neglecting at the same time to lower the -price. The evil became so flagrant that upon the installation of the Derby -administration Mr. Disraeli promised to rescind this license to -adulterate; but before the promise was redeemed, the administration was -rescinded itself. Mr. Gladstone, upon his acceptance of office, loath, it -appears, to injure the chicory interest, modified the original minute, but -allowed the amalgamation to continue, provided the package was labelled -"Mixture of Chicory and Coffee." It was speedily found, however, that this -announcement became so confounded with other printing on the label that it -was not easily distinguishable, and in consequence it was provided that -the words, "This is sold as a mixture of Chicory and Coffee," should be -printed by themselves on one side of the canister. It may be asked what is -the nature of this ingredient, that the right to mix it with coffee should -be maintained by two Chancellors of the Exchequer, during a period of -fifteen years, as jealously as though it were some important principle of -our constitution? Chicory, to say the best of it, is an insipid root, -totally destitute of any nourishing or refreshing quality, being utterly -deficient in any nitrogenized principle, whilst there are strong doubts -whether it is not absolutely hurtful to the nervous system. Professor -Beer, the celebrated oculist of Vienna, forbids the use of it to his -patients, considering it to be the cause of amaurotic blindness. Even -supposing it to be perfectly harmless, we have a material of the value of -8_d._ a pound, which the grocer is allowed to mix, _ad libitum_, with one -worth 1_s._ 4_d._ If the poor got the benefit of the adulteration, there -might be some excuse for permitting the admixture of chicory, but it is -proved that the combination is sold in many shops at the same price as -pure coffee. - -Analyses made by Dr. Hassall of upwards of a hundred different samples of -coffee, purchased in all parts of the metropolis before the issuing of the -order for the labelling of the packages 'chicory and coffee,' proved that, -in a great number of cases, articles sold as "finest Mocha," "choice -Jamaica coffee," "superb coffee," &c., contained, in some instances, very -little coffee at all; in others "only a fifth, a third, half," &c., the -rest being made up mainly of chicory. Nothing is more indicative of the -barefaced frauds perpetrated by grocers upon the public than the manner in -which they go out of their way to puff in the grossest style the most -abominable trash. The report of the sanitary commission gives many -examples of these puff and announcements, which, we are informed, are kept -set up at the printers, and may be had in any quantities. We quote one as -an example:-- - - "JOHN ----'S COFFEE, - - "_The richness, flavour, and strength of which are not to be - surpassed._ - - "Coffee has now become an article of consumption among all classes of - the community. Hence the importance of supplying an article of such a - character as to encourage its consumption in preference to beverages - the use of which promotes a vast amount of misery. - - "John ----'s coffee meets the requirement of the age, and, as a - natural result, the celebrity to which it has attained is wholly - unparalleled. Its peculiarity consists in its possessing that rich - aromatic flavour, combined with great strength and deliciousness, - which is to be found alone in the choicest mountain growths. It may, - with perfect truth, be stated that no article connected with _domestic - economy_ has given such general satisfaction, and the demand for it is - rapidly increasing. - - "John ----'s establishment, both for extent and capability, is the - first in the empire. - - "Observe! - - "Every canister of John ----'s coffee bears his signature, without - which none is _genuine_." - -At the end of this puff the analyst places the words-- - - "_Adulterated with a considerable quantity of chicory!_" - -More erudite grocers treat us to the puff literary, as in the following -instance:-- - - "Rich-flavoured coffees fresh-roasted daily. - - "USE OF COFFEE IN TURKEY. - - "Sandys, the translator of 'Ovid's Metamorphoses,' and who travelled - in Turkey in 1610, gives the following passage in his 'Travailes,' - page 51 (edit. 1657). Speaking of the Turks, he says, 'Although they - be destitute of taverns, yet they have their coffee-houses, which - sometimes resemble them. There sit they chatting most of the day, and - sip of a drink called coffa, of the berry that it is made of, in - little china dishes, as hot as they can suffer it, black as soot, - which helpeth, as they say, digestion, and procureth alacrity.'" - -This pleasant sample of the puff indirect has also appended to it the -naked sentence-- - - "_Adulterated with chicory, of which not less than half the sample - consists._" - -The worst kinds of adulterated coffee are to be found in that which is -sold in canisters. The value of the tin envelope cannot be less than 2d., -and, as the coffee so sold is charged at the same price as that in a paper -wrapper, it must be evident that a more extensive adulteration is -necessary in order to make up the difference. Such, upon examination, -proves to be the case, as it appeared-- - - "That the whole twenty-nine packages, bottles, and canisters submitted - to analysis, with a single exception,[5] were adulterated. - - "That in these twenty-eight adulterated samples the falsification - consisted of so-called chicory, which in many instances constituted - the chief part of the article. - - "That three of the samples contained mangold-wurzel, and two of them - roasted wheat-flour." - -We have said it often happens that the adulterations are adulterated. -Chicory is an instance of it. The original fraud is found to have ramified -in an endless manner; and Sir Charles Wood will doubtless be astonished to -hear of the hideous crop of falsifications his most unfortunate order has -caused to spring out of the ground. - -Immediately the process of transforming chicory into coffee became -legalized by the Government, that article came into very extensive -consumption, and factories were set up especially for its secret -manufacture. The reason for this secrecy may be gathered from the list of -articles which are made to subserve the purpose: roasted wheat, ground -acorns, roasted carrots, scorched beans, roasted parsnips, mangold-wurzel, -lupin-seeds, dog's biscuits, burnt sugar, _red earth_, roasted -horse-chestnuts,--and above and beyond all _baked horses' and bullocks' -livers_. This statement rests upon the authority of Mr. P. G. Simmonds, in -a work entitled "Coffee as it is, and as it ought to be:"-- - - "In various parts of the metropolis," he says, "but more especially in - the east, are to be found 'liver bakers.' These men take the livers of - oxen and horses, bake them, and grind them into a powder, which they - sell to the low-priced coffeeshop-keepers, at from fourpence to - sixpence per lb., horse's liver coffee being the highest price. It may - be known by allowing the coffee to stand until cold, when a thick - pellicle or skin will be found on the top. It goes farther than - coffee, and is generally _mixed with chicory_, and other vegetable - imitations of coffee." - -In confirmation of this horrible statement the sanitary commissioners of -the Lancet state that, on analysis, this substance, which - - "possessed a disagreeable animal smell, ... consisted of some - imperfectly-charred animal matter." - -The new regulation, enjoining grocers to sell coffee and chicory properly -labelled as such, is, no doubt, observed in respectable shops; but in the -low neighbourhoods the mixture as before is passed off for genuine Mocha. -However, the purchaser has the means of protection in his own hands. If he -prefers coffee pure, let him buy the roasted berry and grind it himself; -he will thus be sure of having the real article, and will get it in -greater perfection than by purchasing it ready ground. - -In close proximity to the tea and coffee-pots stand the milk-jug and the -sugar-basin. What find we here? A few years ago the town was frightened -from its propriety by a little work entitled "Observations on London -Milk," published by a medical gentleman of the name of Rugg, which gave -some fearful disclosures relative to the manner in which London milk was -adulterated. Dr. Hassall's analyses go to show that, with the exception of -the produce of the "iron-tailed cow," none of the supposed defilements -really exist, and that the milkman is a sadly maligned individual. Water -is added in quantities varying in different samples from 10 to 50 per -cent.; and in the more unfashionable parts of the town _all_ the cream is -abstracted to be forwarded to the West-end. If milk _must_ be adulterated -in large towns, water is undoubtedly the most harmless ingredient; at the -same time it will be seen what a fraud is perpetrated upon the public by -selling milky water at 4d. a quart. - -That the London milking-pail goes as often to the pump as to the cow we -have no manner of doubt. To bring the diluted goods up to a delicate -cream colour, it is common to swing round a ball of annatto in the can; -and other careful observers and writers upon the adulteration of food have -detected flour, starch, and treacle. All medical men know that children -are often violently disordered by their morning or evening portion,--an -effect which could not come from the mere admixture of water--and we must -confess that we ourselves believe the milkman to be a very wicked fellow. - -We are afraid, if we look into the sugar-basin, we shall not find much -more comfort than in the milk-jug. We refer here to the ordinary brown -sugars, such as are generally used at the breakfast-table for coffee. It -is scarcely possible to procure moist sugar which is not infested with -animalculae of the acari genus, a most disgusting class of creatures. In -many samples of sugars they swarm to that extent that the mass moves with -them; and in almost every case, by dissolving a spoonful in a wine-glass -of water, dozens of them can be detected by the naked eye, either floating -upon the liquid or adhering to the edge of the glass. Those who are in the -habit of "handling" sugars, as it is termed, are liable to a skin -affection called the grocer's itch, which is believed to be occasioned by -these living inhabitants of our sugar-basins. Horrible as it is to think -that such creatures are an article in daily use, we cannot charge the -grocer directly with their introduction; the evil is, however, increased -by the manner in which he mixes, or "handles," as it is termed in the -trade, higher-priced sugars with muscovados, bastards, and other inferior -kinds, in which the animalculae abound. - -In addition to this foreign animal element, grocers sometimes mix flour -with their sugar, and, if we are to put any credit in popular belief, -sand; but of the presence of this gritty ingredient we have never seen any -trustworthy evidence. Nevertheless we have said enough to show that the -tea-dealer and grocer do their best to supply the proverbial "peck of -dirt" which all of us must eat before we die. Would that we were fed with -nothing more deleterious or repulsive! Let us see, however, the base -admixtures one is liable to swallow in taking-- - - A CUP OF TEA _or a_ CUP OF COFFEE. - - _In the Tea._ - - If Green-- - Prussian-blue. - Turmeric. - China clay or French chalk. - Used tea-leaves. - Copperas. - If Black-- - Gum. - Black lead. - Dutch pink. - Used tea-leaves. - Leaves of the ash, sloe, hawthorn, and of many other kinds. - - _In the Milk._ - - On an average 25 per cent. of water. - Annatto. - Treacle. - Flour. - Oxide of iron. - And other unknown ingredients. - - _In the Sugar._ - - If Brown-- - Wheat flour. - Hundreds of the sugar-insect. - If White-- - Albumen of bullock's blood. - - - _In the Coffee._ - - Chicory. - - _In the Chicory._ - - Roast wheat. - " acorn. - " mangold-wurzel. - " beans. - " carrots. - " parsnips - " lupin-seeds. - " dog-biscuits. - " horse-chestnuts. - Oxide of iron. - Mahogany sawdust. - Baked horse's liver. - " bullock's liver. - - _In the Milk._ - - Water 25 per cent. - Annatto. - Flour. - Treacle. - Oxide of iron. - And other unknown ingredients. - - _In the Sugar._ - - If Brown-- - Wheat flour. - Hundreds of the sugar-insect. - If White-- - Albumen of bullock's blood. - -As we perceive the teetotalers are petitioning Parliament and agitating -the towns for the closing of public-houses, we beg to present them, in -either hand, with a cup of the above mixtures, with the humble hope that -means will be found by them to supply the British public with some drink a -little less deleterious to health, a little more pleasant to the palate, -and somewhat less disgusting to the feelings. Some of the sugar impurities -may be avoided by using the crystallized East-Indian kind--the size of the -crystals not permitting of its being adulterated with inferior sorts. - -We shall not dwell upon cocoa further than to state that it is a still -rarer thing to obtain it pure than either tea or coffee. The almost -universal adulterations are sugar, starch, and flours together with red -colouring matter, generally some ferruginous earth; whilst, as far as we -can see, what is termed homoeopathic cocoa is only distinguished from -other kinds by the small quantity of that substance contained in it. - -There is scarcely an article on the breakfast-table, in fact, which is -what it seems to be. The butter, if salt, is adulterated with between 20 -and 30 per cent. of water. A merchant in this trade tells the _Lancet_ -that "between 40,000 and 50,000 casks of adulterated butter are annually -sold in London, and the trade knows it as well as they know a bad -shilling." Lard when cheap also finds its way to the butter-tub. Perhaps -those who flatter themselves that they use nothing but "Epping" will not -derive much consolation from the following letter, also published in the -same journal:-- - - "_To the Editor of the Lancet._ - - "SIR,--Having taken apartments in the house of a butterman, I was - suddenly awoke at three o'clock one morning with a noise in the lower - part of the house, and alarmed on perceiving a light below the door of - my bed-room; conceiving the house to be on fire, I hurried down - stairs. I found the whole family busily occupied, and, on my - expressing alarm at the house being on fire, they jocosely informed me - they _were merely making Epping butter_. They unhesitatingly informed - me of the whole process. For this purpose they made use of - fresh-salted butter of a very inferior quality: this was repeatedly - washed with water in order to free it from the salt. This being - accomplished, the next process was to wash it frequently with milk, - and the manufacture was completed by the addition of a small quantity - of sugar. The amateurs of fresh Epping butter were supplied with this - dainty, which yielded my ingenious landlord a profit of at least 100 - per cent., besides establishing his shop as being supplied with Epping - butter from one of the first-rate dairies.--I am, sir, your obedient - servant, - - "A STUDENT." - -If we try marmalade as a succedaneum, we are no better off--at least if we -put any faith in "real Dundee, an excellent substitute for butter," to be -seen piled in heaps in the cheap grocers' windows. Dr. Hassall's analysis -proves that this dainty is adulterated to a large extent with turnips, -apples, and carrots: we need not grumble so much at these vegetable -products, excepting on the score that it is a fraud to sell them at 7d. a -pound; but there is the more startling fact that, in twelve out of -fourteen samples analysed, copper was detected, and sometimes in large and -deleterious quantities! - -Accum, in his "Death in the Pot," quotes, from cookery-books of reputation -in his day, recipes which make uninitiated persons stare. For instance, -"Modern Cookery, or the English Housewife," gives the following serious -directions "to make Greening:"--"Take a bit of _verdigris the bigness of -an hazel-nut_, finely powdered, half a pint of distilled vinegar, and a -bit of alum-powder, with a little baysalt; put all in a bottle and shake -it, and let it stand till clear. _Put a small teaspoonful into codlings, -or whatever you wish to green!_" - -Again, the "English Housekeeper," a book which ran through eighteen -editions, directs--"to make pickles green _boil them with halfpence_, or -allow them to stand for twenty-four hours in copper or brass pans!" Has -the notable housewife ever wondered to herself how it is that all the -pickles of the shops are of so much more inviting colour than her own? We -will satisfy her curiosity in a word--she has forgotten the "bit of -verdigris the bigness of a hazel-nut," for it is now proved beyond doubt -that to this complexion do they come by the use of copper, introduced for -the sole purpose of making them of a lively green. The analyses of twenty -samples of pickles bought of the most respectable tradesmen proved, -firstly, that the vinegar in the bottles owed most of its strength to the -introduction of sulphuric acid; secondly, that, out of sixteen different -pickles analysed for the purpose, copper was detected in various amounts. -Thus, "two of the samples contained a small quantity; eight rather much, -one a considerable quantity, three a very considerable quantity; in one -copper was present in a highly deleterious amount, and in two _in -poisonous amounts_. The largest quantity of this metal was found in the -bottles consisting entirely of green vegetables, such as gherkins and -beans." - -We trust after this the good housewife will feel jealous no longer, but -rest satisfied that the home-made article, if less inviting and vivid in -colour, is at least more wholesome. A simple test to discover the presence -of copper in such articles is to place a bright knitting-needle in the -vinegar, and let it remain there for a few hours, when the deleterious -metal will speedily form a coating over it, dense or thin, according to -the amount which exists. Wherever large quantities are found, it is -wilfully inserted for the purpose of producing the bright green colour, -but a small quantity may find its way into the pickles in the process of -boiling in copper pans. Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell, the great pickle and -preserve manufacturers in Soho, immediately they became aware, from the -analyses of the _Lancet_, that such was the case, in a very praiseworthy -manner substituted silver and glass, at a great expense, for all their -former vessels. The danger arising from the introduction of this virulent -poison into our food would not be so great if it were confined to pickles, -of which the quantity taken is small at each meal, but it is used to paint -all kinds of preserves, and fruits for winter pies and tarts are bloomed -with death. The papa who presents his children the box of sweetmeats -bedded in coloured paper, and enclosed in an elegant casket, may be -corroding unawares the very springs of their existence. As a general rule, -it is found that the red fruits, such as currants, raspberries, and -cherries, are uncontaminated with this deleterious metal, but owe their -deep hue to some red colouring matter, such as a decoction of logwood or -an infusion of beetroot, in the same way that common white cabbage is -converted into red by the nefarious pickle-merchant. The green fruits are -not all deleterious in the same degree; there seems to be an ascending -scale of virulence, much after the following manner:--Limes, gooseberries, -rhubarb, greengages, olives--the last-mentioned fruit, especially those of -French preparation, generally containing verdigris, or the acetate of -copper, _in highly dangerous quantities_. The _Lancet_ publishes a letter -from Mr. Bernays, F.C.S., dated from the Chemical Library, Derby, in which -he shows the necessity of watchfulness in the purchase of these articles -of food:-- - - "Of this," he says, "I will give you a late instance. I had bought a - bottle of preserved gooseberries from one of the most respectable - grocers in the town, and had its contents transferred to a pie. It - struck me that the gooseberries looked fearfully green when cooked; - and in eating one with a steel fork its intense bitterness sent me in - search of the sugar. After having sweetened and mashed the - gooseberries, with the same steel fork, I was about to convey some to - my mouth, when I observed the prongs to be completely coated with a - thin film of bright metallic copper. My testimony can be borne out by - the evidence of others, two of whom dined at my table." - -It was fortunate that these three gentlemen used steel forks, which -instantly disclosed the mischief; if they had chanced to use silver, all -three might have fallen victims to these poisonous conserves. - -But we are not yet at the worst. When Catherine de' Medici wished to get -rid of obnoxious persons in an "artistic" manner, she was in the habit of -presenting them with delicately made sweetmeats, or trinkets, in which -death lurked in the most engaging manner; she carried-- - - "Pure death in an earring, a casket, - A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket." - -Her poisoned feasts are matters of history, at which people shudder as -they read; but we question if the diabolical revenge and coldblooded -wickedness of an Italian woman ever invented much more deadly trifles than -our low, cheap confectioners do on the largest scale. We select from some -of these articles of bonbonerie the following feast, which we set before -doting mothers, in order that they may see what deadly dainties are -prepared for the especial delectation of their children:-- - - "A FISH. - - "_Purchased in Shepherd's Market, May Fair._ - - "The tip of the nose and the gills of the fish are coloured with the - usual pink, while the back and sides are highly painted with that - virulent poison _arsenite of copper_." - - - "A PIGEON. - - "_Purchased in Drury Lane._ - - "The pigments employed for colouring this pigeon are light yellow for - the beak, red for the eyes, and orange yellow for the base or stand. - The yellow colour consists of the light kind of chromate of lead, for - the eyes bisulphate of mercury, and for the stand the deeper varieties - of chromate of lead, or orange chrome." - - - "APPLES. - - "_Purchased in James Street, Covent Garden._ - - "The apples in this sample are coloured yellow, and on one side deep - red; the yellow colour extending to a considerable depth in the - substance of the sugar. The red consists of the usual non-metallic - pigment, and the yellow is due to the presence of CHROMATE OF LEAD in - really _poisonous amount_!" - - - "A COCK. - - "_Purchased in Drury Lane._ - - "The beak of the bird is coloured bright yellow, the comb brilliant - red, the wings and tail are variegated, black, two different reds, and - yellow; while the stand, as in most of these sugar ornaments, is - painted green. The yellow of the beak consists of CHROMATE OF LEAD; - the comb and part of the red colour on the back and wings is - VERMILION; while the second red colour on the wings and tail is the - usual pink non-metallic colouring matter, and the stripes of yellow - consist of gamboge; lastly, the green of the stand is MIDDLE BRUNSWICK - GREEN, and, therefore, contains CHROMATE OF LEAD. In the colouring of - this article, then, no less than three active poisons are employed, as - well as that drastic purgative gamboge!" - - - "ORANGES. - - "_Purchased in Pilgrim Street, Doctors' Commons._ - - "This is a very unnatural imitation of an orange, it being coloured - with a coarse and very uneven coating of RED LEAD." - - - "MIXED SUGAR ORNAMENTS. - - "_Purchased in Middle Row, Holborn._ - - "The confectionery in this parcel is made up into a variety of forms - and devices, as hats, jugs, baskets, and dishes of fruit and - vegetables. One of the hats is coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD, - and has a green hatband round it, coloured with ARSENITE OF COPPER; a - second hat is white, with a blue hatband, the pigment being - PRUSSIAN-BLUE. The baskets are coloured yellow with CHROMATE OF LEAD. - Into the colouring of the pears and peaches the usual non-metallic - pigment, together with CHROMATE OF LEAD and MIDDLE BRUNSWICK GREEN, - enter largely; while the carrots represented in a dish are coloured - throughout with a RED OXIDE OF LEAD, and the tops with BRUNSWICK - GREEN. This is one of the worst of all the samples of coloured sugar - confectionery submitted to analysis, as it contains no less than four - _deadly poisons_!" - -The painted feast contains, then, among its highly injurious ingredients, -ferrocyanide of iron or Prussian-blue, Antwerp-blue, gamboge, and -ultramarine, and among its deadly poisons the three chrome yellows, red -lead, white lead, vermilion, the three Brunswick greens, and Scheele's -green or arsenite of copper. The wonder is that, considering we set such -poison-traps for children, ten times more enticing and quite as deadly as -those used to bane rats, that the greater number of youngsters who partake -of them are not at once despatched; and so undoubtedly they would be if -nurses were not cautious about these coloured parts, which have always -enjoyed a bad name under the general denomination of "trash and messes." -As it is, we are informed by Dr. Letheby that "no less than seventy cases -of poisoning have been traced to this source" within three years! - -In France, Belgium, and Switzerland the colouring of confectionery with -poisonous pigments is prohibited, and the vendors are held responsible for -all accidents which may occur to persons from eating their sugar -confectionery. It is absolutely essential that some such prohibition -should be made in England. Arsenic, according to law, must be sold -coloured with soot, in order that its hue may prevent its being used by -mistake for other substances; how absurd it is that we should allow other -poisons, quite as virulent, to be mixed with the food of children and -adults, merely for the sake of the colour! All kinds of sugar-plums, -comfits, and "kisses," in addition to being often adulterated with large -quantities of plaster of Paris, are always open to the suspicion of being -poisoned. Necessity cannot be urged for the continuance of this wicked -practice, as there are plenty of vegetable pigments which, if not quite as -vivid as the acrid mineral ones, are sufficiently so to please the eye. Of -late years a peculiar lozenge has been introduced, in which the flavour of -certain fruits is singularly imitated. Thus we have essence of jargonel -drops, essence of pine-apple drops, and many others of a most delicate -taste. They really are so delicious that we scarcely like to create a -prejudice against them; but the truth is great, and must prevail: all -these delicate essences are made from a preparation of aether and rancid -cheese and butter. - -The manufacturer, perhaps unaware of the cumulative action of many of his -chemicals, thinks that the small quantity can do no harm. We have seen, in -the matter of preserved fruits and sugar confectionery, how fallacious is -that idea. But the practice of adulteration often leads to lamentable -results of the same nature, which are quite unintentional on the part of -their perpetrators, and which occur in the most roundabout manner. An -instance of this is related by Accum, which goes directly to the point. A -gentleman, perceiving that an attack of colic always supervened upon -taking toasted Gloucestershire cheese at an inn at which he was in the -habit of stopping, and having also noticed that a kitten which had -partaken of its rind was rendered violently sick, had the food analyzed, -when it was found that lead was present in it in poisonous quantities. -Following up his inquiries, he ascertained that the maker of the cheese, -not finding his annatto sufficiently deep in colour, had resorted to the -expedient of colouring the commodity with vermilion. This mixture, -although pernicious and discreditable, was not absolutely poisonous, and -certainly could not account for the disastrous effects of the food on the -human system. Trying back still further, however, it was at last found -that the druggist who sold the vermilion had mixed with it a portion of -_red lead_, imagining that the pigment was only required for house paint. -"Thus," as Accum remarks, "the druggist sold his vermilion, in a regular -way of trade, adulterated with red lead, to increase his profit, without -any suspicion of the use to which it would be applied; and the purchaser -who adulterated the annatto, presuming that the vermilion was genuine, had -no hesitation in heightening the colour of his annatto with so harmless an -adjunct. Thus, through the diversified and circulatory operations of -commerce, a portion of deadly poison may find admission into the -necessaries of life in a way that can attach no criminality to the parties -through whose hands it has successively passed." The curious aspect of -this circuitous kind of poisoning is, that it occurs through the belief of -each adulterating rogue in the honesty of his neighbour. - -If we could possibly eliminate, from the mass of human disease, that -occasioned by the constant use of deleterious food, we should find that it -amounted to a very considerable percentage on the whole, and that one of -the best friends of the doctor would prove to be the adulterator. But even -our refuge fails us in our hour of need; the tools of the medical man, -like those of the sappers and miners before Sebastopol, often turn out to -be worthless. Drugs and medical comforts are perhaps adulterated as -extensively as any other article. To mention only a few familiar and -household medicines for instance: Epsom salts are adulterated with -sulphate of soda; carbonate of soda with sulphate of soda--a very -injurious substitute. Mercury is sometimes falsified with lead, tin, and -bismuth; gentian with the poisonous drugs aconite and belladonna; rhubarb -with turmeric and gamboge; cantharides with black pepper; and cod-liver -and castor-oils with common and inferior oils; whilst opium, one of the -sheet-anchors of the physician, is adulterated to the greatest extent in a -dozen different ways. Medical comforts are equally uncertain. Thus -potato-flour forms full half of the so-called arrowroots of commerce; -sago-meal is another very common ingredient in this nourishing substance. -Out of fifty samples of so-styled arrowroot, Dr. Hassall found twenty-two -adulterated, many of them consisting _entirely_ of potato-flour and -sago-meal. One half of the common oatmeals to be met with are adulterated -with barley-meal, a much less nutritious substance--an important fact, -which boards of guardians should be acquainted with. Honey is -sophisticated with flour-starch and sugar-starch. And lastly, we wish to -say something important to mothers. Put no faith in the hundred and one -preparations of farinaceous food for infants which are paraded under so -many attractive titles. They are all composed of wheat-flour, -potato-flour, sago, &c.,--very familiar ingredients, which would not take -with anxious parents unless christened with extraordinary names, for which -their compounders demand an extraordinary charge. To invalids we would -also say, place no reliance on the Revalentas and Ervalentas advertised -through the country as cures for all imaginary diseases. They consist -almost entirely of lentil-powder, barley-flour, &c., which are charged -cent. per cent. above their real value. - -Of all the articles we have touched upon, not one is so important as -water. It mixes more or less with all our solid food, and forms -nine-tenths of all our drinks. Man himself, as a sanitary writer has -observed, is in great part made up of this element, and if you were to put -him under a press you would squeeze out of him 8-1/2 pailfuls. That it -should be furnished pure to the consumer is of the first importance in a -sanitary and economic point of view. We are afraid, however, that but -feeble attempts have been made to secure this advantage to the metropolis. -At present London, with its two and a half millions of population, is -mainly supplied by nine water companies, six of which derive their supply -from the Thames, one from the New River, one from the Ravensbourne, and a -third from ponds and wells. Besides this supply, which ramifies like a -network over the whole metropolis, we find dotted about both public and -private wells of various qualities. We do not intend to follow Dr. Hassall -into his microscopic representations of the organic matter, vegetable and -animal, by which the customers of one company can compare the water served -to them with that dealt out to others, and thus at a glance assure -themselves that they have not more than their share of many-legged, -countless-jointed, hideous animalculae, which look formidable enough to -frighten one from ever touching a drop of London water, but shall content -ourselves with giving the general characteristics of the whole of them. -With one exception they were all of a hardness ranging from 11 to 18 -degrees. This hardness depends upon the earthy salts present, such as -sulphates and bicarbonates of lime and magnesia. They were also to some -extent saline, as all the salt used in the metropolis ultimately finds its -way into the Thames, or great sewer-stream. Not long ago two, at least, of -these six Thames water companies procured their supply within a short -distance of the mouths of great drains, and all of them resorted to the -river at different points below Battersea, or that portion of it which -receives the drainage of the metropolis, and is consequently crowded with -animal and vegetable matter, both living and dead, and thick with the mud -stirred up by the passage to and fro of the steamers. The violent outcry -made, however, by the Board of Health, caused an Act to be passed by -parliament against the supply of the sewage rates, and now all the -companies taking their supplies from the Thames, are compelled to go at -least as high as Kingston, and to submit them to a process of filtration; -but even at this point the river is in some degree sewage-tainted, and -the chemically-combined portion of baser matter cannot be removed by any -filter. - -The impurities of the Thames are not all we have to deal with--its -hardness must cost the Londoners hundreds of thousands a year in the -article of soap alone. The action upon lead is also marked; hence we find -poisonous carbonates of that metal held in solution. Plumbers are well -aware of this fact, and frequently meet with leaden cisterns deeply -corroded. This corrosion may arise from either chemical or voltaic action. -The junction of lead and solder, or iron, immersed in water impregnated -with salts or acid of any kind, will cause erosion of the metal. A -familiar instance of this is seen in the rapid manner in which iron -railings rust away just where they are socketed in the stonework with -lead. The presence of a piece of mortar on the lead of a cistern may even -set up this action, and result in giving a whole family the colic. - -The pumps of the metropolis are liable to even more contamination than -river-water, inasmuch as the soil surrounding them is saturated with the -sewage of innumerable cesspools, and with that arising from the leakage of -imperfect drains. Medical men entertained the opinion that the terrible -outbreak of cholera in Broad Street, Golden Square, in 1854, arose from -the fact that the people in the neighbourhood were in the habit of -visiting a public pump which was proved to be foul with drain-water, and -the handle of which was taken off, to prevent further mischief. Some of -these public pumps appear to yield excellent water--cold, clear, and -palatable; but the presence of these qualities by no means proves that -they are pure. The bright sparkling icy water issuing from the famous -Aldgate pump, according to Mr. Simon, the city officer of health, owes its -most prized qualities to the nitrates which have filtered into the well -from the decaying animal matter in an adjoining churchyard. - -The porter and stout of the metropolis have long been famous. The virtues -of the latter drink are celebrated all over the world; and a royal duke, -ascribed the great mortality among the guards in the East to the want of -their favourite beverage. No doubt the pure liquor, as it comes from the -great brewers, is wholesome and strengthening; but it no sooner gets into -the possession of the publicans than, in a great majority of cases, the -article is made up. A stranger would naturally suppose that the foaming -tankard of Meux's entire which he quaffs at the "Marquis of Granby" has an -identical flavour with that at the "Blue Boar," where the same brewer's -name shines resplendent on the house-front. Not a bit of it: one shall be -smooth, pleasantly bitter, slightly acid, and beaded with a fine and -persistent froth; the other, bitter with the bitterness of soot, salt, -clammy, sweet, and frothing with a coarse and evanescent froth. The body -of the liquor is undoubtedly the same, but the variations are all supplied -by the publicans and sinners. We do not make _emeutes_, as they are -continually doing in Bavaria, on account of our beer; but we have strong -feelings on a matter of such national importance; and the wicked ways of -brewers and publicans have been made, over and over again, the subject of -parliamentary inquiry. The reports of various committees prove that, in -times past, porter and stout were doctored in the most ingenious manner, -and so universally and unreservedly, that a trade sprang up termed -brewers' druggists, whose whole business it was to supply to the -manufacturers and retailers of the national beverage, ingredients for its -adulteration; nay, to such an extent did the taste for falsifying beer and -porter extend, that one genius, hight Jackson, wrote a hand-book to show -the brewers how to make Beer _without any Malt or Hops at all_! Accum has -preserved, in his now antique pages, some of the recipes in vogue in his -day. The boldness with which our fathers went to work is amusing. For -instance, Mr. Child, in his "Practical Treatise on Brewing," after having -made his non-professional reader aghast by mentioning a score of -pernicious articles to be used in beer, remarks, in the mildest possible -manner,-- - - "That, however much they may surprise--however pernicious or - disagreeable they may appear, he has always found them requisite in - the brewing of porter, and he thinks they must invariably be used by - those who wish to continue the taste, flavour, and effervescence of - the beer. And, though several acts of Parliament have been passed to - prevent porter brewers from using many of them, yet the author can - affirm, from experience, he could never produce the present flavoured - porter without them. _The intoxicating qualities of porter are to be - ascribed to the various drugs intermixed with it._ It is evident some - porter is more heady than other, and it arises from the greater or - less quantity of stupefying ingredients. Malt, to produce - intoxication, must be used in such large quantities as would very much - diminish, if not totally exclude, the brewer's profit." - -It is clear from this extract that Mr. Child considered the end of all -successful brewing was to make people dead-drunk at the cheapest possible -rate, regardless of consequences. Among the ingredients that Mr. Morris, -another instructor in the art of brewing, tells us are requisite to -produce a popular article, are--cocculus indicus and beans, as -intoxicators; calamus aromaticus, as a substitute for hops; quassia, as a -bitter; coriander-seeds to give flavour; capsicums, carraway-seeds, -ginger, and grains of paradise, to give warmth; whilst oyster-shells are -recommended to afford a touch of youth to old beer, and alum to give a -"smack of age" to new; and when it is desired to bring it more rapidly -"forward," the presiding Hecate is told to drop sulphuric acid into her -brew; by this means an imitation of the age of eighteen months was given -in a few instants. Even the "fine cauliflower head," which is held to be -the sign of excellence in stout, was--and, for all we know, still -is--artificially made by mixing with the article a detestable compound -called "beer-headings," composed of common green vitriol, alum, and salt, -and sometimes by the simple addition of salts of steel. That these -articles were commonly employed we have the evidence of the Excise -Department, which published a long list of such ingredients seized by them -on the premises of brewers and brewers' druggists.[6] Many of these -glaring adulterations are probably no longer in general use, although, -from the evidence given before a recent committee of the House of -Commons, it is believed that sulphuric acid, salt of steel, sulphate of -iron, and cocculus indicus are still resorted to by the smaller brewers, -especially those living in the country--a belief very much strengthened by -the very odd taste we sometimes find in ales and porters, and which is -certainly not derived from malt and hops. The common method of -adulterating the national liquor is by mixing water with it. This is done -almost universally by the publican, and to a very extraordinary extent. A -comparison between the per-centage of alcohol to be found in a given -number of samples of porter and stout, procured from what is termed -brewers' taps, or agents, with that existing in a similar number of -samples purchased of publicans, proves this fact in a very convincing -manner. Dr. Hassall informs us that, with regard to the stouts,-- - - "The alcohol--of specific gravity 796, temperature 60 deg. - Fahr.--contained in the former samples ranged from 7.15 per cent. the - highest, to 4.53 the lowest; whereas that of the stouts procured from - publicans varied, with one exception, from 4.87 per cent. to 3.25 per - cent." - -The same difference of strength also existed between the various samples -of porter procured from the two sources; the amount of alcohol in that -obtained from the taps varying from 4.51 per cent. to 2.42 per cent., -whereas that purchased of publicans ranged from 3.97 per cent. to 1.81 per -cent. The mixture of water, of course, reduces the colour, to bring up -which both burnt sugar and molasses are extensively used; and, in order -that "the appetite may grow with what it feeds on," tobacco and salt are -copiously added by the publican. Beer, porter, and stout are also liable -to be contaminated by the presence of lead. The universal use of pumping -machines and the storing of the casks in the cellars, sometimes at a -considerable distance from the bar, necessitates the use of long leaden -pipes, in passing through which the liquid, if "stale" or sour, oxidates a -portion of the lead. This fact is so well known both to public and -publican, that the first pot or two drawn in the morning is generally set -aside, as, from having lain all night in the pipe, it is justly considered -injurious. The liberality of the barmaid in thus sacrificing a portion of -the liquor is more apparent than real. The reader has, perhaps, noticed -that most public-house counters are fitted up with metal tops, in which -gratings are inserted to drain off all the spilt liquor, drainings of -glasses, heel-taps of pots, &c.: down these gratings goes "the first -draught," with its dose of oxide of lead. The receptacle below, which -contains all this refuse together with that at the bottoms of barrels, the -publican either returns to the brewer, or empties it himself into -half-filled casks. - -The public were very needlessly alarmed some years ago by a statement made -by M. Payen, a celebrated French chemist, that strychnine was being made -for England, where it was used in the manufacture of the bitter beer of -this country. This statement was copied by the _Medical Times_, and from -thence, finding its way to Printing-house Square, became generally -diffused, to the horror and discomfiture of pale-ale drinkers; and not -without reason, when it is remembered that one-sixth of a grain of this -poison has been known to prove fatal, and a very much smaller quantity -daily taken, to have the effect of inducing tetanic spasms, and of -otherwise seriously injuring the nervous system. We are happy to be able -to state that the lovers of Bass and Allsopp may quaff their tonic draught -in future without any fear of such terrible results. The bitterness of -pale ale has been found, on analysis, to be entirely due to the extract of -hops. Furthermore, this beverage, when selected from the stores of the -brewers or their agents, has universally proved to be perfectly pure. We -say, from the stores of the Burton brewers or their agents, because there -is no absolute certainty of procuring the article genuine from any other -source. The label on the bottle is no sure guarantee; for used bottles, -with their labels intact, are in many instances refilled by publicans with -an inferior article, and sold, of course, at the price of the real. We -have good reason to believe that this trick is very often practised in a -variety of instances, to the manifest injury of the public and brewers. - -Wine is far too wide a subject to be treated here. The great mass of -ports at a cheap and moderate price are made up, it is well known, of -several kinds, and doctored according to cost. There is one compound, -however, which particularly claims our attention, "publicans' port." We -are all of us familiar with the announcement to be seen in the windows of -such tradesmen, "Fine old crusty port, 2_s._ 9_d._ a bottle;" and the -extraordinary thing is, that upon opening the sample we often find that -_it is_ crusted, and that the cork is deeply stained. How can they afford -to sell an article bearing the appearance of such age and quality at so -low a price? The answer is simple: wine, crust, and stained cork are -fabricated. There is a manufactory in London, where, by a chemical -process, they get up beeswing to perfection, and deposit it in the bottles -so as exactly to imitate the natural crust; here corks are also stained to -assume any age that is required. The wine itself contains a very little -inferior port, the rest being composed of cheap red French wine, brandy, -and logwood as a colouring matter, if required. The port wine sold over -the bar at 3_d._ a glass--and we are assured that this article is making -its way in preference to gin in the low neighbourhoods, one gin palace, to -our knowledge, selling a butt a week over the counter--is an inferior -article even to this, and its taste is quite sufficient to prove that only -an infinitesimal portion of it ever came from Oporto. - -London gin, under a hundred names, is notoriously a compound. Most people -flatter themselves that its peculiar flavour is due to the admixture of -sugar and juniper-berries alone. It is, however, a much more elaborate -concoction than the public imagine. Those accustomed to the unsweetened -West Country gin think the London article only fit to drink when raw, and -in many cases they are right; for the publican and inferior -spirit-dealers, like milkmen, are great customers of the pump. It appears -that some of the samples examined by the analyst contained only half as -much alcohol as was present in others; and as the gin of commerce is never -above proof, it follows that these specimens were scarcely as good as -"stiff" gin-and-water. So much for the pure spirit; now for the fancy -work or "flavourings." The quantity of sugar in the samples examined -ranged from 3 oz. 4 drms. 23 grains, to 13 oz. 4 drms.; two of them -contained oil of cinnamon, or, more probably, of cassia; seven contained -cayenne pepper, some of them in very large quantities; and most of the -samples contained combined sulphates; whilst there is good authority for -stating that sulphate of zinc, or white vitriol, is often used. The very -"beaded bubbles winking at the brim," which are considered to be a proof -of the strength of the article, are produced artificially. Mr. Mitchell, -in his "Handbook of Commerce," states that this is done by adding a -mixture compounded of alum, carbonate of potash, almond-oil, sulphuric -acid, and spirits of wine. "The earth hath bubbles as the water hath, and -these are of them." One would think that it would be to the interest of -the trade to keep their illicit practices "dark:" but the publican has his -"Handbook" to teach him how to adulterate spirit as well as beer. For -instance, in a little work on Brewing and Distilling, written by a Mr. -Shannon, the following recipe is given:-- - - "_To reduce unsweetened Gin._ - - A tun of fine gin 252 gallons. - Water 36 " - --- - Which added together makes 288 " - _The doctor is now put on_, and - it is further reduced with water 19 " - --- - Which gives 307 gallons. - - "This done, let one pound of alum be just covered with water, and - dissolved by boiling; _rummage_ the whole together, and pour in the - alum, and the whole will be fine in a few days." - -We wonder that Mr. Gough, the great temperance advocate, never armed -himself with one of these recipes, in order to convince people of the -noxious liquids they are invited to drink under the most inviting names. -In every quarter of the town we see gin-palaces seizing upon the corner -houses of the streets, just as scrofula seizes upon the joints of the -human frame, and through their ever-open doors streams of squalid wretches -are continually pouring in and out. Could they be informed that they enter -to gulp oil of vitriol, oil of turpentine, and sulphuric acid, among other -acrid and deleterious compounds--that the tap of the publican spouts -corroding fire, like that which leaped up from the wooden table at the -command of Mephistopheles, in Auerbach's cellar, they would feel inclined -to exclaim with Siebald to the fiend:-- - - "What, sir, how dare you practise thus - Your hocus-pocus upon us?" - -Gin, it appears, is almost exclusively doctored in this highly deleterious -manner, although all spirits are open to sophistication, but especially -brandy, which, on account of its price, pays well for the trouble. Mr. -Shannon, deeply versed in the "art and mystery" of the trade of the -publican, informs us that brandy should be "made up" for "retail" by the -addition of 10 per cent. of flavoured raisin wine, a little of the -tincture of grains of paradise, cherry-laurel water, and spirit of -almond-cake: "add also 10 handfuls of oak sawdust, and give it -_complexion_ with burnt sugar." - -If we can give the dram-drinker little comfort, we can at least reassure -the smoker. "Everybody says" that common cigars are made out of cabbages, -and tobacco has always been suspected of containing many adulterations. -These charges have been made, however, at random, and the result of -chemical analysis and examinations by the microscope has proved that this -article of daily consumption is remarkably pure. The carefully-searching -microscope of Dr. Hassall has not succeeded in finding any other than the -genuine leaf among forty samples of manufactured tobacco; neither were -there any sophistications discovered, with the exceptions of salt, sugar, -and water. An inquiry into the specimens of the rolled and twisted article -was equally consoling to the maker and chewer. Now and then, it is true, -the excise officers make seizures in the warehouses of the tobacco -manufacturers, of dock, rhubarb, coltsfoot, and other leaves, but to a -very insignificant extent, considering the value of the article and the -heavy duty upon it. - -He who, like Byron, prefers the naked beauties of the leaf in the shape of -a cigar, will be equally gratified to hear that such a thing as -adulteration scarcely exists in this form of tobacco--at least, not when -purchased in the shops. Even if we descend to a penny "Pickwick," we find -nothing in it but the pure leaf. Out of fifty-seven samples examined, only -one was sophisticated, and that, apparently from its contents, by -accident. The only adulterated samples discovered at all, were exactly -where we might have expected to have found them, in the possession of a -hawker at Whitechapel. These, on examination, turned out to be made up of -two twisted wrappers or layers of thin paper, tinted of a bistre colour, -while the interior consisted entirely of hay, not a particle of tobacco -entering into their composition. The second example of a spurious cigar -was purchased at a review in Hyde Park. It consisted externally of -tobacco-leaf, but was made internally of hay. Our readers are familiar -enough with the fellows who vend these fraudulent articles, made to sell -and not to smoke; they are generally to be found at fairs and races, or -any crowded place in the open air, where they can escape speedily from -their victimized customers. There is a class of men who make a very good -livelihood in the metropolis by perambulating the streets and looking out -for ingenuous youths. Towards such they furtively approach, and, like the -tempter of old, whisper in their ear of forbidden fruit. The unwary are -constantly taken in by one of these serpents, in the shape of a sailor -straight from the docks, who intimates, in a hurried manner, that, if we -wanted any "smuggled cigars," he has just a box to sell cheap round the -corner. In general these worthies need not fear the exciseman, as the -article they have to sell does not come under the name of tobacco at all. - -If, however, cigars are not open to the charge of being adulterated, they -are the subject of innumerable frauds, inasmuch as those of English -manufacture are passed off as foreign ones. Thus, the so-called Bengal -cheroots are _all_ home-made imitations of Chinsurah cheroots. In order to -pass them off as the genuine article they are sold in boxes, branded and -labelled in exact imitation of those sent from India. It may be asked why -such cigars, if made out of the tobacco-leaf, are not as good as those of -Eastern or Spanish manufacture. The real reason is, that the tobacco loses -much of its fine flavour and aroma by packing and keeping; otherwise the -English cigar would be equal to any other. The old impression that the -Manilla cheroot is impregnated with opium would not appear to be correct, -from the investigations of Dr. Hassall, who has failed to discover that -narcotic in any of the specimens which he tested for it. - -We have to mention one preparation of tobacco of which we cannot speak -quite so favourably as of the others. Snuff is, we are sorry to say, -vilely adulterated, and some kinds poisonously. The law allows the use of -salt and water and lime-water in its manufacture--a privilege which the -snuff-makers take advantage of to increase its weight, all moist snuffs -averaging full twenty-five per cent. of water. If these were the only -adulterations to the titillating powder, no harm would be done; but we -have positive evidence afforded us in the report of the "Lancet" -Commission, that, in addition to ferruginous earths, such as red and -yellow ochre, no less than three poisonous preparations are also -introduced into it--chromate of lead, red-lead, and bichromate of potash! -When a man taps his snuff-box and takes out a pinch, he little dreams that -he is introducing an enemy into his system, which in the long-run might -master his nerves and produce paralysis; nevertheless it is an undoubted -fact. Many persons have been deprived of the use of their limbs through a -persistence in taking snuff adulterated with lead in less proportions than -that found in the samples examined by Dr. Hassall. Bi-chromate of potash -is a still more deadly poison. M. Duchatel of Paris found that dogs were -destroyed by doses of from one twenty-fifth of a grain to one -five-hundredth of a grain. We have heard of inveterate snuffers keeping -this comfort open in their waistcoat pockets, and helping themselves by -fingers'-full at a time; if their snuff contained anything like the -proportion of deleterious ingredients now to be found in the same article, -"dropped hands" and colic would soon have cured them of this dirty and -disagreeable habit. - -It is not our purpose to follow further the trail which Accum and others, -and more lately and particularly Dr. Hassall, have discovered for us. -Before closing the pages of the latter gentleman's report, however, from -which we have drawn so largely, we cannot avoid stating that the -community is under the greatest obligation to both himself and the editor -of the _Lancet_--to the one for the energy with which he pursued his -subject, and to the other for his singular boldness in rendering himself -liable for the many actions which the publication of the names of -evil-doers was likely to bring upon his journal, a liability which Dr. -Hassall has since taken upon himself by the reprint of the report under -his own name. This report is, in fact, as far as it goes, a handbook to -the honest and fraudulent food-dealers in the metropolis; and every man -who values wholesome aliment, and thinks it a duty to society to support -the honest tradesman in preference to the rogue, should procure it as a -valuable work of reference. We have not followed the author into -personalities, as no further purpose could be served by so doing; but we -have shown enough to convince the public that the grossest fraud reigns -throughout the British public commissariat. Like a set of monkeys, every -man's hand is seen in his neighbour's dish. The baker takes in the grocer, -the grocer defrauds the publican, the publican "does" the pickle -manufacturer, and the pickle-maker fleeces and poisons all the rest.[7] - -As guardian of the revenue, the government is deeply interested in this -question, independently of the view it must take of its moral aspect, for -the excise is without doubt cheated to the extent of hundreds of thousands -a year by the same unlawful practices which demoralize a large portion of -the community, and defraud and deceive the remainder. - - - - -THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. - - -To furnish every possible link in the grand procession of organized life, -is the aim of the science of zoology. Its professors have explored the -wilds of Africa, and have penetrated far into the interior of South -America; have endured the last extremities of hunger and thirst to catch -some curious humming-bird; have been consumed by fevers to the very socket -of life, in order to pin an unknown beetle, or to procure some rare and -gorgeous-coloured fly. The passion for this science seems to have long -dwelt in the English race: our love of field-sports, and keen relish of -rural life, coupled with a habit of minute observation, have all had a -tendency to foster an acquaintance with the beasts of the field and the -fowls of the air, and scarcely a village but boasts of some follower of -White or Waterton. This taste we carry with us to our vast colonial -possessions, and to that chain of military posts whose morning guns echo -round the world. With such splendid opportunities for observing and -collecting animals, we have succeeded in gathering together a menagerie -which is by far the first in existence, and which includes typical forms -of most living things--from the chimpanzee, in whose face and structure we -trace the last step but one of the highest form of mammal, to the -zoophyte, which shakes hands with the vegetable world. - -Ancient Rome, it is true, in her degenerate days, witnessed vaster -collections of animals, and saw hippopotami, ostriches, and giraffes, -together with the fiercer carnivora, turned by hundreds into the arena; -but how different the spirit with which they were collected! With the -debased and profligate Roman emperors the only object of these bloody -shows was to gratify the brutal appetite of their people for slaughter; -with us the intention is to display the varying wonders of creation. - -Most of our readers in the full flush of summer have leaned over the -balustrade of the carnivora terrace. From this elevated situation the -whole plan of the south side of the grounds is exposed. To his right, -fringing a still pool whose translucent waters mirror them as they stand, -the spectator sees the collection of storks and cranes: more immediately -in front of him softly tread the llamas and alpacas--the beasts of burthen -of the New World: farther, again, we see the deer in their paddocks; and -beyond, the sedgy pools of the water-fowl, set in the midst of graceful -shrubberies which close the Gardens in from the landscape of the Regent's -Park. Passing over to the northern side of the terrace he sees the eagle -aviary, tenanted by its royal and solitary-looking occupants; the otters -swimming their merry round, and perchance the seal flapping beside his -pool; while the monkeys, with incredible rapidity and constant chatter, -swing and leap about their wire enclosure Immediately beneath him the -Polar bears pace to and fro, or, swaying their heads, walk backwards with -a firmness which a lord chamberlain might study with advantage; and close -at hand the long neck of the "ship of the desert" is seen sailing out from -the gateway of the pretty clock-house. That the dread monarch of the -forest and the other "great cats" are beneath his feet, he is made aware -by angry growls and the quivering sound of shaken iron bars, as the keeper -goes round with his daily beef-barrow. No one can help feeling a certain -sense of strangeness at seeing these creatures of all climes scattered -amid a flourishing garden--to witness beasts, ensanguined in tooth and -claw, impatiently pacing to and fro between banks of scarlet geraniums or -beds brilliant with the countless blooms of early dahlias--or, still more -oddly, to witness birds of prey which love to career in the storm -surrounded by monthly roses. Had it been possible to have given each class -of bird and animal its appropriate vegetation, it would doubtless have -been preferable; but such an arrangement was manifestly impossible. - -Descending from this general survey, the long row of dens which run below -the terrace on either side are the first to attract the visitor's -attention. Before this terrace was constructed in 1840, the larger -carnivora were cooped up in what is now the reptile-house. The early dens -of the establishment form a good example of the difficulty Englishmen -experience in suiting themselves to altered circumstances. On the first -formation of the gardens the society seems to have taken for its model -some roving menagerie, as many of the houses of the beasts were nothing -better than caravans dismounted from their wheels, and the managers -encamped their collection in a fashion little more permanent than Wombwell -would have done upon a village green. It was speedily found that the -health of the felidae suffered materially from their close confinement, -which did not even admit of the change of air experienced in the -travelling caravan. In fact, the lions, tigers, leopards, and pumas, did -not live on an average more than twenty-four months. To remedy this state -of things the terrace dens were constructed, and, rushing from one extreme -to the other, tropical animals were left exposed to the full rigour of -winter. The drifting rain fell upon their hair, and they were exposed in -cold, wet weather to a temperature which even man, who ranges from the -torrid zone to the arctic circle, could not resist unprotected. The -consequences were manifested in the increase of inflammatory lung -diseases, and it is now found necessary to protect the dens by matting and -artificial heat from the extreme cold and damp of the winter months. In -the summer the exposure suits them admirably, and it must be confessed -that the tigers look only too fat and comfortable. One of the most -interesting cages is that which contains a family party, consisting of the -mastiff with the lion and his mate. They were brought up together from -cub-hood, and agree to a marvel; though the dog would prove little more -than a mouthful for either of his noble-looking companions. Visitors -express a vast deal of sympathy for him, and fancy that the lion is only -saving him up, as the giant did Jack, for a future feast. But their -sympathy, we believe, is thrown away. "Lion" has always maintained the -ascendancy he assumed when a pup, and any rough handling on the part of -his huge playfellows is immediately resented by his flying at their noses. -Although the dog is allowed to come out of the den every morning, he shows -a great disinclination to leave his old friends. It is, however, thought -advisable to separate them at feeding-time. Both the lion and lioness are -of English birth, and it is singular that out of the great number that -have been born in the society's garden full fifty per cent. have come into -the world with cleft palates, and have perished in consequence of not -being able to suck. If the keepers were to fill their nostrils with tow, -we fancy they could accomplish this act, as well at least as children who -are suffering from cold in the head. The male affords us an opportunity of -showing the difference between the African variety to which he belongs and -the East Indian specimen at the other end of the terrace. Our young Cape -friend has a fine mane, and a tail but slightly bushed at the top, which -droops towards the ground. The full-grown animal from Goojerat, is, on the -contrary, comparatively maneless, and his tail takes a short curl upwards -at the end. The caudal extremity of both is furnished with a rudimentary -claw. This little appendage was supposed by the ancients to be -instrumental in lashing the lion into fury, and Mr. Gordon Cumming informs -us that the natives of South Africa believe it to be the residence of an -evil spirit which never evacuates its post until death overtakes the beast -and gives it notice to quit. The Goojerat or maneless lion is supposed to -be the original of the heraldic beast we regard with such respect as a -national emblem, but which foreigners maintain is nothing better than a -leopard. - -But why do we coop these noble animals in such nutshells of cages? What a -miserable sight to see them pace backwards and forwards in their box-like -dens! Why should they, of all the beasts of the forest, be condemned to -such imprisonment? The bear has his pole, the deer his paddock, the otter -his pool, where at least they have enough liberty to keep them in health; -but we stall our lions and tigers as we would oxen, till they grow -lethargic, fat, and puffy, like city aldermen. With half an acre of -enclosed ground, strewn with sand, we might see the king of beasts pace -freely, as in his Libyan fastness, and with twenty feet of artificial -rock, might witness the tiger's bound. Such an arrangement would, we are -convinced, attract thousands to the gardens, and restore to the larger -carnivora that place among the beasts from which they have here been so -unfairly degraded. We commend this idea to the able secretary to the -society, who has shown, by his system of "starring," how alive he is to -the fact that it is to the sixpenny and shilling visitors who flock to the -gardens by tens of thousands on holidays that he must look to support the -wise and liberal expenditure he has lately adopted. - -On the other side of the terrace, in addition to the leopards and hyaenas, -is to be found a splendid collection of bears, from the sharp-muzzled -sun-bear (who robs a beehive in a hollow tree as artistically as a London -thief cuts a purse) to the enormous Russian Bruin, the largest perhaps -ever exhibited. "Prince Menschikoff,"[8] as he is called by the keepers, -grew into exceeding good condition in the gardens at Hull, where it -appears he chiefly dieted upon his brethren, the cannibal having consumed -no less than five bears; and they appear to have had the same effect upon -him as cod-liver oil upon a human invalid. His neighbours, the white Polar -bears, contrast with him strangely in physiognomy and form; their heads, -sharp as polecats', seem fashioned, like cutwaters, to enable them to make -their way in the sea; and if they would lift their huge paws, we should -see that they were clothed almost entirely with hair, to aid them in -securing a firm footing on the ice. The largest of these beasts managed to -get out of his inclosure before the top of it was barred in; but he was -peaceably led back again. Indeed, even the wildest of the beasts, after a -little confinement, seem so frightened at recovering their liberty, that -they easily allow themselves to be recaptured. - -In one year the Felidae alone consumed beef, mutton, and horseflesh to the -value of L1,367. 19_s._ 5_d._ This sum is entirely irrespective of the -fish, snakes, frogs, and other "small deer" given to the birds and -inferior carnivora. They all live here like gentlemen, emancipated from -the drudgery of finding their daily food. They have their slaughter-houses -close at hand in the gardens, where sheep, oxen, and horses are weekly -killed expressly for them. Some of them will only eat cooked meat. Soon -after the establishment of the gardens experiments were made as to the -best manner of feeding them, which proved that while they gained flesh and -continued active upon one full meal a day, they lost weight and became -drowsy on two half-meals. In the endeavour to follow nature still closer, -they were dieted more sparely, and even fasted at certain seasons. This -treatment, however, resulted in a catastrophe--a female leopard and puma -killing and eating their companions: a strong hint for fuller rations, -which was not neglected. - -Let us now cross over from the cages of the king of beasts to the aviary -of the king of birds. The collection of eagles, vultures, and condors, -numbers upwards of twenty species, among which we recognized "the oldest -inhabitant" of the Gardens--the vulture presented to the society by Mr. -Brooks, the surgeon, more than thirty years ago. Notwithstanding his age, -he looks one of the finest birds in the collection. We question, however, -if the last new-comer of the same species will not "put his bill out," -arriving as he does from a distant shore to which thousands of anxious -hearts have turned. We allude to the vulture lately sent from the Crimea. -He was caught near the monastery of Saint George, and the proximity of his -retreat to many a battle-field suggests reflections too painful to dwell -upon. The prominent impression produced in glancing at this aviary is the -perfect isolation which each bird maintains as he crowns the topmost -pinnacle of the heap of rocks reared in the centre of his den, where he -perches, motionless as a stone. There seems to be no recognition of -fellow-prisoners--no interchange of either blows or courtesies between the -iron netting. Each seems an enduring captive that will not be comforted -or won over to the ways of men. Now and then unsheathing his piercing eye, -we perceive the huge wings spread, and perchance remembering the callow -eaglets in some Alpine eyrie, the bird soars upwards for a moment, beats -his pinions against the netting, and falls to the earth again with the -ignominious flop of a Christmas turkey. It is impossible to contemplate -these birds without pity, not unmixed with pain. Who can recognize, in the -motionless bunch of feathers before us, Audubon's magnificent description -of the Bald Eagle as he swoops upon his prey?-- - - "The next moment the wild trumpet-like sound of a yet distant but - approaching swan is heard.... Now is the moment to witness a display - of the eagle's powers. He glides through the air like a falling star, - and like a flash of lightning comes upon the timorous quarry, which - now, in agony and despair, seeks, by various manoeuvres, to elude the - grasp of his cruel talons. It mounts, doubles, and willingly would - plunge into the stream were it not prevented by the eagle, which, long - possessed of the knowledge that by such a stratagem the swan might - escape him, forces it to remain in the air by attempting to strike it - with its talons from beneath. The hope of escape is soon given up by - the swan. It has already become much weakened, and its strength fails - at the sight of the courage and swiftness of its antagonist. Its last - gasp is about to escape, when the ferocious eagle strikes with his - talons the under side of his wing, and with unresisted power forces - the bird to fall in a slanting direction upon the nearest shore." - -This is the romance of the noble bird's mode of obtaining food--here, as -he marches off with a dead rat in his claw, or a piece of raw beef, we -behold its prose. But however unpoetical this treatment, it cannot be said -to disagree with him, as fine plumage and good condition prove. Passing on -our way to the monkey-house, the merry otters are seen playing -"follow-my-leader" round their rock-house, now plunging headlong in search -of the flat-fish which shines at the bottom of the water--now bringing it -to shore, and crushing flesh, vertebrae, and all. - -The admirably-arranged but vilely-ventilated monkey-house is always a -great source of attraction. The mixture of fun and solemnity, the odd -attitudes and tricks, and the human expression of their countenances, all -tend to attract, and at the same time to repel. Mr. Rogers used to say, -that visiting them was like going to see one's poor relations; and -wondrous shabby old fellows some of them appear. We have only to look into -their faces for a moment to see that they differ from each other as much -as the faces of mankind. There is a large, long-haired, black-faced -rascal, who looks as murderous as a Malay; a little way off we see another -with great bushy whiskers and shaggy eyebrows (the mona), the very picture -of a successful horse-dealer; a third, with his long nose and keen eye, -has all the air of a crafty old lawyer. The contemplation of them brings -involuntarily to the mind the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. The -apes and baboons are indeed purely brutal, and only excite disgust: -towards the latter the whole company of smaller monkeys express the utmost -hatred--as may be seen when the keeper by way of fun takes one of them out -of his cage and walks him down the room. The whole population rush to the -front of their cages, and hoot, growl, and chatter at him as only Eastern -County shareholders can do when their chairman takes his seat. The -vivacious little capuchin monkeys are evidently the favourites, and bag -most of the nuts; the brown capuchin appears to be particularly knowing, -as he keeps a big pebble at hand, and when he finds that his teeth are not -equal to the task, he taps the nut with the stone with just sufficient -force to break the shell without bruising the kernel. We have often seen -this little fellow take a pinch of snuff, and assiduously rub his own and -his companion's skin with it, with a full knowledge, no doubt, of the old -recipe for killing fleas. He will also make use of an onion for a similar -purpose. Among the other quadrumana in this house we find the lemurs, -which look more like long-legged weasels than monkeys, and the -bright-faced little marmosets, who cluster inquiringly to the front of -their cage looking in their cap-shaped headdress of fur like so many -gossips quizzing you over the window-blinds. - -At the present moment there is no specimen of either the uran or -chimpanzee in the Gardens, but there have been at least half a dozen -located here within the last ten years, one of which, "Jenny," maintained -her health for five years. The damp, cold air of the Gardens at last -brought on consumption; and the public must remember the poor, wheezing, -dying brute, with a plaster on her chest and blankets around her, the very -picture of a moribund old man. The only specimen now in Europe is in the -Jardin des Plantes, at Paris. This animal, one of the finest ever seen, is -in excellent health, and promises to maintain it in the bright air of La -Belle France. An accomplished naturalist has kindly furnished us with the -following particulars of this brute, which clearly indicate that he is a -very Dr. Busby among his fellows:-- - - "He passed through London on his way to Paris, having landed at - Plymouth. There were then two female Chims resident in the Gardens in - the Regent's Park, and the French Chim was allowed to lodge in their - hotel for a couple of nights. On his appearance both of these young - ladies uttered cries of recognition, which however evinced more fear - than anything else. Chim was put into a separate compartment, or room - with a double grille, to prevent the probable injuries which - discordant apes will inflict on each other. He had scarcely felt the - floor under his feet when he began to pay attention to his - countrywomen thus suddenly and unexpectedly found. Their fear and - surprise gradually subsided, and they stood watching him attentively, - when he broke out into a characteristic _pas seul_, which he kept up - for a considerable time, uttering cries scarcely more hideous than - seem the notes of a Chinese singer, and not far out of unison with his - loudly-beating feet. The owner, who was present, said that he was - imitating a dance of the negroes, which the animal had often seen - while resident in his house in Africa. The animal was upwards of a - year and a half old, and had spent one year of his life in this - gentleman's house. The Chim maidens gradually relaxed their reserve as - the vivacity of the dance increased, until at last, when it was over, - each stealthily put a hand through the grille and welcomed their - friend and brother to their home in a far land. As the weather was - severe--it was early in December--it is possible that their talk was - of their native palm-groves and their never-ending summer. Chim - thenceforth made himself as agreeable as possible, and when the time - for his departure came, the maidens exhibited the liveliest regret, - short of tears, at losing him. At Paris he increased rapidly in - stature and intelligence. The climate, diet (he drinks his pint of - Bordeaux daily), and lively society of the French seem to be more - congenial to Chim's physique than our melancholy London. He makes - acquaintance not only with the staff but with the _habitues_ of the - Garden. The last time I saw him (May, 1854) he came out to taste the - morning air in the large circular enclosure in front of the Palais des - Singes, which was built for "our poor relations" by M. Thiers. Here - Chim began his day by a leisurely promenade, casting pleased and - thankful glances towards the sun, the beautiful sun of early summer. - He had three satellites, coati-mundis, either by chance or to amuse - him, and while making all manner of eyes at a young lady who supplies - the Singerie with pastry and cakes, one of the coati-mundis came up - stealthily behind and dealt him a small but malicious bite. Chim - looked round with astonishment at this audacious outrage on his - person, put his hand haughtily upon the wound, but without losing his - temper in the least. He walked deliberately to the other side of the - circle, and fetched a cane which he had dropped there in his - promenade. He returned with majestic wrath upon his brow, mingled, I - thought, with contempt; and, taking Coati by the tail, commenced - punishment with his cane, administering such blows as his victim could - bear without permanent injury, and applied with equal justice to the - ribs on either side, in a direction always parallel to the spine. - When he thought enough had been done, he disposed of Coati without - moving a muscle of his countenance, by a left-handed jerk, which threw - the delinquent high in air, head over heels. He came down a sadder and - a better coati, and retired with shame and fear to an outer corner. - Having executed this act of justice, Chim betook him to a tree. A - large baboon, who had in the mean time made his appearance in the - circle, thought this was a good opportunity of doing a civil thing, - and accordingly mounted the tree and sat down smilingly, as baboons - smile, upon the next fork. Chim slowly turned his head at this attempt - at familiarity, measured the distance, raised his hind foot, and, as - composedly as he had caned the coati, kicked the big baboon off his - perch into the arena below. This abasement seemed to do the baboon - good, for he also retired like the coati, and took up his station on - the other side. To what perfection of manners and development of - thought the last year and a half may have brought him I can scarcely - guess; but one day doubtless some one will say of him, as an Oriental - prince once said to me, after looking at the uran 'Peter,'--'Does he - speak English yet?'" - -The monkeys before they were transferred to this house suffered a great -mortality, and indeed, on taking possession of their new apartment, the -keepers used to remove the dead by the barrowful in the morning. This -extreme mortality was produced by want of ventilation, and a system of -heating which burnt the air and induced inflammation of the lungs. Dr. -Marshall Hall and Dr. Arnott, upon being consulted, directed the -substitution of an open stove, when the deaths ceased. - -As we pass towards the small building once used as the parrot-house, but -now dedicated to the smaller felidae, we go by the seal-pond, and see that -strange beast which resembles a Danish carriage-dog with his legs -amputated. He is an epicure as regards his regular meals, and turns up his -nose at any fish less _recherche_ than whiting, of which expensive -delicacy he consumes ten pounds weight daily. Meanwhile, however, he is "a -snapper-up of unconsidered trifles," and we see him, as the visitors -circulate round his enclosure, flop, flop, around the margin of his pond, -keeping a sharp look-out above the railings for stray favours. The house -of the smaller carnivora is generally overlooked, but it is worthy of a -visit, if only to see the beautiful clouded tigers as they are misnamed, -for they more resemble hunting leopards both in size and skin-markings. -These elegant creatures are quite tame, and permit the utmost -familiarities of their keeper; but their neighbour, the caracal or lynx, -never seems tired of making the most ferocious rushes at the bars, -accompanied by a vindictive and incessant spitting, which impresses us -with the idea that it possesses the very quintessence of catlike nature. -There is one little cage in this apartment which is deserving of especial -inspection--that containing a specimen of the indigenous black rat, which, -according to Mr. Waterton, was entirely eaten out of the country by the -grey rats of Hanover, which came over in the same ship with _Dutch -William_, and which are, according to that hearty naturalist, the very -emblems of "Protestant rapacity." Those who have read his delightful -essays know well with what perseverance the author hunts the grey rodent -through every chapter of his book. - -If we now retrace our steps along the border of the plantation, which -forms a deep green background for countless dahlias, and moreover screens -the garden from the biting east, we shall, by turning to the right hand, -come upon the Aquarium, the latest and most attractive sight in the -gardens. How cool and delicious! Around us we perceive slices of the deep -sea-bed and the rapid river. Were we mermen we could not examine more at -ease the rich pavement of the ocean set with strange and living flowers. -In the midst of the green walls of water which surround us, mimic caves, -waving with sea-weed and other marine plants, afford shelter and -lurking-holes for bright fish which stare and dart, or for shambling -crustaceae which creep over the pebbly bottom. Against the dark verdure of -these submerged rocks, the sea-anemone rears its orange base tipped with -flower-like fans, or hangs its snake-like tentacles, writhing as the -head-dress of Medusa. But we must look narrowly into each nook and under -every stone, if we wish to realize the amount of animal life, which here -puts on such strange vegetable forms. Let us consider well for a few -minutes one of the tanks running down the middle of the building. For -months all the minute animal and vegetable life has been multiplying and -decaying, and yet the water remains pure and bright. The explanation of -this phenomenon affords one of the most beautiful examples of the manner -in which nature on a grand scale holds the balance true between her -powers. If we were to put these little bright-eyed fish alive into the -crystal tank, in a week's time they would die, because they would have -withdrawn all the oxygen it originally contained, and contaminated it with -the poisonous carbonic acid gas exhaled from their lungs. To prevent this, -the philosopher hangs these mimic caves with verdant seaweed, and plants -the bottom with graceful marine grasses. If the spectator looks narrowly -at the latter, he finds them fringed with bright silver bells: these bells -contain oxygen, which the plants have eliminated from their tissues under -the action of light, having previously consumed the carbonic acid gas -thrown out by the fishes and zoophytes. Thus plants and animals are -indispensable to the preservation of each other's life. But even now we -have not told the entire causes which produce the crystal clearness of the -water. The vegetable element grows too fast, and if left to itself the -sides of the tank would be covered with a confervoid growth, which would -speedily obscure its inmates from our view. - -We want scavengers to clear away the superfluous vegetation, and we find -them in the periwinkles which we see attached by their foot-stalk to the -glass. These little mollusca do their work well: Mr. Gosse, who has -watched them feeding with a pocket-glass, perceived that their saw-like -tongues moved backwards and forwards with a crescentic motion, and thus, -as the animal advances, he leaves a slight swathe-like mark upon the -glass, as the mower does upon the field. But it is clear that there are -not enough labourers in the tank we are inspecting to accomplish their -task, as the lobster, who comes straggling over the stones in such an -ungainly manner, is more like a moving salad than any living thing, so -thickly are back, tail, feelers, and claws, infested with a dense -vegetable growth. A few more black mowers are imperatively called for. The -fish, the weed, and the mollusc having secured to us a clear view of the -inhabitants of the tank, let us inspect them one by one. Here we see the -parasitic anemone. Like the old man of the sea, it fixes itself upon some -poor Sinbad in the shape of a whelk, and rides about at its ease in search -of food. Another interesting variety of this zoophyte is the plumose -sea-anemone, a more stay-at-home animal, which generally fixes itself upon -a flat rock or an oyster-shell, and waits for the food to come to it, as -your London housewife expects the butcher and baker to call in the -morning. - -The pure white body of the neighbouring actinia renders it more -observable. Its tentacles, displayed in plumes over the central mouth, -which is marked with yellow, give it the exact appearance of a -chrysanthemum, and should be much in favour with the mermaids to adorn -their hair. A still more extraordinary creature is the _Tabella -ventilabrum_. The tube of this strange animal is perfectly straight, and -its large brown silk-like radiating fans, whilst in search of food, -revolve just as the old-fashioned whirling ventilators did in our windows. -The instant this fan is touched it is retracted into the tube, the ends -just appearing outside, and giving it the appearance of a camel's-hair -brush. - -We shall not attempt to describe the different species of zoophytes and -annelides, amounting to hundreds--indeed, they are not all familiar to -scientific men. We have little more to say of the crustacea that go -scrambling about, yet it would be impossible to overlook that peripatetic -whelk-shell, which climbs about the stones with such marvellous activity. -On a narrower inspection we perceive that it moves by a foreign agency. -Those sprawling legs protruding from its mouth discover the hermit crab, -which is obliged to dress its soft body in the first defensible armour it -can pick up. A deserted whelk or common spiral shell is its favourite -resort, but, like many bipeds, it has a love of changing its house; and -those who have narrowly watched its habits state that it will deliberately -turn over the empty shells upon the beach, and, after examining them -carefully with its claws, pop its body out of one habitation into another, -in order to obtain the best possible fit. But there are still stranger -facts connected with this intelligent little crustacean. We have before -observed that the parasitic sea-anemone invariably fixes itself when -possible upon this movable house, perfectly regardless of the many bumps -and rubs which necessarily fall to its lot. Another warm friend, the -cloak-anemone, clings still closer, for it perfectly envelopes the lip of -the shell with its living mantle. Our hermit has still a third intimate -acquaintance, who sponges upon him for bed and board, in the shape of a -beautiful worm, _Nereis bilineata_, which stows itself behind the crab in -the attic of the whelk-shell, and, the moment its protector by his motions -indicates that he has procured food, glides between the two left-foot -jaws, and drags a portion of the morsel from his mouth, the crab appearing -to evince no more animosity at the seizure than the Quaker who suddenly -finds his spoons taken for church-rates. The interesting specimens we have -dwelt upon are confined to the sea-water tanks, which line the Aquarium on -the side opposite the door, and those which run down the centre of the -apartment. _Vis-a-vis_ are the fresh-water tanks, in which we may watch -the habits of British fishes. There is a noble pike lying as still as a -stone--a model sitter for the photographer who lately took his portrait. -The barbel, bream, dace, and gudgeon are seen going about their daily -duties as though they were at the bottom of the Thames, instead of -sandwiched between two panes of glass, and inspected on either side by -curious eyes. Those who go early in the morning will have a chance of -seeing the lampreys hanging like leeches from the glass by their circular -mouths, and breathing by the seven holes which run beside their pectoral -fins. The marine fish should also be studied; strange forms with -vicious-looking jaws, the dog-fish for example, which is a young fry as -yet, but which will grow a yard or two in length. - -At the east end of the building the alligators' pool discovers here and -there a floating reptile's head, the outline of which reminds us of the -hippopotamus. In both cases the habit of resting in the water with the -head and body almost entirely submerged necessitates a raised form of the -nostril and eyesocket, in order to allow the animal to see and breathe. A -similar formation of the face is observable in the wart hog (in another -portion of the gardens), which wallows up to its eyes in slush and mire. -The alligators have the tank to themselves, with the exception of a -couple of turtles, which are too hard nuts for even them to crack. - -The council has only established the aquarium a few years, and already it -is well stocked with specimens of British zoophytes and annelides, for the -most part dredged from the neighbourhood of Weymouth. If these are so -beautiful, what must be the wonders of the deep sea in tropical climates? -Who knows what strange things a bold adventurer might pick up who, like -Schiller's diver, would penetrate the horrid depths of the whirlpool, not -for the jewelled cup of the monarch, but for the hidden living treasures -nature has planted there? Doubtless, among the rusty anchors and -weed-clung ribs of long-lost armadas, there nestle gigantic zoophytes and -enormous starfish, which would make the fortune of the Gardens in a single -season. At all events, we hope to see the aquarium greatly extended, as it -will afford the means of studying a department of natural history of which -we have hitherto been almost wholly in the dark. - -If we pursue our walk down the broad path which skirts the paddocks -enclosing the deer and llamas, we cannot help being struck with the fact -that the finest half of the gardens--that which is open to the setting -sun--is not yet built on, whilst the more exposed portion is -inconveniently crowded. The reason is, that the Commissioners of the Woods -and Forests will not allow any permanent buildings to be erected on these -parts, for what cause we cannot tell. We trust the prohibition will be -withdrawn, and that we shall see constructed here an enclosed -exercising-ground for the poor confined inhabitants of the terrace-dens. -At the northern extremity of the path we have been following we come upon -the paddock and pool dedicated to cranes and storks. What spectre birds -have we got among? See yonder, on the very edge of the pool, the gaunt -adjutant, his head muffled up in his shoulders, looking like some -traveller attempting to keep his nose warm in the east wind. They say -every man has his likeness among the lower animals, and we have seen -plenty of adjutants waiting on a winter's night for the last omnibus. What -an elegant gentleman seems the Stanley crane beside him! There is as much -difference between the two as between a young guardsman in full dress at -the opera and the night cabman huddled up in the multitudinous capes of -his great-coat. A third claimant for our admiration steps forward like a -dancing-master, now bending low, now with the aid of his wings lifting -himself on the light fantastic toe, now advancing, now poussetting, and -all the time calling attention to his grotesque but not altogether -inelegant attitudes by a peculiar cry. We defy the gravest spectator to -watch the beautiful crowned crane at his antics without laughing. But we -hear the lady beside us exclaiming, "Is it possible that the Maraboo -feathers which so often gracefully sway in obeisance before the queen, -were ever portions of such ugly birds as these?" Unlikely as it may seem, -it is verily from these dirty ill-favoured looking Maraboo storks that -this fashionable plumage is procured. Close by, sitting upon a stone, we -see the melancholy-looking heron, and the audacious sparrows hop within a -foot of his legs, so inanimate he seems. Ah! it is the vile deceit of the -bird: in an instant he has stricken the intruder with his bill, and the -next the sparrow has disappeared down his throat. That elegant grey crane -is the "native companion" from Australia, so called from his love of -consorting with man in that country. We all know what familiars cranes and -storks are in Holland and the East, where they build on the chimney-pots -without the slightest fear; and we are glad to find that they possess the -same confidence in the savages of the New World. They are handsome birds, -but not richly plumed as the European crane, with his black and white -feathers and full-clustered tail. Once these cranes were common here, when -"England was merrie England;" that is, before windmills and steam-engines -were set to work to rescue many counties from a state of marsh. With -civilization they utterly disappeared from the land, and with civilization -we once more find them amongst us--a sight to gaze at. Not long since the -odd population of this paddock embraced a secretary-bird, whose velvet -breeches, white stockings, and reserved air gave him an official -appearance worthy of Somerset House in the last century. Take care, little -girl, how you feed them; a charge with fixed bayonets is scarcely more -formidable than the rush of sharp long bills through the railings which -immediately follows a display of provisions. - -A few steps take us to the magnificent aviary, 170 feet in length, -constructed in 1851, through the nineteen divisions of which a pure stream -of water is constantly flowing, and the space enclosed by iron netting is -so spacious that the birds have room freely to use their wings. The first -compartment contains two of the rarities of the gardens--the satin -bower-bird and the Tallagulla or brush-turkey. The former, a bird of a -shining blue-black colour, is the only remaining one of three brought to -this country in 1849. Immediately upon their arriving in the gardens they -commenced the construction of one of their bowers or "runs," which, -according to the secretary, has been constantly added to and re-arranged -from that period to the present time. The bower is, perhaps, one of the -most extraordinary things in bird-architecture, as it is constructed not -for the useful purpose of containing the young, but purely as a -playing-place--a decorated ball-room, in fact, wherein the young couple -flirt and make love previous to entering upon connubial life. The bower is -constructed, in the present instance, from the twigs of an old besom, in -the shape of a horse-shoe; or perhaps we should convey a better idea of it -by stating that the sticks are bent into a shape like the ribs of a -man-of-war, the top being open, and the length varying from six to twelve -inches. Against the sides, and at the entrance of the bower, the bird, in -a state of nature, places bright feathers, snail-shells, bleached -bones--anything, in fact, containing colour. When it is remembered that -Australia is the very paradise of parrots and gaudy-plumaged birds, it -will be seen that the little artist cannot lack materials to satisfy his -taste for ornament; nevertheless, we are told he goes for a considerable -distance for some of his decorations. When the structure is completed, he -sits in it to entice the female, fully aware, no doubt, that the fair are -attracted by a handsome establishment. Be that as it may, the couple -speedily commence running in and out of it, with as much sense, and -probably with as much enjoyment, as light-heeled bipeds perform a galop. -The consequence, however, of the male bird being bereft of his -companions, he seems careless of his bower, which is in a most forlorn -condition--a ball-room, in fact, a day after a _fete_. May a new companion -speedily arrive and induce him to put his house once more in order! The -satin bower-bird, like the magpie, is well-known by the natives to be a -terrible thief; and they always search his abode for any object they may -have lost. "I myself," says Mr. Gould, in his account of these birds, -"found at the entrance of one of them a small neatly-worked stone tomahawk -of an inch and a half in length, together with some slips of blue cotton -rags, which the birds had, doubtless, picked up at a deserted encampment -of the natives." - -Scarcely a less interesting bird is the brush-turkey. In appearance it is -very like the common black turkey, but is not quite so large; the -extraordinary manner in which its eggs are hatched constitutes its -singularity. It makes no nest, in the usual acceptation of the term, but -scratches decayed vegetable matter into a pyramid with its feet. It then -carefully dibbles in its eggs at regular intervals, with the small end -downward, and covers them over with the warm fermenting gatherings. The -pair in the gardens, shortly after they were received from Australia, -commenced making one of these hatching-mounds, which, by the time it was -finished, contained upwards of four cart-loads of leaves and other -vegetable matter. After the female had deposited sixteen eggs, each -measuring not less than four inches in length--an enormous size, -considering the bulk of the bird--the male began to keep watch over this -natural Eccaleobion, and every now and then scratched away the rubbish to -inspect them. After six weeks of burial, the eggs, in succession, and -without any warning, gave up their chicks--not feeble, but full-fledged -and strong: an intelligent keeper told us that he had seen one fly up out -of the ground at least five feet high. At night the chicks scraped holes -for themselves, and, lying down therein, were covered over by the old -birds, and thus remained until morning. The extraordinary strength of the -newly-hatched bird is accounted for by the size of the shell, which -contains sufficient nutriment to nourish it until it is lusty. -Unfortunately, all the young but one have perished through various -accidents quite independently of temperature; and the next brood will -probably be reared. As both the flesh and the eggs of these birds are -delicious, the council is anxious to naturalize them among us. In fact, -one of the objects of the gardens, under their enlightened management, is -to make it what Bacon calls in his "Atlantis," "a tryal place for beasts -and fishes." For centuries a system of extermination has been adopted -towards many indigenous animals; the wolf and buzzard have quite -disappeared, and the eagle is fast being swept away even from the -highlands of Scotland--so rapidly, indeed, that Mr. Gordon Cumming is -anxious, we hear, for the formation of a society for the protection of its -eggs. Noxious animals have been replaced by the acclimatization of many of -the foreign fauna, which are either distinguished for their beauty or -valuable for their flesh. This transfer, which adds so much to the -richness of the country, can be vastly accelerated through the agency of -these gardens, which are a kind of "tryal ground" for beasts, as the -fields of some of our rich agriculturists are for foreign roots and -grasses, in which those likely to be of service can be discovered, and -afterwards distributed throughout the land. - -If we may quote the brush-turkeys as instances of birds capable of -affording a new kind of delicate and easily-reared food, the splendid -Impegan pheasants, close at hand, bred here from a pair belonging to her -Majesty, and which endure, in the open air, the rigour of winter, may be -looked upon as "things of beauty," which may be produced among us to charm -the eye. The elands, again, on the north side of the garden, which have -bred so prolifically, and made flesh so rapidly, have been with advantage -turned out into our parks, where their beautiful forms prove as attractive -to the eye as their venison, of the finest quality, do to the taste. - -But we can no longer tarry to speculate further on the riches of this -aviary, which contains rare specimens of birds from all parts of the -world. Passing along the path which takes us by the north entrance, we -reach the pelicans' paddock, in which we see half a dozen of these -ungainly creatures, white and grey, with pouches beneath their bills as -capacious as the bag of a lady's work-table. The visitor may sometimes -have an opportunity of witnessing an explanation of the popular myth that -the old bird feeds its young from the blood of its own breast. This idea -evidently arose from the fact that it can only empty the contents of its -pouch into the mouths of its young by pressing it against its breast, in -the act of doing which the feathers often became insanguined from the -blood of the mangled fish within it. The close observance of birds and -beasts in zoological collections has tended to reduce many fabulous tales -to sober reason. On the other side of the walk may be seen in immature -plumage one of the red flamingoes from South America, which are said to -simulate so closely a regiment of our soldiers, as they stand in rows -fishing beside the banks of rivers; and here, too, are the delicate -rose-colour specimens of the Mediterranean, which are likewise exceedingly -beautiful. Those accustomed to navigate the Red Sea frequently witness -vast flights of these birds passing and re-passing from Arabia to Egypt; -and we are informed by a traveller that on one occasion, when he had a -good opportunity of measuring the column, he convinced himself that it was -upwards of a mile in length! What a splendid spectacle to see the pure -eastern sky barred by this moving streak of brilliant colour! - -But we have not yet explored the north side of the grounds, where the huge -pachydermatous animals are lodged. The difficulty caused by the -carriage-drive running between the two gardens has been vanquished by -means of the tunnel, the ascent from which on the opposite side, flanked -as it is with graceful ferns, is one of the most charming portions of the -grounds on a hot summer's day. If after passing through the subterranean -passage we turn to the right, we come immediately upon the reptile-house. -Unless the visitor selects his time, he will generally find little to -amuse him here. The great snakes have either retired from public life -under their blankets, or lie coiled upon the branches of trees in their -dens. The reptiles are offered food once a week, but will not always feed -at this interval. One huge python fasted the almost incredible time of -twenty-two months, having probably prepared himself for his abstinence by -a splendid gorge. After a fast of seven days, however, the majority of the -serpents regain their appetites. Three o'clock is the feeding-time, and -the reptiles which are on the look-out seem to know full well the errand -of the man who enters with the basket, against the side of which they hear -the fluttering wings of the feathered victims and the short stamp of the -doomed rabbits. The keeper opens the door at the back of the den of the -voluminous serpents on our right--for of these there is no fear,--takes -off their blanket, and drops in upon the clattering pebbles a scampering -rabbit, who hops from side to side, curious to inspect his new habitation; -presently, satisfied, he sits on his haunches and leisurely begins to wash -his face. Silently the rock-snake glides over the stones, uncurling his -huge folds, which, like a cable, seem to move as though by some agency -from without, looks for an instant upon his unconscious victim, and the -next has seized him with his cruel jaws. His constricting folds are -twisted as swiftly as a whip-lash round his shrieking prey, and for ten -minutes the serpent lies still, maintaining his mortal knot until his prey -is dead, when, seizing him by the ears, he draws him through his vice-like -grip, crushing every bone, and elongating the body preparatory to -devouring it. The boa and the rock-snake always swallow their prey head -foremost. How is that fine neck and delicate head to make room for that -bulky rabbit? thinks the spectator. Presently he sees the jaws gape, and -slowly the reptile _draws himself over_, rather than swallows, his prey, -as you draw a stocking upon your leg. The huge lump descends lower and -lower beneath the speckled scales, which seem to stare with distension, -and the monster coils himself up once more to digest his meal in quiet. -Rabbits and pigeons form the food of the pythons in these gardens. While -the smaller birds are preyed upon in the reptile-house, their big -brothers, the storks in the paddock, are reciprocating the law of nature -by eating snakes. As we pass to the opposite side of the serpent-room, -where the venomous kinds are kept, we perceive that a more cautious -arrangement is made for feeding. The door opens at the top instead of at -the sides of their dens, and with good reason; for no sooner does the -keeper remove with a crooked iron rod the blanket from the cobra, than the -reptile springs, with inflated hood, into an S-like attitude, and darts -laterally at his enemy. He seems incapable of striking well any object -above or below his level: watch, for instance, that guinea-pig: again and -again he dashes at it, but misses his aim; now he hits it, but only to -drive the poor frightened creature with a score of flying pebbles before -him: when at last he succeeds in piercing the sides of his victim, tetanic -spasms immediately commence, and it dies convulsed in a few seconds. It is -said by those who have watched venomous snakes, that the manner of dying -exhibited by their stricken prey discloses the nature of the reptile that -inflicted the poisoned wound. It is scarcely necessary to state that the -popular idea that the tongue darts forth the venom is a fallacy. The -poison is contained in glands which lie at the root of the fangs on either -side, and, by the compression of the powerful muscles which make the head -appear so broad and flat, it is forced into the fine tube which runs at -the sides of the fang, and finds its exit near the point by a minute -opening. The cobra at present in the collection, with its skin a glossy -black and yellow, its eye black and angry, its motions agile and graceful, -seems to be the very personification of India. As we watch it when ready -to spring, we suddenly remember that only a film of glass stands between -us and "pure death." But there is nothing to fear: the python, in the -adjoining room, which weighs a hundred and twenty pounds, being incensed -on his first arrival at being removed from his box, darted with all his -force at a spectator. Yet the pane of glass had strength enough to bring -him up, and he fell back so bruised about the head and muzzle by the -collision, that he could not feed well for several months. The cobra that -we see is the same that destroyed its keeper. In a fit of drunkenness, the -man, against express orders, took the reptile out, and, placing its head -inside his waistcoat, allowed it to glide round his body. When it had -emerged from under his clothes from the other side, apparently in good -humour, he squeezed its tail, when it struck him between his eyes; in -twenty minutes his consciousness was gone, and in less than three hours he -was dead. Before we leave this reptile-room, let us peep for a moment into -the little apartment opening from the corner, where, hanging from the -wall, we see all the cast-off dresses of the serpents. If the keeper will -allow us to handle one of them for a moment, we shall see that it is -indeed an entire suit of light-brown colour and of gauzy texture, which -covered not only the body and head, but the very eyeballs of the wearer. - -The Python-house on the other side of the Museum contains two enormous -serpents. The adventures of one of them--the _Python reticulatus_--deserve -to be written: when small enough to be placed in the pocket, he was, with -a companion now no more, taken from Ceylon to Brazil by American sailors; -they were then exhibited in most of the maritime towns of South America, -and were publicly sold for a high price at Callao to the captain of a -ship, who brought them to the gardens, and demanded L600 for the pair; -fully persuaded of their enormous value, he had paid L30 to insure them on -the voyage, and it was not until he had long and painfully cogitated that -he agreed to sell them for L40. We have before referred to the -extraordinary length of time a python has been known to fast without -injury. Their fancies as well as their fastings are rather eccentric. -Every one has heard of the snake which swallowed his blanket, a meal which -ultimately killed him. A python who had lived for years in a friendly -manner with a brother nearly as large as himself, was found one morning -solus. As the cage was secure, the keepers were puzzled to know how the -serpent had escaped: at last it was observed that the remaining inmate had -swollen remarkably during the night, when the horrid fact became plain -enough; the fratricide had succeeded in swallowing the entire person of -his brother; it was his last meal, however, for in some months he died. A -friend informs us that he once saw in these gardens a rat-snake of Ceylon -devour a common _Coluber natrix_. The rat-snake, however, had not taken -the measure of his victim, as by no effort could he dispose of the last -four inches of his tail, which stuck out rather jauntily from the side of -his mouth, with very much the look of a cigar. After a quarter of an hour, -the tail began to exhibit a retrograde motion, and the swallowed snake was -disgorged, nothing the worse for his living sepulchre, with the exception -of the wound made by his partner when first he seized him. The ant-eater, -who lately inhabited the room leading out of the python apartment, has -died of a want of ants. - -As we issue again into the open air, we have before us the whole length of -the avenue, arched with lime-trees, in summer a veritable isle of verdure. -What a charming picture it used to be to see the docile elephant pacing -towards us with ponderous and majestic steps, whilst, in the scarlet -howdha, happy children swayed from side to side as she marched. She, who -was our delight for so many years, died some time since of a storm of -thunder and lightning. Such indeed was what may seem at first the singular -verdict of the medical man who made his _post mortem_. The terror, -however, inspired by the storm appears to have produced some nervous -disease, under which she succumbed. There is a suspicion that the carcase, -five thousand pounds and upwards in weight, which was disposed of to the -nackers, ultimately found its way to the sausage-makers. Do not start, -good reader; elephant's flesh is considered excellent eating by the tribes -of South Africa, and the lion-slayer tells us that the feet are a true -delicacy. He used to eat them as we do Stilton cheese, scooping out the -interior and leaving the rind; he exhibited to his audience some of these -relics, which looked like huge leather fire-buckets. And now we have only -the young animal left, that once sucked his huge mother, to the delight of -the crowd of children, and to the disgust of the rhinoceros, who is the -sworn enemy to all elephants. The little one is growing apace, however, -and has already been promoted to carry the long-deserted howdha. The -rhinoceros, close at hand, is the successor of the fine old fellow -purchased in 1836 for 1,050_l._, the largest sum ever given by the society -for a single animal. The specimen now in the gardens cost only 350_l._ in -1850, so much do these commodities fluctuate in value. His predecessor, -who departed this life full of years, was constantly forced upon his belly -by a pugnacious elephant, who pressed his tusks upon the back of his -neighbour when he came near the palings which separated their inclosures. -This rough treatment appears to have led to his death, as Professor Owen -found, on dissecting the massive brute, which weighed upwards of two tons, -that the seventh rib had been fractured at the bend near the vertebral -end, and had wounded the left lung. - -Not far from the picturesque house built by Decimus Burton, in one of the -cages fronting the office of the superintendent of the gardens, is to be -seen a beaver. The wonderful instinct of this little animal is certainly -not inferior to that of the huge elephant. As yet he has not been placed -in circumstances to enable the public to witness his building capacities; -but it is the intention, we understand, of the Council to give him a -stream of running water and the requisite materials to construct one of -those extraordinary dams for which this animal is so famous. In Canada, -where he used to flourish, the backwoodsmen often came upon hill-sides -completely cleared of good-sized trees by colonies of these little -creatures, who employed the felled timber to construct their dams--dams, -not of a few feet in length, but sometimes of a hundred and fifty feet, -built according to the best engineering formula for resisting the pressure -of water, namely, in an angle with its apex pointed up the stream, and -gradually narrowing from base to summit. In short, Mr. Brunel himself -could not outdo your beaver in his engineering operations. Even in -confinement this sagacious Rodent loves to display his skill, as we may -learn from Mr. Broderip's account of his pet Binney:-- - - "Its building instinct," says that accomplished naturalist, "showed - itself immediately it was let out of its cage, and materials were - placed in its way, and this before it had been a week in its new - quarters. Its strength, even before it was half-grown, was great, it - would drag along a large sweeping-brush, or a warming-pan, grasping - the handle with its teeth, so that the load came over its shoulder, - and advancing in an oblique direction till it arrived at the part - where it wished to place it. The long and large materials were always - taken first; and two of the longest were generally laid crosswise, - with one of the ends of each touching the wall, and their other ends - projecting out into the room. The area caused by the cross-brushes and - the wall he would fill up with hand-brushes, rush baskets, books, - boots, sticks, cloths, dried turf, or anything portable. As the work - grew high, he supported himself on his tail, which propped him up - admirably; and he would often, after laying on one of his building - materials, sit up over against it, appearing to consider his work, or, - as the country people say, 'judge it.' This pause was sometimes - followed by changing the position of the materials, and sometimes they - were left in their place. After he had piled up his materials in one - part of the room (for he generally chose the same place), he proceeded - to wall up the space between the feet of a chest of drawers which - stood at a little distance from it, high enough on its legs to make - the bottom a roof for him, using for this purpose dried turf and - sticks, which he laid very even, and filling up the interstices with - bits of coal, hay, cloth, or anything he could pick up; the last place - he seemed to appropriate for his dwelling, the former work seemed to - be intended for a dam. When he had walled up the space between the - feet of the chest of drawers, he proceeded to carry in sticks, cloths, - hay, cotton, and to make a nest; and when he had done, he would sit up - under the drawers, and comb himself with the nails of his hind feet." - -Well done, Binney! If the beaver in the garden will only work out his -natural instincts as perfectly, we may expect some amusement. Up to a late -period the beaver had become rather a scarce animal, the exigencies of -fashion having nearly exterminated him. When silk hats came in, however, -the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of his race, for the sake of -the fur, gradually slackened, and now he is beginning to increase in his -native retreats,--a singular instance this of the fashions of Paris and -London affecting the very existence of a prolific race of animals in the -New World! In the very next compartment is a hare, who for years played -the tambourine in the streets of the metropolis, but his master, finding -that his performances did not draw, exchanged him at these gardens for a -monkey; and now, whilst he eats his greens in peace, poor Jacko, in a red -cloak and a feathered cap, has probably to earn his daily bread by -mimicking humanity on the top of a barrel-organ. But the hippopotamus -surges into his bath in the inclosure as we pause, and there is a rush of -visitors to see the mighty brute performing his ablutions. He no longer -gives audience to all the fair and fashionable folks of the town. Alas for -the greatness of this world! the soldier-crab and the Esop prawn now draw -better "houses." Whether or no this desertion has embittered his temper, -we cannot say, but he has certainly lost his amiability, notwithstanding -that he still retains the humorous curl-up of the corners of his mouth -which Doyle used to hit off so inimitably. At times, indeed, he is -perfectly furious, and his vast strength has necessitated the -reconstruction of his house on a much stronger plan. Those only who have -seen him rush with extended jaws at the massive oaken door of his -apartment, returning again and again to the charge, and making the solid -beams quiver as though they were only of inch-deal, can understand the -dangerous fits which now and then are exhibited by a creature, who was so -gentle, when he made his _debut_, that he could not go to sleep without -having his Arab keeper's feet to lay his neck upon. This affection for his -nurse has undergone a great change, for, on Hamet's countryman and -coadjutor, Mohammed, making his second appearance with the young female -hippopotamus, Obaysch very nearly killed him in the violence of his rage. -He has a peculiar dislike to the sight of working men, especially if they -are employed in doing any jobs about his apartment. The smith of the -establishment happening one day to be passing along the iron gallery which -runs across one side of his bath, the infuriated animal leapt out of the -water, at least eight feet high, and would speedily have pulled the whole -construction down, had not the man run rapidly out of his sight. We trust -his temper will improve when his young bride in the adjoining room is -presented to him; but she is as yet but a baby behemoth, although growing -fast. The enormously strong iron railings in front of his apartments are -essential to guard against the rushes he sometimes makes at persons he -does not like. Look at that huge mouth, opened playfully to receive -nic-nacs! What is a bun or a biscuit to him? Down that huge throat goes -one hundred pounds weight of provender daily. Surely the dragon of Wantley -had not such a gullet. - -The giraffes in the adjoining apartment have been in the gardens so long -that they are no longer thought a rarity; but it should be remembered that -the four procured in 1835 from Khordofan by the agent of the society were, -like the hippopotamus, the first ever exhibited in Europe since the days -of ancient Rome. Of these only one female now remains; but very many have -been bred in the gardens, and have continued in excellent health. At the -present moment three of their progeny are housed in the apartment we are -entering. The finest, a male, is a noble fellow, standing nearly seventeen -feet high. When he strides out into the inclosure, high up as the trees -are protected by boarding, he yet manages to browse as in his African -forests, and it is then that the visitor sees the full beauty of the -beast, which is lost in the house. The giraffe, in spite of his mild and -melancholy look, which reminds us forcibly of the camel, yet fights -ferociously with his kind at certain seasons of the year. Two males once -battled here so furiously that the horn of one of them was actually driven -into the head of the other. Their method of fighting is very peculiar: -stretching out their fore and hind legs like a rocking-horse, they use -their heads, as a blacksmith would a sledgehammer, and swinging the -vertebral column in a manner calculated, one would think, to break it, -they bring the full force of the horns to bear upon their antagonist's -skull. The blow is severe in the extreme, and every precaution is taken to -prevent these conflicts. - -As we pass along a narrow corridor in which the ostriches are confined, we -reach at length the last inhabitant of the garden, and the most curious -creature, perhaps, which it contains. If the keeper is at hand, he will -open the door of the box in which it lives, and drive out for us the -bewildered-looking apteryx--the highest representative, according to -Professor Owen, of the warm-blooded class of animals that lived in New -Zealand previous to the advent of man. Strange and chaotic-looking as are -most of the living things brought from Australia and the adjacent islands, -this creature is certainly the oddest of the bird class, and is, we -believe, the only one ever seen out of New Zealand. As it vainly runs into -the corners and tries to hide itself from the light of day, we perceive -that it is wingless and tailless; it looks, in short, like a hedgehog -mounted upon the dwarfed yet powerful legs of an ostrich, whilst its long -bill, which seems as though it had been borrowed from a stork, is employed -when the bird leans forward, to support it, just as an old man uses a -stick. This strange creature seems to hold among the feathered bipeds of -Polynesia a parallel position to the New Holland mole (_Ornithorhynchus -paradoxicus_)--which possesses the bill and webbed feet of a duck with the -claws of a land animal--among the quadrupeds. Mr. Gould remarks that -nature affords an appropriate vegetation to each class of animal life. Our -universal mother seems to have matched her Flora to her Fauna in this -portion of the globe; at least, the paradoxical creatures we have -mentioned seem in happy accord with Australian vegetation, where the -stones grow outside the cherries, and the pear-shaped fruits depend from -the branch with their small ends downwards! The apteryx is entirely -nocturnal in its habits, pursuing its prey in the ground by smell rather -than by sight; to enable it to do which, the olfactory openings are placed -near the point of the beak. Thus the bird scents the worm on which it -feeds far below the surface of the ground. We must not regard the apteryx -as an exceptional creature, but rather as the type of a large class of -birds peculiar to the islands of New Zealand, which have been destroyed, -like the dodo in the Mauritius, since the arrival of man. Professor Owen, -long before the apteryx arrived in England, pronounced that a single bone -found in some New Zealand watercourse had belonged to a wingless, tailless -bird that stood at least twelve feet high.[9] This scientific conjecture -has lately been transformed into a certainty by the discovery of a number -of bones, which demonstrate that several species of Moas once roamed among -the fern-clad islands which stud the bright Polynesian ocean. These bones -have been found mixed with those of the apteryx, which thus becomes linked -to a race of mysterious creatures, which, it is supposed, have long passed -away, although a tale is told--an American one, it is true--of an -Englishman having come across a dinornis, whilst out on its nocturnal -rambles, and of his having fled from it with as much terror as though it -had been a griffin of old. - -Our walk through the gardens has only enabled us to take a cursory glance -at a few of the 1,300 mammals, birds, and reptiles at present located -there; but the duty of the zoologist is to dwell minutely on each. To such -these gardens have, for the last twenty-six years, been a very -fountain-head of information. During that time a grand procession of -animal life, savage and wild, has streamed through them, and for the major -part has gone to that "bourne from which no traveller returns." Let us -rank them, and pass them before us:-- - - Quadrumana 1,069 - Carnivora 1,409 - Rodentia 1,025 - Pachydermata 204 - Ruminantia 1,098 - Marsupialia 219 - Reptilia 1,861 - Aves 7,320 - ---making a total of 14,205. Out of this large number many curious animals -have doubtless left no trace; but through the care of the Council, no rare -specimen has died, within these five years at least, without previously -sitting for his portrait. The first part of the valuable collection of -coloured drawings, from the inimitable pencil of Mr. Wolf, accompanied by -a description from the pen of the late Mr. Mitchell, the editor of the -work, is published, under the title of "Zoological Sketches, &c.," and the -others will speedily follow. The work, when completed, will be unique in -the annals of zoology, both for the extreme beauty of the drawings, which -may be said to daguerreotype the subjects in their most characteristic -attitudes, and for the nature of the letterpress, which proves that the -editor has written from the life. - -This splendid collection has been got together by presents, purchase, -breeding, and exchanges. Out of the 14,205 specimens, however, which have -been in the possession of the society, scarcely a tithe were bought. The -Queen, especially, has been most generous in her presents, and the stream -of barbaric offerings in the shape of lions, tigers, leopards, &c., which -is continually flowing from tropical princes to the fair Chief of the -nation, is poured into these gardens. Her Majesty evidently pays no heed -to the superstition once common among the people, that a dynasty was only -safe as long as the lions flourished in the royal fortress. In fact, the -gardens are a convenience to our gracious monarch as well as to her -subjects; for wild animals are awkward things to have in one's back -premises. Neither must we overlook the reproduction which has taken place -in the gardens; to such an extent, indeed, has the stock increased, that -sales to a large amount are annually made. The system of exchanges which -exists between the various British and continental societies helps to -supply the garden with deficient specimens in place of duplicates. Very -rare, and consequently expensive animals, are generally purchased. Thus, -the first rhinoceros cost 1,000_l._; the four giraffes 700_l._, and their -carriage an additional 700_l._ The elephant and calf were bought in 1851 -for 800_l._; and the hippopotamus, although a gift, was not brought home -and housed at less than 1,000_l._--a sum which he more than realized in -the famous Exhibition season, when the receipts were 10,000_l._ above the -previous year. The lion Albert was purchased for 140_l._; a tiger in 1852 -for 200_l._ The value of some of the smaller birds will appear, however, -more startling: thus, the pair of black-necked swans were purchased for -80_l._ (they are now to be seen in the three-island pond); a pair of -crowned pigeons and two maleos, 60_l._; a pair of Victoria pigeons, -35_l._; four mandarin ducks, 70_l._ Most of these rare birds (now in the -great aviary) came from the Knowsley collection, at the sale of which, in -1851, purchases were made to the extent of 985_l._ It would be impossible -from these prices, however, to judge of the present value of the animals. -Take the rhinoceros, for example: the first specimen cost 1,000_l._; the -second, quite as fine a brute, only 350_l._ Lions range again from 40_l._ -to 180_l._, and tigers from 40_l._ to 200_l._ The price is generally ruled -by the state of the wild-beast market, and by the intrinsic rarity of the -creature. A first appearance in Europe, of course, is likely to draw, and -is therefore at the top price; but it is wonderful how demand produces -supply. Let any rare animal bring a crowd to the gardens, and in a -twelvemonth numbers of his brethren will be generally in the market. The -ignorance displayed by some persons as to the value of well-known objects -is something marvellous. We have already spoken of the sea captain who -demanded 600_l._ for a pair of pythons, and at last took 40_l._! On -another occasion, an American offered the society a grisly bear for -2,000_l._, to be delivered in the United States; and, more laughable -still, a moribund walrus, which had been fed for nine weeks on salt pork -and meal, was offered for the trifling sum of 700_l._! - -We could go on multiplying, _ad nauseam_, instances of this kind, but must -conclude the catalogue of absurdities by stating that there is a firm -belief on the part of many persons that it is the Zoological Society which -has proposed the large reward, which every one has heard of, for _the_ -tortoiseshell Tom. "The only one ever known" has been offered accordingly -at the exceedingly low figure of 250_l._ On one occasion a communication -was received from some person of consideration in Thuringia, requesting to -be informed of the amount of the proffered prize, which he was about to -claim. This was shortly followed by a letter from another person, -evidently written in a fury, cautioning the society against giving the -prize to the previous writer, as he was not the breeder of the cat, but -was only trying to buy it for less than its value, "in which he would -never succeed so long as the true breeder lived." To prevent further -applications on the behalf of growers of this unique animal, we may as -well state that tortoiseshell Toms may be had in many quarters. - -We have said that the value of animals depends upon the state of the -wild-beast market. "Wild-beast market!" exclaims the reader; "and where -can that be?" Every one knows that London can furnish anything for money; -and if any lady or gentleman wants lions or tigers, there are dealers in -Ratcliffe Highway and the adjacent parts, who have them on the premises, -and will sell them at five minutes' notice. They "talk as familiarly of -lions as ladies do of puppy dogs;" and a gentleman who purchased a bear of -one of them, lately informed us that the salesman coolly proposed that he -should take him home with him in a cab! We once had occasion to visit the -establishment of one of these dealers, and were shown up a ladder into a -cockloft, where, hearing a bumping, and perceiving a lifting motion in a -trap-door, we inquired the reason, which called forth the dry remark that -it was only three lions at play in a box below. Although these men -generally manage to secure their live stock in a satisfactory manner, yet -accidents will occur in the best-regulated lion-stores. A wild-beast -merchant, for instance, informed us that one night he was awakened by his -wife, who drew his attention to a noise in the back-yard, where he had -placed two lions on the previous evening. On putting his head out of the -window--his room was on the ground-floor--there were the lions loose, and, -with their paws on the window-sill, looking grimly in upon him. A good -whip and a determined air consigned Leo to his cage again without further -trouble. On another occasion this same man, hearing a noise in his back -premises, found to his horror that an elephant, with his pick-lock trunk, -had let out a hyaena and a nylghau from their cages, and was busy undoing -the fastenings of a den full of lions! The same resolute spirit, however, -soon restored order. Amateurs have not always the same courage or -self-possession, and they immediately have recourse to the garden-folks to -get them out of their difficulties, as a housekeeper would send to the -station-house on finding a burglar secreted in his cellar. On one occasion -a gentleman, who had offered a rattlesnake and its young to the gardens at -a high price, sent suddenly to the superintendent to implore immediate -assistance, as the said snake, with half a score venomous offspring, had -escaped from their box and scattered themselves in his nursery. The -possessor, to avoid worse losses, was only too glad to be rid of his -guests at any pecuniary sacrifice. - -We cannot close our survey without touching upon the cost of the -commissariat. The slaughtered beasts appropriated to the carnivora, we -have before stated, cost in the year 1854 no less a sum than 1,367_l._ -19s. 5d. If we go through the other items of food, we shall give some -notion of the expense and the variety of the banquet to which the animals -daily sat down during that year. Thus we see hay figures for 912_l._ 14s.; -corn, seeds, &c., 700_l._ 8s. 8d.; bread, buns, &c. (for the monkeys), -150_l._ 16s. 8d.; eggs, 87_l._ 4s. 1d. (for the ant-eater principally); -milk, 69_l._ 6s. 2d.; mangold-wurzel, carrots, and turnips, 22_l._ 6s.; -dog-biscuit, 135_l._ 19s. 10d. (for the bears and wolves and dogs -chiefly); fish (for the otters, seal, pelicans, &c.), 214_l._ 8s. 8d.; -green tares, 23_l._ 16s. 8d.; rabbits and pigeons (for the snakes), 33_l._ -13s. 2d.; rice and oil-cake, 66_l._ 15s.; sundries, including fruit, -vegetables, grasshoppers, snakes, mealworms, figs, sugar, &c. (for the -birds principally), 157_l._ 1s. 11d.: making a total of 3,942_l._ 8s. 3d.; -a great increase on the food bill of 1853, and which was caused entirely -by the advance of prices. - -The pitch of excellence to which the gardens have arrived has naturally -resulted in drawing the increased attention of the public towards them. We -have only to contrast, for instance, the number of people who entered in -the year 1848--the first in which a more liberal system of management came -into play--with those who passed in in 1854, to see that the establishment -flourishes under the auspices of the new management; for while in the -former year only 142,456 persons passed through the turnstiles, the number -had risen in the latter to 407,676. It is interesting to observe that, -although an increase of full 100 per cent. took place upon the privileged -and ordinary shilling visitors during that interval, yet that the -reduction of the admittance-charge to sixpence on Mondays and holidays was -the main cause of the gradual influx of visitors--the year 1848 showing -only 60,566 admittances of these holiday-folks and working-people, to -196,278 in 1854. Here, then, we have an increase of 135,712 persons, many -of whom were, no doubt, rescued, on those days at least, from the -fascinations of the public-house. With all this flood of life--the greater -portion of it undoubtedly belonging to the labouring-classes,--not the -slightest injury has been done to the gardens. A flower or two may have -been picked, but not by that class of Englishmen who were once thought too -brutal to be allowed access unwatched to any public exhibition. Every year -that passes over our heads proves that such shows as these are splendid -examples of the method of teaching introduced by Bell and Lancaster; that -they furnish instruction of a nature which is never forgotten, and which -refines at the same time that it delights. - - - - -RATS. - - -Boswell relates that the wits who assembled at the house of Sir Joshua -Reynolds to hear Grainger's poem on the "Sugar-cane" read in manuscript, -burst into laughter when, after much pompous blank-verse, a new paragraph -commenced with the invocation-- - - "Now, Muse, let's sing of rats." - -But if a mean topic for the bard, they are an interesting subject to the -naturalist, an anxious one to the agriculturist, and of some importance to -everybody. Though it was no easy matter to throw around them a halo of -poetry, and to elevate them into epic dignity--a difficulty which was -nowise surmounted by calling them, as Grainger subsequently did, "the -whisker'd vermin race"--yet there was nothing with which they had a more -serious practical connection than the "sugar-cane." It was reckoned that -in Jamaica they consumed a twentieth part of the entire crop, and 30,000 -were destroyed in one year in a single plantation. In fact, rats are to -the earth what sparrows are to the air--universally present. Unlike their -feathered analogues, we rarely see them, and consequently have little idea -of the liberality with which they are distributed over every portion of -the habitable globe. They swarm in myriads in the vast network of sewers -under our feet, and by means of our house-drains have free access to our -basements, under which they burrow; in the walls they establish a series -of hidden passages; they rove beneath the floors and the roof, and thus -establish themselves above, below, and beside us. In the remote islands -of the Pacific they equally abound, and are sometimes the only -inhabitants. But we shall not attempt to write the universal history of -the rat. It is enough if we narrate his doings in Great Britain. - -There are in England two kinds of land-rats--the old English black rat, -and the Norwegian or brown rat. According to Mr. Waterton, the black rat -is the native and proper inhabitant of the island; the brown rat not only -an interloper and exterminator, but a Whig rat--a combination which he -thinks perfectly consistent. In his charming essays on Natural History he -says-- - - "Though I am not aware that there are any minutes in the zoological - archives of this country which point out to us the precise time at - which this insatiate and mischievous little brute first appeared among - us, still there is a tradition current in this part of the country - (Yorkshire), that it actually came over in the same ship which - conveyed the new dynasty to these shores. My father, who was of the - first order of field naturalists, was always positive upon this point, - and he maintained firmly that it did accompany the House of Hanover in - its emigration from Germany to England." - -Having thus given the "little brute" a bad name, he pertinaciously hunts -him through the two volumes of his essays; nay, he does more, for, on -account of his Whiggism, he is the only wild animal banished for ever from -Waterton Hall, that happy home for all other fowls of the air and beasts -of the field, against which gamekeepers wage war as vermin. In Carpenter's -edition of Cuvier, however, an account is given of the brown rat, or -Surmulot, which, if true, entirely disposes of this pretty account of his -advent. We are there told that he originally came from Persia, where he -lives in burrows, and that he did not set out on his travels until the -year 1727, when an earthquake induced him to swim the Volga and enter -Europe by way of Astrakan.[10] When once he had set foot in England, he no -doubt treated his weaker brother and predecessor, the black rat, much as -the Stuart dynasty was treated by the house of Hanover. Though the black -rat was not himself an usurper, but rather an emigrant who took possession -of an unoccupied territory, his reign is also said by some to have been -contemporaneous with an earlier change in the royal line of England, for -he is asserted to have come over in the train of the Conqueror. He still -abounds in Normandy, and to this day is known in Wales under the name of -Llyoden Ffancon--the French mouse. - -Rats are no exception to the law which, Wordsworth says, prevails among -"all the creatures of flood and field." - - "The good old rule, - Sufficeth them--the simple plan, - That they should take who have the power, - And they should keep who can." - -But the black rat has kept more than is commonly imagined. Mr. Waterton is -mistaken when he adopts the popular notion that the old English breed -which came in with the Conqueror is almost totally annihilated by his -brown cousin. The first comer has no more been destroyed by the subsequent -invader than the Celt is annihilated by the triumphant Saxon. As we find -the former still holding their ground in Cornwall, Wales, and the -Highlands of Scotland, so we find the black rat flourishing in certain -localities. In the neighbourhood of the Tower, in Whitbread's brewery, and -in the Whitechapel sugar-refineries, he still holds his own, and woe be to -any brown trespasser who ventures into his precincts. The weaker animal -has learnt that union is strength, and, acting in masses, they attack -their powerful foe as fearlessly as a flight of swallows does a hawk; but -if an equal number of the two breeds are placed together in a cage without -food, the chances are that all the black rats will have disappeared before -morning, and, even though well fed, the brown Brobdingnags invariably eat -off the long and delicate ears of their little brethren, just as a -gourmand, after a substantial meal, amuses his appetite with a -wafer-biscuit. - -The rapid spread of the rat is due to the fearlessness with which he will -follow man and his commissariat wherever he goes. Scarcely a ship leaves -a port for a distant voyage but it takes in its complement of rats as -regularly as the passengers, and in this manner the destructive little -animal has not only distributed himself over the entire globe, but, like -an enterprising traveller, continually passes from one country to another. -The colony of four-footed depredators, which ships itself free of expense, -makes, for instance, a voyage to Calcutta, whence many of the body will -again go to sea, and land perhaps at some uninhabited island where the -vessel may have touched for water. In this manner many a hoary old -wanderer has circumnavigated the globe oftener than Captain Cook, and set -his paws on twenty different shores. The rat-catcher to the East-India -Company has often destroyed as many as five hundred in a ship newly -arrived from Calcutta. The genuine ship-rat is a more delicate animal than -the brown rat, and has so strong a resemblance to the old Norman breed, -that we cannot help thinking they are intimately related. The same fine -large ear, sharp nose, long tail, dark fur, and small size, characterize -both, and a like antipathy exists between them and the Norwegian species. -It is by no means uncommon to find distinct colonies of the two kinds in -the same ship--the one confining itself to the stem, the other to the -stern of the vessel. The same arrangement is often adopted in the -warehouses of seaports, the ship's company generally locating themselves -as near the water as possible, and the landsmen in the more inland portion -of the building. - -When rats have once found their way into a ship, they are secure as long -as the cargo is on board, provided they can command the great -necessary--water. If this is well guarded, they will resort to -extraordinary expedients to procure it. In a rainy night they will come on -deck to drink, and will even ascend the rigging to sip the moisture which -lies in the folds of the sails. When reduced to extremities, they will -attack the spirit-casks and get so drunk that they are unable to walk -home. The land-rat will, in like manner, gnaw the metal tubes which in -public-houses lead from the spirit-store to the tap, and is as convivial -on these occasions as his nautical relation. The entire race have a quick -ear for running liquid, and they constantly eat into leaden pipes, and, -much to their astonishment, receive a douche-bath in consequence. It is -without doubt the difficulty of obtaining water which causes them in many -cases to desert the ship the moment she touches the shore. On such -occasions they get, if possible, dry-footed to land, which they generally -accomplish by passing in Indian file along the mooring-rope, though, if no -other passage is provided for them, they will not hesitate to swim. In the -same manner they board ships from the shore, and so well are their -invading habits known to sailors, that it is common upon coming into port -to fill up the hawser holes, or else to run the mooring-cable through a -broom, the projecting twigs of which effectually stop the ingress of these -nautical quadrupeds. Their occupancy of the smaller bird-breeding islands -invariably ends in their driving away the feathered inhabitants, for they -plunder the nests of their eggs, and devour the young. The puffins have in -this way been compelled to relinquish Puffin's Island, off the coast of -Caernarvon. - -The ship-rat must not be confounded with the water-rat, which is an -entirely different species. The latter partakes of the habits of the -beaver, and is somewhat like him in appearance. He possesses the same -bluff head and long fur, in which are buried his diminutive ears. He -dwells in holes in the banks of rivers, which he constructs with a land -and water entrance to provide against destruction by the sudden rising of -the stream. This animal lives entirely upon vegetable food, which he will -now and then seek at some distance inland, and we suspect that to him may -be traced many of the devastations in the fruit and vegetable gardens for -which the poor sparrows get the blame. We have seen water-rats cross a -wide meadow, climb the stalks of the dwarf beans, and, after detaching the -pods with their teeth, shell their contents in the most workmanlike -manner. They will mount vines and feed on the grapes; and a friend informs -us that on one occasion he saw a water-rat go up a ladder which was -resting against a plum-tree, and attack the fruit. If a garden is near the -haunts of water-rats, it is necessary to watch narrowly for the holes -underneath the walls, for they will burrow under the foundation with all -the vigour of sappers and miners. Such is the cunning with which they -drive their shafts, that they will ascend beneath a stack of wood, a heap -of stones, or any other object which will conceal the passage by which -they obtain an entrance. The water-rat is, however, a rare animal compared -with its first-cousin, the common brown or Norway rat, which is likewise, -as Lord Bacon says of the ant, "a shrewd thing in a garden." They select, -according to Cobbett, the prime of the dessert--melons, strawberries, -grapes, and wall-fruit; and though they do but taste of each, it is not, -as he remarks, very pleasant to eat after them. Not many years since they -existed in millions in the drains and sewers of the metropolis. Several -causes have been in operation to diminish their numbers, and in some -quarters of the town almost wholly to extinguish them. In the first place, -the method of flushing the sewers lately adopted is exceedingly fatal to -them. When the sluices are opened, go they must with the rush of waters, -and they may be seen shot out by hundreds from the mouths of the culverts -in the Thames. The fact that rats are worth three shillings a dozen for -sporting purposes proves, however, the most certain means of their -destruction, for it insures their ceaseless pursuit by the great hunter, -man. The underground city of sewers becomes one vast hunting-ground, in -which men regularly gain a livelihood by capturing them. Before entering -the subterraneous world, the associates generally plan what routes they -will take, and at what point they will meet, possibly with the idea of -driving their prey towards a central spot. They go in couples, each man -carrying a lighted candle with a tin reflector, a bag, a sieve, and a -spade; the spade and sieve being used for examining any deposit which -promises to contain some article of value. The moment the rat sees the -light, he runs along the sides of the drain just above the line of the -sewage water; the men follow, and speedily overtake the winded animal, -which no sooner finds his pursuers gaining upon him, than he sets up a -shrill squeak, in the midst of which he is seized with the bare hand -behind the ears, and deposited in the bag. In this manner a dozen will -sometimes be captured in as many minutes. When driven to bay at the end -of a blind sewer, they will often fly at the boots of their pursuers in a -most determined manner. - -The favourite stronghold of the rat is that portion of the house-drain -which opens at right angles into the main sewer. Here he sits like a -sentinel, and in security watches with his keen but astonished eyes the -extraordinary apparition running with a light. It is a remarkable fact -that most untrapped house-drains are inhabited by their own particular -rats, and woe be to the intruder who ventures to interfere with those in -possession. The rat as well as the cat may thus be classed among the -domestic animals of the household, who acts as a kind of preventive puss -in keeping out the whole underground community of vermin, which otherwise -would have the run of our basements. - -These vermin congregate thickest in the neighbourhood of slaughter-houses, -or, in other words, where food is most plentiful. They are frequently -found sitting in clusters on the ledge formed by the invert of the sewers. -As the scavengers of drains, they undoubtedly do good service, but it is a -poor set-off for the mischief they perpetrate in destroying the brickwork -of the sewers--burrowing in every direction, and thus constructing lateral -cesspools, the contents of which permeate the ground and filter into the -wells. In making these excavations, moreover, they invariably transfer the -earth to the main sewers, and form obstructions to the flow. The -accumulations of their paw-work have regularly to be removed in small -trucks constructed for the purpose, and if this precaution were not taken, -they would in a few years entirely destroy the vast system of subterranean -culverts which have been laboriously constructed at the expense of -millions. The pipe-drains with smooth barrels, which the rat's tooth -cannot touch, alone baffle him; indeed, the rapid flow of water in their -narrow channel prevents his even retaining his footing in them. In revenge -for thus being circumvented, he has in many cases entirely ruined the -newly-laid channel of pipes by burrowing under them, and causing them to -dip and open at the joints. - -In France the sewer authorities hold an annual hunting-match, on which -occasion there is a grand capture of rats; these animals are not destined -to afford sport to the "fancy" under the tender manipulations of a dog -"Billy;" on the contrary, our neighbours have too much respect for the -integrity of his hide. We are informed that they have established a -company in Paris, upon the Hudson's Bay principle, to buy up all the rats -of the country for the sake of their skin. The soft nap of the fur when -dressed is of the most beautiful texture, far exceeding in delicacy that -of the beaver, and the hatters consequently use it as a substitute. The -hide is employed to make the thumbs of the best gloves, its elasticity and -texture rendering it preferable to kid. - -Parent Duchatelet collected several particulars of the rats which in his -day frequented the knackers' yards at Montfaucon. Attracted by the -abundance of animal food, they increased so enormously that the -surrounding inhabitants, hearing that the government intended to remove -these establishments, were seized with apprehension lest the vermin, when -deprived of their larder, should spread through the neighbourhood, and, -like a flight of locusts, swallow up everything. The alarmists may even -have feared lest they should meet with a similar fate to that of the -Archbishop of Mayence, who, if old chronicles are to be believed, retired -to a tower in one of the isles of the Rhine to escape being devoured by a -host of these creatures whose appetites were set upon him, and who, -pertinaciously pursuing him to his retreat, succeeded in eating him up at -last. The report of the Commission instituted to inquire into the -circumstances of the Montfaucon case, showed that the apprehensions of -serious damage were by no means unfounded. - - "If the carcases of dead horses be thrown during the day in a corner, - the next morning they will be found stripped of their flesh. An old - proprietor of one of the slaughter-houses had a certain space of - ground entirely surrounded by walls, with holes only large enough for - the ingress and egress of rats. Within this inclosure he left the - carcases of two or three horses; and when night came, he went quietly - with his workmen, stopped up the holes, and then entered into the - inclosure, with a stick in one hand and a lighted torch in the other. - The animals covered the ground so thickly that a blow struck anywhere - did execution. By repeating the process after intervals of a few - days, he killed 16,050 rats in the space of one month, and 2,650 in a - single night. They have burrowed under all the walls and buildings in - the neighbourhood; and it is only by such precautions as putting - broken glass bottles round the foundation of a house attached to the - establishment, that the proprietor is able to preserve it. All the - neighbouring fields are excavated by them; and it is not unusual for - the earth to give way and leave these subterraneous works exposed. In - severe frost, when it becomes impossible to cut up the bodies of the - horses, and when the fragments of flesh are almost too hard for the - rats to feed upon, they enter the body and devour the flesh from the - inside, so that, when the thaw comes, the workmen find nothing below - the skin but a skeleton, better cleared of its flesh than if it had - been done by the most skilful operator. Their ferocity, as well as - their voracity, surpasses anything that can be imagined. M. Majendie - placed a dozen rats in a box in order to try some experiments; when he - reached home and opened the box, there were but three remaining; these - had devoured the rest, and had only left their bones and tails." - -We have been informed that these rats regularly marched in troops in -search of water in the dusk of the evening, and that they have often been -met in single file stealing beside the walls that lined the road to their -drinking-place. As the pavement in Paris overhangs the gutters, the rats -take advantage of this covered way to creep in safety from street to -street. Their migratory habits are well known, and every neighbourhood has -its tale of their travels. Mr. Jesse relates an anecdote, communicated to -him by a Sussex clergyman, which tends to prove that the old English rat -at least shows a consideration and care for its elders on the march which -is worthy of human philanthropy. "Walking out in some meadows one evening, -he observed a great number of rats migrating from one place to another. He -stood perfectly still, and the whole assemblage passed close to him. His -astonishment, however, was great when he saw amongst the number an old -blind rat, which held a piece of stick at one end in its mouth, while -another had hold of the other end of it, and thus conducted its blind -companion." A kindred circumstance was witnessed in 1757 by Mr. Purdew, a -surgeon's mate on board the _Lancaster_. Lying awake one evening in his -berth, he saw a rat enter, look cautiously round, and retire. He soon -returned leading a second rat, who appeared to be blind, by the ear. A -third rat joined them shortly afterwards, and assisted the original -conductor in picking up fragments of biscuit and placing them before their -infirm parent, as the blind old patriarch was supposed to be. It is only -when tormented by hunger that they appear to lose their fellow-feeling and -to prey upon one another. - -The sagacity of the rat in the pursuit of food is so great, that we almost -wonder at the small amount of its cerebral development. Indeed, he is so -cunning, and works occasionally with such human ingenuity, that accounts -which are perfectly correct are sometimes received as mere fables. -Incredible as the story may appear of their removing hens' eggs by one -fellow lying on his back and grasping tightly his ovoid burden with his -fore-paws, whilst his comrades drag him away by the tail, we have no -reason to disbelieve it, knowing as we do that they will carry eggs from -the bottom to the top of a house, lifting them from stair to stair, the -first rat pushing them up on its hind and the second lifting them with its -fore legs. They will extract the cotton from a flask of Florence oil, -dipping in their long tails, and repeating the manoeuvre until they have -consumed every drop. We have found lumps of sugar in deep drawers at a -distance of thirty feet from the place where the petty larceny was -committed: and a friend saw a rat mount a table on which a drum of figs -was placed, and straightway tip it over, scattering its contents on the -floor beneath, where a score of his expectant brethren sat watching for -the windfall. His instinct is no less shown in the selection of suitable -food. He attacks the portion of the elephant's tusks that abounds with -animal oil, in preference to that which contains phosphate of lime; and -the rat-gnawn ivory is selected by the turner as fitted for billiard-balls -and other articles where the qualities of elasticity and transparency are -required. Thus, the tooth-print of this little animal serves as a -distinguishing mark of excellence in a precious material devoted to the -decorative arts. The rat does not confine himself to inert substances: -when he is hard pressed for food, he will attack anything weaker than -himself. Frogs, Goldsmith says, had been introduced into Ireland some -considerable time before the brown rat, and had multiplied abundantly, but -they were pursued in their marshes by this indefatigable hunter, and eaten -clean from off the Emerald Isle. He does not scruple to assault domestic -poultry; though a rat which attempted to capture the chicken of a -game-fowl was killed by the mother with beak and spur in the course of -twelve minutes. The hen seized it by the neck, shook it violently, put out -an eye, and plainly showed that the fowl in a conflict would be the more -powerful of the two, if he was only equally daring. The number of young -ducks which the rats destroyed in the Zoological Gardens rendered it -necessary to surround the pools with a wire rat-fencing, which half-way up -has a pipe of wirework, the circle of which is not complete by several -inches in the under part, and the rat, unable to crawl along the concave -roof which stops his onward path, is compelled to return discomfited. - -The rats have been for a long time the pests of these gardens, attracted -by the presence of large quantities of food. The grating under one of the -tigers' dens is eaten through by this nimble-toothed burglar, who makes as -light of copper wire as of leaden pipes. Immediately upon the construction -of the new monkey-house, they took possession, and eat through the floors -in every direction to get at poor Jacko's bread. Vigorous measures were -taken to exclude them; the floors were filled in with concrete, and the -open roof was ceiled; but they quickly penetrated through the plaster of -the latter, as may be seen by the holes to this day. They burrowed in the -old inclosure of the wombat till the ground was quite rotten; and they -still march about the den of the rhinoceros and scamper over his -impregnable hide. It is only by constantly hunting them with terriers that -they can be kept down; and as many as a hundred in a fortnight are often -despatched, their carcases being handed over to the vultures and eagles. -Many of them seek in the daytime a securer retreat. They have frequently -been seen at evening swimming in companies across the canal to forage in -the gardens through the night, and in the morning they returned to their -permanent quarters by the same route. - -The proprietors of the bonded-wheat warehouses on the banks of the Thames -are forced to take the utmost precautions against the entrance of these -depredators; otherwise, they would troop in myriads from the sewers and -waterside premises, and, as they are undoubtedly in the habit of -communicating among their friends the whereabouts of any extraordinary -supplies, they would go on increasing day by day as the report of the good -news spread through rat-land. To repel their attentions, the wooden floors -and the under parts of the doors of the granaries are lined with -sheet-iron, and the foundations are sometimes set in concrete mixed with -glass--matters too hard for even their teeth to discuss. - -Country rats in the summer take to the fields, and create enormous havoc -among the standing corn. They nibble off the ears of wheat, and carry them -to their runs and burrows, where large stores have been found hoarded up -with all the forethought of the dormouse. Farmers are often puzzled to -account for the presence of rats in wheat stacks which have been placed -upon the most cunningly-contrived stands. The fact is, these animals are -tossed up with the sheaves to the rick, where they increase and multiply -at their leisure, and frequently to such an extent, that a rick, seeming -fair on the outside, is little better than a huge rat-pie. - -The propensity of the rat to gnaw must not be attributed altogether to a -reckless determination to overcome impediments. The never-ceasing action -of his teeth is not a pastime, but a necessity of his existence. The -writer of an interesting paper on rats in _Bentley's Miscellany_ has -explained so clearly the dentistry of the tribe, that we extract his -account:-- - - "The rat has formidable weapons in the shape of four small, long, and - very sharp teeth, two of which are in the upper and two in the lower - jaw. These are formed in the shape of a wedge, and by the following - wonderful provision of nature have always a fine, sharp, cutting edge. - On examining them carefully, we find that the inner part is of a soft, - ivory-like composition, which may be easily worn away, whereas the - outside is composed of a glass-like enamel, which is excessively hard. - The upper teeth work exactly into the under, so that the centres of - the opposed teeth meet exactly in the act of gnawing; the soft part is - thus being perpetually worn away, while the hard part keeps a sharp, - chisel-like edge; at the same time the teeth grow up from the bottom, - so that as they wear away a fresh supply is ready. The consequence of - this arrangement is, that, if one of the teeth be removed, either by - accident or on purpose, the opposed tooth will continue to grow - upwards, and, as there is nothing to grind them away, will project - from the mouth and turn upon itself; or, if it be an under-tooth, it - will even run into the skull above. There is a preparation in the - museum of the Royal College of Surgeons which well illustrates this - fact. It is an incisor tooth of a rat, which, from the cause above - mentioned, has increased its growth upwards to such a degree, that it - has formed a complete circle and a segment of another; the diameter of - it is about large enough to admit a good-sized thumb. It is - accompanied by the following memorandum, addressed by a Spanish priest - to Sir J. Banks, who presented it to the Museum: 'I send you an - extraordinary tooth of a rat. Believe me, it was found in the Nazareth - garden (to which order I belong). I was present when the animal was - killed, and took the tooth; I know not its virtues, nor have the - natives discovered them.'" - -We once saw a newly-killed rat to whom this misfortune had occurred. The -tooth, which was an upper one, had in this case also formed a complete -circle, and the point in winding round had passed through the lip of the -animal. Thus the ceaseless working of the rat's incisors against some hard -substance is necessary to keep them down, and if he did not gnaw for his -subsistence, he would be compelled to gnaw to prevent his jaw being -gradually locked by their rapid development. - -The destructive nature of the rat, the extraordinary manner in which he -multiplies, and his perpetual presence--for where there is a chink that he -can fill, and food for him to eat, there he will be, notwithstanding that -a long line of ancestors have one after another been destroyed on the -spot[11]--necessitates some counteracting influence to keep him within due -bounds. This is done by making him the prey of hunting-animals and -reptiles, beginning with man, and running down the chain of organized life -to the gliding snake. The poor rat, although he doubtless does service as -a scavenger, and must have his use in fulfilling some essential purpose of -creation, finds favour nowhere: every man's hand, nearly every feline paw, -and many birds' beaks are against him. The world thinks of him, as of the -pauper boy in "Oliver Twist,"--"Hit him hard; he ain't a'got no friends." -Dwelling in the midst of alarms, he might be supposed to pass an uneasy -and nervous existence. But it is nothing of the kind. The same Providence -which has furnished him with the teeth suitable to the work they have to -perform, has endowed him with the feelings proper to his lot; and no -animal, if he be watched from a distance, appears more happy and -complacent. In danger he preserves a wonderful presence of mind, and acts -upon the principle that while there is life there is hope. His cunning on -such occasions is often remarkable, and evinces a reasoning power of no -contemptible order:-- - - "A traveller in Ceylon," says Mrs. Lee, in her entertaining "Anecdotes - of Animals," "saw his dogs set upon a rat, and, making them relinquish - it, he took it up by the tail, the dogs leaping after it the whole - time. He carried it into his dining-room, to examine it by the light - of the lamp, during the whole of which period it remained as if it - were dead,--limbs hanging, and not a muscle moving. After five minutes - he threw it among the dogs, who were still in a state of great - excitement, and, to the astonishment of all present, it suddenly - jumped upon its legs, and ran away so fast that it baffled all its - pursuers." - -The sagacity of the rat in eluding danger is not less than his craftiness -in dealing with it when it comes. A gentleman, Mr. Jesse relates, who fed -his own pointers, observed through a hole in the door a number of rats -eating from the trough with his dogs, who did not attempt to molest them. -Resolving to shoot the intruders, he next day put the food, but kept out -the dogs. Not a rat came to taste. He saw them peering from their holes, -but they were too well versed in human nature to venture forth without the -protection of their canine guard. After half an hour the pointers were let -in, when the rats forthwith joined their hosts, and dined with them as -usual. If it comes to the worst, and the rat is driven to bay, he will -fight with admirable resolution. A good-sized sewer-rat has been known to -daunt for a moment the most courageous bull-terrier, advancing towards him -with tail erect, and inflicting wounds of the most desperate nature. The -bite of any rat is severe, and that of a sewer-rat so highly dangerous, -that valuable dogs are rarely allowed by their masters to fight them. The -garbage on which they live poisons their teeth, and renders the wounds -they make deadly. Even with his great natural enemy and superior, the -ferret, he will sometimes get the advantage by his steady bravery and the -superiority of his tactics. Mr. Jesse describes an encounter of the kind, -the circumstances of which were related to him by a medical gentleman at -Kingston:-- - - "Being greatly surprised that the ferret, an animal of such slow - locomotive powers, should be so destructive to the rat tribe, he - determined to bring both these animals fairly into the arena, in order - to judge of their respective powers; and having selected a fine large - and full-grown male rat and also an equally strong buck ferret, which - had been accustomed to hunt rats, my friend, accompanied by his son, - turned these two animals loose in a room without furniture, in which - there was but one window. Immediately upon being liberated, the rat - ran round the room as if searching for an exit. Not finding any means - of escape, he uttered a piercing shriek, and with the most prompt - decision took up his station directly under the light, thus gaining - over his adversary (to use the language of other duellists) _the - advantage of the sun_. The ferret now erected his head, sniffed about, - and began fearlessly to push his way towards the spot where the scent - of his game was strongest, facing the light in full front, and - preparing himself with avidity to seize upon his prey. No sooner, - however, had he approached within two feet of his watchful foe, than - the rat, again uttering a loud cry, rushed at him with violence, and - inflicted a severe wound on the head and neck, which was soon shown by - the blood which flowed from it; the ferret seemed astonished at the - attack, and retreated with evident discomfiture; while the rat, - instead of following up the advantage he had gained, instantly - withdrew to his former station under the window. The ferret soon - recovered the shock he had sustained, and, erecting his head, once - more took the field. This second rencontre was in all its progress and - results an exact repetition of the former--with this exception, that, - on the rush of the rat to the conflict, the ferret appeared more - collected, and evidently showed an inclination to get a firm hold of - his enemy; the strength of the rat, however, was very great, and he - again succeeded not only in avoiding the deadly embrace of the ferret, - but also in inflicting another severe wound on his neck and head. The - rat a second time returned to his retreat under the window, and the - ferret seemed less anxious to renew the conflict. These attacks were - resumed at intervals for nearly two hours, all ending in the failure - of the ferret, who was evidently fighting to a disadvantage from the - light falling full on his eye whenever he approached the rat, who - wisely kept his ground and never for a moment lost sight of the - advantage he had gained. In order to prove whether the choice of this - position depended upon accident, my friend managed to dislodge the - rat, and took his own station under the window; but the moment the - ferret attempted to make his approach, the rat, evidently aware of the - advantage he had lost, endeavoured to creep between my friend's legs, - thus losing his natural fear of man under the danger which awaited him - from his more deadly foe." - -Driven from his defensive position, the rat continued his attacks, but -with an evident loss of courage, and the ferret ultimately came to the -death-grapple with his crafty antagonist. A similar battle was witnessed -by a friend, with the difference that the rat, being undisturbed in his -advantageous position with regard to the light, finally beat off the -ferret, which was absolutely bitten into shreds over the head and muzzle. -The repetition of the same conduct by a second animal shows that this -particular species of cunning is a general faculty of the tribe. The main -superiority of the ferret is in his retaining his hold when once he has -fastened on his prey, sucking his life's blood the while; whereas the rat -fights by a succession of single bites, which wound but do not destroy. -The snake prevails by his venom. Mrs. Lee relates the particulars of a -combat in Africa, in which rat and snake repeatedly closed and bit at one -another, separating after each assault, and gathering up strength for a -fresh attack. At length the rat fell, foamed at the mouth, swelled to a -great size, and died in a few minutes.[12] - -If he can be savage when self-protection requires, he also has his softer -moments, in which he shows confidence in man almost as strong as that -exhibited by the dog or cat. An old blind rat, on whose head the snows of -many winters had gathered, was in the habit of sitting beside our own -kitchen fire, with all the comfortable look of his enemy, the cat; and -such a favourite had he become with the servants, that he was never -allowed to be disturbed. He unhappily fell a victim to the sudden spring -of a strange cat. A close observation of these animals entirely conquers -the antipathy which is entertained towards them. Their sharp and handsome -heads, their bright eyes, their intelligent look, their sleek skins, are -the very reverse of repulsive; and there is positive attraction in the -beautiful manner in which they sit licking their paws and washing their -faces--an occupation in which they pass a considerable portion of their -time. The writer on rats in _Bentley's Miscellany_ relates an anecdote of -a tame rat, which shows that he is capable of serving his master as well -as of passing a passive existence under his protection. The animal -belonged to the driver of a London omnibus, who caught him as he was -removing some hay. He was spared because he had the good luck to be -piebald, became remarkably tame, and grew attached to the children. At -night he exhibited a sense of the enjoyment of security and warmth, by -stretching himself out at full length on the rug before the fire; and on -cold nights, after the fire was extinguished, he would creep into his -master's bed. In the daytime, however, his owner utilized him. At the word -of command, "Come along, Ikey," he would jump into the ample great-coat -pocket, from which he was transferred to the boot of the omnibus. Here his -business was to guard the driver's dinner; and if any person attempted to -make free with it, the rat would fly at them from out the straw. There was -one dish alone of which he was an inefficient protector. He could never -resist plum-pudding; and though he kept off all other intruders, he ate -his fill of it himself. These are by no means extraordinary instances of -the amiable side of rat nature when kindly treated by man, and we could -fill pages with similar relations. But it seems, in addition to his other -merits, that he possesses dramatic genius. We have heard of military -fleas, we have seen Jacko perform his miserable imitation of humanity on -the top of a barrel-organ; but who ever heard of a rat's turn for tragedy? -Nevertheless, a Belgian newspaper not long since published an account of a -theatrical performance by a troop of rats, which gives us a higher idea of -their intellectual nature than anything else which is recorded of them. -This novel company of players were dressed in the garb of men and women, -walked on their hind legs, and mimicked with ludicrous exactness many of -the ordinary stage effects. On one point only were they intractable. Like -the young lady in the fable, who turned to a cat the moment a mouse -appeared, they forgot their parts, their audience, and their manager, at -the sight of the viands which were introduced in the course of the piece; -and, dropping on all-fours, fell to with the native voracity of their -race. The performance was concluded by their hanging in triumph their -enemy the cat, and dancing round her body. - -The rat, as we have said, has many enemies: the weazel, the pole-cat, the -otter, the dog, the cat, and the snake hunt him remorselessly all over the -world. Man, however, is his most relentless and destructive enemy. In some -places he is killed for food, as in China, where dried split rats are sold -as a dainty. The _chiffonniers_ of Paris feed on them without reluctance. -Nor is rat-pie altogether obsolete in our own country. The gipsies -continue to eat such as are caught in stacks and barns, and a -distinguished surgeon of our time frequently had them served up at his -table. They feed chiefly upon grain; and it is merely the repulsive idea -which attaches to this animal under every form that causes it to be -rejected by the same man who esteems the lobster, the crab, and the shrimp -a delicacy, although he knows that they are the scavengers of the sea. -They were not always so nice in the navy. An old captain in her Majesty's -service informs us that on one occasion, when returning from India, the -vessel was infested with rats, which made great ravages among the biscuit. -Jack, to compensate for his lost provisions, had all the spoilers he could -kill, put into pies, and considered them an extraordinary delicacy. At the -siege of Malta, when the French were hard pressed, rats fetched a dollar -apiece; but the famished garrison marked their sense of the excellence of -those which were delicately fed by offering a double price for every one -caught in a granary. Man directs his hostility against the rat, however, -chiefly because he considers him a nuisance; and the gin and poison, cold -iron and the bowl, a dismal alternative, are accordingly presented to him. -With the former he is not so easily caught, and will never enter a trap or -touch a gin in which any of his kind have fretted and rubbed. Poison is a -more effectual method, but it is not always safe. Rats which have been -beguiled into partaking of arsenic instantly make for the water to quench -their intolerable thirst, and, though they usually withdraw from the -house, they may resort in their agony to an in-door cistern, and remain -there to pollute it.[13] The writer who calls himself "Uncle James," and -who, for a reason that will shortly appear, is exceedingly anxious to -impress the public with the belief that the best mode of getting rid of -the rat is to hunt him with terriers, states that a dairy-farmer in -Limerick poisoned his calves and pigs by giving them the skim milk at -which rats had drunk when under the pangs produced by arsenic. One mode of -clearing them out of a house is either to singe the hair of a devoted rat, -or else to dip his hind-quarters into tar, and then turn him loose, when -the whole community will take their leave for a while. But this is only a -temporary expedient, and in the interim the offenders are left to -multiply, and perchance transfer their ravages to another part of the -domain where they are equally mischievous. The same objection applies to -the remedy of pounding the common dog's-tongue, when gathered in full sap, -and laying it in their haunts. They retire only to return. The Germans -turn the rat himself into a police-officer to warn off his burglarious -brethren. Dr. Shaw, in his General Zoology, states that a gentleman who -travelled through Mecklenburg about thirty years ago saw one at a -post-house with a bell about its neck, which the landlord assured him had -frightened away the whole of the "whiskered vermin" which previously -infested the place. Mr. Neele says that at Bangkok, the Siamese capital, -the people are in the habit of keeping tame rats, which walk about the -room, and crawl up the legs of the inmates, who pet them as they would a -dog. They are caught young, and, attaining a monstrous size by good -feeding, take the place of our cats, and entirely free the house of their -own kind. But the most effectual and in the end the cheapest remedy is an -expert rat-catcher. Cunning as an experienced old rat becomes, he is -invariably checkmated when man fairly tries a game of skill with him. The -well-trained professor of the art, who by long habit has grown familiar -with his adversary's haunts and tactics, his hopes and fears, his -partialities and antipathies, will clear out a house or a farmyard, where -a novice would merely catch a few unwary adventurers and put the rest upon -their guard. The majority of the world have, happily for themselves, a -better office, and the regular practitioner might justly address the -amateur in much the same words that the musician employed to Frederick the -Great, when the royal flute-player was expecting to be complimented on his -performance: "It would be a discredit to your Majesty to play as well as -I." - -"Uncle James," however, is of a different opinion. This author considers -that every man should be his own rat-catcher, which he evidently believes -to be the most improving, dignified, and fascinating calling under the -sun, as he considers rats themselves to be the crying evil of the day, -second only in his estimation to the grand injustice of the old corn-law. -Indeed, we cannot see from his own premises how the evil can be second to -any great destructive principle, earthquakes included. He takes a single -pair of rats, and proves satisfactorily that in three years, if -undisturbed, they will have thirteen litters of eight each at a birth, and -that the young will begin littering again when six months old; by this -calculation he increases the original pair at the end of three years to -six hundred and fifty-six thousand eight hundred and eight. Calculating -that ten rats eat as much in one day as a man, which we think is rather -under than over the fact, the consumption of these rats would be equal "to -that of sixty-four thousand six hundred and eight men the year round, and -leave eight rats in the year to spare." Now, if a couple of rats could -occasion such devastation in three years after the original pair marched -out of the ark, how comes it that the descendants of the myriads which -ages ago co-existed among us have not eaten up the earth and the fullness -thereof? Uncle James conveniently forgets that animals do not multiply -according to arithmetical progression, but simply in proportion to the -food provided for them. He must not, however, be expected to be wiser than -Malthus on the subject of animal reproduction, and he has the additional -incentive to error, that he evidently paints up his horrors for an artful -purpose. There can be no sort of doubt that he has several well-bred -terriers to dispose of, and hence the following panacea for all the evils -which afflict society. - - "A dog, to be of sound service, ought to be of six to thirteen pounds - weight; over that they become too unwieldy. I would also recommend, - above all others, the London rat-killing terrier: he is as hard as - steel, courageous as a lion, and as handsome as a racehorse!--[Uncle - James is a Londoner, of course.] Let the farmers in each parish meet - and pass resolutions calling upon their representatives in parliament - to take the tax off rat-killing dogs. Let them devise plans for - procuring some well-bred terriers and ferrets, and spread the young - ones about among their men. Let there be a reward offered of so much - per head for dead rats, and let there be one person in each parish - appointed to pay for the same. Rats are valuable for manure; let there - be a pit in each locality, and let this man stick up an announcement - every week, in some conspicuous place, as to the number of rats - killed, and by whom. Then, what will be the result? Why, a spirit of - emulation will rise up among the villagers, and they will be - ransacking every hole and corner for rats. _Thus will a tone of - cheerful enterprise, activity, and pleasantry come in among them_, - 'with a fund of conversation;' and instead of that crawling, dogged - monotony which characterizes their general gait and manner, they will - meet their employers and go to their labour with joyous steps and - smiling countenances." - -The coming man, so long expected, is it seems the rat-catcher. Here is -manure multiplied, agriculture improved, food husbanded, a smiling, -enlightened, and conversible peasantry--and all the result of -rat-catching. But a difficulty has been overlooked. When the entire -population is converted into rat-catchers, rats must shortly, like the -dodo, be extinct. For a while we shall become an exporting country, but -this resource must fail us at last, and England's glory will expire with -its rats. Then once more we shall have a sullen, silent, discontented -peasantry; "their fund of conversation" will be exhausted, or at best the -villagers will be reduced to talk with a sigh of the golden age, never to -be renewed, when the country enjoyed the unspeakable blessing of -rat-catching. In short, we fear that Uncle James has been so exclusively -devoted to the science of rat-catching, that he has neglected to cultivate -the inferior art of reasoning; but, interested as we suspect it to be, we -join in his commendation of the virtues of the terrier. The expedition -with which a clever dog will put his victims out of their misery is such -that a terrier not four pounds in weight has killed four hundred rats -within two hours. By this we may estimate the destruction dealt to the -race by that nimble animal, "hard as steel, courageous as a lion, and -handsome as a race-horse." A custom has sprung up within the last twenty -years of watching these dogs worry rats in a pit, and there are private -arenas of the kind where our fair countrywomen, leaning over the cushioned -circle, will witness with admiration the cleverness of their husbands' or -brothers' terriers. "Uncle James" might commend their taste, and think the -sport calculated to furnish them with "a fund of conversation, and a -spirit of cheerful enterprise and pleasantry;" but except the fact had -proved it to be otherwise, we should have supposed that there was not an -educated man in Great Britain who would not have been shocked at this -novel propensity of English ladies. - - - - -LUNATIC ASYLUMS. - - -Horace Walpole, whose pen has graven so deeply the social characteristics -of his age, in describing to his friend Mann the terrors excited by the -Lord George Gordon mob, says "they threaten to let the lions out of the -Tower, and the madmen out of Bedlam." In this short sentence we have a -clear view of the opinion which our forefathers entertained of -lunatics--an opinion which the pictures of Hogarth's Madhouse Cells have -impressed on the popular mind even to this day. And in truth it is not -fifty years since the state of things which now exists only in the -imagination of the ignorant, was both general and approved. The interior -of Bethlehem at that date could furnish pictures more terrible than -Hogarth ever conceived. It is not our purpose, however, to dwell upon -these horrors of former days. Through the instrumentality of the late -Samuel Tuke, of York, Gardner Hill, Charlesworth, Winslow, and Conolly, of -London, the old method of treatment, with its whips, chains, and manacles, -has passed away for ever; and as a true emblem of the revolution which has -taken place, we may mention that some years since a governor, in passing -through the laundry of Bethlehem, perceived a wrist-manacle, which had -been converted by one of the women into a stand for a flat iron! - -In spite of the ameliorations in the condition of the insane, many among -the higher, and nearly all among the lower classes, still look upon the -County Asylum as the Bluebeard's cupboard of the neighbourhood. These -unfounded ideas act as a powerful drawback to the successful treatment of -insanity, for as the vast majority of cures are effected within three -months of the original attack, whatever deters the friends of the patient -from bringing him under regimen at the earliest possible moment, probably -ensures the perpetuation of the disease. We can well imagine the undefined -awe and tribulation of spirit with which the unhappy creatures who are -stricken in mind enter the gates of an abode in which they are supposed to -be given over to a durance worse than death; but so mistaken is the -impression, that the feelings of desperation are almost immediately -succeeded by the inspiriting dawnings of hope. The furious maniac who -arrives at Colney Hatch or Hanwell in a cart, or a hand-barrow, bound with -ropes like a frantic animal, the terror of his friends and himself, is no -sooner within the building which imagination invests with such terrors, -than half his miseries cease. The ropes cut, he stands up once more free -from restraint, kind words are spoken to him, he is soothed by a bath, -and, if still violent, the padded room, which offers no aggravating -mechanical or personal resistance, calms his fury, and sleep, which has so -long been a stranger to him, visits him the first night which he spends in -the dreaded asylum. An old lady--a relapsed patient--whose silver locks -hung dishevelled on her shoulders, was, when we visited Hanwell, waiting -in a cab in a state of the wildest excitement. Immediately she was -admitted, and recognised the faces of the nurses who had formerly been -kind to her, her whole countenance changed. "What, you Burke and you -Thomson again!" she exclaimed, delighted at renewing former friendships; -and settling herself down peaceably in the ward, she appeared as -comfortable as at her own fireside. - -Not only have the old methods of treatment been abandoned, but many -changes have been made to render the houses for the insane less repulsive -to the eye. Thousands of pounds have been spent in replacing the -dungeon-like apertures (often without glass) with light-framed windows, -undarkened by dismal bars; the gratings have been removed from the -fireplaces; and that all the other associations may be in harmony with the -improved appearance of the building, the harsh title of keeper has given -place to that of attendant, and the madhouse has become the asylum. In the -old plan, the entire treatment seemed to consist in secluding the patient -from every sight which renders life sweet, and in wrenching him violently -from all the conditions which formerly surrounded him; the new idea is to -bring within the walls as much of the outside world as possible. Here the -artisan finds employment in various handicrafts, the agricultural labourer -renews his commerce with the soil, and the female plies her needle or -pursues her accustomed occupations in the laundry or the kitchen. -Amusement takes its turn, and those who travel by the Great Western train -on winter evenings are surprised to see the lights streaming from the -great hall of Hanwell, and to hear perchance the sounds of music. These -issue from the ball-room of the establishment! In place of the dark -dungeon, the bonds and the blows which once added outward to inward woe, -the inmates are realising the poetic picture of Gray,-- - - "With antic Sport and blue-eyed Pleasures, - Frisking light in frolic measures; - Now pursuing, now retreating, - Now in circling troops they meet: - To brisk notes in cadence beating - Glance their many-twinkling feet." - -Mental aberration is not of necessity the bane of mental enjoyment. There -are many sweets by which its bitterness may be diluted and diminished, -though our ancestors were so ignorant of the fact, as to believe that the -best thing to be done for a mind o'erthrown was to pour vinegar to gall. - -Dr. Conolly, in his lately-published volume on "The Treatment of the -Insane without Mechanical Restraint," looks upon the banishment of the -strait-waistcoat with a just pride, for to him we owe the abolition of the -last mechanical means of coercing temporary violence; but we cannot -participate in his fear that the selfishness and ignorance of human nature -will ever be able to restore the gloomy reign which has at last been -brought to a close. We can no more go back to the days of hobbles and -handcuffs, chains and stripes, than we can go back to the days of the rack -and thumbscrew. We may have, it is true, lamentable exposures, such as -took place at Bethlehem in 1851, but the depth of the public outcry, and -the promptness with which the irregularities were remedied, is of itself -an evidence that general opinion will prove the corrective of occasional -abuses. Nor can we, from a fancied apprehension of the return to obsolete -practices, join in the fanaticism which forbids the use of the -strait-jacket as a means of coercion under all circumstances. There can be -no doubt that the treatment which requires its frequent use is a bad one; -but to deny that there are cases which call for its restraints would be to -deny the evidence of our senses. Mr. Wilkes, the late medical officer to -the Stafford County Lunatic Asylum, and now Commissioner in Lunacy, in -answer to a series of questions issued by the Commissioners on Lunacy upon -the subject, makes the following remarks:-- - - "With every disposition to advocate the disuse of restraint to the - utmost extent, I am compelled to admit that the result of my - experience in this asylum, up to the present time, leads me to the - conclusion that cases may occur in which its temporary employment may - be both necessary and justifiable. Besides the occasional use of some - means of confining the hands when feeding patients by means of the - stomach-pump, a more prolonged use of restraint was necessary in two - cases which occurred some years since. One of these was a man of so - determined a suicidal disposition, that on more than one occasion he - nearly effected his purpose by trying to beat his head and face - against the walls, to throw himself from tables and chairs, and thrust - spoons and other articles down his throat. When first admitted, he was - not suspected of having any suicidal tendency, and for some weeks did - not show any; as a matter of precaution he slept in a padded room, and - one night he so battered his head with a tin vessel that he was found - nearly dead from loss of blood, and his life was subsequently in much - danger from extensive sloughing of the scalp. In this case it was - absolutely necessary to confine the hands to keep any dressings on the - head, and after the wounds had healed, and the confinement of the - hands had been discontinued, he wore a thickly-padded cap for many - months. Several years after this, he bit both his little fingers off; - and though the suicidal disposition has in a great measure subsided, - he is still at times much excited, but does not require any restraint. - The second case was one of acute mania. A powerful young man refused - all food under the impression that it was poisoned, and imagined that - every one who went near him intended to murder him. Every inducement - to get him to take food was in vain, and though a sufficient body of - attendants, under my own inspection, attempted to do what was - necessary for him, he became so much bruised in holding him in his - struggles to assail the attendants, when it was urgently requisite - that food should be administered into the stomach, that I decided upon - confining his hands, and both food and medicine were then readily - administered. The result certainly justified the means employed, as - the excitement subsided, and he soon recovered." - -So much for the experience of the medical attendant of a public asylum; -now let us hear the testimony of Dr. Forbes Winslow, whose experience in -his private asylum, Sussex House, Hammersmith, has been as great perhaps -as that of any man, since he has lived with his family for ten years in -the very midst of his patients, and who is surpassed by no one in his -enlightened and gentle treatment of the insane. - - "Patients," he says, in his Report to the Commissioners, "have often - expressed a wish to be placed under mechanical restraint, should I, in - my judgment, believe that they would, when much excited, commit overt - acts of violence, and be dangerous to themselves and others. In cases - like these, mechanical restraint may for a short period be applied, - not only without detriment, but with positive advantage as a curative - process. Several instances relative of this fact have come under my - observation. I have seen cases where no food or medicine could be - administered without subjecting the patient to restraint. In these - cases, if all idea of cure had been abandoned, and I could have - reconciled it to my conscience to allow the disease to take its - uninterrupted course, and have permitted the patient to exist upon the - minimum amount of nutriment, and take no medicine, all restraint might - easily be dispensed with; but considering the cure of my patient - paramount to every other consideration, I had no hesitation as to the - humane and right mode of procedure." - -In a case which came under our knowledge, a patient imagined that the -text, "If thine eye offend thee pluck it out," was literally intended, -and, after various attempts to comply with the command, he succeeded in -destroying the sight of one orbit. Such instances are rare, but the -medical man should at all times be prepared to meet them, instead of -folding his arms and looking helplessly on whilst the mischief is being -done, through a craven fear of the non-restraint cry. The strait-waistcoat -is certainly liable to great abuse, but less than the padded room, which -may be converted into a cruel means of coercion in the hands of unwatched -attendants. - -There yet remains a vast amount of restraint, which is almost as -irritating, if not so strongly reprobated, as the implements which bind -the limbs of the suicidal or violent. Restraint is only comparative. The -strait-waistcoat is the narrowest zone of confinement, and the padded room -but a little wider. Next to these comes the locked gallery for a class, -then the encircling high wall for the entire lunatic community; and -lastly, that aerial barrier the parole, for those who can be trusted to go -beyond the asylum. The efforts of philanthropists will not, we are -convinced, cease, until all the methods of confinement, down to the -parole, are removed; or at least so disguised as to hinder their present -irritating action upon the inmates. As long as the chief idea in -connection with these establishments is that they are receptacles for the -_detention_ of the insane, so long perhaps the means taken to prevent -flight will obtain; but when they are simply regarded as hospitals for the -cure of mental disease, we shall witness the abandonment of many -arrangements which are as barbarous and ineffectual as the cruelties -practised in the last century. The asylums where the restraint is greatest -are precisely those from which the largest number of patients contrive to -escape; whereas, when restrictions of all kinds are abolished, as at the -insane pauper colony of Gheel, in Belgium, but few persons ever attempt to -get away. - - -In former days the public were admitted to perambulate Bedlam on the -payment of twopence. A writer in the _World_ gives a narrative of a visit -to it in Easter-week, 1753, when he found there a hundred holiday-makers, -who "were suffered unattended to run rioting up and down the wards, making -sport of the miserable inhabitants." Richardson, the novelist, had, a few -years earlier, depicted the scene in the assumed character of a young lady -from the country, describing to her friends the sights of London. - - "I have this afternoon been with my cousins to gratify the odd - curiosity most people have to see Bethlehem, or Bedlam Hospital. A - more affecting scene my eyes never beheld. I had the shock of seeing - the late polite and ingenious Mr. ---- in one of these woful chambers. - No sooner did I put my face to the grate, but he leaped from his bed, - and called me with frightful fervency to come into his room. The - surprise affected me pretty much, and my confusion being observed by a - crowd of strangers, I heard it presently whispered that I was his - sweetheart and the cause of his misfortune. My cousin assured me that - such fancies were frequent upon these occasions; but this accident - drew so many eyes upon me as obliged me soon to quit the place. I was - much at a loss to account for the behaviour of the generality of - people who were looking at these miserable objects. Instead of the - concern I think unavoidable at such a sight, a sort of mirth appeared - on their countenances, and the distempered fancies of the miserable - patients provoked mirth and loud laughter in the unthinking auditors; - and the many hideous roarings and wild motions of others seemed - equally entertaining to them. Nay, so shamefully inhuman were some, - among whom, I am sorry to say it, were several of my own sex, as to - endeavour to provoke the patients into rage to make them sport." - -Supposed to be degraded to the level of beasts, as wild beasts they were -treated. Like them they were shut up in dens littered with straw, -exhibited for money, and made to growl and roar for the diversion of the -spectators who had paid their fee. No wonder that Bedlam should have -become a word of fear; no wonder that in popular estimation the bad odour -of centuries should still cling to its walls, and that the stranger, -tempted by curiosity to pass beneath the shadow of its dome, should enter -with sickening trepidation. But now, instead of the howling madhouse his -imagination may have painted it, he sees prim galleries filled with -orderly persons. Scenes of cheerfulness and content meet the eye of the -visitor as he is conducted along well-lit corridors, from which the bars -and gratings of old have vanished. He stops, surprised and delighted, to -look at the engravings of Landseer's pictures on the walls, or to admire -the busts upon the brackets; he beholds tranquil persons walking around -him, or watches them feeding the birds which abound in the aviaries fitted -up in the depths of the ample windows. Indeed the pet animals, such as -rabbits, squirrels, &c., with the verdant ferneries, render the -convalescent wards of this hospital more cheerful than any we have seen in -similar institutions. At intervals the monotony of the long-drawn -corridors is broken by ample-sized rooms carpeted and furnished like the -better class of dwellings. If we pass along the female side of the -hospital, we find the apartments occupied by a score of busy workers, the -majority of whom appear to be gentlewomen. Every conceivable kind of -needlework is dividing their attention with the young lady who reads aloud -"David Copperfield," or "Dred;" while beside the fire, perhaps, an old -lady with silver locks gives a touch of domesticity to the scene, which we -should little have expected to meet within these walls. In traversing the -male side, instead of the workroom we find a library, in which the -patients, reclining upon the sofas or lolling in arm-chairs round the -fire, beguile the hours with books or the _Illustrated News_. Many a -scholar, the silver chord of whose brain jingles for the moment out of -tune, here finds a congenial atmosphere, and such materials for study as -he often could not obtain out-of-doors; and here many an artist, -clergyman, officer, and broken-down gentleman, meets with social converse, -which the world does not dream could exist in Bedlam.[14] - -No cases of more than twelve months' standing are admitted within the -walls of Bedlam, and only ninety persons termed incurables are allowed to -remain beyond that period. These regulations exclude the idiotic and -epileptic patients, who form such distressing groups in other -establishments, and the interest required to obtain admission into this -amply endowed charity ensures at the same time a much higher class of -inmates. Clergymen, barristers, governesses, literary men, artists, and -military and naval officers make up the staple of the assembly. The -representatives of the lower orders are also present, but the educated -element prevails, and the tone of dress and manners is vastly above that -to be found in the pauper-swarming county asylums. There is a ball on the -first Monday in every month, and the company that gathers in the crystal -chamber at the extreme end of the south wing would not disgrace in -behaviour and appearance any sane and well-bred community. The polka, the -waltz, and the mazurka, performed with grace and ease, declare the social -standing of the assembly; and many a pedestrian who sees the dark -silhouettes of the dancers as they whirl across the light, is astonished -at the festivities of the inmates. In the summer evenings the spacious -courts are crowded with the patients, not gloomily walking between four -dismal walls in which the very air seemed placed under restraint, but -enjoying themselves in the bowling-green or in the skittle alley. The -garden is at hand for those who love the culture of flowers. When we -contrast the condition of the Bethlehem of fifty years ago with the -Bethlehem of to-day, we see at a glance what a gulf has been leaped in -half a century--a gulf on one side of which we see man, like a demon, -torturing his unfortunate fellows, on the other like a ministering angel -carrying out the all-powerful law of love. Can this be the same Bethlehem -where, in 1808, Mr. Westerton, Mr. Calvert, and Mr. Wakefield saw ten -patients in the women's gallery, each fastened by one arm or leg to the -wall, with a length of chain that only allowed them to stand up by their -bench, and dressed in a filthy blanket thrown poncho-like over their -otherwise naked bodies? Can this be the same institution in which poor -Norris, like a fierce hound in a kennel, was favoured with a long chain -that passed through the wall into the next room, and which, while -permitting him a little extra tether, enabled the keeper to haul him up to -the side of the cell when it was necessary to approach him? But this -indulgence did not last, and from the pages of Esquirol we learn the -infernal torture which was finally put upon him. - - "A stout iron ring was riveted round his neck, from which a short - chain passed to a ring made to slide upwards or downwards on an - upright massive iron bar, more than six feet high, inserted into the - wall. Round his body a strong iron bar, about two inches wide, was - riveted; on each side of the bar was a circular projection, which, - being fastened to and enclosing each of his arms, pinioned them close - to his side." - -In this position, in which he could only stand upright or lie upon his -back, he lived for twelve years! But in nothing, perhaps, is the contrast -between the past and the present more apparent than in the two pictures -presented by Dr. Hood, the resident physician, from the case book of the -Bethlehem Hospital, which at once show the difference of treatment and the -different results which attended it. - - "A. F., admitted into the Hospital, February 6, 1808, aged 34. This - woman was born at Derby. At the age of 20 she came to London to seek - for service, but she soon lost her character. The natural violence of - her disposition was increased by her intemperance. She was the most - turbulent of all the females that disturb the night about Fleet - Market, and has been repeatedly flogged at Bridewell for her extreme - violence and disorder. She became at length the horror of the - watchmen, for punishing and imprisonment had no effect in checking her - career. She was known to her companions by the name of 'Ginger.' In - one of her paroxysms of rage she attacked the windows of the Mansion - House, and on her examination before the Lord Mayor, it appeared that - her violent disposition had gradually passed into a state of complete - madness. Under these circumstances she was sent, February 6th, 1808, - to the Hospital, and placed on the curable establishment. At the - expiration of twelve months, her lunacy continuing, she was admitted - on the incurable list. There is no record of the manner in which she - conducted herself during the first year, but it appears _that she was - chained to her bed of straw for eight years without any covering or - apparel_. So long as she continued thus coerced the violence - continued. The last entry is '_coercion still makes her ferocious, but - when left at liberty she is not in the least degree dangerous_.'" - - "M. C., admitted into this Hospital, Sept. 30, 1853, in a state of - violent raging excitement, depending upon acute mania. She had been in - this state three days previous to her admission, and had wandered - about the streets in a comparatively naked state, under the excitement - of religious enthusiasm. She was a powerful, muscular woman; and to - bring her to the Hospital it was necessary to impose upon her the - restraint of a strait-jacket. She screamed violently all the way to - the Hospital, and used the most threatening language, refusing to - listen to anything that was said to her, but when tired of - vociferating, contented herself with kicking and spitting at those - within her reach. On admission, the mechanical restraint was removed; - she was ordered a warm bath, and two grains of the acetate of morphia, - and afterwards placed in a bed in a padded room. She continued noisy - for an hour or two, and then became quieter; but the attendant, who - looked at her every half-hour, always found her sleepless. The - following day she continued tranquil, but when addressed, responded - with an oath. She was ordered one grain and a half of acetate of - morphia. The third day she continued quiet and sullen, but permitted - the nurse to dress her and place her in a chair in the day-room with - the other patients. The following day (the fourth) she continued - tranquil and rational, rather shrinking from conversation; and being a - little feverish, was ordered 'henbane,' with a saline. From that day - she speedily became convalescent, and was discharged cured, November - 11, 1853, having been a patient in the Hospital forty-two days." - -Thus diversely does disordered nature answer to an appeal according to the -spirit in which it is made. There is a reverse, however, to every medal, -and the skeleton cupboards of Bethlehem are the male criminal lunatic -wards. These dens, for we can call them by no softer name, are the only -remaining representatives of old Bedlam. They consist of dismal, arched -corridors, feebly lit at either end by a single window in double irons, -and divided in the middle by gratings more like those which enclose the -fiercer carnivora at the Zoological Gardens than anything we have -elsewhere seen employed for the detention of afflicted humanity. Here -fifty male lunatics are herded together without regard to their previous -social or moral condition. Thus the unfortunate clergyman, the Rev. Hugh -Willoughby, who fired a pistol two years since at the judge at the Central -Criminal Court, is herded with the plebeian perpetrator of some horrible -murder. Side by side with the unfortunate Captain Johnson, of the ship -"Tory," who, in a fit of extraordinary excitement during a mutiny on board -his vessel, cut down some of his crew, but is now perfectly sane, sits -perhaps the ruffian who murdered the warder in cold blood at Coldbath -Fields--a villain brought in mad by a tender-hearted jury who shrunk from -the responsibility of hanging him. Here also poor Dad, the artist, who -killed his father whilst labouring under a sudden paroxysm of insanity, is -obliged to weave his fine fancies on the canvas amidst the most revolting -conversation and the most brutal behaviour. Those who contend that all -criminal lunatics should be treated alike, do not consider the vast -difference between the tone of mind in an abandoned wretch who has lived a -life of villany, and the gentleman who has committed a casual offence. As -the former advances towards sanity the brutal disposition, which early -training in vice and dissipation has engraved upon his nature, comes into -strong relief, whilst the good breeding which is natural to the latter, -and which was but temporarily eclipsed in him, resumes its sway. Nay, -nothing is more certain than that the previous habits and manners of the -lunatic are to a great extent unaffected by his unfortunate malady, even -when it is at its height. The disgrace of thus caging up together the -coarse and the gentle, the virtuous and the abandoned, rests wholly upon -the shoulders of the Home Secretary. The governors of the hospitals, the -medical officers, and the lunacy commissioners, have over and over again -remonstrated against the enormity, and to our national shame have -remonstrated in vain. It is proposed to build a special asylum for all the -state lunatics who are now distributed among county asylums, hospitals, -licensed houses, workhouses and jails, to the number of 591,[15] and it is -a duty which we trust will not be longer delayed. There can be little -doubt that the presence of these crime-tainted individuals is felt deeply -by the innocent lunatics, and that their recovery is retarded by the -indignation excited at their degrading companionship with the outcasts of -society. The erection of a criminal asylum upon a large scale would both -compel a better system of classification, and would necessitate some -solution of the difficult question--What shall be done with criminal -patients who have recovered? One class of cases at least, as Dr. Tyler -Smith has pointed out, leaves no room for doubt. The females who have -committed offences whilst under the influence of the delirium attendant -upon puerperal fever, and who, having recovered, are past the age of -child-bearing, should at once be released. They are no longer liable to a -recurrence of mental aberration, and to keep them incarcerated for life, -is to treat past misfortune as an inexpiable crime. Nothing can be more -cruel, unjust, and motiveless. - -It is proposed to remove Bethlehem Hospital into the country, on the plea -that ground cannot be obtained in sufficient quantity for the use of the -inmates. If by this is meant that agricultural pursuits cannot be carried -on in St. George's Fields, we rejoice in the fact. A sane man, accustomed -to the busy scene of a large town, would be wretched if he was condemned -to pass the remainder of his days amid the silence of the fields, and the -lunatic remains for the most part under the same domination of former -habits. The notion that his faculties are universally disordered, all his -perceptions destroyed, all his tastes obliterated, and all his sympathies -extinct, is one of the grossest errors which can prevail. Nor do the -better class of patients (such as form the inmates of Bethlehem) require -the hard exercise which is necessary for the maintenance of health with an -agricultural pauper. They find far more recreation in strolling through -the streets in the neighbourhood of the asylum, under the care of an -attendant, than in wading through ploughed fields, or in taking a turn at -spade husbandry. To this we must add, that insanity is often a sudden -seizure, that individuals go raving mad in the streets; that, in short, -there are frightful casualties of the mind, as of the body, which require -the instant attention of the mental physician. For this reason alone every -lunatic asylum should no more be removed into the country than every -ordinary hospital. But, apart from this circumstance, we repeat that -Bethlehem, within call of friends and within the hum of the busy world, -glimpses of which can be caught by the patients from the loopholes of -their retreat, and into which they are occasionally allowed to enter, is -far better placed for purposes of cure than in any rural district, however -well supplied with the means of pursuing agricultural labour. At present -all the sights of the metropolis are from time to time enjoyed by the -inmates. "The male patients last year," says Dr. Hood, the resident -physician, "who were not fit to be discharged, were allowed to spend a day -at Kew; another day they went by steamboat to the Nore; and, conducting -themselves well under the charge of careful attendants, visited many -public exhibitions--the National Gallery, the Crystal Palace, Marlborough -House, the Zoological Gardens, Smithfield Cattle-show, &c." Who can doubt -that people accustomed to such sights and sounds would infinitely prefer -them to the delights of walking between hedge-rows, hoeing weeds, or -digging potatoes? Who can doubt that these little excursions of the -wall-bound inmates into the cheerful life of the outside world are a vast -advantage to the slowly-recovering brain, and constitute just that -desirable transitional training necessary to their safe restitution to -unlimited freedom? In fact, under the old system, when convalescent -patients, who had been confined for months in dungeon-like cells, -bristling with bars, were taken to the gates and returned suddenly to -unrestrained liberty, the effect of the contrast was often so great, that -they set off running in a paroxysm of excitement, and were frequently -brought back again in a few days, reduced by a too abrupt release to their -old condition. It would not perhaps be undesirable to add to Bethlehem -some small rural establishment, answering to the _succursales_ of foreign -lunatic asylums; but this should be strictly an appendage, to which -patients should be sent for a short time, for change of air and scene, -just as all the world now and then take a trip to the country to refresh -the wearied eye with the sight of green trees and fields, and to cure that -moral scurvy contracted by perpetually dwelling upon the dismal vistas of -blackened bricks which constitute metropolitan prospects. - -For the fullest development of the prevalent system of treating the insane -we must go to Colney Hatch and Hanwell, the two great lunatic asylums for -the county of Middlesex. The former, situated on the Great Northern -Railway, only six miles from the metropolis, is the largest and perhaps -the most imposing-looking non-metropolitan building of the kind in Europe. -In this establishment, built within the last six years, we may study the -merits and demerits of modern asylums. Containing within its walls a -population, inclusive of officers and attendants, of 1,380 persons, which -is equal to that of our largest villages, and presenting the appearance of -a town, its wards and passages amounting in the aggregate to the length of -six miles, it is here that we shall find the completest system of -organization, and, if we may use the term, of official routine. The -enormous sum of money expended upon Colney Hatch, which has reached -already to L270,000, prepares us for the almost palatial character of its -elevation. Its _facade_, of nearly a third of a mile, is broken at -intervals by Italian campaniles and cupolas; and the whole aspect of the -exterior leads the visitor to expect an interior of commensurate -pretensions. He no sooner crosses the threshold, however, than the scene -changes. As he passes along the corridor, which runs from end to end of -the building, he is oppressed with the gloom; the little light admitted by -the loop-holed windows is absorbed by the inky asphalte paving, and, -coupled with the low vaulting of the ceiling, gives a stifling feeling and -a sense of detention as in a prison. The staircases scarcely equal those -of a workhouse; plaster there is none, and a coat of paint or whitewash -does not even conceal the rugged surface of the brickwork. In the wards a -similar state of things exists: airy and spacious they are, without doubt; -but of human interest they possess nothing. Upwards of a quarter of a -million has been squandered principally upon the exterior of this -building; but not a sixpence can be spared to adorn the walls within with -picture, bust, or even the commonest cottage decoration. This is the vice -which pervades the majority of county asylums lately erected. The visiting -justices doubtless believe that it would be a superfluous and even -mischievous refinement to trouble themselves about pleasing the eye or -amusing the brain of the lunatic; but this is a mighty error, as every -person knows who understands how keenly sensitive are the minds of the -majority of the insane. - - "Stone walls do not a prison make, - Nor iron bars a cage," - -sings the graceful Lovelace; but it should be remembered that the lunatic -has no divine Althea to muse upon in his house of detention, and the -majority of the insane have no healthy wings by which their minds can leap -beyond the dreariness of the present. To divert them from the demon in -possession, all the ingenuity of philanthropy should be employed; but this -truth has been overlooked both here and at Hanwell; and we are lost in -astonishment when we reflect upon the folly of lavishing hundreds of -thousands upon outward ornamentation, whilst the decorations common among -the poorest labourers are denied to the inmates for whom all this expense -has been incurred. There is no more touching sight at Colney Hatch than to -notice the manner in which the female lunatics have endeavoured to -diversify the monotonous appearance of their cell-like sleeping-rooms with -rag dolls, bits of shell, porcelain, or bright cloth placed symmetrically -in the light of the window-sill. The love of ornament seems to dwell with -them when all other mental power is lost; and they strew gay colours about -them with no more sense, but with as much enjoyment, as the bower-bird of -the Zoological Gardens adorns his playing-bower.[16] The prison dress of -the male patients is in keeping with the desolate walls. It is infinitely -depressing, even to the visitor, to see nothing but dull grey garments; -and the lunatics themselves feel degraded by a uniform dedicated to the -gaol-bird. The medical officers of both this asylum and Hanwell are deeply -impressed with its injurious effects, and they have long denounced it. -Happily the system is confined to the men, not, however, from any -benevolent feeling towards the females, but simply because gown-pieces of -the same pattern cannot be procured in sufficient quantities to clothe the -entire community. Among the sane, self-respect is increased by the -possession of decent clothes, and the lunatic is often still more amenable -to their influence. A refractory patient at Colney Hatch was in the habit -of tearing his clothes into shreds. Mr. Tyerman, one of the medical -officers, ordered him to be dressed in a bran-new suit. The poor man, a -tailor by trade, either from a professional appreciation of the value of -his new habiliments, or from being touched by this mark of attention, -respected their integrity, and from that moment rapidly recovered. Before -leaving the asylum he stated that he owed his cure to the good effect -produced upon his mind by being intrusted with this new suit of clothes. -At Hanwell, the patients who destroy their dresses are put into strong -canvas garments, bound round with leather and fastened with padlocks. This -plan is adopted at some other lunatic asylums; but it always looks -repulsive. - -It is only, we believe, in the metropolitan county asylums, which should -be model establishments, that the grey prison dress is retained. In the -majority of county asylums the smock-frock of the district is used, and -the patient moves about undistinguished from the rest of the population by -any repulsive badge. In France and Belgium they manage better still. Dr. -Webster, in his notes on foreign lunatic asylums, published in the -_Psychological Journal of Medicine_, speaks of the bright head-dresses and -vivid shawls used in France, as giving a cheerful appearance to the -assembled inmates. Nothing less could be expected from the known -disposition of a people of whom it has been said, that if any man among -them was thrown naked into the sea, he would rise up clothed from head to -foot with a sword, bag-wig, and ruffles to boot. In the present matter -they have been wiser in their generation than ourselves; and we can -imagine with what surprise they would learn that at Hanwell, the most -celebrated English establishment for the treatment of the insane, patients -are rewarded for good conduct by allowing them to wear a fancy waistcoat. -This fact of itself shows the aversion to the prison garb, and the -necessity of discarding it. But the same visiting committee which inspects -the county gaol governs the asylum, and we regret to say that they allow -the organization of the former to be introduced into the latter. - -In spite of these drawbacks, the progress made within the last twenty -years has been immense. A walk through the wards and workshops of Colney -Hatch will prove that the lunatic is at last treated as though he had -human sympathy and desires, and was capable of behaving in many respects -like a rational being. All large asylums possess an advantage over smaller -ones in their greater ability to classify their inmates. The wards and -corridors of Colney Hatch and Hanwell are so extensive that they may be -likened to different streets inhabited by distinct classes. It is usual to -name the compartments according to the mental condition of the patients -contained in them. Thus in most asylums we have the refractory ward, the -epileptic ward, the paralytic ward, the ward for dirty patients, and the -convalescent ward. At Colney Hatch it is considered better to use numbers -instead, as the patients soon become acquainted with the denomination of -the class to which they belong, and often behave in conformity with it. -Thus the lunatic, finding himself in a refractory ward, will sometimes act -up to the part assigned to him, when he would otherwise be peaceable. The -vice of classification is that it separates the population of an asylum -into so many mental castes, which in some measure prevents that easy -transition from lunacy to sanity, which it is desirable to maintain. In -the choice of difficulties, however, there can be little doubt that these -divisions in lunatic establishments, as at present constructed, present -the most convenient as well as the best means of treating the insane, and -the errors to which it is liable can at all times be obviated by the -careful supervision of the medical officers. - -Nothing strikes the visitor with greater admiration than the care taken of -the paralytic and imbecile patients, who form so large a per-centage of -the inmates of the county asylums. In most cases the sleeping apartments -of these poor creatures at Colney Hatch and Hanwell are padded round -breast-high, in order that they may not damage themselves against the -walls whilst seized with convulsions in bed; and a pillow has been -invented perfectly permeable to the air, on which they can lie with their -faces downward during the paroxysm of a fit, without the risk of -suffocation. In extreme cases even the floor is padded, lest the sufferer -should unconsciously throw himself upon it. The bed-ridden paralytic -reclines upon a water-bed, and is tended night and morning as sedulously -as a helpless babe. The test of the care which prevails in an asylum is to -be found in the condition of the persons who cannot help themselves. Where -trouble begins, negligence begins also, in an ill-regulated establishment. -Nowhere do the alleviations of humanity seem more required than with the -idiots and paralytics. Of all the wards at Colney Hatch, these are the -most depressing. It is impossible to contemplate a room full of creatures -moving about on their seats with a monotonous action like a company of -apes, or when paralyzed in their lower limbs, to see them dragging -themselves like seals along the floor by the aid of their arms, without -being oppressed by the sense of the dreadful condition to which man can be -reduced when the mind is ruined and the nerve-power diseased. It is only -in these wards and the refractory that on ordinary occasions the stranger -would discover that he was among the mentally afflicted. It is reported -that a lady, after she had been shown over a large asylum by the -celebrated Esquirol, inquired, "But where are the mad people?" All the -infinitely finely-shaded stages of lunacy which lie between mental health, -wild fury, and chronic dementia are, in the popular idea, merged in the -raving maniac. Yet it is rare for a casual visitor to witness scenes of -violence in a lunatic asylum. Those who are mischievous are trained to -concentrate their dislike upon the medical officers and attendants rather -than upon their fellow-patients. The matron of Hanwell Asylum, in her -report for 1856, thus speaks of one of the criminal lunatics who belongs -to this refractory class:-- - - "She seldom interferes with any other patient, the officers and - attendants being the special objects of her furious attempts, and her - mode of attack is peculiar; there is not usually anything in her - manner or appearance to indicate mischief, and she has perhaps - previously spoken calmly to the person upon whom--having watched until - she has turned her back; for as long as the face is towards her the - individual is safe--she springs with the quickness and velocity of a - tigress, fastening her hands in the hair, and bringing her victim to - the ground in an instant. If not immediately rescued, the head of the - unfortunate person is dashed repeatedly upon the floor; and it has - been found impossible hitherto to detach the hand of this patient - without a quantity of hair being torn by her from the head of the - sufferer." - -The visiting magistrates are also highly obnoxious to the patients; and -their passage through a ward generally leaves behind it a trail of -excitement which often generates outbreaks that do not subside for some -hours. On the whole, however, it is remarkable how small an amount of -violence is attempted by the insane. In Colney Hatch, with its 1,250 -patients, there are far fewer personal assaults in a year than would take -place in any village containing half the number of inhabitants. Still -precautions are always necessary; and the attendants, from long -observation, are generally forewarned, and, consequently, forearmed. -Special arrangements are made for those persons who have an unusual -tendency to injure themselves or their companions. The suicidally inclined -are always placed at night in dormitories with other patients, an -arrangement which effectually prevents any attempts at self-destruction; -while those who have a propensity to commit homicide are provided with -separate cells. There is at the present moment a person at Colney Hatch -who labours under the delusion that he can only recover his liberty by -killing one of the keepers, and in accordance with this idea he has -already made several attempts on their lives. A lamentable death took -place at Hanwell the year before last, through the neglect on the part of -an attendant to see a homicidal patient properly secured in his apartment -for the night. - - "On the 12th of April, the patients of No. 7 ward (twenty-five in - number) having had their supper, were going to bed at a quarter before - eight o'clock--all of them, being more or less refractory, have a - single bedroom each. The attendant, in seeing them to bed, - inadvertently locked up two (B. and W.) in one room; he stated that, - observing the day-clothing of all outside their doors, he supposed - that the patients were in their rooms, and, therefore, did not take - the precaution to look into them. The room No. 19 was the one usually - occupied by W., a man of exceedingly clean habits, of a mild - expression of countenance, but very violent, prone to strike suddenly - and without provocation any person within reach of him; so frequently - had he done this, that he was not allowed to sit near other patients, - even at meals, but took his food apart from them at a side-table. B., - whose room was No. 10, directly opposite to No. 19, was occasionally - violent, always dirty in his habits, and destructive of clothing. It - is supposed that this man entered No. 19 room by mistake, and that his - presence there excited the homicidal tendency of the other into - action. What is known is, that the night-attendant, when he visited - the ward at half-past ten o'clock, and went as usual to the room No. - 10, found it unoccupied, and the patient's clothes outside the door; - then hearing a noise in the room 19, he opened the door, and saw B. - extended at full length on his back on the floor, naked and quite - dead. W. came out of the room in his shirt immediately the door was - opened, and, pointing to B., said, 'That fellow will not allow me to - sleep.' There was a mark round B.'s neck as if caused by a cord, which - had produced strangulation, and a mark of a severe blow on the top of - the nose, and of a bruise on the chest: the bedclothes were in great - disorder; amongst them were found the shirt and flannel of B.; one - sleeve of the former was twisted like a rope, as if W. had strangled - B. with it." - -The utmost precaution will not always insure safety, for patients -considered quite harmless will now and then commit the most horrible acts. -A black man, a butcher, who had been many years in an American asylum, and -had never shown any violence, one night secreted a knife, and induced -another patient to enter his cell. When his companion had lain down, he -cut his throat, divided him into joints, and arranged the pieces round his -cell as he had been accustomed to arrange his meat in his shop. He then -offered his horrible wares to his fellow-lunatics, carrying such parts as -they desired to those who were chained. The keeper, hearing the uproar, -examined the cells, and found one man missing; upon inquiring of the black -butcher if he had seen him, he calmly replied, "He had sold the last -joint!" Even those who have apparently harmless delusions, will sometimes, -if thwarted, commit unlooked-for atrocities. Not many years since, an -inquisition was held before Mr. Commissioner Winslow upon a young -gentleman who would travel considerable distances to see a windmill, and -sit watching it for days. His friends, to put an end to his absurd -propensity, removed to a place where there were no mills. The youth, to -counteract the design, murdered a child in a wood, mangling his limbs in a -terrible manner, in the hope that he should be transferred, as a -punishment, to a situation whence a mill could be seen. - -Idleness is perhaps a greater curse to the majority of lunatics than to -sane individuals. Occupation diverts the mind from its malady. Colney -Hatch and Hanwell, from their populousness, and from the fact of their -being filled principally by metropolitan lunatics, afford admirable -examples of the new method of employing patients in the trades they have -been accustomed to follow when in health. As the ranges of workshops at -Colney Hatch are the most extensive, we will draw our description from -that establishment. Of the male patients, only 245, out of an average of -514 in the house during the year 1855, were employed in labour at all, the -remainder consisting of violent maniacs and those afflicted with -paralysis, epilepsy, and idiocy, none of whom are capable of undertaking -any work. Sixty-five persons were allotted to the gardens, grounds, and -farms, leaving 180 to be distributed in the workshops and various offices -of the asylum. The tailoring department is the most extensive. Upon the -occasion of our visit, there were at least a score of cross-legged -lunatics cutting out and making up grey dresses for the inmates, or -repairing old clothing, their conduct being in no manner distinguishable -from that of sane journeymen. The shoemakers numbered a dozen, every man -handling his short knife. Those unaccustomed to lunatics will find it a -nervous proceeding to thread their way among so many armed madmen, and -will wish themselves well out of this apparently dangerous assembly. Yet, -in truth, they are no more to be feared than any similar number of lucid -workmen, as the homicidally inclined are carefully excluded. The -carpenters planed away merrily among their chips in an adjoining -apartment, using now and then chisel, gouge, and saw in perfect freedom. -Many excitable patients have been placed in these shops without any bad -result; and even those who are disposed to be mischievous when suspected, -have become quiet when trusted with edge-tools of the most formidable -description. The greater the confidence reposed in the majority of the -insane, the more does it tend to insure good behaviour. Of the other -artificers in different departments, we may mention painters, -upholsterers, bakers, butchers, brewers, and coopers; whilst a still -larger number are employed in the kitchen and dining-hall, or as helpers -in the corridors and wards. The services of all these lunatic artisans and -labourers were valued last year at 1,059_l._ 3_s._ - -As far as possible, the men work at the trades they have previously -followed; but there are many patients whose skilled labour cannot be -utilized in this comparatively confined community; such, for instance, as -rule-makers, jewellers, whale-bone-cutters, coach-painters, gold-beaters, -buhl-cutters, wax-doll makers, and a score of other heterogeneous -craftsmen, who are only to be found in a great metropolis. These persons -engage in the employment most suited to them, and thus many of them leave -the asylum skilled in two trades. Equally efficacious is the occupation on -the farm, which contains seventy-six acres of pasture and arable land, -principally dedicated to the rearing and maintenance of stock. On the 1st -of January, 1856, there were 28 cows, 1 bull, 2 calves, 152 pigs, 40 -sheep, 7 horses, &c. The tending of these animals, the culture of the -fields and of the thirty-one acres of ornamental grounds, the milking the -cows, the slaughtering of the meat, and the production of the butter, -afford varied and healthy employment to the sixty-five agriculturists. -Some persons who never handled a spade before, here set to work cheerfully -and with a will, and a French polisher, a Wesleyan minister, a school -teacher, or a law writer, may be seen digging away at a field of potatoes; -or a ship-carpenter, saddler, cabman, coalheaver, and organ-player, -diligently engaged in filling a manure-cart. They would, it is true, be -better employed in occupations more in accordance with their previous -habits; but these cannot be found for them, and labour of any kind is -preferable to idleness. On the female side of the house industry is -resorted to as a means of cure to a still larger extent. Of the 503 equal -to labour, 270 work as needlewomen, 7 are employed in the kitchen, 72 -wash, iron, and clearstarch in the laundry, 125 help in the wards, and 29 -attend school, and are otherwise engaged. The total value of the female -labour of the house is computed at 500_l._ per annum. - -Colney Hatch is not so extensively embarked in industrial and agricultural -pursuits as the North and East Riding Asylum, where the patients are -received from a mixed manufacturing and agricultural population, and the -produce of their fields and workshops is much greater than could be -extracted from worn-out metropolitan patients. Not only do the lunatics -rear the vegetables, but they take them to the asylum gates and dispose of -them to the public. The result affords a proof of what we hold to be a -settled principle, that chronic cases of insanity are greatly benefited by -as much intercourse as possible with the saner part of the community. - -In accordance with the opinion that pursuits of lunatics should be similar -to their pursuits in former days, the south wing of Haslar Hospital is -devoted to the officers, seamen, and marines of her Majesty's fleet who -are afflicted with insanity. Every window of the building commands a fine -view of Spithead and the Isle of Wight, and here the old Salts can sit and -watch the splendid panorama crowded with vessels, and active with that -nautical life which recalls so many happy associations to their minds. -They form fishing parties, make nets, and go on pleasure excursions in row -and sailing craft. The "madman's boat" of eight oars, manned by patients -and steered by an attendant, is well known to the sailors on the Solent, -and so harmless are they considered, that young ladies often accompany -them on trips to the Isle of Wight, implicitly trusting in their -seamanship and politeness. - -Mental labour, as a means of cure, has not been adopted in England to any -great extent; most asylums have their libraries, in which attentive -readers are always to be found, but the inmates rarely attempt to produce -amusement or instruction for their fellows. There is one signal exception -to this rule in Murray's Royal Asylum at Perth. This establishment, under -the superintendence of Dr. Lauder Lindsay, appears to be the very focus of -intellectual activity. The programme for the winter session of 1856-7 -reads more like the prospectus of the Athenaeum of some large city than the -bill of fare for a lunatic asylum. Famous professors reflect in its -lecture-room the philosophy and science of the outer world, and their -choice of subjects would not be disavowed by the committee of a London -Scientific Institution. - - _Lecturer._ | _Subject._ - 1. PROFESSOR BLACKIE, University| Beauty. - of Edinburgh. | - | - 2. HUGH BARCLAY, Esq., LL.D., | Authenticity of Ossian's Poems. - Sheriff-Substitute of | - Perthshire. | - | - 3. THOMAS MILLER, Esq., LL.D., | Chemical Affinity. - Rector of Perth Academy. | - | - 4. GEORGE LAWSON, Esq., | Vital Phenomena of Vegetation. - Demonstrator of Botanical | - Histology, University of | - Edinburgh. | - | - 5. REV. DR. CROMBIE, of Scone, | Winter: its lessons and associations. - late Moderator of General | - Assembly. | - | - 6. REV. JOHN ANDERSON, Kinnoull.| Sketches from the History of Ancient - | Nations. - | - 7. REV. WM. MURDOCH, Kinnoull. | Education: its aims and uses. - | - 8. DR. BROWNE, Crichton Royal | The Genesis of Thought. - Institution, Dumfries. | - | - 9. DR. FAIRLESS, Crieff. | Electricity: its phenomena and - | applications. - | - 10. DR. STIRLING, Perth. | Natural History of Man. - | - 11. ALEX. CORALL, Esq., Montrose.| Natural History of Zoophytes. - | - 12. THOMAS R. MARSHALL, Esq., | Art: in its applications to common - Edinburgh. | life. - -These scientific and philosophic expositions are attended by all the -better class patients. The paupers have a separate set of lectures and -classes, the major part of which are delivered and conducted by the -inmates themselves. Galvanism, the Blood, Time, Economic Botany, are among -the subjects which the deranged brains of the Perth asylum are contented -to hear elucidated. The activity of the place does not stop here: chamber -concerts, in which the patients perform; grand concerts, in which artists -from without supply the leading stars; and theatrical performances, in -which the different characters are all taken by "resident actors," are -among the resources which were employed to amuse and interest the inmates -during the winter months just past. A pit full of lunatics watching "Box -and Cox" played by their fellows, is a curious subject for contemplation. -Not content with these efforts, they seem to think that they are nothing -unless critical, and accordingly they have set up a journal, in which they -review their own performances. The first number of _Excelsior_ is now -before us, in which we find poetry, news, and criticisms on music, and -contemporary literature; and he who reads with the idea of finding -anything odd in this production, will most certainly be mistaken; for no -one could divine that there was a "bee in the bonnet" of printer, -publisher, and contributor. Balls and conversaziones form the staple of -the lighter recreations of this singular community, whilst the more -athletic games of running, leaping, hurdle-racing, Highland dancing, -putting the stone, footing the bar, and lifting dead weights, are pursued -with such success, that the lunatics boast with pride that they have -beaten some of the prize-holders of the outer world. - -It might be supposed that intellectual striving was not the medicine to -offer to a diseased brain; but we are informed by Dr. Lindsay that in the -vast majority of cases the best results flow from this method of -treatment, and that a large percentage of cures is obtained. Such patients -as would be injured by stimulating their faculties are debarred by the -physician from their undue exercise, and others must be too far gone, or -be too uninformed, to be capable of the pursuit. The surprise that -lunatics should be susceptible of healthy mental exertion, arises from the -common forgetfulness that many understandings are slightly affected, or -are only deranged upon particular points. When Nat Lee was in Bedlam, he -said that it was very difficult to write like a madman, and very easy to -write like a fool. The works of the fools are more voluminous than the -works of the madmen, because there are more fools than lunatics; but those -who are completely mad are so far from experiencing a difficulty in -writing in their own character, that they cannot write in any other. As -many, however, who are not altogether right in their minds, are no more -exclusively insane than people who are not absolutely wise are entirely -foolish, it is easy to see that they may still be equal to much profitable -mental exertion. In these days poor Christopher Smart would not be -deprived of his pen and ink, and compelled to indent his long poem on -"David" with a key on the panels of his cell; nor perhaps would the -following epigram, which a woman in Bedlam wrote on Martin Madan's -argument in favour of polygamy, be handed about as a phenomenon to be -wondered at:-- - - "If John marry Mary, and Mary alone, - It is a good match between Mary and John: - But if John marry more wives, what blows and what scratches! - 'Tis no longer a match, but a bundle of matches." - -In France, and we believe in some other continental countries, it is the -habit to employ lunatic labour in the private farms surrounding the -asylum. This plan was in the olden time pursued in England; but it appears -to have gone out with the ancient system of coercion. When radical -revolutions are accomplished, good ideas sometimes perish with the bad; -and we cannot help thinking that the abandonment of this method of -exercising lunatics was an error, and that a return to the old practice, -under proper regulations, would be of advantage both to employer and -employed. Never must we lose sight of the wisdom of freeing the patient as -much as practicable from the companionship of his fellows, and of placing -him, to the utmost of our power, in the same free condition which he -enjoyed in his days of sanity. - -At Colney Hatch, as at Hanwell, and indeed all other public asylums, the -sexes occupy separate portions of the building, and are only allowed to be -present together on particular occasions. This unnatural arrangement -undoubtedly arose from the introduction into asylums of prison and -workhouse systems of management; for certainly nothing can tend to render -the life of the patient more dreary than to find himself carefully -excluded from the company of the other half of creation. It is stated by -the advocates of separation that the mingling of the sexes among the -insane would be productive of occasional misbehaviour; but nothing could -be more unjust than to deprive the majority of the benefits which would -arise from frequent social reunion, in consequence of the erotic -tendencies of the few. It is with pleasure, therefore, we see the attempts -which are being made to assimilate the intercourse of lunatics to that of -the sane at Hanwell, Colney Hatch, and other asylums. The most interesting -feature of the former establishment is the ball which takes place every -Monday night. Shortly after six o'clock the handsome assembly-room, -brilliantly lit with gas, becomes the central point of attraction to all -the inmates, male and female, who are considered well enough to indulge -their inclinations for festivity. On the occasion of our visit there were -about 200 patients present, together with a few visitors and many of the -attendants. In a raised orchestra five musicians, three of whom were -lunatics, soon struck up a merry polka, and immediately the room was alive -with dancers. In the progress of this amusement we could see nothing -grotesque or odd. Had the men been differently dressed, it would have been -impossible to have guessed that we were in the midst of a company of -lunatics, the mere sweepings of the parish workhouses; but the prison -uniform of sad-coloured grey presented a disadvantageous contrast to the -gayer and more varied costumes at Bethlehem, and appeared like a jarring -note amid the general harmony of the scene. In the corners of the room -whist-players, consisting generally of the older inmates, were seen intent -upon their game; not a word was uttered aloud, not a gesture took place -that would have discredited any similar sane assembly; yet not a patient -was free from some strange hallucination, or some morbid impulse. Among -the merriest dancers in Sir Roger de Coverley was a man who believed -himself to be our Saviour, and who wore in his hair a spike in imitation -of the crown of thorns; and one of the keenest whist-players was an old -lady, who, whilst her partner was dealing, privately assured us she had -been dead these three years, and desired as a favour that we would use our -influence with the surgeon to persuade him to cut off her head. In the -midst of such strange delusions, it was curious to notice how rationally -those who were their dupes enjoy themselves; and it is impossible to deny -that such reunions are eminently calculated to hinder the mind from -morbidly dwelling upon its own unhealthy creations. It is found that the -too prolonged and frequent repetition of the balls somewhat diminishes -their interest--an evil provided against at Hanwell by restricting the -time allotted to them. At nine precisely, although in the midst of a -dance, a shrill note is blown, and the entire assembly, like so many -Cinderellas, breaks up at once, and the company hurry off to their -dormitories. These hebdomadal balls have not yet been introduced at Colney -Hatch. A movement has, however, been made latterly towards a limited -association between the sexes by allowing them to dine together. Of the -500 patients who assemble in the ample dining-hall, 200 are females and -300 males. The scene when the women first made their appearance is -described as something remarkable; the men rose in a body apparently -delighted beyond measure, and the presence of the softer sex has not only -tended to break the former monotony, but to keep the assembly in order and -good humour. Before this happy meeting there were occasional outbreaks of -some of the more excited patients; but now, when any of the men are -inclined to be fractious or discontented, the women turn them into joke, -and they are silenced immediately. As yet the two sexes are not allowed to -sit at the same table, but are located on opposite sides of the room. By -far the better plan would be to seat them on different sides of the long -tables; but as many persons in authority, wanting confidence in human -nature, object to this natural arrangement, the innovators must be -satisfied for the moment with the present imperfect concession. When it -was first proposed to introduce a billiard-table at Bethlehem, the scheme -was rejected by a majority of two-thirds of the governors, on the score -that the players would fight each other with the cues and balls, and -bagatelle, as a kind of half measure, was permitted instead. As the -patients confined the balls to their legitimate purpose, and the mace was -not turned into an offensive weapon, the billiard-table was at last with -reluctance established. The same thing will doubtless happen with respect -to the dining arrangements at Colney Hatch; and before long we trust male -and female lunatics will exchange courtesies across the table instead of -across the room. - -In the chapels of nearly all the larger lunatic asylums the quieter -inmates are accustomed to meet at the daily morning and evening service. -In the spacious chapels of Hanwell and Colney Hatch, the attendance on -week days, as well as on the Sabbath, is far better than can be found -among the same number of people out of doors, 250 on the average attending -on week days, and 500 on Sundays. We do not suppose that the lunatic is -more religious than the sane, but the _ennui_ which, to a certain extent, -still attaches to the asylum renders any form of reunion agreeable; and as -the going to chapel is "something to do," numbers of the inmates obey the -summons who might stay at home if they were at large. The conduct, -nevertheless, of this congregation is most exemplary. "The heartiness," -says the chaplain, in his report for 1856, "with which they join in the -responses and the psalmody is very encouraging, while their quiet, orderly -conduct--the prayer offered up by many on entering chapel, the regularity -with which they all kneel or sit, according to the order of the -service--would, I think, if generally witnessed, put to the blush many of -our parochial congregations." Now and then an epileptic patient will -disturb the chapel by his heavy fall; but as those who are thus afflicted -are located near the doors, the interruption is but momentary. The -chaplain of Colney Hatch has trained twelve male and female patients to -practise church music and psalmody. The choral service is well performed, -and, in conjunction with the organ, has a visible effect in soothing the -wilder patients, and in pleasing all. The sacrament is not denied to those -who are fit to receive it, and no more touching scene can be witnessed -than that which is presented in the chapel, when a score of communicants, -disordered though their minds sometimes be, humbly kneel, and - - "Drain the chalice of the grapes of God." - -The out-of-door games of the insane are very much regulated by the extent -of ground attached to the asylum. Where this is ample, as at Colney Hatch, -cricket is the favourite summer recreation; a skittle-alley, a -bowling-green, and a fives-court, are found in most county asylums. In -America, where women adopt more masculine habits than in England, female -lunatics play matches on the bowling-green; and in France gymnastic -exercises are employed for the exercise of both sexes, and may, we think, -be introduced into the English asylums with advantage. The idiotic -patients and those who are incapable of much exertion may be seen in the -airing courts enjoying the monotonous swinging motion of the machine known -in domestic life under the name of "the nursery yacht," being nothing more -than a rocking-horse with the horse left out by particular desire. In -addition to these means of diverting the minds of the patients, walking -parties, under the superintendence of officers of the establishment, are -made up two or three times a week. During the haymaking season it is -customary to allow the inmates of asylums to which farms are attached to -go forth into the fields to assist with the rake and the pitchfork. This -permission is always looked upon as a great treat, and its effect upon the -patients is of the happiest kind, especially _if the scene of their -temporary labour admits no sight of the asylum and its wearisome walls_. -Here for a few hours they seem to realize the liberty and delight of -younger days. The physician on such occasions may read in their "grateful -eyes" that we are at present arrived only half way on the road of -non-restraint. Individual patients, again, are suffered to leave the -public asylums on a day's visit to their friends, under the care of a -nurse; and some who are nearly convalescent are permitted to go and return -of their own accord. It is the custom of Colney Hatch and Hanwell, and we -believe of most asylums in England, to grant the patients a certain period -of probation among their friends, in order to test their fitness to be -discharged as cured; to give them, in short, mental tickets-of-leave. This -is an admirable plan, inasmuch as it secures to the patient the full -enjoyment of liberty, at the same time that it enables him to keep himself -well in hand, knowing that, as he is not unconditionally released, an -immediate recall to the asylum would follow any sign of returning -irrationality. - -The dietary in public asylums is ample, and the quality excellent. Hanwell -may, perhaps, be considered the model establishment in this respect. It is -the joke of the other asylums, that one man has been regaled there daily -for years with chicken and wine. Even the fancies of the patients are now -and then gratified at some expense. There is an old lady in Hanwell who -believes that the whole establishment is her private property; and, on one -occasion, she complained to the medical superintendent that, -notwithstanding all the expense she was at to keep up the grounds and -forcing-houses, she never could get any grapes. The next day she was -presented with a bunch, which had been purchased to appease her repinings. -This humouring method of treatment, as it is called in other asylums, is -much patronized by the matron, a person who seems to enjoy as much power -as the medical officers. In her report for 1856 she thus speaks of a -patient who died in the course of last year:-- - - "She had been employed many years in the laundry, and always imagined - she was to be removed elsewhere--that on Monday morning a waggon would - call at the gate for herself and her property. Accordingly, every - Monday morning throughout the year, at 10 o'clock, she was accompanied - to the gate, dressed with a coloured handkerchief pinned fancifully - over her cap instead of a bonnet, and carrying a small parcel (_her - property_) of the most heterogeneous contents--thimbles, ends of tape, - polished bones, pebbles, pieces of smooth coal, &c. The waggon was - never found to be in waiting, and Mary, without evincing any - disappointment, walked cheerfully back to the laundry, telling the - superintendent that 'The waggon would be sure to come next Monday, but - that she need not lose time, so she would work all this week.'" - -In many asylums this method of treatment is thought calculated to feed the -original delusion; but here, again, the judgment of the physician ought -alone to determine the course to be taken in each individual case. In -patients labouring under violent excitement, to oppose an hallucination, -however absurd, would add fuel to the fire. Again, in a chronic case like -that of the laundry-maid, the harmless fancy of the poor creature might -not only be indulged in with impunity, but served to renew week by week -her stock of cheerfulness. - -The lunatic colony of Gheel, situated twelve miles south of Turnhont, in -Belgium, amid a vast uncultivated plateau consisting of heath and sand, -called the Campine, affords an extraordinary example of the pre-eminent -advantages of the present mode of managing lunatics. Until the era of -railroads this spot was so out of the ordinary track of the world, that -but few persons even of those who were interested in the treatment of the -insane were aware of its existence. Here we discover, like a fly in amber, -a state of things which has lasted with little change for twelve hundred -years. Here we see the last remnants of the priestly treatment of -insanity, coupled with a system of non-restraint which certainly existed -long before the term was ever heard of in England and France. Gheel owes -its origin to a miracle. Saint Dympna, the daughter of an Irish king, -suffered martyrdom in this place from the hand of her father in the sixth -century. So great was her fame as the patron saint of lunatics, that her -shrine, erected in the church dedicated to her, speedily became the resort -of pilgrims, who journeyed hither in the hope of being cured of their -madness or of preventing its advent. Her elegantly-sculptured tomb -contains among other bassi-relievi one in which the devil is observed -issuing from the head of a female lunatic, while prayers are being offered -up by some priests and nuns, and close at hand another chained maniac -seems anxiously awaiting his turn to be delivered from the demon. The idea -carefully inculcated by the priests, that lunacy meant nothing more than a -possession by the devil, has long been banished from other lands. Here, -however, it has flourished for many centuries, and the ceremony of -crawling beneath the tomb has existed so long, that the hands and knees of -the devotees have worn away the pavement. The act is still occasionally -performed amid a scene in which superstition and terror are combined in a -manner calculated to cure any lunatic, if deep mental impressions were -alone required to purge away his malady. But what is far more interesting -and astonishing to those accustomed to the bolts and bars, the locks, -wards, and high walls of crowded European asylums, is the almost entire -liberty accorded to the lunatics resident in the town of Gheel and its -neighbouring hamlets, to the number of 800, or one-tenth of the whole -district. No palatial building, such as we encounter in nearly every -county in England, is to be seen. The little army of pauper and other -patients gathered from the whole superficies of Belgium, instead of being -stowed away in one gigantic establishment, in which all ideas of life are -merged in the iron routine of an enormous workhouse, are distributed over -five hundred different dwellings, three hundred of which are cottages, or -small farmhouses, in which the more violent and poorer classes are -dispersed, and the remaining two hundred are situated in the town of -Gheel, and are appropriated to quieter lunatics and those who are able to -pay more liberally for their treatment. In these habitations the sufferers -are placed under the care of the host and hostess; more than three persons -never being domiciled under one roof, and generally not more than one. The -lunatic shares in the usual life of the family; his occupations and -employment are theirs, his little cares and enjoyments are the same as -theirs. He goes forth to the fields to labour as in ordinary life; no -stern walls perpetually imprison him, and make him desire to overleap -them, as Rasselas desired to escape even from the Happy Valley. If it is -not thought fit for him to labour with plough or spade, he remains at -home, and takes care of the children, prunes the trees in the garden, and -attends to the potage on the fire; or if a female, busies herself in the -ordinary domestic duties of the house. The lunatics, as may be supposed, -are not left to the discretionary mercies of the host and hostess. A -strict system of supervision prevails, somewhat analogous to that of the -lunacy commissioners and the visiting justices of England. The entire -country is divided into four districts, each having a head guardian and a -physician, to whom is entrusted the medical care of every inmate belonging -to that section. There are, in addition, one consulting surgeon and one -inspecting physician for the whole community. The general government of -the colony is vested in the hands of eight persons, who dispense a code of -laws especially devised for it. The burgomaster of Gheel presides over -this managing committee, whose duties are to distribute the patients among -the different dwellings, to watch over their treatment, and to admit or -discharge them. A visiting commissioner is annually appointed, who -inspects the dwellings of the different hosts, and sees that the patients -are properly cared for. The oversight of the lunatics falls almost wholly -upon the hostess, the man rarely interfering, unless called upon to -control a disorderly patient. The people of Gheel, from having been -engaged for ages in the treatment of the insane, are said to have acquired -extraordinary tact in their management, which, Dr. Webster remarks, may be -considered to exhibit a most judicious mixture of "mildness and force." -Although instruments of restraint, such as the strait-waistcoat, and the -long leathern thong below the leg, to prevent patients from running away, -are occasionally resorted to, the sectional physician must be instantly -informed of their imposition, and their use cannot be continued without -his sanction. So little are they required, that Dr. Webster found less -restraint in this colony, unconfined by walls, than in the asylum at -Mareville, in France, containing a similar number of lunatics. Yet there -were fewer escapes than from the strictly-guarded restraint-abounding -prison, only eleven persons having fled from Gheel in the course of last -year, and nineteen from Mareville. Here also, it will be observed, there -is no separation of the sexes. The lunatics live the life of the other -inhabitants, and males and females associate in the same household. If we -compare the effects of this simple treatment with that of the most -expensive of our own asylums, we are compelled to admit that the balance -is in favour of Gheel, where, notwithstanding the free admission of -chronic cases, upwards of twenty-two per cent. of cures takes place -annually, while at Hanwell and Colney Hatch the cures never exceed -fifteen per cent. No fair comparison can be instituted between the expense -per head at Gheel and in our English establishments, inasmuch as living is -much cheaper in Belgium; but we may state, that the average cost of board -and lodging for each pauper in the colony is 10_l._ per annum, or exactly -the sum charged for lodging alone in our county asylums.[17] - -A plan, towards which we have been slowly advancing during the last -half-century, will speedily, we hope, be more closely followed. A trial is -already, to some extent, being made of it in the neighbourhood of existing -asylums, and might supplant, with immense advantage, the prevailing custom -of building new wings, and over-populating old wards. The present system -of enormous buildings, which destroys the individuality of the inmates, -and suppresses all their old habits and modes of life, is evidently -disapproved by the commissioners, as appears from the language they hold -in their tenth annual report:-- - - "We have the best reason for believing that the patients derive a - direct benefit, in many ways, from residing in cheerful, airy - apartments detached from the main building, and associated with - officials engaged in conducting industrial pursuits. A consciousness - that he is useful, and thought worthy of confidence, is necessarily - induced in the mind of every patient, by removal from the ordinary - wards where certain restrictions are enforced, into a department where - he enjoys a comparative degree of freedom; and this necessarily - promotes self-respect and self-control, and proves highly salutary in - forwarding the patient's restoration. As a means of treatment, we - consider this species of separate residence of the utmost importance, - constituting in fact a probationary system for patients who are - convalescing; giving them greater liberty of action, extended - exercise, with facilities for occupation; and thus generating - self-confidence, and becoming not only excellent tests of the sanity - of the patient, but operating powerfully to promote a satisfactory - cure. The want of such an intermediate place of residence is always - much felt; and it often happens that a patient just recovered from an - attack of insanity, and sent into the world direct from a large - asylum, is found so unprepared to meet the trials he has to undergo, - by any previous use of his mental faculties, that he soon relapses, - and is under the necessity of being again returned within its walls. - Commodious rooms contiguous to the farm-buildings are now in the - course of construction at the Somerset County Asylum; and there is - every reason to believe that the patients will derive benefit by - residing in these apartments, which at once possess a domestic - character, and afford every facility to carry on agricultural - pursuits." - -It strikes us forcibly that the commissioners have tended to create the -evil they deprecate in not protesting against the erection of gigantic -asylums; but it is cheering to find that the idea of supplemental -buildings possessing a "domestic character" has taken possession of their -minds, and that they are now enforcing it on the minds of others with -their well-known zeal and ability. The Devon Asylum, among others, has -adopted the plan; and its accomplished physician, Dr. Bucknill, the editor -of the _Asylum Journal_, bears important testimony to the great advantages -to be derived from it. - - "I have recommended the erection of an inexpensive building, detached - from, but within the grounds of the present asylum, in preference to - an extension of the asylum itself. My reasons for this recommendation - are, that such a building will afford a useful and important change - for patients for whom a change from the wards is desirable. The system - of placing patients in detached buildings, resembling in their - construction and arrangements an ordinary English house, has been - found to afford beneficial results in the so-called cottages which - this institution at present possesses. _These cottages are much - preferred to the wards by the patients themselves, and permission to - reside in them is much coveted._ I am also convinced that such - auxiliary buildings can be erected at much less expense than would be - incurred by the enlargement and alteration of the asylum itself. I - propose that in the new building the patients shall cook and wash for - themselves." - -"These cottages are much preferred to the wards by the patients -themselves, and permission to reside in them is much coveted." In these -few lines we read the condemnation of huge structures like Colney Hatch, -built externally on the model of a palace, and internally on that of a -workhouse, in which the poor lunatic but rarely finds any object of human -interest, where his free-will is reduced to the level of that of a -convict, and the very air of heaven necessary to his health is doled out -at intervals, when, with infinite lockings and unlockings, the attendants -order a batch of persons into the stagnant and tiresome airing courts. -Infinitely better for the lunatics would be the freedom and homeliness of -the smallest cottage to the formal monotony of cheerless wards; better far -that they should, as Dr. Bucknill suggests, cook and wash for themselves, -than that the offices should be performed wholesale in the steam-laundry -and the steam-kitchen. A patient would undoubtedly feel a far greater -interest in peeling his own potatoes for the pot, and in cooking his own -bit of bacon, than in receiving them ready cooked. It is the duty of the -physician to interest the patient in his daily work, and no more effectual -method of accomplishing this could be suggested than in putting him to -work for himself. - -Wherever large asylums are already erected, no better plan could perhaps -be suggested than the building of satellite cottages, which would form a -kind of supplementary Gheel to the central establishment; but we should -like to see the experiment tried, in some new district, of reproducing in -its integrity the Belgian system. The colony of Gheel was once a desert -like the country which surrounds it; it is now, through the happy -application of pauper lunatic labour, one of the most productive districts -of the Low Countries. Have we no unoccupied Dartmoors on which we could -erect cottages, and train the cottagers to receive the insane as members -of the family? The performance of domestic offices, the society of the -goodwife and goodman, and the influence of the children, would do far more -to restore the disordered brain of the lunatic--pauper or otherwise--than -all the organization of the asylum, with its daily routine, proceeding -with the inexorable monotonous motion of a machine, and treating its -inmates rather as senseless atoms than as sentient beings, capable, though -mad, of taking an interest in things around them, and especially awake to -the pleasure of being dealt with as individuals rather than as -undistinguishable parts of a crowd. The children are of particular -moment. Lunatics are singularly gentle to them, and are interested in all -their actions. At Gheel it is customary to send the bairns into the fields -to conduct the patients home from their labour in the evening; and we -learn from Dr. Webster that a violent madman, who would not stir upon the -command of his host, will suffer himself to be led, without a murmur, by -an urchin scarcely higher than his knee. The presence of the young in the -ward of an asylum seems to light it up like a sunbeam. The love of -children does indeed lie at the very foundation of the human heart, and we -cannot estimate too highly their beneficial influence upon the brain which -is recovering from the horrors of insanity. - -One of the most important points in reference to insane paupers, as we -have already intimated, is the bringing them as speedily as possible under -treatment. The reluctance of the lunatic himself to be removed is usually -extreme, and it is marvellous what ingenuity he will often employ to -thwart the design. Southey relates that a madman who was being conveyed -from Rye to Bedlam slept in the Borough. He suspected whither he was -going, and, having contrived by rising early to elude his attendant, he -went to Bedlam, and told the keepers that he was about to bring them a -patient. "But," said he, "in order to lead him willingly, he has been -persuaded that I am mad, and accordingly I shall come as the madman. He -will be very outrageous when you seize him, but you must clap on a -strait-waistcoat." The device completely succeeded. The lunatic returned -home, the sane man was shut up, and until he was exchanged at the end of -four days, remained in his strait-waistcoat, having doubtless exhibited a -violence which amply justified its use. The aversion of the sufferer -himself to be taken away coincides with an equal aversion on the part of -his relatives and friends to send him from home, nor do they take the step -till the madness grows intolerable. Precious time is thus lost at the -outset, and when the removal occurs it is mostly to the workhouse. Here -the patient is usually kept during the remainder of the curable stage of -his malady. The parochial authorities are generally guided by an immediate -consideration for the pockets of the rate-payers, rather than by any care -for the welfare of the lunatic; and, as they can maintain him in the -"house" at three shillings a-week--when they would have to pay nine if -they transferred him to the county asylum--in the workhouse he remains -until he becomes so dirty or troublesome in his habits that the guardians -are willing to pay the difference to get rid of him. The first few months -of the disease, within the narrow limits of which full 60 per cent. of the -recoveries take place, are thus allowed to run to waste. Months fly by, -and the victim subsides into the class of incurables. This produces a -second evil. As the drafts of incurables are perpetually flowing into the -asylums, they become "blocked up" in the course of a few years, and are -converted into houses for the detention of hopeless cases. To this -condition three-fourths of the asylums are already reduced, and the -efforts of philanthropic medicine are brought to a dead lock by the -short-sightedness of the parish authorities, who do not consider that for -the sake of saving a few shillings in the board of Betty Smith in the -first weeks of her craziness, they are converting her into a chronic -burthen, seeing that she will probably live on to a good old age in the -asylum, and cause them an ultimate expenditure of hundreds of pounds. To -the swifter removal after the outbreak of the disorder we must look for a -permanent remedy; but in the mean time something must be done to -disembarrass the public asylums of the dead-weight of hopeless cases, if -we seriously intend to take advantage of the curative appliances we -already possess. The commissioners seem inclined to favour the erection of -separate asylums for those who are beyond the reach of medical art. To us -it seems that the more economical plan would be to apportion certain wards -in the various workhouses for the reception of chronic cases, and to draft -off the idiots alone to special establishments. By this means our -water-logged asylums would speedily right themselves, and again become -what they should never have ceased to be--hospitals for the _cure_ of the -insane. At present we encourage an elaborate system for the manufacture of -life-long lunatics. It is well known that the cures of early cases of -insanity throughout England amount to 45 per cent., and at Bethlehem and -St. Luke's, where no others are received, the cures have amounted to 62 -per cent. and 72 per cent. respectively; whereas at Colney Hatch, Hanwell, -and the Surrey County Asylum, the three great receptacles for the weepings -of the metropolitan workhouses, the average cures do not exceed 15 per -cent. If we take the lowest averages of cures, there is still a difference -of 30 per cent. of human creatures who sink down into the cheerless night -of chronic dementia and idiotcy, or who dream away the remainder of their -lives in hopeless childishness. Another ground of complaint is, that a -degree of clerk's work is imposed upon the medical superintendents of -large asylums which is quite inconsistent with a proper discharge of their -chief duty--the recovery of their patients. Irrespective of the -routine-labour of making daily and quarterly and yearly reports, which is -very considerable, they have far more to do in their strictly professional -capacity than they can possibly accomplish. The three great asylums near -the metropolis contain upwards of 3,000 patients, or the population of a -good-sized country town; and their moral and physical training is confided -to exactly six medical men, or as many as will be found in an hospital of -a hundred beds! It is needless to observe how little attention can be paid -to each individual, and that the more promising patients must be -inevitably swamped in the sea of hopeless lunatics. As long as our asylums -remain mere houses of detention, the want of medical superintendence is -not so apparent; but immediately these establishments are restored to -their proper functions, we predict that the evil will become too glaring -to last. - -In many boroughs the authorities have entirely evaded the requirements of -the Act of Parliament relative to their insane pauper poor, and have not -only neglected to erect proper asylums, but have resisted for years the -attempts of the commissioners to compel them to do their duty. In all such -cases the lunatics not only suffer the ills consequent upon insufficient -care, but when too numerous for home accommodation are subjected to a -system of _transportation_, which is not only disgraceful to the -municipal authorities themselves, but to the age for permitting it. True -to their economical instincts, the guardians of the poor often "farm out" -their insane paupers to the proprietor of some private asylum, quite -regardless of distance. The commissioners, justly indignant at this sordid -practice, state in one of their Reports that-- - - "At present, large numbers of these patients are sent to licensed - houses far from their homes, to distances (sometimes exceeding, and - often scarcely less than, 100 miles) which their relations and friends - are unable to travel. The savings of the labouring poor are quite - insufficient, in most cases, to defray the expense of such journeys, - and their time (constituting their means of existence) cannot be - spared for that purpose. The consequence has been, that the poor - borough lunatic has been left too often to pass a considerable portion - of his life, _and in some cases to die, far from his home, and without - any of his nearest connexions having been able to comfort him by their - occasional presence_. The visits of his parish officers are - necessarily cursory and unfrequent, and he is, in fact, cast upon the - humanity of strangers, whose prosperity depends upon the profits which - they derive from maintaining him and others of his class." - -This is a system which we are confident is as illegal as it is heartless, -and we are astonished that bodies of Englishmen should dare to insult the -miseries of lunatics by thus punishing them and their friends for their -affliction. There were not long since twenty-five insane paupers at -Camberwell House, London, who had been sent from Southampton, a distance -of eighty miles, though the Hants County Asylum is situated within sixteen -miles of the borough. Seventeen persons were in like manner banished from -Great Yarmouth to Highbridge House, near London, and their relations, who -had to travel 146 miles to see them, passed, in the course of their -journey, the Norfolk and Essex County Asylums, both of which -establishments had many vacancies and would willingly have received them. -The pauper lunatics of Ipswich, King's Lynn, Dover, Canterbury, -Portsmouth, and various other boroughs, are in the same way transferred by -the local authorities to some of the metropolitan licensed houses. - -The feelings of the poor for their afflicted relatives are often of the -deepest kind, and the utmost distress is entailed upon them by these cruel -separations from those they love. In one case, a native of Ipswich, too -poor to go by the railway, walked to London and back on foot, a distance -of 140 miles, for the sole purpose of visiting his wife, who had been -wickedly banished to Peckham House, London. In other cases parents have -pleaded so piteously to be conveyed to their children, that the -commissioners have suggested that the expenses should be paid out of the -parish funds, but the authorities who had contrived the original -proceeding in order to save two or three shillings a head, could not of -course be induced to furnish money for so sentimental a purpose. The -commissioners have resolutely refused their sanction to such disgraceful -transactions whenever they have come within their knowledge and -jurisdiction--one instance out of many which prove that, however much the -borough authorities may denounce them as a centralized power, they have -done excellent service in checking local ignorance, selfishness, and -inhumanity. - -If we now turn to consider the condition of private asylums, we shall find -much in them to praise as well as to condemn. When men of reputation, -acknowledged skill, and character--such as Drs. Conolly, Forbes Winslow, -Sutherland, and Munro, of London; Drs. Hitch, Noble, Newington, Fox, in -the provinces, have the management of private asylums, the public need be -under no apprehension of patients being improperly received, illegally -detained, or cruelly and unscientifically treated. The licensed houses in -the metropolitan district directly under the control of the Lunacy -commissioners, amounting to forty-one in number, represent, without doubt, -the fairest specimens of these establishments. Liable as they are at any -moment to the inspection of the commissioners, and presided over as many -of them are by the most eminent members of the profession, they are -generally maintained in a high state of efficiency. They are principally -devoted to the care of the higher classes of the community, and afford -perhaps the nearest approach yet made to a perfect method of treatment, -being conducted in most cases on the principle of a private family. The -bolts, bars, high walls, and dismal airing-courts of the public asylum -are either unknown, or so hidden as no longer to irritate the susceptible -mind of the lunatic. The unwise division of the sexes is not as a rule -adopted. Scrupulous attention to dress and all the forms of polite society -are enjoined alike for their own sake, and as a method of interesting -patients in the daily life of the community. When we partook of the -hospitalities of one of these establishments, we could detect nothing in -the countenances or the appearance of the guests which was characteristic -of their condition: the restless eye, the incoherent conversation, the -sudden movement of the peculiarly formed head, which our preconceived -notions led us to expect, were none of them observable. One individual -indeed there was whom we mentally concluded to be certainly mad. Yet, -singular to say, this gentleman was the only sane individual in the room, -besides ourselves and the medical superintendent; and on further -acquaintance, having told our ill-placed suspicions, he frankly confessed -that he had in his own mind paid ourselves a similar compliment. The eager -glance of curiosity natural to inquisitive strangers was the nearest -approach in this lunatic party to the outward appearance of lunacy. So -much for the "unmistakeable" countenance of the insane! It is not to be -supposed that the more violent can be allowed this social freedom even in -private establishments, or that madness is different in a metropolitan -licensed house from what it is in a public asylum; but we unhesitatingly -assert that in the vast majority of cases the large amount of freedom and -the absence of any prison-like characteristics have an undoubted effect, -not only in calming the mind of the patient, but in expediting his -recovery. Hence the per-centage of cures in a high-class private asylum -are immeasurably beyond those of any public establishment. The -pleasure-ground, out-of-door games, carriage and riding parties, -billiards, whist and evening parties, all contribute their aid in -restoring the unhinged mind. We have seen four or five patients leave the -doors of one of these licensed metropolitan houses (the establishment of -Dr. Forbes Winslow, "Sussex House," Hammersmith), and remain out for hours -without any attendant, their word of _honour_ being the only tie existing -between them and the asylum.[18] - -The condition of a few of the provincial licensed houses is still -glaringly bad, and shows that old ideas, with respect to insanity, are not -entirely obsolete. The Report of the Commissioners of Lunacy for 1856, -relates circumstances which lead us back to the old days of Bedlam. Thus -at Hanbury House the Commissioners found "one young lady fastened by -webbing wristbands to a leathern belt; she was also tied down to her chair -by a rope." Again, they found on their last visit to the Sandford Asylum, -in December, 1855, "a patient just dead, his body exhibiting sores and -extensive sloughs, arising necessarily, we think, from want of -water-pillows or other proper precautions. The room has a stone or plaster -floor, and is without a fire." It is, however, encouraging to find that, -as far as personal restraint goes, the very worst of our private asylums -are far superior to some of the best of the public asylums of France. Dr. -Webster, our great authority on this point, gives in Dr. Winslow's -Psychological Journal, the results gleaned in his visits to these -establishments in the August and September of 1850:-- - - "Forty male lunatics out of 1464 then resident were in _camisole_ - (strait-waistcoats), some being also otherwise restrained, thereby - giving an individual in restraint to every 33-1/4 male inmates, or - three per hundred. Amongst the female lunatics, again, the proportion - was somewhat larger, 72 persons of that sex, out of the total 1902 - resident patients, being under medical coercion; thus making one - female in restraint to every 26-1/3 inmates, or at the rate of 3.78 - per cent. In contrast with this report respecting the above-named - French provincial asylums, I would now place an official statement of - the practice pursued at Bethlehem Hospital during the same period. At - this establishment, where formerly the strait-waistcoat, with various - kinds of personal coercion, were even in greater use than on the other - side of the Channel, _not one_ insane patient, among an average - population of 391 lunatics, was under constraint of any description - during the five weeks ending the 25th of September, when I first - visited that institution after my return from the Continent, and which - embraced the whole time referred to in this memorandum." - -From these curious facts it will be seen that we are far in advance of our -French, and, we may also add, of our other continental neighbours.[19] -When the beneficent thought struck the great Pinel to knock off the -fetters of the English captain, he sounded a note which reverberated -through Europe, and the poor insane captives issued from their dungeons in -which they had been so long immured as the prisoners emerge from their -prison to the divine strains of Beethoven's "Fidelio." But when this vast -step was accomplished there still remained an immense amount of coercion -scarcely less injurious than the old darkness and chains, and to -Englishmen is mainly due the credit of abolishing it. Nor shall we rest -where we are. It is our belief as well as our hope that, before another -generation has gone by, the last vestige of restraint, in the shape of -dismal airing-courts, and outside walls, which serve to wound the spirit -rather than to enslave the limbs, will pass for ever among us, and only be -remembered with the hobbles and the manacles of the past. - -It has been asserted by some psychologists that lunacy is on the increase, -and that its rapid development of late years has been consequent upon the -increased activity of the national mind. This statement is certainly -startling and calculated to arrest the attention of all thoughtful men. Is -it true that civilisation has called to life a monster such as that which -appalled Frankenstein? Is it a necessity of progress that it shall ever be -accompanied by that fearful black rider which, like Despair, sits behind -it? Does mental development mean increased mental decay? If these -questions were truly answered in the affirmative, we might indeed sigh for -the golden time when - - "Wild in woods the noble savage ran," - -for it would be clear that the nearer humanity strove to attain towards -divine perfection, the more it was retrograding towards a state inferior -to that of the brute creation. A patient examination, however, of the -question entirely negatives such a conclusion. Dr. Ray, of the United -States, in taking the opposite view of the case, says:-- - - "If we duly consider the characteristics of our times, we shall there - find abundant reason for the fact that insanity has been increasing at - a rate unparalleled in any former period. In every successive step - that has led to a higher degree of civilisation; in all the means and - appliances for developing the mental resources of the race; in the - ever-widening circle of objects calculated to influence desire, and - impel to effort, we find so many additional agencies for tasking the - mental energies, and thereby deranging the healthy equilibrium which - binds the faculties together, and leads to an harmonious result. The - press and the rostrum, the railway and the spinning-jenny, the steam - engine and the telegraph, republican institutions and social - organizations, are agencies more potent in preparing the mind for - insanity than any or all of those vices and casualties which exert a - more immediate and striking effect." - -Such is the burthen of the story of all those psychologists who believe -that insanity is fast gaining upon us; but if "in the ever-widening circle -of objects calculated to influence desire and impel to effort, we find so -many additional agencies for tasking the mental energies, and thereby -deranging the healthy equilibrium which binds the faculties together," it -should appear that those classes of society which are in the van of -civilization should be the chief sufferers. Bankers, great speculators, -merchants, engineers, statesmen, philosophers and men of letters--those -who work with the brain rather than with their hands,--should afford the -largest proportion to the alleged increase of insanity. How does the -matter really stand? In the Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy for the -year 1847 we find the total number of private patients of the middle and -upper classes then under confinement in private asylums, amounted to -4,649. Now, if we skip eight years, and refer to the Report of 1855, we -find that there were only 4,557 patients under confinement, or about 96 -less, notwithstanding the increase of population during that period. If we -compare the number of pauper lunatics under confinement at these two -different periods, we shall find a widely-different state of things; for -in 1847 there were 9,654 in our public and private asylums, whilst in 1855 -they numbered 15,822. In other words, our pauper lunatics would _appear_ -to have increased 6,170 in eight years, or upwards of 64 per cent. It is -this extraordinary increase of pauper lunatics in the county asylums which -has frightened some psychologists from their propriety, and led them to -believe that insanity is running a winning race with the healthy -intellect. But these figures, if they mean anything, prove that it is not -the intellect of the country that breeds insanity, but its ignorance, as -it cannot be for one moment contended that the grent movements now taking -place in the world originate with the labouring classes. We shall be told, -we know, that there is a constant descent of patients from private asylums -to the public asylums; that the professional man and the tradesman, after -expending the means of his friends and family for a year or two, in the -vain hope of a speedy cure, becomes necessarily in the end a pauper -lunatic, and that this stream aids to swell the numbers in the county -institution. Allowing its due weight to this explanation--and those who -know public asylums are well aware how small, comparatively speaking, is -the educated element--yet as the same disturbing element in the -calculation obtained at both periods, we may safely conclude that the -figures are not thereby essentially altered. - -A still more convincing proof that mental ruin springs rather from mental -torpidity than from mental stimulation, is to be found by comparing the -proportion of lunatics to the population in the rural and the -manufacturing districts. Sir Andrew Halliday, who worked out this -interesting problem in 1828,[20] selected as his twelve non-agricultural -counties--Cornwall, Cheshire, Derby, Durham, Gloucester, Lancaster, -Northumberland, Stafford, Somerset, York (West Riding), and Warwick, which -contained a population at that time of 4,493,194, and a total number of -3,910 insane persons, or one to every 1,200. His twelve agricultural -counties were Bedford, Berkshire, Bucks, Cambridge, Hereford, Lincoln, -Norfolk, Northampton, Oxford, Rutland, Suffolk, and Wilts, the total -population of which were 2,012,979, and the total number of insane persons -2,526--a proportion of 1 lunatic to every 820 sane. Another significant -fact elicited was, that whilst in the manufacturing counties the idiots -were considerably less than the lunatics, in the rural counties the idiots -were to the lunatics as 7 to 5! Thus the Hodges of England who know -nothing of the march of intellect, who are entirely guiltless of -speculations of any kind, contribute far more inmates to the public -lunatic asylums than the toil-worn artisans of Manchester or Liverpool, -who live in the great eye of the world, and keep step with the march of -civilization, even if they do but bring up its rear. Isolation is a -greater cause of mental ruin than aggregation--our English fields can -afford _cretins_ as plentifully as the upland valleys of the mountain -range, seldom visited by the foot of the traveller; whilst, on the other -hand, in the workshop and the public assembly, "As iron weareth iron, so -man sharpeneth the face of his friend." - -If we required further proof of the groundless nature of the alarm that -mental activity was destroying the national mind, we should find it in the -well-ascertained fact that the proportion of lunatics is greater among -females than males. It may also be urged that Quakers, who pride -themselves on the sedateness of their conduct, furnish much more than -their share; but for this singular result their system of intermarriage is -doubtless much to blame. Still the fact remains, that within a period of -eight years, extending from 1847 to 1855, an increase of 64 per cent. took -place in our pauper lunatic asylums. These figures, however, afford no -more proof of the increase of pauper lunatics than the increase of -criminal convictions since the introduction of a milder code of laws and -the appointment of the new police afford a proof of increased crime. As -the commissioners very justly observe, medical practitioners of late years -have taken a far more comprehensive as well as scientific view of insanity -than formerly; and many forms of the disease now fall under their care -that were previously overlooked, when no man was considered mad unless he -raved, or was an idiot. But the great cause of the increase of lunatics in -our asylums is to be ascribed to the erection of the asylums themselves. -With the exception of three or four Welsh counties, and two or three in -the north of England, there is not a shire in England which does not -possess some palatial building. These establishments, in which restraint, -speaking in the ordinary acceptance of the term, is unknown, and in which -the inmates are always treated with humanity, have drained the land of a -lunatic population which before was scattered among villages or -workhouses, amounting, according to the computation of the commissioners, -to upwards of 10,500--just as the deep wells of the metropolitan brewers -have drained for miles around the shallow wells of the neighbourhood in -which they are situated. For the same reason the number of lunatic paupers -has declined in registered hospitals since 1847 from 384 to 185, and in -"licensed houses" from 3,996 to 2,313. Upon the whole, we may safely -predict that, when these disturbing causes have ceased to act, the annual -returns of the commissioners will show that, as the treatment of insanity -is every day better understood, so the pauper lunatics in our public -asylums, instead of increasing in a ratio for beyond that of the general -population, show a diminished proportion. Already there are symptoms that -the flood is returning to its proper level; for while the lunatics of all -classes in the public asylums, licensed houses, and in the Royal Hospital -at Haslar, were 20,493 in 1855, they had only advanced in 1856 to 20,764, -which is an increase in the twelvemonth of but 271. - - - - -THE LONDON COMMISSARIAT. - - -If, early on a summer morning before the smoke of countless fires had -narrowed the horizon of the metropolis, a spectator were to ascend to the -top of St. Paul's, and take his stand upon the balcony, that with gilded -rail flashes like a fringe of fire upon the summit of the dome, he would -see sleeping beneath his feet the greatest camp of men upon which the sun -has ever risen. As far as he could distinguish by the morning light he -would behold stretched before him the mighty map of the metropolis; and -could he ascend still higher, he would note the stream of life overflowing -the brim of hills which enclose the basin in which it stands. - -In the space swept by his vision would lie the congregated habitations of -two millions and a half of his species--but how vain are figures to convey -an idea of so immense a multitude. If Norway, stretching from the Frozen -Ocean down to the southern extremity of the North Sea, were to summon all -its people to one vast conclave, they would number little more than half -the souls within the London bills of mortality. Switzerland, in her -thousand valleys, could not muster such an army; and even busy Holland, -within her mast-thronged harbours, humming cities, and populous plains, -could barely overmatch the close-packed millions within sound of the great -bell at his feet. As the spectator gazed upon this extraordinary prospect, -the first stir of the awakening city would gradually steal upon his ear. -The rumbling of wheels, the clang of hammers, the clear call of the human -voice, all deepening by degrees into a confused hum, would proclaim that -the mighty city was once more rousing to the labour of the day, and the -blue columns of smoke climbing up to heaven that the morning meal was at -hand. At such a moment the thought would naturally arise in his mind,--In -what manner is such an assemblage victualled? By what complicated wheels -does all the machinery move by which two millions and a half of human -beings sit down day by day to their meals as regularly and quietly as -though they only formed a sung little party at Lovegrove's on a summer's -afternoon? As thus he mused respecting the means by which the supply and -demand of so vast a multitude is brought to agree, so that every one is -enabled to procure exactly what he wants, at the exact time without loss -to himself or injury to the community, thin lines of steam, sharply marked -for the moment, as they advanced one after another from the horizon and -converged towards him would indicate the arrival of the great commissariat -trains, stored with produce from all parts of these isles and from the -adjacent continent. Could his eye distinguish in addition the fine threads -of that far-spreading web which makes London the most sensitive spot on -the earth, he would be enabled to take in at a glance the two -agents--steam and electricity--which keep the balance true between the -wants and the supply of London. - -If our spectator will now descend from his giddy height, and will -accompany us among the busy haunts of men, we will attempt to point out to -him whence those innumerable commodities, which he has seen pouring into -the town, have been obtained, the chief marts to which they are consigned, -and the manner in which they are distributed from house to house. Had -London like Paris its _octroi_, the difficulty of our task would be -limited to the mere display of official figures, but, thanks to a free -policy, we have no such means of getting at strictly accurate estimates, -and must therefore content ourselves with the results of patient inquiry -among the foremost carriers--the railway companies--aided by such other -information as we have been able to procure. For the sake of convenience, -and of sequence, let us imagine that the principal daily meal is -proceeding, and, according to the order of the courses, we will endeavour -to trace the various edibles to their source--the fish to its sea--the -beast to its pasture--the wild animal to its lair--the game to its -cover--and the fruit to its orchard; to point out how they are netted, -fattened, bagged, gathered, and conveyed to their ultimate -destination--the _great red lane_ of London humanity. Let us begin with -fish, and that unrivalled fish-market which all the world is aware rears -its head by London Bridge. - -Those who remember old Billingsgate, with its tumble-down wharf, and dock -half choked with corruption and oyster-shells--a dirty remnant of the days -of Elizabeth--will enter with pleasure Mr. Bunning's new market. Through -its Italian colonnade are seen the masts of the fishing smacks, and the -brown wharves of the opposite side--a pleasing picture, which instantly -fixes the artistic eye. The busy scene within the market between the hours -of five and seven in the morning, is one of the marvels of the metropolis. -Billingsgate is the only wholesale fish-market in London, and it may -therefore be imagined how great must be the business transacted within its -walls. Of old, nine-tenths of the supply came by way of the river, the -little that came by land being conveyed from the coast, at great expense, -in four-horse vans. Now the railways are day by day supplanting smacks, -and in many cases steamers; for by means of its iron arms, London, whilst -its millions slumber, grasps the produce of every sea that beats against -our island coast, and ere they have uprisen it is drawn to a focus in this -central mart. Thus every night in the season the hardy fishermen of -Yarmouth catch a hundred tons (12,081 yearly), principally herring, which, -by means of the Eastern Counties Railway, are next morning at -Billingsgate. The South-Western Railway sends up annually, with the same -speed, 4,000 tons of mackerel and other fish, the gatherings of the south -coast. The North Western collects over night the "catch" from Ireland, -Scotland, and the north-east coast of England, and adds to the -Thames-street mart 3,578 tons, principally of salmon, whilst the Great -Northern delivers to the early morning market, or sometimes later in the -day, 3,248 tons of like sea produce. The Great Western brings up the -harvest of the Cornish and Devonshire coasts, chiefly mackerel and -pilchards, to the amount of 1,560 tons in the year; and the Brighton and -South Coast conveys the incredible number of 15,000 bushels of oysters, -besides 4,000 tons of other fish. Nearly one-half in fact of the -fish-supply of London, instead of following as of old the tedious route of -the coast, is hurried in the dead of night across the length and breadth -of the land to Billingsgate, and, before the large consumers in Tyburnia -and Belgravia have left their beds, may be seen either lying on the marble -slabs of the fishmongers, or penetrating on the peripatetic barrow of the -costermonger into the dismal lanes and alleys inhabited by "London Labour -and the London Poor." These prodigious gleanings from what Goldsmith might -well call the "finny deep," are conveyed from the termini in spring-vans, -drawn by two and occasionally by four horses. Salmon comes in boxes, -herrings in barrels, and all other kinds of fish in baskets. Sometimes as -many as sixty of these vans will arrive in the narrow street leading to -the market in the course of two or three hours, and the scene of confusion -occasioned by their rushing among the fishmongers' carts and the -costermongers' barrows, the latter often amounting to more than a -thousand, is almost as great as that at Smithfield; for the fish, like the -live-stock trade, has long outgrown its mart: and Billingsgate, as much as -Smithfield, is choked for want of space. Let the visitor beware how he -enters it in a good coat, for, as sure as he goes in in broad cloth, he -will come out in _scale_ armour. They are not polite at Billingsgate, as -all the world knows, and "by your leave" is only a preliminary to your hat -being knocked off your head by a bushel of oysters or a basket of crabs. -In the early part of the morning, the traffic is carried on in comparative -quiet, for the regular fishmongers, who have the first of the market, -conduct their business with little disturbance, but it would gladden the -heart of a Dutch painter to see the piled produce of a dozen different -seas glittering with silver and brilliant with colour. Gigantic salmon, -fresh caught from the firths and bays of Scotland, or from the productive -Irish seas, flounder about, as the boxes in which they have travelled -disgorge them upon the board. Quantities of delicate red mullet, that have -been hurried up by the Great Western, all the way from Cornwall, for the -purpose of being furnished fresh to the fastidious palates at the West -End; smelts brought by the Dutch boats, their delicate skins varying in -hue like an opal as you pass; pyramids of lobsters, a moving mass of -spiteful claws and restless feelers, savage at their late abduction from -some Norwegian fiord; great heaps of pinky shrimps; turbots, that lately -fattened upon the Doggerbank, with their white bellies bent as for some -tremendous leap; and humbler plaice and dabs, from our own craft--all this -bountiful accumulation forms a mingled scene of strange forms and vivid -colours, that no one with an eye for the picturesque can contemplate -without interest. Neither is the scene always one of still life, for it is -no rare occurrence for the visitor to behold a yelling knot of men -dragging with ropes through the excited crowd a royal sturgeon, nine feet -in length. If the spectator now peeps down the large square opening into -the dismal space below, which appears like the hold of a ship lately -recovered from the deep, he will see the shell-fish market, where piles of -blue-black muscles, whelks, and grey cockles turned up with yellow, give -the place a repulsive aspect of dirt and slop. There are but few buyers -seen here, and they are generally women belonging to the costermonger -class, for the men rather disdain the shell-fish trade. These female -itinerants may be noticed wandering about from basket to basket, -occasionally gouging out a whelk from the shell with the thumb, to test -the lot, and then passing on to the next. - -Busiest among the busy is seen the "Bommeree," or middleman--sometimes -called the forestaller. The province of this individual is to purchase the -fish as it comes into the market, and divide it into lots to suit large -and small buyers, separating the qualities according as they are designed -for St. James's or St. Giles's. These worthies used at one time to -forestal the market extensively, when they felt certain, from the state -of the tide, that no fish supplies could be poured in for the day, but now -the railway defeats their tactics, and the utter uncertainty of the -arrivals has done away with this branch of their business. After the -"trade" has been supplied, and the serge-aproned "regulars" have loaded -their light spring carts, there comes, especially in certain fish seasons, -an eruption of purchasers of a totally different character--the -costermongers of streets. This nomade tribe, which wanders in thousands -from market to market, performs a most important part in the distribution -of food. They are for the greater part the tradesmen of the poor, and by -their energy and enterprise secure to our working-classes many of the -fruits of both sea and land, which they would never taste but for them. -About seven o'clock the army of street-vendors, foot and "donkey," for the -greater number rattle up in barrows drawn by that useful animal, begin -visibly to change the whole hue and appearance of the place. Young fellows -in fustian coats and Belcher handkerchiefs throng the market, and board -the smacks, "chaffing," higgling, joking, and swearing--but never -fighting, for the costermonger has too much to do at present to make -physical demonstrations. Among the most eager of the itinerant salesmen -the visitor speedily distinguishes the Judaic nose. The Hebrews, who are -in great force about this neighbourhood on account of the dried-fruit -trade, which is mainly in their hands, deal largely also in fish. The -poorer members of the fraternity purchase the bigger portion of the -fresh-water supply, such as plaice, roach, dace, &c., in fact, nearly -everything caught by the Wandsworth fisherman, whose picturesque "bawley" -boats, which often contain both his family and fortune, may generally be -seen moored in the stream between Battersea reach and Kew bridge, a mass -of brown nets and umber canopies lit up by the brilliant red caps of their -owners, just such as Constable loved to paint in the foregrounds of his -landscapes. These fish, if not alive, must at least retain the spasmodic -quivering of the flesh which remains immediately after death, or the Jews -will not buy, for reasons we suppose connected with their religion, since -their chief trade is among the rich and poor of their own people. The -Wandsworth fishermen also supply all the white-bait that is consumed at -Greenwich and Blackwall: it is caught generally between the latter place -and Woolwich at night, and it is singular that a fish which is among the -most delicate we have, should flourish in one of the foulest parts of the -foulest river in Europe. The area of the market, as soon as the -costermongers appear, speedily becomes broken up into numbers of little -circles, strictly intent upon the eye of individuals who take up a -position high over their heads upon the boards or stands. These are the -salesmen, disposing by auction of the fish consigned to them. Some of the -dealers are moneyed men, and will lay out their fifty pounds of a morning, -re-selling to their fellows again at a profit. The smaller capitalists -combine in threes and fours, and thus manage to get their commodities at -wholesale prices. The activity of the market mainly depends upon the -season of the year and the amount of fish. The energy of these -peripatetics is surprising: they look in at Billingsgate, and if the -supply runs short they are off again immediately to Covent Garden, for -they deal in everything, and the barrow that one morning you see filled -with fresh herrings, the next is blooming with plums. If, on the contrary, -a large cargo of sprats comes suddenly into London, or if soles should be -unusually plentiful, it is known in an incredibly short space of time all -over the town, and they flock to the market in thousands; as many as five -thousand is the usual attendance on such occasions. These costermongers -absorb more than a third of the whole Billingsgate supply; of sprats and -fresh herrings they take fully two-thirds. Turbot and all the costlier -fish they purchase sparingly, but they buy largely when it chances to be -cheap, as in the cholera year of 1849, when prime salmon went a-begging at -four-pence a pound! If the market is dull, and prices are high, the fact -is speedily known, and the cry of "No smacks at the Gate," is sufficient -to turn the current immediately in the direction of the "Garden." - -Steam, as we have already intimated, has revolutionized the fish-trade, -and is rapidly sweeping away the whole fleet of smacks propelled by sails, -as ruthlessly as the rail did stagecoaches. A few years ago all the -oysters were brought by water to Billingsgate; but a short time since a -great natural bed, called the Mid Channel Bed, which stretches for forty -miles between the ports of Shoreham and Havre, was discovered, and, the -dredging-ground being free to all comers, a vast field of wealth has been -opened to fishermen, especially as from the proximity of the Brighton and -South Coast Railway the produce can be sent immediately to town, and -escape the dues of metage and other tolls to which all fish landed at the -market is liable. Seaborne oysters are thus placed at a great -disadvantage, and the different companies owning them justly complain at a -city exaction which takes a large sum annually out of their pockets, -besides the charge for porterage it entails upon the purchasers. Mr. -Alston, who is, without doubt, the largest oyster-fisher in the world, -sent up in one year between 40,000 and 50,000 bushels from his fishery, -Cheyney Rock, near Sheerness, and paid 800_l._ for metage. The whole trade -paid no less than 3,000_l._, and this for services which their own men -could do as well as themselves, were it not for a custom which enforces -idleness upon the smack people.[21] - -The "scuttle-mouths," as they are termed from their huge shell, pay no -attention to season, and consequently oyster-day has now in a great degree -lost its significance. The 4th of August is still, it is true, the opening -day at Billingsgate, but the supply from without has taken the wind out of -its sails. Only those who have witnessed the crowds filling all the -streets leading to the market long before the hour of business--six -o'clock in the morning--can understand the eagerness exhibited of old to -obtain some of the first day's oysters. All this is now gone. There were -not more than eighteen smacks at the opening of the present year, and, few -as were the arrivals, the buyers were not eager. The Mid-Channel oysters, -which have thus disturbed the old trade, are of a large and by no means -delicate kind, such as come from Tenby, Jersey, &c.--coarse fish, eaten by -rough men--third-class oysters, in fact, which rarely penetrate to the -West End, unless to make sauce. Real natives are greater aristocrats among -their fellows than ever; the demand for them has for a long time far -exceeded the supply, and the price has consequently risen. Of the birth, -parentage and nurture of this delicate fish, a curious tale could be told. -Designed for fastidious palates, much care and attention is bestowed upon -its breeding. The _habitue_ of the Opera, who strolls up the brilliantly -lighted Haymarket towards midnight, and turns into any one of the fish -supper-rooms that line its western side, little dreams of the organization -at work to enable him to enjoy his native. Most of the oysters, with the -exception of the Mid-Channel bed, are regularly cultivated by different -companies, who rear and tend them at different parts of the south coast, -and of the Thames at its mouth. Of these companies there are nine, in -addition to individuals who possess and work what might be called -sea-farms, several of which are miles in extent. In all the beds there is -a certain space dedicated to natives. At Burnham, Essex, the "spat," or -fecundated sperm, is stored in large pits, and sold as native brood, which -is afterwards "laid" in that portion of the different beds appropriated to -privileged oysters. Here the young natives remain for three years, when -they are generally brought to market. So far their education is left, in a -certain degree, to nature; but once in the possession of the -fish-shopkeepers, art steps in to perfect their condition. They are now -stored in large shallow vats, being carefully laid with their proper sides -uppermost, and supplied daily with oatmeal: a process which is calculated -rather to fatten than to flavour, and there are many who think that, like -show cattle, they are none the better for over-feeding. "Natives," packed -in barrels, form one of the articles of food that is largely sent out of -London into the country, as all persons know who travel much at Christmas -time, and notice with astonishment the pyramids of oyster-barrels which -crowd the platforms of all the termini of the metropolis. - -The frying-pans of London are mainly supplied with soles all the year -round by the trolling-boats of Barking, of which there are upwards of 150 -belonging to different companies. They fish the North Sea off the coasts -of Yorkshire and Holland, particularly the Silver and Brown banks. Of old -the smacks used to carry their own catch to Billingsgate, but the loss of -time was so great, that latterly fast-sailing cutters have been employed -to attend upon the fishing-smacks and bring their produce to market packed -in ice. Of this splendid craft, which can sail almost in the eye of the -wind, there are forty; and the total number of seamen employed is not less -than 2,000, the greater part of whom have been taken as boys from the -workhouse, and trained by this capital service into first-rate seamen. It -is curious to follow the small proceedings of the world into their -ultimate results. The gastronome, smiling complacently as he withdraws the -cover and reveals a well-browned pair of soles, would never guess that -they and their kind are the immediate cause of a happy transmutation of -parish burthens into the right arm of our strength. Eels are constantly -imported to Billingsgate by the Dutch boats. The galliots never moor close -alongside the wharf, as the wells in which they bring their fish alive -cause them to draw too much water, but they anchor midway in the stream, -by twos and threes--their brown sides, flat bows, with high cheek-bones, -like their navigators, and bright verd-green rudders, adding to the -picturesque appearance of the river. The great fat creatures brought by -them mainly supply the eel-pie houses, and contribute largely, we are -informed, to that oleaginous kind of soup which people too hungry to be -curious mistake for veritable oxtail and calves' head. The Dutch boats do -not, however, confine themselves to eels. They deal in turbot, soles, and -all kinds of flat-fish, such as frequent the Dogger Bank, much to the -discredit of our native enterprise, neglecting, as we do, the splendid -deep-sea fishing-ground off the south-west coast of Ireland, where cod and -salmon are to be found in abundant quantities, whilst those who know the -west coast well, declare there is turbot enough in Galway Bay "to supply -the whole of Europe for the next hundred years." - -We believe, however, it is now in contemplation to go to work upon a large -scale in those waters, having screw-steamers to collect the produce, and -bring it to Milford Haven alive in wells, from which port it would come, -_via_ the South Wales and Great Western Railways, to Billingsgate, within -twenty-four hours after it was caught. The value of screw steamers having -capacious wells has been fully tested by Mr. Howard, of Manningtree, -Essex, who fitted an engine and screw into one of his welled -fishing-smacks. Scarcely a lobster, out of twenty thousand put alive into -the boat, was lost, whilst large numbers of those brought in sailing -smacks perish. Salmon, cod, and other fish, are brought alive with the -same success in the welled steamers from the North Sea and the coast of -Scotland. It is almost time that some new ground were found in place of -the famous Dogger Bank, which has now been preyed upon by so many nations -for centuries, and has supplied so many generations of Catholics and -Protestants with fast and feast food. No better proof that its stores are -failing could be given than the fact that, although the ground, counting -the Long Bank and the north-west flat in its vicinity, covers 11,800 -square miles, and that in fine weather it is fished by the London -companies with from fifteen to twenty dozen of long lines, extending to -ten or twelve miles, and containing from 9,000 to 12,000 hooks, it is yet -not at all common to secure even as many as four score fish of a night--a -poverty which can be better appreciated when we learn that 600 fish for -800 hooks is the catch for deep-sea fishing about Kinsale. - -Towards the latter end of August the great herring season commences. -Yarmouth is the chief seat of this branch of the piscatory trade. Every -night when the weather is fine the fishermen of this old port "shoot" -upwards of 300 square miles of net. Neptune in his ample arms never gave -the ocean so magnificent an embrace. The produce of this wholesale -sweeping of the sea is brought to town by the Eastern Counties Railway. -They come up to Billingsgate packed in barrels and in bulk, and the number -sold in the year seems almost fabulous, being upwards of a _billion_. Next -to the herring fishery the sea-harvest of most importance to the poor of -London is that of sprats, which come in about Lord Mayor's Day, and it is -a popular belief that the first dish is always sent to the chief -magistrate of the city. If a telegraph were to be laid down to all the -alleys and courts, the fact of a large arrival of these little creatures -at Billingsgate would not be sooner made known to the lower orders than, -by some mysterious process, it is at present. Mr. Goldham, the clerk of -the market, accustomed as he is to the sudden invasions of the -costermongers, informs us that the scene on board the smacks laden with -sprats is really frightful. The people hang thick as sea-weed from the -rigging, throng the decks, and swarm on every available inch of plank, -until the wonder is that the whole of the puny fleet does not capsize with -the weight. The cause of the scramble is that the street sellers will not -buy until they have seen the sample, and every one consequently tries to -gain the highest point, that he may look down into the hold, whilst a man -tumbles about the sprats with a shovel, in silver showers. The plaice -season succeeds to that of sprats, with the interval of mackerel, which -continues until the end of May, when Scotland and Ireland begin to pass -down their salmon into the market. But where do all the lobsters come -from? The lovers of this most delicious of the crustaceae tribe will -probably be astonished to learn that they are mainly brought from Norway. -France and the Channel Islands, Orkney, and Shetland, do, it is true, -contribute a few to the metropolitan market, but full two-thirds are -reluctantly, and with much pinching and twisting, dragged out of the -thousand rock-bound inlets which indent the Norwegian coast. They are -conveyed alive in a screw-steamer and by smacks, in baskets, sometimes to -the extent of 20,000 of a night, to Great Grimsby, and are thence -forwarded to town by the Great Northern Railway--another 10,000 arriving -perhaps from points on our own and the French coast. The fighting, -twisting, blue-black masses are taken as soon as purchased to what are -termed the "boiling-houses," of which there are four, situated in Duck and -Love Lanes, close to the market; and here, for a trifling sum per score, -they change their dark for scarlet uniforms. They are plunged into the -boiling cauldron, basket and all, and in twenty minutes they are done. -Crabs are cooked in the same establishments, but their nervous systems are -so acute, that they dash off their claws in convulsive agony if placed -alive in hot water. To prevent this mutilation, which would spoil their -sale, they are first killed by the insertion of a needle through the head. -The lobster trade is mostly in the hands of one salesman, Mr. Saunders, of -Thames Street, who often has upwards of 15,000 consigned to him of a -morning, and who causes no less than 15,000_l._ a year to flow into the -fishy palms of Norwegians for this single article of commerce. As to the -total supply of fish to the London market, we borrow the following -estimate from Mr. Mayhew's very clever book on "London Labour and the -London Poor." The figures seemed to us at first sight so enormous, that we -hesitatingly submitted the table to one of the largest salesmen who -assured us that it was no over-statement:-- - - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | Description of Fish. | No. of Fish.| Weight of Fish.| - |----------------------------------------|-------------|----------------| - | WET FISH. | | | - | | | lbs. | - |Salmon and salmon trout (29,000 boxes,} | | | - | 14 fish per box) } | 406,000| 3,480,000 | - |Live cod (averaging 10 lbs. each) | 400,000| 4,000,000 | - |Soles (averaging 1/4 lb. each) | 97,520,000| 26,880,000 | - |Whiting (averaging 6 oz. each) | 17,920,000| 6,720,000 | - |Haddock (averaging 2 lbs. each) | 2,470,000| 5,040,000 | - |Plaice (averaging 1 lb. each) | 33,600,000| 33,600,000 | - |Mackerel (averaging 1 lb. each) | 23,520,000| 23,520,000 | - |Fresh herrings (250,000 barrels, 700 } | | | - | fish per barrel) } | 175,000,000| 42,000,000 | - |Ditto in bulk |1,050,000,000| 252,000,000 | - |Sprats | | 4,000,000 | - |Eels from Holland (principally), }| |{ 1,505,280 | - | England, and Ireland (6 fish per lb.)}| 9,797,760 |{ 127,680 | - |Flounders (7,200 qrtns., 36 fish per }| | | - | qtn.) }| 259,200 | 43,200 | - |Dabs (7,500 qrtns., 36 fish per qrtn.) | 270,000 | 48,750 | - | | | | - | DRY FISH. | | | - | | | | - |Barrelled cod (15,000 barrels, 40 fish }| | | - | per barrel) }| 750,000 | 4,200,000 | - |Dried salt cod (5 lbs. each) | 1,600,000 | 8,000,000 | - |Smoked haddock (65,000 barrels, 300 }| | | - | fish per barrel) }| 19,500,000 | 10,920,000 | - |Bloaters (265,000 baskets, 150 fish per}| | | - | basket) }| 147,000,000 | 10,600,000 | - |Red herrings (100,000 barrels, 500 fish}| | | - | per barrel) }| 50,000,000 | 14,000,000 | - |Dried sprats (9,600 large bundles, 30 }| | | - |fish per bundle) }| 288,000| 96,000 | - | | | | - | SHELL FISH. | | | - | | | | - |Oysters | 495,896,000 | | - |Lobsters (averaging 1 lb. each fish) | 1,200,000 | 1,200,000 | - |Crabs (averaging 1 lb. each fish) | 600,000 | 600,000 | - |Shrimps (324 to a pint) | 498,428,648 | | - |Whelks (227 to half bushel) | 4,943,200 | | - |Mussels (1,000 to half bushel) | 50,400,000 | | - |Cockles (2,000 to half bushel) | 67,392,000 | | - |Periwinkles (4,000 to half bushel) | 304,000,000 | | - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - -And now for the _piece de resistance_. - -London has always been celebrated for the excellence of its meat, and her -sons do justice to it; at least it has become the universal impression -that they consume more, man for man, than any other town population in the -world. It was a sirloin, fresh and ruddy, hanging at the door of some -Giblett or Slater in a former century, that inspired, we suspect, the song -which ever since has stirred Englishmen in a foreign land, "The Roast Beef -of Old England." The visitor accustomed to the markets of our large -provincial towns would doubtless expect to find the emporium of the -live-stock trade for so vast a population of an imposing size. The -foreigner, after seeing the magnificence of our docks--the solidity and -span of our bridges--might naturally look for a national exposition of our -greatness in the chief market dedicated to that British beef which is the -boast of John Bull. What they do see in reality, if they have courage to -wend their way along any of the narrow tumble-down streets approaching to -Smithfield, which the great fire unfortunately spared, is an irregular -space bounded by dirty houses and the ragged party-walls of demolished -habitations, which give it the appearance of the site of a recent -conflagration--the whole space comprising just six acres, fifteen perches, -roads and public thoroughfares included. Into this narrow area, surrounded -with slaughter-houses, triperies, bone-boiling houses, gut-scraperies, -&c., the mutton-chops, scrags, saddles, legs, sirloins, and rounds, which -grace the smiling boards of our noble imperial capital throughout the -year, have, for the major part, been goaded and contused for the benefit -of the civic corporation installed at Guildhall.[22] The best time is -early in the morning--say one or two o'clock of the "great day," as the -last market before Christmas-day is called. On this occasion, not only the -space--calculated to hold 4,100 oxen and 30,000 sheep, besides calves and -pigs--is crammed, but the approaches around it overflow with live stock -for many hundred feet, and sometimes the cattle are seen blocking up the -passage as far as St. Sepulchre's church. If the stranger can make his way -through the crowd, and by means of some vantage-ground or door-step can -manage to raise himself a few feet above the general level, he sees before -him in one direction, by the dim red light of hundreds of torches, a -writhing party-coloured mass, surmounted by twisting horns, some in rows, -tied to rails which run along the whole length of the open space, some -gathered together in one struggling knot. In another quarter, the moving -torches reveal to him now and then, through the misty light, a couple of -acres of living wool, or roods of pigs' skins. If he ventures into this -closely wedged and labouring mass, he is enabled to watch more narrowly -the reason of the universal ferment among the beasts. - -The drover with his goad is forcing the cattle into the smallest possible -compass, and a little further on half a dozen men are making desperate -efforts to drag refractory oxen up to the rails with ropes. In the scuffle -which ensues the slipping of the ropes often snaps the fingers of the -persons who are conducting the operation, and there is scarce a drover in -the market who has not had some of his digits broken. The sheep, squeezed -into hurdles like figs into a drum, lie down upon each other, "and make no -sign;" the pigs, on the other hand, cry out before they are hurt. This -scene, which has more the appearance of a hideous nightmare than a weekly -exhibition in a civilised country, is accompanied by the barking of dogs, -the bellowing of cattle, the cursing of men, and the dull blows of -sticks--a charivari of sound that must be heard to be appreciated. The -hubbub gradually abates from twelve o'clock at night, the time of opening, -to its close at 3 P.M. next day; although during the whole period, as -fresh lots are "headed up," individual acts of cruelty continue. Can it -excite surprise that a state of things, the worst details of which we have -suppressed, because of the pain which such horrors excite, sometimes so -injures the stock that, to quote the words of one of the witnesses before -the Smithfield Commission, "a grazier will not know his own beast four -days after it has left him?" The meat itself suffers in quality; for -anything like fright or passion is well known to affect the blood, and -consequently the flesh. Beasts subjected to such disturbances will often -turn green within twenty-four hours after death. Mr. Slater, the -well-known butcher of Kensington and Jermyn-street, states that mutton is -often so disfigured by blows and the goad, that it cannot be sold for the -West-end tables. Many of the drovers we doubt not are ruffians, but we -believe the greater part of this cruelty is to be ascribed to the -market-place itself, which, considering the immense amount of business to -be got through on Mondays and Fridays, is absurdly and disgracefully -confined. According to the official account, the number of live stock -exhibited in 1853 was-- - - Oxen. Sheep. Calves. Pigs. Total. - 294,571 1,518,040 36,791 29,593 1,893,888 - -But this is far from giving a true idea of the whole amount brought into -London. Much stock arrives in the capital which never enters the great -mart. For example, Mr. Slater, who kills per week, on the average, 200 -sheep and from 20 to 25 oxen, says, in his evidence before the Smithfield -Commission, that he buys a great deal of his stock from the graziers in -Norfolk and Essex. Again, "town" pigs are slaughtered and sent direct to -the meat market, while many sheep are bought from the parks, where they -have been temporarily placed till they find a purchaser. A much more -correct estimate of the flocks and herds which are annually consumed in -London may be gathered from a report of the numbers transmitted by the -different lines of railway, compiled from official sources by Mr. Ormandy, -the cattle-traffic manager of the North-Western Railway. From this able -pamphlet we extract the following table:-- - - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | | Oxen. | Sheep. |Calves.| Pigs. | Total | - | | | | | |for 1853.| - | |-------|---------|-------|-------|---------| - |By Eastern Counties | 81,744| 277,735| 3,492| 23,427| 386,398| - | " L. & N. Western | 70,435| 248,445| 5,113| 24,287| 348,280| - | " Great Northern | 15,439| 120,333| 563| 8,973| 145,308| - | " Great Western | 6,813| 104,607| 2,320| 2,909| 116,649| - | " L. & S. Western | 4,885| 100,960| 1,781| 516| 108,142| - | " South Eastern | 875| 58,320| 114| 142| 59,451| - | " L. & B. & S. Coast | 863| 13,690| 117| 54| 14,724| - | " Sea from North of | | | | | | - | England and Scotland | 14,662| 11,141| 421| 3,672| 29,896| - | " Sea from Ireland | 2,311| 3,472| 21| 5,476| 11,280| - |Imported from the Continent| 55,065| 229,918| 25,720| 10,131| 320,834| - |Driven in by road, and from| | | | | | - | the neighbourhood of the | 69,096| 462,172| 62,114| 48,295| 641,647| - | metropolis (obtained from| | | | | | - | the toll-gate lessees) | | | | | | - | |-------|---------|-------|-------|---------| - |Total |322,188|1,630,793|101,776|127,852|2,182,609| - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ - -These numbers show at a glance what a part the railway plays in supplying -animal food to the metropolis, and how trifling in comparison is the -amount that travels up on foot. The Eastern Counties lines, penetrating -and monopolizing the rich breeding and fattening districts of Norfolk and -Essex, bring up the largest share. Many of the little black cattle, that -tourists see in Scotland climbing the hills like cats, come directly from -these counties, having some months before been sent thither from their -native north to clothe their bones with English substance. By the same -line we receive a fair portion of that great foreign contribution to our -larders, the mere shadow of which so frightened our graziers some years -ago, principally Danish stock, which finds its way from Tonning to -Lowestoff, a route newly opened up by the North of Europe Steam-ship -Company. The North-Western is next in rank as a carrier of live stock. -This line takes in the contributions from the Midland Counties, and, by -way of Liverpool, abundance of Irish and Scotch cattle. The Great Northern -is perhaps destined to surpass both in the quantities of food it will -eventually pour into London, running as it does through the northern -breeding districts, and receiving at its extremity the herds which come -from Aberdeen and its neighbourhood. - -The foreign supply last year of cattle, sheep, pigs, and calves, was more -than a seventh of the entire number sent to London. The daily bills of -entries at the Custom House furnishes us with a valuable indication of the -fields from which we have already received, and may in future expect to -receive still further additions of what Englishmen greatly covet--good -beef and mutton at a moderate price. The arrivals by steam in the port of -London in 1853 were as follows:-- - - +----------------------------------------------------------------+ - | _From_ |_Oxen._| _Sheep._ | _Calves._|_Pigs._|_Total._| - |-----------------|-------|----------|----------|-------|--------| - |Holland | 40,538| 172,730| 24,280| 9,370| 246,918| - |Denmark | 9,487| 7,515| 60| .. | 17,062| - |Hanseatic Towns | 4,366| 37,443| 1| 632| 42,442| - |Belgium | 449| 12,006| 1,244| .. | 13,699| - |France | 105| 224| 135| 129| 593| - |Portugal | 100| .. | .. | .. | 100| - |Spain | 17| .. | .. | .. | 17| - |Russia | 3| .. | .. | .. | 3| - | |-------|----------|----------|-------|--------| - |Total | 55,065| 229,918| 25,720| 10,131| 320,834| - -----------------------------------------------------------------+ - -Holland, Denmark, and the Hanseatic Towns, it will be seen, were the -principal contributors. A more striking example of the influence of the -legislation of one country in modifying the occupations of the people of -another could not be cited, than the manner in which Sir Robert Peel's -tariff revolutionized the character of Danish and Dutch farming. Before -1844 the pastures of the two countries, more especially the rich marshes -of Holland, were almost exclusively devoted to dairy purposes: the -abolition of the duty on live stock in that year quickly introduced a new -state of things. The farmers began to breed stock, and consequently -turnips and mangel-wurzel have been creeping over fields, where once the -dairy-maid carried the milking-pail, as gradually as one landscape -succeeds another in the Polytechnic dissolving views. We get now from both -countries excellent beef, especially from Jutland, whose lowing herds used -formerly to go to Hamburg--and who has not heard of the famous Hambro' -beef? We may expect in time to receive still finer meat from this quarter, -for the Danes have been sedulously improving their breed, and -agriculturists, who saw the beasts which were sent over to the last -Baker-street show, admitted that they were in every respect equal to our -own short-horns. It is gratifying to note how ready the world is to follow -our lead in the matter of stock-breeding. Bulls are bought up at fabulous -prices by foreigners, and especially by our cousins on the other side of -the Atlantic, for the purpose of raising the indigenous cattle to the -British standard. An American, for instance, purchased, for 1,000_l._, a -celebrated bull bred by Earl Ducie, though unfortunately the animal broke -his neck on his passage out. Another noble specimen was secured, we have -heard, for the same quarter, for 600_l._ - -The supply of sheep and lambs has, during the last twenty years, stood -nearly still; for in 1828 there were brought to market 1,412,032, and in -1849 but 1,417,000, or only an extra 4,000 for the 500,000 mouths which -have been added to the metropolis between these two periods. That London -has of late years abjured mutton, as our immediate ancestors appear to -have done pork, the evidence of our senses denies. How, then, are we to -explain this stagnation in the Smithfield returns? By the fact that a new -channel has been found in the rapid rise of Newgate market, the great -receptacle of country-killed meat brought up to town by the railways. -Those who remember the place forty years ago state that there were not -then twenty salesmen, and now there are two hundred. This enormous -development is due to steam, which bids fair to give Newgate, in the cold -season at least, the lead over Smithfield. The new agent has more than -quadrupled the area from which London draws its meat. Twenty years ago -eighty miles was the farthest distance from which carcases ever came; now -the Great Northern and North-Western railways, during the winter months, -bring hundreds of tons from as far north as Aberdeen, whilst some are -fetched from Hamburgh and Ostend. Country slaughtering will in time, we -have little doubt, deliver the capital from the nuisances which grow out -of this horrible trade. Aberdeen is in fact becoming little else than a -London _abattoir_. The style in which the butchers of that place dress and -pack the carcases leaves nothing to be desired, and in the course of the -year mountains of beef, mutton, pork, and veal arrive the night after it -is slaughtered in perfect condition. According to returns obligingly -forwarded to us by the different railway companies, we find that the -following was the weight of country-killed meat by the undermentioned -lines:-- - - Tons. - Eastern Counties 10,398 - North-Western 4,602 - Great Western 5,200 - Great Northern 13,152[23] - South-Eastern 1,035 - South-Western 2,000 - Brighton and South Coast 100 - ------ - 36,487 - -Thus no less than 36,487 tons of meat are annually "pitched" at Newgate -and Leadenhall markets. As the Scotch boats convey about 700 tons more, we -have at least 37,187 tons of country-killed meat brought into London by -steam, and these immense contributions are totally independent of the -amount slaughtered at Smithfield, which is estimated to average weekly -1,000 oxen, 3,000 sheep and lambs, and 400 calves and pigs. We have given -the average supply; but on some occasions the quantity is enormously -increased. The Eastern Counties line during one Christmas week deposited -at Newgate about 1,000 tons of meat; and the weight sent by other -companies on the same day would be proportionately large. No less than -forty waggons were waiting on one occasion to discharge their beef and -mutton into the market. And what does our reader imagine may be the area -in which nine-tenths of this mass of meat are sold? Just 2 roods 45 -perches, having one carriage entrance, which varies from 14 to 18 feet in -width, and four foot entrances, the widest of which is only 16 feet 6 -inches, and the narrowest 5 feet 8 inches. No wonder that, as we are -informed by more than one of the witnesses before the Smithfield Inquiry -Commission, there is often not sufficient space to expose the meat for -sale, and it becomes putrid in consequence. Though we have acquired the -fame of being a practical people, it must be confessed that we conduct -many of our every-day transactions in a blundering manner, when we cannot -provide commodious markets for perishable commodities, or even turn out an -omnibus that can be mounted without an effort of agility and daring. - -Mr. Giblett, the noted butcher, late of Bond Street, calculates that the -amount of meat brought by the railways into Newgate is three times that -supplied by the London carcase butchers, who annually send 52,000 oxen, -156,000 sheep, 10,400 calves, and 10,400 pigs. Taking this estimate, and -applying it also to the Leadenhall market, we shall have at - - +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ - | |_Beasts._| _Sheep._|_Calves._| _Pigs._| - |----------------------------|---------|---------|---------|--------| - |Newgate, meat | 156,000 | 468,000| 31,200 | 31,200| - |Leadenhall, ditto | 5,200 | 41,600| .. | .. | - | |---------|---------|---------|--------| - | | 161,200 | 509,600| 31,200 | 31,200| - |Live stock brought to London| 322,188 |1,630,793| 101,776 | 127,852| - | |---------|---------|---------|--------| - |Total supply of live stock }| | | | | - | and meat to London }| 483,388 |2,140,393| 132,976 | 159,052| - +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ - -This we are convinced is still below the truth, for we have not included -the country-killed meat sold at Farringdon and Whitechapel markets.[24] -The total value of this enormous supply of flesh cannot be much less than -fourteen millions annually. - -These figures demonstrate that the falling off of sheep sent to London is -solely because they now come to town in the form of mutton. It is sent to -a much greater extent than beef, in consequence of its arriving in finer -condition, being more easily carried, and better worth the cost of -conveyance on account of the larger proportion of prime joints. Indeed, -the entire carcase of the oxen never comes, since the coarse -boiling-pieces would have to pay the same carriage as the picked -"roastings." Newgate, be it remembered, is eminently a West End market, -and fully two-thirds of its meat find its way to that quarter of the town. -Accordingly, most of the beef "pitched" here consists of sirloins and -ribs; and, in addition to whole carcases of sheep, there are numerous -separate legs and saddles of mutton. This accounts for a fact that has -puzzled many, namely, how London manages to get such myriads of chops. Go -into any part of the metropolis, and look into the windows of the thousand -eating-houses and coffee-shops in the great thoroughfares, and in every -one of them there is the invariable blue dish with half a dozen juicy, -well-trimmed chops, crowned with a sprig of parsley. To justify such a -number, either fourfold the supply of sheep must come to London that we -have any account of, or in lieu of the ordinary number of vertebrae they -must possess as many as the great boa. When the prodigious store of -saddles which the country spares the town have once been seen the wonder -ceases. "Sometimes I cut 100 saddles into mutton-chops to supply the -eating-houses," says Mr. Banister, of Threadneedle Street. - -The weather preserves a most delicate balance between Newgate and -Smithfield. Winter is the busy time at the former market, when meat can be -carried any distance without fear of taint. As soon as summer sets in, -Smithfield takes its turn; for butchers then prefer to purchase live -stock, in order that they may kill them the exact moment they are -required. Sometimes as many as 1,200 beasts and from 12,000 to 15,000 -sheep are slaughtered in hot weather on a Friday night, in the -neighbourhood of Smithfield, for Saturday's market. Every precaution is -taken on the railways to keep the meat sweet. The Eastern Counties Company -provide "peds," or cloths cut to the shape of the carcase or joint, for -the use of their customers, and sometimes it is conveyed from the north in -boxes. When, in spite of care, it turns out to be tainted, the salesman to -whom it is consigned calls the officer of the market, by whom it is -forthwith sent to Cow Cross, and there burnt in the nacker's yard. -According, however, to a competent witness--Mr. Harper--bad meat in any -quantity can be disposed of in the metropolis to butchers living in low -neighbourhoods, who impose it upon the poor at night. "There is one shop, -I believe," he says, "doing 500_l._ per week in diseased meat. This firm -has a large foreign trade. The trade in diseased meat is very alarming, -and anything in the shape of flesh can be sold at about 1_d._ per pound or -8_d._ per stone." - -If the reader is not already surfeited with the mountains of meat we have -piled before his eyes, let us beg his attention for a few minutes to game -and poultry, which we bring on in their proper course. Leadenhall and -Newgate, as all the world knows, are the great metropolitan depots for -this class of food, especially the former, which receives perhaps -two-thirds of the entire supply. The quantities of game and wild birds -consigned to some of the large salesmen almost exceeds belief. After a few -successful battues in the Highlands, it is not at all unusual for one firm -to receive 5,000 head of game, and as many as 20,000 to 30,000 larks are -often sent up to market together. All other kinds of the feathered tribe -which are reputed good for food are received in proportionate abundance. -If it were not for the great salesmen, many a merry dinner would be -marred, for the retail poulterers would be totally incapable of executing -the constant and sudden orders for the banquets which are always -proceeding. The good people at the Crystal Palace have already learned to -consume, besides unnumbered other items, 600 chickens daily; and from this -we may guess how vast the wants of the entire metropolis. The sources from -which game and poultry are derived are fewer than might be imagined. The -Highlands and Yorkshire send up nearly all the grouse; and scores of -noblemen, members of Parliament, and other wealthy or enthusiastic -sportsmen, who are at this present moment beating over the moors, and -walking for their pleasure twenty-five miles a day, assist to furnish this -delicacy to the London public at a moderate rate. - -Pheasants and partridges mainly come from Norfolk and Suffolk; snipes from -the marshy lowlands of Holland, which also provides our entire supply of -teal, widgeon, and other kinds of wild fowl, with the exception of those -caught in the "decoys" of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. From Ostend -there are annually transmitted to London 600,000 tame rabbits, which are -reared for the purpose on the neighbouring sand dunes. We are indebted to -Ireland for flocks of plovers, and quails are brought from Egypt and the -south of Europe. In most of our poulterers' windows may be seen the long -wooden boxes, with a narrow slit, in which these latter birds are kept -until required for the spit. Not long since upwards of 17,000 came to -London _via_ Liverpool, whither they had been brought from the Campagna, -near Rome. Of the 2,000,000 of fowls that every year find a resting-place -_vis-a-vis_ to boiled tongues on our London tables, by far the greatest -quantity are drawn from the counties of Surrey and Sussex, where the -Dorking breed is in favour. Ireland also sends much poultry. No less than -1,400 tons of chickens, geese, and ducks are brought to town annually by -the Great Western Railway, most of which are from the neighbourhood of -Cork and Waterford, whence they are shipped to Bristol. Londoners are -accustomed to see shops of late years which profess to sell "West of -England produce," such as young pork, poultry, butter, and clouted cream. -All these delicacies are brought by the Great Western Railway, and are -principally the contributions of Somersetshire and Devonshire. The bulk of -the geese, ducks, and turkeys, however, come from Norfolk, Cambridge, -Essex, and Suffolk--four fat counties, which do much to supply the London -commissariat, the Eastern Counties Railway alone having brought thence -last year 22,462 tons of fish, flesh, fowl, and good red herrings. - -For pigeons we are indebted to "our fair enemy France," as Sir Philip -Sydney calls her, but now we trust our fast friend. They proceed -principally from the interior, and are shipped for our market from -Boulogne and Calais. How many eggs we get from across the Channel we -scarcely like to say. Mr. M'Culloch considers that the capital receives -from 70,000,000 to 75,000,000--a number which we think must be much below -the mark, seeing that the Brighton and South Coast line brings annually -2,600 tons, the produce of Belgium and France. At Bastoign, in the latter -country, there is a farm of 200 acres entirely devoted to the rearing of -poultry and the production of eggs for the supply of London. - -No perfectly accurate account can be given of the number per annum of -poultry, game, and wild birds which enter Leadenhall and Newgate markets; -but the following estimate was handed to us by a dealer who turns over -100,000_l._ a year in this trade. As the list takes no account of the -quantity which goes direct to the retailer, nor of the thousands sent as -presents, it must fall short of the actual consumption:-- - - Grouse 100,000 - Partridges 125,000 - Pheasants 70,000 - Snipes 80,000 - Wild Birds (mostly small) 150,000 - Plovers 150,000 - Quails 30,000 - Larks 400,000 - Widgeon 70,000 - Teal 30,000 - Wild Ducks 200,000 - Pigeons 400,000 - Domestic Fowls 2,000,000 - Geese 100,000 - Ducks 350,000 - Turkeys 104,000 - Hares 100,000 - Rabbits 1,300,000 - --------- - Total 5,759,000 - -In addition to its dead game and wild fowl, Leadenhall market is quite a -Noah's ark of live animals. Geese, ducks, swans, pigeons, and cocks, -bewilder you with their noise. Intermingled with these birds of a feather -are hawks, ferrets, dogs and cats, moving about in their wicker cages, and -almost aggravated to madness by the proximity of their prey. The major -portion of the live stock is designed either for sporting purposes or for -"petting" and breeding, and do not belong to the commissariat department. -Of the dead game and poultry, the seven railways bring to London about -7,871 tons weight in the course of the year. - -In taking leave of the poultry-yard we are reminded of the dairy, and of -the large establishments required to fill the milk-jugs of London. There -are at the present moment, as near as we can learn, 20,000 cows in the -metropolitan and suburban dairies, some of which number 500 cows apiece. -Even these gigantic establishments have been occasionally exceeded, and -one individual, several years ago, possessed 1,500 milkers--a fact fatal -to the popular superstition, that notwithstanding many attempts, no -dairyman could ever muster more than 999. The terrible ravages of -pleuro-pneumonia, which many believe to be a contagious disease, have -cured the passion for such extensive herds. The larger dairies of the -metropolis are on the whole admirably managed, and the cows luxuriate in -airy outhouses, but the smaller owners are often confined for space, and -the animals are sometimes cooped in sheds, placed in tiers one above -another. The country dairymaid laughs at the ignorance which the Londoner -betrays of rural matters when on a visit to her master, but she would be -perplexed in her turn if told that in the capital they fed the cows -chiefly upon brewers' grains, and milked them on the _second story_? A -few years since Mr. Rugg appalled the town, which had forgotten Matthew -Bramble, Esq., and the "New Bath Guide," by detailing a nauseous process -which he affirmed was in use among cunning milkmen for the adulteration of -their milk. There was, however, a great deal of exaggeration in the -account, and Dr. Hassell, whose analysis of various articles of food in -the _Lancet_ are widely known, states that the "iron-tailed cow" is the -main agent employed in the fraud, and that the only colouring matter he -has been enabled to discover is annatto. Nearly all the cream goes to the -West-End; and one dairyman living at Islington informed us that he made -1,200_l._ a year by the trade he carried on in that single article with -the fashionable part of the town. It must be evident, upon the least -consideration, that the London and suburban dairies alone could not supply -the metropolis. If each of the 20,000 cows give on the average twelve -quarts a day, the sum total would only be 240,000 quarts. If we suppose -this quantity to be increased by the exhaustless "iron-tailed cow," of -which Dr. Hassell speaks, to 300,000 quarts, the allowance to each -individual of the two millions and a quarter of population would be little -more than a quarter of a pint. This is clearly below the exigencies of the -tea-table, the nursery, and the kitchen, and we do not think we shall make -an overestimate if we assume that half as much again is daily consumed. -Here again the railway, which in some cases brings milk from as far as -eighty miles, makes up the deficiency. The Eastern Counties line conveyed -in 1853 to London, 3,174,179 quarts, the North-Western 144,000 quarts, the -Great Western 23,400 quarts, the Brighton and South Coast 100 tons, and -the Great Northern as much perhaps as the North-Western. The milk is -collected from the farmers by agents in the country, who sell it to the -milkmen, of whom there are 1,347, to distribute it over the town. In -course of time it is possible that town dairies may entirely disappear. -Cowsheds, often narrow and low, in thickly-populated localities, cannot be -as healthy for the animals as a purer atmosphere; and though experiment -has shown that they thrive admirably when stalled, the food they get in -these urban prisons can hardly be as wholesome as that provided by the -verdant pastures of the farm. The milk which comes by railway has, -however, this disadvantage, that it will not keep nearly so long as the -indigenous produce of the metropolitan dairies. The different companies -have constructed waggons lightly hung on springs, but the churning effect -of sudden joltings cannot be altogether got rid of. - -Of the vegetables and fruit that are brought into the various markets of -the capital, but especially to Covent Garden, a very large quantity is -grown in the immediate neighbourhood. From whatever quarter the railway -traveller approaches London, he perceives that the cultivation of the land -gradually heightens, until he arrives at those suburban residences which -form the advanced guards of the metropolis. The fields give place to -hedgeless gardens, in which, to use a phrase of Washington Irving, "the -furrows seem finished rather with the pencil than the plough." Acre after -acre flashes with hand-glasses, streaks of verdure are ruled in close -parallel lines across the soil with mathematical precision, interspersed -here and there with patches as sharp cut at the edges as though they were -pieces of green baize--these are the far-famed market-gardens. They are -principally situated in the long level tracts of land that must once have -been overflowed by the Thames--such as the flat alluvial soil known as the -Jerusalem Level, extending between London Bridge and Greenwich--and the -grounds about Fulham, Battersea, Chelsea, Putney, and Brentford. Mr. -Cuthill, who is perhaps the best authority on this subject, estimates that -there are 12,000 acres under cultivation for the supply of vegetables and -5,000 for fruit-trees. This seems an insufficient area for the supply of -so many mouths, but manure and active spade husbandry compensate for lack -of space. By these agencies four and sometimes five crops are extracted -from the land in the course of the year. The old-fashioned farmer, -accustomed to the restrictions of old-fashioned leases, would stare at -such a statement, and ask how long it would last. But his surprise would -be still greater at being told that after every clearance the ground is -deeply trenched, and its powers restored with a load of manure to every -thirty square feet of ground. This is the secret of the splendid return, -and it could be effected nowhere but in the neighbourhood of such cities -as London, where the produce of the fertilizer is sufficiently great to -keep down its price. And here we have a striking example of town and -country reciprocation. The same waggon that in the morning brings a load -of cabbages, is seen returning a few hours later filled with dung. An -exact balance as far as it goes is thus kept up, and the manure, instead -of remaining to fester among human beings, is carted away to make -vegetables. What a pity we cannot extend the system, and turn the whole -sewerage by drain-pipes entirely into the rural districts, to feed the -land, instead of allowing it, as we do, to run into the Thames and pollute -the water to be used in our dwellings. - -The care and attention bestowed by the market-gardeners is incredible to -those who have not witnessed it; every inch of ground is taken advantage -of--cultivation runs between the fruit-trees; storming-parties of cabbages -and cauliflowers swarm up to the very trunks of apple-trees; -raspberry-bushes are surrounded and cut off by young seedlings. If you see -an acre of celery growing in ridges, be sure that, on a narrow inspection, -you will find long files of young peas picking their way along the -furrows. Everything flourishes here except weeds, and you may go over a -150-acre piece of ground without discovering a single one. Quality, even -more than quantity, is attended to by the best growers; and they nurse -their plants as they would children. The visitor will sometimes see "the -heads" of an acre of cauliflowers one by one folded up in their own leaves -as carefully as an anxious wife wraps up an asthmatic husband on a -November night; and if rain should fall, attendants run to cover them up, -as quickly as they cover up the zoological specimens at the Crystal Palace -when the watering-pots are set to work. - -Insects and blight are also banished as strictly as from the court of -Oberon. To such a pitch is vigilance carried, that, according to a writer -in _Household Words_, blight and fungi are searched after with a -microscope, woodlice exterminated by bantems dressed in socks to prevent -too much scratching, and other destructive insects despatched by the aid -of batches of toads, purchased at the rate of six shillings a dozen! - -The continual extension of London is, however, rapidly encroaching upon -all the old market-gardens, and they are obliged to move farther a-field: -thus high cultivation, like a green fairy-ring, is gradually widening and -enlarging its circle round the metropolis. The coarser kinds of vegetables -are but sparingly grown in these valuable grounds, but come up in large -quantities from all parts of the country; and some of the choice kinds are -now reared far away in Devonshire and Cornwall, where they are favoured by -the climate. It would be interesting to get an authentic statement of the -acreage dedicated to fruit and vegetables for the London market, but we -find the information unattainable. Mr. Cuthill calculates that there are -200 acres employed around the metropolis in the growth of strawberries, -and 5 acres planted as mushroom-beds. Cucumbers were once very largely -cultivated. He has seen as many as 14 acres under hand-glasses in a single -domain, and has known 200,000 gherkins cut in a morning for the -pickle-merchants. Strangely enough, they have refused to grow well around -London ever since the outbreak of the potato disease. The disastrous -epidemic of 1849, we have little doubt, had much to do with the diminished -supply, for the cholera soon brought about the result desired by Mrs. -Gamp, "when cowcumbers is three for twopence," prices quite explanatory of -the indisposition of the land to produce them. The very high state of -cultivation in the metropolitan market-gardens necessitates the employment -of a large amount of labour; and it is supposed that no less than 35,000 -persons are engaged in the service of filling the vegetable and -dessert-dishes of the metropolis. This estimate leaves out those in the -provinces and on the Continent, which would, we doubt not, nearly double -the calculation, and show a troop of men and women as large as the entire -British army. There are five marts in London devoted to the sale of -fruit--Covent Garden, Spitalfields, the Borough, Farringdon, and -Portman-markets,--besides a vast number of street offsets, such as -Clare-market, in which hawkers generally stand with their barrows. Covent -Garden is not only their type, but it does nearly as much business as all -of them put together, and for that reason we shall dwell upon it to the -exclusion of the others. - -At the first dawn of morning in the midst of squalid London, sweet country -odours greet the early-riser, and cool orchards and green strawberry -slopes seem ever present to the mind. - -If those who seek pleasure in gaiety have never visited the market in its -prime, let them journey thither some summer morning, and note how fresh -will seem the air, and how full of life the people, after the languid -waltz in Grosvenor Square. The central alley of the "Garden," as it is -called by the costermongers, is one of the prettiest lounges in town; and, -whether by chance or design, it exhibits, in its arrangement from east to -west, a complete march of the seasons. At the western entrance the visitor -is greeted with the breath of flowers; and there they show in smiling -banks piled upon the stalls, or sorted with frilled edges into ladies' -bouquets. As he proceeds, he comes upon the more delicate spring -vegetables--pink shafts of the oriental-looking rhubarb, delicate cos -lettuce, &c.; still further along the arcade, the plate-glass windows on -either side display delicate fruits, done up in dainty boxes, and set off -with tinted paper shreds. Behind these windows also might be seen those -rarities which it is the pride of London market-gardeners to provide, and -in producing which they all struggle to steal the longest march upon -time--a sieve-full of early potatoes, each as small and costly as the egg -of a Cochin-China fowl--a basin-full of peas, at a guinea a pint--a -cucumber marked 5_s._, and strawberries 18_s._ the ounce. - -The market-gardeners of Penzance are beginning to send up many of these -early vegetables, the mildness of the south-western extremity of Cornwall -giving them a wonderful advantage over every other part of the kingdom. -Gentlemen's gardeners also contribute somewhat, by sending to the salesmen -such of the produce of their glazed houses as is not consumed in the -family, and receive articles in return of which they happen to have an -insufficient quantity themselves. These forced vegetables give way, it is -true, as the season advances; but when in, they are always most to be -found at that end of the walk nearest the rising sun. As the year -proceeds, the lustier and more natural fruits are displayed--peaches that -have ripened with blushing cheek to the wind, gigantic strawberries, -raspberries, nectarines, or blooming plums. Feathery pines add their -mellow hue; and when these fail, the colour deepens into amber piles of -oranges, umber filberts, and the rich brown of Spanish chestnuts, the -produce of the waning year. - -To leave, however, our fancied procession of the seasons, and to return to -the actual business of the market. As early as two o'clock in the morning, -a person looking down the dip of Piccadilly will perceive the first influx -of the daily supply of vegetables and fruit to Covent Garden market: -waggons of cabbages, built up and regularly faced, with the art rather of -the mason than the market-gardener; light spring-vans fragrant with -strawberries; and milk-white loads of turnips which slowly roll along the -great-western road, and bring the produce of the fertile alluvial shores -of the Thames to the great west-end mart. The pedestrian proceeding along -the southern and eastern roads sees the like stream of vegetable food -quietly converging to the same spot. From this hour, especially upon a -Saturday morning, until nine o'clock, the scene at the market itself is of -the most exciting description. - -Without some organization it would be impossible to receive and display to -the advantage of the buyer and seller the varied products that in the grey -of the morning pours into so limited a space. Accordingly, different -portions of it are dedicated to distinct classes of vegetables and fruits. -The finest of the delicate soft fruit, such as strawberries, peaches, &c., -are lodged, as we have mentioned, in the central alley of the market--the -inmost leaf of the rose. On the large covered space to the north of this -central alley is the wholesale fruit-station, fragrant with apples, pears, -greengages, or whatever is in season. The southern open space is -dedicated to cabbages and other vegetables; and the extreme south front is -wholly occupied by potato-salesmen. Around the whole quadrangle, during a -busy morning, there is a party-coloured fringe of waggons backed in -towards the central space, in which the light green of cabbages forms the -prevailing colour, interrupted here and there with the white of turnips, -or the deep orange of digit-like carrots; and as the spectator watches, -the whole mass is gradually absorbed into the centre of the market. -Meanwhile the space dedicated to wholesale fruit sales is all alive. -Columns of empty baskets twelve feet high seem progressing through the -crowd "of their own motion." The vans have arrived from the railways, and -rural England, side by side with the Continent, pours in its supplies from -many a sheltered mossy nook. It is very easy to discover by a glance which -are the home-grown, which the foreign contributions. There stand the -English baskets and sieves, solid and stout as Harry the Eighth, amidst -little hampers, as delicate as French ladies, and seemingly as incapable -of withstanding hard usage. Yet some of these have come from Algiers, -others from the south of France with greengages, and the majority from -Normandy. France is beginning to send large quantities of peaches and -nectarines, carefully packed with paper-shavings in small boxes; and even -strawberries this summer have found their way here from the same quarter. -The frosts which sometimes occur in the early part of the year, destroy -nearly all the fruit-crops in the neighbourhood of London; and were it not -for the bountiful stores which are brought from abroad, Covent Garden -would be little better than a desert. - -The repeal of the high duty upon foreign fruit has so far widened the -field of supply that it can no longer be destroyed by an unusual fall of -the mercury. By means of the telegraph, the steamboat, and the railroad, -we annul the effects of frost, obliterate the sea, and command, at a few -hours' notice, the produce of the Continent. When there is a dearth in -this country the fact is immediately noticed by the great fruit-dealers in -the City: the telegraph forthwith conveys the information to Holland, -France, and Belgium; and within forty hours steamers from one or other of -these countries will be seen making towards the Downs and adjoining -coasts, and in another six their cargoes, fresh plucked from the -neighbourhoods of old Norman abbeys and quaint Flemish stadthouses, are -blooming in Covent Garden. Fruit that will bear delay comes up the Thames -by boat, and is discharged at the wharfs near London Bridge, but the major -part eventually finds its way to the "Garden." The South-Western and -South-Eastern are the two principal lines for foreign fruit: the former -brings large quantities of Spanish and Portuguese produce--such as -oranges, grapes, melons, nuts, &c.; the latter conveys apples, pears, -strawberries, peaches, nectarines, &c., from Dover, to which place they -are brought by steamers. To show how enormous is the supply from abroad, -we give, on the authority of the goods-manager of the South-Eastern line, -the amount brought by them in one night:-- - - 100 tons of green peas from France. - 50 " of fruit from Kent. - 10 " of filberts from Kent. - 25 " of plums from France. - 10 " of black currants from France. - -In all 195 tons; out of which 135 were from across the water. The Brighton -and South Coast transmit the produce of Jersey and Dieppe--apples, pears, -and plums--to the extent last year of about 300 tons. Of vegetables the -Great Northern is the principal carrier; last year they brought to town -the enormous quantity of 45,819 tons of potatoes, besides 1,940 tons of -other vegetables. The potatoes mainly proceed from the fen country. -Walnuts generally come by the Antwerp boats, which sometimes carry cargoes -of between 400 and 500 tons. Everybody who has travelled in the Low -Countries remembers the magnificent walnut-trees which grow along the -sides of the canals as commonly as elms in our own country. These eke out -our scantier native stores, and help to make cosier the after-dinner chat -over the glass of port. During two mornings that we visited Covent Garden -we saw 613 bushel-baskets of strawberries that had just come from -Honfleur, and upwards of 1,000 baskets of greengages arrived from the same -neighbourhood during the week. As we gazed, on one of these occasions upon -the solid walls of baskets extending down the market, crowned with -parapets of peach and nectarine boxes, we wondered in our own minds -whether it would ever be all sold, and the wonder increased as waggon -after waggon arrived, piled up as high as the second-floor windows of the -piazza. Venturing to express this doubt to a lazy-looking man who was -plaiting the strands of a whip, "Blessee, sir," he replied without looking -up from his work, "the main part on 'em will be at Brummagem by -dinner-time." True enough, while we had been guessing and wondering, a -nimble fellow had run to the telegraph and inquired of Birmingham and a -few distant towns whether they were in want of certain fruits that -morning. The answer being in the affirmative, the vans turned round, -rattled off to the North-Western station, and in another hour the -superfluity of Covent Garden was rushing on its way to fill up the -deficiency of the midland counties. Thus the wire and steam, both at home -and abroad, cause the supply to respond instantly to the demand, however -wide apart the two principles may be working. - -The strawberry trade of Covent Garden is not likely, however, at present -to fall into the hands of foreigners. The London market-gardeners have -long looked with justice upon this fruit as particularly their own. By the -skill they have bestowed upon its culture it has advanced enormously, both -in flavour and size, from the old standard "hautboy" of our fathers, and -which foreigners mainly cultivate to the present day. Mr. Miatt, of -Deptford, is the great grower; by judicious grafting he has produced from -the old stock half-a-dozen different kinds, the most celebrated being the -"British Queen," which attains a prodigious size. Large quantities of -strawberries are sent to the market in light spring-vans. They are placed -in 1 lb. punnets or round willow baskets, or they are carefully piled in -pottles, and the process of "topping-up," as it is called, is considered -quite an art in the trade. The rarest and ripest fruit, which goes direct -to the pastrycooks, is still more deftly treated. Lest it should be -injured by jolting, horse is exchanged for human carriage. A procession of -eight or ten stout women, carrying baskets full of strawberry-pottles upon -their heads, may often be seen streaming in hot haste up Piccadilly, -preceded by a man, like so many sheep by a bell-wether. It is probable -that they have trudged all the way from Isleworth with the fruit, and, as -they frequently make two journeys in the day, the distance traversed is -not less than twenty-six miles. - -After strawberries, perhaps peas are the most important article produced -by the market-gardeners. Dealers, in order to consult the convenience of -hotel-keepers and such as require suddenly a large supply for the table, -keep them ready for the saucepan; and not the least curious feature of -Covent Garden, about midday, is to see a dense mass of women--generally -old--seated in rows at the corner of the market, engaged in shelling them. -One salesman often employs as many as 400 persons in this occupation. The -major part of these auxiliaries belong to the poor-houses around; they -obtain permission to go out for this purpose, and the shilling or eighteen -pence a-day earned by some of the more expert is gladly exchanged for the -monotonous rations of the parish. In the autumn, again, there will be a -row of poor creatures, extending along the whole north side of the square, -shelling walnuts, each person having two baskets, one for the nuts, -another for the shells, which are bought by the catsup-makers. The poor -flock from all parts of the town directly a job of the kind is to be had. -If a fog happens in November, thousands of link-boys and men spring up -with ready-made torches; if a frost occurs, hundreds of men are to be -found on the Serpentine and other park waters, to sweep the ice or to put -on your skates: there are, in the busy part of the town half-a-dozen -fellows ready of a wet day to rush simultaneously to call a cab "for your -honour;" and every crossing when it grows muddy almost instantly has its -man and broom. A sad comment this upon the large floating population of -starving labour always to be found in the streets of London. - -The busiest time at the market is about six o'clock, when the -costermongers surround Covent Garden with their barrows, and hundreds of -street hawkers, with their hand-baskets and trays, come for their day's -supply. The same system of purchase is pursued here as at -Billingsgate--the rich dealers buy largely and sell again, and the poorer -club their means and divide the produce. The regular street vender who -keeps his barrow, drawn by a donkey or a pony, looks down with a certain -contempt upon the inferior hawkers, principally Irish. They only deal in a -certain class of vegetables, such as peas, young potatoes, broccoli, or -cauliflowers, and have nothing to do with _mere greens_. Another class of -purchasers are the little girls who vend watercresses. Such is the demand -for cresses, that they are now largely cultivated for the market, the -spontaneous growth proving quite inadequate to the demand. They are -produced principally at "Spring Head," at Walthamstow, in Essex, and at -Cookham, Shrivenham, and Faringdon, on the line of the Great Western, -which brings to town no less than a ton a week of this wholesome breakfast -salad. The best, however, come from Camden Town. Most people fancy that -clear purling streams are necessary for their production; but the Camden -Town beds are planted in an old brick-field, watered by the Fleet Ditch; -and though the stream at this point is comparatively pure, they owe their -unusually luxuriant appearance to a certain admixture of the sewerage. A -great many hundreds of bunches are sold every morning in Covent Garden; -but the largest share goes to Farringdon Market. The entire supply to the -various metropolitan markets cannot be less than three tons weekly. -Rhubarb is almost wholly furnished by the London market-gardeners. It was -first introduced by Mr. Miatt forty years ago, who sent his two sons to -the Borough Market with five bunches, of which they only sold three. From -this time he continued its cultivation, notwithstanding the sneers at what -were called his "physic pies." As he predicted, it soon became a -favourite, and now hundreds of tons weight are sold in Covent Garden in -the course of the year. It would be impossible to give any precise account -of the fruit and vegetable produce that is poured day by day into London; -for the authorities themselves only know how many baskets arrive, not how -much they contain. The railway returns give us the quantity brought from a -distance, and we find that the seven lines transmit annually somewhere -about 70,000 tons of vegetables and soft green fruit. This is irrespective -of dried fruit, oranges, &c.--a business of itself, involving great -interests, and employing an immense capital, and of which we will say a -few words. - -The foreign-fruit trade has its head-quarters in the city. The pedestrian -who walks down Fish Street Hill would assuredly never surmise that at -certain seasons a regular fruit exhibition is kept up within those dull -brick houses, before which the tall column lifts its head. All the world -knows the Messrs. Keeling and Hunt, whose effigies seem to stand, in the -public eye, upon a vast pyramid of pine-apples. This firm hold sales of -various kinds of fruit in their auction-rooms in Monument Yard. On these -occasions the long apartments make a show, before which, for quantity at -least, that of Chiswick pales. Pine-apples by thousands, melons, forbidden -fruit, and mangoes, fill the room from end to end; so famous indeed is the -display, that there are lithographic engravings of it, in which the -salesmen are seen walking about as perplexed, apparently by the luscious -luxuriance around them, as Adam might have been in his own happy garden. -The pine-apple market is of modern date. The first cargo was brought over -about twenty years ago, and since that time the traffic has rapidly -increased, and at the present moment 300,000 pines come yearly into the -port of London, of which nine-tenths are consigned to Messrs. Keeling and -Hunt, the original importers. They are principally from the Bahamas, in -the West Indies, where they grow almost spontaneously; but of late years -they have been more carefully cultivated, and grafts of our best hothouse -pines have been taken out to improve their quality. There is a fleet of -clippers appropriated to the carriage across the sea of this single fruit. -The melons come from Spain, Portugal, and Holland. Spain is known to -abound in melons, for Murillo's beggar-boys are perpetually eating them; -but we believe it will be news to most Englishmen that the land of dykes -supplies London with fragrant cargoes of an almost tropical fruit. The -largest foreign-fruit trade, however, by far, is that in oranges. We -shall perhaps astonish our readers when we tell them that upwards of -60,000,000 are imported for the use of London alone, accompanied by not -less than 15,000,000 lemons. Any time between December and May the orange -clippers from the Azores and Lisbon may be seen unloading their cargoes in -the neighbourhood of the great stores in Pudding and Botolph Lanes. There -are 240 of these fast-sailing vessels engaged in the entire trade, and of -this fleet seventy at least are employed in supplying the windows of the -fruiterers and the apple-stalls of London. All these fruits, together with -nuts and walnuts, apples, plums, pears, and some peaches, &c., are -disposed of weekly at the auction sales in Monument Yard to the general -dealers, the majority of whom are located in Duke's Place, close at hand, -and are mostly Jews. Indeed we are informed that many of them are the -identical boys grown up to manhood that used some twenty-five years ago to -sell oranges about the streets, and whose old place has gradually been -taken by the Irish. They act as middlemen between the importers and the -tribe of peripatetics who, at certain times of the day, resort hither to -fill their baskets and barrows. Covent Garden also supplies retailers with -oranges and nuts, especially on Sunday mornings, when the place is -sometimes crowded like a fair. The following bill of quantities, drawn up -by Mr. Keeling, is derived, we believe, from the Custom House returns:-- - - _Fruit._ - - Apples 39,561 bushels. - Pears 19,742 " - Cherries 264,240 lbs. - Grapes 1,328,190 - Pine-apples 200,000 - Oranges 61,635,146 - Lemons 15,408,789 - - _Nuts._ - - Spanish nuts} 72,509 bushels - Barcolena } - Brazil 11,700 " - Chestnuts 26,250 " - Walnuts 36,088 " - Cocoa-nuts 1,255,009 " - -Of the amount of bread consumed in London we have no specific information, -but there are data which enable us to approximate to the truth. Porter, in -his "Progress of the Nation," gives us the returns of eight schools, -families, and institutions, containing 1,902 men, women, and children, -each of whom ate on the average 331-1/16 lbs. of bread per annum. Now if -we multiply this quantity by the number of the inhabitants of the -metropolis--2,500,000, or thereabouts--we have a total of 413,700,000 -half-quartern loaves of 2 lbs. weight each. The flour used in puddings, -pies, &c., we throw in as a kind of offset against the London babies under -one year old. Some of this bread is a contribution from the country, and -one Railway--the Eastern Counties--brought last year 237 tons 12 cwts. to -town. - -Now let us see how much sack goes to all this quantity of bread--with what -rivers of stout, &c., we wash down such mountains of flesh. According to -the excise returns, there were 747,050 quarters of malt consumed in London -in the year 1853 by the seventeen great brewers. As each quarter of malt, -with its proportionate allowance of hops, produces three and a half -barrels of beer, we get at the total brew of last year 1,614,675, or -pretty nearly a thousand million tumblers of ale and porter. On countless -sign-boards of the metropolis this last is advertised by the title of -"entire," and it is thus that the liquid and its name arose. Prior to the -year 1730, publicans were in the habit of selling ale, beer, and twopenny, -and the "thirsty souls" of that day were accustomed to combine either of -these in a drink called half-and-half. From this they proceeded to spin -"three threads," as they called it, or to have their glass filled from -each of the three taps. In the year 1730, however, a certain publican, -named Horwood, to save himself the trouble of making the triune mixture, -brewed a liquor intended to imitate the taste of the "three threads," and -to this he applied the term "entire." His concoction was approved, and, -being puffed as good porters' drink, it speedily came to be called porter -itself. Of the seventeen great London breweries, the house of Truman, -Hanbury, Buxton, and Co. stood in 1853 at the top of the list, having -consumed 140,000 quarters of malt, and paid to the excise 180,000_l._, or -enough to build two ninety-gun ships, at the usual cost of a thousand -pounds per gun. The visitor in proceeding through this establishment -realizes, perhaps better than in any other place, the enormous scale on -which certain creature-comforts for the use of the town are produced. As -he walks between the huge boilers in which 1,600 barrels are brewed nearly -every day, or makes the circuit of the four great vats, each containing -80,000 gallons of liquor, or loses himself amid the labyrinth of 135 -enormous reservoirs, which altogether hold 3,500,000 gallons--he begins to -fancy himself an inhabitant of Lilliput, who has gone astray in a -Brobdignagian cellar. There is a popular notion that the far-famed London -stout owes its flavour to the Thames water: this, however, is a "vulgar -error." Not even the Messrs. Barclay, who are upon the stream, draw any of -their supply from that source, but it is got entirely from wells, and -those sunk so deep, that they and the Messrs. Calvert, whose brewery is -half a mile distant upon the opposite side of the river, find they are -rivals for the same spring. When one brewery pumps, it drains the wells of -the other, and the firms are obliged to obtain their water on alternate -days. Whether it is owing to the increase of the great breweries and of -other manufactories, which alone consume millions of barrels of water -yearly, we know not, but it is an ascertained fact, that the depth of -water in the London wells has for the last twenty-five years been -diminishing at the rate of a foot a year. "It is comforting to reflect," -said one of the great brewers, "that the reason simply is, because the -water which used to be buried underground is now brought up to fill the -bodies, wash the faces, and turn the wheels of two millions and a half of -people." - -If the underground stock of water is shrinking, it has increased vastly on -the surface. The seven companies which supply the metropolis bring in -between them 44,000,000 gallons daily--a quantity which, large as it is, -could be delivered in twenty-four hours by a brook nine feet wide and -three feet deep, running at the rate of three feet per second, or a -little more than two miles per hour. - -The inability of figures to convey an adequate impression to the mind of -the series of units of which the sums are composed renders it impossible -to give more than a faint idea of the enormous supplies of food required -to victual the capital for a single year. But the conception may be -somewhat assisted by varying the process. Country papers now and then -astonish their readers by calculations to show how many times the steel -pens manufactured in England would form a necklace round their own little -town, or how many thousand miles the matches of their local factory would -extend if laid in a straight line from the centre of their market-place. -Let us try our hand on the same sort of picture, and endeavour to fill the -eye with a prospect that would satisfy the appetite of the far-famed -Dragon of Wantley himself. - -If we fix upon Hyde Park as our exhibition-ground, and pile together all -the barrels of beer consumed in London, they would form a thousand columns -not far short of a mile in perpendicular height. - -Let us imagine ourselves on the top of this tower, and we shall have a -look-out worthy of the feast we are about to summon to our feet. Herefrom -we might discover the Great Northern road stretching far away into the -length and breadth of the land. Lo! as we look, a mighty herd of oxen, -with loud bellowing, are beheld approaching from the north. For miles and -miles the mass of horns is conspicuous winding along the road, ten -abreast, and even thus the last animal of the herd would be 72 miles away, -and the drover goading his shrinking flank considerably beyond -Peterborough. On the other side of the park, as the clouds of dust clear -away, we see the great Western road, as far as the eye can reach, thronged -with a bleating mass of wool, and the shepherd at the end of the flock -(ten abreast) and the dog that is worrying the last sheep are just leaving -the environs of Bristol, 121 miles from our beer-built pillar. Along -Piccadily, Regent-street, the Strand, Fleet-street, Cheapside, and the -eastward Mile-end road line, for 7-1/2 miles, street and causeway are -thronged with calves, still ten abreast; and in the great parallel -thoroughfares of Bayswater-road, Oxford-street, and Holborn, we see -nothing for nine long miles but a slowly-pacing, deeply-grunting herd of -swine. As we watch this moving mass approaching from all points of the -horizon, the air suddenly becomes dark--a black pall seems drawn over the -sky--it is the great flock of birds--game, poultry, and wild-fowl, that, -like Mrs. Bond's ducks, are come up to be killed: as they fly wing to wing -and tail to beak they form a square whose superficies is not much less -than the whole enclosed portion of St. James's Park, or 51 acres. No -sooner does this huge flight clear away than we behold the park at our -feet inundated with hares and rabbits. - -Feeding 2,000 abreast, they extend from the marble arch to the round pond -in Kensington Gardens--at least a mile. Let us now pile up all the -half-quartern loaves consumed in the metropolis in the year, and we shall -find they form a pyramid which measures 200 square feet at its base, and -extends into the air a height of 1,293 feet, or nearly three times that of -St. Paul's. Turning now towards the sound of rushing waters, we find that -the seven companies are filling the mains for the day. If they were -allowed to flow into the area of the adjacent St. James's Park, they would -in the course of the 24 hours flood its entire space with a depth of 30 -inches of water, and the whole annual supply would be quite sufficient to -submerge the city (one mile square) ninety feet. Of the fish we confess we -are able to say nothing: when numbers mount to billions, the calculations -become too trying to our patience. We have little doubt, however, that -they would be quite sufficient to make the Serpentine one solid mass. Of -ham and bacon again, preserved meats, and all the countless comestibles we -have taken no account, and in truth they are little more to the great mass -than the ducks and geese were to Sancho Panza's celebrated mess--"the -skimmings of the pot." - -Such, then, is a slight sketch of the great London larder. It may be -imagined that many of these stores come to the metropolis only as to a -centre for redistribution, and are again scattered over the length and -breadth of the land. This, however, is not the case. The only line that -takes food in any quantities out of London is the North-Western. This -railway speeds into the midland counties, but especially to Birmingham, -350 tons of fish consigned to the country dealers, and to the nobility and -gentry. As we have before seen, van-loads of fruit are often despatched in -the same direction. The South-Eastern conveys large quantities of grain -down the line, and the London and Brighton and South Coast takes annually -to Brighton twenty-six tons of meat and 1,100 cattle; and here all the -food carried _out_ of London in bulk ends. A constant dribble of edibles, -it is true, is continually escaping by the passenger trains, of which the -railways take no notice in their goods-department traffic; but it must be -remembered that a much larger quantity is perpetually flowing unheeded -into the London commissariat through the same channels. Of the stout and -porter brewed in the metropolis by the great houses, again, one-seventh -perhaps finds its way abroad--a drop in comparison to that which must be -contributed by the 2,482 smaller brewers of the town, and the great -contingent supplied by Guinness, Allsopp, and other pale-ale brewers. This -simple statement will suffice to make it evident that in the foregoing -picture we have given anything but "heaped measure." - -The railways having poured this enormous amount of food into the -metropolis, as the main arteries feed the human body, it is distributed by -the various dealers into every quarter of the town, first into the -wholesale markets, or great centres, then into the sub-centres, or retail -tradesmen's shops, and lastly into the moving centres, or barrows of the -hawkers, by which means nourishment is poured into every corner of the -town, and the community at large is supplied as effectually as are the -countless tissues of the human body by the infinitely divided network of -capillary vessels. According to the census of 1851, these -food-distributors are classified in the following manner:-- - - _Males._ - - Grocers 6,475 - Cowkeepers and milksellers 3,372 - Cheesemongers 2,156 - Butchers 7,428 - Poulterers 551 - Fishmongers 2,238 - Other dealers in animal food 1,376 - Greengrocers 3,325 - Bakers 9,841 - Confectioners 1,806 - Other dealers in vegetable food 1,303 - Brewers 2,499 - Licensed victuallers and beer-shop-keepers, &c. 6,843 - Wine and spirit merchants 1,915 - Other dealers in drinks 3,805 - Saltmakers 37 - Water-providers 428 - Innkeepers 433 - ------ - 56,601 - - _Females._ - - Grocers 676 - Innkeepers 93 - Innkeepers' wives 217 - Cowkeepers 1,158 - Butchers 205 - Butchers' wives 3,086 - Fishmongers 151 - Others dealing in animal food 283 - Greengrocers 941 - Bakers 480 - Confectioners 542 - Other dealers in vegetable food 939 - Licensed victuallers and beer-shop-keepers 970 - Wives of ditto 4,440 - Wine and spirit merchants 15 - Other dealers in drinks 457 - ------ - 14,653 - -If to this total of 71,254 we add the wandering tribe of costermongers, -hawkers, and stall-keepers, estimated at 30,000 persons, we shall have an -army exceeding 100,000 persons; and, as indirectly there must be quadruple -this number of persons employed, the merest pauper among the population -has hundreds of invisible hands held out to provide him with the -necessaries and comforts of life. The smooth working of this great -distributive machine is due to the principle of competition--that spring -which so nicely adjusts all the varying conditions of life, and which, in -serving itself, does the best possible service to the community at large, -and accomplishes more than the cleverest system of centralization which -any individual mind could devise. - - - - -WOOLWICH ARSENAL. - - -In the year 1716 the brass guns which Marlborough had taken from the -French were being recast in the royal gun foundry in Moorfields, when a -young Swiss named Andrew Schalch, who was accidentally present, remarking -the dampness of the moulds and foreseeing the inevitable result, warned -Colonel Armstrong the then Surveyor-General, against being too close a -spectator of the operation. As Schalch foretold, an explosion took place, -and many workmen were killed. "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," -says the old proverb, and the bursting of the gun was the making of the -young foreigner's fortune; for in a few days an advertisement appeared in -one of the public papers requesting him to call upon Colonel Andrews, "as -the interview may be for his advantage." Andrew Schalch attended -accordingly, and was at once intrusted with the duty of seeking out a -better locality for the casting of the royal ordnance. He selected a -rabbit-warren at Woolwich, as the best site within twelve miles of the -metropolis, for the threefold reason that it was dry, near to the river, -and in the immediate neighbourhood of loam for the moulds. Strangely -enough, it has since been proved that the great nation of antiquity with -whom the British possess so many qualities in common, had been here -before. The Romans, whose second station on the Watling Street out of -London is supposed to have been at Hanging Wood, close at hand, seem to -have appropriated the sloping ground on which the original gun factory -stands for the purposes of a cemetery, for on digging the foundations of -some new buildings urns of their manufacture were discovered in large -quantities, and a very beautiful sepulchral vase, which is now in the -museum of the Royal Artillery Institution. Thus, where the conquerors of -the old world lay down to their last rest, we, the Romans of the present -age, forge the arms which make us masters of an empire beyond the dreams -of the imperial Caesars. - -As the visitor enters the great gate of the Arsenal he finds no difficulty -in tracing the whereabouts of the labours of Andrew, for straight before -him, with a stately solemnity which marked the conceptions of its builder, -Vanbrugh, stands the picturesque gun factory, with its high-pitched roof, -red brickwork, and carved porch, looking like a fine old gentleman amid -the factory ranges which within these few years have sprung up around. It -is impossible to contemplate this building without respect, for forth from -its portals have issued that victorious ordnance which since the days of -George II. has swept the battle grounds of the old and the new world. Up -to as late a date as the year 1842 the machinery within these stately old -edifices was almost as antiquated in character as themselves. The three -great boring-mills, moved by horses, which had been imported in 1780 as -astonishing wonders from the Hague, were the only engines used in England -in making her Majesty's ordnance till eighteen years ago. Such was the -state of efficiency of the oldest of the three great manufacturing -departments of the Arsenal! The more modern departments, known as the -Royal Carriage Factory and the Laboratory, have flourished during the -present century in an unequal degree. For fifty years the former of these -branches of the Arsenal has been more or less in a high state of -efficiency, through the introduction of machinery from the workshops of -Messrs. Bramah and Maudslay, and of the contrivances of Bentham and Sir I. -Brunei. The improvements which were due to their inventive genius rendered -this department highly efficient during the French war, on the conclusion -of which a long period of inactivity followed; and it was not until 1847 -that symptoms were manifested of renewed life under the able -superintendence of General Gordon, and still later of Colonel Colquhoun. -The Laboratory during the same period appears to have remained entirely -stationary, and up to the year 1853 was far inferior to that of any -third-rate power. The backward condition of the sole arsenal of England -during the long interval of peace seems at first sight remarkable, when we -consider the amount of mechanical ingenuity which had penetrated into -every factory in the kingdom; but when we remember that the instruments -and munitions of war are special articles, wanted only for special -periods, occurring at uncertain intervals of time, the wonder ceases. -Private manufacturers had no interest in forging instruments of -destruction, and the State having conquered "a lasting peace," Vulcan was -allowed to fall into a profound sleep--a sleep so unbroken, that the -nation listened for a moment to the voice of those Manchester charmers who -would fain have persuaded us the time was come when our swords could with -safety be turned into pruning-hooks. In the midst of this amiable delusion -the Northern Eagle attempted to seize upon the sick man, and Britain -instinctively flew to arms. This sudden spasm of war following upon a -forty years' peace at once disclosed the fact that we were totally -unprepared to wage it. There were not shells enough in the Arsenal to -furnish forth the first battering-train that went to the East, and the -fuses in store were of the date of Waterloo. A fourth part of the money -which we joyfully expended when the wolf was at the door would have been -thought the demand of a madman, when Europe was supposed to be one big -sheepfold. Economy prevented efficient progress; and though the -authorities had latterly originated reforms, their exertions were limited -by their scanty resources. As the war proceeded, the Ordnance were at -their wits' end for coarse-grained gunpowder, which, as it was not an -article of commerce, had to be specially made for them. Small arms were -wanted in haste, and could only be constructed at leisure. In these -straits the private manufacturers of the country were applied to; but in -many cases they had to learn a new art. Do what they would, with the power -of charging fabulous prices for shot and shell, ammunition, and small -arms, their powers of production were totally inadequate to meet the -strain of the great siege, the proportions of which grew larger day by -day. All the mills in England could not make powder at the rate at which -it was shot away--a rate which consumed 100,000 barrels before Sevastopol -was taken; nor could all the armouries of London and Birmingham make -rifled muskets and sabres fast enough for our men; consequently we were -obliged to go to Liege for 44,000 Minie guns, 3,000 cavalry swords, and -12,000 barrels of powder, and to the United States for 20,000 barrels -more. - -It may seem passing strange that England, whose manufacturing power is so -enormous, should have to resort to foreign manufacturers for the arms -wherewith to fight. Money in such a country, it is often said, can procure -anything, and money in this case was no object. The want of suitable -machinery was the cause of the difficulty. The manufacturers could only -make the articles demanded of them by skilled labour, which is a thing -that must be acquired before it can be hired. Old machines can be put to -extra duty; fresh machines can be readily supplied; but skilled labour is -a fixed capital which cannot be suddenly increased. The result was a -lamentable slowness of production and an extraordinary dearness of -price--the munitions of war in some cases more than doubled in value. It -is calculated that the shells for the Baltic fleet alone, which were -fabricated entirely by private manufacturers, cost upwards of L100,000 -more than they would have done had they been made by the new machinery -lately introduced into the Arsenal. A still stronger case, to show the -extraordinary prices which the Government had to pay contractors when the -demand was imperative and supply confined to two or three houses, was that -of the six-pounder diaphragm shells. They were charged by the contractors -at 73_l._ per ton, whilst the very same article is now made in the Royal -Laboratory at 14_l._ 19_s._ 2_d._ per ton. These exorbitant demands and -the rapid drain of the stores led the War Department to consider whether -it would not be better to organize a government establishment on the most -extensive scale, and on the most improved system; and it was ultimately -determined to adopt a plan by which it would be possible to expand or -contract the productive power, according to the exigencies of the service, -by means of machines which could be tended by untutored labourers and -boys. Accordingly, a very large number of the most ingenious machines -were procured from the United States, where the Springfield and Harper -Ferry Arsenals have long been famous for their admirable contrivances to -save human skill; while others were procured from the Continent and at -home by Mr. Anderson, the superintendent of machinery. In a very short -time a powerful factory of the munitions of war sprung into life, -verifying, for the ten-thousandth time, the truth of the proverb that -necessity is the mother of invention, or at least, as in this case, of -improvement. - -The introduction of machinery on a large scale put to flight the old -traditions of the Arsenal, and the manufacturing spirit had to be -substituted for the military organization under which the establishment -had been conducted before. Such was the energy and rapidity with which the -old Arsenal reformed itself, that we question if any private factory in -the kingdom is conducted upon a better system than is already at work -there. Within these three years factories have sprung up on every side, -and the whir of wheels, and the measured stroke of the steam-engine, can -now be heard over the whole of its immense area. - -The three manufacturing departments into which the Woolwich Arsenal is -divided are as follows:--The Royal Gun Factory, the Royal Carriage -Department, and the Royal Laboratory Department. Through these factories -we will conduct our readers, and endeavour to give them an idea how human -ingenuity has perfected the means to destroy human life. The gun -factories, by right of age, take precedence, although in point of interest -they present the least attractive features to the spectator. The fact -which most strikes him as he threads his way amid the Cyclopean machinery -is the slow, inevitable manner in which the different processes are -carried on. Here you see a large lathe turning the outside of an -eighteen-pounder, revolving as noiselessly and as readily as though it -were only turning a brass candlestick--a fixed tool cutting off its thin -shavings of metal with as much ease as if it were box-wood. In the next -machine a gun is being bored, the drill twisting its way down the fixed -mass, and a dropping shower of bright chips proving how resistlessly its -tooth moves on towards its appointed goal. A third machine cuts off the -"dead head" of a cannon. All guns are cast in the pits in a perpendicular -position, breech downwards, and are made at least one-third longer than -they are intended to be when finished. The reason for this is, that the -superincumbent metal forming the "dead head" of the piece may by its -weight condense the portion below it which is to form the true gun--the -extraordinary pressure of the powder requiring the metal to be extremely -close in order to withstand the strain. Besides these lathes, which do the -more ordinary work of the factory, there are what are termed exceptional -machines, to finish those parts of the gun which the lathe cannot touch, -such as the projecting sight, the trunnions, and that portion of the -barrel which lies between them. No increase has taken place in the size of -the Brass Gun Factory, although, through the energetic action of Colonel -Wilmot, its produce has been doubled since the breaking out of the war: -fourteen pieces of brass ordnance--six, nine, and eighteen pounders--can -be turned out weekly. Brass is used for field-pieces on account of its -resisting power being greater than that of iron. Experiments which have -lately been made, however, tend to show that steel is a far lighter and -better material even than brass for this purpose. A German, named Krupp, -has produced some steel pieces which bear an enormous charge; in fact, -when well made, it is almost impossible to burst them. The Emperor of the -French has already ordered 350 of these guns to be introduced into the -service, and probably we shall have to follow suit. - -The fine building[25] recently erected in connection with this department -is intended for the manufacture of iron ordnance, which has hitherto been -produced exclusively by private manufacturers. The experience of the late -war, however, determined the Government to furnish at least a portion of -these stores themselves. A thoroughly reliable gun must be worth any price -that its efficient manufacture demands; for the failing of a single piece -may lose a battle, and bring with it consequences which would be cheaply -averted by a park of artillery cast in gold. In the late campaign we were -prevented from striking a great blow through this very cause alone. At the -bombardment of Sweaborg no less than seventeen of the thirteen-inch -mortars were destroyed through a want of tenacity in the iron of which -they were composed. Many of these ponderous engines split after a few -rounds, and may now be seen on the wharf of the Arsenal cleft in twain as -clean as Tell's apple. Yet these mortars were made by the Carron and Low -Moor Companies, the most celebrated private manufacturers of such articles -in England. Had they stood the strain, we should have utterly destroyed -the fortifications of this stronghold, instead of burning a few sheds, -which made a great blaze without doing much mischief; and had we possessed -a sufficient number of these formidable engines, the destruction of -Cronstadt and Sevastopol would only have formed the work of a few days. -Though ours is a land both of iron and manufactures, our guns are of -inferior quality to those of other nations. The cannon captured at -Sevastopol are of better iron than the cannon we brought against them. -Several thousand tons weight of the guns dismounted from Cronstadt, in -order to make way for pieces of heavier calibre, were bought, we -understand, the other day by an English firm with the intention of -converting them into cranks and boilers, which require the very best -material. The Americans insist upon a tenacity of cast-iron for their -ordnance equal to a pressure of 34,000 lbs. on the square inch, and -sometimes obtain it equal to 45,000 lbs., whilst we, the greatest -manufacturers of iron in the world, have hitherto seldom obtained it of a -strength equal to 20,000 lbs. This great difficiency Government hope to -remedy by the institution of a series of experiments on all classes of -iron both foreign and indigenous. There is a curious machine in the Gun -Factory specially invented for the purpose of testing the tenacity of each -sample, its capacity of withstanding compression, its transverse -strength, and its power of resisting torsion. It is curious to see this -iron-limbed Samson wrestling with mighty bars of metal, and twisting and -tearing them across the grain like bits of stick. The fractured remnants -of the specimens and of the guns rent in the testing process in the -Marshes and at Shoeburyness are collected in a museum, the history of each -specimen being minutely given. Thus a curious and instructive record is -gradually being acquired, which will prove of infinite use in the -manufacture of heavy ordnance. It has been already ascertained that guns -are universally strengthened by having wrought iron rings put round -them--a fact which was discovered during the course of experiments with -the heavy cannon bored with an oval rifle to receive the Lancaster shell. -Several of them having burst at the muzzle, this simple expedient was -tried, and the guns so girded now bear the most extraordinary charges -without flinching. - -The new building for casting, boring, and finishing iron guns, is both -externally and internally the most imposing-looking of all the structures -erected to meet the exigencies of the Crimean war. These spacious -factories present more the appearance of first-class railway termini than -of ordinary workshops. They are lighted with what are termed saw-roof -lights, having a northern aspect; for the Vulcans who can work all day in -the burning blaze of furnaces do not, it appears, like to be distracted -with the confusing rays of the sun! The number of turning, boring, -finishing, planing, shaping, drilling, slotting, and punching machines -that revolve, thump, and slide here in ponderous grandeur is prodigious, -and there can be very little doubt that it will be the most perfect and -powerful factory in the world of its kind. Travelling-cranes, which run -upon railways poised in air overhead, command every inch of the factories, -so that cannon of the heaviest calibre for both land and sea -service--98-pounders weighing many tons can be slung from machine to -machine with the greatest ease. When the machinery is completed, the -foundry will be capable of turning out ten guns of the largest size per -week. - -The most interesting portion of the gun department is the factory devoted -to the construction of Lancaster shells. This odd-looking missile has a -form very similar to a champagne bottle, and, unlike the ordinary shell, -is made out of a single sheet of wrought iron. The slab of metal having -been welded into a cylindrical form, is submitted to an ingenious lathe, -which, acting upon it simultaneously with a dozen different tools inside -and out, speedily reduces it to a given weight and a perfectly uniform -thickness. The cylinder, about eighteen inches in length and ten in -diameter, is then made red hot, and whilst in this state is placed in the -grip of a powerful machine, which by a series of blows, equally -distributed over every part, converts it into the likeness of a French -bottle in less than five minutes, without the slightest sign of crumpling -in any portion of the surface. The operation can only be compared to the -manner in which a potter shapes a vessel upon the wheel. No less than -forty machines are employed on this special manufacture, and upwards of a -hundred shells can be turned out daily. The expense incurred in producing -with extreme accuracy and speed these curious missiles for the first -rifled gun adopted by the service, is an earnest of the determination of -the authorities to carry the manufacture of artillery to the same -perfection of finish as their small arms. Lancaster guns will in all -probability play a very important part in the next war, if war there -should ever unhappily be, as those in use in the Crimea made most splendid -practice, firing with nearly the accuracy of a rifle, and attaining a -range of 5,000 yards, or very nearly three miles. As these shells cost -about 25_s._ each, the expense of "passing the bottle" to the enemy is -rather a serious affair. - -By far the largest department of the Royal Arsenal is devoted to the -construction of carriages and packing-cases for moving artillery, baggage, -and the various munitions of war. At the present moment the carriage -department employs no less than three thousand hands, together with three -hundred machines, moved by twenty-three steam-engines, which do the work -of an additional twelve thousand men! The bulky nature of the material -dealt with, and the store-houses required for stowing it away, together -with the numerous workshops called into existence by the Crimean war, -have caused this department to burst its old bounds and to invade 250 -acres of the adjoining marsh--the area of the workshops alone covering -255,152 superficial feet, and the entire ground occupied being no less -than 1,445,440 feet. This immense amount of elbow room has enabled Colonel -Tulloch, the superintendent of the department, to systematize the -manufacture, and cause the timber to pass along in one unbroken progress -from the time when it is landed upon the wharf to the time when the -finished articles are delivered over to the storekeeper. If we follow this -stream from stage to stage, we shall catch a flying view of the operations -of this department, whose province it is to provide package and carriage -for the British army at home and abroad. - -The timber which forms the principal raw material employed is brought by -ships to the mouth of the canal which runs along the eastern side of the -Arsenal; here it is transferred to lighters which convey it some distance -inland to the quay in the immediate neighbourhood of the timber field. By -means of powerful derrick cranes, which can make a long or a short arm at -pleasure, it is next unloaded and swung upon the trucks of the railway -which ramifies through every portion of the premises, and forms the means -of communication between its different points. The trucks, when full, -immediately start with their burthen for the contiguous timber field, a -square space covering 20 acres. Here the huge logs are deposited in long -lines, which extend from one end of the field to the other, having -roadways between them laid with rails. Over each line or row of timber -strides a powerful travelling crane which, with a slight impulse given by -one man, is made to traverse from end to end of the row, depositing or -taking up in its way logs of oak or teak of many tons weight as easily as -Gulliver could have picked up the Lilliputians he bestrode. Before the -introduction of this powerful machinery, from fifty to one hundred pairs -of horses were employed in this department alone, all of which are now -dispensed with, and a saving effected of 6,000_l._ a-year. - -The usual store in the timber-field amounts to 60,000 loads in various -stages of seasoning. The varieties of climate in which the British army -has to serve are so many, that foreign woods have been introduced to -supply the place of oak, which cannot be found in quantities equal to the -demand. Thus we find in the timber-field sabicu, a dense East-Indian wood -which is used for the heavy blocks of gun carriages; pedouk, from the same -country, which is employed for a similar purpose; and iron bark, an -Australian wood. Of English timber, such as ash, elm, and beech, there is -a very large store. What is called wheel timber, on the soundness and -proper adaptation of which depends the safety of the artillery and -transport service, is entirely composed of the most graceful trees of our -woodlands; the spokes being made of oak, the naves of elm, the felloes or -rims of ash. Beech is also largely used for the fuses of shells and the -woodwork of saddles. When any particular logs are required, they are -selected by the timber-master, picked up by the travelling crane, hoisted -into the railway truck, and conveyed at once to the saw-mills close at -hand. On the threshold of the largest mill the logs meet with a grim -reception from an immense circular saw 66 inches in diameter, which at -once attacks the huge log and separates it as expeditiously as your -Eastern soldier divides with his scimitar a floating handkerchief. This -formidable instrument traverses a space of 30 feet, and is thus enabled to -fix its teeth upon the log at whatever part of the entrance it may chance -to lie. This transverse section performed, the divided portions are drawn -up by machinery into the saw-frames, the largest of which is capable of -receiving a log 4 feet square. Once within the mill's maw, as many saws -are put in as are necessary to divide the wood into slabs of the required -thickness, and a few minutes suffice to reduce it to planks. From the -mills the timber is removed again upon the railroad to the seasoning shed, -which covers 4 acres of ground. Here it is allowed to remain for years, so -stacked that the air fairly circulates through every portion of the -immense mass. The seasoning shed is to the timber master what his -wine-cellar is to a _bon vivant_. Here he treasures his bins of nine years -old oak as though it were wine of a famous vintage. This he keeps as -carefully as a young whist-player keeps his best trumps to the end of the -game, but with far more judgment, for old oak is precious beyond price, -and cannot be got for love or money at a moment's notice. In the dim -shadow of this monster store are also piled the completed articles of -land-transport that improve by age. That perpendicular wall of finished -woodwork contains the bodies of a thousand carriages which were prepared -to remove the British army from the pleateau of Sevastopol in anticipation -of an inland campaign; the round towers at the corners are their wheels -built up and left to season. Upon the thorough preparation of this part of -the carriage its safety depends. The wheels of omnibuses are always -allowed to remain two years before they are used, and by permitting them -this grace they behave well when at work, generally running over 43,000 -miles of ground before they are worn out. The wheels of gun-carriages -require to be even better prepared and seasoned, as they have to bear the -weight of enormous guns, and have often to run over the roughest ground, -without being in any way relieved from sudden shocks by springs. - -Upon this store of mellow wood the different factories draw; and the -railway which traverses every portion of it speedily conveys the raw -material to the benches of the workmen. As the visitor passes up the main -avenues of these splendid shops he is bewildered with the activity of the -swarms of artizans, the whirling of shafting, and the grating sounds of -circular saws. Clouds of sawdust are flying about, and in a moment cover -the intruder from head to foot. The immense amount of work sometimes -required to be performed at a brief notice has necessitated the -introduction of machinery into this branch of handicraft, which heretofore -was entirely carried on by manual labour. Let us take the ammunition and -powder cases for instance; these have to be provided by the hundred -thousand in time of war, and accordingly we find machinery employed in -every direction to shorten the work. Circular saws cut the planks into the -required size to form the sides and tops and bottoms of the cases; as -these issue from the different machines, they are conveyed away upon a -circular band of canvas, placed at right angles, to a broader band which -runs from one end of the factory to the other: down this band, as on a -broad stream, the various pieces sail until they reach the receptacle, -from which they are again conveyed to the machinery which is to put them -together. Here the drilling, mortising, and dowelling processes are -carried on by wholesale with an exactitude and speed which would astonish -the joiner of the old school. Upwards of a thousand ammunition boxes -formed of cedar, for repelling the wood-eating white ants of the East, are -now being prepared daily for the use of the Indian army. The powder-boxes -for the navy are made of a hexagonal form, to enable them to fit into the -ship's hold like cells of honeycomb. They are carefully lined either with -pewter or copper, and when filled are hermetically sealed with wax. The -limber-boxes for the field artillery are also made here in large -quantities. These receptacles are of a far more elaborate character than -the powder-cases, as they are fitted to take all the stores requisite for -immediate action, which are stowed away in their different compartments, -as neatly as the articles in a gentleman's dressing-case. The common -cartridge barrels are shaped out of the solid wood almost as fast as you -can look. One machine cuts the oak into staves, curved to the right form; -another cuts the edges, so that they may fit in a circle; a fourth turns -the head; a fifth receives the staves, which are placed by the attendant -on end in the form of a barrel, within the grip of a hydraulic press, -claps a hoop on the top and bottom, and with one squeeze completes the -operation. By such appliances a piece of solid oak plank is converted -within five minutes into a finished barrel. The total produce of -carefully-prepared powder-cases during the financial year 1856 was 25,331, -and of boxes for ammunition, shell, &c., no less than 287,171. How many -barrels can be made at a pinch we do not know, for the machinery is only -just put up, but the number must be enormous, and when the visitor -witnesses the nimble fingers of machinery galloping over the work, he -wonders how the business was ever got through in the old time of the -chisel, gouge, hammer, and plane. - -In the shops devoted to the manufacture of the gun-carriages and trucks -for the land and sea service, skilled artisans are employed, except in the -wheel department. The vast strength requisite to support and withstand the -recoil of 56, 64, and 98-pounders, necessitates the most solid -construction and the best workmanship. Some of these platforms for -traversing cannon, made of teak, and bolted and finished at the ends with -bright copper bands, look like handsome pieces of furniture rather than -ship's gun-carriages. Compared with these ponderous articles, the light -constructions fitted for the field-artillery seem like children's -playthings. Here they may be met with in every variety and in every stage -of progress, so substantially put together that the marvel is that they -ever wear out. The sort of succession of earthquakes, however, to which -they are subjected in a campaign tells even upon those solid joints, and -but few of the gun-carriages employed in the Crimea, although new when -they went out, returned fit for further service. - -The wheel department is one of the most interesting sights in the Arsenal. -Here the most ingenious machinery has been brought together to insure -sound and speedy production. Formerly the wheels were made entirely by -hand; now they are turned out without the aid of a single skilled -wheelwright. What is called the copying process, produces the nave and -spokes of the wheel, three or four of which are seen working side by side, -and the whole batch under the care of only one man. The circular rim of -the wheel, or felloe, is cut out of the solid block by an ingenious -ribbon-saw, imported from France. This saw is merely a narrow band of -steel, toothed on one edge and running over a wheel like an ordinary -leathern band attached to shafting. The exquisite manner in which it -fashions the most intricate patterns from thick slabs of wood is really -surprising. The felloes, after being thus roughly formed, are stacked to -season in a shed by themselves, where they are piled one upon the other in -vast pillars, down vistas of which the visitor passes, full of amazement -at their number. There are at present in store some sixty thousand of -these felloes and an equal number of naves, with their due complement of -spokes. - -As wheels are required, their component parts are brought to the shop, -finished and mortised by machinery, and then lightly adjusted to each -other. They are immediately placed within the grip of six hydraulic -presses, which are so arranged as to thrust towards a common centre. -Directly the wheel is adjusted within them, you hear the hiss of the -resistless engines, whose motive power is only a few pints of water; the -solid timbers groan, the joints painfully accommodate themselves to each -other, and in less time than the process takes to describe, the wheel is -lifted out solidly jointed, and only awaiting the tire to travel at once -under its superincumbent gun. The wheels of gun, limber, and ammunition -carriages are all made of exactly the same size, in order that they may be -interchangeable in case of accident. - -The effect of the sudden outbreak of the late war was, perhaps, more -beneficially felt upon the laboratory department of the Arsenal than any -other. Shells, of all the stores of war, were most deficient when the army -left for Varna, and the want increased as soon as actual campaigning -commenced. The authorities accordingly permitted Captain Boxer to erect a -model manufactory of shells in the autumn of 1855. This he did with -surprising rapidity, and proved to their satisfaction that these -formidable missiles could be manufactured five pounds a ton cheaper than -they could be procured from the contractors--an important saving on an -article of which several hundred tons had to be supplied per day. The -success of this experiment led to the erection of the splendid -shell-foundry which is now attached to the Arsenal, and which is capable -of turning out sufficient shells for all the armies of the world. Here may -be seen the process by which the old scrap iron of the establishment is -transformed into the finished shot and shell, and transferred by its own -weight to the transport ready to convey it to the seat of war. The -smelting process is carried on in a dozen enormous cupola furnaces, into -which the iron and coal are heaped indiscriminately. The fierce heat -generated by the blast rapidly melts the iron, which is then allowed to -flow into the shell-moulds. From the moment the metal enters these moulds, -the shell, in war time, never touches the ground till it is landed at its -port of debarkation! The rough shells, after they have cooled a little, -are forwarded by railway to the cleaning-room, where they are placed in a -revolving iron barrel, seven feet long and seven feet in diameter. This -machine circulates with rapidity, and the friction of the contained shells -speedily cleanses them of all sand and dirt. From this point they roll -through all the succeeding stages of their manufacture. A -slightly-inclined plane receives them at the cleaning-drum, and conducts -them one by one to the machinery fixed in the great room of the laboratory -department. Upwards of ten thousand shells per day passed through this -apartment during the late war, and were, on their passage, drilled and -"bushed," or fitted with the socket made to receive the fuse. This simple -fact will alone serve to show how energetically the work was carried on to -meet the wants of the great siege. The shells, having rolled through the -labyrinth of successive machines which operate upon them, now move onward -to the painting department, where they receive a coating of black varnish, -which prevents oxidation. Hence they continue their journey right across -the open ground of the Arsenal to the pier, under the platform of which -they keep their course inside an iron tube which leads immediately into -the barge alongside the transport in the river. From this barge, into -which they sometimes shoot with a considerable impulse, they roll again, -through the open port of the ship, to their appointed place in the hold. - -The chief factory of the laboratory department is the great sight of the -Arsenal, as here the visitor witnesses twenty or thirty most curious -operations, the more important only of which he can stop to examine amid -the whirlwind of machinery that everywhere meets his sight and vibrates on -his ear. The manufacture of elongated bullets for the rifles affords -perhaps the most startling novelty of all. The rifle itself is not a -greater advance upon old Brown Bess than is the Minie bullet upon the old -one-ounce ball. The apparatus now employed to produce it contrasts as -forcibly with the simple bullet-mould formerly in use. Instead of heating -the lead to a fluid state, it is simply warmed, in which condition it is -subjected to hydraulic pressure in a large iron vessel, which has but one -small aperture at the top, of the size of the intended elongated bullet. -Out of this hole the metal is driven in the form of a continuous rod of -lead, which, as it issues forth, rolls itself upon iron reels as though it -were so much cotton! The reels are then attached to a machine which draws -the metal between its teeth, bites it off to the required size, moulds the -cone, depresses the cup, and condenses the mass at the same moment. These -wonderful bullet-makers, when in full work, turn out five hundred -elongated bullets a minute, or upwards of a quarter of a million daily. To -complete the missile, the cup has to be filled with a boxwood plug to -ensure its proper expansion whilst in the act of leaving the gun. Here -again a partially self-acting apparatus is called into play, one lad being -sufficient to feed several machines with square rods of wood, the ends of -which are embraced by a circular hollow cutter, which instantly reduces -them to the right conical form, and then cuts them off. These little plugs -are produced at the same rate as the bullets. - -An equally interesting operation is the manufacture of percussion caps. -The first process in this light and delicate work is the stamping of -sheet-copper into pieces of the required form to make the caps. For this -purpose the copper is placed beneath the punch of the machine, and -immediately it is put in action, small crosses of metal are seen to fall -from it into a box in a continual stream, whilst the sheet itself is -transposed by the punching process into a kind of trellis-work. These -crosses of equilateral arms are now transferred to another machine, which -instantly doubles up the four arms, and at the same time so rounds them, -that they form a tube just the size of the gun-nipple, and by a third -operation of the same machine a kind of rim is given to the free end, -which makes the cap take the form of a hat. This rim marks the difference -between the military and the ordinary percussion cap--the soldier, in the -hurry and confusion of battle, requiring this guide to enable him to -apply the proper end to the nipple. The metal portion of the cap -completed, it is transferred to a man who fills it with detonating powder. -As this is a very dangerous process, the artisan upon whom the duty -devolves sits apart from the boys, who perform all the other work, for -fear of an accidental explosion. To fix the fine dust in the cap, a very -pretty machine is employed, which gets through its work with extreme -rapidity. The caps are placed in regular rows in a frame-work, to which is -attached a lever, armed with as many fine points as there are caps in a -single row. The motion given by the hand alternately dips these fine -points into a tray of varnish, and then into each succeeding line of caps. -When the varnish is dry, the powder is fixed and effectually protected -from the effects of damp. The caps are now finished, and are ready for the -boy who counts and packs them. Machinery is even employed to perform the -part of cocker, and with one gentle shake does the brain-work of many -minutes. A frame is constructed, into which fit a number of small trays, -each tray being pierced with seventy-five holes. Upon this frame the boy -heaps up a few handfuls of caps, and then gives the whole machine a few -jerks, and when he sees that every hole is filled with a cap, he lifts out -each separate tray and empties it into appropriate boxes. In this manner -he is enabled, with extreme rapidity, to count out his parcels of -seventy-five caps, the regulation number served to each soldier with sixty -rounds of ball-cartridge--the excess of fifteen being allowed for loss in -the flurry of action. The British soldier's clumsy fingers are by no means -well calculated for handling and adjusting such light articles. - -Equally curious with the production of caps is the manufacture of -cartridge-bags. The visitor, as he mounts the stairs to the upper floor of -a large building close at hand, is made aware by the hum and collision of -shrill young voices that he is approaching a hive of children, and as he -rears his head above the banisters, he finds that he is in the midst of a -little army of urchins, varying from eight to fourteen years of age, -seated at long benches rolling up paper cartridge-bags. This process -requires some little nicety, as each bag is made up of three distinct -papers of different sizes and shapes, which have to be neatly adjusted -round a roller one upon another. By long practice some of these little -fellows complete the operation in a surprisingly short space of -time--rolling, twisting in the end, tying, and drawing it from the rod -almost as quickly as you can look at them, the swaying of the body during -the operation giving to the entire mass of eight hundred children a most -extraordinary aggregate movement as the room is surveyed from one end to -the other. Some boys are infinitely more nimble-fingered than others, and -the sharpest earn eight or nine shillings a-week at the work. - -Nimble as their little fingers ply, however, the hands of machinery laugh -them to scorn. In the room below we note as we descend strange wheel-like -frames revolving horizontally, and others working up and down into tanks -of paper pulp. These are the new machines destined to supplant the little -children over-head, and to hush the ceaseless hum of their human labour. -Throughout the entire range of the Arsenal there is no sight more -interesting than is exhibited by these machines, the _modus operandi_ of -which is extremely simple. Circles of brass tubing have short upright -tubes inserted into them at regular distances. These upright tubes, or -fingers, are pierced with fine holes, and the whole apparatus is attached -to an exhausting-pump. Worsted mittens are fitted to the fingers, and when -all is ready, the Briarean hand is dipped into the bath of pulp, the air -in the tubes is withdrawn, the liquid necessarily rushes towards the -fingers, and the water passing through, leaves the pulp adherent to the -mitten. The process is instantaneous, hand after hand drops into the -trough, gloves its fingers with pulp, and rises with a thousand cartridges -in its grasp, quicker than one of the boys up stairs has finished a single -bag. The process is not complete, however, until they are dry. Each mitten -is removed from its metal finger, and placed on a similar one heated with -steam. In ten minutes the desiccating process is finished, and the -cartridge-bag is removed, a far more perfect instrument for its deadly -purpose than that which is made up stairs by hand. The hint for this -beautiful machine was taken from the apparatus employed for making -conical seamless sugar-bags without the intervention of the paper -maker--so diverse are the developments which may spring from the same -idea. Of these small-arm cartridge-bags, 400,000 can be manufactured in a -day of ten hours; but as each cartridge is composed of a double envelope, -one fitting within the other, in order to separate the conical ball from -the powder, the product furnishes 200,000 cartridges--an enormous -quantity, but scarcely equal to the demand of such campaigners as -Havelock, whose men, day by day, consumed their sixty rounds per head. At -first sight it seems strange to find the Government turned paper makers, -and the visitor may think that these bags could be obtained, as the -sugar-bags are by the grocers, from the private manufacturer, but it is -absolutely necessary that they should be produced side by side with their -deadly contents. They are far more delicate things to maintain in their -integrity than even wafer-biscuits, which they very much resemble, and -they are required in such enormous numbers, that any mechanical -impediment, such as crushing, interposed to the filling of them with -powder and ball, would add immensely to the expense. The pressure in -packing necessary to convey them to the Arsenal would flatten, and hence -destroy them. - -But where, asks the visitor, is the small-arms factory for the -construction of those far-famed rifles which prevented a disaster at -Inkermann, and at once doubled the effective power of the steadiest -infantry of Europe? And well may he ask the question, for what more -natural place for this important manufacture than in connexion with -kindred Government establishments? When the War Office decided upon -erecting a factory to meet the sudden demands of the war, it was proposed -by the Inspector of Machinery to plant it within the walls of the Arsenal; -but the authorities, for some reason best known to themselves, decided -otherwise, and it was accordingly taken to Enfield Lock, which is twelve -miles from London on the Eastern Counties Railway, and where they had -before a small establishment for the repair and manufacture of a limited -number of muskets. The traveller who gets out at the factory station -finds himself at once in a road which leads him into a flat country laced -with streams, where Paul Potter might have found a study at every turn. -Here, amid flocks and herds peacefully grazing, or standing in the shadows -of the pollard willows, he espies the tall chimneys of the Enfield -factory, looking like a stray fragment of Manchester that had wandered out -of its way. In all England a more absurd spot for it could not have been -chosen. - -The establishment, however, is so worthy of a minute inspection, that we -will proceed to give a general view of the whole. The threshold of the -manufacturing process is the smithery, where the foreman presides to -deliver out the raw material and receive in return the work done. To each -smith is issued the particular size of bar iron or steel required for the -article he works upon. Opening out of this shop is the smithery itself, -with its fifty-five forges, together with steam hammers, hoppers, rider -hammers, and other contrivances by which our modern Vulcan economises -labour. In this department all the iron and steel work of the lock and -stock are moulded, for the ordinary method of forging conveys a very -inadequate idea of the manner in which the material is here manipulated. -Every sportsman knows that the lock of a gun is made up of many small -pieces of irregular form. To forge these with the hammer alone would be -far too expensive a process, as it would require highly-skilled labour, -nor even then would it be possible to produce the different pieces of -exactly the same size, so that any one may fit into any other with perfect -accuracy when the gun is ultimately put together. To accomplish this end, -the essential principle of the manufacture, each smith with his helper -takes in hand a particular piece of work. One man, for instance, makes -hammers, or cocks, as sportsmen call them. The irregular form of this part -of the lock would seem to preclude the possibility of its being made by -the hundred-thousand, each one being the counterpart of its brother to the -thousandth of an inch. Yet this is done, and with an ease that appears -astonishing to the beholder. Let us watch the brawny smith before us. He -draws a rod from the fire at white heat, lays it upon an indented part of -his anvil, and, together with his mate, deals alternate blows in half a -dozen different directions, and produces in a few seconds an irregular -mass, which we see bears a resemblance to the indentation in the anvil, -which, on closer inspection, we find to be a rude matrix of a guncock. -This is the first process, called swaging. These two men go on from one -year's end to another, giving alternate light and heavy blows and taps on -all sides of the metal. These blows, though sometimes delivered through a -swinging circle of eight or ten feet, fall upon exactly the same spot, for -practice so nicely co-ordinates the muscles as to produce a motion as -exact as that which draws from the bow of a Paganini the same delicate -note for any number of times in succession. The cock thus swaged, the -smith stamps his initials upon it, and transfers it to another smith, who -works with a steam-hammer, on which is a steel die of the exact form it is -required to take. A single blow of this instrument gives it its final -form, leaving the superfluous metal in the shape of a thin film, where it -has been squeezed into the opening between the dies, which is cut off by a -subsequent stamping process. By this method of swaging and stamping, the -lock-plate, bridle, cock, sear, trigger, sightleaf, breech-screw, and -swivel are formed so perfectly, that the tool is scarcely required to -touch them afterwards. - -Those parts of the lock made of steel, such as the mainspring, searspring -and tumbler, are simply swaged, the stamping process being omitted on -account of the sudden blow tending to break the grain and thus destroy the -elasticity of the metal. - -A curious operation of the smithery is the bayonet forging. The bars for -bayonet-work are never forged of such uniform width as to allow the smith -to cut off to a nicety the length he requires. In order to rectify this -difficulty, and enable him to tell how much will serve his purpose, he is -provided with a water-gauge, or tube filled with a given quantity of -water; into this the rod is plunged, and withdrawn when the fluid reaches -the top of the gauge. By this expedient the iron, however irregular in -form, is measured accurately by the displacement of the water. When the -bar is withdrawn, the smith cuts it off at the watermark, and his mate -thrusts it into the forge fire. Whilst this is going on, the visitor -becomes conscious of a strange machine close at hand, which perpetually -gnashes together a mouthful of hardened steel teeth; this is that useful -instrument called the rider hammer. These teeth bear upon their upper and -under surfaces grooves of the form the iron bar is required to take. The -short white-heated bit of bar is thrust in, and by a series of nabs is -instantly lengthened a couple of inches; the next tooth still further -attenuates it, the third forces it into the triangular form, and a fourth -and fifth reduce it to the graduated length required: thus the blade of -this terrible weapon is rough-drawn. The ring by which it is attached to -the barrel of the musket is forged separately, and welded to the shank at -right angles. These are the first of at least seventy-six distinct -operations before the weapon is fitted to fulfil its appointed design, -that of making the ugliest and most irreparable wound possible in the -human corpus. The work done, it is returned to the foreman, whose first -duty is to see that the material with which the man has been debited has -wrought into the requisite number of pieces; if it falls short the waste -is charged to him. The next scrutiny is into the quality of the work, and -the last and not the least important inquiry is, does it gauge? Unless the -work passes all these ordeals it is rejected, and the person in fault is -known by the distinguishing mark of the smith who prepared it. In some -cases, as in the making of the bands which bind the barrel to the stock, -this mark is ground off in passing through one of the presses; but is -immediately restored, that the work may be traced to the artisan who -constructed it. The effect of thus fixing the responsibility of every -single thing manufactured upon the maker is immense, and induces habits of -carefulness such as are seldom seen in ordinary workmen. The foreman now -issues the different pieces to the finishers, who convey them to the -annealing room, where they are rendered soft for working by heat, and -cleaned of their scale or oxide, which would otherwise injure the tool, by -means of dilute sulphuric acid. - -The barrel is welded and finished in a separate factory. The piece of -metal out of which the gradually tapering tube is ultimately fashioned -seems to bear no relation to such a form. You see the smith take a small -plate of quarter-inch iron, about a foot long by a few inches wide, heat -it to a welding heat, and then place it between the lips of a rolling -mill, with grooved instead of flat rollers, and in an instant it comes out -a tube. It has next to be drawn out to the requisite length and tapered, -which is done by passing it through a series of mills, each succeeding one -being grooved smaller than the preceding. The bore is kept hollow during -the operation by a central iron rod. The breech piece is welded on by a -single blow of a steam-hammer, and the process of turning the bore begins. -Four barrels are acted upon by one lathe, and the first operation is -performed in fifteen minutes. Only a slight cutting is made each time, and -the barrel has to be submitted to the action of many different boring -instruments until the exact size, .577 of an inch, is attained. The -outside is now turned, the tool taking off the superfluous metal in one -continuous ringlet of iron. - -It now undergoes the most delicate process of all, that of being "viewed." -The viewer, who is a highly-skilled workman, with an exceedingly accurate -eye, puts himself opposite a gas-lamp, about thirty feet distance, and -which has a dark shade on its upper side. Towards this object he directs -the barrel so as to bring the dark edge half-way across his sight as he -looks through the bore. By this device he is enabled to direct a ray of -light with a defined edge down the tube, and by turning the barrel round, -instantly detects the slightest deviation from the straight line. As the -smoothest-looking sea is discovered to be a mass of dimpling ripples--(the -Greek poet's "infinite laughings of the sea")--when the setting sun throws -a golden shaft across its bosom, so the mathematically straight lines of -light gauge the inequalities of the rifle bore in a more exact manner than -any instrument that has yet been invented. When any irregularities are -discovered, the viewer taps the barrel with a fine hammer on a small -anvil, and repeats the operation until the tube is perfectly true. Upon -this depends the correct shooting of the gun, inasmuch as the least crook -near the end of the bore would send a bullet far on one side of the mark -long before it had attained the full range of 800 yards, to which the -Enfield rifle is sighted. The rifling of the barrel in three groves is -performed by fixing it in a lathe, and driving the cutter through it in a -spiral direction. - -In entering the finishing room, a noble apartment, 200 feet square, the -visitor cannot fail to be struck with astonishment at the scene this vast -workshop presents. He looks through a mass of wheels, levers, cranks, and -shafts, which fill the space from wall to wall, every foot alive with iron -and human limbs, and the whole superficies seeming to writhe and wrestle -like a cluster of worms. Although confusion looks triumphant to the casual -eye, the utmost order prevails. On one side of the room, at regular -intervals, small inclosed offices, with glazed fronts, are placed against -the wall, a little above the level of the floor. These are devoted to the -foremen of the different divisions into which the work is separated. Each -of these functionaries from his eyrie rakes the long avenues or streets of -machines, with their attendant workmen, which run in parallel lines across -the room. The first avenue is devoted to bayonets; then come in the -following order the divisions allocated to furniture, screw, sight, lock, -and stock. The work is so managed that all the different parts keep pace -together, and are finished in the required proportions; or in other words, -those pieces which are but slowly produced have allotted to them a greater -number of machines. By this arrangement all the requisite items are -brought at the same moment to the workmen who put them together in the -finished article. The fifty-six pieces of which the rifle is composed work -their way up one street of machinery and down another, constantly -following on from right to left on their way towards the top of the room. -Many of these pieces are passed through upwards of twenty different -machines, each one performing some simple and definite action, by which -means an accuracy is obtained that the most skilful gunmaker could never -equal by hand. - -The diversity of cutting-tools in these different machines strikes the -observer with astonishment; the oddest shapes, the most unlikely-looking -forms, proving admirably adapted for the purposes they are intended to -accomplish. Many of these work automatically--that is, they engage and -disengage themselves; setting to work only when they are fed with -material, and, when their rodent-like teeth have gnawed away as much metal -as is requisite, they stop of their own accord. The effect of this is so -extraordinary, that it almost seems as if those bright limbs of iron, -which stop and move on without human agency, must be directed by some sort -of metallic brain. The most common form of tool employed is what is termed -the circular cutter or milling-tool, which is constructed to fit every -class of work. These cutters will continue serviceable for months without -requiring to be sharpened, in consequence of each being restricted to its -own limited sphere. The amount of thought employed in the construction of -many of these machines must have been immense, and when they were -completed, two-thirds of the manufacturing difficulty was overcome, and -the musket more than half made. A most ingenious machine, the parent of a -numerous progeny, was, many years ago, invented by an Englishman, and -applied to copying the fine lines of statuary, and transferring them to -ivory and other materials. The applicability of this instrument to the -production of the irregular forms in the gun trade was first perceived by -our cousins across the Atlantic, and for many years they have employed it -for the rapid and true production of many parts of the musket, whilst our -own manufacturers in London and Birmingham have been content to execute -the same work, laboriously and expensively, by hand labour. The copying -machines now at Enfield have been imported direct from America. They are -principally employed in fashioning gun-stocks. They convert the rough -slabs of walnut-wood, just outlined in the proper form, which come from -France, Belgium and Italy, into the finished article, with all its -grooves, holes, and beddings for lock and barrel. This extraordinary -apparatus may be said to work with two hands: the one feeling the outline -of the pattern to be copied, the other directing a tool uniformly with it -and cutting the object to the required form. Let us, for example, take the -machine that hollows out the lock-bedding in the stock. Not only are the -outlines of the most irregular form, but they are sunk to three different -levels, and it would almost seem impossible that a machine should excavate -so complex a bedding with minute accuracy. Nevertheless, it is done in a -few minutes by an apparatus, which revolves and brings, one after the -other, some new tool into play according to the work to be done. Whilst -the operation is going on, a little blower clears out the chips as -cleverly as though the machine had human breath. The different portions of -the gun completed, they are, for the last time, gauged, and passed on to -the extreme end bench of the factory, near the west door, where the -"assembler," as he is termed, receives them in different bins, from which -he takes the part he requires and sets up the gun. As there is no -necessity for special fitting, this process is performed with remarkable -rapidity, seven minutes being sufficient to combine all the different -parts, which have never been near each other before--lock, stock, ramrod, -and bayonet--into the complete weapon. They now pass out of the western -door, packed in cases, and are taken to the proving-ground, where they are -tested with high charges and their range and accuracy duly examined; and -so perfect is the finish, that not one in a thousand fails to stand the -trying ordeal. They are now transferred by water to the Armoury at the -Tower, ready for service in the field. - -The Enfield rifle was adopted for the public service in the year 1853, and -is at the present moment the best infantry musket in Europe. There is -still room, however, as Mr. Whitworth has shown, for improvement in the -barrel. His rifle propels a bullet both farther and with greater accuracy, -in consequence of the greater care he bestows upon the barrel, which, -instead of being welded, is bored, at a great cost, out of the solid -metal. Its diameter also being smaller, the bullet encounters a less -resistance in the air during its flight. There is no reason why the -smaller bore should not be substituted for that of the Enfield rifle, -when this arm would be perfect. The difficulty the ablest minds experience -in getting out of an old groove was exemplified by the late Duke of -Wellington with respect to this question of the size of bore. His Grace -was obstinately wedded to Brown Bess, whose crushing fire, so superior to -that of the enemy, he had witnessed in his Peninsular campaigns, and which -he erroneously ascribed to the excellent quality of the arm instead of to -the steadiness of the men--mistaking, in fact, a moral for a physical -excellence. The longer the Commander-in-Chief lived, the firmer his faith -in the large smooth bore, and the necessity for making a big hole in the -enemy. When the rifle-musket of 1851 replaced this old arm, the large bore -was still retained, and the consequence was, that the bullet, being -elongated, was heavier than when round, and the soldier had to carry a -missile of 696 grains weight, instead of 490 grains. The bore of the -Enfield rifle pattern of 1853 was very properly reduced, and the Prichett -expanding bullet, of 530 grains, now carries its deadly weight in its -length. Though the wound it gives is not so large as that inflicted by the -old ball, it makes up for deficiency by its power of penetration. An -officer who was at the taking of the rifle-pits in the quarry before -Sevastopol informs us that a brother-officer was shot through the side by -a Russian Minie bullet, which afterwards passed through an ass, and his -two panniers of water, and did not stop in its career till it had broken a -man's arm at some distance off! Its deadly aim at vast distances, which -made it the dread of the sepoys, who termed it "the gun that kills without -making any sound," contrasts strangely with the performances of Brown Bess -of old, which at any range beyond a hundred yards was so uncertain in its -aim that it has been calculated that the soldier shot away the weight in -lead of every man that he hit. - -Before the breaking out of the war, our stores were hampered with -small-arms of all sizes and patterns. There were, at home and abroad, no -less than 109,725 flint-lock muskets, of fifteen different patterns, and -107,000 smooth-bore, percussion-lock muskets, of eight different patterns. -Very many of these were in service a few years ago; and as their bores -were all dissimilar, it often happened that the soldiers were provided -with cartridges that would not fit their guns. In peace little -difficulties of this kind are of no moment, but they are of the utmost -importance in the time of war. At the battle of Waterloo, the -Brunswickers, who held Hougoumont, were, for a short time, rendered -helpless, in consequence of cartridges having been sent to them that did -not fit their muskets. A battle, which, according to Professor Creasey, -ranks among the six decisive combats of the world, might thus have been -lost on account of the misfit of a cartridge. The necessity of preventing -the possible recurrence of such mischances induced the authorities, at the -breaking out of the Russian war, to make the bore of all muskets used by -the different branches of the service uniform with that of the Enfield -rifle. A thousand of these weapons can at present be completed in a -week--a number which appears large, but which is in reality far beneath -the real wants of the army. The private manufacturers of small-arms in -Birmingham denounced the establishment of this factory, on the plea that -Government were not warranted in fabricating goods which the private trade -of the country were capable of producing--an assertion which the Crimean -war totally disproved, as the authorities were so pressed for rifles that -they had to go to France,[26] Belgium, and the United States for supplies, -and at one time contemplated giving an order for 350,000 rifles at Liege. -The military rifle, like the shell, being a special article required only -by the army, the demand for it in large numbers is not constant, and hence -the low condition of the mechanical power brought to bear upon it by the -trade. The gunmakers of Birmingham have depended upon skilled labour for -the production of the different parts of a musket, and thus labour, in -times of pressure, becomes exorbitantly costly, to the embarrassment and -loss of the public service. It was this which led the Government to -introduce machinery into the manufacture--a thing the trade declared -impossible, but which they now see is not only possible but profitable, -since the same musket for which they charged 4_l._ 10_s._ is now made of a -superior quality by the Government for 3_l._ 15_s._ The experiment must be -of the greatest importance to the Birmingham gun trade, which, through its -own inherent vices, was fast yielding to the superior ingenuity of America -and Belgium, and which can only regain its old position by taking a lesson -from the organized mechanical resources of the Enfield Lock manufactory. -The private manufacturers need not fear that Enfield will monopolize even -Government work, the demands of the service being far beyond its -productive powers. As the Ordnance supplies rifles to our army in India, -as well as to the home and colonial force, no less than 400,000 are -required for the infantry and marines alone: a number which has to be -replaced every twelve years, even in times of peace. In active service the -destruction is immense; and now the cycle of war has returned, the annual -50,000 rifles turned out by the royal factory will prove but a small -instalment of the vast store of arms that England will require. - -At Waltham Abbey, not half an hour's walk from Enfield Lock, is situated -the only establishment for the manufacture of powder which the Government -possesses. Here dispersion, instead of concentration, is the order of the -day. The necessity for complete isolation causes the factories to be -distributed over a very large space of ground, and the visitor has to walk -from workshop to workshop through groves and avenues of willow and alder, -as though he were visiting dispersed farm-buildings rather than the -different departments of the same manufacturing process. There are not -perhaps more than a dozen detached buildings in the whole establishment, -yet these are scattered over upwards of fifty acres of ground. To such an -extent do meadows and woods and meandering canals predominate, that the -idea of being in a powder-mill is entirely lost in the impression that you -are walking in a Dutch landscape. The visitor who enters the great gates -of the mill, impressed with a belief in the dangerous nature of the ground -he is treading, is somewhat startled on finding a steam-engine at work on -the very threshold of the factory, and a tall chimney smoking its pipe in -what he supposed to be the vicinity of hundreds of barrels of gunpowder; -but in reality these boilers and furnaces are placed many hundred feet -from the mixing-houses. The English Government powder is composed of -seventy-five parts of saltpetre, fifteen parts of charcoal, and ten of -sulphur. The ingredients, being thoroughly powdered, prepared, and -purified, are submitted to the action of a machine, which completely mixes -them. The product is then conveyed by a covered boat, very much like an -aldermanic gondola in mourning, some hundred yards along the canal to the -incorporating houses, where the most important process of the manufacture -is carried on, and where the danger of an explosion first commences. The -incorporating machine is nothing more than a couple of runners or huge -wheels, weighing four and a half tons each, which revolve one after -another on their edges in a bed of metal supplied with a deep wooden rim, -which gives it much the appearance of a huge kitchen candlestick. Into -this dish the black powder is placed, together with a little water, which -varies in quantity, from four pints in winter, when the atmosphere is -charged with moisture, to ten in the summer, when the desiccating quality -of the air is very great. For four hours this pasty mass is crushed, -ground, and mixed by the action of the runners. The precautions taken -against explosion teach the visitor the dangerous nature of the ground he -is treading. Before he puts his feet across the threshold he must encase -them in leathern boots huge enough to fit Polyphemus, and guiltless of -iron in any form whatever; even his umbrella or stick is snatched from -him, lest the ferrule should strike fire, or accidentally drop among any -part of the machinery whilst at work. The machinery is even protected -against itself. In order to avoid the possibility of the linch-pins which -confine the cylinders to their axles falling down, and by the action of -"skidding" the runner, producing so much friction as to cause an -explosion, receptacles are formed to catch them in their fall. As small -pieces of grit, the natural enemy of the powder-maker, might prove -dangerous if mixed with any of the "charges," the axle sockets of nearly -all the wheels are constructed to expand, so as to allow any hard foreign -body to pass through just in the same manner in which the fine jaws of the -larger serpents are loosely hinged, to enable them to get over at one gulp -such a bulky morsel as a full-grown rabbit. - -Accidents will happen, however, in the best-regulated mills, and provision -is made for rendering an explosion when it occurs as innocuous as -possible. The new incorporating mills are constructed with three sides of -solid brickwork three feet thick, and the fourth side and roof of -corrugated iron and glass lightly adjusted. As they are placed in a row -contiguous to each other, the alternate ones only face the same way, so -that the line of fire, or the direction the explosion would take through -the weakest end, would not be likely to involve in destruction the -neighbouring mill. It does occasionally happen, however, that the -precautions are not sufficient to prevent danger spreading. In the great -explosion which took place in 1842 a second house was fired at a couple of -hundred yards distance from the spot where the original explosion took -place. There is now a further security against the houses going one after -another, like houses of cards. Over each mill a copper tank, containing -about forty gallons of water, is so suspended that on the lifting of a -lever it instantly discharges its contents and floods the mill. This -shower or douche bath is made self-acting, inasmuch as the explosion -itself pulls the string, the force of the expanding gas lifting up a -hinged shutter which acts like a trigger to let down the water. "But," it -may be said, "as the water does not fall until the explosion has taken -place, this contrivance is very like locking the stable door when the -steed is stolen!" And this is the case with respect to the mill where the -original mischief took place; but the lever first acted upon discharges -the shower-bath over the heads of all the others also, and by this means -the evil is limited to the place where it originated. From the -incorporating mills the kneading powder, or "mill cake," as it is termed, -is taken by another funeral-looking gondola to small expense-magazines, -where it is allowed to remain for twelve hours before being taken to the -breaking-down house. Here the hard lumps of mill cake are ground into fine -powder by the action of fine-toothed rollers made of gun-metal, which -revolve towards each other and crush the cake which falls between them to -dust. The broken-down mill cake once more travels between pleasant meadows -fringed with willow until it reaches the press house, where the meal is -subjected to hydraulic pressure between plates of gun-metal, and is -thereby reduced to dense plates about half an inch thick. These plates are -allowed to remain intact for a couple of days, by which time they become -as hard as a piece of fine pottery. Very many advantages are gained by -this pressure. The density of the powder is increased, which enables it to -be conveyed without working into fine dust; its keeping qualities are -improved, as it absorbs less moisture than if it were more porous; and -lastly, a greater volume of inflammable gas is produced from a given bulk. - -The pressed cake is now transferred to the maw of one of the most -extraordinary machines we have yet witnessed. The granulating house, where -the important process of dividing the powder into fine grains takes place, -is removed very far away from the other buildings. The danger of the -operation carried on within is implied by the strong traverse fifteen feet -thick at the bottom, which is intended to act as a shield to the workmen -in case of an accident. It was here an explosion took place in 1843, by -which eight workmen lost their lives--in what manner no one knows, as all -the evidence was swept away. To render the recurrence of such lamentable -accidents as rare as possible, the machine is made self-acting. At -certain times of the day it is supplied with food in the shape of fifteen -hundredweight of "pressed cake." This is stuffed into a large hopper or -pouch, and the moment the monster is ready, the men retire beyond the -strong traverse and allow it slowly to masticate its meal, which it does -with a deliberation worthy of its ponderosity and strength, emptying its -pouch by degrees, and by a triturating process performed by two or three -sets of fine rollers, dividing it into different-sized grains. These -grains it passes through a series of wire sieves, separating the larger -ones fitted for cannon powder from the finer kind required for rifles, and -depositing them in their appropriate boxes, which, when full, it removes -from its own dangerous proximity, and takes up empty ones in their place. -All the larger undigested pieces it returns again, like a ruminating -animal, to its masticating process until its supply is exhausted. Then, -and not till then, like Mademoiselle Jack, the famous elephant, it rings a -bell for some fresh "cake." The workmen allow it about five minutes' grace -to thoroughly assimilate the supply already in its maw, when the machine -stops, and they enter with another meal. The floors of all the different -houses are covered with leather neatly fastened down with copper nails, -and the brush is never out of the hands of the workman: even while you are -talking to him, he sweeps away in the gravest manner in order to remove -any particles of powder or grit that maybe on the floor; this he does -mechanically, when not a particle of anything is to be seen, just as a -sailor in a crack ship always holystones the deck, clean or dirty, the -moment he has any spare time. - -The powder thus separated into grains is still damp and full of dust. To -get rid of this it is taken by water to the dusting-house, where it is -bolted in a reel like so much flour. It has now to be glazed, a very -important operation, performed by placing it in large barrels, which -revolve with their load thirty-two times a minute for three hours -together. By the mere friction of the grains against each other and the -sides of the barrel, a fine polish is imparted to the surface of the -grain, which enables it to withstand the action of the atmosphere much -better than when it is left unglazed. It is now stoved for sixteen hours -in a drying-room heated by steam pipes to a heat of 130 deg. Fahrenheit, and -is then finally dusted and proved. There are many methods of proving, but -the simplest and most efficacious is to fire the powder from the weapon it -is intended to serve. Thus cannon powder is proved by firing a 68-pound -solid shot with a charge of two ounces of powder--a charge which should -give a range of from 270 to 300 feet. If the powder passes the test, which -it generally does, it is packed in barrels holding 100 lbs. each, marked -L. G. (Large Grain), and F. G. (Fine Grain), as the case may be, and -carried to the provisional magazine. When 500 barrels have accumulated -they are despatched in a barge to the Government magazine at Purfleet, -near the mouth of the Thames, the Lea forming the connecting link of water -between the canals of the works and that river. - -The produce of this establishment, which had fallen so low as 4,500 -barrels per annum in 1843, is now so increased by improved machinery that -20,000 barrels a year can be manufactured, and of the very best quality. -Even this supply is far below the consumption during a time of war, and -contractors have, and always will have, to furnish a portion of the -required supplies; but it seems that a model mill is useful for the double -purpose of keeping up a due standard of quality,[27] and of keeping down -price. On the uniform strength of the powder depends the accuracy of -artillery fire: hence the necessity of having some known standard of -quality from which contractors should not be allowed to depart. The -improvements which have taken place in the manufacture are very marked. -About the year 1790, when powder was supplied to Government wholly by -contract, the regulation weight of charge for a cannon was half the weight -of the ball; it is now less than one-third: therefore two barrels are now -used instead of three, a reduction of bulk which economizes stowage on -board ship as well as in the field. Formerly powder had a range of 190 -feet only; the range is now increased to 268 feet! This vast improvement -is simply the consequence of the care with which the powder is worked, and -the attention bestowed on every detail of the mills since their direction -fell into the hands of Colonel Tulloh, Colonel Dickson, and Colonel -Askwith, the present Superintendent. - -There is a department at the Woolwich Arsenal to which we must now return, -of which the establishments at Enfield and Waltham Abbey may be considered -but outlying offshoots. Beyond the canal, at the extreme end of the -ground, lie the establishments devoted to the more dangerous portions of -pyrotechnic manufacture, such as the filling of rockets, of -friction-tubes, the driving of fuses, &c. These ticklish operations used -to be conducted in ill-built sheds in the laboratory square, where a sad -explosion took place during the war, and Captain Boxer, determining to -reduce the risk of accidents, transferred the whole of them in 1854 to -this open space, far away from the neighbourhood of fire. The sixteen -houses used for fuse-driving and friction-tube-making are isolated from -each other much in the same manner as the incorporating mills at Waltham -Abbey: we need not therefore describe them. The rocket manufactory is also -so carefully arranged that accidents can rarely happen. The method of -driving the composition into these frightfully destructive implements of -war was, until lately, not only barbarous but dangerous in the extreme, -being forced in by a "monkey," or small pile-driver, worked by eight men. -The pressure of water now does the work silently, effectually, and safely. -The rocket is so fixed while it is being filled, that in case of an -accident the discharge will fly through the roof; grit and iron are as -carefully excluded as in the powder mills; open spaces around the -buildings are covered with turf and planted with shrubs, and a raised -causeway of wood keeps the communications between the different magazines -free from all substances likely to produce friction. The visitor may no -more enter one of these carefully-guarded buildings with his shoes on than -he could walk into the mosque of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, similarly -shod. With equal care the process of greasing the bullet end of the -small-arm cartridges is carried on in this portion of the Arsenal. For a -long time no lubricating material could be found that remained unaffected -in all climates--a very important desideratum, considering the manner in -which our stores of war are moved about from the depths of arctic waters -to the burning summers of the torrid zone. Captain Boxer, however, in a -happy moment, thought of the little busy insect that builds a store-house -warranted to keep in all temperatures, and adopted bees' wax, which, added -to a little fat, makes a compound which answers the purpose perfectly. The -cartridges are dipped about an inch deep into a receptacle of this liquid -kept fluid by the heat of gas. As we watched the process going on, we -could not avoid reflecting from what insignificant causes great events -arise, and that a rebellion which well-nigh snatched India from our grasp -sprung from this very cauldron seething with "hell-broth thick and slab." - -The different departments of the Royal Arsenal are separated by large open -spaces, in which the rougher materials of war are deposited. The roadways, -laid with iron trams, which greatly facilitate the transfer of heavy guns, -are lined here and there with pyramids of shot and shell, lackered and -shining in the sun. These missiles are continually circulating along the -shoots from one spot in the Arsenal to another, passing at one time -underfoot, at another overhead, the action of gravity being pressed into -the service with other labour-saving contrivances, to remove 13-inch -shells and 98-pounder solid shot, sometimes to very considerable -distances. Vast as are the stores of these warlike implements, and far as -the vistas of pyramids stretch (and there are no less than 688,000 in the -Arsenal at present), they would speedily be drained by a short return of -war, in which artillery now plays so prominent a part. At the siege of -Sebastopol alone, which scarcely occupied eighteen months, no less than -253,042 shot and shell of all sizes were fired from our batteries, a -number which the enemy surpassed, in one attack alone, if we are to -believe the evidence afforded by some of the ravines, in which this iron -rain descended so thickly that it paved the ground and prevented the grass -from springing up. The French were even more prodigal of these -projectiles; for, according to the report made to the Emperor, 1,100,000 -of them were sent by our allies into the doomed city. - -The neighbourhood of each department is generally indicated by the class -of war stores to be seen at hand. We may be sure we are near the great-gun -foundry, for instance, when we see the long files of iron guns of all -sizes and patterns, from the light 32-pounders to the truly formidable -98-pounders of the naval service, flanking the road, compared with which -the light brass field-pieces that fringe the wall of the building itself -seem the merest toy-guns. Here and there trim grass-plots are seen with a -neat edging of three hundred 13-inch mortars, and at the grand entrance of -the foundry itself enormous shells, a yard in diameter, prepared for -Mallett's mammoth mortar, are planted, as if to show how daring are the -ideas of modern war, which proposes to throw such Titanic missiles at the -enemy. Here too may be seen veterans which have seen service--avenues of -wounded guns from the Crimea. These are the picked specimens of the -eighty-eight pieces of ordnance either disabled by the enemy or worn out -by their own fire in that ever-memorable siege. One, a 68-pounder, was -shattered by a singular accident; just as it was being discharged a shell -fired by the enemy exploded in its mouth, and destroyed it after it had -fired no less than 2,000 rounds. Another gun, which is split in the -muzzle, was hit thirteen times. There appears to have been luck in this -mystic number, however, for by the aid of an iron band the mishap was -repaired, and it went on doing duty until one of its trunnions was knocked -off, and even then, like the gallant Widderington, at Chevy Chase, it -fought upon its stumps; for, on being sunk into the ground, and fired at a -high elevation, it was kept at work up to the end of the siege. Some of -these guns are pitted with cannon-shot even as far back as the breech, and -one or two are hit in their very stern-most parts. These wounds are the -result of ricochet firing, a kind of practice which enables a shot to drop -in the most unexpected places. - -In the mounting yard, as it is termed, which lies between the gun and -carriage factories, the field-pieces are mounted upon their carriages and -fitted up for service previous to their removal to the depot of artillery -near the Common. Since the war the captured cannon from Sebastopol have -been stored here preparatory to their being either broken up or -distributed as trophies to the various towns of the United Kingdom. Of -these guns 1079 are of iron and 94 of brass. They are of admirable metal, -and would have proved very serviceable, except that unfortunately their -bore does not suit any of our shot. Gun-carriages rent by the bursting of -guns, or so unscientifically constructed as inevitably to destroy -themselves, like the iron carriages taken from the enemy at Kertch, are -kept as lessons for the Captain Instructor to dwell upon, when he takes -round his bevy of young artillery cadets. This official performs the -essential duty of giving the future artillery officer a clear insight into -the method of constructing and repairing all the more essential engines -and tools he will have to work with--such as guns, gun-carriages, &c., and -of obtaining a general notion of the relative strength of metals, and of -the value of the various materials out of which the munitions of war are -formed. The vast workshops of Woolwich afford an admirable field for the -acquisition of this kind of knowledge. - -The neighbourhood of the Arsenal to the chief Military Academy in the -kingdom gives these embryo artillery officers an opportunity of witnessing -the experiments which are constantly going on in the Marshes, either for -the purpose of testing new guns, or of practically examining the -capabilities of new inventions. The extraordinary energy with which -projectors of all kinds (clergymen among the number) devoted themselves to -the task of inventing new implements of destruction during the Russian war -entirely belied that lamb-like spirit attributed by Mr. Cobden to his -fellow-countrymen. No less than 1976 new projects were submitted to the -Select Committee of Ordnance with respect to artillery alone. Of this -number a large proportion were of the most imbecile kind--such as -proposals to fill shells with Cayenne pepper, chloroform, and cacodyle, -the latter a most virulent material which has the property of poisoning -the air around it. The asphyxiating ball of the French was the true parent -of the whole brood. Only forty-three of the propositions were favourably -reported on, and of this number only thirty have been adopted into the -service. First and foremost among these is the plan of filling shells with -liquid iron. It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the destructive effect -of this new application of an old material. At the second shot fired in -the Marshes against a perfectly new butt which cost 200_l._, it set it on -fire and entirely destroyed it. The engines of the Arsenal and the old -expedient of heaping earth against the burning wood were of no avail, the -molten iron having penetrated in all directions deep into the timber. It -is hard to believe that any ship will be able to resist the destructive -effect of these shells, or that masses of men will be found courageous -enough to withstand their devastating effects; for immediately the -percussion shell comes in contact with any object, it explodes and throws -the molten metal in all directions--splashing and striking objects that -are completely out of the way of the contents of ordinary shells, and -proving far more deadly both to animate and inanimate substances than the -famous Greek fire of old. This very invention was brought to the notice of -the authorities as early as 1803 by a workman in a London iron-foundry; -but the suggestion was so contrary to all the current notions of the time, -that it was rejected, and not heard of again until a new war brought into -play more advanced ideas. - -The new guns that were brought forward were innumerable, and many of them, -such as the Mersey steel gun, and the great mortar, are still under trial. -If this mortar, which is built up of a series of rings 9 inches broad and -3-1/2 inches thick, laid over one another, and fitting tightly, so as to -form a barrel, should ultimately prove capable of resisting the full -charge of 70 lbs. weight of powder, it will be the most destructive -implement yet invented for the purpose of crushing fortified places. In -some of the trials which have taken place in the Marshes, it threw its -36-inch shell, weighing 26 cwt., upwards of two miles; and when the -missile fell, it buried itself in the ground to so considerable a depth, -that after digging down 12 feet, and probing for 15 feet more, it still -remained undiscovered. The artillerymen say jestingly that it has dropped -down to Australia, No casemate at present in existence could withstand the -crushing weight of its fall, and its bursting charge of 200 lbs. of -powder. - -After contemplating this vast establishment for the manufacture of arms, -with its sixty steam-engines, which through the agency of upwards of three -miles of running shafting, give motion to upwards of a thousand machines, -we must not omit to mention the human labour which directs this enormous -manufacturing power. During the height of the Crimean war, upwards of -10,000 men and boys were employed in the Arsenal, an army of workers -engaged upon the production of the materials of destruction equal to the -entire force encamped at Aldershot, and double the number of men that -besieged and took Delhi. When such masses of men as this have to be dealt -with daily, it is obvious how necessary it must be to possess an organized -system by which the loss of what might otherwise be considered mere -fractions of time is noted. Let us suppose, for instance, that every man -and boy in the Arsenal lost only five minutes per day, and it would amount -in the aggregate to the loss of the labour of one man for twelve weeks to -the Government. - -The next problem to be solved is how to pay 10,000 men in any reasonable -time. It would be clearly impossible to calculate each man's wages at the -time of payment, even if a little army of clerks were employed. It is -therefore done beforehand by a staff of men employed for this purpose. The -amount due to each person having been ascertained, the money is laid out -on boards divided into partitions numbered consecutively. A corresponding -number for each man, with the amount to be given to him, is distributed -previously to the payment taking place, on what is termed a "pay ticket." -On pay-day the artisans take their places in single file, arranging -themselves according to their numbers, and, passing in front of the -pay-boards, receive their wages, and surrender their tickets, which are -receipts for the money. No money is exchanged if not brought back before -the man reaches a certain point, and in this space there are persons -stationed to watch that no exchange is made of bad money for good. To -search every man as he left would be impossible, yet it is highly -necessary to have some means of checking petty depredations of metal, &c. -Formerly peculations of this kind were constant, and the aggregate loss -must have been immense. When it was first determined to put a stop to it, -the men were told only a few minutes before leaving work that they would -be searched as they went out. The effect of this announcement was that the -whole Arsenal was strewed with small pilfered articles thrown hastily -away. Now a couple of policemen at the gate touch indiscriminately a -certain per-centage of the men as they are going, and these have to pass -through a side lodge to be searched. As no man can tell whether or no he -will be touched, the whole mass is kept honest. The mere lodging of such a -body of men was at first a difficulty, even in so large a town as -Woolwich: the demand, however, soon produced supply, and the means taken -to insure the fall of Sebastopol caused the rise of a new town of at least -two thousand houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the Arsenal. - -Complete as we have shown the organization of the Arsenal to be, both as -regards its mechanical resources and its staff, it is generally understood -that the Government do not intend to depend upon it wholly for the supply -of the munitions of war. In the case of small-arms, its powers, as we have -seen, are wholly inadequate to the task. In those branches, however, where -the manufacturing power is ample, they will not attempt to push it to the -point of excluding the private manufacturer from a share in the business. -This is, we think, a wise decision; for, however excellent may be the -present arrangements now everything is new and the broom is fresh, it -cannot be denied that the tendency of this and all other Government -establishments is to go to sleep, since they neither possess the stimulus -of private gain to teach them economy, nor that unity of direction which -gives such vigour to private enterprises. The principle of competition -ought therefore to be kept up, and we should run the private manufacturer -against the public one in order to keep down price, and pit the Royal -Factory against the trade in order to keep up quality. Another great gain -will accrue from the determination of the Government, which is, that the -private manufacturers will not lose the art of making certain stores of -war--an art which can not be learned in a day. It would be unwise for the -authorities to put all their eggs into one basket, and this they would -most assuredly do by entirely depending upon their own powers of -production, and in disassociating themselves from the great and fertile -manufacturing power of England, which generally knows so well how to -economize and progress. - -If the Government have shown judgment and foresight upon this point, we -cannot say as much for their inexcusable neglect to provide for the -security of this enormous establishment, which contains within its walls -not only the principal depot of warlike stores in the island, but also the -means of producing them. We do not believe that our neighbours are going -to sail up the Thames quite as easily as the Dutch did, or that any -foreign army marching from Dover could destroy the Arsenal on its way to -the capital without our having ample notice of their approach. -Nevertheless we cannot think that the sole Arsenal of England, placed as -it is in a very accessible part of the island, should be left entirely -without the means of defence. The place itself could not be fortified, as -it is commanded by the heights of Shooter's Hill; but the neighbourhood is -admirably adapted for the purpose. In the opinion of military engineers, -it would not be necessary even to erect the requisite works until the -moment their services were required. Half a dozen earth batteries, mounted -with heavy guns, would command all the land approaches; and a few flats, -posted so as to sweep the reaches of the river, would effectually prevent -the approach of any hostile force by water. The scheme of these batteries -should, however, be settled beforehand in all their details, so that in -the moment of danger they could be completed almost in the presence of the -enemy, in case an invader should give the Channel Fleet the slip some -misty morning, and succeed in making good his footing upon our shores. - - - - -SHIPWRECKS. - - -There is no nobler or more national sight in our island than to behold the -procession of stately vessels as they pass in panoramic pride along our -shores, or navigate the great arterial streams of commerce,--to witness -the deeply-laden Indiaman warped out of the docks, or to see the emigrant -ship speeding with bellying sails down Blackwall Reach, watched by many -weeping eyes, and the depository of many aching hearts. It would, however, -spoil the enjoyment of the least-interested spectator if the veil could be -lifted from the dark future; if that gallant Indiaman could be shown him -broadside on among the breakers; or that stately vessel, with bulwarks -fringed with tearful groups looking so sadly to the receding shore, were -pictured by him foundering in mid ocean--gone to swell the numbers of the -dismal fleet that yearly sails and is never heard of more. Sadder still -would be his reflections if another passing ship could be shown him, -destined perhaps to circle the globe in safety, and when within sight of -the white cliffs of Albion, full of joyful hearts, suddenly, in the dark -and stormy night, fated to be dashed to atoms, like the _Reliance_ and -_Conqueror_, on a foreign strand. If such dramatic contrasts as these -could be witnessed, we should without doubt strain every nerve to prevent -their recurrence. As it is, the sad tale of disasters at sea comes to us -weakened by the lapse of time and the distance of the scene of the -catastrophe: instead of having the harrowing sight before our eyes, we -have only statistics which raise no emotion, and even rarely arrest -attention. In connection with these annual returns there is published a -fearful-looking map termed a wreck chart, in which the shores of Great -Britain and Ireland are shown fringed with dots,--the sites of wrecks, -collisions, and other disasters. From this we perceive how all the -dangerous headlands and sandbanks on the coast are strewn with-- - - "A thousand fearful wrecks, - A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon; - Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, - Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels-- - All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea." - -Strange to say, these dismal finger-posts to marine disasters are -generally found grouped around the sites of lighthouses. If we analyze the -chart for the year 1857, we perceive at a glance the relative dangers of -the three seaboards of triangular England, and that a fatal pre-eminence -is given to the East coast. Out of a total of 1,143 wrecks and casualties -which took place in this year, no less than 600, or more than one-half, -occurred between Dungeness and Pentland Frith. Along this perilous sea, -beset with sands, shoals, and rocky headlands, no less than 150,000 -vessels pass annually, the greater part ill-constructed, deeply-laden -colliers, such as we see in the Pool, and wonder how they manage to -survive a gale of wind. The South coast, extending from Dungeness to the -Land's End, is comparatively safe, only 84 wrecks having taken place in -1847; whilst from the Land's End to Greenock, where the influence of the -Atlantic gales is most sensibly felt, the numbers rise again to 286, and -the Irish coast contributes a total of 173. - -If we take a more extended view of these disastrous occurrences by opening -the wreck chart attached to the evidence of the select committee on -harbours of refuge, given in 1857, containing the casualties of five years -from 1852 to 1856, both inclusive, we shall be better able to analyze -their causes. Within this period no less than 5,128 wrecks and collisions -took place, being an average of 1,025 a year. According to the evidence of -Captain Washington, R.N., the scientific and indefatigable hydrographer of -the Admiralty, these casualties consisted of - - Vessels. - Total losses by stranding or otherwise 1,940 - " " collisions 244 - Serious damage having to discharge 2,401 - Collisions with serious damage 543 - ----- - 5,128 - -The total losses from all causes, therefore, amounted to 2,184 vessels, or -to an average of nearly 437 in each year. The destruction of life -consequent upon these casualties was 4,148 persons, or, upon the average -of five years, nearly 830 in each year. In 1854 no fewer than 1,549 -persons were drowned. - -How such a calamity should have been so long tolerated in a civilized -country, without any proper attempt at a remedy, it is not easy to -comprehend. Still more incomprehensible, in a trading country, is the -apparent disregard of the pecuniary sacrifice. It appears in evidence that -the loss by total wrecks is estimated at 1,000,000_l._ a year at least, -and by other casualties at 500,000_l._, making together 1,500,000_l._ as -the annual loss to the country from the accidents on our own coasts--a sum -which in two years would be ample to build all the harbours of refuge that -are needed around our shores. - -The first step towards a remedy for this state of things is to inquire -into the causes of shipwreck. There can be little hesitation in naming -Marine Insurance as the chief destroyer. Unseaworthiness and overloading -of vessels; their being ill found in anchors, cables, sails, and rigging; -defects of compasses, want of good charts, incompetency of masters, may -all be attributed to this source. If the shipowners were not guaranteed -from loss, they would take care that their vessels were seaworthy, -commanded by qualified persons, and furnished with every necessary store. -The terms of the insurance, moreover, offer a direct premium to create in -all cases of casualty a "total loss." For instance, a ship strikes the -ground and becomes damaged, but, under able management, might be got off -and repaired. In this case, however, the assured has to bear one third -part of the loss; whereas, if the loss is total, he gets the whole of his -insurance. Under these circumstances, even when there is no deliberate -desire to perpetrate a wrong, the captain will leave the ship to her fate -instead of using his energies to preserve her to the detriment of his -employer. It is the opinion of many that if the insurers were to agree to -pay the whole insurance, whether the damaged vessel were got off or not, -that we should see a marked diminution in the list of total losses at -sea, for the natural inclination of the captain to save his ship would -then no longer be counterbalanced by his desire to save the pocket of the -owner. - -There is a class of casualties, however, which are the product of villany, -against which we see no protection excepting in the vigilance of the -insurers: we refer to those cases of wilful casting away, which are not -unknown even in this country, as the late trial of a captain, at the Old -Bailey, will testify; but which are most frequent on the Florida Reef. It -is notorious that our American friends are in the habit of sailing ships -into these waters, with the deliberate intention of steering them to -destruction. So well is this known, that those on shore can predict, with -tolerable accuracy, from the handling of the vessel, whether she is about -to be sunk or not. When it is not the skipper's interest to lose his -craft, he will allow the wreckers, who swarm as plentifully as sharks in -those waters, to act as pilots, and to put the ship in dangerous positions -for the purpose of making a claim for salvage, which the swindling captain -shares with them. In the years 1854, 1855, and 1856, 189 ships were either -lost or put into Key West. The salvage upon the latter class amounted to -298,400.05 dollars, a large portion of which was, without doubt, obtained -by fraud. It is far from our purpose to insinuate that the Americans are -worse than their neighbours in this particular; had the English the same -opportunity, there would always be found persons to enter upon similar -practices. The memory of wrecking is not yet extinct in Cornwall, and only -a few years since it was notorious that the pilots of the Downs were in -the habit of recommending the cables of the vessels in their charge to be -slipped in very moderate gales of wind, because these worthies had a good -understanding with the chain and anchor makers of the neighbouring ports -who would have to supply fresh tackle. - -It must be admitted, that the same cause which prompts these villanies, -operates in some measure as an antidote. The underwriters at Lloyd's and -the different marine insurance offices, act in a certain degree as the -police force of the seas. Their agents are as plentiful and ubiquitous as -flies, and there is no port of the old or new world without one or more -of them. Through the medium of these marine sentries, whose eyes are -always upon the ocean, disasters at sea are speedily made known to the -underwriters, and in those cases where the telegraph is at hand, a ship -has scarcely broken up or come ashore, before hundreds are reading the -account of the disaster upon the "Board" at Lloyd's. With this spider-like -web of intelligence spreading from port to port and from ocean to ocean, -the chances of wreckers either on shipboard or on land must certainly -diminish. The acuteness of the underwriters, sharpened by self-interest, -is brought to bear upon the distant point, and all the resources of a -powerful corporation are put in force to detect fraud when suspected, and -to punish it when confirmed. A singular instance of the vigour and -ingenuity displayed by their agents in pursuing the marine robber was -afforded by the case of the American ship _W. T. Sayward_. This vessel was -reported by her skipper to have been lost off Loo Choo, on her voyage from -San Francisco to Shanghai, and the sum claimed of the insurers in this -country was L50,000, the value of the cargo, which was reported to have -comprised, among other things, 50,000 Carolus dollars. It struck the -gentleman engaged to settle the claim that it was very unusual to ship -such a quantity of this "Pillar" dollar, and on inquiring of the -money-changers, he learnt that there was not a tithe of that number at -present in existence out of China. This discovery at once aroused -suspicion, and agents were sent to the spot where the ship had been lost, -when it was found that the sailors, suspecting some roguery, returned to -the wreck after the captain had departed, dived into her hold and -discovered that she had been wilfully scuttled. They lighted, by happy -chance, upon some of the boxes in which the "dollars" were shipped, and -they were found to contain only iron nails and leaden bullets. The nails -were selected for the sake of the chink. The assured, having heard of what -had occurred, never ventured to repeat their claim. - -In a more recent case, that of the brig _Cornelia_, a regular trader -between the coast of Mexico and San Francisco, which was wilfully -scuttled off San Quentin on the 27th of March last, it was reported that -she had 48,000 Mexican dollars on board, 19,000 shipped at Mazatlan by an -English house, and 29,000 by other persons. On the captain's own -confession the 19,000 dollars were removed by him just before he scuttled -the vessel, and hidden in the sand at Cape San Lucas, on the coast of -Lower California; the remaining sum of 29,000 dollars he admitted had -never been shipped at all, bills of lading having been fabricated, and a -mythical consignee improvised for the occasion. Had not the agent been on -the alert, this knave would have robbed the underwriters at one swoop of -48,000 dollars. - -From the chief moral, or rather immoral, cause of shipwreck and loss at -sea, we pass to a consideration of the physical agents which act directly -in producing these disasters. Of these there are so many, and of such -various natures, that it is difficult to group them. Currents of the -ocean, fog, lightning, icebergs, sandbanks, water-logged ships, defective -compasses, and imperfect charts, are all dangers which beset the path of -navigators, and especially of such as have to run the gauntlet in -ill-found ships. The effect of currents in taking the sailor out of his -reckoning is an old, and formerly perhaps a frequent, cause of shipwreck. -This source of danger is now much obviated by the more intimate knowledge -we are acquiring every day of the general laws which produce the currents. -One of the most effectual as well as simple methods of detecting surface -currents is that known to seamen as the bottle experiment. This has been -practised since 1808, but more especially of late years, and has been -deemed of sufficient importance by the Admiralty to justify an order by -which all Her Majesty's ships are enjoined to throw bottles overboard -containing a paper, on which is noted the position of the ship and the -time the frail messenger was sent forth on its voyage. The bottle, -carefully sealed up, traverses the ocean wherever the winds and -surface-drift may carry it, and, after a passage of longer or shorter -duration, is perhaps safely washed by the tide upon some beach. Without -doubt many are smashed upon the rocks, others again are sunk by weeds -growing to them, some are destroyed by the attacks of birds or the jaws of -hungry sharks, or if by chance they avoid all these dangers, they may be -consigned to oblivion upon an uninhabited shore. It is estimated, however, -that at least one-tenth are recovered. A collection of upwards of 200 has -been made at the Admiralty, and are laid down in a chart called the -Current Bottle Chart. - -A single glance at this chart displays the principal well-known currents -of the Atlantic ocean. The general tendency of the bottles to go to the -eastward in the northern parts of this sea, and to the westward in lower -latitudes, is at once apparent. It is equally evident that to the -southward of the parallel of 40 deg. N. on the eastern side of the Atlantic -the bottles drift to the southward, while those again in the vicinity of -the Canaries and Cape Verd Islands take a westerly direction. Those -further south, lose themselves among the West-India Islands, and some -penetrating further are found on the coast of Mexico, between Galveston -and Tanessied. A few manifest the effects of the counter-current of the -celebrated Gulf-stream, while others again, on the western side of the -Atlantic, from about 40 deg. N., are set to the eastward. Indeed, there seems -to be a determination of all to the northward of the parallel of 40 deg., or -that of Philadelphia on the American seaboard, to make their way to the -eastward--some to the coast of France, in the Bay of Biscay, others to the -western shores of Great Britain and Ireland, and others again to the -shores of Norway. - -We thus recognize distinctly, first the Portugal current, setting -southward; then the equatorial current, influenced by the trade winds; -then the extraordinary effects of the waters of the Gulf-stream flowing -northward along the American coast, over the banks of Newfoundland--one -portion following its north-east course and penetrating to Norway, and -another continuing easterly into the Bay of Biscay. But let us -particularize a few of the remarkable journeys made by these glass -voyagers over the deep. The _Prima Donna_ was thrown over off Cape Coast -Castle, on the west coast of Africa, and after a voyage of somewhere -within two years was found on the coast of Cornwall. Now, to have arrived -there, it must have been carried eastward by the well-known Guinea -current, and reaching the Bights of Biafra and Benin it would meet the -African current then coming from the southward, with which it would -recross the equator and travel with the equatorial current through the -West-India Islands, and getting into the Gulf-stream, would be carried by -this to the north-east, and thus would be landed on the Cornish coast, -after making a detour of many thousand miles. But curious as this is, it -is not the only instance, for we find that the _Lady Montagu_, setting out -in nearly 8 deg. S. lat., about midway between Brazil and Africa, a position -which would fairly place it in the equatorial current, made the same -voyage, but landed at Guernsey, having accomplished the course in 295 -days, or between the 15th October, 1820, and the 6th of August, 1821. -Confining ourselves now to the area included between 30 deg. N. lat. and the -equator, the general effect of the heat of the Gulf of Mexico in forcing -the waters thither is plainly indicated by the direction which the bottles -have followed that are included within those limits. Those thrown -overboard in the Mexican Gulf, to the north of Cape Catoche of Yucatan, -are hurried away with it and cast on the American shore, near St. -Augustine and Charleston. Other instances show the effects of the -counter-current of the Gulf-stream on its eastern or ocean side, in -driving bottles to the south-east, a current that must have affected the -ships of Columbus in his first discovery, and which, upon his return -northward among the islands, without doubt met and opposed his progress. - -A curious example of the effects of the wind on the surface-waters is -shown by a bottle thrown over from H.M.S. _Vulcan_ in the midst of the -Gulf-stream, about 130 miles southward of Cape Hatteras. The ship was on -her way to Bermuda, where she arrived, and the bottle, instead of being -carried by the current to the north-east like others, actually went after -her and arrived at Bermuda also. But we find noted on the paper that a -strong northerly wind was blowing when the bottle started. This must have -been sufficient to have checked its progress to the north-east, but -allowed it to approach the eastern border of the Gulf-stream, whence it -would drift into the eddy or counter-current, and thus become thrown on -Bermuda. Again, between the Gulf-stream and the American coast bottles -have found their way to that shore, while those to the northward of the -parallel of 40 deg. have invariably gone eastward; and many thrown over near -the meridian of 20 deg. have drifted into the Bay of Biscay, and been cast on -the French coast. - -Among the numbers of bottles which have travelled westward with the -equatorial and tropical current two are remarkable, as being thrown -overboard about 700 miles from each other and yet arriving at nearly the -same destination. They were thrown from sister-ships when on their errand -of carrying relief, by way of Behring Strait, to Franklin and his devoted -crew. The first was dropped from the _Investigator_, Sir R. Maclure, in -lat. 12 deg., long. 26 deg., the 27th of February, 1850, and was found on the 27th -August following on Ambergris Cay, on the Yucatan coast; the second was -sent afloat on the 3rd March, 1850, by Captain Collinson, in the -_Enterprise_, in lat. 1 deg. N., long. 26 deg. W., and drifted to the coast inside -of that cay, about 30 miles to the northward of it. That the two bottles -should take their western course was to be expected; but that they should -have gone to resting-places so near each other is singular, considering -that their points of starting were so far asunder. - -The Gulf-stream, the limits of which are so clearly intimated by these -little messengers, is but a sample of a grand system of currents which are -produced by the unequal temperature of the different zones. These currents -of hot and cold water are accompanied by atmospheric changes equally -extraordinary; and, taken together, they largely affect the course of the -navigator from the old to the new world, and, not unfrequently, are the -cause of the most fearful shipwrecks. - -Lieutenant Maury, in his Physical Geography of the Sea, has boldly likened -the causes at work to produce the celebrated Gulf-stream to the mechanical -arrangements by which apartments are heated. The furnace is the torrid -zone, the Mexican Gulf and the Caribbean Sea are the caldrons, and the -Gulf-stream is the conducting-pipe by which the warm water and the air -above it, are dispersed to the banks of Newfoundland and to the -north-western shores of the old world.[28] By this beneficent process the -cold of our northern latitudes is greatly ameliorated. The waters sent -north and north-east are edged by return currents, the one finding its way -close to the banks of Newfoundland and along the seaboard of the States, -and the other returning by the North Sea, the Bay of Biscay, and the west -coast of Africa, until about the latitude of the Cape de Verdes it crosses -westward again to fill up the void caused by the waters issuing from the -Gulf of Florida. Thus the grand circuit is for ever maintained, not -always, however, exactly in the same form, but varying according to the -season. In the winter, the cold current coming S.S.W. along the Atlantic -coast of North America is greatly augmented, and pushes the Gulf-stream -further to the south-east. With the return of summer this stream, in its -turn, thrusts aside the waters coming from the Polar Ocean. Between these -two periods the trough of the Gulf-stream, to use Lieutenant Maury's -forcible expression, "wavers about in the ocean like a pennon in the -breeze." The temperature of the Gulf-stream, even in the winter, is at the -summer level as it runs between two walls of nearly ice-cold water. Sir -Philip Brooke found the air on either side of it at the freezing point, at -the same time that that of the stream was at 80 deg. This difference in the -temperature of air and water is probably the cause of those terrible -hurricanes that occur in the Atlantic and among the West-Indian Islands, -and which make it the most dangerous navigation, during the winter, in the -world. The average of wrecks on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States -during these rigorous months is not less than three a day. Sailors term -the Gulf-stream "The weather-breeder;" and well they may, considering its -frightful effect in producing commotion in sea and air. In Franklin's time -it was no uncommon thing for vessels bound in winter for the Capes of -Delaware to be blown off land, and forced to go to the West Indies, and -there wait for the return of spring before they could attempt to make for -this point. The snow-storms and the furious gales which greet the ship as -she leaves the warm waters of the Gulf and nears the shores of North -America, are quite dramatic in their effect. One day she is sailing -through tepid water, and enjoying a summer atmosphere, the next, perhaps, -driving before a snow-storm, her rigging a mass of icicles, and her crew -frozen by the piercing blast. The Gulf-stream is answerable for another -phenomenon--the fogs which invariably shroud the Banks of Newfoundland, -and which render the approach to the North-American coast in winter so -particularly dangerous. The hot water of the Gulf-stream gives up its -vapour to the cold air, and hangs about the coasts an impenetrable -curtain, which baffles the navigator's skill, renders useless his -chronometer, and but too often sends his bark to destruction upon the -hidden shore. - -Another danger of the stormy Atlantic arises from the flow southward, in -the spring and summer months, of icebergs. These stupendous masses have -their breeding-place in Davis's Strait, from which they issue in -magnificent procession directly the current increases in a southerly -direction. Polar navigators have been surprised to find these huge -monsters moving against the wind, apparently by some inherent force, and -crashing through vast fields of ice, as if impatient to escape from the -silence and desolation of the Polar seas. The explanation of this singular -occurrence is, that powerful under-currents are acting upon the submerged -portions, which, in all cases, vastly preponderate over the glittering -precipices of crystal that appear above the water-line. As the icebergs -advance into the open waters of the Atlantic, they at last come to the -edge of the Gulf-stream, where, in "the great bend," about latitude 43 deg., -they harbour in dangerous numbers, and without doubt send many a noble -ship headlong to the bottom. In all probability the ill-fated _President_ -was thus destroyed, and some towering iceberg, that has long since bowed -its glittering peaks to the solvent action of the warm water of the -Gulf-stream, was, perhaps, the only witness of the calamity which placed -the noble _Pacific_ among the list of ships that have sailed forth into -eternity. - -If the northern latitudes of the Atlantic have their dangers of ice, the -southern latitude, especially the Caribbean Sea, in common with all -intertropical oceans, have their dangers of fire. The hurricanes of those -latitudes are generally accompanied by visitations of fearful -thunder-storms, in which many a good ship is enveloped and destroyed. In -the midst of a summer sea a clipper ship may be suddenly assailed by one -of those tremendous conflicts of the elements, of the approach of which -the silver finger of the barometer, unless carefully watched, has scarcely -had time to give warning. However prepared by good seamanship and an -active crew, there she must lie on the vexed ocean, her tall masts so many -suction-tubes to draw down upon her the destructive fire from heaven. In -his Report to the Admiralty, laid before Parliament in 1854, entitled -"Shipwrecks by Lightning," Sir William Snow Harris--whose exertions to -find a remedy for this evil are above all praise--states that in six -years, between 1809 and 1815, forty sail of the line, twenty frigates, and -ten sloops were so crippled by being struck as in many cases to be placed -for a time _hors de combat_. In fifty years there were 280 instances of -serious damage to ships in the British navy. Of these the _Thisbey_ -frigate, off Scilly, in January, 1786, affords a melancholy example. The -log represents her "decks swept by lightning, people struck down in all -directions, the sails and gear aloft in one great blaze, and the ship left -a complete wreck." In the merchant service the list of disasters is -fearful. Since the year 1820 thirty-three ships, varying from 300 to 1,000 -tons, have been totally destroyed by lightning, and forty-five greatly -damaged. - -"A great peculiarity," says Sir William Snow Harris, "may be observed in -cases of ships set on fire by lightning, viz. a rapid spreading of the -fire in every part of the vessel, as if the electric agency had so -permeated the mass as to render the extinction of the fire by artificial -means impossible." Take, for instance, the burning of the _Sir Walter -Scott_ in June, 1855. This fine passenger ship, of 650 tons, was struck -in the Bay of Biscay: the lightning shivered the foremast, completely -raked the vessel, and instantly set fire to the cargo. The passengers and -crew had scarcely time to jump from their beds and put on their clothes, -and leap into the boats, when the masts went over the sides, the flames -shot up into the air, and the ship went down like a stone. Such -extraordinary catastrophes as these seem to set forth in unmistakable -terms the feebleness of man in the presence of the tremendous powers of -nature. In reality, they are only forcible instances to call upon him to -use the means for dominating the peril. Of all the dangers that beset the -mariner at sea, danger by lightning is the only one that he can thoroughly -guard against. To Sir William Snow Harris we owe the perfecting of the -lightning-conductor for marine purposes, and the power of braving -unscathed the direst electric storms. The permanent conductor adopted in -the navy in 1842 is arranged so as to extend along the masts, from the -truck to the keelson, and so out to sea. In the hull various branches -ramify, and admit of a free dispersion of the electric fluid in all -directions. Thus armed, the ship is impregnable to all the forked -lightnings that may dart about her. Since the system of fitting men of war -with this apparatus has been adopted, no vessel of the Royal Navy has been -injured. The log of the frigate _Shannon_, commanded by the late gallant -Sir W. Peel on his voyage out to China, affords a striking example of the -manner in which the fury of such electric storms as are only to be met -with in the Indian Ocean, was baffled by a contrivance which may truly be -called, in the words of Dibdin-- - - "The sweet little cherub that sits up aloft, - And takes care of the life of poor Jack." - - "When the ship was about 90 miles south of Java she became enveloped - in a terrific thunderstorm, and at 5 p.m. an immense ball of fire - covered the maintopgallant-mast: at 5.15 the ship was struck a second - time on the mainmast by apparently an immense mass of lightning; at - half-past 5 another very heavy discharge fell upon the mainmast, and - from this time until 6 p.m. the ship was completely enveloped in sharp - forked lightning. On the next day her masts and rigging were carefully - overhauled, but, thanks to Sir Snow Harris's system of permanent - lightning-conductors, no injury whatever to ship or rigging was - discovered." - -If we compare this remarkable case with that of His Majesty's frigate -_Lowestoffe_, when near the island of Minorco in 1796, we perceive how -great is the protection science affords to the seaman. The frigate was -struck, it appears, at 12.25 P.M. by a heavy flash, which knocked three -men out of the tops, one of whom was killed on the spot. Within five -minutes the ship was again struck, and her topmast was shivered to atoms. -In another minute a third shock shivered the foremast and mainmast, and -set fire to the vessel in many places, raked the deck from end to end, -killed one man, paralyzed and burnt others, and knocked several persons -out of the tops. In two parallel cases, the addition of a rod of copper -made all the difference between safety and havoc. The example of the Royal -Navy is being followed by the merchant-service, but not so speedily as it -should be. When it is remembered that the treasure-clippers trading -between Australia and this country often bring home nearly a million -sterling in addition to a large complement of passengers, it does seem -remarkable that the lightning apparatus is not considered as essential to -their equipment as the boats, especially as they have to traverse an ocean -where thunder-storms are of common occurrence. The cost of the whole -apparatus is not above L100, and if the cupidity of the merchant is not -sufficient to induce him to supply it, we think that Government should -compel him, in order to insure the safety of the stream of passengers who -annually leave our shores. - -In the whole catalogue of disasters at sea, those which present the most -terrible features are water-logged timber ships. The timber trade between -Great Britain and her American colonies employs a very considerable fleet -of large vessels. As wood is a "floating cargo," old worn-out -West-Indiamen, which would not be used for any other purpose, are freely -employed. A few years since, in addition to a full cargo, they carried -heavy deck-loads, which so strained their shattered fabrics, that they -often became water-logged, and were sometimes abandoned in the middle of -the Atlantic. The sufferings of the crews on these occasions in their open -boats were appalling. Beating about for weeks on the waste of waters -without food or drink beyond the rain that fell from heaven, they were -obliged to sustain existence by preying on the bodies of their dead -companions, and not rarely they cast lots for the living. Since the -passing of the Act prohibiting deck-loading, these disasters are far less -frequent; but they have by no means ceased.[29] At the time we write there -are several timber-ships drifting about the ocean, floating heaps of -desolation, at the mercy of the Gulf-stream, which will ultimately cast -them on some European shore, or drift them into the North Sea, to serve as -fuel for the Esquimaux. In turning over the leaves of Lloyd's List, we -find indications of these dreary wrecks, which, clothed in seaweed, are -driven over the face of the waters, and sighted by passing ships, of which -they often cause the sudden destruction, whilst careering along in seeming -security. When these waifs and strays of the deep drift into -much-frequented ocean paths, they are doubtless the cause of many of those -dreadful catastrophes witnessed only by the eye of God, and our only -knowledge of which is a curt notice on the "Loss-book" at Lloyd's, -"Foundered at Sea, date unknown." A recent instance, in which possibly no -damage was done, will yet suffice to show the risk. The _Virago_, loaded -with teak from Moulmein, in the Indian Ocean, to Queenstown, Ireland, -became water-logged, and was abandoned on the 5th of March last, 155 miles -south-west of Cape Clear. The next day she was passed by the American -liner _Eagle_; on the 17th of the same month a steamer, on her way from -Rotterdam to Gibraltar, reports having seen her; on the 5th of April she -was passed by the _Naiad_ on her passage from Palermo to Milford; and on -the 15th the _Samarang_, on her way to Tenby, met with her; on the 18th -she was seen 160 miles off the Lizard, "in a very dangerous position," by -the _Champion of the Seas_; again, on the 3rd of May, the _Alhambra_ -steamer, on her voyage to Southampton, met her in latitude 47 deg.; about the -same time and place she was seen by the _Peru_ steamer, "and appeared as -if run into;" and, finally, on the 20th of May, the telegraph sends word -that she was stranded near Brest, and her cargo was being discharged. It -is curious to note how, amid the tossing of the ocean, her name became -gradually obliterated, till it was totally effaced, a type of the -progressive decay and final destruction of the vessel herself. At first -she is properly reported to Lloyd's as the _Virago_; the next ship makes -her out to be the _Argo_; still later her cognomen is cut down to the ---_go_; and then the name disappears until the French find her upon their -strand. Here we suppose her half-obliterated papers were found, and our -neighbours, according to their usual wont, transmute the _Virago_ into the -_Neroggogi_. From these reports it is evident that a number of large -vessels passed quite close to the wreck, and it is even probable that a -collision may actually have occurred, and no one have been left to tell -the tale. In some cases, where the circumstances of wind and current are -favourable, water-logged ships are taken in tow by other vessels and -become valuable prizes. When, however, these wrecks are in such a -condition that it is clear they cannot be brought in, we think it would be -well if they could be destroyed. A few pounds of powder, judiciously -placed, or a beam or two sawn across by the ship's carpenter, would break -the bond that binds these logs together, and, once separated, they would -not be likely to do much damage. - -Many disastrous wrecks can be distinctly traced either to a defective -compass, or to an ignorance of the effects upon it of the magnetism of the -ship's iron. There is a melancholy example in the loss of H.M.S. _Apollo_, -of thirty-six guns, in 1803, with forty sail of merchant ships, out of a -convoy of sixty-nine vessels, bound for the West Indies. The _Apollo_ was -leading the way, with her train of outward-bound sugar ships following in -her wake, little suspecting the catastrophe which was to follow. At the -very moment her defective compasses drove her ashore, she imagined she was -some forty miles off the coast at Portugal, and so close was the merchant -fleet upon her, that upwards of half of them took the ground and were -dashed to pieces. More recently we have had the instances of the -_Reliance_ and _Conqueror_, wrecked near Ambleteuse, on the French coast, -in sight of the cliffs of Albion, after voyaging from India. The former is -known to have had an immense iron tank on board, the influence of which -upon her compasses must have been very great. The _Birkenhead_, wrecked -near the Cape of Good Hope, and the ship _Tayleur_, in the Irish Channel -are additional instances of the destruction to which the trembling finger -of the magnetic needle points the way, where ignorance or wilfulness have -placed impediments to its truthful action. - -Of the numerous errors that may be classed under the general term of -compass defaults, we may mention defective compasses arising from -imperfect workmanship, or from an ignorance of the principles of -mechanical and magnetical science, compasses perfectly adjusted but placed -injudiciously either with reference to the magnetism of the ship, or in -immediate proximity to concealed and unsuspected portions of iron. -Ignorance of the degree of compass error arising from the ship's -magnetism, and of its varying amount in changes of geographic position, -and a consequent belief, that in all places and under all circumstances -the needle is true to the north, are frequent causes of shipwreck. - -With regard to the defective mechanical construction of compasses, it must -be admitted that great improvements have taken place of late years, and -the chief credit, we believe, is due to the British Admiralty. Nearly -twenty years ago they instituted a Committee of Inquiry, and the silent -working of the measures then advocated, and the adoption of the -improvements suggested first under the direction of the late Captain -Johnston, and more recently under that of Mr. Frederick Evans, R.N., have -infused into the manufacturers, and a large portion of the mercantile -marine and shipowners, a degree of caution, skill, and attention to -details, which has brought forth good fruit. A large portion of the -superior compasses of the United States navy are manufactured in this -country, entirely on the Admiralty pattern, and several foreign -governments have recently obtained the same instruments as models. It -must not however be supposed that defective compasses have ceased to -exist. Our coasting vessels and many of our noble sailing ships are -miserably equipped, and there are many captains who still look on the -compass as a cheap and common article, fit to be classed with hooks and -thimbles and other articles of the boatswain's storeroom. - -There can be no doubt that great errors in navigation are induced by -inattention to placing the compasses. It is common to see the binnacle -within two feet, and even less, of the massive iron-work of the rudder -wheel, which again is in immediate contiguity with an iron sternpost. The -local deviation is consequently great, magnet adjustment is had recourse -to, and a temporary alleviation of the evil follows, which is only -magnified on the ship approaching some distant port. Numerous examples are -on record of iron being introduced by some addition to the equipment of -the ship, which has perhaps been lost in consequence within a few hours -after quitting port. - -Among the causes which thus operate, we may name the fancy rails leading -to state-cabins and saloons. These, beneath a highly-polished covering of -brass, often conceal many hundredweights of iron. Cabin stoves and -funnels, immediately under and alongside the compass, are frequently -unsuspected. A noble transport, during the late war, carrying troops and -stores, pursued her course by day with unswerving fidelity, but at night -the compass was as wild as the waves themselves. After diligent search it -was found that the brazier, in preparing the binnacle lamps, had -introduced a concealed iron-wire hoop to strengthen their frame-work. The -stowage of iron in cargo does not receive the attention it deserves, and -we consider it should be imperative for every vessel which carries it to -be swung for the local deviation before quitting port, and a certificate -duly lodged before clearing the Customs. When the _Agamemnon_ adjusted -compasses preparatory to sailing upon the last unsuccessful expedition to -lay the Atlantic cable, it was discovered that the presence of the -enormous coil in her hold caused a deviation of no less than seventeen -degrees! Had she been a merchant ship, no similar verification would have -been made, and the sign-post which showed the path upon the trackless -waters would only have pointed to mislead. - -It is remarkable how much misapprehension on the nature of magnetic action -exists even among men of high intelligence. A competent witness, in a -recent law-trial, in a case of wreck, arising chiefly from a want of -knowledge of the laws of magnetism in the navigation of the ship, stated -that seamen in general believed, that if a cargo of iron was covered over, -its effects were cut off from the compass. A leading counsel in the case -sympathized with the general ignorance, because he confessed that he -shared it. The adjustment of compasses by magnets is a most delicate -operation, and has received much attention from some of our leading men in -science. An able committee, under the auspices of the Board of Trade, are -now engaged, in the midst of an iron navy, in the port of Liverpool, in -elucidating the whole of the subject. We feel bound, however, to record -our opinion against the indiscriminate employment of all the nostrums -prescribed by the compass-doctors or quacks at many of our seaports. Let -the shipowner consult such reports of the Liverpool Committee as have been -already published, or follow the Admiralty plan of having at least one -good compass in a position free from all magnetic influences. In some of -the large ocean steamers a standard compass is fitted high up in the mizen -mast, and we hear that it is proposed to build a special stage on board -the _Great Eastern_, in order to keep the compass from being affected by -the immense body of iron in her fabric. - -A perusal of the evidence given in those inquiries which take place -relative to the loss of ships, under the Mercantile Marine Act, would lead -to the supposition that defective charts were even a greater cause of -wrecks than compass defaults; but this is not the case. The fact is, -incorrect charts afford an excuse for a master who may have lost his ship, -which is but too readily accepted by the members of courts of inquiry and -of courts martial. The defence set up for the wreck of the _Great Britain_ -steamer, in Dundrum Bay, on the east coast of Ireland, was, that St. -John's Light, placed two or three years previously, was not inserted in -the most recent charts of the Irish Channel procurable at Liverpool, and -that consequently it was mistaken for the light at the Calf of Man. But -these two lights are at least thirty miles apart, and it is monstrous to -suppose that a steamer should be so much out of her reckoning within a few -hours of leaving port. Again, in the more recent case of the wreck of the -_Madrid_ steamer, off Point Hombre, at the entrance of Vigo Bay, several -masters were examined, who stated that they had invariably passed equally -close to the same headland, in reliance on the correctness of the chart. -"Under these circumstances," said the Court, "the loss of the _Madrid_ -cannot be attributed to the wrongful act or default of the captain." His -certificate was therefore returned; and, at the same time, he was informed -that, as a general rule, "150 yards is not a sufficiently wide berth to -allow in passing headlands." We should think not; and furthermore we -imagine that, if the omission of every insignificant rock close to shore, -in government charts, is to be taken as an excuse for shaving a dangerous -headland, we may expect to hear of many repetitions of the disaster. The -_Orion_, wrecked on the west coast of Scotland, and the much-abused -_Transit_, in the Banca Strait, owed their fate to the unseaman-like love -of hugging the shore. - -It must be admitted, however, that the charts in common use on board -merchant ships are very faulty, both with respect to the position and -character of lights, buoys, and beacons, and to the variation of the -compass, which is not unfrequently half a point wrong,--an error which may -be fatal in shaping a course up Channel or in a narrow sea. From this -great evil the seaman has, at present, no protection. The remedy lies in -the hands of the legislature, who have only to compel all chart-sellers to -warrant their charts corrected up to the latest date, at least with -respect to lights and buoys. There are but three or four publishers of -private charts, as far as we are aware, in the United Kingdom; their stock -of plates cannot be very large, and, once examined and set right, the -corrections and additions could be easily inserted. Either the Board of -Trade or the Admiralty should be entrusted with this duty. The latter are -obliged to correct their own charts, and we understand it is the practice -of the hydrographer to cause every new light, or change of light, or buoy, -or beacon, to be inserted in the plate within twenty-four hours of the -time of the intelligence reaching the Admiralty. A large number of notices -to mariners--upwards, we believe, of a thousand a-week--are printed and -published, both by the Trinity House and the Admiralty, and distributed -among those connected with shipping; and every chart-seller should be -bound under a penalty to give proof to the Board of Trade or to the -Admiralty that he had inserted the corrections in his copper-plate within -forty-eight hours of the appearance of the notice. - -It is a startling fact that the materials for constructing charts, even of -parts of the waters which wash the shores of Europe, are not yet in -existence. Of the coast of Europe generally we are tolerably well -informed, although there are many portions that require closer -examination; but on the African and Asiatic portions of the Mediterranean, -the early seat of civilization and the best known sea in the world, there -is still much to be done. When M. de Lesseps brought forward his romantic -proposal for a Suez Canal, no survey existed of the coast of Egypt from -Alexandria to El Arish. Of Syria we know nothing accurately; Cyprus, -Rhodes, and the western half of Crete, are still almost blanks. But it is -in the eastern seas and in the Asiatic Archipelago that we are most at -fault. The Persian Gulf, portions of the coast of India, Ceylon, Burmah, -Malacca, Cochin China, the Yellow Sea, Corea, Japan, the southern and -eastern parts of Borneo, Celebes, &c., are hardly so correctly mapped as -the mountains in the moon. The north and east coasts of New Guinea, again, -are unsurveyed. As long as the Spice Islands, and the unknown lands washed -by the Indian seas, were given up to pirates, and to the imagination of -poets, this want was not felt; but now that our clippers swarm in these -seas, and that Australia herself is beginning to trade there extensively, -we shall assuredly hear of fearful shipwrecks from want of surveys. Then, -indeed, it will be truly said, that imperfect charts are the cause of -shipwrecks, unless, when India passes under the Imperial Government, -vigorous steps are taken to remedy this grievous defect. - -Closely connected with the question of imperfect charts, is the state of -the lights, buoys, and beacons around the coast--those fixed and floating -sentinels set around the island to guide and direct the weather-beaten -mariner. A few years ago we should have had to bewail our shortcomings in -the number of these aids to navigation, and have had to point to them as -prominent causes of shipwreck. The report of the Select Committee of the -House of Commons on Lighthouses, in 1845, shows the want that then -existed, not only on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, but even at the -entrance of the River Thames. Much, however, has recently been done. It -appears, from the address of the Prince Consort, at the annual Trinity -House dinner, that 77 lighthouses, 32 floating light-vessels, and 420 -buoys and beacons, under charge of the corporation, are now distributed -around the coasts of England alone. Great praise is due to the elder -brethren of the Trinity House for their care in lighting the Prince's -Channel, and especially for their admirable works now in course of -construction under Mr. James Walker, C.E.; among which we may instance the -new lighthouses at the Needles, at Whitby, and at St. Ives, the -light-tower on the Bishop Rock, off Scilly, and on the Smalls off -Pembroke. In Scotland, also, several new lights have been established; and -some of the buoys have been coloured on a systematic plan--red buoys being -placed on the starboard hand, and black buoys on the port hand, on -entering a harbour from seaward, according to the mode adopted in France, -Belgium, and Holland. This system, however, presents difficulties where -there are several channels, as at the mouth of the Thames; but there are -many places in which it might be applied with advantage. At present, we -believe, the river Tees is buoyed on exactly the reverse plan; and in some -of the large ports of the kingdom a local scheme is adopted, which -completely closes the navigation to all but the local pilots, for whose -special advantage this secret system appears to be maintained. The -adversaries of a simple and uniform method of buoying the coast do, -indeed, urge that it would put the key of our harbours into the hands of -our enemies; but this argument is so puerile that it is hardly worth -notice. If we cannot maintain the integrity of our waters by force, we -certainly shall never maintain it by cunning. - -The want of lights on the shores of Ireland has long been a cause of -complaint. Till within a few years, on a coast which is the land-fall of -nearly all vessels that cross the Atlantic from Canada, Nova Scotia, -Boston, and New York, there were spaces of sixty, seventy, and eighty -miles without a light! Yet during all this time light dues were levied on -the Americans, and other nations, who were thus treated to a sample of -Irish reciprocity. On the coasts of the United States there were ample -lights and no light dues, while on the coast of Ireland the lights were -few and the dues heavy. We trust that the royal commission which, on the -motion of Lord Clarence Paget, has lately made its report respecting the -state of the lights and buoys of the country, will give a stimulus to the -improvement which has already begun, and either get rid of these light -dues or recommend a more equitable method of levying them. One penny a ton -on the actual tonnage of the country, paid once a year, would be -sufficient to maintain all the lights in the kingdom, and would be more -simple than the present complicated system of paying every fresh voyage, -which bears so unjustly on the coasting trade. The time, we believe, is -close at hand when the lights themselves will be revolutionized. It is of -the last importance to the mariner that the brightest and best light that -science can furnish shall be held out upon the sunken rock, or perpetually -maintained upon the dangerous headland. Yet it cannot be denied that we -have nothing better than oil lamps for the purpose; and though the most -profound science and the most delicate art have been employed to make the -most of this feeble power, the fact remains, that we have not advanced -beyond the oil-wick of the last century in our attempts to provide a light -which will throw its beams far and wide over the sea, and pierce through -the fogs and drifting snow-storms of the dark winter nights. It is not -less strange that we are behind the French, and even the Spaniards, with -respect to the mechanism necessary to concentrate the little light we -have. In the two former countries the vast majority of the lighthouses are -upon the dioptric principle, the whole light of the lamps being -concentrated in occasional flashes, by means of a powerful system of -lenses, forming a complete cage of glass. England, on the contrary, -employs in most of her lighthouses the old metal reflectors; and, as Lord -Clarence Paget justly observes, the voyager leaving Folkstone will clearly -appreciate the difference between the two systems, by comparing the -dioptric light flashing from the far distant Cape Griz Nez with the feeble -spark of the English reflector light close to him at Dungeness. It has -been the great aim of the constructors of these powerful lenses to throw -all the light of the lamps into parallel rays, so that only a thin disc of -light is cast upon the sea; but, as Mr. Findlay truly remarked in his -paper read at the Society of Arts, we have at last over-refined, and a -fearful shipwreck has already been the result. The _Dunbar_, after making -a prosperous voyage to our antipodes, was wrecked at the Sydney headland, -within sight of her port. This dangerous cliff was surmounted by a -reflector light which sent a thin disc of rays, under which the ship -passed in a fog. Had a few divergent rays been allowed to light the danger -at her feet, she would have escaped her fate. - -Another great and increasing difficulty arising from the limited -capabilities of the present burners, is the fact that steamers are -beginning to show lights as powerful as those exhibited in lighthouses of -the inferior order and in the light ships. Hence a confusion is growing up -between the fixed and the moving lights, which threatens to produce most -disastrous consequences. As recently as February last, the _Leander_, an -American barque, proceeding down St. George's Channel, saw a light which -she mistook for that on the Tuskar Rock, and, when too late, discovered -that it belonged to the screw steamer _North America_, which was coming -right ahead. A fearful collision was the consequence, and the unfortunate -ship with nearly all her crew was sent to the bottom. It has been found -absolutely necessary to change the light in the Nore light-ship from a -fixed to a revolving one, to distinguish it from the numerous powerful -lights carried by steamers at anchor or when passing along the Thames. - -Various attempts have been made to increase the illuminating power of the -burners. In 1832 Lieutenant Drummond proposed the use of the oxy-hydrous -light, and as far as the intensity of light was concerned the new agent -was perfectly successful, the Drummond light at seventy miles' distance -appearing nearer to the spectator than the ordinary reflector light at -twelve miles. But it was found impossible to maintain a steady light by -this system, and it was therefore abandoned. Since then Professor Holmes -has been making experiments with the magnetic electric light. The -apparatus is said to consist of a series of very powerful magnets, around -the poles of which the helices are made to revolve by means of a -steam-engine. A powerful magnetic current is thus produced, which passing -through carbon pencils shows a splendid light. The great difficulty of -this and of other similar propositions to obtain the light by passing the -current through two points, is to so regulate them that they shall always -remain at the same distance apart, for any variation would immediately -affect the intensity of the light. This desideratum has not yet been -accomplished, neither do we think it possible of accomplishment. Professor -Way has, however, we imagine, solved the problem by substituting a running -stream of mercury in place of these points. - -A moment's inspection of the grim wreck chart leads us to reflect whether -the care taken to warn mariners of their danger is not in many cases the -immediate cause of their seeking it. If we note, for instance, the -lighthouses fringing St. George's and the English Channel, we are struck -with the extraordinary fact that there we find the greatest congregation -of those dismal dots which indicate loss of life and property, and it -would seem as though ships like moths were attracted and destroyed by the -light. Such, no doubt, is often the case. Ships bound up Channel make for -the nearest light, and from that shape their course until they meet with -the next light. They feel their way, as it were, in the dark night by the -handrail of these guides, and sometimes stumble on the very rocks that -support the beacons themselves--the fog, as in the case of the _Dunbar_, -allowing them to get within and under the danger flash. The disasters -produced by this system of groping about sunken rocks and bluff headlands -has led Mr. Thomas Herbert of the Trinity House to propose the lighting of -the Mid Channel. His system is to moor floating lighthouses, of a form -which secures a steadiness sufficient for the purpose, and he is thus -enabled to place a row of most powerful lights at little comparative -expense up the very centres of the two great channels of English commerce, -and indeed of the commerce of the world. A ship on entering the Channel -would immediately make for the westernmost of this line of "Fairway -lights," instead of looking out for the Lizard, and once having made it, -the course would be free of all possible danger. Eight floating light -towers extending from the westernmost one, forty miles south-west of -Scilly, to Dungeness, would add enormously to the security of this -wreck-strewn sea. The outermost of these lights Mr. Herbert proposes -should be put in telegraphic communication with the shore, by which means -merchants and consignees would be made acquainted with the arrival of -vessels full a day earlier than at present. By this means also Greenwich -time could be laid on to the station, and enable the anxious captain to -verify the correctness of his chronometer up to the latest possible -moment. Such a station might further serve as a depot for water and fresh -provisions, so much required by vessels detained by contrary winds in the -Chops of the Channel, and to provide which ships are now annually sent out -by the Admiralty. Without expressing any decided opinion upon this scheme, -it seems to us to possess sufficient plausibility to warrant inquiry. If -there should be no insurmountable practical objection,--and we have heard -practical men speak well of it,--there can be little doubt that it would -dissipate in no small degree the dangers of the Channel, without -interfering with the present lights, which would always be useful for the -coasting trade. - -Perhaps the most frequent cause of wreck, especially on our own coast, is -negligence on the part of the master. If we analyze the cases of collision -that occurred in the year 1857, we are surprised to find that by far the -larger portion of them occur in the open sea, and in clear bright weather. -Out of 277 collisions, involving total and partial loss, bad look-out was -the cause of 88, and neglect of the rule of the road of 33 collisions. It -is a saying among sailors that if the three L's are attended to--Lead, -Latitude, and Look-out,--a ship is safe; and no more apt saying could have -been uttered. Simple as the casting of the lead is, it is almost -invariably found, when the causes of wreck are inquired into, that this -precaution has been neglected. The _Ava_ mail-steamer was undoubtedly lost -off Trincomalee, in February last, owing to this omission. The lead is not -only capable of telling the soundings, which alone would warn the mariner -of the approach of shoal water; but, when armed, it is capable of bringing -a voice from the deep to say on what coast the ship may be. Had the -masters of either the _Reliance_ or _Conqueror_ cast the lead, they would -not only have known that their vessel were getting into shallow water, but -that they were upon the French coast; for the lead brings up a coarser -sand from the shores of our neighbours than from the opposite coast on the -English side. The question of latitude is a question which tests the -nautical knowledge of the captain. A man who can take celestial -observations correctly is not very likely to be deficient in a knowledge -of navigation. The differences between masters of ships in this respect -are very marked. Captain Basil Hall tells us, in his "Fragments of Voyages -and Travels," that on a voyage from California to Rio, the first land he -saw was on either side of him, upon the clearing off of a fog at the -entrance of Rio de Janeiro. With no other guide than science he had hit -his port without sighting land, after a voyage of many thousand miles. -With this we may contrast a case given in the Report on Shipwrecks for -1836, in which the brig _Henry_, of Cork, bound to St. John's, New -Brunswick, with seventy passengers on board, was fallen in with by the -_Andromeda_, of New York, in a starving condition; her master, by his own -reckoning, being 800 miles to the westward of his true position. This man -must have been one of those who, as the sailors say, "come in at the cabin -windows, instead of working his way up through the hawse-holes." Errors of -this kind are not likely to occur so often as formerly, thanks to the -working of the Mercantile Marine Act, which will, we think, prevent the -recurrence of the grosser mistakes in navigation. No greater blessing was -ever conferred on the merchant shipping of this country than a law which -compels the holding an inquiry by competent persons in all cases of -casualty. It is abused, as any measure is sure to be that rigidly sets its -face against misconduct; but it has already done infinite good, and would -do still more if its provisions were strictly enforced. - -It is often supposed that the shifting of sandbanks is a cause of wreck, -but there does not seem sufficient ground for this opinion. We have heard -many marvellous stories relative to the shifting of the Goodwin, and of -the sudden exposure in full preservation of the hulls of long lost ships. -These tales are all poetical, though the edge of the bank may here and -there give way and expose the ribs of some vessel long since sucked in. -What change there is in the Goodwin, and it is of a very gradual nature, -takes place on the western or inshore side: its eastern side is as steep -as a wall, and retains the position it had when the first exact survey of -it was made. The Brake Sand in the Downs off Ramsgate seems to have moved -bodily inshore or to the westward, and there is a slight disposition to -change in sands known by the names of the Leigh Middle and Yantlet Ground -in Sea Reach, at the entrance of the river Thames. The Yarmouth and -Lowestoff sands shift slightly. A channel, or gat as it is called, opens -now in one place and now at another; but these variations are soon known -and buoyed by the Trinity House. Changes take place at the entrance of the -Mersey, but the surveyor of the river quickly marks the deviations and -makes them known to the pilots. On the north-east coast of England more -extensive alterations have taken place; a large portion of Holderness, in -Yorkshire, has been washed away, and the sea has broken through Spurn -Point, threatening to make it once more an island. At Landguard Point, at -the entrance of Harwich harbour, the injudicious removal of a barrier of -cement stone, by which the heavy stroke of the sea has been allowed free -action on the shore, has caused the sand to be heaped up within the last -half-century, until a shingle beach now rears its head seven feet above -the level of high water; where, not many years since, a line-of-battle -ship could have sailed into the harbour. Another remarkable increase of -land is at Dungeness, where the shingle has extended at the average rate -of three yards a year, since the beginning of the Christian era. But -although of vast importance to the engineer in dealing with harbours, -these changes are not productive of shipwreck. - -The principal cause of shipwreck on the shores of the United Kingdom is -undoubtedly the want of harbours of refuge. From the parliamentary returns -it appears that the tonnage of vessels which entered and cleared from the -ports of this country in 1857 amounted to 23,178,782 tons, or in round -numbers 232,000 vessels. Even this falls short of the number of vessels -that are constantly passing and repassing along our coasts, and which, on -the springing up of a sudden gale, are liable to wreck, inasmuch as it -only gives those which are carrying cargo. It does not include colliers -and other vessels in ballast, nor ships of war, nor small coasters laden -with stone, lime, &c., all of which would swell the amount to full 300,000 -vessels. - -We have already stated that the number of casualties to shipping on the -coasts and within the seas of the United Kingdom has averaged 1,025 a -year; that the loss of life has amounted to 830 a year, and that the -destruction of property reaches a million and a half. It is not an -uncommon occurrence for a single gale to strew the coasts with wrecks. In -the three separate gales which occurred in the years 1821, 1824, and 1829, -there were lost on the east coast of England, in the short space between -the Humber and the Tees, 169 vessels. In the single gale of the 31st of -August, 1833, 61 vessels were lost on the sands in the North Sea and on -the east coast of England. In the tremendous gale of the 13th of January, -1843, as many as 103 vessels were wrecked off the coasts of the British -Isles, and among them 13 large ships off the port of Liverpool alone. In -the gale of 1846, 39 vessels got ashore in Hartlepool; and in the month of -March, 1850, 134 vessels were stranded or came into collision. In the gale -of the 25th of September, 1851, as many as 117 vessels were wrecked; and -for each of the four first months of the year 1858 the Board of Trade -returns show that there has been from 140 to 150 casualties, or from four -to five a day. These facts are sufficient to prove the appalling loss of -life and of property, and the absolute necessity which exists for -establishing on the most exposed and frequented positions of our coasts -that shelter which the sailor has a right to expect in the time of need. - -Formerly in the reports of the shipwreck committees so many vague -generalities were dwelt upon, that the House of Commons had no definite -conclusions upon which to proceed. This is no longer the case. In the -evidence laid before the select committee of the House, when inquiring -into refuge harbours, in the year 1858, it is shown that there are certain -districts in which wreck is the normal state. Nearly one-third of all the -casualties take place on the east coast of Great Britain, and in 1857 it -was more than one-half! Nay, it is all but demonstrated that the larger -part of these occur within some seventy miles of coast, or between -Flamborough Head and the Tyne. Here, then, the subject is narrowed to a -point. The immediate vicinity of the coal ports must be the site of a -harbour of refuge--some spot which all colliers, light and loaded, pass, -whether it be in the bight of the bay (or the bag of the net), as Tees -Bay, or whether it be farther to the southward, near Filey Bay. The exact -locality may require careful consideration; but the question of situation -on the east coast of England is now narrowed to a distance of fifty miles. -One unexpected fact has come to light in the course of this investigation, -namely, that of the colliers lost on this part of the coast, the -proportion of loaded vessels to light is as 5 to 1. - -On the coast of Scotland there is a sad want of deep-water harbours of -refuge. From the Pentland Frith southward to Cromarty, a distance of 100 -miles, there are none but tidal harbours, all inaccessible for twelve -hours out of the twenty-four. It is the same from the Moray Frith round by -Peterhead to the Frith of Forth, with the exception of the Tay. Yet it is -along this coast that a great part of our Baltic trade, and all the -Greenland, Archangel, Davis Strait, and much of the Canadian and United -States trade must pass. In addition to this traffic, both of these coast -districts are remarkable as the great scene of the herring fishery. -Peterhead has its 250 fishing-boats, Fraserburgh and Buckie more than 400 -sail; while farther north, off the coast of Caithness, more than 1,200 -fishing boats, manned by 6,000 men, nightly pursue their calling, exposed -to the proverbial suddenness of a North-sea gale. Here then, in some -portion of this district, either at Peterhead, Frazerburgh, or Wick, a -refuge harbour is imperatively required. - -On the west coast of England, between the Land's End and the south coast -of Wales, including the Bristol Channel, shelter is absolutely needed. The -trade of the Irish Sea, including Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast, and the -great and increasing traffic of the coal ports of Newport, Cardiff, and -Swansea, in addition to the trade of Bristol and Gloucester, urgently call -for some refuge. For the former probably a harbour near the entrance of -the Channel, as at St. Ives, would be the most useful; for the trade of -the upper portion of the Bristol Channel, Clovelly on the south coast, -Lundy Island in the centre, and Swansea Bay on the north, have been the -sites particularly recommended in the evidence. On the coasts of Ireland, -the rocks named the Skerries, near Portrush, on the north coast, Lough -Carlingford on the east, and Waterford on the south, have been mentioned -as places where good harbours may be obtained at but a trifling outlay. - -It appears from good evidence that the existing tidal harbours around our -coasts are susceptible of great improvements for the purposes of joining -harbours of refuge in case of need. We think this supplementary view of -the question one of much importance. It is shown that the small sum of -2,500_l._ a year, which the Scottish Fishery Board is empowered to grant -annually, to meet double the amount raised from private sources, has been -of much value, and has given rise to many piers and fishery harbours on -the coasts of Scotland. A somewhat similar measure applied to harbours -generally would be of the utmost value. There are many in which the loan -of a small sum of money, at a low rate of interest, would confer a great -benefit. The enormous parliamentary and other fees attendant on getting a -Harbour Act are so ruinous, that many of the lesser harbours are kept in a -state of decay from the impossibility of raising funds to restore them. We -are glad to see that Mr. Henry Paull, M.P. for St. Ives, has given notice -in the House of a bill to remedy this evil, and to enable some public -department, such as the Admiralty and Board of Trade, to grant the -necessary powers for raising funds to execute _bona fide_ improvements. We -cordially wish him success, and trust that he will persevere until his -proposal has become the law of the land. - -It would naturally be imagined that the wrecks and collisions that occur -on our own coasts formed only an insignificant portion of the casualties -that take place throughout the world. But this is not so. The trade of the -world is drawn towards our shores, and these shores are washed by narrow -and therefore dangerous seas. Hence we can account for a fact which would -otherwise appear astounding, that the losses on our own coasts form nearly -a third of the losses throughout the world. According to the returns of -Lloyd's agents, the average annual number of casualties and of vessels -that have touched the ground within the last four years in all seas is -3,254; whilst, as we have already stated, those that occur upon our coast -average 1,025. Long as the list of home disasters is, it is at least -satisfactory to find that the more severe cases are not increasing. The -official record of these casualties does not extend back farther than the -year 1852, but the annual returns since that date, which we append, are on -the whole encouraging. - - +---------------------------------------------------------------+ - | | 1852. | 1853. | 1854. | 1855. | 1856. | 1857. | - |---------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------| - | Wrecks | 958 | 759 | 893 | 894 | 837 | 866 | - | Collisions | 57 | 73 | 94 | 247 | 316 | 277 | - | |-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------| - | TOTAL | 1015 | 832 | 987 | 1141 | 1153 | 1143 | - +---------------------------------------------------------------+ - -From this Table it will be seen that while there is an absolute decrease -with respect to wrecks, which is due, no doubt, to the greater -intelligence of the masters and the working of the Mercantile Marine Act, -a large and increasing number of collisions has happened. The latter -circumstance is important, and in all probability is attributable to two -causes, the vast addition that has taken place of late years to the trade -of the country, and the manner in which steam is supplanting the use of -sails. If we cast back our glance only fifteen years, and compare the -trade of that period with what it is at present, we are astonished at the -rate at which our commerce has advanced. We find it stated in the -statistical abstract of the year 1858, that the amount of British shipping -which entered and cleared from the ports of the United Kingdom in 1843 was -7,181,179 tons, and of foreign 2,643,383 tons, making together an -aggregate tonnage of 9,824,562 tons. In 1857, however, the tonnage of -British shipping entered and cleared had increased to 13,694,107, and the -foreign shipping to 9,484,685 tons, making an aggregate quantity of no -less than 23,178,792 tons; thus showing an increase of 13,354,230 tons, or -136 per cent., in fourteen years! With this prodigious addition to the -ships passing our shores, we have reason to be thankful that wrecks are -not of far more frequent occurrence, and it will account for the otherwise -alarming multiplication of the number of collisions. And not only are -there more ships, but a greater proportion of them are propelled by steam. -A parliamentary paper, not long since published, shows that the number of -steamers employed in the Home and Foreign trade has increased from 414 in -1849 to 899 in 1857; that is, the number of vessels most prone to come -into collision has more than doubled within the last eight years, and -while the sailing vessels have increased during this period only 3.49 per -cent., the latter have increased 117.15 per cent., the proportion of -steamers to sailing vessels having advanced from 2.22 per cent. in 1849 to -4.87 per cent. in 1857. Bearing in mind the speed at which steamers go, -and the manner in which their powerful lights, just introduced, simulate -those of lighthouses and lightships, the increase of collisions is not -surprising. There can be no doubt that the introduction of coloured -side-lights, which all vessels, both sailing and steamers, must -henceforward exhibit, will enable the direction in which another ship is -standing to be distinguished, which was not the case heretofore. - -The most important object after the prevention of shipwreck is that of -rescuing the crew when the catastrophe takes place. All along the -coast--grouped thicker together where the fatal black dots indicate -dangerous spots--we find rude marks indicative of the presence of -life-boats. Thus, whenever the dangerous headland or the hidden shoal -threatens destruction to the mariner, the means of preservation are close -at hand. Of these boats, each manned by a fearless crew of twelve -volunteers, there are 141 stationed along the coast; seventy being under -the management of the National Life-Boat Institution, and seventy-one -under the direction of various corporations and local authorities. To the -princely conduct of the Duke of Northumberland, the President of the -National Life-Boat Institution, we owe the present improved condition of -the means of saving life in cases of shipwreck. As far back as the year -1790, two humble boatbuilders on the banks of the Tyne, Greathead and -Wouldhave (who were encouraged and fostered by the then Duke of -Northumberland), invented the broad, curved form of life-boat, with -air-cases, which was chiefly in use around our coasts. This model was -afterwards much departed from, and by degrees the most imperfect boats -(provided they were lined with what were supposed to be air-tight cases) -were dignified with the name of life-boats. The many casualties that -happened to these craft, which were built by rule of thumb rather than -upon any scientific system, brought them into much disrepute. Too often, -indeed, their hardy crews, instead of fulfilling their mission, were -drowned on the way. In some instances, owing to their defective build, -they turned _end over end_ when struck by a heavy sea, and, from want of -the power to right themselves when capsized, the unfortunate men were -encaged beneath them. To prevent the recurrence of such disastrous -accidents, the Duke of Northumberland offered a premium for the production -of a model life-boat, and the result was the exhibition of several -respectable contrivances. Not one of them, however, fulfilled all the -prescribed conditions; nor was it until after several trials and many -experiments that the present life-boat was completed. It appears to be the -production of a committee and not of an individual; but the chief credit -of it is due to Mr. Peake, of the Royal Dockyard, Woolwich; to Joseph -Prowse, junior, foreman of the same yard; and to Messrs. Forrestt, the -well-known boat-builders of Limehouse. It has been adopted by the -Life-Boat Institution, and has stood the test of some years' experience -without a single failure. In a trial lately made at Boulogne, the boat was -twice purposely capsized by the help of a crane, and righted herself in -two seconds, and in less than fifteen seconds the water with which she was -filled disappeared through her self-acting valves. Of the entire number of -1668 seamen saved during the last year, 399 owed their lives to these -boats, and we have no doubt that in future years they will prove still -more effective, if only well handled and not rashly sailed by -inexperienced men; for no life-boat can be devised that will not be liable -to accidents if entrusted to careless or unskilful hands. - -But there is another point almost equally important that seems to have -been greatly overlooked, the worthlessness of the so-called life-boats -that every emigrant ship, every transport, every passenger vessel, is by -Act of Parliament required to carry. We have no hesitation in pronouncing -them to be in most cases a mockery, a delusion, and a snare. It is not -long since that we heard from the lips of one of the most extensive -boat-builders on the banks of the Thames, that, when a boat was condemned -as unseaworthy for any other purpose, it was a common practice to patch it -up, add a certain amount of air-case, and dispose of it as a life-boat. We -know not with whom it rests to see the Act enforced, whether with the -Board of Trade or the Life-boat Association, but the fact of its evasion -is notorious, and a heavy responsibility rests somewhere. Even when the -crazy thing is embarked, it is often so stowed that it cannot be lowered -in case of need without long delay, and is frequently deficient in sails, -oars, thole-pins, plugs, and always without an efficient compass. Yet in -this ill-equipped boat the lives of thirty, forty, perhaps fifty, of our -too confiding countrymen are risked. It would be easy to see, before the -vessel sailed, that the life-boat was efficient; that a certain supply of -provisions and fresh water was placed in proper cases; that the mast, -sails, oars, and thole-pins were secured into the boat, and that an -efficient boat-compass was provided, instead of the ridiculous toy that -goes by that name, the card of which spins round like a top at every -stroke of the oars. The beautiful spirit or liquid boat-compass of Dent -may be purchased for less than L5. A life-boat thus furnished would give -confidence to the passengers, would serve them well in time of need, and -would be no more than the legislature is entitled to require under the -provisions of the Act. Anything less is a gross imposition upon the simple -emigrants, who embark in confidence, believing that everything has been -done for their safety. - -In addition to the life-boat system we have located in most of the -coast-guard stations rocket and mortar apparatus to enable a connection to -be established with stranded vessels by firing a rope over them. This -method was effectual in 243 cases during the last year, and is well worked -under the auspices of the Board of Trade. The drawback to the use of the -mortar apparatus is its weight, which prevents its being easily -transported along the rocky shores where it is chiefly needed, but we -understand that Mr. Brown, of the General Register and Record Office of -Seamen, has invented a portable apparatus, which will in all probability -greatly facilitate our means of communicating with stranded vessels, and -tend in no small measure to still further lessen the dismal list of seamen -who annually perish on our weather-beaten coast. - - - - -LODGING, FOOD, AND DRESS OF SOLDIERS. - - -If the question had been asked a short time since what body of men -presented the most healthy lives in her Majesty's dominions, the reply -might reasonably have been Her Majesty's Foot-Guards. Recruited, at the -age of nineteen, principally from among the agricultural population, -submitted to the critical examination of the inspecting surgeon, tried in -wind and limb and tested at every point, the would-be soldier must be -proved an athlete, or renounce for ever the hope of wearing her Majesty's -uniform. Absorbed into the picked corps of the army; quartered either in -metropolitan barracks or within a stone's-throw of the palace of the -Sovereign; clothed, fed, housed, and tended in sickness by the State; and -only in the face of great emergencies required to brave the dangers of -foreign service; the weak and incapable instantly weeded out from the -ranks,--his does indeed seem to be a select life, with which no other -among the labouring classes would appear to be comparable. As we see him -on parade in all the pomp and panoply of war, we view him with pride as -worthy of that noble band that swept irresistibly before it the eagles of -France, and, single-handed, at Inkermann, long kept the foe at bay, and -saved two armies from destruction. Yet take the unhealthiest trades in -England--the pallid tailor, as he sits at his board, or the miner who -lives in the bowels of the earth--and it will be found that the percentage -of deaths in their ranks is not nearly so great as in those of the -magnificent Guards, pipeclayed and polished up to meet the eye of princes, -but, alas! often little better than whited sepulchres. Such is the fact -elicited by the labours of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into -the regulations affecting the sanitary condition of the army. If the "most -favoured" regiments furnish these disastrous results, it may be imagined -that the condition of the rank and file, who take their turn in all -climates, must be much worse; but, strange to say, the contrary is the -fact. This is shown in the following table, which gives the number per -thousand who die every year among the army at home and among the male -civilians of England and Wales at army ages:-- - - Household cavalry 11.0 - Dragoon Guards and Dragoons 13.3 - Foot Guards 20.4 - Infantry of the line 18.7 - -Population of England and Wales, at army ages:-- - - Town and country population 9.2 - Country alone 7.7 - -One of the unhealthiest towns at army ages:-- - - Manchester 12.4 - -According to Mr. Neison's calculation, the mortality of the Household -Cavalry is 1-4/5, Dragoons, &c., 2-1/5, Line 2-9/10, and Guards 3-1/13 -times as great as the mortality of the agricultural labourers who are -members of friendly societies. Well may the Commissioners, contemplating -these returns, remark-- - - "That in war men should die from exposure, from fatigue, from - insufficient supplies, is intelligible; or that the occupation of a - town of 30,000 inhabitants by an army of 30,000 men, without any - sanitary precaution, suddenly doubling the population to the area, and - thereby halving the proportion of every accommodation, supplies, - water, drainage, sewerage, &c. &c., should engender disease, is - readily understood; but the problem submitted to us is to find the - causes of a mortality more than double that of civil life among 60,000 - men, scattered, in numbers seldom exceeding a thousand in one place, - among a population of 28,000,000, in time of profound peace, in a - country which is not only the healthiest, but which possesses the - greatest facility of communication and the greatest abundance of - supply in Europe." - -In endeavouring to solve this extraordinary problem, the first question -naturally asked is, Why the foot soldiers suffer a rate of mortality so -much higher than the cavalry? They are recruited pretty much from the -same source, and breathe apparently pretty much the same atmosphere; yet -we find that the Foot Guards perish at nearly double the rate of the Life -Guards. The causes of this difference are mainly, overcrowding and the -want of due exercise and employment. The chief diseases of the soldier are -fever and consumption; the latter, or "the English Death," as it is but -too aptly termed, being the chief destroyer. The deaths by pulmonary -disease amount in the cavalry to 7.3 per thousand, in the infantry of the -line to 10.2, and in the Guards to 13.8; whilst of the entire number of -deaths from all causes in the army, diseases of the lungs constitute in -the cavalry 53.9 per cent., in the infantry of the line 57.277 per cent., -and in the Foot Guards 67.683 per cent. We are strongly inclined to -believe that some portion of this extraordinary mortality from pulmonary -disease may be owing to the atmosphere of pipeclay in which the Foot -Guards, and indeed the Horse Guards in a minor degree, live. In 1853, the -year in which the mortality tables were made up, the former pipe-clayed -their white trousers and fatigue jackets as well as their belts. Thus the -fine dust must have been for ever entering their lungs, and Mr. Simon, in -his recent Report affecting the health of special occupations, expressly -states that the workers in potteries are among the most unhealthy -artisans, in consequence of the clay-dust they are constantly inhaling in -the course of their daily work affecting their respiratory organs. - -It would appear that overcrowding is the chief cause of the disparity of -the death-rate between the two classes of Guards. If we compare the -extremes, we find that, whilst the Foot Guards quartered in Portman-street -barracks have only 331 cubic feet of air allotted to each man, the Horse -Guards at the Hyde Park barracks have 572 cubic feet; and if we take the -whole force of Foot and Horse Guards, we find that in London the latter -have the advantage of between one-fourth and one-fifth more air in their -barracks. But there is another and very important difference in favour of -the Horse Guard: his exercise is on the whole more varied than that of the -Foot Guard. In the infantry, the drill only exercises the lower limbs and -fixes the chest in one position; the grooming of a horse brings nearly -every muscle into play, which tends to open and expand the chest. The -broadsword exercise has the like effect. This diversity in the daily -duties and in the amount of air they have to breathe, explains, we -believe, the great discrepancy between the deaths from consumption of the -two classes of Guards. - -The reason for the increased mortality of the Dragoon regiments over that -of the Life Guards is not so easy to discover. As regards the Line -regiments, being quartered mostly in country localities, they breathe on -the whole a better atmosphere and have more exercise than the Foot Guards. -That this is the reason of their lower rate of mortality would appear from -the fact, that while the Guards were campaigning in Canada during the -rebellion, enjoying the same pure air as the Line, and undergoing -precisely the same fatigue and exposure, their relative rate of mortality -was reversed, and the Foot Guards proved the more healthy of the two. The -latter portion of the Crimean campaign showed the same result. - -When the high rate of mortality was first made known in the "Times," -military authorities imputed it chiefly to the destructive nature of the -night duties. The evidence given before the Commissioners, however, -entirely negatives this explanation. - -There are three classes of men whose night duties are more severe than -those of the Foot Guards--firemen, the police, and sailors; yet, strange -to say, all three enjoy a high state of health. The London fireman -undergoes, perhaps, more wear and tear than the rest. His duties call him -sometimes to several fires in a night, and when not out he is waiting in -readiness. Whilst on service he is liable to great varieties of -temperature, and to a good deal of wet; one minute he is scorching in the -midst of the fire, the next half-drowned by the water. Nevertheless, he -suffers a mortality of only seven per thousand. The metropolitan police -are on duty ten consecutive hours in all weather, yet their mortality is -less than nine per thousand. The comparison between them and the Foot -Guards is the closest that could be made, as the unmarried men all live in -section-houses (or barracks), are clothed in a uniform, and fed in messes. -Yet the mortality is just half that of the line regiments, and less than -half the mortality of the Foot Guards! The sailor on the home station, who -is worse lodged than either, and is subject to constant nightwork of a -very exposed character, shows a still more favourable result. It is clear -therefore that the nightwork will not account for the frightful inroads -made by disease in the ranks of the soldier. Nor need we go much further -than the barracks to know the main causes of all this suffering and death. -In London, as we have said, no more than 331 cubic feet of air was meted -out to her Majesty's Foot Guards, and in Dover Castle it was reduced to -147 feet per man, or less than the quantity which brought about the jail -fever which Howard discovered to be raging in the Cambridge Town Bridewell -in 1774. The highest average space allotted to each man before 1847 was -447 cubic feet. Even this amount of air is rendered less pure by defective -arrangements. Add to which the beds are placed only one foot apart, in -defiance of the fact that a man may be suffocated in a crowd -notwithstanding that he has all the sky above him. The state of the -morning atmosphere is thus summed up by Serjeant Brown, in answer to the -questions from one of the Commissioners:-- - - "Have you often gone into the men's rooms in the morning before the - windows were open?--Yes. In what state did you find the - atmosphere?--In a very thick and nasty state, especially if I came in - out of the air. If I went in out of my own room sometimes, I could not - bear it till I had ordered the windows to be opened to make a draught. - I have often retired to the passage and called to the orderly man to - open the windows." - -In some cases the troops are lodged in the basement of buildings below the -natural level of the soil, or in places where the storekeepers object to -put their stores, in consequence of the damage that would result to them -from the damp. A notable instance is given in evidence by Dr. T. E. -Balfour:-- - - "In 1845 the armoury was burnt down in the Tower, and a new barrack - was erected on its site--certainly not before it was wanted, because - the accommodation was very bad. The barrack was finished in the - beginning of 1849; fever was then prevailing among the men, and - cholera threatening. The surgeon applied to have the new barracks - given over for the use of the men, and he got two rooms; he - remonstrated through his commanding officer with the authorities, when - he was informed that he could not have more given over to him, as they - were full of stores--blankets, I believe. On suggesting that the - stores might be put into the old barracks, he was told that they were - a great deal too damp to put stores into, and it was only in - consequence of an energetic remonstrance on the part of the commanding - officer, which I believe reached the Duke of Wellington, that a Board - of officers was ordered to assemble, who recommended that the troops - should be immediately moved into the new barracks." - -Now and then the crotchet of a Colonel does a vast deal of mischief. Not -many years since, the cavalry at Knightsbridge were condemned to drink the -water from the Serpentine,--a reservoir of filth, which is now pronounced -to be pestilential to the neighbourhood. The men objected to use this -diluted sewage; but the commanding-officer had perfect faith in filters. -Nevertheless, the water persisted in smelling bad, notwithstanding it -looked clear,--a mystery the Colonel's knowledge of chemistry could not -fathom; nor would he give in until a Board had been called. The veterinary -surgeon now began to complain that the coats of the horses were beginning -to stare, and he wished that they should drink from the improved supply -which was furnished to the men. The Colonel still had faith in his -Serpentine water, and maintained that the horses would prefer it to the -purer stream. A bucket of each was placed side by side in the -barrack-yard, and a horse was brought in, which immediately settled the -question by refusing the dirty water, and plunging its muzzle into the -clean. It is not many years since the troops stationed at the Tower were, -in like manner, forced to drink the Thames water, taken from the most -convenient, which chanced to be the foulest, spot in the whole river. A -coarse filter did not suffice to protect them from the disease such -supplies were sure to engender. - -They manage these things better now in civil life. In the year 1848, the -Society for Improving the Condition of the Working Classes opened their -first model lodging-house. Their measure of the quantity of air necessary -for the poor man was much greater than that settled three years later, by -the military authorities, for the soldier. The mechanic and labourer were -allowed 542 cubic feet; the soldier, under the most favourable conditions, -breathed no more than from 400 to 500 cubic feet,--a measure which fines -off, by degrees, to the Black Hole allowance at Dover Castle, where the -soldier was reduced to 131 cubic inches. Nor is this the only point in -favour of the model lodging-house, of which there are several situated in -the foulest portions of the metropolis, and which accommodate sometimes -seven hundred inmates, or the full strength of many a regiment. Besides -containing pure air, which, with a proper system of ventilation, costs -nothing, but is of incalculable value to human life, the lodging-house, -instead of being confined to one room, used for all purposes, is divided -into the ordinary apartments of an inn; every inmate has his own -dormitory, and there is a good coffee-room stored with papers and books, -and supplied with hot water. In the kitchen below, there are facilities -for roasting, boiling, baking, and frying, and each man has his safe for -provisions. Hot and cold baths are provided; and the whole building is -heated by hot-water pipes, and well lighted by gas. If the soldier was -treated like his brother of the chisel and the hammer, the mortality of -the Guards would not be at the rate of 20.4, and that of the ordinary rank -and file at the rate of 17.8 per thousand, whilst that of the mechanic is -only 13.9 per thousand. - -If we were to write volumes, we could not deepen the impression these -figures are calculated to convey of the importance to health of sanitary -science. It has been said that soldiers would not appreciate the benefits -of a model lodging-house, and that, as the colonel asserted of the -troop-horse, they prefer the dirty to the clean,--crowding in a common -room, to separate apartments. If this were true, it would be no reason for -not teaching them better. If bad habits are congenial to them, they do not -suffer less when the mischief is done; and if they were callous to the -last, the interest of the nation still requires that lives which cost so -much should not be recklessly thrown away. But experience refutes the -supposition that soldiers have different notions of comfort from -civilians. The Guards, in the old part of the Wellington Barracks, had, -on one occasion, the temporary use, as a day-room, of an apartment fifty -feet by thirty, and, large as it was, it became inconveniently crowded. -The Commissioners, in their report, recommend that a minimum space of 600 -feet be allotted to each man in his barrack and guard-room, that an -interval of at least three feet be maintained between each bed, and that a -day-room should be provided. The barrack should at least be on a par with -the workhouse. - -The high rate of mortality in the army is not to be attributed to the bad -arrangements of barracks alone; the important elements of exercise and -food have to be considered, and in both the infantry are in an inferior -position to the artisan. - - "Perhaps," says Colonel Lindsay, "no living individual suffers more - than the soldier from _ennui_. He has no employment save the drill and - its duties; these are of a most monotonous and uninteresting - description, so much so that you cannot increase their amount without - wearying and disgusting him. All he has to do is under restraint; he - is not like a working man or an artisan; a working man will dig, and - his mind is his own; an artisan is interested in the work on which he - is engaged: but a soldier has to give you all his attention, and he - has nothing to show for the work done. He gets up at six; there is no - drill before breakfast; he makes up his bed and cleans up his things: - he gets his breakfast at seven; he turns out for drill at half-past - seven or eight; his drill may last half an hour. If it be guard-day - there is no drill except for defaulters. The men for duty are paraded - at ten o'clock; that finishes his day-drill altogether. There is - evening parade, which takes half an hour, and then his time is his own - until tattoo, which is at nine in winter and ten in summer. That is - the day of a soldier not on guard or not belonging to a company which - is out for Minie practice." - -Unless it be denied that the mind has any influence over the body, it -cannot be doubted that the inaction to which the infantry soldier is -subjected in barracks, by the regulations of the service, is most -detrimental to his mental activity and bodily health. The actuary well -knows that the affluent upper classes, although in every other respect -placed in the best sanitary condition, are shorter lived than the -agricultural labourer, for the simple reason that, having but little -active duty to perform, they suffer from _ennui_, which begets -dissipation. The soldier shares with the wealthy this cause of increased -mortality, without sharing in their other favourable conditions. Idle and -ill-lodged, he naturally resorts to the public-house, and, having but -little money to procure drink, he too often degrades himself by sponging -upon the female admirers of red coats for the means. The annals of the -police-courts are but too rife with the records of crimes and -misdemeanours committed by the Foot-Guards from these causes. Mr. -Jeffreys, a high authority, testifies that in India a large proportion of -the men chafe and drink themselves to death, under modes of life so -opposed to the habits of out-door labour in which they have been reared. -The soldier is not so much in fault as the rule of the service which -precludes him from making himself useful. The best-conducted troops are -the Engineers, who work at their different trades. The evil does not stop -with the mischief which the idle are sure to perpetrate. The active, -self-reliant Englishman is notoriously the most dependant soldier in -Europe. He can neither cook, bake, make his clothes, nor hut himself, like -the Frenchman, the Sardinian, or even the Turk. Contractors follow him -everywhere, excepting into the presence of the enemy; and when he most -needs every necessary of life he finds himself a helpless man. Mr. J. R. -Martin, one of the Commissioners, who has passed a life in high posts as a -military surgeon in India, and who has done more for the sanitary -condition of the soldier than any living person, holds it as a principle, -"that in all climates the soldier should do for himself whatever he can -perform without injury to his health, morals, or discipline; and, further, -that he should be required to do whatever may be essential to his -serviceable condition, in the event of a failure of the appointed -appliances. Before the soldier can be held as fit to undertake his duties -to the State, he must be made capable of maintaining everything which may -be necessary to his personal care and comfort." Does Aldershott or -Shorncliffe fulfil even the majority of the conditions calculated to train -the soldier for active service? Is he taught to build his own hut, to dig -his own well, to make his own roads, to cook his own victuals, or to mend -his own clothes? Aldershott, in fact, is not a camp at all, but a city of -soldiers, built and maintained "by contract;" the sum expended on the -buildings alone, for the years 1854 to 1856, being no less than -486,502_l._ 13s. 6d.; and we have little doubt that up to the present -time, the civil labour has cost more than 600,000_l._[30] Now, as Colonel -Tulloch urged, before these barracks were erected, why should not the men -hut themselves? There are clay, gravel, and sand, on the spot, with -abundance of small wood that no one will buy, not more than eight miles -distant. Soldiers have hutted themselves at Maroon Town, in the West -Indies, at 25_l._ per head. The buildings would not be such permanent -structures as the contractors have put together: we should miss the -architectural facades for the officers' quarters, and the "moulded -cornices" so maliciously described by the _Times'_ correspondent; but we -should have serviceable huts which would last for eight or ten years. -There can be little doubt that the men would be healthier in them than in -vast barracks. The process of building would supply the kind of exercise -which would amuse as well as instruct, and the plan would certainly save -money to the State. Considerably more than one half, or 647.9 per -thousand, of our soldiers have been recruited from the agricultural -population, to whom the erection of earthworks and building of all kinds -would be somewhat familiar. Of the remaining number, 294.7 have been -trained to mechanical trades. Surely, from this force handicraftsmen could -be selected to perform much of the work of the army. Bakers, cooks, -tailors, and bootmakers, could be found to supply the wants of the -regiment, and relieve us from the incubus of government contractors. We -place more confidence in a system in which the artisan-soldier will reap -the fruits of his labour, than in athletic games, which are not to be -neglected, but which become irksome when they are enjoined upon the -soldier by regulation. Serious exertion, too, with a useful result, is -always more invigorating in the long run than exertion which leaves no -result at all. Work, in short, within reasonable limits, is more healthful -than play. - -During the disastrous months of the Crimean campaign, Mr. Galton proposed -to give a series of lectures to the reinforcements about to proceed to the -seat of war, on the shifts available in wild countries. He went to the -Museum of the United Service Club at the hour he had advertised, but as -his audience amounted to but one soldier, he discontinued his efforts to -make known those _wrinkles_ he had acquired with so much suffering -himself. The substance of these intended lectures he has since amplified -into a book, which is one of the most interesting little volumes we ever -read, and which should be in the hands of every campaigner, whether -military or otherwise. Had our soldiers been acquainted with its contents -when our commissariat broke down, they would have been able to lighten -their miseries in a considerable degree. The services which he extracts -from a single piece of stick are almost inconceivable; and when there -seems to be no further hope, he shows how the difficulties may often be -overcome by the aid of the very circumstances which appeared to have -caused the breakdown. His makeshifts and expedients are, it is true, at -times rather rough; and Ensign Firebrass, as he looks at his -neatly-polished little boot, would perhaps be startled at being told, that -on a march, "pieces of linen a foot square, smeared with grease, and -nicely folded over the foot cornerwise," form a capital substitute for -socks; or that breaking "a raw egg into a hard boot before putting it on -greatly softens the leather." Such announcements may be horrifying in the -midst of luxury, but in hard circumstances the most nicely got up London -dandy would be grateful for the hint. Many a poor soldier, at any rate, -would be glad to know that even on a plain where there is nothing except -the turf beneath his feet, protection is at hand if he were aware how to -avail himself of it. "He need only turn up a broad sod seven feet long by -two wide, and if he succeeds in propping it up on its edge, it will form a -sufficient shield against the wind," and even against a drifting rain, -provided he plants his turf between the weather and himself. - -As regards the in-door amusements of the soldier, we have but little -belief in regimental libraries. The recruit from the agricultural -districts will not read such volumes as generally form the bulk of these -collections. A Scotch sergeant or two will thumb over Rollin's "Ancient -History," or Robertson's "History of Scotland," but the majority of the -soldiers will not look at them. "I have never heard of a reading army," -said the late Dr. William Fergusson; and we agree with him as far as what -are called standard works are concerned. The soldier can be amused, -however, with a lighter class of literature, and there is a certainty of -pleasing him with a newspaper. This is the reading he selects for himself -in the public-house, and why not condescend to consult his tastes? -Major-General Lawrance stated that the system had been tried in some -garrisons with excellent effect, of providing a room where the men could -procure papers, coffee, and a pipe. "We approach the soldier," says Robert -Jackson, "with the dram-bottle in one hand, and the lash in the other." -Things are not so bad as in his day, but the temptation and the punishment -are still provided; and to reduce both as much as possible, we should -employ pleasant preventives, both of a moral and physical kind. - -The question of food is intimately connected with the health of the -soldier, and, as far as we can see, no attempt has been made by the -commissariat to adjust it satisfactorily to the varying conditions to -which he is subjected. The truck system, which has long been abolished by -law in the payment of workmen, is still maintained to some extent in the -army. The soldier is nominally paid 13_d._ per day, but out of this the -authorities stop a certain sum, which varies with the markets, for the -rations and other necessaries supplied to him. The quantity of the ration -is fixed both for service at home and abroad. At home he has 1 lb. of -bread and 3/4 lb. of meat inclusive of bone, an additional 1/2 lb. of -bread being given to troops encamped in England. Abroad the ration -consists of 1 lb. of bread or 3/4 lb. of biscuit, and 1 lb. of meat either -salt or fresh, the additional 1/4 lb. being given to compensate for the -inferior quality of foreign compared to English meat. There are one or two -exceptional rations; but at home or abroad, in peace or in war, the ration -(the quality of the meat being considered) is the same. Simplicity may be -urged in favour of the system, but we fear this is its only merit, and we -are not at all surprised to find the following remarks in the Report:--"We -are of opinion that no ration can be fixed upon which shall be adhered to -in both peace and war. The conditions of life are so different in the two -cases, that whatever is suitable for the one must be either too much or -too little for the other." Common sense would clearly point out that the -ration which would be amply sufficient for the soldier in country -quarters, whose principal occupation is lounging along the street, or -leaning upon a bridge, would go but little way to maintain the wear and -tear of a man when exhausted by the fatigues of an active campaign. The -degree and nature of his labours then may be gathered from the following -extract from the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Supplies -of the Army in the East:-- - - "The average weight carried by a soldier on the march, including food - and water for the day, is probably not less than from fifty to sixty - pounds, and while carrying that burden he is frequently required not - only to march considerable distances, but also to move rapidly, and - make other great exertions. In the ordinary course of his duty he is - called upon to watch during the night at longer or shorter intervals, - whatever may have been his previous exertions. He is exposed to every - vicissitude of temperature, and often to the inclemency of the - weather, by night as well as by day, and must be ready to turn out - when required, at any hour, and under any circumstances. He must - generally be content with the shelter of a tent, whatever the climate - may be. When engaged in siege operations, he has to perform, mostly - during the night, the work that a railway labourer performs by - day--excavating and removing earth. When stores are to be landed, he - is often required to do the work of a dockyard labourer. When employed - in active service the soldier, therefore, requires a diet as - nourishing as that which is requisite to maintain the physical powers - of any other man engaged in hard labour involving frequent watching - and exposure." - -That is, the soldier is required at times to be a railway navvy, and -something more; but, unlike the navvy, he is not allowed to replenish his -inward man according to his natural desires, but according to a certain -fixed regulation. As well may a stoker limit his engine to a hundredweight -of coals a day, and expect to get any speed out of it he pleased. The -navigator, whilst executing heavy work, is known to eat as much as six -pounds of meat a day. Now we question if any navigator ever worked harder -than the common soldier in the trenches before Sebastopol, yet he was -expected to perform his task on one pound of meat, fresh or _salt_, equal -to three-quarters of a pound of English beef or mutton. The salt meat too -is vastly less nutritive than fresh; and in case the lemon-juice fails, as -it did in the Crimea, scurvy and its allied diseases are sure to follow -its use. Well may Dr. Christison have remarked "that any scientific person -conversant with the present subject (dietaries) could have foretold, as a -certain consequence, sooner or later, of their duty, that the British -troops would fall into the calamitous state which befell them in the -Crimea." It must be evident again that the soldier during a Canadian -winter requires more meat than he does between the tropics. In cold -climates the nitrogenous and carboniferous food should predominate; in -warm climates a larger amount of vegetable food is required. The exact -amount of the different kinds of food, however, requires a special study; -but surely chemistry, which has so admirably catered for the varying wants -of prisoners undergoing fluctuating amounts of exertion, could find no -difficulty in furnishing proper dietary tables for the British army in -different parts of the globe. The Commissioners, in their Report, fully -convinced of the injustice even at home of keeping stalwart English -soldiers upon half a pound of meat per day, recommend that it shall be -increased to a pound. - -In the clothing of the British soldier a contest has been long going on -between what is considered by the officers to look "smart," and what is -found by the men to be comfortable. A soldier upon parade and a soldier -going into action scarcely looks the same man. The tight coat, the stiff -stock, and the ugly shako, give a stiffness to his figure which is termed -"a soldierly appearance:" but upon the march or the eve of battle the -jacket is thrown open, the trowsers are tucked up, the shako is thrown -away, and the stock follows suit. He has divested himself of every -particle of clothing which is supposed to conduce to his smartness; but -he is a free man: he can use his limbs with facility, he can march without -fainting, and he can fight at his ease. Major-General Lawrance, -apologising for the retention of the shako, and for the leathern stock, -upon home service, urges that "it is essential to consider the appearance -as well as the comfort of the soldier." Some of the soldiers themselves -wish to keep the stock, provided "that it may always be taken off when -muscular exertion is required." The Commissioners are of opinion, and we -think rightly, that "this condition applied to any part of a soldier's -dress is condemnatory of it." Why should he possess a set of fine weather -feathers any more than the fireman or the policeman? Fitness is the very -essence of comeliness. The Ironsides of Cromwell would have smiled grimly -at the holiday suit of the modern soldier. The Commissioners in their -Report condemn nearly every article of clothing in present use--the stock -as an instrument of strangulation; the shako as neither fitted by size, -colour, weight, material, nor form, for service in hot climates; and the -trowsers as gathering dust on the march. In the Crimea the men were in the -habit of wrapping a piece of bale canvas from the commissariat stores -round their legs, which effectually protected them from the mud and wet. -This suggests a return to the old gaiter used in the army during the early -part of George III.'s reign, and still by some regiments of Highlanders, -or the adoption of a boot to lace over the bottom of the trowsers like the -ordinary shooting boot. The West India regiments are ordered to wear the -Zouave dress--the loose trowsers, leather leggings, jacket, and fez. This -may be well enough adapted for black troops, but we should be sorry to see -our own men tricked out in this foreign fashion. - -The chief parts of the soldier's body which require attention, as regards -health, are the head and neck. The head should be protected against the -extremes of heat and cold by every means that science can devise. In -tropical climates we still retain the shako, shielding it from the sun -with a linen cover. The insufficiency of this device is read in the -fearful mortality from sun-stroke, which devastates our army in India at -the present time. The natives wear a cotton turban with an old horseshoe -on the top to protect them from sword-cuts; and the Commissioners -recommend a light cap covered with wadded linen, with a flap hanging down -behind. Like the sola or pith helmet, the protection here is in the slow -conducting power of the material. Mr. Jeffreys, however, in his admirable -treatise entitled "The British Army in India," justly remarks, that the -slower a substance conducts, the longer it retains its heat. A -turban-covered shako worn all day in an Indian sun becomes charged with -caloric to such an extent that it will give out a sensible heat when hung -up in the tent, and will distress the head the moment it is put on; for -this reason the covering should be placed outside the tent at night to -cool. But, after all, though the heat may penetrate very slowly to the -wearer, the time comes when at last it reaches the skull. The protection -may be ample for the acclimatised Hindoo, and yet be insufficient for the -European. Mr. Jeffreys tells us that the scarf-skin of the Indian is so -much thicker than that of the European, that, when serving as a medical -officer, he was obliged to have a lancet ground in a peculiar manner for -vaccinating the horny hide of the native infants. We therefore agree with -him that science must be called upon to give the English soldier a still -further defence against the sun. He has himself attempted to solve the -problem. Instead of the use of the cloth-covered helmets he terms -sun-traps he has constructed an ingenious covering in which reflection, -retarded conduction, slow radiation, convection, and ventilation are -brought consecutively into play. There can be little doubt that -scientifically his contrivance is unexceptionable, and would keep the head -always cool. The weight, however, which his plan necessitates is a -material element, although it is the heat not the weight which kills. If -we desire to form an idea of the amount of heat which is thrown off by a -bright surface, we have only to place our hands before the polished sides -of a common firegrate, when the reflected heat will be found to be very -little less than that directly radiated from the fire. It is just because -these sides cast the heat which strikes them back again that the inner -face is kept comparatively cool. This, therefore, is the best description -of surface to present to the sky. It may be objected that the soldiers -would be dazzled by the helmets of their comrades; but the inconvenience -would only be incident to a curvilinear-shaped helmet, possessing numerous -tangential planes of reflection. A rectangular form, such as that of the -present shako, would reflect the rays of the midday sun either down to the -earth or up to the sky, and there would be no more glare observable than -from the windows of a house, which, except at sunset, are the darkest part -of the building. The helmet of the crusader was made in the form of a tin -pot: this was retained by the Knights Templars, who well understood the -value of the bright reflecting surface and the rectangular shape. - -Mr. Jeffreys goes further. He proposes that the body-dress of soldiers -serving in tropical climates should also have a metallic reflecting -surface. Though the idea may seem strange, we think it worthy of -consideration. A good defence against tropical heat must be devised if we -intend to keep India; for we cannot afford to send English regiments to be -wholly destroyed as fighting men every ten years. The sun is the great -ally of the natives; they counted upon its service in the late rebellion, -and we must endeavour to convert this enemy into a friend. A perfectly -sun-proof dress would be worth many armies to us. Some regiments of -irregular horse, which are by far the most picturesque-looking troops we -have, wear a light gray woollen blouse with simple curb chains on the -shoulders to protect them from sword-cuts. This we believe to be the most -suitable garment at present in use. Mr. Galton says that "during the -progress of expeditions notes have been made of the number in them of -those who have provided themselves with flannel, and of those who have -not, and the list of sick always included names from the latter list in a -very great proportion." With a host of such facts, well known to all who -have paid attention to the subject, it seems surprising that the military -authorities should have adopted a linen blouse for the troops in India. -This material is perhaps the best conductor of all the fabrics used in -dress; its unsuitableness therefore for a climate which is alternately -hot, cold, and wet, may easily be imagined. The neck and spine should be -guarded against the assaults of the sun almost as carefully as the head. -In all ages Easterns have been mindful to protect the great nervous -highway. The Arabs invariably bring one of the ends of the turban down -over the neck, and the French have adopted the same plan in Algeria. As -regards the spine, every one has experienced the sense of sickness which -is produced when the back is brought close to a strong fire. Such a fire -the poor soldier often endures for hours when marching under an Indian -sun. Sun-strokes arise as much from this cause as from the exposure of the -head. The Arab has a long tasselled loop of cloth hanging down in the -small of the back, which acts as a piece of solar armour: the English -soldier should have a similar protection, unless we are to consider that -his black knapsack and his neatly rolled great-coat are all that is -required. A belt of flannel should by no means be forgotten. The direct -rays of the sun striking upon the expanse of nerves over the abdomen often -bring on cholera or dysentery. The soldier should have, in addition, a -loose woollen wrapper to serve as a change when campaigning. The value of -dry clothes when he lies down on the bare ground after a fatiguing march -is not to be overrated. "The skin's debility is malaria's opportunity," -justly remarks Mr. Jeffreys. "The germs of fever, dysentery, and cholera, -stalking over the bodies of a sleeping army, which has been exposed to the -sun by day, quickly scent out the enfeebled skins and divide the prey!" - -The colour of the dress is important. Dr. Coulier, who has lately -investigated the qualities of different materials as clothing for troops, -found that white cotton placed over a cloth dress produced a fall of 7 -degrees per cent. in heat. When the tube of a thermometer was covered with -cotton sheeting and placed in the sun, it marked 35.1, with cotton lining -35.5, with unbleached linen 39.6, with dark blue cloth 42, with red cloth -42. From these experiments it will be seen that the staring red of our -uniforms absorbs no less than seven degrees more of heat than simple -cotton. As we have to guard against the cold of night, and the damp of the -rainy season, perhaps the best method of meeting the varied conditions of -heat, moisture, and cold would be to give the soldier a simple woollen -blouse of some neutral colour, which, while it did not absorb the sun's -rays, would yet be pleasing to the eye. Gray, faced with red, or girdled -with a red sash or belt, would have an excellent effect, and would answer -admirably. - -It is singular that whilst our troops at home, for the last twenty years -within the immediate influence of a growing sanitary science, have -profited little by its teaching, the troops quartered abroad within the -same time have experienced a marked decline in their annual rate of -mortality. In the year 1835 Lord Howick caused a parliamentary inquiry to -be made into the causes of the fearful mortality among the troops on some -of the foreign stations, especially in the West Indian islands. The -returns proved even worse than had been anticipated. The mortality in -Jamaica was no less than 128 per thousand, or, in other words, every -eighth man who stepped on board a transport for service in this beautiful -island was doomed to leave his body for the land crabs. In the other -islands the mortality was somewhat less, the deaths being 81 in the -thousand. The reason of this decimation had long been known. More than -fifty years ago Robert Jackson had pointed out the deadly nature of our -military posts, situated for the most part at the embouchures of rivers -and in low harbours, or placed in the immediate neighbourhood of -pestiferous swamps. Salt pork and rum were called in to finish the work -malaria had commenced. Five days a-week were our soldiers rationed upon -this poisonous food; and, to make the injustice more glaring, the convicts -upon the island were fed with fresh meat, and were consequently in good -health. In 1843 Sir Charles Metcalfe determined that the troops should no -longer perish. He altered their diet and removed them entirely from the -marshy plains to Maroon Town, which stands at an elevation of not more -than 2,500 feet on the Blue Mountains, but sufficient to lift European -life above the level of the deadly fevers of the climate. The effect of -these changes exactly corresponded with what had been foretold by Jackson; -the mortality speedily fell from 128 to 60 per thousand, and is now -reduced to 32. Thus for many generations the mortality of white troops in -Jamaica was fourfold what it should have been, through ignorance and -extravagance; for, strange to say, the difference between the cost of the -poisonous salt pork and the healthy fresh meat caused a saving to the -Government of 80,000_l._ a-year. - -In other colonies the improvement in the health of the troops has been -marked of late years. At Ceylon, where resort has been had to -hill-stations, the mortality has decreased from 74 per thousand,--at which -ratio it stood until 1836,--to 38 per thousand at the present time. During -the same period, we find that at St. Helena the rate has fallen from 25 to -12, at Gibraltar from 22 to 12, at the Ionian islands from 27 to 17, and -at Newfoundland from 37 to 11 per thousand. From this gratifying statement -we must except the greatest dependency of all,--our Indian Empire. In -Bengal the mortality of the British soldier, just before the mutiny, was -even greater than it had been twenty years before. On the average of -nineteen years previous to 1836, it had been 75 per thousand; on the -average of the next period of eighteen years, it was 76 per thousand. In -Bombay, the mortality has decreased 2 per thousand; but in Madras the -improvement has been such that the deaths have fallen from 76 to 41 per -thousand. Whilst India remained in the hands of the East India Company, -and the British troops stationed there seldom exceeded 25,000, the high -mortality of the presidency of Bengal might have escaped observation; but -now that the European soldiers are more than doubled, the necessity for -putting their sanitary condition upon a proper footing must be obvious. -"Colonel Tulloch has informed me," says Mr. Martin, in his admirable work -on the Influence of Tropical Climates on the European Constitution, "that -between 1815 and 1855 there died, of European soldiers belonging to her -Majesty's and the East India Company's army in India, very nearly 100,000 -men, the greater portion of whose lives might have been saved, had better -localities been selected for military occupation in that country." -Estimating the value of each soldier in India at 100_l._, this would give -a sum of 10,000,000_l._ - -The barracks and cantonments of India, as regard vastness and solidity, -are, perhaps, not to be equalled by any in the world. The military -buildings of Burhampore, in Bengal, are said to have cost, during the -seventy-seven years they were in existence, including capital and -interest, 16,891,206_l._; yet this costly station, like that of -Secunderabad, in the Madras presidency, was planted in an absolutely -pestiferous locality. All over India the localities of the barracks are -bad, and their construction and arrangement extremely faulty. "Nearly the -whole station of Cawnpore," says Mr. Jeffreys, "running some miles along -the river, was so cut up into small 'compounds,' by high mud walls, that a -bird's-eye view would have given it the appearance of a divided -honey-comb. These walls, with the profusion of trees they enclosed, seemed -as if designed to cut off every current of wind from the inhabitants of -the ground-floor dwellings hidden within them." In another case, as if to -make stagnation doubly secure, he mentions that there is a square wall -within a square wall, surrounding a cantonment. Hence we can easily -account for the fearful mortality among European troops in India. As if to -make patent to us the folly we commit in constructing these vast -bakehouses, the native troops, who hut themselves outside our lines, and -thus get plenty of air, present the unique example of a soldiery whose -mortality is below that of the population from which it is recruited. In -the Bengal presidency the mutiny has cleared away the difficulty; for it -has swept the mass of these pestilential cantonments from the face of the -earth. The question, how shall we profit by the loss? is answered by Mr. -Martin in his "Suggestions for promoting the Health and Efficiency of the -British Troops serving in the East Indies." He insists that we must -station our troops, in future, upon the hills, but not on such stations as -we have on the Himalaya and Neilgherry mountains,--positions of 7,000 feet -above the sea; for, although they are a security against the fevers of the -country, they are apt to induce bowel complaints, which are almost as -fatal. His opinion is, that elevations of from 2,800 to 6,000 feet would -yield a climate most congenial for European troops,--such, in fact, as we -have already found in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. He especially draws -attention to the solitary hills,--"those islands of the plains,"--as -capable of affording a refuge from the fevers that inundate the low-lying -ground. Here the mass of the British army may be lodged until their -services are needed. From these eyries, like the Romans of old, they may -watch the champaign country, and be ready, at a moment's notice, to move -on any threatened position. There is no intention of recommending the -abandonment of strategical points, or large cities which serve as -arsenals, simply because they are not wholesome. There are dangers to be -braved in peace as well as in war. Yet our experience of the heroic -qualities of the British soldier justifies the assumption that small -bodies of them, placed in strongly fortified positions, could hold out -against all comers until succour should arrive from the hill-stations, -especially now India is being traversed by railroads and telegraphs. But -even these stations are not sufficient to restore patients suffering under -chronic disease. These, if possible, should at once be sent home. The sick -officer is invalided, and speedily recovers in the air of his native land; -the common soldier, on the contrary, is forced to enter the hospital,--too -often to die. The men, moreover, should be recruited for a shorter time. -At present they practically serve seventeen years in India,--a period -which breaks down the constitutions of the majority. It is the exposure to -heat for a great length of time, and not its intensity for a short period, -that destroys European life. If we entrap the ignorant labourer by the -most unworthy artifices,[31] we should, at least, be merciful to him. Let -the term of service be reduced to ten years, and then the stream of -stalwart Britons, fresh from the mother-country, would enable us, in -conjunction with hill-stations, to keep a powerful and resistless grasp -upon the country. - -It may well be imagined that, if the sanitary condition of our army is so -bad in times of peace, its sufferings in war must be greatly exaggerated. -The experience of the Peninsula, Walcheren, Burmah, and Sebastopol, has -unfailingly proved this to be the case, and, in manifold instances, the -evils were such as could have been avoided with ease. - - "The barracks and the military hospital," says Miss Nightingale, - "exist at home and in the colonies as tests of our sanitary condition - in peace; and the histories of the Peninsular war, of Walcheren, and - of the late Crimean expedition, exist as tests of our sanitary - condition in the state of war. We have much more information on the - sanitary history of the Crimean campaign than we have of any other. It - is a complete example--history does not afford its equal--of an army, - after a great disaster arising from its neglects, having been brought - into the highest state of health and efficiency. It is the whole - experiment on a colossal scale. In all other examples the last step - has been wanting to complete the solution of the problem. We had in - the first seven months of the Crimean campaign a mortality among the - troops at the rate of 60 per cent. per annum from disease alone--a - rate of mortality which exceeds that of the great plague in the - population of London, and a higher ratio than the mortality in cholera - to the attacks; that is to say, that there died out of the army of the - Crimea an annual rate greater than ordinarily die in time of - pestilence out of sick. We had during the last six months of the war a - mortality among our _sick_ not much more than among our _healthy_ - Guards at home, and a mortality among our troops in the last five - months _two-thirds only of what it is among our troops at home_." - -This splendid testimony to the value of sanitary science, exhibited on the -largest scale, on an apparently hopeless field, is without appeal. The -Commissioners propose a medical officer of health for the army,[32] second -in rank to the principal medical officer, and attached to the -quartermaster-general in the field. This officer, says the Report, should -be the head of the sanitary police of the army, should be answerable for -all the measures to be adopted for the prevention of disease, and should -report to the quartermaster-general, and to the principal medical officer. -In order to prevent any evasion of responsibility, they further recommend -that the sanitary officer shall give his advice in writing, and that the -disregard of it on strategical grounds shall be equally recorded by the -officer in command. Having thus provided for the army in the field, the -Commissioners propose that there shall be associated with the Medical -Director-General of the Army a sanitary, statistical, and medical -colleague. Each of these officers would be at the head of a distinct -department--the sanitary officer taking cognizance of all questions of -food, dress, diet, exercise, and lodging for the soldier; the statistical -department gathering together those invaluable details relative to the -health of the army, for the want of which the British troops have so long -suffered a mortality out of all proportion to the civil community; while -the medical department would serve as a connecting link between civil and -military medicine, keeping the latter up to the last word of science, as -spoken by the great medical authorities in all countries. Some of these -suggestions will require deep consideration before they are adopted. -Nothing, at any rate, must be permitted to fetter the absolute power of -the commander in the field, who must have a real as well as a nominal -freedom. But every precaution which can guard the health of the soldier -without cramping the discretion of the general is demanded alike by -humanity and policy. What was so powerfully said in the last century has -remained in a great degree true in our own. "The life of a modern soldier -is ill-represented by heroic fiction. War has means of destruction more -formidable than the cannon and the sword. Of the thousands and ten -thousands that perished in our late contests with France and Spain, a very -small part ever felt the stroke of an enemy; the rest languished in tents -and ships, amidst damps and putrefaction; pale, torpid, spiritless and -helpless; gasping and groaning unpitied among men, made obdurate by long -continuance of hopeless misery; and were at last whelmed in pits or heaved -into the ocean, without notice or remembrance. By incommodious encampments -and unwholesome stations, where courage is useless and enterprise -impracticable, fleets are silently dispeopled, and armies sluggishly -melted away." - - - - -THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. - - -If a needle turning upon a pivot were fixed at York, and if, by a wire -placed in close proximity to it, the needle could be made to move to the -right or to the left through the agency of a power applied at the other -end of the wire in London, and if it were agreed that one motion of the -needle to the left should signify _a_, and one to the right _b_, &c.,[33] -we should have just such a contrivance as the common needle telegraph now -in use. - -Such is the dry statement of a problem the more detailed working of which -we are about to explain to the reader. - -When a schoolboy places a sixpence and a piece of zinc in juxta-position -with each other in his mouth, he immediately perceives a singular taste, -which as instantly disappears upon their separation; it is an experiment -which most of us have performed, wondered at for a moment, and then -forgotten. How little did we ever dream that in so doing we were calling -into life one of the most subtle, active, and universal agents in -nature--a spirit like Ariel to carry our thoughts with the speed of -thought to the uttermost ends of the earth--a workman more delicate of -hand than the Florentine Cellini, and more resistless in force than the -Titans of old! - -[Illustration: Fig. 1.] - -[Illustration: Fig. 2.] - -If now we place a piece of zinc, Z, and of copper, C, in a glass of -acidulated water, instead of in the saliva of the mouth, and if we then -attach to the piece of zinc the wire D K, and to the piece of copper the -wire B A, and approximate the two ends, A K, until they touch, we shall -have the philosophic expression of the contrivance of the boy--a -decomposition of the water will immediately take place, and either as its -cause or consequence--for scientific men have not yet decided which--an -electric current will flow in a continued stream from the zinc plate or -positive pole to the copper plate or negative pole of the battery, and -this action, provided the plates are kept clean and the acidulated water -is supplied, will go on as long as the materials last. If this little -instrument, which generates a very small amount of electric force, is -combined with others, as in figure 2,--the zinc plate of one cell being -connected with the copper plate of the next by a piece of wire--we shall -have the celebrated battery invented by Volta in 1800, in which the -accumulated current, after flowing from one cell into another, by means of -the little hoops of wire, is transmitted along the large hoop, D K A B, -from the one pole of the battery to the other. Within the narrow chambers -of some such battery (which may be made of any number of cells, according -to the force required), the motive power is generated by which the -electric telegraph is worked, and the large hoop by which its two poles -are connected represents the telegraphic wire we see running beside the -railroad, whose office is to form a conducting pipe for the conveyance of -the electricity. Different substances possess this property in various -degrees; some, such as dry paper, not permitting the passage of the -electric fluid to any sensible extent; and others transmitting it with -great freedom. Of all known bodies, the metals are the most perfect -conductors, and copper is in this respect superior to iron; but the -latter, being cheaper and more durable, is commonly employed in the -construction of the telegraph. Thus we have two of the indispensable -requisites--a constant force and a channel which conveys it from place to -place. - -[Illustration: Fig. 3.] - -There was yet a third thing necessary--some contrivance by which the force -could be made instrumental in forming signs or characters at its destined -goal; and this final condition was supplied by Oersted's discovery in -1819, that a _magnetic_ needle is deflected by the passage of a circuit of -electricity through a wire parallel and in close neighbourhood to it. The -following cut will explain our meaning:--When the fluid passes from the U -pole of the battery in the direction of B A K L M Z, and enters V, its -opposite pole, "a current," as it is called, is completed, running from -left to right, the effect of which upon the needle, N, is to deflect it in -the direction of the dotted line (seen in perspective) 2, 3, or to an -angle of 90 degrees, with the wire, if the current is sufficiently strong. -If, however, the current be reversed, and the electric fluid made to -traverse the wire from right to left, in the direction of the letters V Z -M L K A B to the U end of the battery, the needle will immediately reverse -its position and place itself at 90 degrees in the opposite direction. -This then is the whole principle and mystery of the needle telegraph, the -one still most extensively used in this country. The break that occurs -between the letters B U and Z V is intended to show the method in which -the needle is made to work. "Whilst the wires are thus apart the circuit -is broken," or the fluid no longer passes along the wire, but immediately -they are approximated the circulation again commences, and the needle -"answers the helm." By the opening and closing, then, of this small space, -which is effected by a lever, the needle is made to oscillate at will. - -[Illustration: Fig. 4.] - -The mere fact, however, of an electric current passing along a wire in -proximity to a magnetic needle was not sufficient to enable any person to -construct a telegraph. Would the needle be deflected by a wire, the -battery of which was placed at any considerable distance? it would not; -therefore, for all telegraphic purposes Oersted's discovery was worthless. -Schweigger, however, soon after ascertained that by passing a great number -of times round the needle a wire, thoroughly insulated by a "serving" of -silk thread, as shown in figure 4, the deflecting powers of the currant -were _multiplied_, and the sensibility of the instrument marvellously -increased. - -[Illustration: Fig. 5.] - -In the same year that Oersted made his brilliant discovery, M. Arago -detected another law, which furnished a second method by which the -electric current could be made to tell its tale. He announced to the -French Academy the fact so pregnant in its consequences, that the fluid -possessed the power of imparting magnetism to steel or iron; and shortly -afterwards our own countryman, Sturgeon, invented the first -electro-magnet, by coiling around a piece of soft iron a great length of -fine insulated copper wire, the ends of which communicated with a battery. -Figure 5 will give a rough idea of this instrument. The wire U B A, when -it reaches the cylinder K L, is wound many times round it, and returns to -the battery at V. As long as the current is passing, the soft iron becomes -a magnet and attracts the iron armature P; but directly the circuit is -broken its magnetic power ceases, and P, by the action of a spring, flies -back. It will at once be seen that by alternately making and breaking the -circuit, which can be done as fast as the hand can move the handle of a -lever, an up and down movement of the armature P will take place, and this -is the principle of action in Wheatstone's electro-magnetic dial -instrument and Morse's recording telegraph, so extensively used in -America. The general _modus operandi_ of the latter, which is a -contrivance of singular merit and efficiency, can be easily understood. At -the station at which the message is received, a poised iron lever has a -metal pin on its upper surface at one end, and an armature on its under -surface at the other end. When the magnet, which is placed beneath the -armature, attracts and draws it down, the pin at the opposite extremity is -raised, and presses against a strip of paper, which is moved between the -metal point, and a roller supported above it, at a uniform rate by means -of clock-work. The pin or style will then make a simple dot, or trace -lines of variable length upon the paper, according as the electric current -is kept up only for a single instant, or for a longer period. "The -impressions on the paper," says Dr. Turnbull, "resemble the raised -printing for the blind." Out of these dots and lines an alphabet is formed -similar to that which we have given in a subsequent page, when speaking of -the chemical telegraph at Bain. The instrument of Morse requires only a -single wire to work it, and is, says the Abbe Moigno, "an excellent -telegraph, very simple, very efficacious, and very rapid in its -transmissions. A practised clerk can indent on an average seventeen words -a minute, which is consequently as many as a skilful writer could -transcribe with a pen. It is, moreover, a great advantage to have fixed on -a band of paper the messages which the needle telegraphs merely figure in -the air." - -Since the year 1821 the principles of action of two of the working -telegraphs of the present day were known to scientific men, and the -question naturally arises, how was it that it still took so many years to -make the telegraph a working fact? The answer is, that the combination of -circumstances necessary to bring it to perfection had not arisen. What -interest had practical men in carrying out the dreams of philosophers? No -one imagined that it would ever become a necessary social engine, or that -it would pay "seven per cent." to a public Company. The patronage of the -Government could alone have been looked to by any of the proposers of the -new method of telegraphy, and the sort of encouragement received from this -quarter may be judged from the fact that when Mr. Ronalds attempted to -draw the attention of some of the officials to the working of his -instrument, they did not even deign to pay it a visit, but returned for -answer, "That the telegraph was of no use in time of peace, and that the -semaphore in time of war answered all the required purposes." The occasion -that suddenly ripened the invention and brought it into practical -operation was the introduction of railroads. Were it not for the universal -spread of this new means of locomotion, the telegraph might still have -remained in that limbo from which so many discoveries have never emerged. -The vast advantage to a railroad of a method of conveying signals -instantaneously throughout its entire length was at once seen, and the -continuity of its property, together with the protection afforded by its -servants, presented facilities for its introduction and maintenance which -had never before occurred. - -A problem of great scientific interest as well as of practical importance -in connection with the electric telegraph had still to be solved. The -experiments of Dr. Watson on Shooter's Hill, in the middle of the last -century, proved, it is true, that _a shock of electricity_ passed along a -four mile circuit without any appreciable loss of time, but nothing was -definitely known about the speed at which it really travelled. This -difficult question was answered by Professor Wheatstone. His beautiful -investigations on the subject were made by means of a very rapidly -revolving mirror, upon which the passage of the electric fluid, at -different and distant parts of a severed wire, was indicated by sparks, -which appeared as lines of light on the rapidly turning glass, on the same -principle that a bit of lighted charcoal whirled round and round in the -air appears as a circle of fire. By this instrument, which we cannot -render intelligible to the general reader, but for a fuller account of -which we refer him to the Philosophical Transactions of 1834, he made it -evident to the eye that one spark or leap of the electric fluid did occur -before the other--thus proving that its transit along the wire _was_ a -matter of time. The manner in which he took measure of this infinitesimal -period was extremely ingenious. By attaching a hollow piece of metal--a -metallic humming-top as it were--to the spindle of his revolving mirror, -and at the same time directing a current of air against it, he was enabled -to test its speed by the pitch of the sound produced: this once known, the -measuring of time that elapsed between the different sparks was easy. Thus -he forced the lightning to tell how fast it was going. His -admirably-contrived apparatus has since proved of considerable use to -philosophers in measuring very minute parts of time, and scientific men -can now with the greatest ease ascertain the period a flash of light takes -to traverse a distance of 50 feet--and light, be it remembered, travels at -the speed of 200,000 miles a second! - -By this experiment it appeared that electricity travels through a -copper-wire with at least the velocity of light through the celestial -space, though the recent experiments made for Professor Bache, director of -the national survey of America, have proved that the velocity of the -current through suspended _iron_ wires is not more than 15,400 miles per -second. The philosophic proof of the marvellous rate at which the electric -current moved, doubtless turned many minds once more in the direction of -the long sought for telegraph, and it is not surprising that the eminent -elucidator of the fact was among the number. A short time after this he -insulated four miles of wire in the vaults of King's College, on which he -performed most of his subsequent experiments.[34] Thus in the silence of -these gloomy vaults, as early as 1836, the lightning that was to flash -with intelligence round the world--the nervous system so shortly destined -to spread itself through two hemispheres, string together continents and -islands, and carry human thought under the wide-spreading seas, was slowly -being trained to the service of man by one of the most distinguished of -the many philosophers who have contributed to the development of this -branch of science. - -Following up his experiment, Professor Wheatstone worked out the -arrangements of his telegraph, and having associated himself in 1837 with -Mr. Cooke, who had previously devoted much time to the same subject, a -patent was taken out in the June of that year in their joint names. Their -telegraph had five wires and five needles; the latter being worked upon -the face of a lozenge-shaped dial inscribed with the letters of the -alphabet, any one of which could be indicated by the convergence of two of -the needles. This very ingenious instrument could be manipulated by any -person who knew how to read, and did not labour under the disadvantage of -working by a code which required time to be understood. Immediately upon -the taking out of the patent, the directors of the North Western Railway -sanctioned the laying down of wires between the Euston Square and Camden -Town stations, and towards the end of July the telegraph was ready to -work. - -Late in the evening of the 25th of that month, in a dingy little room near -the booking-office at Euston square, by the light of a flaring dip-candle, -which only illuminated the surrounding darkness, sat the inventor, with a -beating pulse and a heart full of hope. In an equally small room at the -Camden Town station, where the wires terminated, sat Mr. Cooke, his -co-patentee, and among others, two witnesses well known to fame, Mr. -Charles Fox and Mr. Stephenson. These gentlemen listened to the first word -spelt by that trembling tongue of steel which will only cease to discourse -with the extinction of man himself. Mr. Cooke in his turn touched the keys -and returned the answer. "Never did I feel such a tumultuous sensation -before," said the Professor, "as when all alone in the still room I heard -the needles click, and as I spelled the words I felt all the magnitude of -the invention, now proved to be practical beyond cavil or dispute." The -telegraph thenceforward, as far as its mechanism was concerned, went on -without a check, and the modifications of this instrument, which is still -in use, have been made for the purpose of rendering it more economical in -its construction and working, two wires at present being employed, and in -some cases only one. - -A frequently renewed and still unsettled controversy has arisen upon the -point of who is to be considered the first contriver of the telegraph in -the form which made it available for popular use. Two names alone are now -put forward to dispute the claim with Wheatstone--Steinheil of Munich and -Morse of New York. - -From a communication of M. Arago to the French Academy of Sciences, it -appears that the telegraph of Steinheil was in operation, for a distance -of seven miles, on the 19th of July, 1837, the same month in which -Wheatstone put his own contrivance to the test upon the North Western -Railway. But besides that the patent of Wheatstone was taken out in the -preceding June, and was itself founded upon previous and thoroughly -successful experiments, there is another material circumstance which gives -him a claim to priority over Steinheil, viz., that the latter published no -description of his instrument until August, 1838, that he altered and -improved it in the interval, and that the only accounts we have of his -contrivance describe its amended and not its original form. It was, -however, a very meritorious performance, and, in addition to its other -excellences, Steinheil was the first who employed the earth to complete -the circuit--a most important fact, which we shall explain hereafter. -Still his telegraph was inferior in its mechanical arrangements to that of -Wheatstone, and the inventor himself soon abandoned it in favour of a -modification of the instrument of Morse. - -Morse dates his claim to _the invention of the telegraph_ from the year -1832, when the first idea of such an instrument, he tells us, struck him -as he was returning home from Havre in the ship Sully. A fellow-passenger, -Professor Jackson, it appears, was in the habit of amusing himself, in -common with the rest of the passengers, with some accounts of the wonders -of electricity; and when Morse later developed his contrivance, Professor -Jackson not only claimed it as a plagiarism from his own conversation, but -added that Morse was so ignorant as to ask, upon hearing the term -Electro-Magnetism, "In what does that differ from ordinary Magnetism?" The -telegraph was at best, on the part of both of them, a crude idea; and it -was not till September, 1837, that Professor Morse was able to exhibit his -still imperfect machinery in action. He ultimately succeeded, as we have -before stated, in producing a telegraph of first-rate excellence; and, out -of 15,000 miles of wire which had been erected by 1852 in the United -States, 12,124 were worked on the system of Morse. - -The question of priority is, in our opinion, after all, of no sort of -importance, at least as regards the rival claims of Wheatstone and -Steinheil. When the progress of science has prepared the way for a great -discovery, two geniuses will occasionally take the step together, because -each is able to take the step of a giant. It was thus that the Calculus -was found out by both Newton and Leibnitz, and the place of Neptune in the -heavens by both Adams and Leverrier. It was the same with the telegraph. -The investigations of Wheatstone and Steinheil were entirely independent -of each other, and it cannot lessen the merit of either that there was a -second man in Europe who was equal to the task. - -There are some who dispute Professor Wheatstone's claim, by urging that, -inasmuch as all the main features of the telegraph existed before he took -out his patent, there was nothing left to invent. It is true that much had -been done, but it is equally certain that there was much to do. When -Wheatstone first directed his attention to electricity as a means of -communicating thoughts to a distance, the telegraph was a useless and -inoperative machine. He and his partner established as a working, paying -fact, what had hitherto been little better than a philosophic toy. To -those who now disparage the Professor's labours we think it sufficient to -reply by the admirable saying of the French _savant_, M. Biot, "Nothing is -so easy as the discovery of yesterday; nothing so difficult as the -discovery of to-day." - -Let us return, however, to the history of the telegraph in England, from -which we have digressed. After the successful working of the -mile-and-a-quarter line, the Directors of the London and Birmingham -Railway proposed to lay it down to the latter town if the Birmingham and -Liverpool Directors would continue it on their line; but they objected, -and the telegraph received notice to quit the ground it already occupied. -Of course, its sudden disappearance would have branded it as a failure in -most men's minds, and, in all probability, the telegraph would have been -put back many years, had not Mr. Brunel, to his honour, in 1839, -determined to adopt it on the Great Western line. It was accordingly -carried at first as far as West Drayton, thirteen miles, and afterwards to -Slough, a distance of eighteen miles. The wires were not at this early -date suspended upon posts, but insulated and encased in an iron tube, -which was placed beneath the ground. - -The telegraph hitherto had been strictly confined to railway business, and -in furtherance of this object Brunel proposed to continue it to Bristol as -soon as the line was opened. Here, again, the folly and blindness of -railway proprietors threw obstacles in the way, which led, however, to an -unlooked-for application of its powers to public purposes. At a general -meeting of the proprietors of the Great Western Railway in Bristol, a Mr. -Hayward, of Manchester, got up and denounced the invention as a -"new-fangled scheme," and managed to pass a resolution repudiating the -agreement entered into with the patentees. Thus within a few years we find -the telegraph rejected by two of the most powerful railway companies, the -persons above all others who ought to have welcomed it with acclamation. - -To keep the wires on the ground, Mr. Cooke proposed to maintain it at his -own expense, and was permitted by the directors to do so on condition of -sending their railway signals free of charge, and of extending the line to -Slough. In return, he was allowed to transmit the messages of the public. -Here commences the first popular use of the telegraph in England, or in -any other country. The tariff was one shilling per message. The effect of -this low charge was to develop a class of business which seems beneath the -notice of the powerful company now in possession of most of the -telegraphic lines in the kingdom. The transactions of the retail dealers -are considered too petty, perhaps, for their attention; but there can be -no doubt that the comfort of the public would be vastly increased, and -also the revenues of the company, if they would only condescend to take a -lesson by the commercial experience of this shilling tariff, the working -of which we will illustrate by transcribing from the telegraph book at -Paddington a few specimens of the messages sent:-- - - "Commercial News. 1844, Nov. 1, Slough, 4.10 P.M.--'Send a messenger - to Mr. Harris, poulterer, Duke-street, Manchester-square, and order - him to send twelve more chickens to Mr. Finch, High-street, Windsor, - by the 5.0 P.M. down train, without fail.' Answer: Paddington, 5.5 - P.M.--'The chickens are sent by the 5.0 P.M. train.' - - "Slough, 7.35 P.M.--'A Mr. Thomas B., a first-class passenger, 6.30 - P.M. train, left a blue cloak with a velvet collar in first-class - booking-office. Send it by mail train if found.' - - "Paddington 7.45 P.M.--'There are two such cloaks in the - booking-office: has Mr. B.'s any mark on any part of it?' Slough, 7.47 - P.M.--'Mr. B.'s has the mark x under the collar, inside.' - - "Paddington, 7.55 P.M.--'Cloak found, and will be sent on as - requested.' - - "Slough, Nov. 11, 1844, 4.3 P.M.--'Send a messenger to Mr. Harris, - Duke-street, Manchester-square, and request him to send 6 lbs. of - white bait and 4 lbs. of sausages, by the 5.40 train, to Mr. Finch, of - Windsor they must be sent by 5.30 down train, or not at all.' - - "Paddington, 5.27 P.M.--'Messenger returned with articles which will - be sent by 5.30 train, as requested.'" - -The first application of the telegraph to police purposes took place about -this time on the Great Western Railway, and, as it was the first -intimation thieves got of the electric constable being on duty, it is full -of interest. The following extracts are from the telegraph book kept at -the Paddington station:-- - - "Eaton Montem day, August 28, 1844.--The Commissioners of Police have - issued orders that several officers of the detective force shall be - stationed at Paddington to watch the movements of suspicious persons, - going by the down-train, and give notice by the electric telegraph to - the Slough station of the number of such suspected persons, and dress, - their names if known, also the carriages in which they are." - -Now come the messages following one after the other, and influencing the -fate of the marked individuals with all the celerity, certainty, and -calmness of the Nemesis of the Greek drama:-- - - "Paddington, 10.20 A.M.--'Mail train just started. It contains three - thieves, named Sparrow, Burrell, and Spurgeon, in the first - compartment of the fourth first-class carriage.' - - "Slough, 10.48 A.M.--'Mail train arrived. _The officers have cautioned - the three thieves._' - - "Paddington, 10.50 A.M.--'Special train just left. It contained two - thieves: one named Oliver Martin, who is dressed in black, _crape on - his hat_; the other named Fiddler Dick, in black trowsers and light - blouse. Both in the third compartment of the first second-class - carriage.' - - "Slough, 11.16 A.M.--'Special train arrived. Officers have taken the - two thieves into custody, a lady having lost her bag, containing a - purse with two sovereigns and some silver in it; one of the sovereigns - was sworn to by the lady as having been her property. It was found in - Fiddler Dick's watch-fob.'" - -It appears that, on the arrival of the train, a policeman opened the door -of the "third compartment of the first second-class carriage" and asked -the passengers if they had missed anything? A search in pockets and bags -accordingly ensued, until one lady called out that her purse was gone. -"Fiddler Dick, you are wanted," was the immediate demand of the -police-officer, beckoning to the culprit, who came out of the carriage -thunderstruck at the discovery, and gave himself up, together with the -booty, with the air of a completely beaten man. The effect of the capture -so cleverly brought about is thus spoken of in the telegraph book:-- - - "Slough, 11.51 A.M.--'Several of the suspected persons who came by the - various down-trains are lurking about Slough, uttering bitter - invectives against the telegraph. Not one of those cautioned has - ventured to proceed to the Montem.'" - -Ever after this the lightfingered gentry avoided the railway and the _too_ -intelligent companion that ran beside it, and betook themselves again to -the road--a retrograde step, to which on all great public occasions they -continue to adhere. - -The telegraph, even up to this period, was very little known to the great -mass of the public, and might have continued for some time longer in -obscurity but for its remarkable agency in causing the arrest of the -quaker Tawell. This event, which took place on the afternoon of Friday, -January 3rd, 1845, placed it before the world as a prominent instrument in -a terrible drama, and at once drew universal attention to its -capabilities. - -It must not be imagined, however, that Mr. Wheatstone's was the only -patent taken out for a telegraph in the year 1837. A number of inquiring -minds were simultaneously with the Professor wandering in the tangled wood -of doubt, and when he burst his way through, others speedily emerged at -different points, one after another. Consequently, the year 1837 was -distinguished by a complete crop of telegraphs, any one of which would -perhaps have held its ground had it stood alone, but not one of them was -practically equal to the first, and they have all long since departed to -the tomb, already stored with the abortive results of so many merely -ingenious minds. - -The rapidity with which the needle instrument transmits messages, the -small amount of electricity required to work it, and the simplicity of its -construction, are its chief recommendations. Upwards of 200 letters can be -forwarded by it within the minute. Its great drawback--a drawback that -will appear greater every year--is that it can only be worked by a system -of signs, which requires some practice to understand. As long as the -public is content to send its messages open to the light of day, this plan -will hold its ground, as a practised manipulator can indicate the letters -as fast as it is possible to read, much less transcribe them, at the other -end of the wire; but immediately that the public come to demand -secrecy--to put a seal as of old on its letters--this telegraph will, we -predict, fall into _public_ disuse; and the revolving dial telegraph, -invented by Mr. Wheatstone, in 1840, or the recording telegraph of Bain or -Morse, or, more likely still, the American printing telegraph of House, -will come into play. - -This latter instrument appears to contain within itself capabilities of -very high excellence; for instance, it requires no one to interpret, and -then to re-write its messages--this it does itself. In fact it extends the -compositor's fingers as far as the wire can be stretched. Messages are -thus printed at the rate of fifty letters a minute, say at five hundred -miles distance, in common Roman characters, on long slips of paper similar -to those used on the recording instrument. Any description of its -complicated mechanism would be utterly unintelligible to general readers. -"While the arrangements of the telegraph of Morse," said Mr. Justice -Woodbury, of America, in giving judgment in a patent case, "can be readily -understood by most mechanics and men of science, it requires days, if not -weeks with some, thoroughly to comprehend all the parts and movements of -the telegraph of House." His system is in use for thousands of miles of -the American lines. Bakewell's copying telegraph is naturally suggested by -the telegraph of House, from the fact that it reproduces its messages, -although in a different manner. The sender of the message may be said to -write with a pen long enough to stretch to the most distant correspondent; -that is, he not only forwards instantaneously the substance of a message, -but it is conveyed in his own handwriting. The principle is similar to -that of Davy's chemical recording telegraph. The person sending the -message writes it on a piece of tin foil with a pen dipped in varnish or -any other non-conducting substance; this message is then placed round a -metal cylinder, which is made to revolve at a certain regulated pace. In -contact with this cylinder is a blunt steel point, which, by the action of -a screw, makes a spiral line from the top to the bottom of the cylinder, -thus touching every portion of the written message enveloping it. In -connection with the steel point is the conducting wire, and at the end of -the wire is a similar steel point working spirally upon a like cylinder. -It will be at once seen that the current will always be transmitted, -except at those portions of the tin foil which are covered with the -non-conducting varnish, and which, therefore, cut off the flow of -electricity, and the handwriting will appear at the other end of the -telegraphic wire upon a piece of chemically-prepared paper rolled upon its -cylinder, and moving synchronously with it. The transmitted letter appears -to be written in white upon a dark ground, the white parts, of course, -indicating where the current has been broken, and where, consequently, no -decomposition of the chemical paper has taken place. - -To return, however, to our subject after this little digression. At the -same time that the first working telegraph was being simplified and -improved, the system was gradually spreading, and, by the end of the year -1845, lines exceeding 500 miles in extent were in operation in England, -working Messrs. Wheatstone and Cook's patents. In the following year, -capital, as represented by the powerful Electric Telegraph Company, -commenced its operations, and an immediate and rapid development of the -new method of carrying intelligence was the result. - -"A period of eight years has elapsed," as they say in a certain class of -drama, and let us now look upon the condition of electric-telegraphy in -England. We left it exerting its influence in a disjointed manner over a -few railways, and striking out its wires here and there at random, without -governing head or organization; and how do we find it? - -Jammed in between lofty houses, at the bottom of a narrow court in -Lothbury, we see before us a stuccoed wall, ornamented with an electric -illuminated clock. Who would think that behind this narrow forehead lay -the great brain,--if we may so term it,--of the nervous system of Britain, -or that beneath the narrow pavement of the alley lies its spinal chord, -composed of hundreds of fibres, which transmit intelligence as unperceived -as does the medulla oblongata beneath the skin? Emerging from this narrow -channel, the "efferent" wires branch off beneath the different footways, -ramify in certain plexuses within the great centre of intelligence itself, -and then shoot out along the different lines of railway until the shores -of the island would seem to interpose a limit to their further progress. -Not so, however:--beneath the seas, under the heaving waves covered with -stately navies, they take their darksome way, until, with the burden of -their moving fire, they emerge once more upon the foreign strand, and -commence afresh their career over the wide expanse of the Continent. - -And now, like a curious physiologist, let us examine the various parts of -this ingeniously-constructed sensorium, and endeavour to show our readers -how in this high chamber, fashioned by human hands, thoughts circulate, -and ideas come and go. The door of the "Central Telegraph Station" leads -immediately into the Central Hall, an oblong space, open quite up to the -roof, which presents an appearance something like the Coal Exchange or the -Geological Museum, two tiers of galleries being suspended from the bare -walls, and affording communication to the different parts of the building. -If we ascend the first gallery, and lean over the balustrade, we shall get -a very clear bird's-eye view of the method in which messages are received -and transmitted. Here, man, like the watchful spider, sits centered within -his radiating web, and "lives along the line." Beneath us runs a sweep of -counter forming three sides of a quadrangle, divided into compartments of -about a square yard by green curtains. A desk and printed forms, to be -filled up, are placed in each of these isolated cells, towards which we -see individuals immediately make, and then bury themselves, being for the -time profoundly intent upon the printed form. - -We all know the jocose excuse of the correspondent for having written a -long letter--that he had not time to make it shorter. And truly it -requires some art to be laconic enough to satisfy the pocket in this -establishment. Let us watch, for instance, yonder youth: he seems to have -filled his sheet very close--now he gives it in to the receiving-clerk, -and something evidently is wrong, for he looks perplexed--it is some hitch -about the charge, for his attention is directed to the scale of prices -printed at the head of the paper. - - "Messages (not exceeding twenty words) can be sent between all the - principal towns in Great Britain at a charge of 1_s._ within a circuit - of 50 miles, of 2_s._ 6_d._ within a circuit of 100 miles - (geographical distance), and of 5_s._ beyond a circuit of 100 miles, - with an additional sum of 6_d._ porterage within half a mile of the - station." - -"Economy," says a French writer, M. de Courcy, "teaches conciseness. The -telegraphic style banishes all the forms of politeness. 'May I ask you to -do me the favour,' is 6d. for a distance of fifty miles." How many of -those fond adjectives, therefore, must our poor fellow relentlessly strike -out to bring his billet down to a reasonable charge! What food for -speculation each person affords, as he writes his hurried epistle, -dictated either by fear, or greed, or more powerful love!--for we have not -yet got into the habit of employing the telegraph, like the Americans, on -the mere every-day business of life. Every message--and of these there are -350,000 transmitted by this Company yearly for the public, and upwards of -3,500,000 for the Railways--is faithfully copied, and put by in fire-proof -safes, those sent by the recording telegraph being wound in tape-like -lengths upon a roller, and appearing exactly like discs of sarcenet -ribbon. Fancy some future Macaulay rummaging among such a store, and -painting therefrom the salient features of the social and commercial life -of England in the nineteenth century. If from the Household Book of the -Duke of Northumberland, or still later, from the Paston Letters, we can -catch such glimpses of the manners of an early age, what might not be -gathered some day in the twenty-first century from a record of the -correspondence of an entire people? - -"Softly, softly," interposes the Secretary of the Company, "we have no -such intention of gratifying posterity; for, after a certain brief period -all copies of communications are destroyed. No person unconnected with -the office is, under any consideration, allowed to have access to them, -and the servants of the Company are under a bond not to divulge 'the -secrets of the prison-house.'" Very good, as far as the present generation -is concerned; nevertheless, it is devoutly to be wished that an odd box or -two of these sarcenet ribbons, with their linear language, may escape, for -future Rawlinsons to puzzle over and decipher for the instruction of -mankind. - -Whilst we have been thus speculating, however, a dozen messages for all -parts of the kingdom have successively ascended, through the long lift -before us, to the instrument-rooms, of which there are two, situated in -the attics of the establishment, on either side of the top gallery of the -central hall; these, to carry out our anatomical simile, might be called -the two hemispheres of the establishment's cerebrum. The instruments of -one of these rooms are worked by youths, while those of the other are -manipulated by young ladies; and it seems to us as though the directors -were pitting them against each other--establishing a kind of industrial -tournament--to see which description of labourer is worthiest. As yet, -little or no difference can be detected: this, however, is in itself a -triumph for the fair sex, as it proves their capacity for a species of -employment well calculated for their habits and physical powers, and opens -another door for that superabundance of female labour of a superior kind -which has hitherto sought employment in vain. - -Click, click, go the needles on every hand as we enter. Here we see the -iron tongues of the telegraph wagging, and talking as fast as a tea-table -full of old maids. London is holding communication with Manchester. -Plymouth is listening attentively to a long story, and every now and then -intimates by a slight movement that he perfectly comprehends. But there is -one speaker whose nimble tongue seems to be saying important things by the -stir around him,--that is _the Hague_ whispering under the North Sea the -news he has heard, an hour or so ago, from Vienna of a great victory just -gained by the Turks. We are witness to a series of conversations carried -on with all corners of the island, and between the metropolis of the -world and every capital of northern and central Europe, as intimately as -though the speakers were bending their heads over the dinner-table, and -talking confidentially to the host. And by what agency is this -extraordinary conversation carried on? All that the visitor sees is a -number of little mahogany cases, very similar to those of American clocks, -each having a dial, with two lozenge-shaped needles working by pivots, -which hang, when at rest, perpendicularly upon it. Two dependant handles, -situated at the base of this instrument, which the operator grasps and -moves from side to side at his will, suffice to make and break the -currents or reverse them, and consequently to deflect the needles either -to the right or left. Two little stops of ivory are placed about half an -inch apart, on either side of the needle, to prevent its deflecting too -much, and to check all vibration. It is the sound of the iron tongue -striking against these stops that makes the clicking, and to which the -telegraphists are sensitively alive. In the early days of telegraphy, the -operator's attention, at all the stations, was drawn to the instrument by -the sudden ringing of an alarum, which was effected by the agency of an -electro-magnet; but the horrid din it occasioned became insupportable to -persons in constant attendance, and this part of the instrument was -speedily given up, the clicking of the needle being found quite sufficient -to draw his attention to the arrival or passing of a message. We say _or -passing_ of a message, because, when a communication is made, as for -instance, between London and Edinburgh, the needles of all the -telegraph-stations on the line are simultaneously deflected, but the -attendant has only to take notice of what is going on when a special -signal is made to his particular locality, informing him that _he_ is -spoken with. A story is told of a certain somnolent station clerk, who, in -order to enjoy his nap, trained his terrier to scratch and awaken him at -the first sound of the clicking needles. - -There are but two kinds of telegraph used by the company, the needle -telegraph and a few of the chemical recording telegraph of Bain. The -latter instrument strikes the spectator more, perhaps, than the -nimble-working needle apparatus, but its action is equally simple. Slits -of variable length representing letters, according to the alphabet in the -note,[35] are punched out from a long strip of paper called the -message-strip, which is placed between a revolving cylinder and a toothed -spring. The battery is connected with the cylinder; the wire, which goes -from station to station, is joined to the spring. As dry paper is a -non-conductor, no electricity passes while the unpierced portion of the -message-slip interposes between the cylinder and the tooth; but when the -tooth drops into a space, and comes in contact with the cylinder, the -current flows. If we now transfer our attention to the station at which -the message is received, we find a similar cylinder revolving at a regular -rate, and a metal pin, depending from the end of the telegraph wire, -pressing upon it; but in this case the paper between the cylinder and the -pin has been washed with a solution of prussiate of potash, which -electricity has the effect of changing to Prussian blue at the point where -the pin touches it. Therefore, as the chemically prepared paper moves -under the pin, a blue line is formed of the same length as the slits at -the other end, which regulate the duration of the electric current; and -thus every letter punched upon the message-strip is faithfully transferred -to its distant fellow. Such is the celerity with which the notation is -transmitted by this method, that "in an experiment performed by M. Le -Verrier and Dr. Lardner, before committees of the Institute and the -Legislative Assembly at Paris, despatches were sent 1,000 miles at the -rate of nearly 20,000 words an hour." In ordinary practice, however, the -speed is limited to the rate at which an expert clerk can punch out the -holes, which is not much above a hundred per minute. Where the object was -to forward long documents, such as a speech, a number of persons could be -employed simultaneously in punching out different portions of the message, -and the message-strips would then be supplied as fast as the machine could -work. - -This system is used extensively in America. A weaker current of -electricity than what is required for deflecting needles or magnetising -iron, suffices to effect the requisite chemical decomposition. The -conducting power of vapour or rain carries much of the electricity from -the wires in certain states of the atmosphere; "and in such cases, where -both Morse's and Bain's telegraphs are used by an amalgamated company in -the same office, it is found convenient to remove the wires from Morse's -instruments, and connect them with Bain's, on which it is practicable to -operate when communication by Morse's system is -interrupted."--(_Whitworth's Report_, p. 51.) - -This chemical telegraph has also the advantage, in common with all -recording instruments, that it leaves an indelible record of every message -transmitted, and therefore is very useful when the mistake of a single -figure or letter might be of consequence, which we will illustrate by a -case which happened very lately. A stockbroker in the City received, -during a very agitated state of the funds, an order to buy for a client in -a distant part of the country, by a certain time of the day, 80,000_l._ of -consols. This order being unusually large for the individual, the broker -doubted its accuracy, and immediately made inquiries at the office. The -message had luckily been sent by the recording instrument, and upon -looking at the record it was immediately seen that the order was for -8,000_l._, the transcriber having put in an 0 too much, for which, -according to the rules of the company, he was incontinently fined. Now, -here the error was immediately traced to the person who made it, and there -was no need of telegraphing back to inquire if all were right, two matters -of vital importance in such a transaction as this, involving so much -personal responsibility; for if the purchase had been made and turned out -unfortunate, the loss would indubitably have fallen upon the unhappy -sharebroker.[36] - -In all ordinary transactions, however, the needle instrument is -preferable, because it transmits its messages much more quickly. The speed -with which the attendants upon these instruments read off the signals made -by the needles is really marvellous: they do not in some cases even wait -to spell the words letter by letter, but jump at the sentence before it is -concluded; and they have learned by practice, as Sir Francis Head says in -"Stokers and Pokers," to recognize immediately who is telegraphing to -them, say at York, by the peculiar _expression of the needles_, the long -drawn wires thus forming a kind of human antennae by which individual -peculiarities of touch are projected to an infinite distance. To catalogue -the kind of messages which pass through the room, either on their way from -London or in course of distribution to it, would be to give a history of -human affairs. Here, from the shores of this tight island, comes the -morning news gathered by watchers, telescopes in hand, on remote -headlands, of what ships have just hove in sight, or what craft have -foundered or come ashore--to this room, swifter beyond comparison than the -carrier-dove of old, the wire speeds the name of the winner of the Derby -or the Oaks. How the four winds are blowing throughout the island; how -stocks rise or fall every hour of the day in all the great towns and in -the continental capitals; what corn is at Mark Lane, and what farmer Giles -got a quarter of an hour since in a country town in Yorkshire, are equally -known in the telegraph room. Intermixed with quotations of tallow and the -price of Wall's End coals, now and then comes a love-billet, which excites -no more sympathy in the clerk than in the iron that conveys it; or a -notice that the sudden dart of death has struck some distant friend, is -transmitted and received as unconcernedly as an account of the fall in -Russian stock. When business is slack the telegraphists sometimes amuse -themselves by an interchange of badinage with their distant friends. Sir -Francis Head informs us that an absolute quarrel once took place by -telegraph, and the two irritated manipulators were obliged to be separated -in consequence. - -In addition to this private message department there is, below stairs, an -intelligence office, in which news published in the London morning papers -is condensed and forwarded to the Exchanges of Liverpool, Bristol, -Manchester, Glasgow, &c.[37] A few years since the company opened -subscription rooms in all the large towns of the north, in which -intelligence of every kind was posted immediately after its arrival in -London; but the craving for early intelligence was not sufficient to -induce the people to incur the expense, and, with the exception of the -room at Hull, the establishments have all been shut up. - -On Friday evening especially this department is very busy condensing for -the country papers the news which appears in that exciting column headed -"By Electric Telegraph, London, 2 A.M." Thus the telegraph rides express -through the night for the broadsheets of the entire kingdom, and even -steps across from Portpatrick to Donaghadee into the sister country, with -its budget of latest intelligence, by which means the extremities of the -two islands are kept as well _up_ in the progress of important events as -London itself. Upwards of 120 provincial papers each receive in this -manner their column of parliamentary news of the night; and the _Daily -Mail_, published in Glasgow, gets sometimes as much as three columns of -the debates forwarded whilst the House is sitting. A superintendent and -four clerks are expressly employed in this department; and early in the -day, towards the end of the week, the office presents all the appearance -of an editor's room. At seven in the morning the clerks are to be seen -deep in the _Times_ and other daily papers, just hot from the press, -making extracts, and condensing into short paragraphs all the most -important events, which are immediately sent off to the country papers to -form "second editions." Neither does the work cease here; for no sooner is -a second edition published in town, than its news, if of more than -ordinary interest, is transmitted to the provinces. For instance: whilst -we were in the company's telegraph room a short time since, the following -intelligence was being served out to Liverpool, York, Manchester, Leeds, -Bristol, Birmingham, and Hull:-- - - "EASTERN WAR--BATTLE ON THE DANUBE--FROM EVENING EDITION OF THE - 'MORNING CHRONICLE.' - - "_Vienna, Saturday, April 8th._ - - "The journal _Fremden Blatt_ announces, under date of Bucharest, 4th - April, that a great battle was being fought at Rassova, about midway - between Hirsova and Silistria, in the Dobrudscha. The result was not - known. Mustapha Pasha is at the head of 50,000 men." - -Arrived at the above-mentioned places, swifter than a rocket could fly the -distance, like a rocket it bursts, and is again carried by the diverging -wires into a dozen neighbouring towns. The announcement we have quoted -comes opportunely to remind us that intelligence thus hastily gathered and -transmitted has also its drawbacks, and is not so trustworthy as the news -which starts later and travels slower. The "great battle of Rassova" has -not yet been fought, and the general action announced through the -telegraph was only a sanguinary skirmish. - -The telegraphic organization of London, meagre as it is at present, would -form alone a curious paper: "a province covered with houses," it demands a -special arrangement, and accordingly we see day by day new branches opened -within its precincts, by which means every part of the metropolis is being -put in communication with the country and Europe. - -The branch stations are, London Docks (main entrance); No. 43, Mincing -Lane; General Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand; No. 30, Fleet Street; -No. 448, West Strand; No. 17_a_, Great George Street, Westminster; No. 89, -St. James's Street; No. 1, Park Side, Knightsbridge; No. 6, Edgeware Road; -Great Western Railway Station; London and North-Western Railway Station; -Great Northern Railway Station; Highbury Railway Station; Eastern -Counties' Railway Station; Blackwall Railway Station; London and Brighton -and South Coast Railway Station; and the London and South-Western Railway -Station; of these only two are open night and day. The central office, -strange as it might appear, is closed at half-past 8 o'clock P.M., and its -wires are put in connection with those at the Charing Cross Station, which -takes upon itself the night work--a singular proof, by the way, that -London proper is deserted shortly after the hours of business are over. -The Eastern Counties' office is also open at night, and forms the East End -office of the company. These stations communicate with the central office -in Lothbury, and form, in fact, direct feeders to it, just as the hundred -suckers do to the zoophyte. - -We have yet, however, to notice the special telegraphic communication -which exists in the metropolis between place and place, either for -governmental purposes or for social convenience. The most curious of these -lines is the wire between the Octagon Hall in the new Houses of Parliament -and the St. James's Street Commercial station. They should name this line -from the "whipper-in" of the House, for it is nothing more than a -call-wire for members. The company employ reporters during the sitting of -Parliament, to make an abstract from the gallery of the business of the -two Houses as it proceeds; and this abstract is forwarded, at very short -intervals, to the office in St. James's Street, where _it is set up and -printed_, additions being made to the sheet issued as the MS. comes in. -This flying sheet is posted half-hourly to the following clubs and -establishments:--Arthur's; Carlton; Oxford and Cambridge; Brook's; -Conservative; United Service; Athenaeum; Reform; Traveller's; United -University; Union; and White's; hourly to Boodle's Club and Prince's Club; -and half-hourly to the Royal Italian Opera. The shortest possible abstract -is of course supplied--just sufficient, in fact, to enable the -after-dinner M.P. so to economize his proceedings as to be able to finish -his claret, and yet be in time for the ministerial statement, or to count -in the division. - -The wire to the Opera is a still more curious example of the social -services the new power is destined to perform. An abstract of the -proceedings of Parliament, similar to the above, but in _writing_, is -posted, during the performance, in the lobby; and Young England has only -to lounge out between the acts to know if Disraeli or Lord John Russell is -up, and whether he may sit out the piece, or must hasten down to -Westminster. The Opera House even communicates with the Strand Office, so -that messages may be sent from thence to all parts of the kingdom. The -Government wires go from Somerset House to the Admiralty, and thence to -Portsmouth and Plymouth by the South-Western and Great Western Railways; -and these two establishments are put in communication, by means of -subterranean lines, with the naval establishments at Deptford, Woolwich, -Chatham, Sheerness, and with the Cinque Ports of Deal and Dover. They are -worked quite independently of the Company, and the messages are sent in -cipher, the meaning of which is unknown, even to the telegraphic clerks -employed in transmitting it. In addition to the wires already spoken of, -street branches run from Buckingham Palace and Scotland Yard (the head -police-office) to the station at Charing Cross, and thence on to Founder's -Court; whilst the Post-office, Lloyd's, Capel Court, and the Corn Exchange -communicate directly with the Central Office. - -The function, then, of the Central Office is to receive and redistribute -communications. Of the manner in which these ends are accomplished nothing -can be gained from a glance round the instrument-rooms. You see no wires -coming into or emerging from them; you ask for a solution of the mystery, -and one of the clerks leads you to the staircase and opens the door of -what looks like a long wooden shoot placed perpendicularly against the -wall. This is the great spinal cord of the establishment, consisting of a -vast bundle of wires, insulated from each other by gutta percha. One set -of these conveys the gathered-up streams of intelligence from the remote -ends of the continent and the farthest shores of Britain, conducts them -through London by the street lines underneath the thronging footsteps of -the multitude, and ascends with its invisible despatches directly to the -different instruments. Another set is composed of the wires that descend -into the battery-chamber. It is impossible to realize the fact by merely -gazing upon this brown and dusty-looking bundle of threads; nevertheless -so it is, that they put us in communication with no less than 4,409 miles -of telegraph, which is coterminous with the railway system of the island, -and forms a complete network over its entire surface, with the exception -of the highlands of North Wales. It penetrates already into the wilds of -Scotland, as we see the wire is carried on from Aberdeen to Balmoral. - -The physiologist, minutely dissecting the star-fish, shows us its nervous -system extending to the tip of each limb, and descants upon the beauty of -this arrangement, by which the central mouth is informed of the nutriment -within its reach. The telegraphic system, already developed in England, -has rendered her as sensitive, to the utmost extremities, as the -star-fish. Day by day and hour by hour everything that happens of -importance is immediately referred to its centre at Lothbury, and this -centre returns the service by spreading the information afresh in every -direction. Thus, should an enemy appear off our coast, his presence, by -the aid of the fibre, is immediately felt at the Admiralty, and an -immediate reply sends out the fleet in chase. Should a riot occur in the -manufacturing districts, the local authorities communicate with the Home -Office, and orders are sent down to put the distant troops in motion. Does -a murderer escape, the same wire makes the fact known to Scotland Yard, -and from thence word is sent to the distant policemen to intercept him in -his flight. The arm is scarcely uplifted quicker to ward off a sudden -blow--the eye does not close with more rapidity upon an unexpected flood -of light, than, by the aid of the telegraph, actions follow upon -impressions conveyed along the length and breadth of the land. But, says -our reader, suppose these wires should be severed or damaged, your whole -line is paralyzed; and how are you to find out where the fault may be? -Against these eventualities human foresight has provided: by testing from -station to station along the line, the office soon knows how far the wires -are perfect; and if the breach of continuity should be in the subterranean -street wires, there are iron testing-posts at every 500 yards distance, by -the aid of which the workman knows where to make his repairs. Whilst all -is being made right again, however, a curious contrivance is brought into -play, in order to keep the communication open. Every one is acquainted -with the action of the railway "switch," by which a train is enabled to -leave one line of rails and run on to another. The telegraph has its -switch also, and thus a message can be transferred from one line to -another, or can be sent right _throuyh_ to any locality, without making a -stoppage at the usual resting-place on its way. By this device, then, the -"sick wires" can be altogether avoided. Suppose, for instance, that some -accident had happened to the direct Bristol line, and it would not work in -consequence, then the clerk at the Lothbury station would signal to -Birmingham to switch the wire through to Bristol, or, in other words, to -put him in communication with that place; this done, the message would fly -along the North-Western line, look in at the Birmingham station, and -immediately be off down the Midland wire to Bristol, arriving, to all -perception, in the same latitude as quickly as though it had gone direct -by the Great Western wire. Every large station is provided with a -switching apparatus, and the Lothbury office has several. Here also there -is a very curious contrivance called the "testing-box," which enables the -manipulator to connect any number of batteries to a wire, in order to give -extra power, without going into the battery vault. - -These switches, testing, and battery boxes are of great service in certain -conditions of the atmosphere. For instance, a thunderstorm, or more often -a fog, will now and then so affect the conducting power of a wire, working -through a long distance, that it is found impossible to send a message -along it, in which case the clerk "dodges" the passing storm or fog by -switching the dispatch round the country through a fine-weather wire. If -however the foggy weather should continue, the manipulator has only to go -to the battery box and couple on one or more batteries, just as fresh -engines are put on a train going up an incline when the rails are -"greasy." By thus increasing the power of the electric current the message -is driven through the worst weather. Sometimes as many as six or eight -24-plate batteries are necessary to speed a signal to Glasgow. The more -general way in such cases, however, is to transmit the dispatch to some -intermediate station, where the message is repeated. - -Let us now descend into the battery vaults--two long narrow chambers, -situated in the basement of the building. Who would think that in this -quiet place, night and day, a power was being generated that exerted its -influence to the very margin of this seagirt isle, nay, invaded the -territories of Holland, Belgium, and France? Who would think that those -long dusty boxes on the shelves were making scores of iron tongues wag -hundreds of miles off? There are upwards of sixty Daniel's batteries in -full employment in these vaults. They are ranked as sixes, twelves, and -twenty-fours, according to the number of their elements or plates; and -just like guns, the higher they rank the further they carry. The powerful -twenty-fours work the long ranges of wire, and the smaller batteries the -shorter circuits. Of course some of these batteries have harder work to do -than others, and the "twenty-fours" working the North-Western line have -much the busiest time of it. Considering the work done by them, their -maintenance is not very costly. A twenty-four, when in full work, does not -consume its zinc plates under three months, and a gill of sulphuric acid, -diluted, is its strong but rather moderate allowance of liquid per month. -Other batteries of the same force are satisfied with 1 lb. of sulphate of -copper per month, with a little sulphate of zinc, and salt and water. The -entire amount of electric power employed by the Company throughout the -country is produced by 8000 12-plate batteries, or 96,000 cells, which are -lined with 1,500,000 square inches of copper, and about the same of zinc. -To work these batteries six tons of acid is yearly consumed, and -fifty-five tons of sand; the principal use of the latter is to prevent the -chemicals from slopping about, and the metal plates from getting oxidised -too rapidly. The language of the "wire," with respect to the working of -the telegraph, is very curious. For instance, when a distant station-clerk -finds that a battery is not up to its work, by the weak action of the -needles, he sends word that it requires "refreshment," and it is -accordingly served with its gill of aquafortis, and, totally opposed to -the doctrines of temperance, a "long-lived battery" owes its vitality to -the strongest drink. - -We have followed the wires down to one pole of their respective -batteries, and now we have to pursue them out of the opposite pole until -they take to "earth." No electricity will flow from the positive pole Z of -the battery (Fig. 2) unless the wire D K A B is connected, either by being -itself unbroken, or by the interposition of some other conductor where a -gap occurs, to the negative pole C. In the earlier telegraphs it was usual -to have a return-wire to effect this purpose. But, strange as it may -sound, it was discovered that the earth itself would convey the current -back to the negative pole, and thus an entire length of wire was saved. -Accordingly the earth completes the two hundred and odd different -circuits, which pass their loops, as it were, through the central office. -In order to get a "good earth" a hole was dug deep in the foundations, -until some moist ground was found, _dry_ soil being a very bad conductor, -and into this a cylinder of copper, four inches in diameter and 40 lbs. in -weight, was sunken, surrounded by a mass of sulphate of copper in -crystals. All the earth wires of the establishment were then put in -connection with this mass of metal, or earth plate. - -[Illustration: Fig. 6] - -The non-scientific reader will perhaps require a figure to explain to him -our meaning, when we say that the earth is capable of completing the -"circuit." In the accompanying diagram (No. 6) we have a battery, U V, in -the central office in London, deflecting a needle N, say in Liverpool. The -fluid passes from the positive pole of the battery U, traverses the wire -of the North-Western Railway, and after working the telegraph in -Liverpool, descends into the earth by the wire B, which has a metal or -earth-plate attached to it. From this point the electric fluid starts -homewards, through the solid ground, and finding out the earth-plate[38] -under the foundations at Lothbury, ascends along the wire A, into the -negative pole of the battery V. By reversing the current, it flows first -through the earth from V A to B, and returns by the wire to the opposite -pole U. - -Nothing in telegraphy impresses the thoughtful mind more than the fact -that the electric fluid, after spanning, maybe, half the globe, should -come back to its battery, through adamantine rocks, through seas and all -the diverse elements which make up the anatomy of the globe. The -explanation of the phenomenon is still a matter of pure speculation. -Indeed, it may be objected that our flight of the electric principle is -altogether a flight of fancy--that there is in fact no flow of electricity -at all, but that its progress through bodies, according to the generally -received theory, is owing to opposite poles of contiguous particles acting -upon each other. The hypothesis, however, first received in science gives -birth to its language, which usually continues the same, although it may -have ceased to be an adequate expression of the current doctrine of -philosophers. - -The traveller, as he flies along in the train, and looks out upon the -wires which seem stretched against the sky like the ledger lines of music, -little dreams of these invisible conductors that are returning the current -through the ground. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, indeed, the -wires and their sustaining posts represent to the spectator the entire -telegraph. The following conversation between two navigators, overheard -the other day by a friend, gives the most popular view of the way the -telegraph works. "I say, Jem, how do 'em _jaw_ along them wires?" "Why, -Bill, they pulls at one end, and rings a bell at t'other." Others again -fancy that messages are conveyed by means of the vibrations of the metal, -for on windy days they sometimes give out sounds like an AEolian harp: a -fact which, according to Sir Francis Head, called forth the remark from a -North-Western driver to his stoker, "I say, Bill, aint they a giving it to -'em at Thrapstone?" The more ignorant class of people actually believe -that it conveys parcels and letters, and they sometimes carry them for -transmission to the office. - -Iron wire, coated with zinc, or "galvanised," as it is termed, to prevent -its rusting, is now universally used as the conductor of the electric -fluid when the lines are suspended in the air. The first rain falling upon -the zinc converts it into an oxide of that metal, which is insoluble in -water, so that henceforth in pure air it cannot be acted upon by that -element, and all further oxidation ceases. Mr. Highton says, however, that -in the neighbourhood of large manufacturing towns the sulphur from the -smoky atmosphere converts the oxide into a sulphate of zinc, which is -soluble, and consequently the rain continually washes it off the wire. He -asserts that he has had wires in this manner reduced from the eighth of an -inch to the diameter of a common sewing-needle. There has been a great -controversy as to the best means of insulating the wires from their -supporting-poles, which would otherwise convey the electricity from the -wires to the earth. There is no method known of effecting this completely, -but we believe it is now decided that stoneware is the best material for -the purpose, both on account of its non-conducting qualities, and the -readiness with which it throws off from its surface particles of water. -The latter quality is extremely important, for, in very rainy weather, if -the insulator should happen to get wet, the electric fluid will sometimes -make a bridge of the moisture to quit the wire, run down the post to the -earth, and make a short circuit home again to its battery. Indeed, when -there are many wires suspended to the same pole on the same plane, a -dripping stream of water falling from an upper to a lower one will often -suffice to return the current before it has done its work, much to the -telegraphist's annoyance. Not long ago, a mishap, having similar -consequences, occurred on the line between Lewes and Newhaven, owing to -the following very singular circumstance: a crane, in its flight through -the rain, came in contact with the wires, and having threaded his long -neck completely through them, the current made a short cut along his damp -feathers to the wire below, and by this channel home. Moisture, however, -much as it may interfere for a time with the working of a line, rarely -does any permanent injury. Lightning, on the contrary if not guarded -against, is capable of producing great mischief. It has been known to -strike and run for miles along a wire, and, in its course, to enter -station after station, and melt the delicate coils and the finer portions -of the instruments into solid masses. In most cases it reverses the -polarity of the needles, or renders permanent the magnetism of the -electro-magnets. All these dangerous and annoying contingencies are easily -avoided by the application of a simple conducting-apparatus to lead away -the unwelcome visitor. The method adopted by Mr. Highton is to line a -small deal box, say ten or twelve inches long, with a tin plate, and to -put this plate in connection with the earth. The wire bound up in bibulous -paper--which is a sufficient insulator for the low-tensioned fluid of the -battery--is carried, before it enters the instrument, through the centre -of the box, and is surrounded with iron fillings. The high-tensioned -electricity of the lightning instantly darts from the wire, through the -pores of the paper, to the million points of the finely-divided iron, and -so escapes to the earth. There are, of course, many kinds of lightning -conductors used on different lines, but this one is simple in its -construction, and, we are given to understand, answers its purpose -exceedingly well. - -Notwithstanding that the Electric Telegraph Company has been established -so many years, it is only just now that the public have begun to -understand the use of the "wire." The very high charges at first demanded -for the transmission of a message, doubtless, made it a luxury rather than -a necessary of life; and every reduction of the tariff clearly brought it -within the range of a very much larger class of the community, as will be -seen by the following table issued by the Company, which shows the advance -of the system under its management. - - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - In the | Miles of|Miles | Number | Receipts. | Dividends paid. - half-years |Telegraph| of | of | | - ending | in |Wires |Messages| | - |operation| | | | - ----------------|---------|------|--------|-----------|---------------- - | | | | L. s. d.| - | | | | | - June, 1850 | 1,684 | 6,730| 29,245 |20,436 10 0|4 per Cent. per - | | | | | Ann. - December, 1850 | 1,786 | 7,200| 37,389 |23,087 13 9|4 per Cent. per - | | | | | Ann. - June, 1851 | 1,965 | 7,900| 47,259 |25,529 12 4|{6 per Ct. per - | | | | | Ann. - | | | | |{& 2 per Ct. - | | | | | Bonus. - December, 1851 | 2,122 |10,650| 53,957 |24,336 8 10|6 per Cent. per - | | | | | Ann. - _Note._--In | | | | | - this half-year| | | | | - the paid-up | | | | | - Capital of the| | | | | - Company was | | | | | - increased, and| | | | | - the tariff | | | | | - diminished | | | | | - about 50 per | | | | | - Cent. from the| | | | | - original rate | | | | | - of charge. | | | | | - June, 1852 | 2,502 |12,500| 87,150 |27,437 4 8|6 per Cent. per - | | | | | Ann. - December, 1852 | 3,709 |19,560|127,987 |40,087 18 2|6-1/2 per Cent. - | | | | | per Ann. - June, 1853 | 4,008 |20,800|138,060 |47,265 16 3|6-1/2 per Cent. - | | | | | per Ann. - December, 1853 | 4,409 |24,340|212,440 |56,919 0 1|7 per Cent. per - | | | | | Ann. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - -It will be seen from the above what an impulse was given to the business -by the reduction in the tariff which took place in December, 1851; for if -we compare the messages of the half-year ending June, 1850, with those of -the half-year of June, 1852, we shall find that whilst the miles of -telegraph in work had not increased one-half, the messages transmitted had -nearly trebled. It is only within this last year or two, however--as will -be seen by the table--that a very large augmentation of business has taken -place, which is doubtless owing to the public being better acquainted with -its capabilities. The tariff has since been further reduced, with the -result of a still further increase of the messages sent and of the money -received--the profits allowing, at the present moment, of a seven per -cent. dividend! The lowest point of cheapness, in our opinion, is yet very -far from being reached; and it would only be a wise act on the part of the -Company to at once adopt an uniform charge for messages, say of fifty -words, for one shilling. If this were done, the only limit to its business -would be the number of wires they could conveniently hang, for the present -set would clearly be insufficient. Means should also be taken to obviate -one great objection, at present felt, with respect to sending private -communications by telegraph--the violation of all secrecy,--for in any -case half a dozen people must be cognizant of every word addressed by one -person to another. The clerks of the English Electric Telegraph Company -are sworn to secrecy, but we often write things that it would be -intolerable to see strangers read before our eyes. This is a grievous -fault in the telegraph, and it _must_ be remedied by some means or other. -Our own opinion is that the public would much prefer the dial telegraph, -by the use of which two persons could converse with each other, without -the intervention of a third party at all--or the printing step by step -instrument would be equally good. At all events, some simple yet secure -cipher, easily acquired and easily read, should be introduced, by which -means messages might to all intents and purposes be "sealed" to any person -except the recipient. We have reason to believe that Professor Wheatstone -has invented a cipher of this description, which will speedily be made -public. "One-eighth of the despatches between New Orleans and New York," -says Mr. Jones in his "Historical Sketch of the Electric Telegraph," "are -in cipher. For instance, merchants in either city agree upon a cipher, and -if the New Orleans correspondent wishes to inform his New York friend of -the prices and prospects of the cotton market, instead of saying 'Cotton -eight quarter--don't sell,' he may use the -following:--'Shepherd--rum--kiss--flash--dog.'" - -The Company has lately made an arrangement, by which the very absurd and -inconvenient necessity of being obliged to attend personally at the -telegraph station with a message has been obviated. "Franked message -papers," pre-paid, are now issued, procurable at any stationers'. These, -with the message filled in, can be dispatched to the office when and how -the sender likes, and the Company intend very quickly to sell electric -stamps, like Queen's heads, which may be stuck on to any piece of paper, -and frank its contents without further trouble. Another very important -arrangement for mercantile men is the sending of "remittance messages," by -means of which money can be paid in at the central office in London, and, -within a few minutes, paid out at Liverpool or Manchester, or by the same -means sent up to town with the like dispatch from Liverpool, Manchester, -Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Hull, -York, Plymouth, and Exeter. There is a money-order office in the Lothbury -establishment to manage this department, which will, no doubt, in all -emergencies speedily supersede the Government money-order office, which -works through the slower medium of the Post Office. - -We have spoken hitherto only of the Old Electric Telegraph Company. There -are several other companies in the United Kingdom, working different -patents. We have chosen, however, to describe the proceedings of the -original Company, because it is the only one that has an amount of -business sufficient to give it universal interest; it is the only company, -in fact, that has seized the map of England in its nervous grasp, and shot -its wires through every broad English shire. The European and the British -Telegraph Companies have laid their lines, insulated with gutta percha and -protected by iron tubes, beneath the public roads. The European Company -works between Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Dover, and, by means of -the two submarine cables of Dover and Calais and Dover and Ostend, puts -the great manufacturing and commercial emporiums in connection with -France, Belgium, and the rest of Europe by a double route. The British -Telegraph Company works principally in the northern counties. Of the other -lines, we need only mention at present the United Kingdom, and the English -and Irish Magnetic Company, which works wires between London, Belfast, and -Galway, by means of a subterranean line as far as the west coast of -Scotland, and of a submarine cable stretched between Portpatrick and -Donaghadee. - -It will, perhaps, be a source of wonder to our readers that one company -should virtually possess the monopoly of telegraphic communication in this -country, but this will cease when they consider that this Company was the -first to enter the field, that it came forward with a large capital, -speedily secured to themselves the different lines of railway--the only -paths it was then considered that telegraphs could traverse with -security,--and that it bought up, one after another, most of the patents -that stood any chance of competing with its own. The time is fast -approaching, however, when most of these advantages will fail them, and -when the Company, powerful as it is, must be prepared to encounter a -severe and active competition, and that for the following reasons:-- - -1. The plan of bringing the wires under the public roads turns, as it -were, the flank of the railroad lines. - -2. The patents of the old company are year by year expiring. - -3. The very large capital expended by it--upwards of 170,000_l._ being -sunk in patent rights alone,--independently of the vast expense attaching -to the first introduction of the invention, forms a dead-weight which no -new company would have to bear. - -In the ordinary course of events, then, the other lines at present in -existence will gain strength; new companies will spring up, and the supply -of a great public want will be thrown into the arena of competition. Would -it not be wise for the legislature to consider the question of telegraphy -in England before it is too late? We all know what the principle of -reckless competition led us into in our railway system. For years opposing -companies scrambled for the monopoly of certain districts, and the result -was the intersection of the country with bad lines, and, in many cases, -with useless double routes. Millions were spent in litigation; railway -travelling became, as a natural consequence, dear; the property of the -original shareholders rapidly deteriorated; and it has all ended in half a -dozen powerful companies swallowing up the smaller ones; and that -competition, in whose name so much was demanded, has turned out to be only -"a delusion and a snare." The conveyance of intelligence cannot safely and -conveniently be left in the hands of even one company without a strict -Government supervision; much less can half a dozen systems be allowed to -distract the land at their own will. Indeed, the question might with -propriety be asked, Is not telegraphic communication as much a function of -Government as the conveyance of letters? If the do-nothing principle is -to be allowed to take its course, we shall have to go through a similar -state of things to that which occurred only a few years since in the -United States, when different competing lines refused to forward each -other's messages, and the whole system of telegraphic communication was -accordingly dislocated. Indeed, even with the most perfect accord between -different companies, the dissimilarity of instruments used by them would -prove a great practical evil--as great a one, if not greater, than the -break of gauge in the railway system. Messages could not be passed from -one line to another, and delays as vexatious as those which occur on the -continental lines would take away much of the value of the invention. It -seems to us, then, that even if Parliament should refuse to interfere with -the principle of competition in the case of the telegraphic communication, -it should, at least, provide for the use of the same kind of instruments, -and make it a fineable offence for one line to refuse to forward the -messages of another. - -Having done so much towards completing our telegraphic organization at -home, our engineers adventurously determined to carry the wires across to -the continent, and thus destroy the last remnant of that isolation to -which we were forced to submit on account of our insular position. As long -back as the year 1840 we find, by the Minutes of Evidence in the Fifth -Report upon Railways, wherein the subject of electric telegraphy was -partially examined, that, whilst Mr. Wheatstone was under examination Sir -John Guest asked, "Have you tried to pass the line through water?" to -which he replied, "There would be no difficulty in doing so; but the -experiment has not yet been tried." Again, on the chairman, Lord Seymour, -asking, "Could you communicate from Dover to Calais in that way?" he -replied, "I think it perfectly practicable." A couple of years later the -professor, indeed, engaged, and had everything in readiness, to lay a line -for the Government across Portsmouth Harbour; it was not executed, -however, through circumstances over which he had no control, but which -were quite irrespective of the perfect feasibility of the undertaking. - -We question, however, whether it would have been possible to have -accomplished the feat of crossing the Channel with the electric fire -before this date, as the difficulty of insulating the wires, so as to -prevent the water from carrying off the electricity, would, we imagine, -have been insuperable, but for the happy discovery of gutta percha, which -supplied the very tough, flexible, non-conducting material the electrician -sought for. Thus it might be said that the instantaneous interchange of -thought between distant nations awaited the discovery of a vegetable -production in the dense forests of the Eastern Archipelago. The first -application of this singular substance to the insulation of electric -conducting wires was made in 1847, by Lieutenant Siemens, of the Prussian -artillery, for a line to cross the Rhine at Cologne. - -The first submarine wire laid down was that between Dover and Cape -Gris-nez, in the vicinity of Calais, belonging to the Submarine Telegraph -Company. This wire, thirty miles in length, was covered with gutta percha -to the diameter of half an inch, and sunk (August, 1850), as it was paid -out, by the addition of clumps of lead at every sixteenth of a mile. The -whole was completed and a message sent between the two countries on the -same day. In the course of a month, however, the cable broke, owing to its -having fretted upon a sharp ridge of rocks about a mile from Cape -Gris-nez. It was now determined to make a stronger and better-constructed -cable, capable of resisting all friction in this part of the Channel. The -form of cable adopted for this and all other submarine telegraphs now in -existence seems to have been originally suggested by Messrs. Newall and -Co., of Gateshead, the wellknown wire-rope manufacturers. Instead of one, -four wires, insulated by the Gutta Percha Company, were twisted together -into a strand, and next "served" or enveloped in spun-yarn. This core was -then covered with ten iron galvanized wires five-sixteenths of an inch in -diameter, welded into lengths of twenty-four miles, and forming a flexible -kind of mail. The cable was manufactured in the short space of twenty-one -days. It weighed 180 tons, and formed a coil in the hold of the old hulk -that carried it of thirty feet in diameter outside, and fifteen feet -inside, standing five feet high. All went well with the undertaking until -about one-half had been "paid out," when, a gale arising, unfortunately -the tug-boat that towed the hulk containing the rope broke away, and -vessel, wire, and all, drifted, with a racing tide, full a mile up the -Channel before it could be overtaken. The consequence was, that the cable -was violently dragged out of its course in the middle of the straits. What -was worse, a sharp "kink," or bend, also occurred near the Dover shore, -which doubled the cable on itself, but luckily produced no serious damage. -The "lie" of the submarine cable between Dover and the vicinity of Calais, -at this present moment, is expressed in the following diagram:-- - -[Illustration: Fig. 7.] - -When the cable at length came near the French coast, it was found to be, -in consequence of this unintentional _detour_, at least half a mile too -short. This was remedied, however, by splicing on a fresh piece; and, on -securing it at Saugat, the new place of landing, fixed upon on account of -its sandy shore, it was found that the communication was good, and good it -has remained ever since--a proof of the admirable manner in which the -wires were insulated and the cable constructed. The placing of this -successful cable was superintended by Mr. Wollaston, the Company's -engineer, and by Mr. Crampton, the contractor. Mr. Wollaston, who is a -nephew of the illustrious philosopher of the same name, and who also -presided over the earlier attempt, will accordingly, in the annals of -electricity, carry off the honours of having first laid down the ocean -telegraph. - -The same Company, not long afterwards, laid another cable across to -Ostend. This established a connection with Europe through Belgium, and was -planned to prevent this line of communication falling into the hands of -another company, and was not, as was suspected at the time, a matter of -political foresight on the part of the directors, to enable them to carry -on their intercourse with the continent, in spite of France, supposing war -should break out between the two countries. Who would have believed a -short time since, in Belgium, that the day would come when it would be -quicker to convey intelligence to France by way of England than directly -across the frontiers? Yet such was actually the case; for, before the line -was laid by land, it was a thing of very frequent occurrence for -despatches from Ostend to cross the Channel to Dover by one cable, and to -be immediately switched across to Calais by the other; thus paying us a -momentary triangular visit underneath the rapid straits. - -The notion, however, of preventing competition proved to be vain. A third -cable was laid on the 30th May, 1853, between the English coast at -Orfordness, near Ipswich, and the port of Schevening in Holland, and -thence to the Hague. This cable is the longest at present in connection -with this isle, extending 120 miles under the turbulent North Sea. It was, -however, paid out during a violent gale of wind without the slightest -accident, and affords the most direct means of communication with the -north of Europe, and entirely commands the commercial traffic of the -cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Hague cable (or cables, for there -are now many, consisting of a single wire conductor each, running side by -side) is the property of the International Company, a branch of the Old -Electric Telegraph, and its wires go direct to the Lothbury office. - -Whilst England has moored her south-eastern shores to the continent by -three cables, and put herself _en rapport_ with all its principal cities, -her north-western extremity has been secured, after many failures, to the -sister kingdom--the Electro-Magnetic Company having laid a submarine wire -from Portpatrick and Donaghadee, in the neighbourhood of Belfast, and the -British Electric Telegraph Company another between Portpatrick and -Whitehead in Belfast Lough. England, as befits her, led the way in these -adventures upon the sea with the electric fire, and the Danes, Dutch, -Russians, and others, are now following in her track. - -Will it be believed that in 1841, long after the electric telegraph was -working in England, scientific men were seriously discussing in the French -Chamber the propriety of establishing a night telegraph on the visual -principle, and that when at length it was determined to call in the aid of -electricity, instruments were ordered to be so constructed that signals -could be given after the fashion of the old semaphore, in order that the -officials might be spared the trouble of leaving their ancient ruts? The -needles were accordingly displaced for a mimic post, to which moveable -arms were attached and signs were transmitted by elevating or depressing -them by electricity, instead of by hand. Of course this absurd system was -after a while abolished, and the instrument now made use of is a -modification of the dial telegraph constructed by Breguet. The first -telegraph planted in France was constructed by Mr. Wheatstone, from Paris -to Versailles, in 1842. The principal line is that running from Calais -_via_ Paris to Marseilles, which puts the English Channel and the -Mediterranean in communication, and transmits for us the more urgent items -of the India and China mail. - -Belgium and Switzerland are perhaps the best supplied of all the -continental kingdoms with telegraphic communication. The Belgian lines -were excellently planned and cheaply constructed, consequently their -tariff is comparatively low, the average charge for a message being 3 -francs 48 centimes, or about 2_s._ 10-1/2_d._ Of the nature of the -messages sent we can form a very good idea by the following classification -of a hundred dispatches:-- - - Government 2 - Stock-jobbing 50 - Commercial 31 - Newspaper 4 - Family affairs 13 - ---- - 100 - -A comparison of the average division of messages in every state would -afford a very fair index of the nature of the occupations of their -peoples. We have attempted to obtain materials for this purpose in vain; -foreign governments, as well as English companies, being very jealous of -giving any information relative to their messages. The history of the -telegraph in Switzerland is an evidence of what patriotic feeling is -capable of accomplishing. Although by far the best and most extensive, for -a mountainous country, in the world, it was constructed by the spontaneous -efforts of the people. The peasantry gave their free labour towards -erecting the wires and poles, the landlords found the timber and gave the -right of way over their lands, and the communes provided station room in -the towns. Thus the telegraph was completed, so to speak, for nothing. The -peculiarity of the Swiss telegraph is that, like the great wall of China, -it proceeds totally regardless of the nature of the ground. It climbs the -pass of the Simplon in proceeding from Geneva to Milan; it goes over St. -Gothard in its way from Lucerne to Como: it mounts the Splugen, and again -it goes from Feldkirch to Inspruck by the Arlberg pass, thus ascending the -great chain of the Alps as though it were only a gentle hillside. The -wires course along the lakes of Lucerne, Zug, Zurich, and Constance; -sometimes they are nailed to precipices, sometimes they make short cuts -over unfrequented spurs of the mountains, going every way, in short, that -it is found most convenient to hang them. The completion of the -telegraphic system of this little republic, which stands in the same -relation to Southern as Belgium does to Northern Europe, was of great -consequence, as it forms the keystone between France, Prussia, Austria, -Piedmont, and Italy. - -In Prussia the lines are insulated in gutta percha, and buried in the -ground in leaden tubes, a very costly process, but with many great -advantages, in freedom from injury and atmospheric influences, over the -more usual method of suspending them in the air on poles. Upwards of 4,000 -miles of wire have already been laid down in this kingdom. Although -Austria only commenced operations in 1847, she already possesses 4,000 -miles of telegraph, which puts the greater part of her extensive empire -in communication with Vienna. - -Whatever injury the Eastern war might have inflicted upon the world, it at -least infused fresh vigour into the telegraphic system, as, independently -of the lines planned to put Constantinople in communication with the -Danubian frontier, Russia has been stimulated to complete a line between -St. Petersburg and Helsingfors, in the Baltic, and a continuation of the -line already extending from the capital to Moscow, down to Bucharest, -Odessa, and Sebastopol. One feature distinguishes the management of -continental telegraphs over those of England and America: they are all, -with the exception of the short line between Hamburg and Cuxhaven, -possessed and worked by the different governments, who seem afraid of the -use they might be put to for political purposes, and accordingly exercise -a strict surveillance over all messages sent, and rigidly interdict the -use of a cipher.[39] The Anglo-Saxon race, however, has far surpassed any -other in the energy with which it has woven the globe with telegraphic -wires. The Americans in the West and the British in the East alike emulate -each other in the magnitude of their undertakings of this nature. The -United States, although she came into the field long after England--her -first line from Washington to Baltimore not having been completed until -1844--has far outstripped the mother country in the length of her lines, -which already extend over 16,729 miles. Every portion of the Union, with -the exception of California and the upper portion of the Mississippi, is -covered with a network of wire. - -New York and New Orleans communicate with each other by a double -route--one skirting the seacoast, the other taking an inland direction by -Cincinnati. These lines alone, following the sinuosities of their routes, -are upwards of 2,000 miles in length. - -Other lines extend as far as Quebec, in Upper Canada, so that messages may -be forwarded in the course of a couple of hours from the freezing north to -the burning south. The great chain of lakes which form the northern -boundary of the Union is put in communication with the Missouri and -Mississippi rivers, and the great valley traversed by the latter will, ere -long, interchange messages with the Pacific coast,--Congress having under -its consideration a plan to establish a telegraph across the continent to -San Francisco, as the precursor of the proposed railroad. - -This we suspect is the project of Mr. O'Reilly, the engineer who has -already executed the boldest lines in America. In constructing such a -line, man, not nature, is the great obstacle to be encountered. The -implacable Indians inhabiting this portion of the States certainly would -not pay any respect to the telegraphic wire; on the contrary, they would -in all likelihood take it to bind on the heads of their scalping -tomahawks. To provide against this contingency, it is proposed to station -parties of twenty dragoons at stockades twenty miles apart, along the -whole unprotected portion of the route; two or three of these soldiers are -also to ride from post to post and carry a daily express letter across the -continent. - -When this project is executed, it is asserted that "European news may be -published in six days on the American shores of the Pacific, on the -shortened route between the old and new world." "The shortened route," it -should be mentioned, lies between Cape Race, in Newfoundland, and Galway, -in Ireland, a passage calculated to take, on the average, only five days. - -It may be asked how is it that such lengths of wire, carried through -thinly settled parts of the country, and sometimes through howling -wildernesses, can pay? The only manner that we can account for it is the -cheapness with which the telegraph is built in America, the average price -being 150 dollars, or about 31_l._ a mile--less than a fourth part of the -cost at which the early lines of the English Electric Telegraph Company -were erected. Again, the low prices charged for the transmission of -messages produce an amount of business which the lines running through -thickly-inhabited England cannot boast. For instance, let us take the -following advertised "specimen message," of the latter Company, and -compare the price charged for it here, with what it could be sent for in -America:-- - - "From To - James Smith, S. R. Brown, - London, Exchange, - Liverpool. - - "I will meet you at Birmingham to-morrow, 3 P.M. Don't fail me." - -Now, the London charge for the above, if forwarded to Liverpool, would be -2s. 6d.; but the American tariff for the same, on the Louisville and -Pittsburgh rail, would be only one cent a word, or sixpence halfpenny -English. On very long distances our friends on the other side of the steam -ferry have a still greater advantage over us: for instance, a message of -ten words can be sent on O'Reilly's line, from New York to New Orleans, a -distance of 2,000 miles, for sixty cents, or two and sixpence--not half -the sum it would cost to send the same message from London to Edinburgh, -about 500 miles. We give, as a curiosity, the scale of prices on this -line:[40]-- - - Per word. - 200 miles or under 1 cent. - 500 " or over 300 miles 2 cents. - 700 " " 500 " 3 " - 1000 " " 700 " 4 " - 1500 " " 1000 " 5 " - 2000 " " 1500 " 6 " - -These charges, it is true, are unusually low; but if they will pay one -Company, why should they not another? There are as many as twenty -Telegraph Companies in America, and consequently there is great -competition, three or four competing lines in many cases running between -the same towns. Great confusion has arisen from this competition, as we -have before stated; but it cannot be doubted that prices have materially -fallen in consequence. It is common to send a message 1,000 miles in the -United States without its being read and repeated at intermediate -stations; and brother Jonathan boasts that he can communicate in fine -weather instantaneously between New York and New Orleans. This, if done at -all, must be at the expense of enormous battery power, as 2,000 miles of -No. 8 wire would expose a conducting surface of no less than 450,000 -square feet to the air. The wires in America are all suspended upon poles, -and those passing through the southern pine forests are in consequence -particularly liable to injury from the falling of trees, and watchers are -posted at every twenty miles' distance to patrol the line. The telegraph -is rarely seen in America running beside the railway, for what reason we -do not know; the consequence, however, is, that locomotion in the United -States is vastly more dangerous than with us. A comparison of the -casualties occurring on railroads in the two countries, in the year 1852, -will show this at a glance; for in the State of New York alone, during -that year, 228 persons were killed out of 7,440,053 travellers, whilst -during the same period only 216 people perished in Great Britain out of a -total number of 89,135,729 passengers: thus the average in America was 1 -killed in 286,179, and in Great Britain 1 in 2,785,491! Of course property -suffers in an equal degree with life on the American lines. The people of -Boston, on the recommendation of Dr. Channing, have constructed a -municipal telegraph, the many uses of which will be obvious. Mr. Alexander -Jones, in his historical sketch of the electric telegraph in America, -gives the following account of the application of the electric wire in -cases of fire:-- - - "A central office or station is fixed upon, at which the main battery, - with other instruments, is placed. From this two circuit-wires - proceed, like those of the common telegraph wires, fastened to - housetops or ingeniously insulated supports. One of the wires - communicates from the main fire bell-tower to all the others, and - connects each with machinery, which puts in motion the largest-sized - hammer, and causes it to strike a large fire-bell the desired number - of blows; the other wire proceeds on a still more circuitous route, - and from one local street or ward signal-station to another. Each - station is provided with a strong box and hinged door and lock. Inside - of this box there is a connecting electro-magnet and connecting lever, - an axle with a number of pins in it to correspond to the number of the - station. The axle is turned by a short crank, and in its revolutions - the pins break and close the circuit, by moving the end of the lever - as often as there are pins or cogs, the result of which is - communicated to the central station. If the alarm indicates a fire in - the local district No. 3, the alarm can be instantly rung on all the - bells in the city. If it is a subject requiring the speedy and - efficient attention of the police, information by alarms can be given - at each police-station, or the despatches can be recorded by - instruments at each place. The local street alarm-boxes are placed in - the charge of a person whose duty it is to give the alarm from the - local to the central station, when called upon, or circumstances - require him to do so." - -Canada has also sketched out a plan of telegraphs, which every year will -see filled up. Already she has lines connecting all her principal towns, -and extending over nearly two thousand miles of country, all of which lock -in with the American system. - -In India, Dr. O'Shaughnessy has for some time been engaged in carrying out -a telegraphic system proposed by Lord Dalhousie, and approved by the East -India Company, which has already put all the important towns of the -peninsula in communication with the seat of government and with each -other. The fine No. 8 galvanized iron wire, which in Europe runs along -from pole to pole, like a delicate harp-string, is discarded in this -country for rods of iron three-eighths of an inch in thickness. The nature -of the climate, and the character of its animal life, has caused this -departure from the far more economical European plan. Clouds of kites and -troops of monkeys would speedily take such liberties with the fine wires -as to place them _hors-de-combat_. Again, the deluges of rain which occur -in the wet season would render the insulation of a small wire so imperfect -that a message could not be sent through it to any distance. The larger -mass of metal, on the contrary, is capable of affording passage for the -electric fluid through any amount of rain, without danger of "leakage;" -and as for the kites and other large birds of the country, they may perch -on these rods by thousands without stopping the messages, which will fly -harmlessly through their claws; and the weight of the heaviest monkey is -not sufficient to injure them. These rods are planted, without any -insulation, upon the tops of bamboo poles (coated with tar and pitch), at -such a height that loaded elephants can pass beneath without displacing -them; and even if by chance they should be thrown down, bullock-carts or -buffaloes and elephants may trample them under foot without doing them -injury. In some places the rods, if we are rightly informed, run through -rice-swamps, buried in the ground, and even here the only insulating -material used is a kind of cement made of rosin and sand. The telegraph, -like a swift messenger, goes forward and prepares the way for the -railroad, which is planned to follow in its footsteps. When these two -systems are completed, the real consolidation of England's power in the -East will have commenced, and the countless resources of the Indian -peninsula will be called forth for the benefit of the conquered as well as -of the conquering race. - -The restless spirit of English engineers, having provided for the internal -telegraphic communication of Great Britain and her principal dependencies, -seems bent upon stretching out her lines to the East and to the West, so -as ultimately to clasp the entire globe. The project of connecting, -telegraphically, England with America is at the present moment seriously -engaging the attention of scientific and commercial men. The more daring -engineers are still sanguine of the practicability of laying a submarine -cable directly across the Atlantic, from Galway to Cape Race in -Newfoundland. Now that we have Lieutenant Maury's authentic determination -of the existence of a shelf across the North Atlantic, the soundings on -which are nowhere more than 1,500 fathoms, the feasibility of the project -is tolerably certain. The principal question is, whether if a line were -laid an electric current can be worked to commercial advantage through -3,000 miles of cable. No doubt, by the expenditure of enormous battery -power, this might be accomplished through wires suspended in the air, but -it is a question whether it can be done along a vast length of -gutta-percha coated wire, passing through salt-water. There is such a -thing as _too great an insulation_. Professor Faraday has shown that in -such circumstances the wire becomes a Leyden jar, and may be so charged -with electricity that a current cannot, without the greatest difficulty, -move through it. This is the objection to a direct cable between the two -continents: if, however, it can be overcome, doubtless the ocean path -would in all possible cases be adopted where communications had to be -made between civilized countries having intermediate, barbarous, or -ungenial lands. To escape this at present dubious ocean path, it is -proposed to carry the cable from the northernmost point of the Highlands -of Scotland to Iceland, by way of the Orkney, Shetland, and Ferroe -islands--to lay it from Iceland across to the nearest point in Greenland, -thence down the coast to Cape Farewell, where the cable would again take -to the water, span Davis's Straits, and make right away across Labrador -and Upper Canada to Quebec. Here it would lock in with the North American -meshwork of wires, which hold themselves out like an open hand for the -European grasp. This plan seems quite feasible, for in no part of the -journey would the cable require to be more than 900 miles long; and as it -seems pretty certain that a sandbank ex-tends, with good soundings, all -the way to Cape Farewell, there would be little difficulty in mooring the -cable to a level and soft bottom. The only obstacle that we see is the -strong partiality of the Esquimaux for old iron, and it would perhaps be -tempting them too much to hang their coasts with this material, just ready -to their hands. The want of settlements along this inhospitable arctic -coast to protect the wire is, we confess, a great drawback to the scheme; -but, we fancy, posts might be organized at comparatively a small cost, -considering the magnitude and importance of the undertaking. The mere -expense of making and laying the cable would not be much more than double -that of building the new Westminster-bridge across the Thames. - -Whilst England would thus grasp the West with one hand, her active -children have plotted the seizure of the East with the other. A cable runs -from Genoa to Corsica, and from thence to Sardinia. From the southernmost -point of the latter island, Cape Spartivento, to the gulf of Tunis, -another cable can easily be carried. The direction thence (after giving -off a coast branch to Algeria) will be along the African shore, by Tripoli -to Alexandria, and eventually across Arabia, along the coasts of Persia -and Beloochistan until it enters Scinde, and finally joins the wire at -Hydrabad, which in all probability by that time will have advanced from -Burmah, across the Indian peninsula, to welcome it. America will shortly -carry her line of telegraph to the Pacific shore, and run it up the coast -as far as San Francisco. Can there be any reasonable doubt that, before -the end of the century, the one line advancing towards the West and the -other towards the East--through China and Siberia--will gradually approach -each other so closely that a short cable stretched across Behring Straits -will bring the four quarters of the globe within speaking distance of each -other, and enable the electric fire to "put a girdle round the world in -forty minutes?" - - - - -FIRES AND FIRE INSURANCE. - - -Among the more salient features of the metropolis which instantly strike -the attention of the stranger are the stations of the Fire Brigade. -Whenever he happens to pass them, he finds the sentinel on duty, he sees -the "red artillery" of the force; and the polished axle, the gleaming -branch, and the shining chain, testify to the beautiful condition of the -instrument, ready for active service at a moment's notice. Ensconced in -the shadow of the station, the liveried watchmen look like hunters waiting -for their prey--nor does the hunter move quicker to his quarry at the -rustle of a leaf, than the Firemen dash for the first ruddy glow in the -sky. No sooner comes the alarm, than one sees with a shudder the rush of -one of these engines through the crowded streets, the tearing horses -covered with foam, the heavy vehicle swerving from side to side, and the -black helmeted attendants swaying to and fro. The wonder is that horses or -men ever get safely to their destination: the wonder is still greater that -no one is ridden over in their furious drive. - -Arrived at the place of action, the hunter's spirit which animates the -fireman, and makes him attack an element as determinedly as he would a -wild beast, becomes evident to the spectator. The scene which a London -fire presents can never be forgotten: the shouts of the crowd as it opens -to let the engines dart through it, the foaming head of water springing -out of the ground, and spreading over the road until it becomes a broad -mirror reflecting the glowing blaze--the black, snake-like coils of the -leather hose rising and falling like things of life, whilst a hundred -arms work at the pump, their central heart, the applause that rings out -clear above the roaring flame as the adventurous band throw the first -hissing jet; cheer following cheer, as stream after stream shoots against -the burning mass, now flying into the socket-holes of fire, set in the -black face of the house-front, now dashing with a loud shir-r against the -window-frame and wall, and falling off in broken showers. Suddenly there -is a loud shrill cry, and the bank of human faces is upturned to where a -shrieking wretch hangs frantically to an upper window-sill. A deafening -shout goes forth, as the huge fire-escape comes full swing upon the scene: -a moment's pause, and all is still, save the beat, beat, of the great -water pulses, whilst every eye is strained towards the fluttering garments -flapping against the wall. Will the ladder reach, and not dislodge those -weary hands clutching so convulsively to the hot stone! Will the nimble -figure gain the topmost rung ere nature fails? The blood in a thousand -hearts runs cold, and then again break forth a thousand cheers to -celebrate a daring rescue. Such scenes as this are of almost nightly -occurrence in the great metropolis. A still more imposing yet dreadful -sight is often exhibited in the conflagrations of those vast piles of -buildings in the City filled with inflammable merchandise. Here the most -powerful engines seem reduced to mere squirts; and the efforts of the -adventurous brigade men are confined to keeping the mischief within its -own bounds. - -When we recollect that London presents an area of thirty-six square miles, -covered with 21,600 square acres of bricks and mortar, and numbers more -than 380,600 houses; that all the riches it contains are nightly -threatened in every direction by an ever-present enemy; that the secret -match, the spontaneous fire, and the hand of the drunkard, are busily at -work; it is evident that nothing but a force the most disciplined, and -implements the most effective, can be competent to cope with so sudden and -persevering a foe. - -As late as twenty-two years ago there was no proper fire police to protect -the metropolis against what is commonly called the "all-devouring -element." There was, it is true, a force of 300 parochial engines set on -foot by acts which were passed between the years 1768-74, acts which are -still in existence; but these engines are under the superintendence of the -beadles and parish engineers, who are not the most active of men or nimble -of risers. It may easily be imagined, therefore, that the machines arrived -a little too late; and, when brought into service, were often found to be -out of working order. Hence their employment did not supersede the private -engines kept by some of the insurance offices long prior to their -existence. On the contrary, owing to the increase of business which took -place about this time, the different companies thought it worth their -while to strengthen their former establishments, and this process -continued while the parochial engines, with a few honourable exceptions, -were dropping into disuse. - -About the year 1833 it became evident that much was lost, both to the -public and to the insurance companies, by every engine acting on its own -responsibility--a folly which is the cause of such jealousy among the -firemen at Boston (United States), that rival engines have been known to -stop on their way to a fire to exchange shots from revolvers. It was, -therefore, determined to incorporate the divided force, and place it under -the management of one superintendent, each office contributing towards its -support, according to the amount of its business. All the old-established -companies, with one exception,[41] shortly came into the arrangement, and -Mr. Braidwood, the master of the fire-engines of Edinburgh, being invited -to take the command, organized the now celebrated _London Fire Brigade_. - -At the present moment, then, the protection against fire in London -consists, firstly, in the three hundred and odd parish-engines (two to -each parish), which are paid for out of the rates. The majority of these -are very inefficient, not having any persons appointed to work them who -possess a competent knowledge of the service. Even women used now and then -to fill the arduous post of director; and it is not long since a certain -Mrs. Smith, a widow, might be seen at conflagrations, hurrying about in -her pattens, directing the firemen of her engine, which belonged to the -united parishes of St. Michael Royal and St. Martin Vintry, in the city. -We question, indeed, if at the present moment any of the parish-engines -are much better officered than in the days of widow Smith, with the -exception of those of Hackney, Whitechapel, Islington, and perhaps two or -three others. Secondly, there are an unknown number of private engines -kept in public buildings and large manufactories, which sometimes do good -service when they arrive early at small fires in their neighbourhood, -although, singularly enough, when called upon to extinguish a -conflagration in their own establishments, they generally "lose their -heads," as the brigade men express it; and very many instances have -occurred where even the parish-engines have arrived and set to work before -the one on the premises could be brought to bear upon the fire. The cause -is clear. The requisite coolness and method which every one can exercise -so philosophically in other people's misfortunes utterly fail them when in -trouble themselves. The doctor is wiser in his generation, and is never so -foolish as to prescribe for himself or to attend his own family. - -Thirdly, we have, in contrast to the immense rabble of Bumble engines and -the Bashi-Bazouks of private establishments, the small complement of men -and material of the fire brigade. It consists of twenty-seven large -horse-engines, capable of throwing eighty-eight gallons a minute to the -height of from fifty to seventy feet, and nine smaller ones drawn by hand. -To work them there are twelve engineers, seven sub-engineers, thirty-two -senior firemen, thirty-nine junior firemen, and fourteen drivers, or 104 -men and 31 horses. In addition to these persons, who form the main -establishment, and live at the different stations, there is an extra staff -of four firemen, four drivers, and eight horses. The members of this -supplementary force are also lodged at the stations,[42] as well as -clothed, but are only paid when their services are required, and pursue in -the daytime their ordinary occupations. This not very formidable army of -104 men and 31 horses, with its reserve of eight men and eight horses, is -distributed throughout the metropolis, which is divided into four -districts as follows:--On the north side of the river--1st, From the -eastward to Paul's Chain, St. Paul's Churchyard, Aldersgate Street, and -Goswell Street Road; 2nd, From St. Paul's, &c., to Tottenham Court Road, -Crown Street, and St. Martin's Lane; 3rd, From Tottenham Court Road, &c., -westward; 4th, The entire south side of the river. At the head of each -district is a foreman, who never leaves it unless acting under the -superior orders of Mr. Braidwood, the superintendent or general-in-chief, -whose head-quarters are in Watling Street. - -In comparison with the great continental cities, such a force seems truly -insignificant. Paris, which does not cover a fifth part of the ground of -London, and is not much more than a third as populous, boasts 800 -_sapeurs-pompiers_: we make up, however, for want of numbers by activity. -Again, our look-out is admirable: the 6,000 police of the metropolis, -patrolling every alley and lane throughout its length and breadth, watch -for a fire as terriers watch at rat-holes, and every man is stimulated by -the knowledge, that if he is the first to give notice of it at any of the -stations it is half a sovereign in his pocket. In addition to the police, -there are the thousand eager eyes of the night cabmen, and the houseless -poor. It is not at all uncommon for a cabman to earn four or five -shillings of a night by driving fast to the different stations and giving -the alarm, receiving a shilling from each for the "call." - -In most continental cities a watchman takes his stand during the night on -the topmost point of some high building, and gives notice by either -blowing a horn, firing a gun, or ringing a bell. In Germany the quarter is -indicated by holding out towards it a flag by day, and a lantern at night. -It immediately suggests itself that a sentinel placed in the upper gallery -of St. Paul's would have under his eye the whole metropolis, and could -make known instantly, by means of an electric wire, the position of a -fire, to the head-station at Watling Street, in the same manner as the -Americans do in Boston. This plan is, however, open to the objection, that -London is intersected by a sinuous river, which renders it difficult to -tell on which bank the conflagration is raging. Nevertheless, we imagine -that the northern part of the town could be advantageously superintended -from such a height, whilst the southern half might rest under the -surveillance of one of the tall shot-towers on that bank of the Thames. -The bridges themselves have long been posts of observation, from which a -large portion of the river-side property is watched. Not long ago there -was a pieman on London Bridge, who eked out a precarious existence by -keeping a good look-out up and down the stream. - -Watling Street was chosen as the head-quarters of the Fire Brigade for a -double reason: it is very nearly the centre of the City, being close to -the far-famed London Stone, and it is in the very midst of what may be -termed, speaking igneously, the most dangerous part of the metropolis--the -Manchester warehouses. As the Fire Brigade is only a portion of a vast -commercial operation--Fire Insurance--its actions are regulated by -strictly commercial considerations. Where the largest amount of _insured_ -property lies, there its chief force is planted. It will, it is true, go -any reasonable distance to put out a fire; but of course it pays most -attention to property which its proprietors have guaranteed. The central -station receives the greatest number of "calls;" but as a -commander-in-chief does not turn out for a skirmish of outposts, so Mr. -Braidwood keeps himself ready for affairs of a more serious nature. When -the summons is at night--there are sometimes as many as half a dozen--the -fireman on duty below apprises the superintendent by means of a gutta -percha speaking-tube, which comes up to his bedside. By the light of the -ever-burning gas, he rapidly consults the "London Directory," and if the -call should be to what is called "a greengrocer's street," or any of the -small thoroughfares in by-parts of the town, he leaves the matter to the -foreman in whose district it is, and goes to sleep again. If, however, the -fire should be in the City, or in any of the great west-end thoroughfares, -he hurries off on the first engine. Five minutes is considered a fair time -for an engine "to horse and away," but it is often done in three. Celerity -in bringing up aid is the great essential, as the first half hour -generally determines the extent to which a conflagration will proceed. -Hence the rewards of thirty shillings for the first, twenty for the -second, and ten for the third engine that arrives, which premiums are paid -by the parish. All the engines travel with as few hands as possible: the -larger ones having an engineer, four firemen and a driver, and the -following furniture:-- - - "Several lengths of scaling-ladder, each 6-1/2 feet long, all of which - may be readily connected, forming in a short space of time a ladder of - any required length; a canvas sheet, with ten or twelve handles of - rope round the edge of it for the purpose of a fire-escape; one - 10-fathom and one 14-fathom piece of 2-1/2-inch rope; six lengths of - hose, each 40 feet long; two branch-pipes, one 2-1/2 feet, and the - other from 4 to 6 feet long, with one spare nose-pipe; two 6-feet - lengths of suction-pipe, a flat rose, stand-cock, goose-neck, - dam-board, boat-hook, saw, shovel, mattock, pole-axe, screw-wrench, - crow-bar, portable cistern, two dog-tails, two balls of strips of - sheepskin, two balls of small cord, instruments for opening the - fire-plugs, and keys for turning the stop-cocks of the water-mains." - -The weight of the whole, with the men, is not less than from 27 to 30 -cwt., a load which in the excitement of the ride is carried by a couple of -horses at the gallop. - -The hands to work the pumps are always forthcoming on the spot at any hour -of the night, not alone for goodwill, as every man--and there have been as -many as five hundred employed at a time--receives one shilling for the -first hour and sixpence for every succeeding one, together with -refreshments. In France the law empowers the firemen to seize upon the -bystanders, and compel them to give their services, without fee or reward. -An Englishman at Bordeaux, whilst looking on, some few years since, was -forced, in spite of his remonstrances, to roll wine-casks for seven hours -out of the vicinity of a conflagration. We need not say which plan answers -best. A Frenchman runs away, as soon as the _sapeurs-pompiers_ make their -appearance upon the scene, to avoid being impressed. Still such is the -excitement, that there are some gentlemen with us who pursue the -occupation of firemen as amateurs; providing themselves with the -regulation-dress of dark-green turned up with red, and with the -accoutrements of the Brigade, and working, under the orders of Mr. -Braidwood, as energetically as if they were earning their daily bread. - -The fascination of fires even extends to the brute creation. Who has not -heard of the dog "Chance," who first formed his acquaintance with the -Brigade by following a fireman from a conflagration in Shoreditch to the -central station at Watling Street? Here, after he had been petted for some -little time by the men, his master came for him, and took him home; but he -escaped on the first opportunity, and returned to the station. After he -had been carried back for the third time, his master--like a mother whose -son _will_ go to sea--allowed him to have his own way, and for years he -invariably accompanied the engine, now upon the machine, now under the -horses' legs, and always, when going up-hill, running in advance, and -announcing the welcome advent of the extinguisher by his bark. At the fire -he used to amuse himself with pulling burning logs of wood out of the -flames with his mouth. Although he had his legs broken half a dozen times, -he remained faithful to his pursuit; till at last, having received a -severer hurt than usual, he was being nursed by the fireman beside the -hearth, when a "call" came, and at the well-known sound of the engine -turning out, the poor brute made a last effort to climb upon it, and fell -back dead in the attempt. He was stuffed and preserved at the station, and -was doomed, even in death, to prove the fireman's friend: for one of the -engineers having committed suicide, the Brigade determined to raffle him -for the benefit of the widow, _and such was his renown, that he realized_ -123_l._ 10_s._ 9_d._ - -The most interesting and practical part of our subject is the inquiry into -the various causes of fires. Mr. Braidwood comes here to our aid with his -invaluable yearly reports--the only materials we have, in fact, on which -fire insurance can be built up into a science, a feat which we have not -accomplished to nearly the same extent as with life assurance, although -the Hand-in-Hand office was founded so far back as 1696. Thus we have the -experience of upwards of 150 years, if we could only get at it, to enable -the actuary to ascertain the doctrine of chances in this momentous -subject, which at present is little better than a speculation. An analysis -of the reports, from the organization of the Fire Brigade in 1833 to the -close of 1853, a period extending over 21 years, affords the following -result: - -Abstract of List of Fires and Alarms for Twenty Years, ending 1853. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Year.| Totally |Considerably|Slightly|Total | Alarms. |Total of - |Destroyed| Damaged. |Damaged.| of |-------------------|Fires & - | | | |Fires.|False|Chimn'y|Total|Alarms. - -----|---------|------------|--------|------|-----|-------|-----|-------- - 1833 | 31 | 135 | 292 | 458| 59 | 75 | 134| 592 - 1834 | 28 | 116 | 338 | 482| 57 | 112 | 169| 651 - 1835 | 31 | 125 | 315 | 471| 66 | 106 | 172| 643 - 1836 | 33 | 134 | 397 | 564| 66 | 126 | 192| 756 - 1837 | 22 | 122 | 357 | 501| 82 | 134 | 216| 717 - 1838 | 33 | 152 | 383 | 568| 79 | 108 | 187| 755 - 1839 | 17 | 165 | 402 | 584| 70 | 101 | 171| 755 - 1840 | 26 | 204 | 451 | 681| 84 | 98 | 182| 863 - 1841 | 24 | 234 | 438 | 696| 67 | 92 | 159| 855 - 1842 | 24 | 224 | 521 | 769| 61 | 82 | 143| 912 - 1843 | 29 | 231 | 489 | 749| 79 | 83 | 162| 911 - 1844 | 23 | 237 | 502 | 762| 70 | 94 | 164| 926 - 1845 | 23 | 253 | 431 | 707| 82 | 87 | 168| 875 - 1846 | 25 | 233 | 576 | 834| 119 | 69 | 188| 1,022 - 1847 | 27 | 273 | 536 | 836| 88 | 66 | 154| 990 - 1848 | 27 | 269 | 509 | 805| 120 | 86 | 206| 1,011 - 1849 | 28 | 228 | 582 | 838| 76 | 89 | 165| 1,003 - 1850 | 18 | 229 | 621 | 868| 91 | 79 | 170| 1,038 - 1851 | 21 | 255 | 652 | 928| 115 | 116 | 231| 1,159 - 1852 | 25 | 238 | 660 | 923| 93 | 89 | 182| 1,105 - 1853 | 20 | 241 | 629 | 900| 72 | 90 | 162| 1,062 - -----|---------|------------|--------|------|-----|-------|-----|-------- - Total| 535 | 4,298 |10,091 |14,924|1,695|1,982 |3,677|18,601 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -If we examine this table, we find ample evidence that the organization of -the Fire Brigade has resulted in an abatement of loss and labour. Taking -the average of the last twenty-one years, there has been a decrease of 5.7 -in the last year under the head of "totally destroyed." This is the best -test of the activity of the Brigade, and really means much more than is -obvious at first sight. Within these twenty-one years many tens of -thousands of houses have been added to the metropolis; our periphery has -been continually enlarging; like a tree, we grow year by year by adding a -fresh ring of bricks and mortar. Whilst this increase is going on -externally, the central part is growing too. We can afford no dead wood in -our very heart: if it cannot expand one way it must another. Accordingly, -we find the crowded city extending towards the sky; and if we take into -account the immense mass of material added to that which existed, all of -which is equally liable to the inroads of fire, we can understand why the -total number of conflagrations has increased from 458 in 1833 to 900 in -1853. With such an augmentation of conflagrations, the _decrease_ of -houses totally destroyed in 1853 is the highest testimony to the ability -and zeal of Mr. Braidwood. - -The item "totally destroyed" is mainly made up of houses and factories in -which are stored very combustible materials, such as carpenters' and -cabinet-makers' shops, oilmen's warehouses, sawmills, &c., where the fire -gains such a hold in a few minutes as to preclude the possibility of -putting it out. The number is also swelled by houses which are situated -many miles from the nearest station; for there are no stations in the -outskirts of the town, and very few in the crowded suburbs. We have seen -complaints of this want of help in thickly-populated localities; but the -companies only plant an establishment where the insurances are sufficient -to cover the expense, and people who do not contribute have no more right -to expect private individuals to take care of their property than -tradesmen in the Strand would have to expect the private watchman outside -Messrs. Coutts' bank to look after their shutters. Indeed, it seems to us -that the Brigade act very liberally. The firemen never stop to ask -whether the house is insured or not; nor are they deterred by distance; -and in many cases they have gone as far as Brentford, Putney, Croydon, -Barnet, Uxbridge, Cranfordbridge, Windsor Castle, and once to Dover by an -express engine. The only difference made by the Brigade between insured -and uninsured property is, that after putting out a fire they take charge -of the salvage of the former, and leave that of the latter to its owner. -The force is, however, very careful to repair immediately any damage they -may have done to adjoining property--damage which they commit in the most -deliberate manner, regardless of pains and penalties. For instance, -_housebreaking_ is almost a nightly crime with the firemen whilst in -search of water, who never let a wall or a door stand between them and a -supply of this element. It is a proof of the good feeling which prevails -on such occasions that, although they are technically guilty of an offence -which renders them liable to punishment, no one murmurs, much less -threatens proceedings. If the authorities in the great fire of London had -acted in a similar manner for the public good, they would have saved the -half of the Inner Temple, which was destroyed because, according to -Clarendon's account, all the lawyers were absent on circuit, and the -constables did not dare to take the responsibility of breaking open their -chamber doors! - -It is a question whether government ought not to relieve the parish -authorities from a duty which they cannot separately perform, and combine -their engines into a metropolitan brigade; thus guarding the town from -fire as they do from robbery by the police. If people will not protect -themselves by insuring, the state should protect them, and make them pay -for it. An excellent system prevails in most parts of Germany of levying a -rate at the close of the year upon all the inhabitants, sufficient to -cover the loss from fires during the past twelvemonth. As every -householder has a pecuniary interest in the result, he keeps a bucket and -belt, and sallies out to extinguish the conflagration in his neighbour's -premises. If the rate were adopted in London, and the present enormous -duty on insurances reduced, the cost to each person would be hardly more -pence than it is pounds at present to the provident few. - -Mr. Samuel Brown, of the Institute of Actuaries, after analyzing the -returns of Mr. Braidwood, as well as the reports in the _Mechanics' -Magazine_ by Mr. Baddeley, who has devoted much attention to the subject, -drew up some tables of the times of the year and hours of the day at which -fires are most frequent. It would naturally be supposed that the winter -would show a vast preponderance over the summer months; but the difference -is not so great as might be expected. December and January are very -prolific of fires, as in these months large public buildings are heated by -flues, stoves, and boilers; but the other months share mishaps of the kind -pretty equally, with the exception that the hot and dry periods of summer -and autumn are marked by the most destructive class of conflagrations, -owing to the greater inflammability of the materials, than in the damper -portions of the year. This, from the desiccating nature of the climate, is -especially the case in Canada and the United States, and, coupled with the -extensive use of wood in building, has a large influence in many parts of -the continent. The following list of all the great fires which have taken -place for the last hundred years will bear out our statement:-- - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Month.| Description of Property, | Place. |Value of Property| Year. - | &c. | | Destroyed. | - ---------------------------------|--------------|-----------------|------ - {Webb's Sugar-house |Liverpool | L4,600 | 1829 - {Lancelot's-hey | " | 198,000 | 1833 - {Town-hall and Exchange | " | 45,000 | 1795 - Jan. {Caxton Printing Office | " | | 1821 - {Dublin & Co. Warehouse | " | | 1834 - {Suffolk Street | " | 40,000 | 1818 - {Mile End |London | 200,000 | 1834 - {Royal Exchange | " | | 1838 - | | | - {York Minster |York | | 1829 - {3 West-India Warehouses |London | 300,000 | 1829 - {House of Commons |Dublin | | 1792 - Feb. {Argyle Rooms |London | | 1830 - {Camberwell Church | " | | 1841 - {Custom House | " | | 1814 - {Hop Warehouse |Southwark | | 1851 - {J. F. Pawson & Co.'s }| St. Paul's }| 40,000 | 1853 - { Warehouses }|Churchyard }| | - {Pickford's Wharf |London | | 1824 - {Goree Warehouses |Liverpool | 50,000 | 1846 - | | | - {New Orleans |United States | dr. 650,000 | 1853 - {15,000 houses at Canton |China | | 1820 - {13,000 houses |Peru | | 1799 - {Manchester |England | | 1792 - March {Fawcett's Foundry |Liverpool | L41,000 | 1843 - {Oil Street | " | 12,000 | 1844 - {Apothecaries' Hall | " | 7,000 | 1844 - {Sugar House, Harrington}| " | 30,000 | 1830 - { Street }| | | - | | | - {1,000 Buildings |Pittsburg | dr. 1,400,000 | 1845 - {Savannah |United States | dr. 300,000 | 1852 - {Parkshead, Bacon Street |Liverpool | L36,000 | 1851 - {Windsor Forest |England | | 1785 - April {Margetson's Tan Yard, }|London | 36,000 | 1852 - { Bermondsey }| | | - {1,158 Buildings, }|United States | | 1838 - { Charleston }| | | - {Horsleydown |London | | 1780 - | | | - {Dockhead |London | | 1785 - {Great Fire, 1,749 houses|Hamburgh | | 1842 - {23 Steamboats at }|United States | dr. 600,000 | 1849 - { St. Louis }| | | - {15,000 Houses |Quebec | | 1845 - {York Minster |York | | 1840 - May {Duke's Warehouses |Liverpool | | 1843 - {Okell's Sugar-house | " | | 1799 - {Gibraltar Row | " | | 1838 - {Liver Mills | " | L8,700 | 1841 - {Billinsgate |London | | 1809 - | | | - {Rotherhithe |London | | 1765 - {Copenhagen |Denmark | | 1759 - {Montreal |Canada | dr. 1,000,000 | 1852 - {St. John |Newfoundland | | 1846 - {Louisville |United States | dr. 100,000 | 1853 - June {47 persons, Quebec }|Canada | | 1846 - { Theatre }| | | - {1,300 houses, Quebec | " | | 1845 - {Gutta Percha Co., Wharf}|London | L23,000 | 1853 - { Road }| | | - {Humphreys' Warehouse, }| " | 100,000 | 1851 - { Southwark }| | | - | | | - {Hindon |Wiltshire | | 1754 - {15,000 Houses |Constantinople| | 1756 - {12,000 Houses |Montreal | | 1852 - {300 Houses |Philadelphia | | 1850 - {300 Buildings |North America | dr. 160,000 | 1846 - July {302 Stores |New York | dr. 1,200,000 | 1846 - {Apothecaries' Hall |Liverpool | | 1845 - {Glover's Warehouses | " | L17,000 | 1851 - {Dockyard |Portsmouth | | 1770 - {Wapping |London | 1,000,000 | 1794 - {Ratcliffe Cross | " | | 1794 - {Varna |Turkey | | 1854 - | | | - {Dublin |Ireland | | 1833 - {Gravesend |England | 60,000 | 1847 - {Walker's Oil Mill |Dover | 30,000 | 1853 - {Falmouth Theatre |Falmouth | | 1792 - Aug. {Buildings, Albany |United States | dr. 600,000 | 1849 - {10,000 Houses |Constantinople| | 1782 - {Smithfield |London | L100,000 | 1822 - {East Smithfield | " | | 1840 - {Bankside | " | | 1814 - {Gateshead |England | | 1854 - | | | - {46 Buildings |New York | dr. 500,000 | 1839 - {200 Houses, Brooklyn | " | 150,000 | 1848 - {Scott, Russell, & Co., }|London | L80,000 | 1853 - { Ship Builders, Mill }| | | - { Wall }| | | - {St. Paul's Church, }| " | | - { Covent Garden }| | | 1795 - {60 Houses Rotherhithe | " | | 1791 - Sept. {Astley's Amphitheatre | " | | 1794 - {Mark Lane | " | 150,000 | 1850 - {Covent Garden Theatre | " | | 1808 - {Store Street and }| " | | - { Tottenham Court Road }| | | 1802 - {Macfee's |Liverpool | 40,000 | 1846 - {Gorees | " | 400,000 | 1802 - {Formby Street | " | 380,000 | 1842 - {Cowdray House |Sussex | | 1793 - | | | - {52 Buildings |Philadelphia | dr. 100,000 | 1839 - {Grimsdell's Builders' }|Spitalfields | | 1852 - { Yard }| | | - {Withwith's Mills |Halifax | L35,000 | 1853 - {Robert Street |North Liverp'l| 150,000 | 1838 - {Lancelot's-hey |Liverpool | 80,000 | 1854 - {Memel Great Fire |Prussia | | 1854 - Oct. {London Wall |London | 84,000 | 1849 - {20 Houses, Rotherhithe | " | | 1790 - {Lancelot's-hey |Liverpool | 30,000 | 1834 - {Wapping |London | 100,000 | 1823 - {Houses of Parliament | " | | 1834 - {Pimlico | " | | 1839 - | | | - {Royal Palace |Lisbon | | 1794 - {New York |United States | | 1835 - {20 Houses, Shadwell |London | | 1796 - {Aldersgate Street | " | L100,000 | 1783 - Nov. {Cornhill | " | | 1765 - {Liver Street |Liverpool | 6,000 | 1829 - {Wright & Aspinall, }|London | 50,000 | 1826 - { Oxford Street }| | | - {Hill's Rice Mills | " | 5,000 | 1848 - | | | - {Dock Yard |Portsmouth | | 1776 - {Patent Office and Post }|Washington | | 1836 - { Office }| | | - Dec. {600 Warehouses |New York | dr. 4,000,000 | 1835 - {Fenwick Street |Liverpool | L36,000 | 1831 - {Brancker's Sugar-house | " | 34,000 | 1843 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - (_Extracted from the Royal Insurance Company's Almanack, 1854._) - -One reason, perhaps, why there is such a general average in the number of -conflagrations throughout the year is, that the vast majority occur in -factories and workshops where fire is used in summer as well as winter. -This supposition appears at first sight to be contradicted by the fact -that nearly as many fires occur on Sunday as on any other day of the week. -But when it is remembered that in numerous establishments it is necessary -to keep in the fires throughout that day, and as in the majority of cases -a very inadequate watch is kept, it is at once apparent why there is no -immunity from the scourge. Indeed, some of the most destructive fires have -broken out on a Sunday night or on a Sunday morning; no doubt because a -large body of fire had formed before it was detected. A certain number of -accidents occur in summer in private houses from persons on hot nights -opening the window behind the toilet-glass in their bedrooms, when the -draught blows the blind against the candle. Swallows do not more certainly -appear in June, than such mishaps are found reported at the sultry season. - -If we watch still more narrowly the habits of fires, we find that they are -active or dormant according to the time of day. Thus, during a period of -nine years, the per-centage regularly increased from 1.96 at 9 o'clock -A.M., the hour at which all households might be considered to be about, -to 3.34 at 1 P.M., 3.55 at 5 P.M., and 8.15 per cent. at 10 P.M., which is -just the time at which a fire left to itself by the departure of the -workmen would have had swing enough to become visible. - -The origin of fires is now so narrowly inquired into by the officers of -the Brigade, and by means of inquests, that we have been made acquainted -with a vast number of curious causes which would never have been -suspected. From an analysis of fires which have occurred since the -establishment of the Brigade we have constructed the following tables:-- - - Curtains 2,511 - Candle 1,178 - Flues 1,555 - Stoves 494 - Gas 932 - Light dropped down Area 13 - Lighted Tobacco falling down ditt 7 - Dust falling on horizontal Flue 1 - Doubtful 76 - Incendiarism 89 - Carelessness 100 - Intoxication 80 - Dog 6 - Cat 19 - Hunting Bugs 15 - Clothes-horse upset by Monkey 1 - Lucifers 80 - Children playing with ditto 45 - Rat gnawing ditto 1 - Jackdaw playing with ditto 1 - Rat gnawing Gaspipe 1 - Boys letting off Fireworks 14 - Fireworks going off 63 - Children playing with Fire 45 - Spark from ditto 243 - Spark from Railway 4 - Smoking Tobacco 166 - Smoking Ants 1 - Smoking in Bed 2 - Reading in ditto 22 - Sewing in ditto 4 - Sewing by Candle 1 - Lime overheating 44 - Waste ditto 43 - Cargo of Lime ditto 2 - Rain slacking ditto 5 - High Tide 1 - Explosion 16 - Spontaneous Combustion 43 - Heat from Sun 8 - Lightning 8 - Carboy of Acid bursting 2 - Drying Linen 1 - Shirts falling into Fire 6 - Lighting and Upsetting Naphtha Lamp 58 - Fire from Iron Kettle 1 - Sealing Letter 1 - Charcoal fire of a Suicide 1 - Insanity 5 - Bleaching Nuts 7 - Unknown 1,323 - -Among the more common causes of fire (such as gas, candle, curtains taking -fire, children playing with stoves, &c.) it is remarkable how uniformly -the same numbers occur under each head from year to year. General laws -obtain as much in small as in great events. We are informed by the Post -Office authorities that about eight persons daily drop their letters into -the post without directing them; we know that there is an unvarying -percentage of broken heads and limbs received into the hospitals; and here -we see that a regular number of houses take fire, year by year, from the -leaping out of a spark or the dropping of a smouldering pipe of tobacco. -It may indeed be a long time before another conflagration will arise from -"a monkey upsetting a clothes-horse," but we have no doubt such an -accident will recur in its appointed cycle. - -Although gas figures so largely as a cause of fire, it does not appear -that its rapid introduction of late years into private houses has been -attended with danger. There is another kind of light, however, which the -insurance offices look upon with terror, especially those who make it -their business to insure farm property. The assistant-secretary of one of -the largest fire-offices, speaking broadly, informed us that the -introduction of the lucifer-match _caused them an annual loss of ten -thousand pounds_! In the foregoing list we see in how many ways they have -given rise to fires. - - Lucifers going off probably from heat 80 - Children playing with lucifers 45 - Rat gnawing lucifers 1 - Jackdaw playing with lucifers 1 - ---- - 127 - -One hundred and twenty-seven known fires thus arise from this single -cause; and no doubt many of the twenty-five fires ascribed to the agency -of cats and dogs were owing to their having thrown down boxes of matches -at night, which they frequently do, and which is almost certain to produce -combustion. The item "rat gnawing lucifer," reminds us to give a warning -against leaving about wax lucifers where there are either rats or mice, -for these vermin constantly run away with them to their holes behind the -inflammable canvas, and eat the wax until they reach the phosphorus, which -is ignited by the friction of their teeth. Many fires are believed to have -been produced by this singular circumstance. How much, again, must -lucifers have contributed to swell the large class of conflagrations whose -causes are unknown! Another cause of fire, which is of recent date, is the -use of naphtha in lamps,--a most ignitible fluid when mixed in certain -proportions with common air. "A delightful novel" figures as a proximate, -if not an immediate, cause of twenty-two fires. This might be expected; -but what can be the meaning of a fire caused by a high tide? When we asked -Mr. Braidwood the question, he answered, "Oh, we always look out for fires -when there is a high tide. They arise from the heating of lime upon the -addition of water." Thus rain, we see, has caused four conflagrations, and -simple over-heating forty-four. The lime does no harm so long as it is -merely in contact with wood; but if iron happens to be in juxtaposition -with the two, it speedily becomes red-hot, and barges on the river have -been sunk, by reason of their bolts and iron knees burning holes in their -bottoms. Of the singular entry, "rat gnawing a gaspipe," the firemen state -that it is common for rats to gnaw leaden service-pipes, for the purpose, -it is supposed, of getting at the water, and in this instance the grey -rodent laboured under a mistake, and let out the raw material of the -opposite element. Intoxication is a fruitful cause of fires, especially in -public-houses and inns. - -It is commonly imagined that the introduction of hot water, hot air, and -steam-pipes, as a means of heating buildings, cuts off one avenue of -danger from fire. This is an error. Iron pipes, often heated up to 400 deg., -are placed in close contact with floors and skirting-boards, supported by -slight diagonal props of wood, which a much lower degree of heat will -suffice to ignite. The circular rim supporting a still at the -Apothecaries' Hall, which was used in the preparation of some medicament -that required a temperature of only 300 deg., was found, not long ago, to have -charred a circle, at least a quarter of an inch deep, in the wood beneath -it, in less than six months. Mr. Braidwood, in his evidence before a -Committee of the House of Lords, in 1846, stated that it was his belief -that by long exposure to heat, not much exceeding that of boiling water, -or 212 deg., timber is brought into such a condition that it will fire without -the application of a light. The time during which this process of -desiccation goes on, until it ends in spontaneous combustion, is, he -thinks, from eight to ten years; _so that a fire might be hatching in a -man's premises during the whole of his lease, without making any sign_! - -Mr. Hosking, in his very useful and sensible little "Guide to the proper -Regulation of Buildings in Towns," quotes the following case, which -completely confirms Mr. Braidwood's opinion, and explodes the idea that -heat applied through the medium of pipes must be safe. - - "Day and Martin's well-known blacking manufactory in High Holborn was - heated by means of hot water passing through iron tubes into the - various parts of the building. In December, 1848, the wooden casing - and other woodwork about the upright main pipes were found to be on - fire, and from no other cause that could be discovered than the - constant exposure for a long time of the wood to heat from the pipes. - In this case the pipes were not in contact with the wooden casing, but - they were stayed and kept upright by cross fillets of wood, which - touched them, and these it was which appeared to have taken fire. The - small circulating pipes which conveyed the hot water throughout the - several chambers were raised from the floor to about the extent of - their own diameter, and the floors showed no signs of fire where the - pipes were so removed; but in _every case_ where the prop or saddle - which held the pipe up from the floor had been displaced, and the pipe - had been allowed to sag and touch the floor, _the boards were - charred_. It was understood that the temperature of the water in the - pipes never much exceeded 300 deg. The practical teaching of this case - clearly is, that pipes should on no consideration be placed nearer to - wood than the distance of their own diameters. Wood dried in the - thorough manner we have mentioned is so liable to catch fire at the - momentary propinquity of flame, that practical men imagine there must - be an atmosphere of some kind surrounding it of a highly inflammable - nature. In cases of pine wood we could well understand such a theory, - as we know that a stick thrust into the fire will emit from its free - end a volatile spirit of turpentine, which lights like a jet of gas. - - "Mercers' Hall, burnt in 1853, was the victim of its hot-water pipes, - which had not been in work more than four or five years. The vaulted - room in the British Museum, which contains some of the Nineveh - marbles, was fired--or rather the carpenters' work about--in a similar - manner; and if report tells the truth, the new Houses of Parliament - have been on fire several times already from a similar cause." - -Under the heads "Incendiarism," "Doubtful," and "Unknown," are included -all the cases of wilful firing. The return, "Incendiarism," is never made -unless there has been a conviction, which rarely takes place, as the -offices are only anxious to protect themselves against fraud, and do not -like the trouble or bad odour of being prosecutors on public grounds. If -the evidence of wilful firing, however, is conclusive, the insured, when -he applies for his money, is significantly informed by the secretary that -unless he leaves the office, _he will hang him_. Though arson is no -longer punished by death, the hint is usually taken. Now and then, such -flagrant offenders are met with, that the office cannot avoid pursuing -them with the utmost rigour of the law. Such, in 1851, was the case of a -"respectable" solicitor, living in Lime-street, Watling-street, who had -insured his house and furniture for a sum much larger than they were -worth. The means he adopted for the commission of his crime without -discovery were apparently sure; but it was the very pains he took to -accomplish his end which led to his detection. He had specially made to -order a deep tray of iron, in the centre of which was placed a socket. The -tray he filled with naphtha, and in the socket he put a candle, the light -of which was shaded by a funnel. The candle was one of the kind which he -used for his gig-lamp,--for he kept a gig,--and was calculated to last a -stated time before it reached the naphtha. He furtively deposited the -whole machine in the cellar, within eight inches of the wooden floor, in a -place constructed to conceal it. The attorney went out, and on coming back -again found, as he expected, that his house was on fire. Unfortunately, -however, for him--if it is ever a misfortune to a scoundrel to be -detected,--it was put out at a very early stage, and the firemen, whilst -in the act of extinguishing it, discovered this infernal machine. The -order to make it was traced to the delinquent: a female servant, irritated -at the idea of his having left her in the house to be burnt to death, gave -evidence against him. He was tried and convicted, and is now expiating his -crime at Norfolk Island. Plans for rebuilding this villain's house, and -estimates of the expense, were found afterwards among his papers. - -The class "doubtful" includes all those cases in which the offices have no -moral doubt that the fire has been wilful, but are not in possession of -legal evidence sufficient to substantiate a charge against the offender. -In most of these instances, however, the insured has _his reasons_ for -taking a much smaller sum than he originally demanded. Lastly, we have the -"unknown," to which 1,323 cases are put down, one of the largest numbers -in the entire list, though decreasing year by year. Even of these, a -certain percentage are supposed to be wilful. There is no denying that the -crime of arson owes its origin entirely to the introduction of fire -insurance; and there can be as little doubt that, of late years, it has -been very much increased by the pernicious competition for business among -the younger offices, which leads them to deal too leniently with their -customers; or, in other words, to pay the money, _and ask no questions_. -It is calculated that _one fire in seven which occur among the small class -of shopkeepers in London is an incendiary fire_. Mr. Braidwood, whose -experience is larger than that of any person, tells us that the greatest -ingenuity is sometimes exercised to deceive the officers of the insurance -company as to the value of the insured stock. In one instance, when the -Brigade had succeeded in extinguishing the fire, he discovered a string -stretched across one of the rooms in the basement of the house, on which -ringlets of shavings dipped in turpentine were tied at regular intervals. -On extending his investigations, he ascertained that a vast pile of what -he thought were pounds of moist sugar consisted of parcels of brown paper, -and that the loaves of white sugar were made of plaster of Paris. Ten to -one but the "artful dodge," which some scoundrel flatters himself is -peculiarly his own, has been put in practice by hundreds of others before -him. For this reason, fires that are wilful generally betray themselves to -the practised eye of the Brigade. When an event of the kind "is going to -happen" at home, a common circumstance is to find that the fond parent has -treated the whole of his family to the theatre. - -There is another class of incendiary fires which arise from a species of -monomania in boys and girls. Not many years ago the men of the Brigade -were occupied for hours in putting out no less than half a dozen fires -which broke out one after another in a house in West Smithfield; and it -was at last discovered that they were occasioned by a youth who went about -with lucifers and slily ignited everything that would burn. He was caught -in the act of firing a curtain in the very room in which a fireman was -occupied in putting out a blaze. A still more extraordinary case took -place in the year 1848, at Torluck House, in the Isle of Mull. On Sunday, -the 11th of November, the curtains of a bed were ignited, as was supposed -by lightning; a window-blind followed; and immediately afterwards the -curtains of five rooms broke out one after another into a flame; even the -towels hanging up in the kitchen were burnt. The next day a bed took fire, -and it being thought advisable to carry the bed-linen into the coach-house -for safety, it caught fire three or four times during the process of -removal. In a few days the phenomenon was renewed. The furniture, books, -and everything else of an inflammable nature, were, with much labour, -taken from the mansion, and again some body-linen burst into a flame on -the way. Even after these precautions had been taken, and persons had been -set to watch in every part of the house, the mysterious fires continued to -haunt it until the 22nd of February, 1849. It was suspected from the first -that they were the act of an incendiary, and upon a rigid examination of -the household before the Fiscal-General and the Sheriff, the mischief was -traced to the daughter of the housekeeper, a young girl, who was on a -visit to her mother. She had effected her purpose, which was perfectly -motiveless, by concealing combustibles in different parts of the house. - -The most ludicrous conflagration that perhaps ever occurred was that at -Mr. Phillips's workshops, when the whole of his stock of instruments for -extinguishing flame were at one fell swoop destroyed. "'Tis rare to see -the engineer hoist with his own petard," says the poet; and certainly it -was a most laughable _contre-temps_ to see the fire-engines arrive at the -manufactory just in time to witness the fire-annihilators annihilated by -the fire. A similar mishap occurred to these unfortunate implements at -Paris. In juxtaposition with this case, we are tempted to put another, in -which the attempt at extinction was followed by exactly the opposite -effects. A tradesman was about to light his gas, when, finding the cock -stiff, he took a candle to see what was the matter; whilst attempting to -turn it, the screw came out, and with it a jet of gas, which was instantly -fired by the candle. The blaze igniting the shop, a passer-by seized a -wooden pail and threw its contents upon the flames, which flared up -immediately with tenfold power. It is scarcely necessary to state that the -water was whisky, and that the country was Old Ireland. - -Spontaneous combustion is at present very little understood, though -chemists have of late turned their attention to the subject. It forms, -however, no inconsiderable item in the list of causes of fires. There can -be no question that many of those that occur at railway stations and -buildings are due to the fermentation which arises among oiled rags. -Over-heating of waste, which includes shoddy, sawdust, cotton, &c., is a -fearful source of conflagrations. The cause of most fires which have -arisen from spontaneous combustion is lost in the consequence. Cases now -and then occur where the firemen have been able to detect it, as, for -instance, at Hibernia Wharf in 1846, one of Alderman Humphery's -warehouses. It happened that a porter had swept the sawdust from the floor -into a heap, upon which a broken flask of olive-oil that was placed above -dripped its contents. To these elements of combustion the sun added its -power, and sixteen hours afterwards the fire broke out. Happily, it was -instantly extinguished; and the agents that produced it were caught, -red-handed as it were, in the act. The chances are that such a particular -combination of circumstances might not occur again in a thousand years. -The sawdust will not be swept again into such a position under the oil, or -the bottle will not break over the sawdust, or the sun will not shine in -on them to complete the fatal sum. It is an important fact, however, to -know that oiled sawdust, warmed by the sun, will fire in sixteen hours, as -it accounts for a number of conflagrations in saw-mills, which never could -be traced to any probable cause. - -By means of direct experiment we are also learning something on the -question of explosions. It used to be assumed that gunpowder was -answerable for all such terrible effects in warehouses where no gas or -steam was employed; and as policies are vitiated by the fact of its -presence, unless declared, many squabbles have ensued between insurers and -insured upon this head alone. At the late great fire at Gateshead, a -report having spread that the awful explosion which did so much damage -arose from the illicit stowage of seven tons of gunpowder in the Messrs. -Sisson's warehouse, the interested insurance companies offered a reward of -100_l._ to elicit information. The experiments instituted, however, by Mr. -Pattinson, in the presence of Captain Du Cane, of the Royal Engineers, and -the coroner's jury impanelled to inquire into the matter, showed that the -water from the fire-engine falling upon the mineral and chemical -substances in store, was sufficient to account for the result. The -following were the experiments tried at Mr. Pattinson's works at Felling, -about three miles from Gateshead:-- - - "Mr. Pattinson first caused a metal pot to be inserted in the ground - until its top was level with the surface; and having put into it 9 - lbs. of nitrate of soda and 6 lbs. of sulphur, he ignited the mass; - and then, heating it to the highest possible degree of which it was - susceptible, he poured into it about a quart of water. The effect was - an immediate explosion (accompanied by a loud clap), which would have - been exceedingly perilous to any person in its immediate vicinity. The - experiment was next made under different conditions. The pot into - which the sulphur and nitrate of soda were put was covered over the - top with a large piece of thick metal of considerable weight; and - above that again were placed several large pieces of clay and earth. - It was deemed necessary to try this experiment in an open field, away - from any dwelling-house, and which admitted of the spectators placing - themselves at a safe distance from the spot. The materials were then - ignited as before; and when in the incandescent state, water was - poured upon the mass down a spout. The result was but a comparatively - slight explosion, and which scarcely disturbed the iron and clods - placed over the mouth of the vessel. Another experiment of the kind - was made with the same result. At length, a trial having been made for - the third time, but with this difference, that the vessel was covered - over the top with another similar vessel, and that the water was - poured upon the burning sulphur and nitrate of soda with greater - rapidity than before, by slightly elevating the spout, the effect was - to blow up the pot on the top into the air to a height of upwards of - seventy feet, accompanied by a loud detonation. With this the coroner - and jury became convinced that, whether or not the premises in - Hillgate contained gunpowder, they contained elements as certainly - explosive, and perhaps far more destructive." - -We may here mention, as a curious result of the Gateshead fire, that -several tons of lead, whilst flowing in a molten state, came in contact -with a quantity of volatilized sulphur. Thus the lead became re-converted -into lead-ore, or a sulphuret of lead, which, as it required to be -re-smelted, was thereby debased in value from some twenty-two to fifteen -shillings a ton. - -The great fire, again, which occurred in Liverpool in October last, was -occasioned by the explosion of spirits of turpentine, which blew out, one -after another, seven of the walls of the vaults underneath the warehouse, -and in some cases destroyed the vaulting itself, and exposed to the flames -the stores of cotton above. Surely some law is called for to prevent the -juxtaposition of such inflammable materials. The turpentine is said to -have been fired by a workman who snuffed the candle with his fingers, and -accidentally threw the snuff down the bunghole of one of the barrels of -turpentine. The warehouses burnt were built upon Mr. Fairbairn's new -fireproof plan, which the Liverpool people introduced some years ago, at a -great expense to the town. - -Water alone brought into sudden contact with red-hot iron is capable of -giving rise to a gas of the most destructive nature--witness the -extraordinary explosions that are continually taking place in -steam-vessels, especially in America, which mostly arise from the lurching -of the vessel when waiting for passengers, causing the water to withdraw -from one side of the boiler, which rapidly becomes red hot. The next lurch -in an opposite direction precipitates the water upon the highly-heated -surface, and thus the explosive gas, in addition to the steam, is -generated faster than the safety-valves can get rid of it. - -A very interesting inquiry, and one of vital importance to the actuaries -of fire-insurance companies, is the relative liability to fire of -different classes of occupations and residences. We already know -accurately the number of fires which occur yearly in every trade and kind -of occupation. What we do not know, and what we want to know, is the -proportion the tenements in which such trades and occupations are carried -on, bear to the total number of houses in the metropolis. The last census -gives us no information of this kind, and we trust the omission will be -supplied the next time it is taken. According to Mr. Braidwood's returns, -for the last twenty-one years, the number of fires in each trade, and in -private houses, has been as follows:-- - - Private Houses 4,638 - Lodgings 1,304 - Victuallers 715 - Sale-shops and Offices 701 - Carpenters and Workers in Wood 621 - Drapers, of Woollen and Linen 372 - Bakers 311 - Stables 277 - Cabinet-makers 233 - Oil and Colour-men 230 - Chandlers 178 - Grocers 162 - Tinmen, Braziers, and Smiths 158 - Houses under Repair and Building 150 - Beershops 142 - Coffee-shops and Chophouses 139 - Brokers and Dealers in Old Clothes 134 - Hatmakers 127 - Lucifer-match makers 120 - Wine and Spirit Merchants 118 - Tailors 113 - Hotels and Club-houses 107 - Tobacconists 105 - Eating-houses 104 - Booksellers and Binders 103 - Ships 102 - Printers and Engravers 102 - Builders 91 - Houses unoccupied 89 - Tallow-chandlers 87 - Marine Store Dealers 75 - Saw-mills 67 - Firework-makers 66 - Warehouses 63 - Chemists 62 - Coachmakers 50 - Warehouses (Manchester) 49 - Public Buildings 46 - -If we look at the mere number of fires, irrespective of the size of the -industrial group upon which they committed their ravages, houses would -appear to be hazardous according to the order in which we have placed -them. Now, this is manifestly absurd, inasmuch as private houses stand at -the head of the list, and it is well known that they are the safest from -fire of all kinds of tenements. Mr. Brown, of the Society of Actuaries, -who has taken the trouble to compare the number of fires in each -industrial group, with the number of houses devoted to it, as far as he -could find any data in the Post-office Directory, gives the following -average annual percentage of conflagrations, calculated on a period of -fifteen years:-- - - Lucifer-match makers 30.00 - Lodging-houses 16.51 - Hatmakers 7.74 - Chandlers 3.88 - Drapers 2.67 - Tinmen, Braziers, and Smiths 2.42 - Carpenters 2.27 - Cabinet-makers 2.12 - Oil and Colour-men 1.56 - Beershops 1.31 - Booksellers 1.18 - Coffee-shops and Coffee-houses 1.2 - Cabinet-makers 1.12 - Licensed Victuallers .86 - Bakers .75 - Wine Merchants .61 - Grocers .34 - -It will be seen that this estimate in a great measure inverts the order of -"dangerous," as we have ranged them in the previous table, making those -which from their aggregate number seemed to be the most hazardous trades, -appear the least so, and _vice versa_. Thus lucifer-match makers have a -bad pre-eminence; indeed they are supposed to be subject to a -conflagration every third year; while the terrible victuallers, -carpenters, mercers, and bakers, at the top of the column, shrink to the -bottom of the list. These conclusions, nevertheless, are only an -approximation to the truth, since it is impossible to procure a correct -return of the houses occupied by different trades. Even if a certain class -of tenements is particularly liable to fire, it does not follow that it -will be held to be very hazardous to the insurers. Such considerations are -influenced by another question,--Are the contents of houses forming the -group, of that nature that, in cases of their taking fire, they are likely -to be totally destroyed, seriously, or only slightly damaged? For -instance, lodging-houses are very liable to fire; but they are very seldom -burnt down or much injured. Out of 81 that suffered in 1853, not one was -totally destroyed; only 4 were extensively affected; the very large -majority, 77, were slightly scathed from the burning of window and bed -curtains, &c. Among the trades which are too hazardous to be insured at -any price are--we quote from the tariff of the County -Fire-office--floor-cloth manufacturers, gunpowder dealers, hatters' "stock -in the stove," lampblack makers, lucifer-match makers, varnish makers, and -wadding manufacturers; whilst the following are considered highly -hazardous;--bone-crushers, coffee-roasters, composition-ornament makers, -curriers, dyers, feather-stovers, flambeau makers, heckling-houses, hemp -and flax dressers, ivory-black makers, japanners and japan makers, -laboratory-chemists, patent japan-leather manufacturers, lint-mills, -rough-fat melters, musical-instrument makers, oil and colour men, leather -dressers, oiled-silk and linen makers, oil of vitriol manufacturers, pitch -makers, rag dealers, resin dealers, saw-mills, seed crushers, -ship-buiscuit bakers, soap makers, spermaceti and wax refiners, sugar -refiners, tar dealers and boilers, thatched houses in towns, and -turpentine makers. - -The great mass of these trades bear "hazardous" upon the very face of -them; but it is not equally apparent why that of a hatter should be so -very dangerous, and particular portions of his stock uninsurable. We are -given to understand that the stoves at which their manufacture is carried -on, and the shell-lac and willow, are the causes of this proneness to -conflagrations. The memorable fire at Fenning's Wharf, which burnt with a -fury to which that at the Royal Exchange and at the Houses of Parliament -was a mere bonfire, originated at a hatter's on London Bridge, from which -place it speedily spread to Alderman Humphery's warehouses in the rear, -leaped across Tooley Street--at this spot 60 feet wide--and thus invaded -the great river-side wharf. The two floating-engines belonging to the -brigade were brought into service on the occasion, and although they threw -between them fourteen hundred gallons of water a minute to the height of a -hundred feet, they had not the slightest effect upon the burning mass. - -Nothing shows better the relative degrees of hazard than the different -rates charged for insurance. Thus an ordinary dwelling-house pays but -1_s._ 6_d._ per cent., while a sugar-refinery pays at least two, and -sometimes three guineas per cent., or from 30 to 40 times as much. The -same class of houses pay different rates according to their locality. The -residence which is charged 1_s._ 6_d._ in London, is, in St. John's, -Newfoundland--a town famous, or rather infamous, for fires--charged by our -English offices 1_l._ 11_s._ 6_d._ per cent. Probably the heaviest loss -the Phoenix Office ever sustained was by the fire of St. John's, in 1846. - -It is a notable fact, that the city of London, which is perhaps the most -densely inhabited spot the world has ever seen, has long been exempt from -conflagrations involving a considerable number of houses. "The devouring -element," it is true, has made many meals from time to time of huge -warehouses and public buildings; but since the great fire of 1666 it has -ceased to gorge upon whole quarters of the town. We have never had, since -that memorable occasion, to record the destruction of a thousand houses at -a time, a matter of frequent occurrence in the United States and -Canada--indeed in all parts of Continental Europe. The fires which have -proved fatal to large plots of buildings in the metropolis have in every -instance taken place without the sound of Bow bells. A comparison between -the number of fires which occurred between the years 1838 and 1843, in -20,000 houses situate on either side of the Thames, shows at once the -superior safety of its northern bank, the annual average of fires on the -latter being only 20 against 36 on the southern side. For this exemption -we have to thank the great disaster, if we might so term what has turned -out a blessing. At one fell swoop it cleared the city, and swept away for -ever the dangerous congregation of wooden buildings and narrow streets -which were always affording material for the flame. - -Mr. Peter Cunningham, in his "Handbook of London,"[43] gives the following -curious information respecting its supposed origin:-- - - "The fire of London, commonly called the Great Fire, commenced on the - east side of this lane (Pudding-lane) about one or two in the morning - of Sunday, September 2nd, 1666, in the house of Farryner, the king's - baker. - - "It was the fashion of the true blue Protestants of the period to - attribute the fire to the Roman Catholics; and when, in 1681, Oates - and his plot strengthened this belief, the following inscription was - affixed on the front of this house (No. 25, I believe), erected on the - site of Farryner, the baker's:-- - - "'Here, by the permission of Heaven, hell broke loose upon this - Protestant city, from the malicious hearts of barbarous priests, by - the hand of their agent, Hubert, who confessed, and on the ruins of - this place declared the fact for which he was hanged, viz., that here - began that dreadful fire which is described on and perpetuated by the - neighbouring pillar, erected anno 1681, in the mayoralty of Sir Peter - Ward, knight.' - - "This celebrated inscription, set up pursuant to an order of the Court - of Common Council, June 17th, 1681, was removed in the reign of James - II., replaced in the reign of William III., and finally taken down 'on - account of the stoppage of passengers to read it.' Entick, who makes - addition to Maitland in 1756, speaks of it 'as lately taken away.' The - house was 'rebuilt in a very handsome manner.' - - "The inscribed stone is still preserved, it is said, in a cellar in - Pudding-lane. Hubert was a French papist, of six-and-twenty years of - age, the son of a watchmaker at Rouen, in Normandy. He was seized in - Essex, confessed he began the fire, and, persisting in his confession, - was hanged, upon no other evidence than his own. He stated in his - examination that he had been 'suborned in Paris to this action,' and - that three more 'combined to do the same thing. They asked him if he - knew the place where he first put fire. He answered he knew it very - well, and would show it to anybody.' He was then ordered to be - blindfolded, and carried to several places of the City, that he might - point out the house. They first led him to a place at some distance - from it, opened his eyes, and asked him if that was it; to which he - answered, 'No, it was nearer the Thames.' 'The house and all which - were near it,' says Clarendon, 'were so covered and buried in ruins, - that the owners themselves, without some infallible mark, could very - hardly have said where their own house had stood; but this man led - them directly to the place, described how it stood, the shape of the - little yard, the fashion of the doors and windows, and where he first - put the fire; and all this with such exactness, that they who had - dwelt long near it could not so perfectly have described all - particulars.' Tillotson told Burnet that Howell (the then Recorder of - London) accompanied Hubert on this occasion, 'was with him and had - much discourse with him, and that he concluded it was impossible it - could be a melancholy dream.' This, however, was not the opinion of - the judges who tried him. 'Neither the judges,' says Clarendon, 'nor - any present at the trial, did believe him guilty, but that he was a - poor distracted wretch, weary of his life, and chose to part with it - in this way.' We may attribute the fire with safety to another cause - than a Roman conspiracy. We are to remember that the flames originated - in the house of a baker; that the season had been unusually dry; that - the houses were of wood, overhanging the road-way (penthouses they - were called), so that the lane was even narrower than it is now, and - that a strong east wind was blowing at the time. It was thought very - little of at first. Pepys put out his head from his bedroom window in - Seething-lane, a few hours after it broke out, and returned to bed - again, as if it were nothing more than an ordinary fire, a common - occurrence, and likely to be soon subdued. The Lord Mayor (Sir Thomas - Bludworth) seems to have thought as little of it till it was too late. - People appear to have been paralyzed, and no attempt of any - consequence was made to check its progress. For four successive days - it raged and gained ground, leaping after a prodigious manner from - house to house and street to street, at great distances from one - another. Houses were at length pulled down, and the flames, still - spreading westward, were at length stopped at the Temple Church in - Fleet-street, and Pie-Corner in Smithfield. In these four days 13,200 - houses, 400 streets, and 89 churches, including the cathedral church - of St. Paul, were destroyed, and London lay literally in ruins. The - loss was so enormous, that we may be said still to suffer from its - effects. Yet the advantages were not few. London was freed from the - plague ever after; and we owe St. Paul's, St. Bride's, St. Stephen's - Walbrook, and all the architectural glories of Sir Christopher Wren, - to the desolation it occasioned." - -In addition to these advantages we acquired another, that of -PARTY-WALLS--a safeguard which has prevented fires from spreading in the -City, when whole streets have been swept away in a few hours in other -parts of the metropolis, and especially in what might be termed the -water-side suburbs of London--Rotherhithe, Greenwich, and Gravesend. The -Act by which party-walls were enforced came into operation immediately -prior to the rebuilding of the town, and has been rendered more stringent -and effective from time to time by various amendments. The Building Act of -the 7th and 8th of Queen Victoria contains the important enactment, that -"no warehouse shall exceed 200,000 cubic feet in contents." Fire becomes -unmanageable when it has access to large stores of combustible matter; -under such conditions it acquires a "fortified position," and cannot, in -the vast majority of cases, be reduced unless by an early surprise. - -As the very heart of London is largely occupied with Manchester warehouses -full of the most inflammable materials, the safety of the capital depends -upon this restrictive law. The Manchester warehousemen, nevertheless, have -managed to set that part of the Act at defiance. Let us take, as the -latest and most flagrant example, Cook's warehouses. This structure, which -within these last two years has raised its enormous bulk in St. Paul's -Churchyard, and actually dwarfed the metropolitan cathedral by the -propinquity of its monotonous mass, contains 1,100,000 cubic feet of space -open from end to end, or _nine hundred thousand feet more than it is -entitled to possess_. If we were to take twenty-five ordinary-sized -dwelling-houses, and pull down their party-walls, we should have just the -state of things which is here presented to us. But it will be asked, if it -is against the law, why do not the proper officers interfere? Where are -the City surveyors? The reason, good reader, is this: the Manchester -warehousemen of late years have adopted a new reading of the law--a -reading which we believe no judge would allow, but which the surveyors -have not yet ventured to dispute. "We escape altogether," say these -gentlemen, "the provisions of the Building Act relative to warehouses, as, -by reason of our breaking bulk, our places of business are not mere -storehouses." That this reading is a violation of the spirit of the -statute there can be no doubt; that it is also a violation of its letter -we also believe; if not, it is high time that the law be amended upon this -point; for we affirm, on the very best authority, that London has never -since the great fire been in such danger of an overwhelming conflagration -as it is now by the presence and rapid spreading of these huge warehouses, -filled with the elements of destruction, and placed side by side, as -though for the very purpose of producing the utmost mischief by contagion. - -Let us suppose, for instance, that a fire had once established itself in -Cook's warehouses; to extinguish it would be out of the question. -Fire-engines would be perfectly useless against a body of flame which -would speedily become like a blast-furnace, and burn with a white heat. -Who knows what would come after? Supposing the wind to be blowing from the -south, we tremble for the cathedral. The huge dome is constructed entirely -of oak, dried by the seasoning of 150 years, and the combustible framework -is only lined on the exterior by sheet lead. It may be imagined that this -would be protection enough against the enormous masses of burning cotton -and linen cloth which would speedily be blown upon it; but Mr. Cottam not -long since stated, at the Institution of Civil Engineers, that, "when the -Princess's Theatre was on fire, part of his premises also caught. On -examination, he found that it arose from a piece of blazing wood being -thrown over from the theatre, which, falling into the leaden gutter, had -melted it, and the liquid metal passed through the ceiling on to a -workman's bench, where there was some oil, which it immediately set fire -to." The great dome would be in quite as much danger as Mr. Cottam's -workshop. Engines would be useless at such a height even as the stone -gallery, the place where large bodies of burning material would most -likely make a lodgment. Irreparable as would be the disaster with which we -are threatened in this direction, one quite as great lies in another. -Eastward of Cook's warehouses, and in the neighbourhood of a vitriol or -some other chemical manufactory, is situated Doctors' Commons, the -repository of the great mass of English wills. The roofs of this pile of -buildings[44] are continuous; the buildings themselves are nearly as dry -as the law itself. If one portion of the structure were to catch fire, -nothing could save the whole from destruction. It may be urged that the -block of buildings, which commands, like a battery, two such important -points in the metropolis, is, after all, fire-proof, and, as far as danger -from without is concerned, this is true enough; but as cotton bales are -not fire-proof, it is an impossibility to insure safety from within. Iron -columns in such instances melt before the white heat like sticks of -sealing-wax; stone flies into a thousand pieces with the celerity of a -Prince Rupert's drop; slate becomes transformed into a pumice light enough -to float upon water; the iron girders and beams, by reason of their -lateral expansion, thrust out the walls; and the very elements, which seem -calculated under ordinary circumstances to give an almost exhaustless -durability to the structure, produce its most rapid destruction. The great -fire at Messrs. Cubitt's so-called fire-proof works at Pimlico is one of -the latest proofs we have had of the entire fallacy of supposing stone and -iron can withstand the action of a large body of fierce flame. We saw the -other day portions of columns from this building fused as though they had -been composed of so much pewter. Again, when the Armoury of the Tower was -destroyed, the barrels of the muskets were found reduced to the most -fantastic shapes, and some of the largest pieces of ordnance were doubled -up. A stronger instance still was exhibited at Davis's wharf in 1837, when -a cast-iron pipe outside the building was melted like an icicle. But such -a fierce furnace is not at all necessary to destroy cast-iron supports, as -it appears from the experiments of Mr. Fairbairn, that, at a temperature -of 600 deg. the cohesive power of the metal rapidly decreases with every -increment of heat. Mr. Braidwood, in his paper on fire-proof buildings, -read before the Institute of Civil Engineers on February 29th, 1849, was -the first, we believe, to draw attention to this serious defect in a -material used so extensively in modern buildings. Since that paper was -read, a case has come under his notice which clearly testifies to the -truth of his position:-- - - "A chapel in Liverpool-road Islington, 70 feet in length and 52 feet - in breadth, took fire in the cellar, on the 2nd October, 1848, and was - completely burned down. After the fire it was ascertained that, of - thirteen cast-iron pillars used to support the galleries, only two - remained perfect; the greater part of the others were broken into - small pieces, the metal appearing to have lost all power of cohesion, - and some parts were melted, of which specimens are now shown. It - should be observed that these pillars were of ample strength to - support the galleries when filled by the congregation, but when the - fire reached them, they crumbled under the weight of the timber only, - lightened as it must have been by the progress of the fire." - -But when we are considering the safety of Manchester warehouses, we are -also considering the lives of the young men who are employed in them, and -are in most cases located in the upper stories. In several of the -wholesale warehouses in the City, as Mr. Braidwood informs us,-- - - "The cast-iron pillars are much less in proportion to the weight to be - carried than those referred to, and would be completely in the draught - of a fire. If a fire should unfortunately take place under such - circumstances, the loss of human life might be very great, as the - chance of fifty, eighty, or one hundred people escaping, in the - confusion of a sudden night alarm, by one or two ladders to the roof, - could scarcely be calculated on, and the time such escape might - necessarily occupy, independent of all chance of accidents, would be - considerable." - -The application of water would only aggravate the difficulty, for, if it -touched the red-hot iron, in all probability it would cause it to fracture -and render it useless as a support. It is well known that furnace-bars are -very speedily destroyed by a leakage of the boiler, the effect of the -steam on the under side of the bars being to curve and twist them. To -insure a perfectly fire-proof building, we must resort to one of two -courses--either we must divide large warehouses into compartments by solid -brick divisions, and thus confine any fire that should happen to break out -within manageable limits, just as we save an iron ship from foundering, on -account of a circumscribed fracture, by having her built in compartments; -or we must resort to the old Roman plan of building--that is, support the -floors upon brick piers and groined arches well laid in cement, for mortar -will pulverize under a great heat. The former plan has the great advantage -that it insures the safety of the principal contents, as well as of the -building itself. The new Record Office in Fetter Lane, is a perfect -specimen of the kind, and is, perhaps, the only absolutely fire-proof -structure in England, being constructed of iron and stone, and having no -room larger than 17 feet by 25, and 17 feet high, with a cubical contents -of only 8,000 feet. None of the rooms open into each other, but into a -vaulted passage by means of iron doors; and if the documents were to take -fire in any one of them, they would burn out as innocuously to the rest of -the building as coals in a grate. - -It must not be supposed that we disparage altogether the use of iron and -stone in the erection of warehouses, even where they are built on the -ordinary plan; for the outside structure they are invaluable, and render -it safe from most extraneous danger. No better proof of this could be -given than the experience of Liverpool, whose fires during the last -half-century have been on the most gigantic scale. The larger bonded and -other warehouses were generally built with continuous roofs, and with -wooden doors and penthouses to the different stories, which always kindled -when there was a fire on the opposite side of the narrow streets in which -they were ordinarily placed. To such a lamentable extent had -conflagrations increased about the year 1841, that the rate of insurance, -which had been eight shillings per cent., ran up to thirty-six shillings. -This was about the time of the Formby Street fire, when 379,000_l._ worth -of property was destroyed, and the total losses from the beginning of the -century had not been less than three millions and a quarter sterling. The -magnitude of the evil called for a corresponding remedy. A Bill was -obtained in 1843 for the amendment of the Building Act; party-walls were -run up five feet high between each warehouse, doors and penthouses were -constructed of iron, the cubical contents of the buildings themselves were -limited, &c.; and the effect of these improvements was so to diminish the -risk that insurances fell to their normal rate. It cannot be said, -however, that Liverpool has yet purged herself of the calamity of fire. - -In ordinary dwellings and in public offices the use of iron and stone, -again, cannot be too much commended: in such buildings the rooms are -comparatively small, and their contents are not sufficiently inflammable -either in quantity or quality to injure these materials. A marked -diminution in the number of fires in the metropolis may be expected, from -the almost universal use of iron and stone in new structures of this -kind. The houses in Victoria Street, Westminster, built upon the "flat" -system, are, we should say, entirely fireproof, as the floors are either -vaulted or filled in with concrete, which will not allow the passage of -fire. Nearly all Paris is built in this manner, and hence its freedom from -large conflagrations.[45] Were it not for this, no city would be more -likely to suffer, as the houses are very high, and the supply of water -extremely bad. To Londoners it seems little better than a farce to watch -the _sapeurs-pompiers_ hurrying to a fire with an engine not much bigger -than a garden squirt, followed by a water-barrel--resources which are -found sufficient to cope with the enemy, confined as it is within such -narrow limits. - -Without going to the expense of stone and iron, we might, by taking a hint -from the Parisians, make the rooms of our private houses fireproof, by -abandoning the absurd custom of separating rooms by hollow wooden floors -and hollow wooden partitions thinly coated with plaster--a method which -has the effect of circulating the fire from the bottom to the top of the -house in the quickest possible space of time. If a fire breaks out in a -room, the ceiling will, it is true, stop the flames for a considerable -time; but the hollow partitions full of air act as conductors, and the -firemen have often found that the flames have spread from a lower to an -upper apartment by this secret channel, without injuring the intermediate -rooms, and without even its progress being suspected. As we understand -that the Building Act is to be amended, we trust its emendators will -extend the clause relating to party-walls to _rooms_ as well as to houses. -The expense need be but trifling, as will be seen by consulting the little -work of Mr. Hosking, who was the first, we believe, to instruct the -English public in the admirable methods of the Parisian builders. Instead -of using flimsy laths for their partitions, they employ stout oaken pieces -of wood, as thick as garden palings; these they nail firmly on each side -of the framing of the partition, fill the space between with rubble and -plaster of Paris, and thickly coat the whole of the wall with the latter. -The floors are managed in the same manner, as well as the under side of -the stairs, which are thus rendered almost as fire-proof as a stone -flight. Very many lives would be saved in Great Britain if this simple -expedient were adopted by our builders, instead of making the stairs of -ill-fitted wood, full of air-crevices, and covering their under side with -a thin film of plaster; for fire always makes for the stairs, which form -the funnel of the house; and hence the necessity for rendering them as -secure as possible, in order to provide a line of retreat for the inmates. - -We have said that London is growing upwards to the sky--no house in any -valuable portion of the metropolis being now rebuilt without the addition -of at least one story. Eighty and ninety feet is getting a common height -for our great offices and warehouses, which is tantamount to saying that a -certain portion of the metropolis, and that a constantly increasing one, -is outgrowing the power of the Fire Brigade, as no engine built upon the -present plan can throw water for many minutes to such an elevation. Mr. -Braidwood foresees that he must call in the aid of the common drudge, -steam. In America they have already introduced this new agent with some -success, and in London we have proved its power in the floating engine. -Steam fire-engines, it is evident, will soon be brought into use, unless -we do away with the necessity for engines at all by fixing the hose -directly on the mains, as is done at Hamburg. But to effect this it will -be necessary to relay the whole metropolis with much larger pipes, to -increase their number, and at the same time adopt the constant-service -system. At present, even if we had the water always on, the mains are -often so small as to preclude the use of more than two or three hose--for, -if the collective diameters of the areas of the latter exceed that of the -pipe which feeds them, the pressure will cease, and no water will be -propelled to any height through the jet. It cannot be denied, however, -that if the streets of London were all supplied with capacious mains, and -the different companies plugged them profusely (a thing they are very -chary of doing, for fear of their being injured by the wear and tear of -the fire-engines), London would be rendered far more secure than it is at -present, as scarcely any fire could withstand the full force of constant -streams of thousands of gallons of water per minute. At present the -greater portion of the water is wasted; at the destruction of the Houses -of Parliament, a body of this element equal to an acre in area, and twelve -feet deep, flowed from the mains, a tenth part of which could not have -been used by the twenty-three jets that were playing simultaneously. - -It will not here be out of place to say a few words upon the method of -extinguishing flame by means of the gaseous mixture contained in -Phillips's fire-annihilators. According to a writer in the "Household -Words," the ordinary-sized annihilator is less than that of a small -upright iron coalscuttle, and its weight not greater than can be easily -carried by man or woman to any part of the house. It is charged with a -compound of charcoal, nitre, and gypsum, moulded into the form of a large -brick: the igniter is a glass tube inserted into the top of this brick: -inclosing two phials--one filled with the mixture of chlorate of potassa -and sugar, the other containing a few drops of sulphuric acid. A slight -blow upon a knob drives down a pin which breaks the phials, and the -different mixtures coming in contact ignite the mass, the gas arising from -which, acting upon a water-chamber contained in the machine, produces a -steam, and the whole escapes forth in a dense expanding cloud. - -Mr. Phillips made some public experiments with his fire-annihilator three -or four years ago, in which its power to put out the fiercest flame was -fully proved. The timber framework of a three storied-house smeared with -pitch and tar, upon being fired, was instantly extinguished: quantities of -pitch, tar, and oil of turpentine, which only burn the stronger for the -presence of water, were dealt with still more expeditiously. The valuable -quality of rendering an atmosphere of dense smoke, in which no living -thing could exist, perfectly respirable, was also shown in the most -satisfactory manner. Since that time the machine has been brought into -action at Leeds, where it put out a fire in an attic; and in a very -serious conflagration, which took place in the spirit-room, and afterwards -extended to the main hatchway of the mail steamer the _City of -Manchester_, in the autumn of 1852, it was applied with the most perfect -success. There can be no doubt that in all confined places the control of -the annihilator over flame is omnipotent--acting much more speedily than -water, and, unlike that element, doing no damage. When the flames are -unconfined, the annihilator will prove of little use, because, the gaseous -cloud that issues from it not being heavier than the air, it cannot be -projected to any distance. As an auxiliary to the engine, it will be -invaluable in many cases, as it will enable the fireman to go into places -where at present he dares not enter, unless protected by the unwieldy -smoke-jacket, the supply of air to which might at any time be cut off by -rubbish falling upon the hose through which it is pumped to him by the -engine. - -Although it is foreign to our design to speak at length of agricultural -fires, and incendiarism among farming stock, the subject is too important -to be entirely omitted. One of the largest London insurance-offices, -interested in farming stock, posts up bills about premises they have -insured, which, after stating that no lucifers are to be used, or pipes -are to be smoked, goes on to say, "_This farm is insured; the fire office -will be the only sufferer in the event of a fire._" The inference is, that -the labourer will feel more inclined to pay respect to the property of an -insurance company than to that of the farmer. Yet it is far from being the -case that the crime is always prompted by personal ill-will. One of the -largest agricultural incendiaries upon record was a city weaver, who acted -from a general spirit of discontent, without any hatred or knowledge of -the owners. In other instances the sole motive is the "jollification" -which generally follows a fire upon a farm: this fact came to light at a -trial in Cambridge, eight or nine years since, when a man who was -sentenced to death for setting fire to a homestead confessed to having -caused twelve different fires, his only object being the desire to obtain -the few shillings, and the refreshment of bread, cheese, and ale, which -are given to labourers on these occasions. On the other hand, if the -farmer determines to give no recompense, the hangers-on have been known to -put their hands in their pockets and watch his property burn with the -utmost indifference, if not with glee. - -The cause of fire which the farmer has mainly to guard against may be at -one seen by the following table, for which we are indebted to the manager -of the County Fire Office:-- - -_Losses on Farming Stock between January the 1st and November the 30th, -1853._ - - +----------------------------------------------------------------+ - | Number | | | - |of Fires.| Cause. | Amount. | - |---------|-----------------------------------------|------------| - | | | L. s. d. | - | 49 |Incendiary | 5214 6 11 | - | 17 |Lightning | 181 5 10 | - | 22 |Children and others playing with lucifers| 1211 18 10 | - | 2 |Steam thrashing-machines | 430 0 0 | - | 38 |General | 1781 19 9 | - |---------| |------------| - | 128 | | 8819 11 4 | - +----------------------------------------------------------------+ - -These losses are upon a total insurance of eight millions. Incendiarism -and children playing with lucifers are the two grand elements of -destruction; and the former, we are given to understand, is below the -general average. Kind treatment and better education are the only shields -that can protect the farmer against incendiarism. The nuisance arising -from children playing with lucifers may be abated by the absolute denial -of matches to young boys about a farm, who, to cook their dinners, -generally cause conflagrations near the ricks in the winter, and among the -standing corn whilst "keeping birds" in the summer. The following -excellent suggestions are by Mr. Beaumont, the secretary of the County -Fire Office. - - _Precautions to be taken against a Fire._ - - Forbid your men to use lucifer matches, smoke, or light pipes or - cigars, destroy wasps' nests, or fire off guns, in or near the - rickyard, or to throw hot cinders into or against any wooden - out-building on the farm, on pain of instant dismissal. - - Place your ricks in a single line, and as far distant from each other - as you conveniently can. - - Place hay-ricks and corn-stacks _alternately_; the hay-rick will check - the progress of the fire. - - Keep the rickyard, and especially the spaces between the stacks and - ricks, clear of all loose straw; and in all respects in a neat and - clean state. The loose straw is more frequently the means of firing - than the stack itself. - - Have a pond close to the rickyard, although there may be but a bad - supply of water. - - When a steam thrashing-machine is to be used, place it _on the lee - side_ of the stack or barn, so that the wind may blow the sparks _away - from_ the stacks. Let the engine be placed as far from the machine as - the length of the strap will allow. Have the loose straw continually - cleared away from the engine; see that two or three pails of water are - constantly close to the ash-pan, and that the pan itself is kept - constantly full of water. - - - _How to act when a Fire has broken out in a Rickyard._ - - Do not wait for the engines, nor for the assistance of the labourers - from a distance. Depend entirely upon the immediate and energetic - exertions of yourself and your own men. - - Do not allow the rick or stack on fire to be disturbed--let it burn - itself out--but let every exertion be made to press it compactly - together, and, as far as is practicable, prevent any lighted particles - flying about. - - Get together all your blankets, carpets, sacks, rugs, and other - similar articles, soak them thoroughly in water, and place them over - and against the adjoining ricks and stacks, towards which the wind - blows. - - Having thus covered the sides of the ricks adjoining that on fire, - devote all your attention to the latter. Press it together by every - available means. If water is at hand, throw upon it as much as - possible. - - If engines arrive, let the water be thrown upon the blankets, &c., - covering the adjoining stacks, and then upon the stack on fire. - - Among the numerous hands who flock to assist upon these occasions, - many do mischief by their want of knowledge, and especially by opening - the fired stack and scattering the embers. In order to obviate this - evil, place your best man in command over the stack on fire, desire - him to make it _his sole duty_ to prevent it being disturbed, and to - keep it pressed and watered. - - Place other men, in whose steadiness you have confidence, to watch the - adjoining ricks, to keep the coverings over them, and to extinguish - any embers flying from the stack on fire. In order to effect this, it - is most desirable that there should be ladders at hand to enable one - or two of the labourers to mount upon each stack. - - If the ricks are separated from each other, and there is no danger of - the fire extending to a second, it is of course desirable to save as - much of the one on fire as may be possible. That, however, is not - unfrequently accomplished by keeping the rick compactly together - rather than by opening it. - - Send for all the neighbours' blankets and tarpaulins: these are - invaluable, they are near at hand, and can be immediately applied. - -The companies are always very willing to pay for any damage done in -attempting to save their property. - -The business of the Fire Brigade is to protect property and not life from -fire, though the men of course use every exertion to save the inmates, and -are always provided with a "jumping-sheet" to catch those who precipitate -themselves from the roofs and windows of houses. As the danger to life -generally arises at a very early stage of a fire, when the freshly aroused -inhabitants fly distracted into very dangerous places, and often destroy -themselves by needless haste, it is highly necessary to have help at hand -before the engines can possibly arrive. There are, it is true, ladders -placed against all the parish churches, but they are always locked up, -often rotten, and never in charge of trained individuals: accordingly, -they may be classed for inefficiency with the parish engines. A proof of -this was given at the calamitous fire which occurred in Dover Street, at -Raggett's Hotel, on which occasion Mrs. Round and several other persons -were lost through the conduct of the keeper of one of the fire-escapes of -the parish of St. James being absent when called, and drunk when, upon his -arrival, he attempted to put his machine in action: the keeper of a second -escape belonging to this parish, and stationed in Golden Square, refused -to go to a fire in Soho, which occurred in 1852, because it was out of his -district: the consequence was, than seven persons threw themselves from -the windows and were all more or less dangerously injured. - -In 1833 the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire, which had -been imperfectly organized a year or two before, was fully established, -and has continued to increase the sphere of its influence year by year. -The committee of management, appreciating the value of celerity in -attending fires, have marked the metropolis out into fifty-five squares of -half a mile each: in forty-two of these they have established a -station,[46] in its most central part, at which a fire-escape and trained -conductor are to be found from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Lady-day to -Michaelmas, and from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. from Michaelmas to Lady-day. When -the remaining thirteen squares are furnished, there will be means of -rescue from fire within a quarter of a mile of every house in London: thus -the nightly watch for this purpose is better organized with respect to -number of stations than even the fire brigade, and, like this force, it is -under the general management of a single director. We are all familiar -with the sight of these strange-looking machines as they come towering -along in the dusk of the evening towards their appointed stations; but few -perhaps have seen them in action or have examined the manner in which they -are constructed. There are several methods of building them, but the one -chiefly used is Wivell's, a very simple machine and speedily put in -action, a description of which we take from the society's report:-- - - "The main ladder reaches from thirty to thirty-five feet, and can - instantly be applied to most second-floor windows, by means of the - carriage lever. The upper ladder folds over the main ladder, and is - raised easily in the position represented, by a rope attached to its - lever-irons on either side of the main ladder; or, as recently adopted - in one or two of the escapes, by an arrangement of pulleys in lieu of - the lever-irons. The short ladder, for first floors, fits in under the - carriage, and is often of the greatest service. Under the whole length - of the main ladder is a canvas trough or bagging, made of stout - sailcloth, protected by an outer trough of copper-wire net, leaving - sufficient room between for the yielding of the canvas in a person's - descent. The addition of the copper-wire is a great improvement, as, - although not affording an entire protection against the canvas - burning, it in most cases avails, and prevents the possibility of any - one falling through. The soaking of the canvas in alum and other - solutions is attended to; but this, while preventing its flaming, - cannot avoid the risk of accident from the fire charring the canvas." - -When we remember that the fire-escapes often have to be raised above -windows from which the flames are pouring forth, it will be seen how -valuable is this double protection against the destruction of the canvas. -The necessity for it was shown at a fire in Crawford Street, Marylebone, -where an explosion took place which fired the canvas and let the conductor -fall through just as he was rescuing an inmate,--an accident by which he -was dreadfully injured. When people look up at these fire-escapes, they -generally shudder at the idea of having to enter the bag, suspended at a -height of forty feet from the ground; but in the hour of danger the -terrified inmates never exhibit the slightest reluctance. Once in, they -slide down the bulging canvas in the gentlest manner, without any of the -rapidity that would be imagined from the almost perpendicular position in -which it hangs. - -The fire-escape which is stationed near the New Road is constructed so -that it can be taken off its wheels, in order to allow it to enter the -long gardens which here extend before so many of the houses. The height -attainable by these escapes varies from 43-1/2 feet to 45 feet. A -supplemental short ladder is now carried by most of them, which can be -quickly fitted on an emergency into the upper ladder, and increases the -height to 50 feet. - -The intrepidity of the conductors of these machines is quite astonishing. -Familiarity with danger begets a coolness which enables them to place -themselves in positions which would prove destructive to unpractised -persons. As in most cases they are the prominent actors in a drama -witnessed by a whole street-full of excited spectators, they are perhaps -tempted by the cheers to risk themselves in a manner they would little -dream of doing under other circumstances. In addition to such a stimulus -they are rewarded with a silver medal, and with sums of money, for any -extraordinary act of gallantry. Every instance of a daring rescue is -entered in the society's books, from which we have extracted a few -examples, to show what enterprising fellows they are. At a fire which -broke out in November, 1844, in a house in Hatton Garden, Conductor -Sunshine on his arrival found the following state of things. On the second -floor a man was sitting on the sill of one of the windows (there were four -windows abreast), and on the third floor a man was hanging by his hands to -the window-sill at the other extremity of the house-front. After having -rescued the man on the second floor, he did not dare to raise his -third-floor ladder, for fear of hitting the hanging man's hands, and -causing him to fall; accordingly, he stood upon the top rung of the -second-floor ladder, and by so doing could just touch with his upstrained -arms the poor fellow's depending feet. In this position, having himself -but a precarious hold of the window-frame beneath, his only footing being -the topmost rung, he called to the man to drop when he told him, and -discovered from his silence that he was deaf and dumb. Upon being tapped -upon the foot, however, he let go, and the conductor managed, incredible -as it may appear, to slip him down between himself and the wall on to the -top of the ladder, and brought him safely to the ground. In the next case, -Conductor Chapman was the hero of the scene, although the indomitable -Sunshine was present. Having crossed the roofs of two adjoining -out-buildings, Chapman managed to place his ladder against the second back -floor of the house on fire. Having rescued a lady, he was obliged to -retrace his steps over the roofs, as the fire was coming through the -tiling. He could only cross by making a bridge of the short ladder; and -scarcely had they cleared the premises when it fell in with a tremendous -crash. - -On another occasion this intrepid man having made an entrance into the -second-floor window of a house in Tottenham-court Road, he was obliged to -retreat twice, by reason of his lamp going out in the dense smoke. On the -third trial it remained in, and enabled him to search the place. "I called -out loud," he says in his report, "and was answered by a kind of stifled -cry. I rushed across the landing to the back room, and encountered a man, -who groaned out, "O save my wife!" I groped about, and laid hold of a -female, who fell with me, clasping two children in her arms. I took them -up, and brought them to the escape, guiding the man to follow me, and -placed them all safely in the canvas, from whence they reached the ground -without any injury; and, finally, I came down myself, quite exhausted." -"We thought," said a bystander, "when he jumped into the second-floor -window, that we should not see him again alive; and I cannot tell you how -he was cheered when he appeared with the woman and her two children." - -We shall content ourselves by quoting one more exploit from the Reports of -the Society, the hero of which was Conductor Wood, who received a -testimonial on vellum for the following service at a fire in -Colchester-street, Whitechapel, on the 29th of April, 1854:-- - - "On his arrival, the fire was raging throughout the back of the house, - and smoke issuing from every window; upon entering the first-floor - room, part of which was on fire, he discovered five persons almost - insensible from the excessive heat: he immediately descended the - ladder _with a woman on his shoulders, and holding a child by its - night-clothes in his mouth_; again ascended, re-entered the room, and - having enabled the father to escape, had scarcely descended, _with a - child under each arm_, when the whole building became enveloped in - flames, rendering it impossible to attempt a rescue of the remainder - of the unfortunate inmates." - -The rewards of the Society are not always won by their own men. William -Trafford, police constable 344, for instance, had one of the Society's -medals presented to him, for "allowing two persons to drop upon him from -the top windows of a house in College-street, Camden-town, and thereby -enabling them to escape without material injury." Nothing is said as to -the damage done to poor Trafford by this act of self-devotion. - -The real working value of the fire-escapes may be judged from the fact -that, during the twenty years they have been on duty, they have attended -no less than 2,041 fires, and rescued 214 human beings from destruction. -To make this excellent scheme complete, only thirteen stations have now to -be established, at a first cost of about eighty pounds each; the -charitable could not give their money in a more worthy cause than in -furnishing these districts, in which many thousands of inhabitants are -still exposed to the most horrible of all deaths. To show that the -usefulness of the Society has progressed with the number of their escapes, -we need only adduce the evidence of the table in the next page, made up to -the 25th of March of each year. - -The fire-escapes, in addition to their own particular duty, are also of -the greatest service to the firemen of the Brigade, as, by the use of -their ladders, they are enabled to ascend to any window of a house, and to -direct the jet directly upon the burning mass, instead of throwing it -wild,--a matter of the greatest importance in extinguishing a fire: for -unless you play upon the burning material, and thus cut off the flame at -its root, you only uselessly deluge the building with water, which is, we -believe, in many cases quite as destructive to stock and furniture as the -fire it is intended to extinguish. - - +-------------------------------------------------+ - |_Year._| _Number of_ | _Fires_ |_Lives_ | - | | _Stations._ |_attended._|_saved._| - |-------|--------------------|-----------|--------| - | 1845 | 8 increased to 11 | 116 | 13 | - | 1846 | 11 " 15 | 96 | 7 | - | 1847 | 15 " 21 | 139 | 11 | - | 1848 | 21 " 25 | 197 | 17 | - | 1849 | 25 " 26 | 223 | 31 | - | 1850 | 26 " 28 | 198 | 10 | - | 1851 | 28 " 30 | 226 | 36 | - | 1852 | 30 " 34 | 253 | 25 | - | 1853 | 34 " 40 | 265 | 46 | - | 1854 | 40 " 40 | 328 | 28 | - | | Two since added. | | | - +-------------------------------------------------+ - -Much may be done by the inmates to help themselves when a house is on -fire, in case neither the engine nor the escape should arrive in time to -assist them. Mr. Braidwood, in his little work on the method of proceeding -at fires, advises his readers to rehearse to themselves his -recommendations, otherwise when the danger comes, they are thrown, -according to his experience, into "a state of temporary derangement, and -seem to be actuated only by a desire of muscular movement," throwing -chairs and tables from the tops of houses that are scarcely on fire, and, -to wind up the absurdity, he says, "on one occasion I saw crockery-ware -thrown from a window on the third floor." - -The means to be adopted to prevent the flames spreading, resolve -themselves into taking care not to open doors or windows, which create a -draught. The same rule should be observed by those outside; no door or -glass should be smashed in before the means are at hand to put out the -fire. - - _Directions for aiding persons to escape from premises on fire._ - - 1. Be careful to acquaint yourself with the best means of exit from - the house both at the top and bottom. - - 2. On the first alarm, reflect before you act. If in bed at the time, - wrap yourself in a blanket, or bedside carpet; open no more doors or - windows than are absolutely necessary, and shut every door after you. - - 3. There is always from eight to twelve inches of pure air close to - the ground: if you cannot therefore walk upright through the smoke, - drop on your hands and knees, and thus progress. A wetted silk - handkerchief, a piece of flannel, or a worsted stocking drawn over the - face, permits breathing, and, to a great extent, excludes the smoke. - - 4. If you can neither make your way upwards nor downwards, get into a - front room: if there is a family, see that they are all collected - here, and keep the door closed as much as possible, for remember that - smoke always follows a draught, and fire always rushes after smoke. - - 5. On no account throw yourself, or allow others to throw themselves, - from the window. If no assistance is at hand, and you are in - extremity, tie the sheets together, and, having fastened one end to - some heavy piece of furniture, let down the women and children one by - one, by tying the end of the line of sheets round the waist and - lowering them through the window that is over the door, rather than - through one that is over the area. You can easily let yourself down - when the helpless are saved. - - 6. If a woman's clothes should catch fire, let her instantly roll - herself over and over on the ground; if a man be present, let him - throw her down and do the like, and then wrap her in a rug, coat, or - the first _woollen_ thing that is at hand. - - 7. Bystanders, the instant they see a fire, should run for the - fire-escape, or to the police station if that is nearer, where a - "jumping-sheet" is always to be found. - -Dancers, and those that are accustomed to wear light muslins and other -inflammable articles of clothing, when they are likely to come in contact -with the gas, would do well to remember, that by steeping them in a -solution of alum they would not be liable to catch fire. If the rule were -enforced at theatres, we might avoid any possible recurrence of such a -catastrophe as happened at Drury Lane in 1844, when poor Clara Webster was -so burnt before the eyes of the audience, that she died in a few days. - -During the twenty-one years that the Brigade has been in existence the -firemen have been called out needlessly no less than 1,695 times, often -indeed mischievously; for there are some idle people who think it amusing -to send the men and engines miles away to imaginary fires. In most cases, -however, these false alarms have originated in the over-anxiety of -persons, who have hastened to the station for assistance, deceived by -lights which they fancied to be of a suspicious character. Nature herself -now and then gives a false alarm, and puts the Brigade to infinite trouble -by her vagaries. Not only the men at one station, but nearly half of the -entire force, were employed in November, 1835, from 11 P.M. to 6 A.M. on -the succeeding morning, in running after the _aurora borealis_. Some of -the dozen engines out on that occasion reached as far as Kilburn and -Hampstead in search of those evanescent lights, which exactly simulated -extensive fires. In the succeeding year the red rays of the rising sun -took in some credulous members of the Brigade, and led them with their -engines full swing along the Commercial and Mile-End Roads. Whilst on this -false scent they came upon a real fire, which, although inferior to great -Sol himself in grandeur, was far more remunerative, as the God of Morning -knows nothing about rewards to first, second, and third engines. - -The most remarkable and universal false alarm caused by the play of the -northern lights was in the autumn of this same year, when the whole -north-eastern horizon seemed possessed by an angry conflagration, from -which huge clouds of smoke appeared to roll away. On this occasion the -public, as well as the firemen, were deceived: crowds poured forth from -the West-end on foot and in carriages to see what they imagined to be a -grand effect of the "devouring element;" and thirteen engines turned out -with the full impression that a whole suburb of the metropolis was in -flames. - -The alarms from chimneys on fire have called the engines out no less than -1,982 times during the years the Brigade has been established, or on an -average twice a week. Let us hope that, as we are setting about clearing -the atmosphere by Act of Parliament, accidents of this kind will gradually -cease. We may now watch with satisfaction many a tall shaft, as we steam -down the river, that seems to stand idle in the air; the great rolling -clouds of smoke that used to obscure the sky on the southern bank of the -Thames are no longer seen, and the air is growing appreciably purer. It is -evident that our manufacturers, where they have not become alive to the -saving it would effect, have been coerced by the vigorous manner in which -the Home Secretary has put the law in force against these black offenders; -and we may hope that Dr. Arnott's smoke-consuming grate, or some -modification of it, will ere long find its way into every house to -complete the work. - - - - -THE POLICE AND THE THIEVES. - - -Most men who have arrived at that age when the last one or two buttons of -the waistcoat are allowed to be unloosened after dinner, can remember the -time when the safety of life and property in the metropolis depended on -the efforts of the parochial watchman, a species of animal after the model -of the old hackney coachman, encumbered with the self same drab greatcoat, -with countless capes, with the self same Belcher handkerchief, or -comforter, speaking in the same husky voice, and just as sottish, stupid, -and uncivil. At night--for it was not thought worth while to set a watch -in the day-time--the authorities provided him with a watch-box in order -that he might enjoy his snooze in comfort, and furnished him with a huge -lantern in order that its rays might enable the thief to get out of his -way in time. As if these aids to escape were not sufficient for the -midnight marauder, the watchman was provided with a staff with which he -thundered on the pavement as he walked, a noise which he alternated with -crying the hour and the state of the weather in a loud singing voice, and -which told of his whereabouts when he himself was far out of sight. - -Up to the year 1828, and indeed for ten years later, in the city these men -were the sole defence by night of the first metropolis in the world. The -Charlies, as they were familiarly termed, had very little fight in them at -any time; but it is well known that they "winked hard," when required to -do so by people who could afford to pay them for it. It is not astonishing -that crimes under such a police flourished apace, or that robberies -increased to an extent which alarmed all thoughtful people. Mr. -Colquhoun, a magistrate, whose work on the police, written at the -beginning of the century, gave the first ideas of the reforms which have -been since adopted; estimates that the annual value of the property stolen -at the time at which he wrote, was at least 1,500,000_l._; and that the -evil was gaining ground may be judged from the fact that the number of -receivers of stolen goods had increased, between 1780 and 1800, from 300 -to 3,000! - -In addition to the nightly watch there was another class of persons who, -if more active, were calculated in a still greater degree to defeat -justice, but in a totally opposite direction: we allude to those men who -made their bread out of the blood of the criminal population. The -Government of the country was mainly to blame for the sins committed by -these loathsome creatures. Since the time of Jonathan Wild thief-catchers -had been stimulated to make criminals by what was termed Parliamentary -rewards, or sums of forty pounds given by the Home Office to persons -affording such information as would lead to the conviction of felons. The -object of the officers was to secure blood-money, not to suppress crime; -and it was their deliberate practice to allow robberies to proceed, which -they might have prevented, in order to obtain the reward. To use their own -language, they were accustomed "to let the matter ripen" until the fee was -secure, and the work was cut out for the hangman. These men must not be -confounded with the Bow Street runners, or detective police, some of whom -were able and perhaps honest men; but they chiefly occupied themselves -with thief-catching in private preserves, where the pay was ample, and -contributed little if anything to the suppression of general crime. - -With a class of watchmen totally inoperative as a preventive police, with -a class of informers stimulated by unwise enactments to lure men into -villany, and with a code savage almost beyond belief--as late as 1800 -there were 160 capital crimes, and to break the dam of a fish-pond, or to -cut down an apple-tree in a garden, were offences punishable with death; -it is not to be wondered at that "the deadly never-green," as the gallows -was called in the slang language of the day, bore fruit all the year -round. Old Townsend, the Bow Street officer, who gave evidence before the -committee which sat in 1816 to inquire into the police of the metropolis, -said, "I remember in 1783, when Serjeant Adair was recorder, there were -forty hung at two executions; the unfortunate people themselves laugh at -it now, they call it a bagatelle." Among the more serious offences were -the robberies committed by mounted highwaymen; and, in order to give an -idea of their frequency, we again quote the racy evidence of -Townsend:--"Formerly there were two, three, or four highwaymen--some on -Hounslow Heath, some on Wimbledon Common, some on Finchley Common, some on -the Romford Road. I have actually come to Bow Street in the morning, and -while I have been leaning over the desk had three or four people come in -and say, 'I was robbed by two highwaymen in such a place;' 'I was robbed -by a single highwayman in such a place.' People travel safe now by means -of the horse-patrol, which was planned by Sir Richard Ford." This -horse-patrol, established in 1805, was the first innovation on the old -system of watching; and it succeeded so admirably, that in a few years the -highwaymen were entirely banished from the metropolitan counties, and the -great roads in the neighbourhood of London, which were once as unsafe as -those in the vicinity of Rome, became as orderly as Fleet Street. It does -indeed seem strange that while the outskirts of the metropolis were thus -provided with a new force which proved itself to be perfectly capable of -clearing away the ruffians, no means should have been taken until 1829 to -supersede the old parish constables who had flourished from the time of -the Saxons, and appear to have been in full bloom in Elizabeth's reign, -since Dogberry is a finished portrait of the race. No means existed by -which the watchmen of different parishes could be made to co-operate -against their common enemy, the thief. In the city they were under the -direction of no less than thirty different authorities. There were the -street-keepers, the patrol, the ward-constables, &c., all acting under -separate masters; and so complete was the division that the constable of -one ward would not interfere to prevent a robbery going on on the opposite -side of the street, if it was out of his bounds. - -Mr. J. Elliot, in his evidence, given in 1838, before the Committee on -"The Metropolis Police Offices," mentions a glaring instance of the -perfect paralysis of the executive which arose out of this absurd system. -"Two years ago," he said, "a neighbour of mine had his warehouse broken -open, and a hundred pounds' worth of tea was taken away; a watchman at the -top of the street saw a cart going away from the warehouse; but he said it -was not in his ward, and therefore he did not interfere." The public -indisposition to get rid of the old watchmen most certainly did not arise -from any ignorance of their inefficiency; they had long, in fact, been -bywords of feebleness and imbecility. To thrash a Charlie was a pet -pastime of the young bloods of that day. The determined propensity to doze -of these worthy functionaries was a standing topic for witticism. "A -friend of mine," said Erskine, "was suffering from a continual -wakefulness, and various methods were taken to send him to sleep, but in -vain. At last his physicians resorted to an experiment which succeeded -perfectly. They dressed him in a watchman's coat, put a lantern in his -hand, and placed him in a sentry-box, and he was asleep in ten minutes." -It might be imagined that tokens like these indicated pretty clearly that -a reform would have been hailed with delight. The result proved, however, -that to abuse a thing and to amend it are widely different. Mr. Peel, who -had been feeling his way to his grand experiment by the establishment of a -Bow-street day patrol, obtained in 1828 the appointment of a committee of -the House of Commons to inquire into the expediency of establishing a -uniform system of police in the metropolis; and the committee having -reported to the House in favour of the scheme, it was immediately adopted. -This salutary change was not made without creating a deep sensation. That -stalking-horse, "the liberty of the subject," which in truth meant the -liberty of rogues to plunder, was immediately paraded before the public; -and we have no doubt whatever that in the tavern debating-clubs of the day -it was reported that with the fall of the Charlies "the sun of England's -glory had set for ever." And indeed to Englishmen, jealous of their -personal liberty, the establishment of this new force might at first have -created some well-founded alarm. It was no longer a question of a few -constables, but of a standing army of nearly six thousand men, drilled -like soldiers, taught to act in masses, and entirely independent of the -control of the ratepayers. The very fact of the appointment, as one of the -Commissioners, of Colonel Rowan, who had been employed in that -quasi-military force the Irish constabulary, favoured the idea that the -new police were to be a veritable _gendarmerie_. That such was the popular -idea was clearly indicated by the numerous prints which appeared at the -time of a fierce-looking "Peeler," armed with a belt full of pistols and a -formidable sword. - -Those accustomed only to the slow pace of the constitutional watchman, as -he waddled out to his post, beholding with astonishment the sergeant's -party as it marched along the kerb in close file, and keeping quick -military step, believed that so powerful a force, concentrated under a -single head, might be turned to political purposes. The constables never -appeared in the streets without being followed by crowds hooting at them, -and calling them by the obnoxious names of "Peelers," "Raw Lobsters," -"Crushers," "Bobbies," &c. At last, in 1833, an actual collision took -place between them and the great unwashed in Coldbath Fields. A meeting of -Chartists was appointed to be held there, from which serious consequences -were expected to arise. Directions were given to disperse it; but whilst -in the performance of their duty three of the police were stabbed, and one -of them mortally. It might have been thought that the very fact of a mob -coming thus armed, with the express purpose of resisting a constituted -authority, would have excited the indignation of the more respectable -classes of the citizens. The contrary was the effect. A coroner's jury -brought in a verdict of justifiable homicide--a pretty significant sign of -the feeling towards the new force of the class from which the jury was -selected. Such was the ferment that a commission was held to inquire into -the conduct of the police, and they were exonerated from the charge of -having, as a body, acted with greater violence than was necessary. From -that period, with the exception of the investigation during the Beer Bill -commotion into the charge of having dispersed a gathering in Hyde Park -with undue severity--a charge which was not at all substantiated--their -conduct has been so exemplary as completely to have removed the original -dislike. Experience has served to teach the men the virtue of moderation -and patience; and they are now looked upon as a constitutional force, -simply because we have got accustomed to them. - -At the present time the Metropolitan Police Force consists of--a Chief -Commissioner, Sir Richard Mayne; 2 Assistant-Commissioners, Captain -Labalmondiere and Captain Harris; 18 Superintendents, 133 Inspectors, 625 -Sergeants, and 4,954 Constables; making a total of all ranks of 5,734. The -machinery by which this comparatively small force is enabled to watch by -night and day every alley, street, and square of this vast metropolis, -nay, tries every accessible door and window of its 400,000 houses, patrols -90 square miles of country, exercises a surveillance over the 8,000 -reputed thieves who prey upon its inhabitants, and keeps in awe the 40,000 -or 50,000 people who form "the uneasy classes" of the metropolis, is not -very complicated. The metropolitan police district extends from Charing -Cross 15 miles in every direction, and includes the whole of Middlesex and -large portions of Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Buckinghamshire, and -Berkshire, for which seven counties the Commissioners are magistrates and -the police are sworn constables. The river Thames is also under its -jurisdiction from Chelsea to Barking Creek, including all its wharves, -docks, landing-places, and dockyards. The entire district has a -circumference of 90 miles, and extends over an area of 700 square miles, -100 of which, forming what is called the interior area, is covered with -our great Babel of brick and mortar. This wide extent of ground is mapped -out into 18 divisions, each of which is watched by a detachment of men, -varying in number according to the extent of the area, the exposed nature -of the property, or the density of the population:-- - - _Letters of_ _Local Names of_ _Strength of each_ - _Divisions._ _Divisions._ _Division._ - - A Whitehall 380 - B Westminster 324 - C St. James's 265 - D St. Mary-le-bone 371 - E Holborn 175 - F Covent Garden 165 - G Finsbury 317 - H Whitechapel 233 - K Stepney 482 - L Lambeth 208 - M Southwark 350 - N Islington 513 - P Camberwell 408 - R Greenwich 454 - S Hampstead 410 - T Kensington 288 - V Wandsworth 381 - Thames Police 103 - -This it will be seen that policeman X, who figures so often in the pages -of "Punch," is a myth of our facetious contemporary. - -Each division is separated into subdivisions, the subdivisions into -sections, and, last of all the sections into beats. Of the main divisions, -A, although one of the smallest in area, is by far the most important; it -is the seat of the central authority located at Scotland Yard. Its police -are much finer men (taller on the average than the Guards), and their -duties are more responsible than those of any other division. They attend -upon the Sovereign, the Parliament, the theatres, the parks, and all other -places of public resort, such as Epsom and Ascot races, the flower shows, -Crystal Palace, &c. The A division is, in fact, to the general body of -Metropolitan Police what the Guards are to the army. To enable it to -perform these extra duties, it has a reserve force of 250 men, drafted off -on ordinary occasions in companies of fifty each to the B, C, D, G, and M -divisions; upon this reserve force it draws when necessary. - -The other divisions are pretty much alike in the nature of their duties, -which are simply those of watching. Certain modifications, however, arise -from the character of their districts; thus a constable on duty at -Whitechapel, if suddenly removed to Westminster or Mary-le-bone, would -find himself considerably at fault, inasmuch as a familiarity with fights -in courts, disputes with tramps, and the coarse language of low -lodging-houses, is not a good school for the amenities required among a -more fashionable population. In all the divisions exactly the same -organization is maintained, and the same amount of arduous work is -performed. Two-thirds of the entire force is on duty from nine or ten in -the evening till five or six in the morning. Not long since the -night-police were condemned to patrol the streets for nine hours, without -sitting down, or even leaning their weary limbs against any support. This -severe labour was found incompatible with the maintenance of due vigilance -towards the end of the watch; the men are, therefore, now kept on duty -only eight hours. Day work is divided into reliefs, and extends from six -a.m. to nine p.m. Notwithstanding its greater severity, there are men who -prefer the stolid unimpeded walk in the night, in which they go through -their work like machines, to the more bustling and exciting day-patrol. -The sergeants or inspectors make the round of the districts to see that -the constables are duly parading their beats. - -If a door or window is discovered in an unsafe condition, its insecurity -is immediately made known to the inmates; and if the constable fails to -detect the circumstance during his tour, and it is afterwards observed by -his sergeant or the succeeding constable, he is reported, and fined for -his neglect. Continued inattention is visited by dismissal. Offences of -every kind are severely punished, as appears from the fact that, between -the years 1850 and 1856, 1,276 policemen were turned out of the force. Of -these, sixty-eight were criminally convicted. Thus the men are kept up to -their work, and collusions with thieves are rendered exceedingly -difficult. Every morning a sheet of "Occurrences" is forwarded to the -Chief Commissioner at Scotland Yard, which contains the full particulars -of all matters worthy of notice which have taken place during the night -throughout the metropolis, and a record of all property lost or stolen, -from a gold pin to a chest of plate, is kept at the same central -establishment. - -In case any affair of unusual importance occurs, a murder or a great -robbery, the intelligence is conveyed by the constable who first becomes -cognizant of it, to the central station of his division; from this point -the news is radiated by policemen carrying what are termed route-papers, -or papers of particulars of the offence, on the backs of which are marked -the hour at which they were received at the different divisions through -which they passed. In this manner information can be circulated in two -hours to all the stations, excepting those belonging to the exterior or -suburban districts. In these reports are given the names of the constables -who were on the beats in which the offence took place, the sergeants in -charge of the sections, and the names of the constables whose particular -business it was to trace the offenders as far as possible. We understand, -however, that the electric telegraph is now shooting its nerve-like -threads to all the divisional stations in the metropolis, and, when the -new agent is brought to bear, the communication will be almost -instantaneous. Thus, in case of robbery, every constable will be made -acquainted with the particulars without a moment's delay, and the -police-net will be thrown at one cast over the entire metropolis. Thieves -will no longer be able to get away with their plunder, ere a hue and cry -has been raised after the property. Had the telegraph been in existence, -in all probability Her Majesty's plate-chest would have been intercepted -before it reached the field where it was ransacked in Shoreditch. In cases -of riot of a formidable nature, the telegraph will be able to concentrate -5,000 men in a couple of hours upon any spot within five miles of Charing -Cross. - -Towards the outskirts of the metropolis, in the exterior or suburban -districts, the widely-scattered constables chiefly perform the duties of a -rural police. The great distances they have to traverse necessitates the -use of horses; here, accordingly, we find the mounted police, the -successors of the old horse-patrol established in 1805. The strength of -this force, men and officers included, is only 120; they are furnished -with powerful nags, and are armed with swords and pistols. Indeed the -foot-police, whose beats lie in unfrequented rural districts, are allowed -side-arms--a precaution which the fate of the policeman, who was brutally -murdered in a field at Dagenham, in Essex, some years since, proved to be -by no means unnecessary. - -In the middle of the metropolitan police district is the City police, -under the management of the corporation. The area of this peculiar, to -borrow an ecclesiastical term, is only one square mile and a quarter; but -forming as it does the very centre of business, it is by far the richest -part of London, for, while it contains only one-twentieth portion of its -inhabitants, it possesses a fourteenth part of its wealth. This small -space is, in fact, the great heart not only of the metropolis, but of the -commercial world. Through its principal thoroughfares a vaster flood of -traffic is poured for several hours than is to be found in any other -streets in the world. In the year 1850 it was ascertained that no less -than 67,510 foot-passengers, and 13,796 vehicles, containing no fewer than -52,092 persons, passed Bow Church, Cheapside, in one day. By another -channel of communication, Aldgate, near the Minories, 58,430 -foot-passengers, and 9,332 vehicles, containing 20,804 persons, passed in -the same time; and it is estimated that altogether no less than 400,000 -persons are poured into this one square mile and a quarter in the course -of the twelve hours. The congregation in so confined a space of so vast a -number of people, many of whom are forced to carry about with them -considerable sums of money, must prove a great source of attraction to -thieves of all kinds, and demands the constant vigilance of a -comparatively large body of police. It was not until ten years after the -successful experiment of the metropolitan police, however, that the -corporation of London, wedded to its old system of ward-beadles, -street-keepers, and imbecile constables, could be brought to adopt the new -system; but it must be admitted that the present force, consisting of 1 -superintendent, 13 inspectors, 12 station-sergeants, 47 sergeants, and 492 -policemen, making a total of 565, do the duty well; and the City, with all -its stored wealth, is now as safe as the rest of the metropolis. At all -the banks plain-clothes men are constantly in attendance to keep out the -swell-mob, who buzz about such places as wasps do about a peach wall; and -in the great thoroughfares, such as Cheapside, six or seven policemen are -always to be found. - -The peculiarities of the City, which produce its characteristic robberies, -are the number of its uninhabited warehouses, the perfect labyrinth of -lanes which traverse and intersect its streets in all directions, and the -vast number of carts and vans always standing full of valuable goods at -the warehouse doors. The greatest precautions are taken to mark the -fastenings on the warehouse doors, so as to betray any attempt to force -them; and these devices are generally successful. The reticulation of -lanes will always prove a trouble to the police and a security to -pickpockets. Not many years ago a bank clerk was attacked at mid-day in -one of these passages in the very heart of the City, but luckily he -retained hold of his case, which held most valuable property, and it is -now the custom to chain these bill-cases to the person, just as they used -to chain books in the olden time to the library shelves. It is also -customary for bank clerks to tear the corners off all Bank of England -notes, so as to render them unnegotiable, unless to persons who can -produce the corresponding piece,--a contrivance which, no doubt, put a -stop to audacious attacks upon these money-carriers in the middle of the -day. The most common robberies are those from vehicles loading and -discharging valuable silk and other goods at the warehouse doors. For the -protection of such goods a small dog is the best policeman; and carts are -rarely seen in the City without one of these nimble guardians. The old -restriction which prevented the metropolitan police from entering the -City, and the City force from entering the metropolitan districts, is now -abandoned. Nevertheless, the fact of their being under a distinct -jurisdiction prevents that unity of action which ought to prevail. Not -long since, a City policeman patrolling one of the streets which extended -into the metropolitan department, was informed by a passer-by that they -were killing a constable at the top of the street, to which the policeman -replied that it was out of his beat and he could not interfere! When next -the Sibyl presents her leaves to the city corporation, in all probability -the present isolated system of police will not be found inscribed on any -one of them. - -Scotland Yard, as we have said, is the brain or central ganglion which -directs the system of metropolitan police. Here the commissioners sit -daily, and are ready to receive the complaints or other communications of -the public. Its rooms are full of clerks, but all in the uniform of the -police; in one office may be seen the constables wielding the pen instead -of the truncheon, preparing daily returns and reports; in another, reading -the morning and country papers, to learn what is doing that may require -their presence, and to know what thieves have turned up in the police -courts; in a third room an inspector is reading to the clerks from the -different divisions any particulars it may be advisable to communicate to -the entire force; in a fourth we see the secret chamber of the detective -police--those human moles who work without casting up the earth lest their -course should be discovered. In an office apart from the rest are the -foreign detectives, who watch over _mauvais sujets_ from abroad. The -entire floating foreign population in the metropolis is well known to the -police, and no plots against allied governments could well be hatched in -London without their cognizance. All articles lost in public conveyances -are here taken charge of. The "Lost Property Office" contains piles of -umbrellas, parasols, and walking-sticks, together with a curious -assemblage of articles of jewellery and wearing apparel, brought by honest -cabmen. On one occasion a parcel with cash to the amount of 1,600_l._ was -deposited; and on another a thousand-pound note. Valuable property is -always claimed immediately; but sticks, parasols, and umbrellas accumulate -in a manner which proves that their loss is due to the carelessness of -their owners and not to the loose morality of others. The offices for the -inspectors of dangerous structures and for licensing common lodging-houses -and the drivers and conductors of public conveyances, all of which -departments are managed by the police, are close at hand. - -In the drilling-ground of the force--an open space surrounded by a -hoarding close to the State Paper Office--there are generally from thirty -to forty men in course of training, to fill up the gaps caused by -dismissals, resignations, &c. On the occasion of our visit the yard was -occupied by two bodies--the raw material, in the shape of some twenty -individuals dressed in every variety of costume; and another batch of the -finished article, buttoned up in blue and resplendent with plated buttons. -The eye had only to run along the "gammut of men," if we may so term the -fresh recruits drawn up before us, in order to see from how many ranks of -society the police brigade is reinforced; smock-frocks, shooting-coats, -frock-coats, tail-coats, some seedy and worn, some still good and fresh, -denoted the condition in life of their owners, and the necessities to -which some of them were reduced. Young men flushed with hope come from the -provinces to push their fortunes, after a brief struggle find themselves -stranded, and accept this, the most readily-obtained respectable service. - -As every policeman must be able to read and write, have a good character, -and be of sound body and mind, the mere overflowings of the labour-market -are excluded from the force; moreover, persons can always leave the -service by giving a month's notice. For these reasons a much more -intelligent class of men recruit the police than the army, and it is -singular to note how this intelligence tells. The drill of constables and -soldiers is nearly alike, yet the former learn all their movements in a -fortnight, whilst the latter require at least two months. Intelligence of -a certain kind, however, may be carried too far; your sharp Londoner makes -a very bad policeman; he is too volatile and conceited to submit himself -to discipline, and is oftener rejected than the persons from other parts, -with whom eight-tenths of the force are recruited. The best constables -come from the provincial cities and towns. They are both quicker and more -"plucky" than the mere countryman fresh from the village--a singular fact, -which proves that manly vigour, both physical and mental, is to be found -in populations neither too aggregated nor entirely isolated. - -The policemen, perfect in their material drill, next undergo a mental one. -Drawn up in line, a sergeant or inspector questions them as to their -duties. "Supposing you see two men fighting, what would you do?" or, "If -you were to discover a house on fire, how would you act?" Sometimes the -constable addressed answers the question, but more generally his -interrogator does it for him. When drilled and catechized to the full -pitch, he doffs his plain clothes for a uniform, and comes out in the full -bloom of a policeman. But he is still a neophyte, and before he is -intrusted with a beat he attends at a police-court in order to watch the -manner in which trained constables comport themselves in the witness-box. -Having learned to give evidence clearly and briefly, to listen to -ludicrous scenes without smiling, and to bear bad language with -imperturbable patience, he is marched off to the division in which he has -elected to serve (the policeman is always if possible allowed this -privilege), and with his armlet on his wrist, his staff in one pocket, and -his rattle in the other, he patrols his beat. - -Two especial injunctions are given to him--never to show his staff except -to protect himself, and never to spring his rattle at night except in a -case of great urgency. The care taken to hide his offensive weapon is one -of the best points of our police arrangements. The officers sent over here -to gain information, prior to the introduction of the English police -system in Paris, were astonished at this forbearance: the Frenchmen could -not understand why a man should carry a deadly weapon, unless to make a -demonstration with it! In this little incident we see the essential -difference between the French and English character. In six months' time -it is expected that the young hand will prove a steady officer; that a -wild young fellow, who perhaps only a few months before knew no restraint, -should become a machine, moving, thinking, and speaking only as his -instruction-book directs; and so wonderful are the powers of organization -that such an officer he generally becomes. We all know him, for we see him -day by day as we promenade the streets. Stiff, calm, and inexorable, he -seems to take no interest in any mortal thing; to have neither hopes nor -fears. Amid the bustle of Piccadilly or the roar of Oxford Street, P. C. X -59 stalks along, an _institution_ rather than a man. We seem to have no -more hold of his personality than we could possibly get of his coat, -buttoned up to the throttling-point. Go, however, to the section-house, an -establishment generally attached to the chief station of each division, in -which the unmarried policemen are lodged, and enter the common hall or -reading-room, and you no longer see policemen, but men; they have cast off -their tight coats, as certain other unboiled lobsters, at fixed intervals, -cast off their shells. They are absolutely laughing with each other! Some -are writing, some are reading the morning papers, a group are grinning at -the caricature of P. C. X 202 in "Punch;" some are deep in the horrors of -a romance, extended at full length along a bench, with their trowsers -tucked up; all are at their ease, taking rational amusement. In the common -room of every section-house there is a library.[47] That in King Street, -Westminster, contains 1,200 volumes, a well-selected medley of subjects, -grave and gay. Some of the volumes, indeed, surprised us, as they seemed -to indicate an erudite taste which we did not give police constables -credit for possessing. We give a few of their titles as they came under -our notice:-- - - Taylor's Holy Living. - - The Annals of the English Bible. - - Macaulay's Essays. - - Alison's Europe. - - Paley's Works. - - Byron's Works. - - The Waverley Novels. - - James's Naval History. - - Lane's Modern Egyptians. - - Life of Mohammud, by Mohun Lal. - - Tom Cringle's Log. - - Bishop Heber's Journal. - - Washington Irving's Works. - - Colonial and Home Library. - -What do you think of the list, good reader? Policemen reading Paley! Can -we wonder that they are so very blue? But we must not misrepresent the -force. If volumes such as these are thumbed sufficiently to show that some -Scotch sergeant has a taste for theological reading and "fee-lo-so-phy," -the prevalent inquiry is after good English literature; and, although the -"Wandering Jew" and the "Mysteries of Paris" are in the library, we are -told that the men do not like, and apparently do not understand, French -romances. The library is only open on Thursdays, and then but for two -hours. For this there is a philosophical reason. "What we can always see," -said the superintendent who kindly showed us over the Section, "we never -see: it is only strangers that know all the sights of the metropolis." On -the same principle, the issue of books is limited in the manner we have -stated, and we are told that the plan answers admirably. The dormitories -at King-street accommodate about ninety persons, the great portion of -whom, having done night-duty, we saw fast asleep, on a fine tempting -afternoon. It takes full three months for the men to acquire the habit of -sleeping in the day; but, once acquired, they never lose it afterwards, -although they return at stated intervals to day-duty again. They find -their own breakfasts and suppers, but they mess together at dinner. They -take it in turns to cater for the week; and the emulation thus created -proves to the advantage of the mess, as we hear that early peas, and other -delicacies of the season, find their way to the policemen's table.[48] It -would be an immense boon to the Benedicts of the force if accommodation -could also be found for them in the section-houses. In these days of model -lodging-houses such an injustice to family men should scarcely be allowed -to exist. - -One of the strongest reasons which weighed with Mr. Peel in proposing the -establishment of the new police in 1829 was the expediency of instituting -a force powerful enough to cope with mobs, and to repress those incipient -commotions which, if too roughly dealt with by the military, are apt to -leave an abiding sense of irritation in the public mind. The massacre of -"Peterloo," as it was vulgarly called, without doubt proved to the -reflective mind of Peel that civil disturbances could no longer be dealt -with by the sharp edge of the sword, and that a knock-down blow of a -truncheon was far more congenial to the English skull than the sabre of -the yeoman or the bullet of the "sodger." That view was undoubtedly -correct. The new police have not, it is true, come in contact with excited -mobs on more than three occasions,--the affair of Coldbath Fields, in the -year 1833, the Chartist gathering in 1848, and the skirmish in the Park, -of July, 1855. On each of these occasions the crowd was immediately -dispersed, and whatever irritation might have existed at the time, it -quickly died away. There seems to be no fear that a London mob will ever -prove a serious thing in the face of our present corps of policemen. A -repetition of the Lord George Gordon riots would be an impossibility. -Those who shudder at the idea of an outbreak in the metropolis, containing -two millions and a half of people and at least fifty thousand of the -"dangerous classes," forget that the capital is so wide that its different -sections are totally unknown to each other. A mob in London is wholly -without cohesion, and the individuals composing it have but few feelings, -thoughts, or pursuits in common. They would immediately break up before -the determined attack of a band of well-trained men who know and have -confidence in each other. The genuine Londoner, moreover, is no fighter; -he will "slang" and "chaff" wittily with his tongue, but he will not come -to blows. Those who have any experience in the _gamins_ of the great towns -in England must have observed the vast difference between the want of -pugnacity in the cockney-bred boy, and the love of fisticuffs among the -youths of Bristol, Birmingham, or Manchester, which are the nurseries of -prize-fighters. The great town has sharpened the brain of the Londoner, -but unstrung his sinews and cowed his courage, and he is a pigmy in the -hands of the vigorous provincials. The middle classes are an exception, -and we doubt not that the same spirit which marched with the trained-bands -from London to Gloucester, in the civil war, is still to be found among -them. - -We believe that the only quarter in which any formidable riot could take -place would be eastward, in the neighbourhood of the Docks, where there -are at least twelve thousand sailors in the river or on shore, ready for a -spree, fearless and powerful, and acting with an undoubted _esprit de -corps_. These, if associated with the seven or eight thousand -dock-labourers and lightermen, would certainly produce a force difficult -to cope with. For such emergencies the police are provided with side-arms, -but we fear they are not well trained to their use, and it would take at -least fourteen days to perfect them. If in any civil disturbance, however, -it should come to cold steel, we think that the soldiers would prove far -more effective, and their interference would be less galling than that of -the police armed with murderous weapons. Prevention is the true duty of -the civil force. One of the simplest methods for breaking up a crowd, in -order that it may have no unity of action, is to march sections of -constables, in double files of say fifty each; these sections moving a few -yards apart speedily cleave by their weight the densest mob in twain. When -once this division is made, the order is given to face right and left and -march; by this means the mass is riven into a dozen helpless portions. If -the mounted police can be brought into action, it is customary to march -them in every direction through the crowd. Those who were in Hyde Park on -the evening of the great Sunday gathering in July 1855, witnessed how -effectually this singular manoeuvre was executed under the orders of -Captain Labalmondiere. The horsemen, circulating among the immense crowd, -entirely disintegrated the mass, and rendered it helpless for a common -movement, and this without any altercation; for what use could there be in -arguing with horses' heels? A policeman's staff thrust in your chest, -accompanied by a peremptory order to stand back, would probably "rile" the -best of us; but what is to be said against the push of a horse's flank or -the descent of a heavy hoof? Everybody is glad to get as quickly as -possible out of the way, and thus the whole company break as it were of -their own accord. - -Let us now revert to the Detective Police. When the Metropolitan force was -established in 1829, the old Bow-street officers, not caring to work with -the new system, retired from public life, and set up a private practice -in hunting out offenders, in which occupation some of them continue to -this day. For fifteen years there was no establishment of detectives -connected with the police; but the inconvenience of not possessing so -necessary a wheel in the constabulary machinery induced Sir James Graham, -who had, perhaps, a leaning towards this branch of the profession, to -revive the fraternity. The force consists of three inspectors, nine -sergeants, and a body of police termed "plain-clothes men," whose services -can be had at any moment. There are about six policemen in each division, -who take upon themselves the duty of detectives when wanted, which affords -a total number of 108 auxiliaries, upon whom the inspectors and sergeants -can rely to carry out their orders with silence and address. In all great -gatherings, these men are distributed among the crowd, dressed according -to the character of the assembly. Thus, at an agricultural meeting, -smock-frocks are worn, or the dress of a small farmer; at a review, the -habiliments of a decent mechanic in his Sunday best. In this respect they -follow the principle of Nature, who protects her creatures from -observation by giving them coats of a colour somewhat similar to that of -the soil they inhabit,--to the arctic fox, a fur white as the surrounding -snow; and to the hare, a coat scarcely distinguishable from the brown -heath in which she makes her form. It is the general rule to station these -plain-clothes men as near as possible to the policemen of their own -division, in order that they may be assisted in capturing prisoners. - -Man is eminently a hunting animal, but there is no prey which he follows -with such zest and perseverance as his fellowman. Some policemen, directly -they enter the force, show the taste so strongly that they are at once -marked off for this special service. Others, on the contrary, will remain -years without detecting a single crime. From among the 6,000 persons -composing the force, a splendid field is afforded for selecting good men; -and Bow-street, great as was its fame, did not turn out more intelligent -detectives than we now possess. The officers, although they are not -hail-fellow-well-met with every thief, as in the last century, still find -it necessary to keep up a personal knowledge of the criminal population, -especially with that portion of it whose members they may at one time or -other be likely to "want." The detectives, as well as thieves, are -generally famous for some particular line of business. One is good at -housebreakers, another knows how to follow up the swell-mob, and a third -is a crack hand at forgers. By confining themselves to distinct branches -of the art, they acquire an especial sense, as it were, for the work; and -it is remarkable how much their trouble is lightened by the division of -labour. The detective stands in a very different position from the -ordinary policeman; his work, long and laborious though it may be, must, -to succeed, never see the light. Although he may have followed a case for -years, all the public knows of it is summed up in the four words used by -the constable who states the charge at the police court--"from information -I received," &c. The detective lays the foundation which, from the -shifting soil he has to deal with, is frequently far more extensive than -the superstructure. His duty is to pursue the criminal through all his -shiftings and turnings, until the case is clear against him; and then -fearlessly to draw him forth from his hiding-place, as a ferret would a -rabbit, and hand him over to an ordinary constable to bring to the -judgment-seat. - -Much of the information by which the perpetrators of crimes are discovered -comes from their own body: thus two thieves fall out, and one, prompted by -revenge, and stimulated by the hope of a reward, splits upon his -confederate; or some abandoned woman, jealous of another, gives -information which leads to her paramour's apprehension. The revenge taken -by members of the fraternity upon a "pal" whose treachery has been -discovered, is often so signal, that the utmost caution is exercised in -communicating with the police, lest suspicion should be excited. The -constable, whose aim is to encourage these revelations, must never, by his -want of address, give any hint of the source from which he receives his -information; nay, he finds it necessary sometimes to pursue keenly a false -scent in order to divert attention from the betrayer. - -Between the detective and the thief there is no ill blood: when they meet -they give an odd wink of recognition to each other--the thief smiling, as -much as to say, "I am quite safe, you know;" and the detective replying -with a look, of which the interpretation is, "We shall be better -acquainted by-and-by." They both feel, in short, that they are using their -wits to get their living, and there is a sort of tacit understanding -between them that each is entitled to play his game as well as he can. - -In pursuing the track of an offender, the officers often come across other -crimes of which they were not aware, and for a time are thrown off the -scent, just as a pack of fox-hounds by a hare which crosses their path. In -such cases the only way is to try back until the original trail is found. -It is not uncommon in this manner to stumble upon a regular network of -roguery, and to discover the whereabouts of parties who have long been -"wanting." The most trivial hint will suffice to put the detective on the -right track: for, like men accustomed to work in the dark, things which to -other persons are invisible, to them appear clear as noon-day. The -gossiping tendency of neighbours is especially useful to them in worming -out secrets. To obtain a single link in a chain of facts, they will often -hang about a house for months, interrogating the newspaper lad, waylaying -the servant girl as she is going for her supper beer, and picking all he -wants to know out of her as easily as a locksmith picks a lock, and with -quite as little consciousness on the part of the person operated upon. - -Mr. Dickens published some excellent papers in the early numbers of -"Household Words," which illustrate admirably the habits of these -officers. From these we select the following story, not that it is the -most dramatic, but because it shows the vast number of dodges by which the -detectives accomplish their ends:-- - - "'Tally-ho Thompson,' says Sergeant Witchem, after merely wetting his - lips with his brandy-and-water, 'Tally-ho Thompson was a famous - horse-stealer, couper, and magsman. Thompson, in conjunction with a - pal that occasionally worked with him, gammoned a countryman out of a - good round sum of money, under pretence of getting him a - situation--the regular old dodge--and afterwards in the "Hue and Cry" - for a horse--a horse that he stole down in Hertfordshire. I had to - look after Thompson, and I applied myself, of course, in the first - instance, to discovering where he was. Now, Thompson's wife lived, - along with a little daughter, at Chelsea. Knowing that Thompson was - somewhere in the country, I watched the house--especially at post-time - in the morning--thinking Thompson was pretty likely to write to her. - Sure enough, one morning the postman comes up, and delivers a letter - at Mrs. Thompson's door. Little girl opens the door, and takes it in. - We're not always sure of postmen, though the people at the - post-offices are always very obliging. A postman may help us, or he - may not,--just as it happens. However, I go across the road, and I say - to the postman, after he has left the letter, "Good morning! how are - you?" "How are _you_?" says he. "You've just delivered a letter for - Mrs. Thompson." "Yes I have." "You didn't happen to remark what the - post-mark was, perhaps?" "No," says he, "I didn't." "Come," says I, - "I'll be plain with you. I'm in a small way of business, and I have - given Thompson credit, and I can't afford to lose what he owes me. I - know he's got money, and I know he's in the country, and if you could - tell me what the post-mark was, I should be very much obliged to you, - and you'd do a service to a tradesman in a small way of business that - can't afford a loss." "Well," he said, "I do assure you that I did not - observe what the post-mark was; all I know is, that there was money in - the letter--I should say a sovereign." This was enough for me, because - of course I knew that Thompson, having sent his wife money, it was - probable she'd write to Thompson by return of post to acknowledge the - receipt. So I said "Thankee" to the postman, and I kept on the watch. - In the afternoon I saw the little girl come out. Of course I followed - her. She went into a stationer's shop, and I needn't say to you that I - looked in at the window. She bought some writing-paper and envelopes, - and a pen. I think to myself, "That'll do!"--watch her home again, and - don't go away, you may be sure, knowing that Mrs. Thompson was writing - her letter to 'Tally-ho,' and that the letter would be posted - presently. In about an hour or so, out came the little girl again, - with the letter in her hand. I went up, and said something to the - child, whatever it might have been; but I couldn't see the direction - of the letter, because she held it with the seal upwards. However, I - observed that on the back of the letter there was what we call a - kiss--a drop of wax by the side of the seal--and again, you - understand, that was enough for me. I saw her post the letter, waited - till she was gone, then went into the shop, and asked to see the - master. When he came out, I told him, "Now, I'm an officer in the - Detective Force; there's a letter with a kiss been posted here just - now, for a man that I'm in search of; and what I have to ask of you - is, that you will let me look at the direction of that letter." He was - very civil--took a lot of letters from the box in the window--shook - 'em out on the counter with the faces downwards--and there among 'em - was the identical letter with the kiss. It was directed, "Mr. Thomas - Pigeon, Post-Office, B----, to be left till called for." Down I went - to B---- (a hundred and twenty miles or so) that night. Early next - morning I went to the post-office; saw the gentleman in charge of that - department; told him who I was; and that my object was to see and - track the party that should come for the letter for Mr. Thomas Pigeon. - He was very polite, and said, "You shall have every assistance we can - give you; you can wait inside the office; and we'll take care to let - you know when anybody comes for the letter." Well, I waited there - three days, and began to think that nobody ever _would_ come. At last - the clerk whispered to me, "Here! Detective! Somebody's come for the - letter!" "Keep him a minute," said I, and I ran round to the outside - of the office. There I saw a young chap with the appearance of an - ostler holding a horse by the bridle, stretching the bridle across the - pavement while he waited at the post-office window for the letter. I - began to pat the horse, and that; and I said to the boy, "Why, this is - Mr. Jones's mare!" "No, it a'nt." "No?" said I: "she's very like Mr. - Jones's mare!" "She a'nt Mr. Jones's mare, anyhow," says he: "it's Mr. - So-and-So's, of the Warwick Arms." And up he jumped, and off he - went--letter and all. I got a cab, followed on the box, and was so - quick after him, that I came into the stableyard of the Warwick Arms - by one gate just as he came in by another. I went into the bar, where - there was a young woman serving, and called for a glass of - brandy-and-water. He came in directly, and handed her the letter. She - casually looked at it without saying anything, and stuck it up behind - the glass over the chimney-piece. What was to be done next? - - "'I turned it over in my mind while I drank my brandy-and-water - (looking pretty sharp at the letter the while), but I couldn't see my - way out of it at all. I tried to get lodgings in the house, but there - had been a horse-fair, or something of that sort, and it was full. I - was obliged to put up somewhere else, but I came backwards and - forwards to the bar for a couple of days, and there was the letter, - always behind the glass. At last I thought I'd write a letter to Mr. - Pigeon myself, and see what that would do. So I wrote one, and posted - it; but I purposely addressed it, Mr. John Pigeon, instead of Mr. - Thomas Pigeon, to see what _that_ would do. In the morning (a very wet - morning it was) I watched the postman down the street, and cut into - the bar, just before he reached the Warwick Arms. In he came presently - with my letter. "Is there a Mr. John Pigeon staying here?" "No!--stop - a bit though," says the barmaid; and she took down the letter behind - the glass. "No," says she, "it's Thomas, and _he_ is not staying here. - Would you do me a favour, and post this for me, as it is so wet?" The - postman said "Yes:" she folded it in another envelope, directed it, - and gave it him. He put it in his hat, and away he went. - - "'I had no difficulty in finding out the direction of that letter. It - was addressed, "Mr. Thomas Pigeon, Post-Office, R----, - Northamptonshire, to be left till called for." Off I started directly - for R----. I said the same at the post-office there as I had said at - B----; and again I waited three days before anybody came. At last - another chap on horseback came. "Any letters for Mr. Thomas Pigeon?" - "Where do you come from?" "New Inn, near R----." He got the letter, - and away _he_ went at a canter. - - "'I made my inquiries about the New Inn, near R----, and hearing it - was a solitary sort of house, a little in the horse line, about a - couple of miles from the station, I thought I'd go and have a look at - it. I found it what it had been described, and sauntered in to look - about me. The landlady was in the bar, and I was trying to get into - conversation with her; asked her how business was, and spoke about the - wet weather, and so on; when I saw, through an open door, three men - sitting by the fire in a sort of parlour or kitchen, and one of those - men, according to the description I had of him, was Tally-ho Thompson! - - "'I went and sat down among 'em, and tried to make things agreeable; - but they were very shy--wouldn't talk at all--looked at me and at one - another in a way quite the reverse of sociable. I reckoned 'em up, and - finding that they were all three bigger men than me, and considering - that their looks were ugly--that it was a lonely place--railroad - station two miles off--and night coming on--thought I couldn't do - better than have a drop of brandy-and-water to keep my courage up. So - I called for my brandy-and-water; and as I was sitting drinking it by - the fire, Thompson got up and went out. - - "'Now, the difficulty of it was that I wasn't sure it _was_ Thompson, - because I had never set eyes on him before; and what I had wanted was - to be quite certain of him. However, there was nothing for it now but - to follow, and put a bold face upon it. I found him talking outside in - the yard with the landlady. It turned out afterwards that he was - wanted by a Northampton officer for something else, and that, knowing - that officer to be pock-marked (as I am myself), he mistook me for - him. As I have observed, I found him talking to the landlady outside. - I put my hand upon his shoulder--this way--and said, 'Tally-ho - Thompson, it's no use. I know you. I'm an officer from London, and I - take you into custody for felony!' 'That be d--d!' said Tally-ho - Thompson. - - "'We went back into the house, and the two friends began to cut up - rough, and their looks didn't please me at all, I assure you. 'Let the - man go. What are you going to do with him?' 'I'll tell you what I'm - going to do with him. I'm going to take him to London to-night, as - sure as I'm alive. I'm not alone here, whatever you may think. You - mind your own business, and keep yourselves to yourselves. It'll be - better for you, for I know you both very well.' _I_'d never seen or - heard of 'em in all my life, but my bouncing cowed 'em a bit, and they - kept off, while Thompson was making ready to go. I thought to myself, - however, that they might be coming after me on the dark road to rescue - Thompson; so I said to the landlady, 'What men have you got in the - house, missis!' 'We haven't got no men here,' she says, sulkily. 'You - have got an ostler, I suppose?' 'Yes, we've got an ostler.' 'Let me - see him.' Presently he came, and a shaggy-headed young fellow he was. - 'Now, attend to me, young man,' says I; 'I'm a detective officer from - London. This man's name is Thompson. I have taken him into custody for - felony. I'm going to take him to the railroad station. I call upon - you, in the Queen's name, to assist me; and mind you, my friend, - you'll get yourself into more trouble than you know of, if you don't!' - You never saw a person open his eyes so wide. 'Now, Thompson, come - along!' says I. But when I took out the handcuffs, Thompson cries, - 'No! None of that! I won't stand _them_! I'll go along with you quiet, - but I won't bear none of that!' 'Tally-ho Thompson,' I said, 'I'm - willing to behave as a man to you, if you are willing to behave as a - man to me. Give me your word that you will come peaceably along, and I - don't want to handcuff you.' 'I will,' says Thompson, 'but I'll have a - glass of brandy first.' 'I don't care if I've another,' said I. 'We'll - have two more, missis,' said the friends; 'and con-found you, - constable, you'll give your man a drop, won't you?' I was agreeable to - that; so we had it all round; and then my man and I took Tally-ho - Thompson safe to the railroad, and I carried him to London that night. - He was afterwards acquitted on account of a defect in the evidence; - and I understand he always praises me up to the skies, and says I'm - one of the best of men.'" - -The largest of all the classes of thieves, and that which employs the most -extensive range of intellect, of age, and of dress, is the pickpocket. -From the first-rate thief, who works about the banks for six or nine -months until he gets a "good thing" to the miserable urchin who filches a -pocket-handkerchief, how vast a descent! Although strung together by the -common thread of crime, and pursuing, as it were, the same line of -business, a duke could not, and certainly would not, look down upon a -street-sweeper with half the hauteur that the leading rogues do upon the -Fagin-led urchin who replenishes with bandanas the stalls of Field-lane. -The popular notion of swellmobsmen is far wide of the truth. It is -supposed that they may be at once recognized by a certain ultra-foppish -manner of dressing, and an excess of jewellery, whereas the aim of a -professor of the "conveying" art is to go about his occupation unobserved; -for to be known to the police is to be disappointed of his booty. He has -his clothes built by the most correct tailor, and gets himself up as much -like a gentleman as possible. The necessities of his art, it is true, -oblige him to carry a coat over his arm in all weathers; but so may any -veritable man of fashion, without creating suspicion. Still, though he may -manage to pass free in a crowd, and frequent fashionable assemblies -without being suspected by the public, the professed thief-catcher is -rarely to be deceived by appearances. As the hunter marks his quarry by -peculiar signs known only to his craft, so the detective can at once -ascertain whether the fine gentleman walking carelessly along is "wrong," -as the slang term is, or a respectable character. - -The principal sign by which a thief may be distinguished in any assembly -is the wandering of his eye. Whilst those about him are either listening -to a speaker or witnessing a spectacle, his orbits are peering restlessly, -not to say anxiously around. When the thief-taker sees this, he knows his -man. One of the detective police who attended at the laying of the -foundation-stone of the Duke of Wellington's College, thus explained to us -the capture of a gentlemanly-looking person who was present on that -occasion:-- - - "If you ask me to give my reason why I thought this person a thief the - moment I saw him, I could not tell you; I did not even know myself. - There was something about him, as about all swellmobsmen, that - immediately attracted my attention, and led me to bend my eye upon - him. He did not appear to notice my watching him, but passed on into - the thick of the crowd, but then he turned and looked towards the spot - in which I was--this was enough for me, although I had never seen him - before, and he had not, to my knowledge, attempted any pocket. I - immediately made my way towards him, and, tapping him on the shoulder, - asked him abruptly, 'What do you do here?' Without any hesitation, he - said, in an under tone, 'I should not have come if I had known I - should have seen any of you.' I then asked him if he was working with - any companions, and he said, 'No, upon my word, I am alone;' upon this - I took him off to the room which we had provided for the safe-keeping - of the swellmobsmen." - -This was a daring stroke, but it succeeded as it deserved. If the man had -been really honest, he would have turned indignantly upon the person who -questioned him; but pickpockets are essentially cowards, both morally and -physically, and they generally come down at once to save trouble, when the -officer has his eye upon them, as the opossums were wont to do when they -espied that dead shot Colonel Crockett. There is a striking example of -this weakness of their tribe in the amusing work of the "Englishwoman in -America." The scene is an American railway-carriage:-- - - "I had found it necessary to study physiognomy since leaving England, - and was horrified by the appearance of my next neighbour. His forehead - was low, his deep-set and restless eyes significant of cunning, and I - at once set him down as a swindler or pickpocket. My convictions of - the truth of my inferences were so strong, that I removed my purse--in - which, however, acting by advice, I never carried more than five - dollars--from my pocket, leaving in it only my handkerchief and the - checks for my baggage, knowing that I could not possibly keep awake - the whole morning. In spite of my endeavours to the contrary, I soon - sank into an oblivious state, from which I awoke to the consciousness - that my companion was withdrawing his hand from my pocket. My first - impulse was to make an exclamation; my second, which I carried into - execution, to ascertain my loss; which I found to be the very alarming - one of my baggage-checks; my whole property being thereby placed at - this vagabond's disposal, for I knew perfectly well, that if I claimed - my trunks without my checks, the acute baggage-master would have set - me down as a bold swindler. The keen-eyed conductor was not in the - car, and, had he been there, the necessity for habitual suspicion, - incidental to his position, would so far have removed his original - sentiments of generosity as to make him turn a deaf ear to my request, - and there was not one of my fellow-travellers whose physiognomy would - have warranted me in appealing to him. So, recollecting that my checks - were marked Chicago, and seeing that the thief's ticket bore the same - name, I resolved to wait the chapter of accidents, or the reappearance - of my friends.... With a whoop like an Indian war-whoop the cars ran - into a shed--they stopped--the pickpocket got up--I got up too--the - baggage-master came to the door: 'This gentleman has the checks for my - baggage,' said I, pointing to the thief. Bewildered, he took them from - his waistcoat-pocket, gave them to the baggage master, and went - hastily away. I had no inclination to cry 'Stop thief!' and had - barely time to congratulate myself on the fortunate impulse which had - led me to say what I did, when my friends appeared from the next car. - They were too highly amused with my recital to sympathize at all with - my feelings of annoyance; and one of them, a gentleman filling a high - situation in the East, laughed heartily, saying, in a thoroughly - American tone, 'The English ladies must be 'cute customers' if they - can outwit Yankee pickpockets.'" - -The quickness and presence of mind of this lady was worthy of the -practised skill of the detective who marked his man at the Wellington -College ceremonial. That same gathering afforded another example of the -cowardice of the swell mob. Immediately they came upon the ground, -fourteen of them were netted before they had time to try the lightness of -their fingers. They were confined in a single room with only two policemen -to guard them, yet they never attempted to escape, although their -apprehension was illegal, but waited patiently until the crowd had -dispersed. When the doors were thrown open, they immediately made a rush -like so many rats from a trap, and never stopped until they were well out -of sight of the police. The rapidity with which they bolted was caused by -their desire to avoid being paraded before the assembled constables, a -measure which is often taken by the police, in order that they may know -their men on another occasion. If, however, the swellmobsman's eye is for -ever wandering in search of his prey, so also is that of the detective; -and instances may occur when the one may be mistaken for the other. At the -opening of the Crystal Palace, a party of detectives distributed among the -crowd, observed several foreigners looking about them in a manner -calculated to rouse their suspicions. These individuals were immediately -taken into custody, notwithstanding their strong and vehement -expostulations made in very good French. When brought before the -inspector, it came out that they were Belgian police, sent over at the -request of our Government to keep a look out on the _mauvais sujets_ of -their own nation. - -The swellmobsmen proper generally work together at races, in gangs of from -three to seven; those who "cover," as it is termed, making a rush to -create pressure, in order that the pickpocket may use his hand without -being noticed. In taking watches it is generally supposed that the ring -is cut by a pair of wire-nippers. This is rarely the case; thieves have no -time in operating to use any other implement than their own nimble -fingers, and the ring of the watch is wrenched off with the utmost ease, -as the purchase upon it is very great. A police magistrate, of large -experience, suggests that the way to baffle the fraternity would be to -_make the ring work upon a swivel_. Inferior classes of thieves work in -smaller "schools," say of a couple of women and a boy, whose little hand -is capitally adapted for the work. Whilst one woman pushes, the lad -attempts the pocket of the person nearest him, and the third "watches it -off," as it is called; if she observes that the youth's attentions have -been noticed, she immediately draws him back with a "Ha, Johnny, why do -you push the lady so!" Look to your pockets, good reader, when you see -forward little Johnnies about--especially at railway stations. Such places -are the chief resort of this class of pickpockets, and we hear that -theatres and churches, just as the people are coming out, are favourite -haunts--the women creating a stoppage at the door, and the children taking -advantage of it. Women's pockets are much more easily picked than men's, -for the reason that the opening through the dress to it is larger, and it -hangs by its weight free of the person. In a crowd, the operation is easy -enough, as the general pressure masks the movement of the depredator's -hand; when the victim is walking, a more artistic management is required. -The hand is inserted at the moment that the right leg is thrown forward, -because the pocket then hangs behind the limb, an essential condition for -the thief, as the slightest motion is otherwise felt upon the leg. The -trowser-pockets of a man are never attempted in the streets: but in a -crowd, as at a race, he can be cleaned out by a school of mobsmen of -everything in his possession, with little fear of detection. The first -step is to select their victim; to do this demands some caution; and if -they cannot see whether he carries a purse, and if they have no -opportunity of watching him pull it out, they will feel all his pockets. -The "spotter," as he is called, passes his hand across the clothes -seemingly in the most accidental manner; sometimes twice when he is in -doubt. The fact that there is booty being ascertained, the confederates -surround him, and wait for the coming-off of a race. Just as the horse is -at the winning-post, there is a rush forward of the crowd: of this the -mobsmen take advantage, while the victim, perhaps, for better security, -keeps his hand over his pocket, but in vain. At a critical moment the man -behind tips his hat over his eyes, instinctively he lifts up his hand to -set it right, and the next moment his pocket is hanging inside out. Few -betting men who attend much at races have escaped being thoroughly cleaned -out. It is rarely that Londoners are robbed in the streets; they are too -busy, and move on too fast. Country people form the chief game of the -light-fingered gentry: as they stare about, they instantly betray -themselves to their watchful enemy, and in the midst of their admiration -at everything about them, fall an easy prey. The thief in search of purses -or handkerchiefs always makes his way trout-like against the stream. There -are places, which, to carry out our piscatorial analogy, seem -"ground-baited" for these fishers. Temple Bar, St. Paul's Churchyard, the -Shoreditch end of Bishopsgate, Holborn, Cheapside, and other crowded -thoroughfares, all afford excellent sport for the pickpockets, and any one -acquainted with their "manners and customs" may occasionally see them -exercising their craft at these localities, if he watches narrowly. They -look out for a temporary stoppage in the stream of people, and a horse -fallen in the highway, an altercation between a cabman and his fare, a -fight, a crowd round a picture-shop, are all excellent opportunities, of -which they instantly take advantage. - -The May meetings at Exeter Hall, however, form the most splendid harvests -for the pickpocket. If the members of the various religious denominations -who flock thither escape the hustle on the hall stairs, they are waited -upon with due attention in the omnibus. Ladies and gentlemen who attend -these May meetings are well known to be "omnibus people:" they lodge or -visit, for the short period of their sojourn in town, either at Islington, -Clapham, or Camberwell, and the "Waterloos" and the "Victorias" are -followed by the fraternity as certainly as a sick ship in the tropics is -followed by the sharks. Omnibuses are generally "worked" by a man and a -woman; the woman seats herself on the right-hand side of the most -respectable-looking female passenger she can see, and the man if possible -takes a place opposite the individual to be operated upon. If she be a -young person, the man "stares her out of countenance," and, whilst -confused by his impertinence, the "pal," by the aid of a cloak thrown over -her arm, or, if a man, by passing his hand through the pocket of his cloak -made open on the inside for the purpose, is able to rifle her pockets at -leisure. If the victim be a middle-aged or elderly lady, her attention is -engaged in conversation whilst the clearing-out process is going on. The -trick done, the confederates get out at the first convenient opportunity. -It is very rarely that a pickpocket pursues his avocation alone; but a -case has been reported lately in the newspapers, which proves that a -clever artist can work single-handed. A man named William Henry Barber was -charged at the Worship-street court with robbing a lady of her -portemonnaie in a Stoke Newington omnibus: he was well known to the -police, but had generally escaped by his adroitness. His manoeuvres were -thus described by a lady, a resident of Stoke Newington, who had been -robbed by him on a previous occasion:-- - - "She had got into an omnibus," she said, "at Kingsland, several weeks - back, to convey her to town, and found herself next to a - gentlemanly-looking stout man, who was dressed in sober black, with a - white neckerchief, and apparently a dissenting minister. The gentleman - gradually encroached upon her, and pressed upon her; but she thought - nothing of it, as he was very intent upon reading a newspaper the - whole way--so intent, indeed, that she did not see his face, and he - did not seem to notice that his newspaper several times partially - covered her dress. The stranger shortly afterwards got out, and she - did so also in a few minutes, and upon then placing her hand in her - pocket to make some purchase, she found that her purse had been - stolen, and with it seven sovereigns and a quantity of silver." - -The "Dissenting Minister" had evidently worked the Stoke Newington road -regularly, and no doubt the "sober black" and the white handkerchief were -assumed with a perfect knowledge of the "serious" class of passenger he -was likely to encounter in omnibuses running to that suburb. Robberies of -this kind have enormously increased of late. The security with which -pickpockets can work, withdrawn as they are from the surveillance of the -police, is a great incentive to thieves to take to this particular line of -business. - -The earnings of what is called a "school" of boys, who pick pockets in -concert, under the eye of a master, must be considerable; for we were -shown, some time since, a bill made out by one of those Fagins for the -board and lodging of his hopeful youths, from which it appeared that the -regular charge for each was two guineas a week! This person was well known -some years since on the Surrey side of the water as Mo Clarke. He attended -races, dressed in the deepest black, with his young assistants in jackets -and turned-down collars; and the whole group, to the eye of the general -observer, presented the sad spectacle of a widower left with a family of -young children to lament the loss of an attached mother. Their appearance -disarmed suspicion, and enabled them to empty the pockets of those around -them at their leisure. The subsequent fate of two of the children, though -nursed in hypocrisy and vice, proves that the old saying, "once a thief -always a thief," is not invariably correct, for they are at the present -moment flourishing cab and omnibus proprietors. - -The advantage of working out of sight of the police has lately led some of -the swell mob to go to church, prayer-book in hand, and pick pockets -either in the pews or while the congregation is coming down the aisle. -Women are the greatest adepts at this kind of thieving, and they are -constant attendants at confirmations, plundering in sight of the most -touching rite of the Church. The dress of these females is perfect enough; -but with them, as with most other members of the swell mob, the finish is -entirely on the outside; they scarcely ever have any education, and the -moment they open their mouths they betray themselves. This fact is of -especial service in detecting another large class, of thieves--the -shoplifters. A lady cannot go into the shop of any silkmercer or -linendraper without being struck with the rude manner in which the shopman -clears the counter immediately the purchaser takes her seat. The -plundering to which they are subjected is some excuse for their -suspicions, for the assistants cannot tell at first who the customer may -be, and if expensive goods were left exposed while their backs were -turned, serious robberies would inevitably occur. The value of the manner -of speech, as diagnostic of character, was exemplified not long since at -Messrs. Swan and Edgar's, where a lady-like person asked to look at some -"wallenciens." A watch was kept upon the "lady," and she was speedily -detected secreting a card of valuable lace. - -The extent of pilfering carried on even by ladies of rank and position is -very great; there are persons possessing a mania of this kind so well -known among the shopkeeping community, that their addresses and -descriptions are passed from hand to hand for mutual security. The -attendants allow them to secrete what they like without seeming to observe -them, and afterwards send a bill with the prices of the goods purloined to -their houses. Jewellers' shops are especially open to a class of thieving -termed "palming." One of the gang goes in first, and engages the attention -of the assistant; then another drops in, and makes inquiries for some -article which is on the other side of the shop; then perhaps a third, -without recognizing his companions, follows, and asks for something, -saying he is in a hurry, as he has to be off by a certain train, and at -the same time pulls out his watch to show his eagerness to be served. The -shopkeeper's attention is thus diverted from the confederates, who rob the -trays before them of their valuable contents. Some of these fellows are so -dexterous that, if they perceive any person watching them, they can "palm" -back the goods they have secreted, and, on being accused, put on an -appearance of injured innocence, which makes the tradesman believe that -his own eyes must have deceived him. The higher order of thieves will -sometimes "ring the changes," as it is called. This must be ranked among -the fine arts of swindling. They will call on first-rate houses, and -request to be shown valuable pieces of jewellery, such as diamonds, -necklaces, and bracelets, which are kept in cases. Having noted the case, -they go away, promising to call with "a lady." A case exactly similar is -then made, with which they call a second time, and ask to see the -identical bracelet they before admired, and substituting the empty case -for that containing the jewels, depart with an apparent inability to -decide upon the purchase. Many robberies to a heavy amount have taken -place in this manner. Jewellers are liable to be attacked from without as -well as from within. From the narration communicated by a prisoner to -Captain Chesterton, when governor of Coldbath-fields prison, we extract -the following method of procedure in what is termed "starring the -glaze:"-- - - "One or two parties divert attention while another 'stars.' This is - either done by a diamond, or by inserting a small penknife through the - putty, near the corner of a pane, and cracking it; the wet finger - carries the crack in any direction; an angle is generally formed. The - piece is wrought to and through, and then removed; if necessary, - another piece is 'starred' to allow of the free ingress of the hand. - In a retired neighbourhood an opportunity is taken of tying the door, - in order to prevent any one coming out, and on passing of a heavy - carriage the hand is driven through a square of glass, upon which has - been laid a piece of strong paper, coated with treacle, to prevent - noise from the glass falling, and then articles of value are removed. - This is termed spanking the glaze. At other times the parties - intending to star go a night or two before and break one of the lower - squares of glass, a watch is then put upon the shop to know when the - square is renewed, which, of course, the putty being soft, can be - removed at pleasure; a piece of leather, upon which is spread some - pitch, being applied to the square to prevent it falling when pushed - in. Much time is saved this way." - -We often hear of the march of intellect in thieving, and the height to -which its professors have carried it in these latter days. There could be -no greater delusion; all the tricks of card-sharpers, ring-droppers, -purse-cutters, &c., are centuries old, and it does not appear that they -are performed a bit more adroitly now than in the days of Elizabeth. Mr. -Charles Knight, in his charming paper on London rogueries, gives examples -of the tricks of the Shakspearian era, which prove, as he observes, that -pickpocketing in all its forms was taught as cleverly in the days of the -Tudors as by Fagin and his boys in "Oliver Twist." His account of a school -of thieves discovered in 1585 is an instance:-- - - "Among the rest they found one Wolton, a gentleman born, and sometimes - a merchant of good credit, but fallen by time into decay. This man - kept an alehouse at Smart's Key, near Billingsgate, and after, for - some misdemeanour, put down, he reared up a new trade of life; and in - the same house he procured all the cut-purses in the city to repair to - his house. There was a schoolhouse set up to learn young boys to cut - purses. Two devices were hung up--one was a pocket and another was a - purse. The pocket had in it certain counters, and was hung about with - hawk's bells, and over the top did hang a little scaring bell; the - purse had silver in it, and he that could take out a counter without - any noise was allowed to be a public Foyster; and he that could take a - piece of silver out of the purse without noise of any of the bells, - was adjudged a judicial nypper, according to their terms of art." - -The tricks we have enumerated all require cunning, lightness of hand, and -address, rather than strength and courage. As the swellmobsman stands at -the head of this school, so the cracksman or housebreaker stands on the -highest pinnacle of the other great division of crime which attains its -ends by force and courage. Since the ticket-of-leave system has been in -action, this department has flourished to an alarming degree. The released -convict re-enters the community with the enlarged experience of the hulks -and with a brutal disregard of danger. Suddenly thrown upon his resources, -with a blasted character, society leaves him no better means of livelihood -than his old course of crime. One fellow who was brought up to Bow-street -had committed no less than four burglaries within three weeks after he had -been liberated! Bands of ruffians, with crape masks and with deadly arms, -stand by the bed at dead of night, and, after robbing and terrifying their -victims, leave them gagged and bound in a manner that would disgrace -banditti. It is true these burglaries are confined to lonely houses -situated in the country; but housebreaking has been on the increase of -late even in the metropolis. Some of the craftsmen have become so expert, -that no system of bolts or bars is capable of keeping them out. It may be -as well to state, however, that a sheet of iron, on the inside of a panel, -will often foil the most expert burglars; and all operators of this class -who have opened their minds upon the subject to the prison authorities -admit that it is totally impossible, without alarming the inmates, to -force a window that is lightly barred with a thin iron bar and supplied -with a bell. A shutter thus protected, and which gives a little with -pressure, will not allow the centrebit to work without creating a motion -which is sure to ring the alarum. - -Most burglaries of any importance, especially those in which much plate is -stolen, are what is termed "put up;" that is, the thieves are in -correspondence with servants in the house, or with those that have been -discarded. Many robberies that appear to have been accomplished in a most -wonderful manner from without, are committed from within. In "put up" -robberies, however, the thieves seldom allow the confederate in the house -to know when the robbery is to come off, for fear of what is termed a -"double plant;" that is, lest the person who originally "put up" the -robbery should, from the stings of conscience, or for other reasons, have -officers in waiting to apprehend them. It is quite sufficient for adroit -burglars to know where the valuables are kept, and the general -arrangements of the house. We are indebted to the Yankees for an extremely -clever method of gaining entrance to hotel bed-chambers, even when the -inmate has fastened the door. The end of the key which projects through -the lock is seized by a pair of steel pliers, and the door is unlocked -whilst the traveller sleeps in fancied security. Several robberies of this -kind have lately taken place. The most ingenious pilfering of the "put up" -kind we ever heard of occurred many years ago in a large town in -Hampshire. A gang of first-rate cracksmen, having heard that a certain -banker in a country town was in the habit of keeping large sums of money -in the strong box of the banking-house in which he himself dwelt, -determined to carry it off. For this purpose the most astute and -respectable-looking middle-aged man of the gang was despatched to the -town, to reconnoitre the premises and get an insight into the character of -their victim. The banker, he ascertained, belonged to the sect of -Primitive Methodists, and held what is termed "love-feasts." The cracksman -accordingly got himself up as a preacher, studied the peculiar method of -holding forth in favour with the sect, wore a white neckerchief, assumed -the nasal whine, and laid in a powerful stock of scripture phrases. Thus -armed, he took occasion to hold forth, and that so "movingly," that the -rumour of his "discourses" soon came to the ears of the banker, and he was -admitted as a guest. His foot once inside the doors, he rapidly "improved -the occasion" in his own peculiar manner. The intimacy grew, and he was -speedily on such terms of friendship with every one in the house, that he -came and went without notice. He acquainted himself with the position of -the strong box, and took impressions in wax of the wards of the locks. -These he sent up to his pals in town, and in due course was supplied with -false keys. With these he opened the strong box, made exact notes of the -value and nature of its contents, and replaced everything as he found it. -A plan of the street, the house, and of the particular chamber in which -the treasure was kept, was then prepared and forwarded to the confederates -in London. He persuaded his kind friend the banker to hold a love-feast on -the evening fixed for the final stroke. A few minutes before the time -appointed for the robbery, he proposed that the whole assembly should join -with him in raising their voices to the glory of the Lord. The cracksman -laboured hard and long to keep up the hymn, and noise enough was made to -cover the designs of less adroit confederates than his own. The -pseudo-preacher, to disarm suspicion, remained with his friend for a -fortnight after the theft, and on his departure all the women of the -"persuasion" wept that so good a man should go away from among them! - -In a large number of cases the servants are only the unconscious -instrument in the hands of the housebreaker. We will venture to say that -more house robberies are committed through the vanity of servant girls -than from any other cause. A smart young fellow, having heard that plunder -is to be obtained in a certain house, manages to pick up an acquaintance -with one of the female domestics, and makes violent love to her. We all -know how communicative young women are to their sweethearts, and the -consequence is, that in a short time he gets from her every particular -that he requires,--the habits of the family, the times of their going out, -the position of the plate-chest, and the fastenings of the doors. Where -only a servant of all-work is kept, the process is more simple. The lover -calls in the absence of the family at church, proposes a walk, and takes -charge of the street-door key, which, unseen to the girl, is passed to a -confederate; and whilst the polite lover and his lass are enjoying the -cool of the evening the house is being ransacked. An investigation took -place at the Lambeth Police Court a few months ago, where the poor girl -who had been made the tool of the housebreaker attempted to commit suicide -in order to prevent the consequences of her folly. Her account of the -manner in which the "plant" was made upon her, affords a good example of -the style of "putting up" a house robbery:-- - - "The young man with whom she had casually become acquainted called - after the family had gone out, and she asked him into the back - parlour. He then asked her to dress and go out with him, and he - remained in the back parlour while she dressed. While in the back - parlour he asked her if she could get a glass of wine, and she told - him that she could not, as the wine was locked up. He said it did not - matter, as they should have one when they went out, and that he - expected to meet his sister at the Elephant and Castle. They then left - the house and went for a walk, and on reaching the Elephant and Castle - remained there for some time, waiting for the young man's sister, but - did not see her. They next proceeded to a public-house, where they had - a glass of brandy-and-water, and the young man accompanied her to the - end of the street, where they parted, with the intention that they - should meet at one o'clock on the following day and spend the - afternoon together. On going to unlock the door, she found it ajar, - and on going in, found that the house had been robbed. On discovering - this, she did not know what to do, but thought she would make up a - story about thieves having got into the house, and took up the knife - and chopped her hand; but after this, not knowing how to face her - master or mistress after being so wicked, she took up the knife again, - intending to kill herself, and inflicted the wound on her throat." - -This confession was enough for the officers, and her "young man," with his -confederates, were caught and convicted. The frequency of these robberies -should put housekeepers on their guard as to what followers are allowed, -lest the "young man" should turn out to be a regular cracksman in -disguise. We bid the housekeeper also beware of another danger that -sometimes threatens him when he has an empty house for a neighbour. -Thieves always, if possible, make use of it as a basis of operations -against the others. They creep towards the dusk of evening, when the -inmates are generally down stairs, along the parapet, and enter -successively the bedrooms of the adjoining tenements. As many as half a -dozen houses have thus been robbed on the same occasion. Police-constables -always keep a careful watch upon these untenanted houses, by placing -private marks on some part of the premises; and if any of these signs are -disturbed, they suspect that something is wrong, and make a further -examination. In the City, where an immense amount of valuable property is -stored in warehouses, the private marks are much more used than in other -portions of the metropolis, and are continually changed, lest they should -become known to thieves and be turned to their advantage. - -Professional beggars are almost without exception thieves; but as they are -generally recruited from the lowest portion of the population, they never -attain any of the higher ranks, but confine themselves to petty acts of -filching, or to cunning methods of circumventing the honest. The -half-naked wretch that appears to be addressing the basement floor in -piteous terms, has a fine eye for the spoons he may see cleaning below; -and the shipwrecked sailor just cast ashore from St. Giles's would be an -awkward person to meet with in a dark suburban lane. Professional beggars -are migratory in their habits. They travel from town to town, not in the -filthy rags we are accustomed to see them in, but in good clothing; the -rags are carried by their women, and are only donned when they are nearing -the place in which they intend to beg. - -There is an audacious class of thieves, termed "dragsmen," who plunder -vehicles. At the West End they chiefly operate upon cabs going to or -coming from the railway stations. As this kind of thieving is carried on -under the very eyes of the foot-passengers, it is rarely attempted except -in the dusk of the evening. The dragsman manages to hang on behind, as -though he were merely taking a surreptitious ride, but in reality to cut -leather thongs and undo fastenings, and be able at any convenient moment -to slip off a box or parcel unobserved. The carelessness of the public is -the best confederate of this sort of thief. In the case of Lady -Ellesmere's jewels, the box was put not _inside_, but _outside_, the cab -in which the valet rode, and not in the middle of other boxes, but the -_hindermost_ of all--just the place in which the dragsman would have -planted it. It is now known that the robbery was effected between Berkeley -Square and Grosvenor Square, as a man was seen with the package standing -at the corner of Mount Street, Davies Street, bargaining with a cabman to -take him to the City. The man and his booty were driven to a public-house, -but the box must have been shifted immediately, for in two hours from the -time it was lost it was found rifled of its contents in a waste piece of -ground in Shoreditch. It might perhaps for a moment be suspected that this -was a "put up" robbery, but we are precluded from adopting this view of -the case, as it is, we believe, suspected that the man sold the jewels, -which were worth perhaps 25,000_l._, for a very trifling sum. He must have -been entirely ignorant of their value, and having by a chance stroke -obtained a magnificent booty, threw it away for an old song. Not many -weeks after this extraordinary robbery, a plate-chest of her Majesty was -stolen from a van between Buckingham Palace and the Great Western Railway. -There were persons walking alongside the vehicle, and it seems marvellous -how it could be possible to remove unseen a heavy chest under such -conditions; but every facility was given in this case, as in the former, -for the plunderers to do their work unmolested. In the first place the box -was put in such a position that its bottom came flush with the ledge of -the van. Next, the journey from Buckingham Palace to Paddington was, in -the driver's idea, too far to go without baiting on the way; therefore -bait he did at a little public-house, and every person in charge of the -property went inside to drink. According to their own account, they did -not stop more than a minute; this minute was enough: like Laertes, the -thief might have said, "'Twill serve." In this instance also the box was -found empty in a field at Shoreditch, and it is believed that a -ticket-of-leave man had a hand in both robberies. - -The habits of thieves have been somewhat modified since the institution of -the new police, and the adoption of the principle of prevention instead of -detection, in dealing with the criminal population. In the time of the old -Bow-street Runners the different classes of thieves had their houses of -call, in which they regularly assembled. The arrangement was winked at by -the magistrates, and approved by the officers, as useful to them in -looking after offenders that were wanted. John Townsend, when speaking of -the supposed advantage of these flash houses, said, "I know -five-and-twenty, or six-and-twenty years ago, there were four houses where -we could pop in, and I have taken three or four, or five or six of them at -a time, and three or four of them have been convicted, and yet the -public-house was tolerably well conducted too." Perhaps officers who lived -upon the capture of thieves had good reason for maintaining these flash -houses, in which most robberies were concocted; the case is far different -now that the police are paid by day rather than by piece-work, by weekly -salary rather than by blood-money, and all known flash houses have long -been discontinued. Some fifteen years since a few remained in the Borough, -but Superintendent Haynes broke them up, and rooted them out. Thieves -cannot meet now in respectable houses, for if they did, the constables -would become aware of the fact, and the landlord would speedily lose his -license. The passing of the Common Lodging-house Act has also assisted in -dispersing the desperate gangs, one of which, known under the name of "The -Forty Thieves," infested the town a few years since. It may be asked, what -sort of mutual fellowship exists among these outcasts who live below the -surface of "society"? Of the seven or eight thousand thieves in the -metropolis, very few are acquainted with each other; they are, in fact, -divided into as many sections as are to be found among honest men. Beyond -their own peculiar set they do not associate with their kind. The -swell-mobsman is as distinct a being from the cracksman as a Bond-street -dandy from a South-Sea islander; they do not even talk the same slang, and -could no more practise each other's art, than a shoemaker could make a -table. These natural divisions of the underground world of rogues -immensely facilitate the operations of the police. The manner in which -they do their work is also in some cases a pretty good guide to the -detectives. Skill and individuality is evinced in unlawful as well as in -lawful pursuits--in the manner in which a door is forced, as much as in -the style a picture is painted; and a clever officer, after carefully -examining a door or a window, will sometimes say, "This looks like -'Whiteheaded Bob's work,'" or "'Billy-go-Fast,' must have had a hand in -this job." - -The leading swell-mobsmen are the only class of thieves who "touch," if we -may term it, the ordinary society of better men. The practitioner in this -line must dress and be as much like a gentleman as possible, in order to -pursue his avocation without suspicion. Accordingly, he lives with a -woman, who passes for his wife, in genteel lodgings, and generally in the -drawing-room floor. As his earnings are often very large, he has -everything about him of the most expensive kind; his style of living is -luxurious, and he drinks nothing less than hock and champagne. He -sometimes keeps a banking account, and one man named Brown, lately -apprehended, had a balance at his banker's of 800_l._! As the members of -this fraternity work wholly in the daytime, going out in the morning and -returning in the evening, the landlady believes that they are engaged in -mercantile pursuits, and have business in the City; and, as it is part of -their game to pay their way liberally, she esteems them to be model -lodgers! - -The domestic habits of thieves are all pretty much alike; fluctuating -between the prison and the hulks, they exhibit the usual characteristics -of men engaged in dangerous enterprises. They mainly pass their time, when -not at "work," in gambling, smoking, and drinking, and in listening to the -adventures of their companions. It must be remembered, however, that the -professed thief, even if he drinks, is never _drunk_; he is employed in -desperate undertakings which require him to have his wits about him quite -as much, if not more than the honest man. When a pickpocket is flush of -money, he spends it in the most lavish manner,--takes a tour with his -female companion to the Isle of Wight, or to any other place he has a wish -to see, and puts up at the best hotels. In some of these trips he thinks -nothing of spending 30_l._ in a fortnight, and when the money is gone he -comes back again "to work." Thieves are generally faithful to each other; -indeed the community of danger in which they live develops this virtue to -an unusual extent. If a "pal" is apprehended, they cheerfully put down -their guinea apiece to provide him with counsel for his trial; and if he -should be imprisoned, they make a collection for him when he comes out. A -curious circumstance is the rapidity with which news of any of the body -having been arrested travels among his companions. We are assured that no -sooner is a young thief captured and taken to the station-house, although -he may have been plundering far away from his home, than some associate -brings him his dinner or tea, as a matter of course. - -The best class of swell-mobsmen sometimes act upon the joint-stock -principle "with limited liabilities." When a good thing is in prospect--a -gold-dust robbery or a bank robbery--it is not unusual for several of them -to "post" as much as 50_l._ apiece in order to provide the sinews of war -to carry on the plan in a business-like manner. If in the end the job -succeeds, the money advanced is carefully paid back to the persons -advancing it--several of whom have lived for years on plunder thus -obtained, without the police being able to detect them. Often the -receivers make these adventures in crime, and plot the robbery of a -jeweller's shop with as much coolness and shrewdness as though it were an -ordinary mercantile speculation, and the produce is disposed of in the -same business-like manner. Watches are what is termed "re-christened," -that is, the maker's names and numbers are taken out and fresh ones put -in; they are then exported in large quantities to America. All articles of -plate are immediately thrown into the crucible and melted down, so as to -place them beyond the hope of identification. In many cases, when the -receiver cannot thoroughly depend upon the thief, it is, we believe, -customary to employ intermediate receivers so as to render it impossible -to trace the property to its ultimate destination. It must not be supposed -that the passion for gain is always the sole incentive to robbery. "Oh, -how I do love thieving! If I had thousands, I'd still be thief;" such were -the words uttered by a youth in Coldbath-fields Prison, and overheard by -the governor.[49] - -If the machinery for preventing and detecting crime has so vastly improved -within this present century, the same may be said for the method of -dispensing justice. Up to as late as 1792, the magistrates of -Bow-street--the first "police-office," as it was then termed--were paid in -that most obnoxious of all modes, by fees, which were often obtained in a -manner so disgraceful that the magistrates got the name of "trading -justices" and "basket justices." Our old friend John Townsend, whom we -must summon once more to our aid, gives an insight into their proceedings, -and he knew them well. He said, "The plan used to be to issue warrants, -and to take up all the poor devils in the streets, and then there was the -bailing them, 2_s._ 4_d._, which the magistrate had. _In taking up a -hundred girls_, that would make, at 2_s._ 4_d._, 11_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ They -sent none to jail, _for the bailing them was so much better_!" The old -Bow-street worthy then draws a picture of the magistrate settling the -amount of these ill-gotten fees with his clerk on the Monday morning. The -"basket justices" were so called, because they allowed themselves to be -bought over by presents of baskets of game. These enormities were so -glaring, that, according to Townsend, "they at last led to the Police -Bill, and it was a great blessing to the public to do away with these men, -for they were nothing better than the encouragers of blacklegs, vice, and -plunderers. There is no doubt about it." In 1792 seven other "offices" -were established, namely, Queen-square, Great Marlborough-street, Hatton -Garden, Worship-street, Lambeth, Shadwell, and Union-street, each office -having three magistrates, who did the duties alternately. These, by the -addition of the suburban courts, have since been augmented to eleven. They -form the judgment-seats to which all offenders in this great capital of -2,500,000 inhabitants are brought, either to be punished summarily, or to -be remanded to the sessions to take their trial. - -The police-courts may be likened to so many shafts sunk in the smooth -surface of society, through which the seething mass of debauchery, -violence, and crime, are daily bubbling up before the public eye. A -spectator cannot sit beside the magistrate on the bench for a couple of -hours without feeling that there are currents of wickedness flowing among -the population as fixedly as the trade-winds in the tropics. A panorama -of sin passes before his eye which he shudders to think is only like a -single thread drawn from the fabric of vice which underlies the whole -system of elegant, punctilious, and accomplished metropolitan life. On -every case that comes before him the magistrate unassisted has to decide -rapidly and justly, unless he desires to call down upon his head the -thunders of an ever-watchful press. In addition to his judicial duties, he -has to answer numberless questions, and to give advice upon law points to -distressed persons: and all this amid a pestilential atmosphere which is -calculated to depress both body and mind. Nevertheless, the work is done -admirably, and justice, as speedy as that dispensed by cadis in Eastern -tales, and much more impartial, is dealt to the throng brought before him. - -From an analysis of the Criminal Returns of the Metropolitan Police, it is -apparent that crimes have their peculiar seasons. Thus attempts to commit -suicide generally occur in the months of June, July, and August, and -rarely in November, according to the commonly accepted notion; comfort, it -is evident, is considered even in the accomplishment of this desperate -act. Common assaults and drunkenness also multiply wonderfully in the -dog-days. In the winter, on the contrary, burglaries increase, and, for -some unknown reason, the uttering of counterfeit coin. - -The character of the cases brought before the police-courts varies, in -some degree, according to the neighbourhood and other causes. Bow-street -still maintains the pre-eminence over the other courts which it exercised -in the old days, when the horse-patrol and the detective police, known as -the Bow-street runners, were in existence; and this it does in consequence -of its special jurisdiction over persons who are amenable to foreign law. -The cases of this class--arson, murder, or bankruptcy--are heard in -private, generally by the chief magistrate, and the depositions are -forwarded direct to the Foreign Office. Ticket-of-leave men who have -committed fresh offences, are here deprived of their tickets and -apprehended by a warrant from the Home-Office. All Inland Revenue and -Post-Office cases, such as stealing from letters, are adjudicated upon -exclusively at Bow-street, which is, in fact, _the_ Government office. - -The Thames police deals with mutinies and murders committed on the high -seas, and all disputes under the Mercantile Marine Act come as a matter of -course to this court, together with the major portion of the criminals, -the scene of whose offences is in the docks and on the river. Drunkenness, -the vice of the sailors, and the insubordination arising out of it, form a -very large portion of the charges of the district. Worship-street is -famous, or rather infamous, for wife-beaters. The reason is curious, and -supplies a hint to philanthropists to reform the dwellings of the poor, -rather than pass harsh acts of parliament against the husbands, which in -many cases only serve to aggravate the evils arising from their brutality. -The majority of the wife-beaters come from Bethnal-green, where there are -a great number of large old mansions let out to the working-classes in -floors or flats. Sometimes as many as twenty families live in the same -house. The children play about in the passages as a neutral ground, -disputes arise, and the mothers take the parts of their respective -offspring with discordant fierceness. This drives the men to the -public-houses, where they drink their porter _iced_ and listen to more -pleasant sounds in the shape of gratuitous concerts. The wives in turn are -driven to the tavern doors to seek their mates, with words not too -conciliatory, and are brutally assaulted by the drunken husbands, who are -taken up the next day and get six months' imprisonment, _the family being -in most instances irretrievably broken up and ruined thereby_. Some of the -magistrates, seeing the baleful working of the system, have attempted a -solution of the difficulty by making the husband promise to allow the wife -to receive his weekly wages from his master, whose consent to the -arrangement has been given. In many instances this plan has worked well, -since the husband knows that on the slightest infringement of the -agreement his spouse may give him six months' imprisonment, judgment in -the case having been only suspended. But this power, again, is often -abused by the woman, and it is a common thing for them on the least -threat of their mates to say, "Mind what you are about, or I will give you -'a sixer.'" - -Cases of begging are principally heard at the Marlborough-street -police-court, as the rich streets in its neighbourhood are the main scenes -of the nuisance. Blind beggars especially affect Regent-street, -Oxford-street, and Piccadilly, the most thronged thoroughfares in the West -End. We warn our readers against their charitable tendencies for these -people. If the truth was known, the cry, "Pity the poor blind!" far from -exciting their pity, would arouse their disgust. Blind beggars, as a -class, are the most profligate scoundrels in the metropolis, thinking of -nothing but their grosser appetites, and plundering the charitable for -their satisfaction. One of these men lately taken into custody was -discovered seated at the breakfast-table with ham and fourteen poached -eggs before him! At the Westminster police-court the foot-guards are -continually visitors against their will; but it is remarked as -extraordinary that not one of the horse-guards has been charged here for -years. - -A custom has grown up of making the police magistrates the almoners of the -public in cases which have attracted the attention of the charitable -through the medium of the press. Many a poor forsaken creature has -suddenly found himself not only famous, but comparatively rich, by the -simple process of telling his tale in one of these courts. The news of it -flies through the country in the pages of the _Times_, and in the course -of two or three mornings the magistrate is oppressed with post-office -orders for the benefit of the sufferer, the donors simply requesting that -their gifts should be acknowledged in the public journals. The annual -receipts at the different courts for special cases must amount to a large -sum; and there is in addition a constant flow of small sums towards the -poor-box, the contents of which are distributed at the discretion of the -magistrate. The annual income from this latter source is about 300_l._ per -annum at Marlborough-street, and at Bow-street respectively, the greater -portion of which is given to deserving objects whose cases have come -before the court, and the remainder is dispensed at Christmas to the poor -of the neighbourhood in the shape of coals and candles. We are -particularly anxious to make this fact known, in order that the charitable -may be aware that their gifts are well bestowed. The magistrates do not, -we believe, encourage these donations, as they consider that the -distribution of alms is incompatible with their office; but, on the other -hand, it cannot be denied that a vast amount of temporary aid is thus -given to persons whose needs cannot be satisfied by the union workhouse. -Deserving people are often furnished with the means of obtaining a -livelihood, workmen whose tools have been burned in a conflagration -supplied with new ones, and in some cases women left behind by their -husbands, under circumstances of peculiar hardship, have been provided -with a passage to Australia. The thousands in England who only want to -know where genuine misfortune exists to hasten to its relief, have a -greater guarantee that they will not be imposed upon by these cases at the -police-courts than by private solicitations, as the magistrates have the -means of sifting the statements of applicants. Nevertheless, even these -astute public servants are now and then deceived, and comparatively large -sums have been received by them for persons who have afterwards been -ascertained to be unworthy of relief; and in instances where the discovery -took place in time, the money, by the direction of the donors, has been -transferred to truer objects of charity. - -The fees, penalties, and forfeitures received at the eleven metropolitan -police-courts and by the justices of the exterior police districts are -very considerable; in 1855 they amounted to 11,315_l._ 16_s._ 6_d._ This -sum goes towards defraying the expenses of the courts, which, together -with the salaries of the officers, and other items, amounted in the same -year to 63,021_l._ 0_s._ 5_d._ The expenditure may be considered -reasonable, when it is remembered that 60,000 cases are annually disposed -of, many of which require a minute knowledge of statute and of common law. -The chief improvement required is the improvement of the buildings. The -Thames police-court is the only one at all suitable for its purpose. An -enclosed yard is attached to it, in which the police-van can draw up and -discharge its prisoners without exposing them to the public gaze, an -important point in times of public excitement. Clerkenwell and Westminster -are the next best-arranged courts, but both want space and air; Lambeth, -though lately built, is a complete failure; many of the other courts are -held in small private houses; and in those of Marlborough Street and -Hammersmith, the business is transacted up stairs. In the latter court it -is a common thing to hear it said of persons who have been taken before -the magistrates--"he has been up the forty steps." With the common people, -with whom these institutions have mainly to deal, justice should be -dispensed with regard to appearances; there should be the formality of the -superior courts, and somewhat of their show. A magistrate sitting in a -plain black dress like an ordinary gentleman, and a lawyer dispensing -justice in his wig and gown, are two very different things to the lower -classes, whatever they may be to educated persons; and the want of all -official costume, and the huddled style of doing business, inseparable -from the present confined space, is not calculated to inspire the people -with much respect. The police should at least be put upon a level with the -county-courts. The latter have to deal with less momentous interests. -Questions of paltry debt cannot be put in comparison with questions -involving the liberty of the subject; the power of committing to prison -for six months with hard labour is far more important than that of -adjudicating in money disputes under five pounds. It is not enough that -justice is administered; it is the opinion which the people have of it -that produces the effect, and until the judgment-seat is rendered -dignified, and those who sit on it are clothed with the habiliments which -distinguish the magistrate from the man, the law, by losing most of its -impressiveness, will lose its moral power over delinquents. The vulgar -terror of punishment may remain, but the lesson which is conveyed to the -feelings by the solemn stateliness of the tribunal is entirely gone. - - - - -MORTALITY IN TRADES AND PROFESSIONS. - - -It is but natural to suppose, that in such a busy hive of industry as -England, where so large a proportion of the population--at least -one-half--is engaged in the prosecution of arts and manufactures, that the -effects of unceasing toil, and the debilitating influences of many -employments, will have a certain effect upon the health and longevity of -the artisan. We cannot pit the tender muscles of the child against the -senseless energy of steam, without producing a strain upon the vital -principle of the workers which must be highly injurious to it. We cannot -consign a population as large as that of many German States to live -perpetually in the bowels of the earth, without being prepared for an -increased death-rate. The hundreds of diverse manufactures and -handicrafts, which make the land hum with labour, must all be prosecuted -under circumstances more or less inimical to perfect health. If we take -the agricultural labourer of the better class, whose daily toil is -performed under the roof of heaven, it must be clear that all trades which -pursue their monotonous vocations in the crowded workshops of crowded -cities, in constrained attitudes, and subject to debilitating emanations, -must, to a certain extent, fall short of his standard of health. -Nevertheless, we do not think the public are prepared for the state of -things which a close examination of the sanitary condition of certain -portions of the working population divulges. Accustomed to be furnished -with all the appliances of easy life and luxury, the great middle and -upper classes have never perhaps given a thought as to the manner in -which these wants and appliances are supplied. Accustomed to sip the -honey, it never strikes us that perhaps its product involves in some cases -the life of the working-bee. Yet the lady, who, from the silken ease of -her fauteuil, surveys her drawing-room, may learn a lesson of compassion -for the poor workman in nearly every article that lies before her. Those -glazed visiting cards, if they could speak, possibly could tell of the -paralyzed hand that made them; that splendid mirror, which lights up the -stately room, has, without doubt, reflected the trembling form of the -emaciated Italian artificer poisoned with mercurial fumes; those hangings, -so soft and delicate, may have produced permanent disease to the weaver, -whose stomach has been injured by its constant pressure against the beam; -the porcelain vase on the bracket has dragged the "dipper's" hand into a -poison that, sooner or later, will destroy its power, and, may-be, produce -in him mania and death; nay, the very paper on the walls, tinted with all -the vernal brightness of spring, has, for all we know, ulcerated with its -poisonous dust the fingers of the hanger. The history of the manufacture -of almost every article of elegance or _virtu_ would disclose to us -pictures of workmen transiently or permanently disabled in the production -of them. All this suffering--much of it totally preventible--goes on -without complaint, the workman falls out of the ranks, and another -instantly takes his place, to be succeeded perhaps by a third. We are -convinced that such a waste of health and life could not be endured, if -the public were fully alive to the magnitude of the evil; for this reason -we shall endeavour, in the following essay, to give a true picture of what -may, perhaps, without pedantry, be termed the pathology of industrial -occupations and professions in this country. - -Foremost among those artisans who suffer from the inhalation of dust and -other gritty particles given off in the pursuit of their employment are -the grinders of Sheffield. Dr. J. C. Hall, in a series of papers published -lately in the _British Medical Journal_, draws a picture of the condition -of these unfortunate men, which is indeed appalling, and without doubt -gives them the bad pre-eminence of pursuing the most deadly trade in -existence. Grinding is divided into dry, wet, and mixed; that is, the -various articles of steel turned out of the cutler's shop of Sheffield are -subjected to the stone entirely dry, revolving in water, or to processes -involving both methods. Of the three, the former is by far the most -deadly: forks, needles, brace-bits, &c., are ground entirely on the dry -stone, and the amount of finely-divided metal dust and siliceous grit -given out in the process may be imagined, when we state that a dozen of -razors, weighing 2lb. 4oz. as they come from the forge in the rough, lose -in the process of "shaping" on the dry stone, upwards of five ounces, and -the stone itself, seven inches in diameter, would be reduced one inch. To -receive the mixture of stone and steel thus rapidly given off, the -position of the grinder is but too convenient; straddled across his -"horsing," as the frame in which the grindstone revolves is called, with -his knees bent in an acute angle, his body inclined forwards, and his head -hanging over the work, his mouth is brought into fatal contact with the -poisonous dust, and his eyes with the rush of the sparks. Fork-grinding is -performed entirely on the dry stone, and consequently it is the most -deadly occupation pursued in Sheffield. About 500 men and boys are at -present devoting themselves to destruction during the period of early -manhood, for the benefit of the users of steel forks. "The silver fork -school" imagines perhaps that these vile appliances have long been -banished to the same limbo as snuffers, and will be surprised to learn -that more steel forks than ever are thus fashioned in Sheffield, and the -poor grinder, as he receives into his lungs the products of the -fashioning, in his own person exemplifies the awful passage in the -burial-service--"dust to dust"--as the disease thus induced cuts him off -at the average age of twenty-nine years! "I shall be thirty-six years old -next month," remarked a grinder, pathetically, to Dr. Hall, "and you know, -measter, that's getting _a very old man_ in our trade." Another operation, -almost as deadly as fork-grinding, is that of "racing the stone." These -grindstones are but roughly reduced to the circular form by the quarry -men, and the grinder undertakes the business of reducing and removing all -their asperities, which he does by revolving them against a piece of -steel--a tremendous dust being given off in the process. In wet grinding, -which is employed in the manufacture of saws, files, sickles, -table-knives, and edge-tools, comparatively little dust is made, and in -these employments the grinders enjoy comparatively longer life; their -average age ranging from thirty-five to forty years. In addition to the -destructive effects of these particles of metal and stone upon the -delicate membrane of the lungs, the dry-grinder is subjected to serious -injury of the eyes from the red-hot particles of steel thrown off in the -shape of sparks. The more careful of the workmen protect themselves from -the danger, however, by wearing large spectacles of ordinary window glass. -These spectacles, when they have been in use a little time, give practical -evidence of their utility, for on examining them they are found to be -speckled all over with the particles of steel, which, when red-hot, become -embedded in the glass. - -In the rough nomenclature of the trade, the disease which thus early -destroys the fashioner of forks and needles is termed the _grinder's rot_. -The lung, when examined after death, looks as though it had been dipped in -ink, and the texture, instead of exhibiting the usual spongy character of -that organ when in health, cuts like a piece of india-rubber! The colour -and the solidification of the dry-grinder's lung is owing to the chronic -inflammation to which it has been subjected by the presence from an early -age of irritating particles of steel and stone within its finest air -passages. But why dry-grind at all, the reader will involuntarily exclaim, -if the wages of the occupation are death? The grinder replies, that there -are certain operations which cannot be done on the wet stone; giving the -rounded back to razors, technically called "humping," and the rounded side -to scissors, are quoted as examples. The pressure during the process of -shaping is so great, that the rolling friction would speedily make the -stone wear, and the workman would be unable to hold the blade upon it. -Then, again, we may ask, where is the necessity for this rounded -form--would the shaver on a cold morning care a jot whether his razor had -a round or a square back? Would the lady, as she manipulated her lace-work -with her scissors, hesitate to accept a three-sided scissor-leg in place -of a half-round one, if she knew that the difference involved the life of -a fellow-creature? Yet such trifling differences as these between round -and flat, stand in the way of the health or misery of an entire class of -workers! We give a list of the average duration of life of artisans in -steel in Sheffield:--Dry-grinders of forks, 29 years; razors, 31 years; -scissors, 32 years; edge-tool and wool-shears, 32 years; spring-knives, 34 -years; table-knives, 35 years; files, 35 years; saws, 38 years; sickles, -38 years--the ascending longevity being in proportion to the amount of -water used on the stone, and to the greater amount of adult labour -employed; such articles as saws, sickles, and tools are happily too heavy -to be manipulated by the children employed, and thus early diseased in the -manufacture of the lighter articles. - -The only relief to be gathered from this dismal picture of wasted life, is -the fact that things are not so bad as of old. By means of greater speed -being given to the stone, many articles, such as pen and pocket-knives, -are now ground with a wet stone that formerly were ground with the dry; -and happily much of the dust has been abolished in the best shops, such as -that of Messrs. Rodgers, by the introduction of fans on the principle of a -winnowing-machine, which blows the dust and grit as it comes from the -grindstone clear away through a flue placed in connection with the -chimney. This fan is, however, only partially used; the grinders -themselves, whom they are intended to benefit, complaining that the "trade -is bad enough as it is, and if men lived longer, it would be so over-full -that there would be no such a thing as getting a living:" the same spirit -rejected Mr. Abraham's mask of magnetized wire, invented many years ago -for the same object. There can be no doubt, however, that intelligence -should rule in this matter, and that the Legislature should make it a -fineable offence to work a dry stone without a fan, just as it is to work -dangerous machinery without guards; for where one life is lost by neglect -in the latter case, thousands sink into a premature grave in the former. -Grinders, wet or dry, may also protect their lungs, in a most remarkable -manner, by simply allowing the beard and moustache to grow. The hirsute -appendages of the upper lip and chin are Nature's respirators, and it has -been observed that those men who have allowed her in this respect to have -her way, have discovered that she is somewhat wiser than fashion or -popular usage. - -Of those artisans exposed to irritating dust, probably miners take the -second place after the miserable dry grinders. If we investigate the -condition of these men, we are immediately struck with the lamentable -conditions under which they labour, and astonished at the endurance and -patience with which they submit to toil to which that of the well-fed, -well-housed felon is pleasant pastime. There are at present upwards of -300,000 human beings acting the part of gnomes for the good of the -community at large, entering day by day into the bowels of the earth, and -emerging in the evening. Of human life they see as little as the train of -black ants we watch emerging from their holes in the ground. Yet the miner -is the industrial Atlas of England. Were he to cease to labour, this busy -hive of men would speedily be hushed, and the giant limbs of machinery, -which now do the drudgery of the world, become as still as the enchanted -garden of the fairy tale ere the advent of the prince. Without the coal -and the iron, the copper and the tin, they toilfully evolve from vast -depths, England would be but a third-rate power. A life so cheerless, and -yet so useful--nay, essential, to our national existence--should at least -receive at the hands of the Government every protection that can be thrown -around it; yet, if we follow the miner into his gallery and working cell, -we are amazed at the dangers and the difficulties which are needlessly -thrust upon him in the black realm in which he moves and has his being. -Let us take the collier, for example. In many pits in the West of England, -the seams of coal are not more than twenty or twenty-five inches thick; -and inasmuch as the object of the worker is to remove the coal with as -little as possible of the surrounding soil, he often drives his working -to a considerable distance through an aperture not more than, and often -not so much as, two feet high. If our adult male reader will condescend to -squat himself on the floor, _a la Turque_, say under the dining-table, for -instance, and then picture to himself the inconvenience of picking with an -axe the under side of the prandial mahogany for twelve hours, he will -obtain some slight idea of the muscular knot into which the poor collier -has to tie himself, for the whole term of his working life, having to use -violent exercise throughout. Can it be wondered at that, under such -circumstances, the Apollo-like form of man becomes permanently twisted and -bent, like the gnarled root of an oak that has been doubled up in the -fissure of some rock? If we look at a collier, we see instantly that his -back is curved, his legs bowed, and the extensor muscles of his calves -withered through long disease. He has knotted himself so long, that the -erect position of his race becomes a punishment to him. It is credibly -related that a number of colliers, having been sentenced to imprisonment -in Wakefield jail, with hard labour, the only complaint they made was, -that they were obliged, whilst at work, to keep the ordinary posture of -rational creatures. But confined space is only one of the many evil -conditions under which they labour. In the majority of cases the collier -works in foul air; for, notwithstanding all the official inspection, the -ventilation of mines is still execrable. The fire-damp either blasts him -into a cinder, or the choke-damp noiselessly blots out his life. However -good, moreover, the general system of ventilation in a mine, unforeseen -accidents will happen at any moment. The pick of the collier strikes into -the gallery of an old pit, where carbonic acid gas has been gathering -perhaps for a century; and the poisoned air rushes in and does its work in -an instant; or a sudden invasion of carburetted hydrogen, disengaged by -the fall of a mass of coal, meets the miner, who is working, perhaps -imprudently, with a naked candle;--and an explosion follows which crowds -the pit's mouth with a wailing multitude of newly-made widows and orphans. - -Upwards of 1,500 lives are annually lost, principally through these -causes, and not less than 10,000 accidents in the same period testify to -the dangerous nature of the miner's occupation, notwithstanding the strict -Government inspection.[50] It is humiliating to know that England is yet -far behind continental nations in her methods of preventing these dreadful -catastrophes. Mr. Mackworth, in his lecture at the Society of Arts, stated -that the mortality from accidents was, in the coal mines of - - Killed Persons. - Prussia 1.89 per 1000 per annum. - Belgium 2.8 " - England 4.5 " - Staffordshire 7.3 " - -This comparison, so humiliating to England, cannot be explained by the -superior adventure of our countrymen, inasmuch as the production of coal -in Belgium is half as much again per acre of the coal-field as in England. -It is not, however, to the dramatic accidents of coal mines which every -now and then startle the community, to which we wish to draw attention; -but rather to the silent progress of disease, which makes his death so -premature, and his life so miserable. In addition to his cramped -condition, whilst at work, his supply of oxygen is small; for in all -probability the air supplied to him has to circulate many miles through -the mine, and to pass over the excrementitious deposits of man and horse, -and the decaying woodwork of the mine, ere it finally reaches him, in -enfeebled streams, in his solitary working cell. Long deprivation of solar -light, again, tends to impoverish his blood, to blanch him, in short, like -vegetable products similarly deprived of the light of day. It is through -the lungs, however, that the health of the miner is principally attacked. -The air of a coal mine (such as it is) holds a vast amount of coal-dust in -mechanical suspension, and this, as a matter of course, is constantly -passing into the lungs of the miner. The proof of this is the so-called -"black spit" of the collier, which, on being subjected to the microscope, -is found to consist of mucus, filled with finely divided particles of -coal. The permanent inhalation of such an atmosphere results in what is -termed the "black lung." The breathing apparatus of the collier becomes -clogged, in short, with coal-dust, and after death it has the appearance -of being dipped in ink. A writer,[51] who has lately investigated this -singular pathological condition, thus gives his experience of two -_post-mortem_ examinations:-- - - "In each case, the black treacly fluid obtained by thus cutting the - various portions of the lung (more especially the posterior and - inferior portions of the lower lobes), and by slitting up the - bronchial tubes, was evaporated to dryness, and the residuum being - broken up and subjected to a red heat in a porcelain tube retort, - behaved precisely as coal under similar circumstances, _i.e._ it - evolved a smoke-like gaseous product, which, on being slightly - condensed, deposited hydro-sulphide of ammonium and coal tar, and - being thus purified, burnt in all respects like the well-known - compounds of the two carbides of hydrogen (common gas)." - -Dr. Gregory, of Edinburgh, many years since, by destructive analysis, came -to the same conclusion respecting the carbonaceous nature of this deposit. -The presence of this foreign body in the lungs leads to the whole train of -pulmonary diseases. Asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia are but too -frequent, and we are consequently not surprised to hear that the aggregate -amount of sickness experienced by this class, for the period of life from -twenty to sixty, is 95 weeks, or 67 per cent, more than the general -average. - -Rheumatism, leading to heart disease, is another very common complaint of -the miner. Indeed, all the conditions of ill-managed mines seem ready -prepared for the propagation of this disease. When mines are driven to any -considerable depth, the temperature proportionably increases, and 80 -degrees of Fahrenheit is a common temperature at the end of workings, all -the year round. After exposure to this oppressive atmosphere during the -whole day, the collier perhaps suddenly emerges into the open air at the -pit's mouth, vitally depressed by his prolonged exertion, when the bitter -wind is shaving the surface of the earth at a temperature much below -freezing point. In the coal-field stretching from Valenciennes to -Aix-la-Chapelle, the mines are made conspicuous a long way off by the -presence of huge buildings, which enclose the machinery and the top of -the pit. In these buildings apartments are prepared in which the colliers -change their clothes before and after labour, and wash themselves in baths -filled with hot water from the steam waste-pipe. The importance of this -sanitary precaution is very great, inasmuch as colliers, like -chimney-sweeps, are subject to a skin disease, in consequence of the -begrimed condition of their skins. Lady Bassett has established these -baths, we understand, at her mines at Camborne, in Cornwall; but we think -that the enforcement of a sanitary act of such importance should not be -left to the philanthropic tendencies of individuals, but should be -required by the Government. If a provision of this kind were made -compulsory, and stricter legislation with respect to ventilating mines -were established, no doubt a vast amount of disease could be eliminated. -It is estimated that the worst coal mines can be ventilated thoroughly at -a cost of one penny per man per day, and that in well-constructed furnaces -the consumption of one ton of coals per day at the bottom of an up-cast -shaft will enable each collier to cut one ton of coals more per day with -the same amount of exertion. Such being the case, there can be no excuse -for asphyxiating the miners wholesale. Those proprietors of mines, who are -only open to these breeches-pocket appeals, should know that it is their -interest, in a pecuniary sense, to ventilate well, inasmuch as the -preservative effect of pure air upon the wood brattrices, which form so -expensive an item in mining, effects a saving of 80 per cent. - -Our remarks hitherto have been directed entirely to coal mines and -colliers, as these are by far the most extensive industrial occupations of -the kind. The metalliferous mines, such as the tin and copper mines of -Cornwall, and lead mines of Derbyshire, are in pretty much the same -pestiferous condition, but in one particular they are still more -destructive of life than coal mines. In the latter the tired workman is -lifted from the depths of the mines to the surface by a rope. The Cornwall -miner, on the other hand, has to carry his exhausted body in some cases -thousands of feet up a series of steep ladders to the mouth of the mine. -It has been estimated that many miners have thus to make an exertion -every night equal to climbing to the summit of Cader Idris, and this in an -up-cast shaft used for the extraction of the foul air! The disastrous -effect upon the already weary miner has long been known, yet in only a few -of the great mines of Cornwall has the tireless arm of the steam-engine -been called in to save him from this unnecessary labour. The machinery -used is called a man-machine, and differs entirely from that employed in -coal-pits. In place of a rope, a beam of wood or iron descends through the -whole length of the shaft; this beam, at regular intervals of ten feet, -has little platforms attached to it, sufficient to afford standing-room to -a miner; at the sides of the shaft are similar platforms, at the same -intervals. At every stroke of the engine the beam ascends or descends -through the space of ten feet, consequently the miner has only to step -from the fixed platform to the moving one to be lifted ten feet every time -it ascends. In this manner as many as a hundred men are lifted at the same -time several thousand feet in a few minutes, without any more exertion -than is necessary to make a few score steps. This curious invention has -materially benefited the miner, and where it is used there is a manifest -absence of the heart disease, induced by the climbing of interminable -ladders placed in an almost vertical position. - -Dr. Greenhow, in his report on the prevalence of certain diseases in -different districts of England and Wales, very clearly proves the -deleterious nature of the lead-miner's employment by the comparisons he -makes between the death-rates of the men and women of Reeth and Alston, -which are purely lead-mining districts. In the former, the lead-miners die -at the rate of 2,037 per 100,000 of all ages, whilst their wives, sisters, -and daughters, who are variously employed, die at the reduced rate of -1,711 per 100,000; in other words, lead-mining in this one typical -district caused an excess of no less than 3.26 deaths in every 100,000 -inhabitants; and if we make a comparison relative to the prevalence of -pulmonary disease between the two sexes, above the age of twenty, we find -the death-rate of the men is double that of the women. The evil influence -of copper-mining on the male population is not quite so marked, but still -it is apparent enough. Thus, in Redruth, in which this kind of labour is -exclusively carried on, we find that in every 100,000 of population, 220 -males die from pulmonary disease more than females; and in Penzance, which -is exclusively a tin-mining district, the superior waste of male over -female life, in the same population, of all ages, is 104. - -The mason, like the miner, is particularly liable to suffer from the -presence of irritating substances in the lungs. It has been asserted that -in Edinburgh members of the craft rarely live more than fifty years. This -is doubtless owing to the nature of the material they work upon. There is -great reason to suppose that the degree of damage done to the delicate -air-cells of the lung is to be measured by the nature of the particles -inhaled. Thus, the ragged portions of granite detached by the chisel are -much more likely to do harm than the less irregular dust of the -bricklayer. In this manner we can account for the high rate of mortality -said to exist among the masons of our northern metropolis. The scourers in -the potteries exercise their fearful trade in an atmosphere loaded with -pulverised flints, a mineral dust of the most distressing character: we -are not surprised, therefore, to hear that in this process pulmonary -disease is still more rampant than among the Edinburgh masons, and is -little inferior to that of the dry grinders of Sheffield, who receive into -their lungs jagged particles of steel as well as grindstone dust.[52] It -will be unnecessary to consider all the trades which are affected by -dust, inasmuch as the artisans employed in them are similarly subjected to -pulmonary affections, if not in a like degree. Thus millers are rendered -consumptive and asthmatic by the floating meal of their mills; -snuff-makers by the snuff which pervades the air of their places of work; -pearl-button-makers suffer still more from the same cause; and the men of -Sheffield who haft knives with cocoa-wood or ebony are affected with a -disease exactly like the hay-asthma. The shoddy-grinders of the West -Riding, who grind and break up rags in a machine called "a devil," are -subjected to what they term the shoddy fever, in consequence of the -devil's dust given off in the tearing process. The dressers and preparers -of hair, especially of foreign hair, are speedily broken in health by the -dust and stench produced by their operations. - -The evil effects arising from the prosecution of these trades sink into -insignificance, however, when compared with the destruction caused by the -floating fluff of flax-mills. These mills employ children of tender years, -who have to work in an atmosphere loaded with vegetable particles to such -a degree, that in a measure it clouds the vision. The hecklers are the -chief sufferers in this department of industry, especially the children, -who are, many of them, forced to work the same time as adults--that is, as -long as human nature can possibly hold out. We shall have more to say, -however, when we come to consider the effects of bleaching and dyeing -works, respecting those trades which exhaust the youthful powers of large -portions of the working population, and thus do infinitely more damage to -the race than the more curious diseases of smaller trades, which may be -severe enough, but do not affect more than infinitesimal portions of the -population. - -It would be supposed that workers on decomposing vegetable and animal -matter would suffer a sickness and mortality only inferior to the artisans -subjected to the emanations of poisonous metals. _A priori_, we should -say, for instance, that dustmen, night men, and the workers in sewers, -would be amongst the most unhealthy of the working classes, and, indeed, -routine sanitarians would summarily tell us that such must be the case. -The begrimed and dusty scavenger, whose very name is a reproach, spends -the best part of his life in clearing away the disgusting refuse of -civilization; he has yet another duty to perform which brings him into -still closer contact with unsavoury emanations. The lay-stall, or -scavengers' yard, is of course a huge collection of the sweepings of the -streets, the refuse of the markets, and the night-soil and dust of the -houses, but it is not allowed to remain in a fermenting and indiscriminate -mass. Almost as soon as it is deposited, men, women, and boys are employed -to sift and sort the heap; bones, glass, woollen and linen rags, old iron -and other metals, have to be eliminated from the mass and set aside, and -the coals and great cinders are extracted from the useless ashes by the -"hill-men." It would scarcely be possible to bring human life into closer -contact with filth of every kind than we find it to be in the workers in -these lay-stalls. Yet, strange to say, Dr. Guy, who has investigated their -sanitary condition, finds them to be among the healthiest of our working -population. "They are, with a very few exceptions," he tells us, "a -healthy-looking, ruddy-complexioned race;" that is, they wear their -natural rouge under their artificial tint, reversing the more fashionable -method of May Fair. - -"One or two boys," he tells us, "whom I saw at work, would have been -excellent models for the artist." Our London readers will perhaps remember -to have seen troops of robust and rosy-looking young women, not perhaps in -afternoon toilet, making their way, about five o'clock, from the Marble -Arch across Hyde Park; these are the "hill-women," chiefly Irish, trooping -home to the rookeries of Westminster; their appearance quite confirms Dr. -Guy's views as to the healthful appearance of these workers. The master -scavengers, who live with all their families amid these heaps of dusty -desolation, excite the admiration of this searcher after truth still more; -and at last, breaking out of the calm unimpassioned manner which the -philosophical statist, who deals only with general truths, is wont to -impose upon himself, he thus fairly gives vent to his admiration for the -genus dustman:-- - - "To conclude this account of the health of this very useful class of - men, I will merely add that the score or so of master scavengers who - were brought together on more than one occasion by the trial already - alluded to (an indictment for nuisance against a lay-stall keeper), as - the origin of these inquiries, _are the healthiest set of men I have - ever seen_. I do not think, whether in town or country, such a body of - men could be brought together, except by selection; and it is not - going too far to assert of them, that if the comparison were limited - to the inhabitants of London, or our large towns, no score of selected - tradesmen could be found to match the same number of scavengers - brought casually together." - -This is high praise, and doubtless deserved; but few people, however, -would have suspected that Hygeia clasped so closely to her bosom the grimy -scavenger in his filthy frock. Dr. Guy, however, gives us hard figures for -his pleasant flourishes. If we compare the scavenger with other workmen -placed under somewhat similar circumstances, he rises triumphant over -them. Thus whilst the bricklayer's labourer, generally a very poor -Irishman, it is true, suffers from fever, a ratio of 35-1/2 per cent., and -the brickmaker 21 per cent., the scavenger experiences only 8 per cent. of -illness from the same cause. This result does seem astonishing when we -remember that sanitarians sometimes attribute so much illness to the -presence of a neglected dust-heap; but as Dr. Guy very justly remarks, -those emanations which may prove injurious when confined within a small -space--and our houses, like bell glasses, cover and keep in numberless -impurities--become innoxious when fully exposed to the air. We suspect, -however, that the power of ashes to absorb noxious emanations of all -kinds, is at the bottom of the striking immunity which the scavenger -exhibits from all febrile complaints. Nightmen and sewer-men, again, are -brought into direct communication with the most disgusting, and as the -public are led to suppose, the most poisonous animal effluvia; they stir -in the very nidus of fever, yet it has been remarked by many observers -that they are singularly exempt from this disease. Sir Anthony Carlisle -tells us that out of fifty men employed in the sewers in his time, only -three had had fever. Thakrah declares that out of eighteen examined by his -assistant, only two had even slight disorders, and they informed him that -appetite was increased by the effluvia; and finally Dr. Guy tells us that -out of thirty-four nightmen examined by him, only one had had an attack of -fever, and he only through being out of work for three weeks; he suffered, -in short, _from change of air_, and perhaps want of food. Dr. Guy, in the -little pamphlet we have already quoted from, states a most remarkable -fact, illustrative of the changes of opinion, even amongst medical men, -relative to the effects of snuffing sewer emanations. He says, that a -gentleman who accompanied him in one of his inspections over a scavenger's -yard, informed him that, "he perfectly well recollects thirty years ago, -when he was a lad, seeing as many as twelve patients directed by the -faculty of that day _to walk round the shoots_ for the night-soil on his -father's premises; and he appealed for confirmation of this statement to -his brother, who said that he had seen scores of patients industriously -inhaling this curious dose of physic." Thakrah, who wrote his celebrated -"Treatise on the Effects of Trades and Professions on Health," about this -period, tells us that the parents of consumptive youth, in his time, -brought them up to the business of a butcher, in the hope of averting that -formidable malady. In endeavouring to avoid Scylla, they fell into -Charybdis, inasmuch as it is a well-ascertained fact that butchers, -although exempt from consumption and scrofula, are very prone to -inflammatory diseases. They are seldom ill, but when ill, it goes hard -with them,--so much so, that, as a class, these jolly, red-faced men, the -very pictures of their own beef, are but short-lived. The effects of -animal emanations, and the contact of animal substances with the skin in -protecting workmen from consumption, is a very remarkable circumstance. -Tanners constantly at work among tan-pits, are rarely, we believe, -attacked with phthisis; and those artisans in the woollen-manufacture -termed cloth-piecers, whose skins are smeared with oil in the course of -the day, present a remarkable contrast to the workers in cotton -factories,--their flesh being plump and rosy, and their muscles strong. -Mr. Thompson of Perth, who has investigated this subject, found the weight -of one hundred young persons, so employed, increased in three months 575 -lbs., giving an average increase of 5-3/4 lbs., and in eight selected -cases the gain during the same brief period averaged no less than 17 lbs. -each person. The beneficial effect of this department of the -woollen-manufacture is so well known, that in Yorkshire the better classes -frequently send the delicate members of their families to the -woollen-mills for the benefit of their health. The application of oil, -especially of cod-liver oil, to the skin, has indeed been recommended to -consumptive patients, as thereby a greater amount of carbonaceous material -can be thrown into the system without deranging it than by any other. -After having drawn attention to so many occupations which are positively -injurious to artisans, it is at least gratifying to be able to point to -one large and rapidly-increasing manufacture which is so clearly -beneficial in its operations upon human health. - -There is a class of artisans which suffers from the inhalation of -poisonous matters into the lungs, like the grinders and the masons, &c., -but the foreign matter here presents itself in the form of a subtle -vapour, rather than in that of dust. We little think, when we strike a -lucifer-match,--that incomparable product of civilization, whose inventor -deserves a statue in every capital in Europe,--what suffering it may -possibly have caused in its manufacture. The composition at the end of a -match is composed of phosphorus combined with oxymuriate of potash and -glue, made into a paste, and kept liquid by being placed over a heated -metal plate. Into this composition the "dipper" dips the bundle of -matches, and in doing so he is forced to inhale the vapour given off, -which is strongly charged with phosphoric acid, the effect of which upon -him is sometimes most disastrous. After a time he experiences most -excruciating pains in the bones of the jaw, but principally in the lower -one; they begin to swell, a purulent discharge takes place, and, finally, -the bone dies and comes away. Mr. Stanley, one of the surgeons of St. -Bartholomew's Hospital, had a patient who thus lost the whole of the lower -jaw. There appears to be considerable doubt whether the poison acts -locally or constitutionally. One would naturally suppose that if the -action were local, it would first take effect upon the bones of the nose, -but, as far as the experience of surgery goes, the "dipper" always -preserves his nose intact. That the poisonous fumes have a certain -constitutional effect, the aspect of the workman at once declares; -cadaverous in complexion, emaciated to a degree, and painfully nervous, he -presents the appearance of a person suffering from the presence of some -irritant poison in the blood. It certainly is very remarkable that -phosphorus, which, in the form of phosphate of lime, is a very important -constituent of bone, should have such an extraordinary effect upon it when -received into the system in the manner we have described. We are not aware -that this drug, when received into the stomach only, has ever produced the -local effect noticed; but, without doubt, it is the quantity of the -poisonous agent to which the workman is subjected, as he not only receives -the fumes directly into his mouth and air-passages in the act of -"dipping," but the whole atmosphere of the factory becomes so impregnated -with phosphorus, in consequence of its volatilization when the process of -drying the matches is being proceeded with, that his clothes even become -saturated to such an extent that in the dark they appear quite luminous. -In Vienna, where enormous numbers of lucifer-matches are made, necrosis of -the jaw is of common occurrence among the workmen; and the German -physicians believe that the disease arises principally in persons of -scrofulous habit, the periosteum or lining membrane of whose bones are -peculiarly liable to take on inflammatory action, the death of the bone -following as a matter of course. If this view of the case be true, all -scrofulous persons should be warned from the employment, as dangerous, and -in all cases employers should adopt every precaution in their power to -prevent the recurrence of such mischief to the employed. Mr. Stanley says -that the oil of turpentine, which is a solvent of phosphorous, when -exposed in saucers, absorbs the vapour which does so much mischief, and -that its employment in a large lucifer-match factory in the neighbourhood -of the London Hospital was attended with the happiest success. Thus we -have another example of the power of the chemist to make the good elements -of his craft do battle with the evil ones in the cause of humanity. - -Another and more common instance, in which the workman is sacrificed to -luxury, is the case of the water-gilder. The skill of this artisan is -employed in gilding metals, principally silver, by the action of fire. The -metal to be gilded is coated with an amalgam of gold and mercury, and is -then exposed to the fumes of a charcoal fire, which drives off the -mercury, and leaves the gold adherent to the metal. During the process the -fumes of the mercury are inhaled by the workman, and, indeed, deposit -their metalliferous particles over the entire surface of the skin. The -result is, that he speedily becomes afflicted with mercurial tremor, or, -in the language of the workshop, he gets "a fit of the trembles." If he -proceeds with his work the tremor rapidly increases. Dr. Watson, in -describing a patient thus afflicted, says:-- - - "He was led into the room, walking with uncertain steps, his limbs - trembling and dancing, as though he had been hung on wires. While - sitting on a chair he was comparatively quiet,--you would not suppose - that he ailed anything; but, as soon as he attempted to rise and to - walk, his legs began to shake violently with a rapid movement. He - could neither hold them steadily nor direct them with precision." - -Were it not painful to contemplate, the incoherent muscular action of -workmen thus afflicted would appear ludicrous. In endeavouring to put his -food into his mouth he will sometimes, as in chorea, bob it against his -eye or his cheek; and extreme cases have been known in which the -unfortunate water-gilder thus afflicted has been forced to take his food -like a quadruped. As the disease increases, the complexion becomes of a -brown hue, and presently delirium, and, lastly, want of consciousness -supervenes. To this complexion comes the water-gilder; and as the silverer -of looking-glasses is exposed to the action of mercury, both by touch and -inhalation, the same effects are produced upon him. If the charming belle, -as she surveys her beauty in the glass, could but for a moment see -reflected this poor shattered human creature, with trembling muscles, -brown visage, and blackened teeth, she would doubtless start with horror; -but, as it is, the slaves of luxury and vanity drop out of life unobserved -and uncared for, as the stream of travellers disappeared one by one -through the bridge of Mirza. Happily, the subtle finger of electricity has -in a measure emancipated the water-gilder from the horrors of his art. The -voltaic battery now deposits the metal without the intervention of -quicksilver, and science has eliminated another of those destructive -agencies which have hitherto afflicted this class of artisans. - -The silvering of mirrors and looking-glasses still remains a dangerous -operation; but there can be no doubt that with properly-constructed flues -the floating metal would be entirely conducted away. Indeed, it is by the -chimney that much of the metal now escapes; for Thakrah tells us that he -has been informed by a manufacturer that from the sweepings of the chimney -on one occasion he had collected twenty pounds of good quicksilver. -Another, and a very manageable expedient, sometimes resorted to by those -exposed to the fumes and the oxide of mercury, is to cover the mouth with -a tube-like proboscis, which hangs out of the way of the floating metal, -and thus conducts pure air to the operator. - -Thakrah tells us that workers in brass also suffer from the inhalation of -the volatilized metal. The brass-melters of Birmingham suffer from -intermittent fever, which they call the brass ague. This malady leaves -them in a state of great debility. The filers of brass, on the same -authority, are subject to a most peculiar affection, like Tittlebat -Titmouse, their hair turning a vivid green. It is supposed that the copper -in the brass-dust combines with the oil of the hair, and thus an oxide of -copper is formed. Coppersmiths are, of course, similarly affected. -Plumbers, whilst casting, are subject to the volatilized oxide of lead, -which in time produces paralysis; and while they are soldering, many -deleterious fumes arise, of a sweetish taste, and of a highly astringent -nature, which often produces violent attacks of constipation. - -But poisonous metals may attack the mucous membrane in the shape of -finely-divided powder used in the arts. There is an exceedingly beautiful -paper, of an apple-green colour, which is often selected for the coolness -and cheerfulness of its appearance. The writer was himself once deluded by -the seductive appearance of a paper of this description, and had his -library furnished with it. Strange to say, a violent cold seemed to seize -every one, even in the midst of summer, who stopped long in this -apartment, especially if they came much in contact with the walls. On -questioning the paper-hanger the mystery was speedily explained. "I never -hang that kind of paper," he said, "without getting a bad sore throat and -a running of the eyes. All the trade knows it is good for a cold to have -any dealings with it." The cheerful green of the paper is nothing less -deadly than the aceto-arsenite of copper, an irritant poison of the first -class. The flock part of the paper contains a large quantity of pigment in -the form of dust, which is of course liable to be detached from the walls -on very slight occasions. It has been erroneously supposed that the metal -must be volatilized by heat ere it can be separated from the paper; but -the action of detachment is mechanical, and not chemical; the poisonous -dust either falls or is brushed off the wall, and becomes mixed with the -ordinary dust of the room; the lifting of a book, or the displacement of a -pile of papers, proves sufficient to set these particles in motion, and to -bring them in contact with the mucous linings of the eyes, nose, and -throat; hence the violent irritation produced, which similates so closely -the effects of a bad cold in the head. Professor Taylor, the celebrated -medical toxocologist, has moreover proved the presence of arsenic in the -dust fallen from this kind of paper. In a letter to the _Medical Times and -Gazette_, of January 1st, 1859, he says,-- - - "I procured from the shop of Messrs. Marratt and Short, opticians, 68, - King William Street, London Bridge, a quantity of dust for the purpose - of analysis. The walls of this shop are covered with an unglazed - arsenical paper, and, as I am informed, they have been so covered for - a period of about three years. In collecting this dust from the tops - of the cases containing the instruments, great care was taken not to - touch the walls. The quantity thus collected for examination amounted - to about 450 grains. It was nearly black, and, under the microscope, - appeared to consist of fibres of sooty particles. It was very light - and flocculent. One hundred and fifty grains of the dust were examined - by Reinsch's process, and enough metallic arsenic was obtained from it - to coat about ten square inches of copper foil, in addition to a piece - of copper gauze. From the latter deposit, by the application of heat, - octahedral crystals of arsenic were readily obtained. The case had not - been dusted for a period of nine months. Even the dust of instruments - locked up in the cases, which were lined at the back only with the - green paper, was found to be charged with this poisonous pigment. Half - a grain of the dust sufficed to cover pretty thickly with metallic - arsenic a square inch of copper gauze. These facts," says Professor - Taylor, "lead to the inevitable inference that the air of a room, of - which the walls are covered with an unglazed arsenical green paper, is - liable to be charged with the fine dust of the poisonous - aceto-arsenite of copper. Those who inhabit these rooms are exposed to - breathe the dust. The poison may thus find its way by the pulmonary - membrane into the system, or it may affect the eyes, nose, and throat - by local action." - -After this unimpeachable testimony to the poisonous character of the -pigment in this paper, it is not difficult to understand that the workmen -employed in its manufacture are particularly liable to attacks of illness -which exhibit all the symptoms of acute influenza; or that the -paper-hangers, in putting it up, are sometimes obliged to leave work for a -time, in order to get rid of the distressing symptoms to which its -manipulation gives rise. - -There is in Sheffield an occupation connected with tool-making which -forms, as it were, a connecting link between the diseases produced by -working in steel and those which flow from working in lead: we allude to -file-making. Unfortunately, the various preparations of lead enter very -largely into the arts and manufactures of this country; and as its action -upon the human body is very great, its pernicious influence is felt in a -vast number of occupations of a diverse nature. Thus, white-lead -manufacturers, sheet-lead rollers, painters, plumbers, potters, china -manufacturers, colour-grinders, glaziers, enamellers of cards, -lead-miners, and shot-makers, all come under the saturnine influence; even -the poor lacemakers of Belgium do not escape, for the manufacturer, in -order to make the fibre look white, requires them to dust it with -white-lead powder, and possibly, by this means, it may find its way into -the fair skin of a duchess! - -It may seem strange that a worker in steel should suffer from the poison -of lead, but it occurs in this manner:--The file-maker, in order to hold -the file securely, and, at the same time, to protect the fine edge of the -sharp chisel with which he cuts the face of the file, places it upon a bed -of lead which rests upon an anvil. In cutting the larger three-square -files, the workman uses as much as a pound of lead a week; this is -detached from the mass by friction and the use of the chisel, in the form -of a fine black powder. It is curious that the first portion of the -file-cutter's anatomy that is affected is the finger that rests upon the -lead; at first it feels numb, and then becomes paralyzed. If the artisan -will not take warning by this fastidious touch of a digit, before long the -poison grips him by the wrist, and then some fine morning he wakes and -finds that he has what is termed in the trade "a dropped hand;"[53] that -is, the extensor muscles of the wrist are paralyzed, and the hand falls -helplessly forward, like the fore-paw of a kangaroo. Here the specific -action of the poison has exerted itself through the skin of the part -affected. The same thing is observable in painters, who are more subject -to lead-paralysis than perhaps any other workers in lead. The finger which -first touches the brush first suffers; and the potter, who has in the -course of his trade to dip his ware in a preparation of lead and flints in -order to form the glaze, is in like manner, but still more severely, -afflicted. It is well ascertained, however, that the constitutional -effects which show themselves in obstinate constipation and cholic, arise -from the reception of the lead directly into the mouth, either in the -shape of finely-divided particles, or floating in the air, or direct from -the fingers to the manipulators: thus, painters will eat their food with -fingers soiled with the brush. The mere exhalations of paint are -sufficient to paralyze some constitutions very speedily; a single night -spent in a newly-painted house is sufficient to produce cholic, -especially in young children. And Dr. Watson, in his "Practice of Physic," -relates a case in which a person suffered from dropped hands who had, she -said, no concern with lead in any way: on cross-examining her, however, it -at last came out that her sons "had in the preceding summer occupied their -leisure time with making birdcages and painting them green in the one room -in which she habitually lived." The dippers, as they are termed in the -potteries, are perhaps subjected to more frightful effects from -lead-poisoning than any other workmen: in addition to paralysis and -cholic, the subtle poison sometimes creeps into the brain, mania comes on, -and they die raving mad. The grinding and packing of white lead is so -destructive, that the men can work at the occupation for a few hours in -the day only; the dust that is given off penetrates the clothes, and -covers the skin to such an extent that these artisans, after taking a -medicated bath of sulphuret of potassium in water, come out like -blackamoors. - -In these works rats and mice are speedily poisoned by the fine white-lead -dust, which penetrates even to their holes. The artisan who handles lead -in its various combinations may, however, vastly mitigate his trouble by -adopting perfect cleanliness. Before every meal he should wash his hands -thoroughly, and after work he should change his clothes. Medical science -has given him the means of being forewarned that lead is entering his -system by a particular and rarely-failing diagnostic sign: where the metal -has entered the system a blue line will be discovered near the edge of the -gums; when this blue Peter is hoisted he may know that danger is at hand, -and that, unless he is more careful, his bread-earning hand will speedily -drop powerless by his side. In all cases, however, prevention is better -than cure; and we are glad to learn that almost perfect exemption from -painter's cholic and paralysis has been secured in some extensive painting -establishments, by causing artisans to drink a lemonade made by adding a -drop of sulphuric acid to a gallon of water. The sulphuric acid is -supposed to form, with the lead received into the mouth and stomach, a -sulphuret of that metal, which is insoluble, and, therefore, cannot be -taken up by the absorbents into the system. - -There are many important classes of workers whose sufferings have nothing -either curious or dramatic about them, who nevertheless furnish the -largest contingent to the army of death. At the head of these dismal -companies march tailors, bakers, and milliners of large cities and towns. -These three classes supply more victims to what has been erroneously -termed "the English death," or consumption, than any other. Yet there can -be no doubt that there is but one condition wanting to render these -employments comparatively speaking healthy, and that one want is pure air. -Dr. Arnot makes the monkeys in the Zoological Garden teach us a lesson in -this particular which should not be lost upon us. In his evidence before -the Health Commission he says:-- - - "A new house was built to receive the monkeys, and no expense was - spared which, in the opinion of those intrusted with the management, - could ensure to those natives of a warm climate all attainable comfort - and safety. Unhappily, however, it was believed that the object would - be best secured by making the new room nearly what an English - gentleman's drawing-room is. For warming it, two ordinary drawing-room - grates were put in as close to the floor as possible, and with low - chimney openings, that the heated air in the room should not escape by - the chimneys, while the windows and other openings in the walls above - were made as close as possible. Some additional warm air was admitted - through the openings in the floor, from hot-water pipes placed beneath - it. For ventilation in cold weather, openings were made in the - skirting of the room below the floor, with the erroneous idea that the - carbonic acid produced in the respiration of these animals, because - heavier than the other air in the room, would separate from this and - escape below. When all this was done, about sixty healthy monkeys, - many of which had already borne several winters in England, were put - into the room. A month afterwards more than fifty of them were dead, - and the few remaining ones were dying. This room, only open below, was - as truly an extinguisher to the living monkeys as an inverted coffee - cup held over and around the flame of a candle is an extinguisher of - the candle. Not only the warmth of the fires and the warm air that was - allowed to enter by the openings in the floor, but the hot breath and - all the impure exhalations from the bodies of the monkeys ascended, - first to the upper part of the room to be completely incorporated with - the atmosphere there, and by no possibility could escape except as a - part of that impure atmosphere, gradually passing away by the chimneys - and openings in the skirting. Therefore, from the time the monkeys - went into the room until they died, they could not have had a single - breath of fresh air." - -The _post-mortem_ examination proved that these monkeys all died of -consumption; so that we have a practical proof that this dread disease -can be brought on at will. Now, what took place in the monkey-house is -taking place, in a milder form, in the hundreds of workshops in which -tailors and milliners work in this metropolis. In the great majority of -cases tailors work together in rooms by no means proportioned to the -number that occupies them. In many cases they work knee to knee on the -shop-board with the thermometer ranging from 95 to 100 degrees, no -ventilation whatever being present, for when it is provided, the enfeebled -workers, fearing catarrhal complaints, stop them up. The result is, an -amount of consumption among them second only to that prevalent among the -grinders of Sheffield and bakers. The cross-legged fashion in which he -works in some measure assimilates him to the collier. It has been -suggested that instead of thus doubling himself up for the whole time of -his working life, he should work on a board having a hole in it of the -circumference of his body, with a seat fixed for his support beneath. Such -a contrivance would render his position easy, and enable him to bring his -work pretty close to his eyes without his having to bend over it as he -does at present. As the tailor is principally employed on black and dark -clothes, his eyes are much strained, especially if he works by gas-light: -hence he is subject to great impairment of vision. - -The baker is subjected to a still greater number of debilitating -influences as regards his health than the tailor. In all cases his place -of work is in a confined basement, where the oven and the gas contrive to -keep the temperature at a tropical point. There is generally a privy close -at hand, and the drains are not always in good order; the air, already -foul enough, has yet to be contaminated with the floating flour-dust so -irritating to the fine air-passages of the lungs. In an atmosphere thus -deliberately poisoned with the elements of sickness, the journeyman baker -is confined ordinarily from seven o'clock at night until four the -following morning, and towards the end of the week he is engaged nearly -two entire days in succession. Is it surprising that their rate of -sickness is dreadful--greater than even that of the tailors? Dr. Guy tells -us that no less than thirty-one in the hundred spit blood, and that every -other journeyman of the low-priced bakers, who work under still worse -conditions, is subjected to this most dangerous disease. We feel convinced -that the public cannot be aware that they eat their daily bread at the -expense of the life-blood of the producers. Parliament has refused to -interfere in their behalf, but Lord Shaftesbury has taken up their cause, -and we believe that ere long the force of public opinion will lead to the -abolition of the nightwork, which is at the bottom of the evil. At all -events, those who wish to assist in the emancipation of these slaves of -civilization, will see with pleasure the introduction of the aerated -bread, which by the aid of machinery manufactures the loaf in a much more -cleanly method than by hand-labour, and performs the whole process in less -than an hour. The introduction of machinery into this trade will at once -cure the evils complained of, which result in the majority of cases from -the confined establishments and insufficient means of the master-bakers. - -The milliners, especially of London, are nearly as unhealthy as the -tailors. The evidence given before the Select Committee of the House of -Lords in 1855, to inquire into the expediency of passing a bill for the -protection of needlewomen, certainly is appalling in the tale it tells of -the waste of youthful life. During the season of four months, the shortest -time these poor young creatures work is from six in the morning until -twelve at night, and when they are very hard pressed for time they are -obliged to take their meals standing. At times of great pressure young -girls have been worked four days and nights consecutively; and Lord Ashley -publicly made mention at the meeting at Exeter Hall, July 11th, 1856, of a -witness who had worked without going to bed from four o'clock on Thursday -afternoon until half-past ten on Sunday night. Such toil as this in close -rooms reeking with human exhalations, and further deteriorated by the -excessive use of gas, is scarcely to be matched in deadliness by any -occupation engaged in even by the stronger sex; and we are not surprised -to hear that it is a frequent thing in fashionable millinery -establishments to find the workers faint from sheer exhaustion; as the -Queen's physician emphatically says, "a mode of life more completely -calculated to destroy human health could scarcely be contrived." Mr. -White Cooper, the Queen's oculist, states, in his lately-published work on -the eyes, that he has generally observed a great increase of patients of -this class come to him after there has been a general mourning. The -committee of the Society of Arts which some few years since made a report -on the industrial pathology of trades which affect the eyes, recommend -that the light should be thrown on the work rather than the eye; they also -recommend that the colour of the material upon which needlewomen are -engaged should be changed as often as possible, upon the ground that to -preserve the tone of the organ it should have variety of stimulus, its -long application to the same colour inevitably exhausting it. The -following suggestion from a traveller, which is embodied in this -interesting report, is worthy of notice:--"Needlewomen, embroiderers, and -lacemakers should work in rooms hung with green blinds and curtains to the -windows. When in North China, I became convinced of the very great -advantage with which this rule has been adopted by the exquisite -embroiderers of that part. Their books of patterns are frequently called -'Books of the Lady of the Green Window.'" Among the diseases affecting -female workers we must not omit to mention an affection called -"housemaid's knee," which is peculiar to those servants who kneel much -upon hard wet stones or boards. The pressure on the knee gives rise to a -very painful inflammation of the bursa, or pad, which nature has -interposed between the skin and the patella, or knee-cap. - -Shoemakers live a sedentary life, like tailors and milliners, but they do -not work so frequently in company, consequently they escape the -destructive influence of foul air; they are subject, like weavers, -however, to disease of the stomach, owing to the constant pressure made -upon it, in their case, by the last. Some old cobblers are found to have a -depression at the pit of the stomach of the shape of the heel of the boot, -moulded in fact by the pressure of this article, which he clasps between -this portion of his body and his knees whilst sewing. Like the milliners -and tailors, their sight suffers through having to direct so fine an -object as a needle point: patent bootmakers are particularly liable to -suffer in their eyes through the brilliant blackness of the material they -work upon. We perceive that sewing-machines have been introduced into this -trade at Northampton, much to the disgust of those whom they will benefit. -The introduction of this useful machine will at once elevate this and -scores of other handicrafts, such as those of tailors, milliners, glovers, -and all who use the needle, to the dignity of manufacturers requiring -considerable capital, the presence of which is some guarantee for the -intelligence and benevolence of the masters, and for the adoption of -larger and more healthful workshops for their people. As this very large -class of workers numbers upwards of half a million in Great Britain, we -hail the sewing-machine as an emancipator from drudgery of no ordinary -kind. - -The compositor, who works in an atmosphere very similar to that breathed -by the tailor and milliner, is, like them, subject to severe pulmonary -diseases. In some newspaper offices they are planted as thickly as their -type-cases can stand, and they carry on their monotonous labour, which is -confined to a multitude of small motions of the right hand, conveying to -the left types in course of "setting up," Jobbing printers, who have a -much greater variety of motion, are invariably healthier than newspaper -compositors; and Dr. Guy has remarked that those compositors who work in -the upper stories of large establishments, and consequently in an -atmosphere reeking with the impurities which have ascended from the -crowded rooms below, and possibly from an engine-room in addition, are -much more troubled with spitting of blood and consumption than those -working beneath them. In a printing office thus foully ventilated, he was -enabled to make a very instructive comparison; for instance, there were -fifteen men employed on the second floor, and seventeen men in precisely -the same way on the third and uppermost floor. On making personal -inquiries of each of the men respecting his health, four only out of the -fifteen on the second floor made any complaint; one was subject to -indigestion, a second to cough, the third to ulcers of the legs, and the -fourth was what might be termed a valetudinarian. But of the seventeen -employed on the uppermost floor, three had had spitting of blood, two were -subject to affections of the lungs, and five to constant and severe colds. -Ten of these seventeen, therefore, were subject to diseases affecting the -chest, while only one of the fifteen in the room beneath had a disease of -this nature. In the course of his inquiries respecting the health of -workers in printing-offices, the same intelligent statist hit upon another -fact with respect to pressmen, which appears to be of general application. -Pressmen, or those who take the impressions of the types set up by the -compositors, are generally located in the same building with them, and -often in the same room, under precisely similar conditions as regards -ventilation and quality of air; yet a series of inquiries brings out the -fact that the pressmen are far the healthier of the two. The only manner -of accounting for this difference lies in the nature of their labour. The -pressman has to use long-sustained and somewhat violent exertions in -swinging round the lever of his press, unfolding and refolding the tympan, -and screwing up its bed. Compared to these varied muscular movements, the -compositor's hardest work is lifting types from his case to his -composing-stick; yet the result is, that the pressman's liability to -consumption is but half that of the compositor, and of other diseases a -third less. - -This is a very remarkable fact, and irresistibly points to the conclusion -that foul air and a heated atmosphere can be borne with far greater -impunity by those who labour hard than by those who employ themselves in a -sedentary manner. The fair lady who honours us with her attention will -perhaps draw a conclusion of her own from this experience, which, no -doubt, tallies with her practice and her instinct, that it is far better -to waltz till five o'clock in the morning in a crowded ball-room than to -remain for the same period a disconsolate "wall-flower." There appears -also to be another law, with respect to the two classes of workmen, -equally worthy of remark. The pressman, although he enjoys the best -health, and the greatest green age, does not, in individual cases, live as -long as the compositor. In the same manner, the stalwart blacksmith, -although a far healthier man than the tailor, and generally longer-lived, -does not yet count so many patriarchs among his ranks as snip does. This -comparison holds good between those who take much or little exercise out -of doors. Mr. Neison, who has carefully worked the fact out, in his volume -on Vital Statistics, gives the following highly interesting table:-- - - +-------------------------------------------------------+ - | | EXPECTATION OF LIFE IN | - | |--------------------------------------------------| - |Age.|In-door occupation, with|Out-door occupation, with| - | |------------------------|-------------------------| - | | Little | Great | Little | Great | - | | Exercise. | Exercise. | Exercise. | Exercise. | - |----|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------| - | 20 | 41.8822 | 42.0133 | 37.8017 | 43.4166 | - | 30 | 35.1170 | 34.5022 | 30.1435 | 36.5832 | - | 40 | 27.9113 | 27.8004 | 23.0357 | 29.1284 | - | 50 | 20.5022 | 21.1805 | 17.2754 | 21.9732 | - | 60 | 14.0430 | 15.1413 | 11.0169 | 15.5635 | - | 70 | 8.6490 | 10.4407 | 4.5607 | 9.3313 | - +-------------------------------------------------------+ - -Thus, between twenty and thirty, the gardener, the labourer, the thatcher, -the drover, and the whole class of men who earn their bread toilfully in -wind, rain, and sun, have the expectation of living at least six years -longer than the coachman, the watchman, and others who are equally exposed -to the weather, but whose blood is not equally circulated or sweetened by -continual and active exertion. It will be remarked also, that the out-door -worker with little exercise comes off but badly in the comparison with the -sedentary in-door worker--in other words, the coachman's is a worse life -than the shopman's. We suspect, however, with Mr. Neison, that -intemperance must thus kick the beam against sedentary out-door -employments. We all know, for instance, that Jehu is not a teetotaller, -and our suspicions are, moreover, strengthened by the fact that -engine-drivers, who are forced to maintain a strict sobriety, although -among the class of sedentary out-door workers and exposed to a hurricane -of air, and to driving wet during the greater part of their existence--are -yet remarkably free from consumption--the fell disease which decimates -the poor printer, who cannot tolerate the minutest draft in his place of -work. - -As we ascend in the social scale, it would naturally be supposed that we -should find the value of life greater, and occupations more healthy. It is -a great question, however, if the artisan, subject as he is to so many -injurious circumstances, has not the advantage over the shopkeeper. This -may appear at first impossible, but when we come to consider the life led -by the tradesman, and especially by the smaller ones, who form so large a -proportion of the class, we find they are subjected to an accumulation of -adverse influences. In the generality of cases the individual of this -genus confines himself to the smallest possible amount of room, in which -he can possibly carry on his business--the rest of the house he lets off -for offices. In this confined space he lives, without taking any adequate -exercise, often lying perdu in a dark inner room, through a peep-hole of -which he watches for customers. At night, he inhales an atmosphere -polluted by many gas-lights, and when, finally, the shutters are closed, -he will often be found sorting and placing away the goods disturbed during -the day. Under such circumstances, is it wonderful that he perishes at a -more rapid rate than the artisan who labours all day at some noxious -trade, and sleeps at night in some wretched lodging? It is well-known that -there is scarcely such a thing to be found as a London tradesman of the -third generation. The class is entirely kept up by the rosy-faced youths -who come up from the country full of hope and health, and then gradually -subside into the pallid tradesman of middle life, taking on, as it were, -the sad colour and aspect of the great city, just as hares and foxes turn -white in northern latitudes, when winter brings about her snow. - -There are certain classes of tradesmen who suffer from singular skin -diseases consequent upon handling articles of their trade. Thus the -miller, whose hands are constantly immersed in his meal, is subject to an -irruptive disease of those members, in consequence of the attacks of the -meal-mite--a small insect to be found in some kinds of flour. The -grocer's itch, again, is occasioned by handling sugar infected with an -animalcule peculiar to it. We have seen sugar which absolutely moved -throughout its entire mass in consequence of the immense number of insects -present in it, and these readily attack the hand, and produce an irruption -similar to that of the ordinary itch. Chimney-sweepers, again, suffer from -a more formidable disease--cancer induced by the irritative qualities of -the soot upon certain portions of the skin of the body. Neither must we -omit from the ranks of unhealthy town occupations the squalid race of -clerks, whose monotonous occupation and posture perpetually fixed in the -form of a Z, renders them a very unhealthy class of men. - -Waiters in hotels and taverns sap their health by surreptitious tippling. -A medical friend says, his experience of them is, that with few -exceptions, they are _all rotten with perpetual imbibition_. Footmen do -not drink so much, but they are so grossly overfed and under-worked, that -they are always suffering from plethora. "Jeames'" aim is to run to -calves, but he pays the penalty for his ambition. They are, in fact, in -the position of the convicts at Fremantle, Australia, who, during the time -that our soldiers were dying for want of food in the Crimea, suffered from -what was significantly called the gluttony plague. Excessive over-feeding -and under-working was, it appears, the rule at the convict establishment; -and, in consequence, no less than 1554 patients were under medical -treatment in less than six months, with diseases of the digestive organs, -inflammatory affections of the eyes, and cutaneous eruptions. The physic -of short allowance and plenty of work soon set matters to rights. It is -not often that the lower or middle classes suffer from over-feeding; but -drink is the bane of many trades and occupations. The gigantic brewer's -drayman, who seems built as a match for the Flemish team he drives, is but -a giant with feet of clay; his jolly looks are a delusion and a snare. The -enormous amount of beer and stout he is allowed by his employers--on the -principle, we suppose, that you should not muzzle the ox that treadeth -out the corn--so deteriorates his blood, that a scratch prostrates him, -and any serious illness is pretty sure to carry him off. The common -labourer, who lives under pretty much the same condition, with the -exception of the temptation to drink, has an average life of 47-1/2 years, -but he is cut off at the early age of 43 years. - -If we take another class of persons thrown continually in the way of -tippling, we find the result is equally unfavourable. The pot-boy of the -metropolis, with whose doughy face and pert leer we are so well -acquainted, scarcely lives out half his days. In his case, in addition to -continual potations, he is perpetually breathing, until twelve o'clock at -night, an atmosphere compounded of drunkards' breath, stale tobacco, and -all the impurities arising from the brilliant gas illumination of a -gin-palace; it is not, therefore, surprising to find that his average age -is but 41-1/2 years; while the footman may reckon upon helping himself to -his master's venison until he is 44-1/2 years old. The publican is almost -as great a sinner as his man in the way of intemperance, and his life in -consequence is at least 2-1/2 years shorter than the very limited span of -the tradesman. - -Dr. Guy, who has taken considerable pains to ascertain the value of life -in the educated classes, has worked out the extraordinary result that, the -higher the step in the social hierarchy, the greater the means of -self-indulgence, the less the chance of long life. People have so long -been accustomed to look upon the possession of wealth as the best -guarantee for a flourishing bodily condition, that they will be surprised, -perhaps, to hear that in proportion as the wholesome stimulus of labour is -withdrawn from any class, in the same proportion the value of its average -term of life is shortened. And yet our common experience but tallies with -the results of scientific inquiry in this matter. When a man who has lived -a long and active life, suddenly retires with the idea that he has earned -his ease, and that it is time for him to enjoy himself, ten to one but he -has taken the most effectual method of shortening his life; and much as we -may smile at the taste of the retired soap-boiler, who always made a -point of going down to his old shop on "boiling days," yet we can see that -his instinct directed him rightly, for we can none of us bear idleness, -least of all those who have long practised industry. - -Regularity, sobriety, and activity of mind and body, are the pabulum on -which vital force is fed; while, on the contrary, luxury, licentiousness, -and sloth, are the cankers of life. A comparison of the longevity of the -different educated classes proves this in a remarkable manner. Let us -take, for instance, the three learned professions. If the reader were -asked whether the clergyman, the lawyer, or the physician lived longest, -most probably he would say the lawyer. Accustomed to venerable age on the -judgment-seat, and struck with the fact that our leading law lords have -generally been, and still are, noblemen of very advanced age, he would -perhaps be justified in giving the palm of longevity to them. Yet, in -truth, as a class, they are the shortest-lived. The race is neck and neck, -it is true, but they lose by a neck. The clergyman, as we should naturally -suppose, enjoys a higher standard of health, and attains a greater age, -than any member of the community, excepting poor Hodge, the humblest -member of his flock. His average age, taking those persons only into -account who have passed their 50th year, is 74.04 years, or rather better -than one year longer than the physician, who lives to an average age of -72.95 years. This trifling difference, we should expect, as the latter is -subject to many chances of infection, and lives more a town life than the -former. If the comparison is made, however, between the highest grades of -the two professions, between archbishops and bishops, and baronets who -have filled the posts of physicians and surgeons to the sovereign, the -latter have the advantage by four years, and in both cases the lawyer lags -behind in the race with clergymen and physicians: with the latter in his -ordinary rank by a few days only, and with the class of medical baronets, -as compared with judges, upwards of four years, how much hard study, -alternated with tawny port, has to do with the difference, we should -scarcely like to say. The gentry may be reckoned to be about as -long-lived as the clergy; well-housed, well-fed, and living an -agricultural life with active habits, they have few diseases, and are -especially exempt from consumption. Officers of the navy have slightly the -advantage of those of the army--say one year of life. From this point, -where the social hierarchy takes a leap, and clothes itself in the purple -and fine linen of nobility, the lamp of life begins rapidly to burn low. -The aristocracy of this country are shorter-lived, by more than one year, -than he who works with all the cares and anxieties of the priest, the -lawyer, or the physician; and members of royal houses (calculated from the -ages of members of continental as well as English royalty) descend the -ladder of life so rapidly, that they have three years less of existence -than the peer; and, lastly, we come to the "round and top of sovereignty -itself." The potentate who stands on the highest pinnacle of human -greatness, surrounded, it would seem, with every condition favourable to -comfort and longevity, fenced about from casualties which constantly beset -the paths of ordinary mortals--his would appear indeed a charmed life; yet -the hard fact will stare us in the face, that the sands of life run far -quicker with him than with any other of the educated classes. His years -are on an average but 64, or 10 less than the clergy, who probably have to -fight the hardest battle in the world--the fight of comparative poverty -against appearances. It could be "clearly shown," says Mr. Neison, in his -"Vital Statistics," "by tracing the various classes of society in which -there exists sufficient means of subsistence, by beginning with the most -humble, and passing on to the middle and upper classes, that a gradual -deterioration in the duration of life takes place; and that just as life, -with all its wealth, pomp, and magnificence, would seem to become more -valuable and tempting, so are its opportunities and chances of enjoyment -lessened. As far as the results of figures admit of judging, this -condition would seem to flow directly from the luxurious and pampered -style of living among the wealthier classes, whose artificial habits -interfere with the nature and degree of those physical exercises which, in -a simpler class of society, are accompanied with long life." Truly, there -is a spirit of compensation in this life, if we could only "distil it -forth." The poor countryman of thirty years of age, who takes his frugal -repast under a hedge, has a chance of thirteen years' longer life than the -monarch of the same age clothed in purple, and lord, perhaps, of half the -habitable world! - - -THE END. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] This _cophee-house_ in Sweeting's Rents is not alluded to by Mr. -Cunningham in his Handbook of London. He mentions the first as established -in 1657, in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, and the second (no date -mentioned) as set up at the Rainbow in Fleet Street. We think we must make -way for this new discovery between the two. - -[2] A furniture broker made his fortune by an advertisement headed "Advice -to Persons about to Marry." Our witty friend _Punch_ followed up this -prelude with the single word _Don't_, as the substitute for the lists of -four-posted beds. - -[3] In an article upon the teas of commerce, which appeared in the -_Quarterly Journal of the Chemical Society_ for July, 1851. - -[4] Assam tea is the only exception to this rule, but very little of it is -imported. - -[5] That sold by Messrs. Dakin, of St. Paul's Churchyard. - -[6] It will be scarcely necessary to say that the great London brewers -have never laid themselves open to the suspicion of having adulterated -their liquor. - -[7] An act has lately been passed which will, we trust, check in some -degree the grosser food-frauds on the public. - -[8] Since gone to make bears' grease. - -[9] The great merit of this inference may be judged from the circumstance -that several eminent naturalists, out of an honest regard for the -reputation of Professor Owen, endeavoured to prevent the publication of -the paper in which, with the sure sagacity of scientific genius, he -confidently announced the fact. - -[10] The history of the migrations of the rat is involved in doubt, and -none of the accounts can be relied on. Goldsmith had been assured that the -Norway rat, as it is called, though it was quite unknown in that country -when it established itself in England, came to us from the coast of -Ireland, whither it had been carried in the ships that traded in -provisions to Gibraltar. - -[11] When the atmospheric railway to Epsom was at work, the rats came for -the grease which was used to make the endless leather valve, which ran on -the top of the suction-pipe, air-tight. Some of them entered the tube, -from which they were sucked with every passing train; nevertheless, day by -day, others were immolated in the same manner. - -[12] A native in India, observing one day a rat run across the floor, -stooped to look after it. While in this position he suddenly felt -something tugging him back by his hair, and on putting up his hand found a -large cobra struggling to free his teeth from his locks. The reptile had -also observed the rat, and had dropped from the roof, when the peon -suddenly interposed his person between the hunter and his prey. The snake -and the rat escaped; but the magistrate of the district having ordered the -house to be pulled down the next day, the cobra was found with the rat -half digested in his stomach. - -[13] A single dead rat beneath a floor will render a room uninhabitable. A -financier, of European celebrity, found his drawing-room intolerable. He -supposed that the drains were out of order, and went to a great expense to -remedy the evil. The annoyance continued, and a ratcatcher guessed the -cause of the mischief. On pulling up the boards, a dead rat was discovered -near the bell-wire. The bell had been rung as he was passing, and the -crank had caught and strangled him. - -[14] In a comfortable little apartment, which looked quite domestic in -comparison with the workhouse wards of ordinary lunatic asylums, we saw, -on our last visit, a young musician playing on a violoncello to an -admiring audience. Touches of similar enjoyment continually meet the -visitor, lighting up the moral atmosphere of the building with a -cheerfulness totally at variance with his preconceived notions of this -notorious madhouse. - -[15] Steps are being taken, we believe, to effect this necessary change; -but unless Parliament puts its pressure upon the Home-Office, we shall -expect to see the arrangement completed when the Nelson Column is -finished, and not before. - -[16] The walls of one of the wards of Colney Hatch are decorated -throughout with well-executed bas-relief pictures from Greek subjects by a -patient. We are informed that the lunatics who are transferred here from -the undecorated wards, enter the apartment with expressions of delight, -and are particularly careful to preserve the objects of their pleasure in -good condition. In some metropolitan asylums the inmates have adorned -their prison-house with pieces of sculpture and pictures; and the Germans -are fond of indulging the love of colour by filling some of the windows -with stained glass. In France, abundance of flowers are placed about the -establishment, as being eminent sources of delight. In these particulars -we have not a little to learn from our continental brethren. - -[17] These particulars respecting the pauper lunatic colony of Gheel are -taken from an article by Dr. Webster in Dr. Winslow's _Journal of -Psychological Medicine_. This review, which originated with and from the -first has been under the able editorship of Dr. Forbes Winslow, has given -an immense impulse to the study of psychology. It has enlarged the views -of the physician of the insane, and, by extending his horizon, has given -him a far better knowledge of the special department to which he formerly -confined his studies. It is as impossible to understand the workings of a -morbid mind without possessing a knowledge of its ordinary action as it is -to interpret the sounds of a diseased lung without being first acquainted -with those of a healthy one. The great service which Dr. Forbes Winslow -has rendered by unravelling the phenomena of mind in its normal as well as -in its disordered state, entitles him to a very high meed of praise, and -has deservedly ranked him among the first medico-psychologists of the -present day. - -[18] In the subjoined passage, which is extracted from an official -communication to the Commissioners in Lunacy, and published in one of -their parliamentary reports, Dr. Forbes Winslow explains the principles -which should guide the physician in the moral treatment of the insane when -placed under legal control and supervision:--"In the management of the -insane, and in the conduct of asylums, both public and private, the -principle of treatment should consist in a full and liberal recognition of -the importance of extending to the insane the _maximum_ amount of liberty -and indulgence compatible with their safety, security, and recovery; at -the same time, subjecting them to the _minimum_ degree of mechanical and -moral restraint, isolation, seclusion, and surveillance, consistent with -their actual morbid state of mind at the time. It is also necessary to -bear in mind as an essential principle of curative treatment, the -importance of bringing the insane confined in asylums, as much as -possible, within the sphere of social, kindly, and domestic influences. In -many cases, isolation, seclusion, and an absolute immunity from all kinds -of stimuli, physical and mental, are, during the acute and recent stages -of insanity, indispensably necessary to recovery; but in certain forms of -melancholia, monomania, and in some chronic morbid states of mind, no mode -of moral treatment is productive of such great curative results as that -now referred to. I need not observe that this system of treatment cannot -be adopted except in those establishments where there is an active, -experienced, and intelligent resident medical officer, who fully -appreciates the great value of such homely family influences upon the -minds of the insane. In our moral treatment, do we not occasionally -exhibit an excess of caution, and exercise, with the best and kindest -intentions, an undue amount of moral restraint and vigilance? I think we -may sometimes err in being a little too distrustful of the insane. Whilst -urging the necessity, in certain forms of morbid mind, of great and -constant watchfulness, particularly in cases of suicidal monomania, and -recent and acute attacks, I would suggest, to those having the management -of asylums, the necessity, with the view to the adoption of a curative -process of treatment, of placing more confidence in those entrusted to -their care, and of allowing the patients a greater amount of freedom, -indulgence, and liberty than they at present enjoy in many of our public -and private asylums. In many phases of insanity in which confinement is -indispensable, the patient's word may fully be relied upon; and under -certain well-defined restrictions, he should be permitted to feel that -confidence is reposed in him, and that he is trusted, and not altogether -(although in confinement) deprived of his free and independent agency. I -feel quite assured that a judicious liberality of this kind will be -generally followed by the happiest curative results, and greatly conduce -to the comfort and happiness of the patient. Patients should be permitted -occasionally to attend divine worship out of the asylum, when -circumstances do not contra-indicate this practice; they should be allowed -also to walk out of the confines of the asylum, to attend places of -amusement, visit scientific exhibitions; and the resident medical officer -should make himself their friend and companion; thus inspiring them with -confidence in his skill and kindly intentions, and reconciling them to the -degree of moral restraint to which they may be unavoidably subjected." - -[19] In Belgium, where many of the pauper lunatics are located in -religious houses and are attended upon by the freres and soeurs of these -establishments, it is not uncommon to find the patients at certain times -of the day totally deserted and left to their own devices--the attendants -being engaged in their religious duties! - -[20] It may be as well to state that the Poor-Law Commissioners also -worked out the problem with very similar conclusions in 1851, and that the -investigations made by the Swedish Government into the condition of the -insane in Norway in 1835 further corroborate the statement that insanity -prevails to a greater extent in rural than in urban districts. - -[21] If the spectator, while leaning over the rail of the wharf and -watching "Oyster Street," as the costermongers call the line of -oyster-boats moored side by side, has ever been at a loss to understand -why it is that in the very height of the market, when the decks are -crowded with purchasers, the sailors are seen hanging about the boats, or -seated upon the bulwarks, taking their morning pipes, whilst the duty of -measuring and carrying the oysters is being performed by the "Fellowships" -belonging to the corporation of London, he will now know the reason. Steam -will, however, surely abolish many of these city abuses, and rail-borne -oysters will lend their powerful aid to rail-borne coal in abolishing -regulations which are not in accordance with the emancipated spirit of the -age. - -[22] Since this was written, the new market in Copenhagen Fields has been -opened, and a totally different state of things now obtained. - -[23] This return contains some small proportion of game, the quantity of -which is not stated. - -[24] There is, we confess, some little discrepancy between this estimate -of the country-killed meat at Newgate, and the known quantity brought in -by railway, as most assuredly 161,200 oxen, 509,600 sheep, and 62,400 -calves and pigs, far outweigh the 36,487 tons of meat brought by the -different lines, even "sinking" the offal. But so assured is Mr. Giblett, -and the Smithfield Commissioners with him, that he is under the mark, that -we give credit to his estimate, and take it for granted that much -country-killed meat must come to market by other conveyance than the -railway. - -[25] Since the above was written, these fine buildings have been taken -possession of by Sir William Armstrong, where, under the veil of secrecy, -his extraordinary ordnance is now constructed to the entire exclusion of -the old style of cannon. - -[26] The French manufacturer who executed the order addressed a letter to -one of the Emperor's chamberlains, from which we take the following -extract:--"It is, I believe, the first time that England, who was hitherto -regarded as able to supply the most unforeseen wants of her army, should -find herself obliged to have recourse to French industry. I had it too -much at heart to sustain the reputation of my country in the eyes of our -rivals to leave anything undone towards the execution of an order which -was intrusted to me, and I have had the satisfaction of receiving from the -English Government the most flattering compliments. With a view to -perpetuate the memory of that operation, which is almost an event in -industry, I have ordered a medal to be engraved by M. Louis Merley, who -gained the great prize at Rome, and who is one of the artists of whom -France is proud. I desire earnestly to obtain the favour of presenting -this medal to his Majesty the Emperor, as also the model of the rifles -fabricated for England; and I pray your Excellency to be good enough to -solicit for me an audience of his Majesty." The audience was granted, and -the medal and the model of the fire-arm presented in due form. - -[27] The merchants are provided annually with a sample of Waltham Abbey -powder to guide them in their manufacture. - -[28] We may more truly liken the system to the warming apparatus of a -hot-house. The hot waters of the Gulf, conducted across the Atlantic, are -the forcing power which stimulates the vegetation of Cornwall, whence the -London market is supplied with its early vegetables. - -[29] The effect of this Act, which passed in 1839, was most marked. In the -three years previous, the average annual loss of timber ships was 56-1/2, -and the loss of life 300. In the three years subsequent to its coming into -operation the loss of ships fell to 23-1/2, and the loss of life to 106. - -[30] Whilst the civil workman is called in to do the work of the soldier -at home, strangely enough we send out the soldier to do the work of the -emigrant abroad. A force of Royal Engineers some time since left these -shores for the purpose of discharging this office in British Columbia. - -[31] Mr. Jeffreys informs us that he saw during the mutiny a recruiting -sergeant's placard in which there was an engraving of a British trooper -cutting down a Sepoy and taking from him a bag of treasure. - -[32] This idea of a sanitary officer for armies in the field originated -with Mr. J. Ranald Martin, who has long advocated the measure in his -correspondence with the medical journals, and with the East India -Government. To this gentleman we also owe the suggestion of a health -officer in civil life. - -[33] Code of letter signals in the needle telegraph commonly used in -England. Two needles are generally employed, in order to facilitate the -transmission of signals:-- - -Let _a_ denote a deflection of the _left-hand needle to the left_, _a' to -the right_; _b_ a deflection of the _right-hand needle to the left_, _b' -to the right_. Then here is the code: - - + _a_ - A _a a_ - B _a a a_ - C _a' a_ - D _a a'_ - E _a'_ - F _a' a'_ - G _a' a' a'_ - H _b_ - I _b b_ - K _b b b_ - L _b' b_ - M _b b'_ - N _b'_ - O _b' b'_ - P _b' b' b'_ - R _a b_ - S _a a b b_ - T _a a a b b b_ - U _a' a b' b_ - W _a' b'_ - X _a' a' b' b'_ - Y _a' a' a' b' b' b'_ - -Thus F is indicated by two successive deflections of the left-hand needle -to the right; R by a simultaneous deflection of both needles to the left. -Where both needles are required they may be and are deflected -simultaneously; where one only is used its deflections must of necessity -be successive. The sign + means "I do not understand;" the letter E "I do -understand." - -[34] It may interest our readers to reproduce the first published notice -we can find of Professor Wheatstone's experiments relating to the electric -telegraph, and which appeared anterior to his connection with Mr. -Cooke:--"During the month of June last year (1836), in a course of -lectures delivered at King's College, London, Professor Wheatstone -repeated his experiments on the velocity of electricity which were -published in the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1834, but with an -insulated circuit of copper wire, the length of which was now increased to -nearly four miles; the thickness of the wire was 1-16th of an inch. When -machine electricity was employed, an electrometer placed on any point of -the circuit diverged, and, wherever the continuity of the circuit was -broken, bright sparks were visible. With a voltaic battery, or with a -magneto-electric machine, water was decomposed, the needle of the -galvanometer was deflected, &c., in the middle of the circuit. But, which -has a more direct reference to the subject of our esteemed correspondent's -communication from Munich, Professor Wheatstone gave a sketch of the means -by which he proposes to convert his apparatus into an electrical -telegraph, which, by the aid of a few finger stops, will instantaneously, -and distinctly, convey communications between the most distant points. -These experiments are, we understand, still in progress, and the -apparatus, as it is at present constructed, is capable of conveying thirty -simple signals, which, combined in various manners, will be fully -sufficient for the purposes of telegraphic communication."--From the -_Magazine of Popular Science_ (Parker, Strand) for March 1, 1837. - -[35] - - _a_ - - _b_ - ---- - - _c_ ---- - - - _d_ - - - ---- - _e_ - - - _f_ ---- ---- - _g_ - ---- - - - _h_ ---- ---- ---- - _i_ - - - - _j_ - - ---- - - - _k_ - ---- ---- - - _l_ - ---- - _m_ - ---- - ---- - _n_ - ---- ---- - _o_ - - - - - _p_ - - ---- - - _q_ ---- - ---- - - _r_ ---- - _s_ ---- - - _t_ - - ---- - _u_ - - - - - - _v_ ---- ---- - - _w_ ---- ---- - - - _x_ ---- - - ---- - _y_ ---- - ---- - _z_ ---- - - - - -[36] In justice to the Company, which is very properly jealous of the -particulars of its messages transpiring, we beg to state that we acquired -the above fact from a person totally disconnected with the Electric -Telegraph Office. - -[37] Mr. Reuter now performs this duty both for home and foreign news. - -[38] The use of the metal or earth-plate will be understood from the -following statement of Steinheil:--"Owing to the low conducting power of -water or the ground, compared with metals, it is necessary that at the two -places where the metal conductor is in connection with the soil, the -former should present very large surfaces of contact. Assuming that water -conducts two million times worse than copper, a surface of water -proportional to this must be brought into contact with the water. If the -section of a copper wire is 0.5 of a square line, it will require a copper -plate of 61 square feet surface in order to conduct the galvanic current -through the ground, as the wire in question would conduct it." - -[39] It may be as well to state that nearly all the continental telegraphs -have formed themselves into a confederacy, called the Austro-Germanic -Union, which includes the lines of Austria, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, -Hanover, Wuertemberg, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the Grand Duchy of -Baden. The Union regulates the tariff and all questions relative to the -working of the allied lines. - -[40] See "Tariff of the Rates charged for general Dispatches on the -Pittsburgh and Louisville Telegraph, Jones's Electric Telegraph, New -York," p. 105. - -[41] The West of England Fire-Office, which retains the command of its own -engines. - -[42] - - The following are the stations:-- No. of engines. - - Watling Street (the principal station) 4 - Wellclose Square 3 - Farringdon Street 4 - Chandos Street, Covent Garden 3 - Schoolhouse Lane, Ratcliffe 1 - Horseferry Road, Westminster 1 - Waterloo Road 1 - Paradise Row, Rotherhithe 1 - Jeffrey Square, St. Mary-Axe 2 - Whitecross Street 1 - High Holborn, No. 254 2 - Crown Street, Soho 2 - Wells Street, Oxford Street 1 - Baker Street, Portman Square 1 - King Street, Golden Square 3 - Southwark Bridge Road 3 - Morgan's Lane, Tooley Street 1 - Floating engine, off King's Stairs, Rotherhithe 1 - " off Southwark Bridge 1-36 - -[43] Repeated reference to this valuable work has more than confirmed the -opinion we originally expressed of it. There are few books of greater -utility than what is in fact a "History of London, Past and Present." - -[44] The roof of the pile of buildings composing Somerset-House is also -continuous, thereby greatly increasing the risk of the entire building, if -one portion of it were to catch. - -[45] In Nottingham, where they have gypsum in the neighbourhood, as they -have in Paris, they form their floors and partitions in the same solid -manner, and the consequence is, that a building is rarely burned down in -that town. - -[46] The following are the stations of the fire-escapes:-- - -_Western District._--1. Edgeware Road, near Cambridge Terrace; 2. Baker -Street, corner of King Street; 3. Great Portland Street, by the chapel; 4. -New Road, corner of Albany Street; 5. New Road, Euston Square, in front of -St. Pancras Church; 6. Camden Town, in front of "The Southampton Arms;" 7. -Battle-bridge, King's Cross; 8. Guildford Street, Foundling Hospital; 9. -Bedford Row, south end; 10. Hart Street, Bloomsbury, by St. George's -Church; 11. Tottenham Court Road, by the chapel; 12. Oxford Street, corner -of Dean Street, Soho; 13. Oxford Street, corner of Marylebone Lane; 14. -Oxford Street west, corner of Connaught Place; 15. South Audley Street, by -the chapel; 16. Brompton, near Knightsbridge Green; 17. Eaton Square, by -St. Peter's Church; 18. Westminster, No. 1, Broad Sanctuary; 19. -Westminster, No. 2, Horseferry Road; 20. West Strand, Trafalgar Square, by -St. Martin's Church; 21. Strand, by St. Clement's Church. - -_Eastern District._--22. New Bridge Street, by the Obelisk; 23. Holborn -Hill, corner of Hatton Garden; 24. Aldersgate Street, opposite Carthusian -Street; 25. Clerkenwell, St. John Street, opposite Corporation Row; 26. -Islington, No. 1, on the Green; 27. Islington, No. 2, Compton Terrace, -Highbury End; 28. Old Street, St. Luke's, corner of Bath Street; 29. -Shoreditch, in front of the church; 30. Bishopsgate Street, near Widegate -Street; 31. Whitechapel, High Street, in front of the church; 32. Aldgate, -corner of Leadenhall Street and Fenchurch Street; 33. The Royal Exchange, -by the Wellington Statue; 34. Cheapside, by the Western Obelisk; 35. -Southwark, in front of St. George's Church; 36. Newington, Obelisk, facing -"The Elephant and Castle;" 37. Kennington Cross; 38. Lambeth, by the -Female Orphan Asylum; 39. Blackfriars Road, corner of Great Charlotte -Street; 40. Finsbury Circus, corner of West Street; 41. St. Mary-at-Hill, -corner of Rood Lane; 42. Conduit Street, corner of Great George Street. - -[47] Mr. Walker, the superintendent of the A Division, we believe, -selected the works in these libraries. The love of books evinced by this -gentleman sufficiently proves that literary tastes are not incompatible -with the energetic performance of police duties. - -[48] The partiality for the cook ascribed to the policeman is, we are -assured, a slander upon the force. The commissariat at home is too good to -justify any suspicion of this ignoble sort of cupboard love. - -[49] We have extracted this anecdote from the very interesting work -published by Captain Chesterton, entitled "Revelations of Prison Life." - -[50] Since the above was written, the attention of Government has been -drawn to the condition of our mines, and a commission of inquiry will -speedily, we hear, be appointed. - -[51] W. T. Cox, Esq., in _British Medical Journal_. - -[52] A just appreciation of the value of life is, perhaps, of more -importance to Friendly Societies than to Insurance Offices, inasmuch, as -the range of sickness in the working classes is much more extensive than -in the upper and middle walks of life. Mr. Hardwick, in his manual on -enrolled Friendly Societies, has pointed out the fact that the vast -majority of these societies are based upon calculations which must in the -end terminate in their bankruptcy: and among the causes which tend to this -disastrous result he mentions the total disregard evinced in these clubs -to a proper estimate of the states of health in different occupations and -localities. It must be clear that the potter, whose average amount of -illness between the ages of 20 and 70 is more than 333 weeks, obtains a -very unfair advantage over clerks or schoolmasters who may happen to be in -the same club with him, and whose average of sickness during the same -period is only 48 weeks. The dyer, again, who, under the present system of -management of Friendly Societies, may be admitted to a club on the same -terms as a wheelwright, claims for 293 weeks of sickness against the -wheelwright's 64. The healthy country artisan is thus made to pay for the -unhealthy town mechanic. If we take the case, again, of the miner or the -Sheffield grinder, and huddle him, without inquiry, into the same Friendly -Society as the agricultural labourer, it must be clear that the latter -must pay for the more than average sickness of his fellows. Until the -relative value of life and of sickness among the working classes is -thoroughly understood and acted upon, as regards the payments of members, -it is clear that the healthy trades must be sacrificed to the unhealthy -ones. - -[53] An ingenious Frenchman, of the name of Bernot, has just invented a -file-cutting machine which will, we trust, come generally into use, and do -away with the paralysis arising from the present handicraft. It is said -that the workmanship of the machine is more even than the hand-work: the -files cut in the morning by the artisan being superior to those cut in the -afternoon, in consequence of his muscles becoming tired. - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. - -The original text contains several images of a right-pointing hand. This -is represented in this text as [Hand]. - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Curiosities of Civilization, by Andrew Wynter - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CURIOSITIES OF CIVILIZATION *** - -***** This file should be named 40498.txt or 40498.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/4/9/40498/ - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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