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Current History of Literary and
Scientific Events.

OCTOBER 1ST.-SATURDAY.

Coloured Gas.-An ingenious Englishman was permitted to try some experiments at the gas-works at Malines last week, the most successful of which was the sudden appearance, throughout the city, of a beautiful clear red light, which threw around rays of the most brilliant description. It is said that, by the addition to the gasometer of some chemical salts, an increase of light and changes of colour can be instantaneously produced. On Sunday it is announced, to the great delight of the population of Malines, that some further experiments are to be exhibited.

A Car for the Sultan's Favourite Son.-The Paris correspondent of the Telegraph writes:-"I saw the most wonderful sort of fairy car, last week, at a coachbuilder's in the Champs Elysées. It was gold and scarlet, and purple and fine linen, with silver axle-trees. 'Might I ask who is the happy person who is going to be conveyed in that elegant structure?' I inquired politely of M. Carrossier, and I found that it was going out for the Sultan's favourite son."

OCTOBER 2D.-SUNDAY.

OCTOBER 3D.-MONDAY.

The Late Mr. Thackeray.-A correspondent favours the Inverness Courier with the following communication:-"I have received a very interesting little tract of some thirty pages from America, printed for private circulation only, and containing a few letters of Thackeray, written to the Hon. W. B. Reed, an intimate friend of W. M. T. There are some beautiful passages in them, and I transcribe some lines from one of them for you, as they illustrate so touchingly our feelings at his own death. He was writing ('8th November 1854') to Mr. Reed on the latter's loss of a brother :-The ghostly struggle over, who would pity any one that departs? It is the survivors one commiserates in the case of such a good, pious, tender-hearted man as he seemed, whom God Almighty has just called back to Himself. He appeared to me to have all the sweet domestic virtues, which make the pang of parting only the more cruel to those who are left behind; but that loss, what a gain to him! A just man summoned by God, for what purpose can he go but to meet the Divine love and goodness? I never think about deploring such; and as you and I send for our children, meaning them only love and kindness, how much more Pater Noster?' I did not know until I read these letters, that Thackeray once asked Lord Clarendon for the Secretaryship to the British Legation at Washington. He was answered most kindly, he says, but told-first, that the place was filled up; and, secondly, that it would not be fair to give it 'out of the service.' When I return to town we are going to hold a meeting and at once arrange for completing the memorial. The Dean of Westminster has suggested a place close behind the statue of

Addison."

Getting Fat on Sugar.-Mr. J. J. Mechi confirms a statement made by Mr. Banting that sugar produces corpulency. He says:-Some time before that gentleman published his case, I found myself getting too "aldermanic," in spite of severe exercise. Hearing casually that a very stout lady had diminished to genteel proportions, by leaving off sugar in her tea and coffee, I followed her example, and found that I had lost fourteen pounds weight in six weeks-very much to my comfort. The quantity of sugar I usually consumed was under one and a half ounce daily. As I much prefer my tea and coffee sweetened, I again ventured moderately, and soon gained seven pounds; so now I regulate my weight principally by the use or discontinuance of sugar. The ready solubility of this saccharine matter permits it to be absorbed immediately by the system. I hope that my agricultural friends who wish to farm profitably by the rapid fattening of their cattle and other live stock will take the hint. The scarcity of roots this season will render the use of treacle, sugar-pods, linseed, and other saccharine and oleaginous substances absolutely necessary, mixed with straw, chaff, or bulky substances.

OBITUARY.-Mr. Charles Winston, whose sudden death at his chambers in the Temple took place, this day, in his 50th year, was the eldest son of the Rev. Benjamin Winston, who, for upwards of thirty years, till he resigned it in 1848, held the living of Farningham in Kent. His name was originally Sandford, but in compliance with the will of his maternal grandfather, Charles Winston, formerly AttorneyGeneral of Dominica, he assumed the name of Winston. His son, Charles, was born in 1814, and at the age of twenty or twenty-one was entered at the Inner Temple, where he practised as a special pleader, till called to the bar in 1845. Of his professional career, which was most successfully devoted to the duties of arbitrator in many difficult and complicated cases, we have but to mention that no single decision of his has ever been sought to be set aside. In May last he married the youngest daughter of the late Philip Raoul Lemprière, Esq. of Rozel Manor, Jersey. Mr. Winston published in 1847, in two volumes octavo, "Inquiry into Styles of Ancient Painted Glass," and in 1849, a companion volume, “Introduction to the Study of Painted Glass," books of the highest authority on that subject, and acknowledged as such, not only in England, but in France and Germany as well. With his refined taste and matured judgment in this branch of art, he greatly assisted in the execution of the painted windows in Glasgow Cathedral, and spared no time or trouble in giving his active co-operation both on artistic and scientific points to those in preparation for St. Paul's. At the time of his decease he was engaged in a correspondence with the director of the Munich establishment, relative to the manufacture of the coloured glass intended to be used in these windows, his acquaintance with chemistry, which was anything but superficial, enabling him to offer the most valuable suggestions. He caused specimens of ancient glass to be analyzed, and the prosecution of the experiments which he instituted bids fair to secure, by scientific combinations, the rich effects which, with the medieval glass-painters, were probably the result of accident or of positive imperfections in their material. His drawings from painted glass show, not only unrivalled skill in the management of colour, but a keen and vivid preception of the spirit of the originals; indeed, they may be looked upon as perfect fac-similes. In private life his personal character and social qualities endeared him to a large circle of friends who sincerely mourn his loss.

OCTOBER 4TH.-TUESDAY.

George Thompson, orator, philanthropist, and ex-M.P., has settled down in America, and is making a fortune there, having the patent for manufacturing Bryant and May's celebrated lucifers. He gives his manager a salary of £800 a year. The "Athenæum" and the Wigtown Martyrs.—The Athenæum of Saturday has the following:-" When our Scotch correspondent maintained the fact of the martyrdom of the women M'Laughlan and Wilson, at Wigtown, he referred us to a work which, as we find, enables us to cordially agree with him, without changing our own opinion. 'K' says 'The death of M'Laughlan and Wilson hardly equals in atrocity the murder of Beatrix Laing (see Chambers's "Domestic Annals of Scotland," vol. iii., p. 302), by the mob of Pittenweem, the year after Bailie M'Keand was taken to task.' This Beatrix Laing was accused of witchcraft, confessed her guilt under pressure of torture, re-affirmed her innocence when relieved from her pains, and was set at liberty, under security, by an order from the Privy Council. At first, she was afraid of returning to Pittenweem; but ultimately she took courage, and did return. Of her fate there, to which we are referred, the following account is given in the passage indicated: ‘Wherefore it became necessary for her to apply to the Privy Council for a protection. By that court an order was accordingly issued to the Pittenweem Magistrates, commanding them to defend her from any tumults, insults, or violence that might be offered to her.' Therewith ends all reference to Beatrix Laing, whose case, as our Scotch correspondent thinks, and as we think, though in another sense, has some affinity to that of the pseudo-martyrs of Wigtown.” OBITUARY.-John Richardson, Esquire of Kirklands, died this day. He removed early in life to London, where he gained great eminence as a Parlia- | mentary agent; from his earliest youth he found his chief delight in literature, and was the constant correspondent of James Grahame and Thomas Campbell.

OCTOBER 5TH.-WEDNESDAY.

Autographs of Shakespeare.-Mr. Partridge, of Wellington, Salop, claims to have bought, in a parcel of waste paper, a couple of autographs of Shakespeare. They are said to occur in a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, black letter, date 1596. At the foot of one page appear the words "William Shakspeare," and on another page "W. Shakspear, 1600." The signatures are said to be in "the ink of the period."

Important Discovery in Photography.-A great advance is said to have been recently made in photography. Photographs by any process now used fade. A German named Wothly has, however, discovered one which gives exquisite pictures that do not fade. At least, water, sun, and wind have no effect upon them, and it only remains to be ascertained what injury time may do. The process has been purchased and patented by a company, headed by Colonel Stuart Wortley, who, himself perhaps the best among amateur photographers, quite believes in the invention. Should it realise expectation, it will remain only to fix colour to bring the art to perfection.

OCTOBER 6TH.-THURSDAY.

The Englishman and his Pie.-A Paris letter says:-Free trade with foreign nations has made, and is still making, considerable progress; and it is certainly curious to see towns subjected to the strictest protection whilst the frontiers are being opened up. Some English gentlemen went down to the races at Roubaix, the other day, and one, with the caution of his countrymen, and fearing that Roubaix might not be able to afford subsistence to a large influx of visitors, took with him a meat pie. In going into the town he was charged fifteen sous; and

as he left the place with his pie untouched, the money was returned to him. He passed then through another town where the pie was again taxed at one gate and the tax refunded at another, and finally he returned to Paris where he paid the octroi duty, and where it is to be hoped he was allowed to eat his pie in peace." OBITUARY.-Died this day, Welham Tait, Esq., formerly and long known to the public as a publisher and a politician. His age was 72.

OCTOBER 7TH.-FRIDAY.

New Gun.-A gun of entirely novel construction has been invented and patented by Major-General Hutchinson, and, if successful, great changes will take place in the construction of much of our ordnance. The objects sought to be accomplished in the new gun are: First, that it shall weigh little more than 20 times instead of 800 times the weight of the shot, as is usual; second, that without friction it shall impart rapid rotation to the shot; third, that the shot shall be of the form best adapted for penetrating the air and targets; and, lastly, that it shall leave no vacuum behind it, and not ricochet when it strikes water. A few experiments have been made at Plymouth, which have been so far satisfactory. The gun is like a lengthened mortar, and the shot is termed a disc shot. The inventor asserts that a gun weighing no more than the ordinary 68-pounder will discharge a 600-pound disc.

Full-Length Lithographic Portrait of the French Emperor.—An interesting full-length lithographic portrait of the Emperor, size of life, is now to be seen in Paris. The colossal stone on which the drawing is made was extracted expressly from the quarries of Vigan, in the Gard, while the press used in taking the impressions is more than eighteen feet in length. The sheets of paper employed are eight feet and a-half long; and so much time and care are required in striking off each impression that not more than one in twenty of the proofs is good. Those which happen to be successful are, however, remarkable for their vigour and clearness of outline.

OCTOBER 8TH.-SATURDAY.

Captain Speke's Last Letter.-The following is a copy of an unfinished letter which was found among the gallant and lamented gentleman's papers, and which, it is believed, contains the last words he ever wrote:-" Neston Park, Corsham, September 14.-Dear Mr. Tinné,-I have been delighted by seeing the way in which you have been handling the Nile question in the Times of the 12th. The ladies' accounts of the way they were treated by those ruffians up there is a perfect picture, as far as it goes, of the true state of the system practised in those lands. There is one other reason not alluded to, which must have operated to thwart the ladies' designs-viz, the jealousy the traders are so susceptible to, of any one prying into the nature of the country they have appropriated to themselves. Pray do keep working this subject, for no one can do it better than yourself. No doubt, indeed, a consul is much wanted in the Soudan; but then he should not be a trader, for no one can trade honestly in those regions. I have great fears about the fate of Baker. He ordered Petherick to place a boat for him at Gondokoro this and last year. The boat was there, and the men with whom Baker went into the interior must have returned to that port, else we could not have heard of Baker's having gone to Unyoro. This being necessarily the case, how is it that Baker did not send a line by them to Petherick, unless some foul play can answer the question? For the love of those you have lost, do bring retribution on the miscreants who occasioned it. There is no richer land in the world than the equatorial regions, and nothing of more importance to the interests of Egypt, as well as our own merchants, than that of opening up those lands to legitimate commerce."

OCTOBER 9TH.-SUNDAY.

OCTOBER 10TH.-MONDAY.

The First Railway Train into the City of London. -On Thursday morning, the first train to the new Ludgate Station passed over the new railway bridge at Blackfriars. The trial was perfectly successful, and there can be no doubt that these works have been as satisfactory as it is possible for mechanical skill and vast resources of capital to make them. The bridge itself is a noble example of the ornamental uses to which iron may be applied.

Cotton from Mauritius.—Captain Bowie, of the ship Africa, just arrived in the Mersey from Mauritius, has brought with him several beautiful specimens of wild grown cotton gathered on the island. The cotton is of very fine staple, and, with a little care and cultivation, would far exceed the ordinary Surat. Captain Bowie says the cotton grows wild all over the island, the natives being evidently unaware of its value.

Anatomy in the East.-From the last general report on public instruction in the Lower Provinces of the Bengal Presidency, which has just reached England, Dr. Norman Chevers, the Principal of the Medical College, states that the number of bodies dissected during the year amounted to 1112, an extraordinary fact, when it is considered that only a few years ago a native gentleman lost his caste by touching a dead body. OBITUARY.-Count Horace De Vicilcastel, grand-nephew of Mirabeau, member of a very old French family, and well known in Paris as a writer of fiction, also on art and archæology, and as a journalist, died last week.

OCTOBER 11TH.-TUESDAY.

The Aberdeen Strawberry Trade.—As most people who are acquainted with this city know, the Aberdeen market gardeners have for long been highly successful culti vators of the strawberry. In respect to bulk and flavour, the varieties of this excellent fruit grown by them will hardly be exceeded. Few people, however, we believe, have any very tangible notion of the actual extent to which the cultivation of the strawberry has grown. We usually think of strawberries in pints or quarts, not in hundredweights and tons: yet strawberries by the ton have become an actual item of export. And during the present season, the quantity brought into the market and sent southward, chiefly to London, to be manufactured into preserves, amounted to about thirty-five tons! This is independent of considerable quantities used at home, for the manufacture of "preserves," on the wholesale principle, and for ordinary domestic use, etc., which must have brought up the total quantity to something like fifty tons. And, if we take into account that a ton of strawberries is worth from £25 to £30 (probably only smaller quantities reaching the latter rate) it will be seen that this has become no unimportant branch of market-gardening. It is a branch, moreover, that promises to extend. It is only a few years since strawberries began to be exported southward at all; but the demand is, we understand, very keen, and even beyond the supply, and contracts to the extent of thirty tons have been already entered into for next season, while some of the principal growers are considerably extending the breadth they have under cultivation. Of the strawberries preserved by wholesale" curers," no inconsiderable part are exported to the Continent, and some even to India.

Immanuel Kant.-The new statue to the celebrated philosopher Immanuel Kant, has been erected in Könisberg. It will be inaugurated, probably by the Crown Prince of Prussia, on the 18th October.