Science, Art, And The Drama.

Science , Art , and the Drama .

REMARKABLE APPLICATIONS OF ELECTRICITY . ( Continued ) . Although recent experiments have demonstrated the absurdity of much that passes for medical use of magnetism , electricitity has been employed as a curative agent in various ways . One of the most curious is the electric light bath . The virtues of sunlight are well known , and there is supposed to be sufficient similarity between the light of the sun and the electric light

to make the electric light bath serve as a readily available substitute lor tne sun bath . A closet of sufficient size to accommodate a person , constructed of polished nickel to give a good reflecting surface , is fitted up with a number of 16-candle incandescent lamps , so arranged as to take up the least possible room and afford the largest possible radiating surface , while the temperature can be regulated by passing the current through a resistance in the enclosure be raised in lo minutes to

coil . As the temperature can 150 degrees Fahrenheit , the result is equivalent to a combined light and vapour bath . The skin is browned as if by sun burning , and the effect is claimed to be most salutary . Another recent development is the use of electricity as a local an : csthetic . Painless operations have been conducted under its influence , and similar applications with suitable apparatus have

induced cessation of pain in acute tic doloureu x . Remarkable cures have also been obtained in such painful maladies as lumbago and rheumatism by simp ly pressing a small specially shaped incandescent lamp on the skin over the seat of the pain . It has been found that those , suffering from " shaking paralysis " are much better after a rough railway journey ; and the late Dr . Charcot , of the Salpetriers , Paris , the famous specialist in

nervous diseases , applied this principle in the construction of a bed , to which a rapid vibratory movement is given by means of electricity , and this shaking , which to a person in good health would be intolerable , proves quite enjoyable to the paralytic subject , who appears to be refreshed by it . Another French physician has devised a vibrating helmet for the cure of nervous headache . It is constructed of strips of steel , put in vibration by a small electro motor ,

which makes 600 turns a minute . The sensation , which is not unpleasant , produces drowsiness ; the patient falls asleep under its in fluence and awakes free from pain . An American inventor has brought out a rocking chair , actuated by electricity , and the sitter can , at the same time , receive gentle currents by grasping metal handles , or by resting the bare feet on metal pedals . Remarkable results have been obtained from experiments ,

regarding the influence of electricity on the growth of plants . Prof . Speckneff , of Kiev , by an arrangement of poles connected by wires , condensed atmospheric electricity over the enclosed area ; and the ordinary grain crops grown within the enclosure , showed an increase of from 28 to 56 per cent , in the weight of the yield of grain and from 16 to 60 per cent , in the weight of the straw . Potatoes showed an increase of only 11 per

cent ., but they were free from a parasite which devoured the unelectrified crop . By exposing plants at night to the electric light , thus supplementing sunlight , assimilation and growth becom ? continuous , with consequent great increase in the produce ; but it has to be noted that , as in plants under normal conditions , assimilation and growth alternate at different periods of the day , the great development of tissues under the double influence

cannot be entirely beneficial . Prof . Speckneff also tried the effect of electrifying seeds before planting , and found that when they were subjected to the current for only two minutes the rapidity of their growth was nearly doubled . Electrifying the earth in which vegetables were grown had also a prodigious effect , the harvest of roots being four times superior to the ordinary , and that of the leaves , two or three times . Mr . W . Rawson , of Arlington ,

Massachusetts , was one of the few practical men who thought it wjrth while to follow up experiments with the electric light , as a help to vegetable growth . It appears that this gentleman was first attracted to the subj ; ct . by observing that the plants in hisgreenhouse which were next thestreet . and , therefore , in the nightly glare from the electric light , made a wonderful advance in growth , when compared with those which were in darkness . He subseq jentfy

introduced the arc light into his lettuce and cucumber houses , with the result that he made a gain of rive days in each of his three crops of lettuce —that is , two weeks in a season—paying for the cost of the lighting by the gain on one crop . In France the De Meriten system of treating wines by passing currents of electricity through them has been officially tested , and

reported on favourably . This treatment is found to mellow and preserve healthy wines , and to arrest deterioration in those beginning to give way . Alcohol has also been experimented with , showing a considerable hastening of the maturing processes , the objectionable fusel oils , which render new spirits almost undrinkable , being rapidly converted into complete alohols . ( To be continued . )

Our Early English Architecture.

OUR EARLY ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE .

( Continued ) . Between the rational beauties of regular architecture and the unrestrained licentiousness of that which is called Gothic there is no comparison . Yet it is clear that the persons who executed the latter had much more knowledge of their art , more taste , more genius , and more propriety than we choose to imagine . There is a magic firmness in the execution of some

of Iheir works which would not have sustained themselves it dictated by mere caprice . There is great grace in several places , even in their clusters of slerder pillars and in the application of their ornaments , although the princi ples of the latter are so confined , that they may almost all bs reduced to the trefail , extended , and varied . Inigo Jones , Sir Christopher Wren , and Kent , architects who certainly understood beauty , blundered into the

heaviest and clumsiest compositions whenever they aimed at imitations of the Gothic . As instances we may mention the chapel of Lincoln ' s Inn , the steeple of the church at Warwick , the screen at Gloucester Cathedral , the towers of Westminster Abbey . Is an art despicable because a great master does not shine in it ' t Considering how scrupulously our architects confine themselves to antique precedent , perhaps some deviations into Gothic may a little relieve them from that servile

imitation . They should study both tastes , not blend them ; they should dare to invent in the one , since they will hazard nothing in the other . When they have built a pediment and portico the Sibyl ' s circular temple , and tacked the wings to a house by a colonnade , they seemed to have reached the end of their resources . If half a dozen mansions were all that remained of old Rome instead of half a dozen temples , perhaps our churches would resemble the private houses of Roman citizens . Yet , confined as our architects are to few models , they are far from having made all the use they might

Our Early English Architecture.

of those they possess . There are variations enough to be struck out to furnish new scenes of singular beauty . The application of loggias , arcades , terraces , and flights of steps at different stages of a building , particularly in such situations as Whitehall to the river , would have a magnificent effect . It is true our climate and the expense of building in England are great

restrictions on imagination ; but when one talks of the extent of which architecture is capable one must suppose that pomp and beauty are the principal objects ; one speaks of palaces and public buildings , not of shops and small houses . The failure of the most eminent architects when they

attempted anything in the Gothic style may be attributed to their classically confined views of architecture . They were unwilling to copy , and incompetent to invent , designs in any degree analagous to original examples of the different Gothic manners , which , from their early training in art , they were prejudiced against . ( To be continued . )

Wyndham's Theatre.

WYNDHAM'S THEATRE .

" Cyrano de Bergerac , " the play by which its almost untried author , M . Rostand , leapt at a bound to the front rank of French dramatists , was produced in London by Mr . Chas . Wyndham , at his handsome new p layhouse , on Thursday night last week , in the Anglicised version , made by Messrs . Stuart Ogilvie and L . N . Parker . The interest of the expectant audience was enhanced by the diversified opinions held regarding the merits

of the piece itself , no less than' by their own eagerness to compare Mr . Wyndham ' s portrayal of Cyrano , with that of his predecessor in the part , M . Coquelin . Respecting the first of these motives , it was speedily perceived that the delicate epigrammatic piquancy and exquisite literary accomplishment of the French original , had necessarily lost much by translation , thereby leaving the success of the piece in its British form , mainly

dependent upon its purely dramatic elements , the relative weakness of which is thereby disclosed . Apart from the scene in which Cyrano , the possessor of the Gargantuan nose , by his poetic eloquence helps his rival to win Roxane ' s affection , the play , in its comedy , as distinguished from its sentimental aspect , presents a series of unlinked incidents , interesting no doubt in their p icturesque originality , as unfolding the character of the hero , but without

in any way developing the story . Cyrano ' s bullying of the actors at the theatre ; the quarrel and duel with the young noble at the pastry cook ' s , followed by his parade of impecuniosity and the free lunch ; the fighting and defeating ( he 100 foes and other equally impossible feats of arms , by the Gasconading rhymester , are not only unconnected with Cyrano ' s selfsacrifice , but what is more , are inconsistent with his character . Such extremes

of swaggering self-assertion and sublime self-denial , cannot co-exist in one nature . In common with " The Three Musketeers , " of Dumas , the play is hot a dramatic refhx of reality , but a h ' gh fantastical romance , whose hero , by both act and motive , is dis'orted into a caricature , outside of nature , in his perversion and _ exaggeration of humanity . This estimate of Cyrano , is critically justified doubly . First , by the preposterous act of

self-abnegation in aiding his rival to win the woman he himself loves—an act of selfdenial noman was ever known to commit ; and , second , by Cyrano carving his way singly through a hundred enemies unscathed—a feat of arms which the most world-renowned heroes of romance , with their magical swords , never have , and never could have , accomplished . It cannot justly be said that Mr . Wyndham , by his acting , begets illusion as Cyrano . The very

merits by which he ranks as our foremost comedian actually disqualify him for the part ; these perfections are lost in the due portrayal of the hero—a grandee creature of romance , with not the semblance of reality . The affectations of Roxane , who half masks the heart of a sentimental prig behind a pretty face , were expressed by Miss Mary Moore with her peculiar feminine charm , which went far to make one forgive the silliness of the character .

Mr . Alfred Kendrick , by his manly tone and bearing , helped to redeem the brave young lover , Christian , from much of his foolishness . As De Guiche , the sinister admirer of the heroine , Mr . Robertshaw acted arid bore himself personally with distinction . Mr . George Giddens made the most of his few opportunities in the part of the poetic pastry cook , Roquenan . The performance was followed with close attention by the audience , who recogmssd its merits as a whole .

General Notes.

GENERAL NOTES .

There is a fine example at the present time of * the Esquimaux dog in the Zoological Gardens . This animal is interesting frt m iruny points of view , but the chief one is the service it renders to the inhabitants of the country it hails from , viz ., the Arctic regions . Here it is made the beast of burden , like the horse and ox are with us , and teams of a dozen or even more are employed to draw sledges , with living freight or merchandise , over the ice

and snow . The distance these teams cover in a single day is astonishingsometimes 50 miles—and fatigue seems to trouble them but little . This is remarkable , when considering that the dogs subsist almost entirely on fish , which is not a strength-giving diet . They , however , hunt sometimes for themselves , and occasionally pick up other viands in the shape of birds or domestic animals around the native settlements . The Esquimaux dog much

resembles the wolf in general appearance , being much of the same build , with rough , shaggy coat , straight , bushy tail , and small prick ears . It , however , is not of the same colour as the wolf , being usually of a brownish black or while with blackhead , but in colourthis dog varies considerably , almostasmuch as some other breeds of the domestic dog . It is of a cunning disposition ,

but readily submits to training , though afterwards it frequently becomes obstinate , and nothing in the shape of blows will induce it to carry out that against which it sets its mind . Like the wolf , the Esquimaux dog is unable to bark . The natives do not provide the dogs with kennels , and they make burrows to shelter themselves from the winter storms . In summer they are allowed to roam at will , and they go far afield in search of food .

The famous prima donna , Madame Pauline Lucca , has lately met with what will very likely turn out to be a serious accident through slipping over a piece of orange peel in the street at Vienna . The artiste injured Herself severely by the fall .

All good wishes will go with Mrs . Bernard Bsere in her married life . She is not to leave the stage , we are told , and one is glad to hear it . Of late , through ill-health , she has rather dropped out of the professional " running , " but it is to be hoped there will soon be sams artistic wor ' t for her to do .