Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

After many experiments , he wrote to the Duke of Wellington , pointing out the advantages of the new substance , it being cleanly , and unaffected by damp , producing no rust , and being , moreover , safer than the old preparation ; that is to say , less liable to explosion from accidental , ancl what seemed spontaneous , causes during manufacture , ancl requiring a harder blow to inflame it . In . the same letter he suggested the application of the principle of percussion to ship-guns . The reply ivas as follows , and the incorrectness of

both decisions is remarkable : — ' • London , Dec . 17 , 1821 . "The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr . Wright , ancl has the honour to inform him , that the application of lire by percussion to naval ordnance has been considered by various committees of officers of the Navy and of the Artillery , each of which has decided against it in every form . There are strong objections to the use of the copper mentioned bMr . Wriht

cap , y g , which Mr . Wright has not taken into consideration . " In September , 1823 , my father published a full account of his process in the Philosophical Magazine . Its superiority was soon generally admitted , ancl none other employed ; but although generally adopted by Government some years after this date , its usefulness never received any other oflicla ! recognition than is contained in the above letter from the Great Duke . I believe the onl

y business transaction which ever arose out of the invention ivas an expenditure of money in stopping some attempts to pirate and patent the discovery . Some years ago , the late Lord Dundonald being interested by the above narrative , I forwarded him a copy of the Duke ' s letter , with the particulars , and received this courteous reiily : —

"July 13 , 1855 . " Sir , —I thank you for your very interesting note , showing how the geatest characters may be led to acquiesce in wrong conclusions ( from mental indolence ) by trusting to ignorant , jealous , or interested officials . I shall preserve your valued communication as a testimonial to the fact , how difficult it is for merit to obtain a fair hearing . —I am , Sir , your obedient servant , DUJCDOXALD . " There is such a difference in style between these two lettersthat

, I think it- ri _> -ht to mention that I was almost a stranger to Lord Dundonald . Hesar G . WEIGHT , M . D . It appears from Mr . Henry Gouger's newly published Personal Ilarrative of Tico Years' Imprisonment in Burmah , that there is or was , until recently , full employment for a second John Howard in connection with the prisons of the Burmese ire : — "When

emp night caine on , tho 'father' of the establishment , entering , stalked towards cur corner . The meaning of the bamboo now became apparent , it was passed between the logs of each individual , and when it hacl threaded our number , seven in all , a man at each end hoisted it up by the blocks to a height which allowed our shoulders to rest on the ground while our feet depended from the iron rings of the fetters . The adjustment ofthe height was left to the judgment of

our kind-hearted parent , who stood by to ses that it was not high enough to endanger life , nor low enough to exempt from pain . Having settled this point to his satisfaction , the venerable chief proceeded , with a stuff , to count the number of tho captives , bestowing a smart rap on the head to those he disliked , whom ho made over to the savage , with a significant hint of what lie might expect if the agreed tally were not forthcoming when the wicket opened next aiorninsr . "

A strong feeling is gaining ground amongst those who feej interested in the education of the people , in favour of female inspectors for girls' schools . Sir Benjamin Brociie , in his recent address to the Boyal Society remarked : — "It is a poor pedantry that would exalt one kind of knowledge by disparaging others . ' Literature , tha Arts , the Moral and Physical Sciencesall of these have elevated the condition of

, mankind . But it is by the union of the whole , that the greatest results have been obtained . At the same time , it may confidently be asserted , with respect to the physical sciences , that they have an advantage over every other department of knowledge in this respect , that the field of inquiry is practicably unlimited . The student may , indeed , meet with an impassable barrier in one direction , but in that case he has only to proceed in another . As he advances , tho horizon which

terminates his view recedes before him . He enters on fresh scenes , gathers in new knowledge , and every addition ivhieh he makes to it becomes tho foundation of further knowledge , to bo afterwards acquired . In the meanwhile , under whatever circumstances he may be placed , ivhether he be in the cultivated valley , or amidst the glaciers of the Alps , on the wide sea , in the crowded city , in the busy factory , in the broad sunshine , or in the starlight night , he has only to look around him to find objects which have to him a peculiar interest , exhibiting relations wliich are not perceptible to those whose minds have " been otherwise

engaged . In the gorgeous sunset lie finds m Hie changing colour of the clouds , or at noon in the dark blue sky above , illustrations of the phenomena and laws of light . The flashes of the aurora are t him not mere objects of curiosity , but are associated with the magnetism of the earth , and with that mysterious force which , lik « the force of gravity , connects us with the sun , ancl probably with all other heavenly bodies , even with those which are at the greatest distance from us . In the tumultuous movements of the atmosphere

which tear up trees by their roots , and cause the destruction of life by shipwreck , he recognises the law of storms , and is enabled to comprehend . how the mariner , by steering his course in one direction , may avoid those dangers to which he would be exposed if he were to steer in another . In this way it is plain that even a moderate acquaintance with the physical sciences cannot fail to add to the interest of life : an advantage which , under occasional circumstancesmay be extended even to the humbler classes of societ .

, y A professor of one of our ancient Universities , and a distinguished Fellow of the Linnean Society , does not consider it to be incompatible with his duties as a parish priest , nor beneath his dignity as a philosopher , to give such simple instruction in botany to the girls of the village in which lie resides as may enable them to understand the Flora of the neighbouring district ; thus affording them not only a useful but a cheering occupation for hours which would otherwise be passed in idleness . "

The Illustrated London Hews says : — " Sir John Bowring , Governor of Hong-Kong , and Superintendent of Trade in China , is a son of the late Charles Bowring , of Larkhear , near Exeter , who died , full of years , April 4 th , 185 G . His mother was Sarah , the daughter of the Kev . T . Lane , of St . Ives , Cornwall , who was descended from the famous lawyer , Sir John Maynard , and through him from William of Wykeham , the pious and munificent founder of the two Colleges o £ St . Mary , at Winchester . and "New College at Oxford .

The Athenn-iim remarks : — " Those who satirize cattle shows , simply because the beasts exhibited at them are loaded with costly fat , that is of comparatively small service for human consumption , miss seeing the aim and use of such contests . A gold medal is not awarded to the owner of the fat pig as an encouragement to other swine proprietors to make their stock prodigiously fut . The winner gets the prize for producing an animal constitutionally adapted to convert cheap food into good flesh , and so showing that others of

its breed may materially benefit society as meat-creating machines . To demonstrate that an animal is endowed with this faculty , it is necessary to expand it to the utmost , that the limit of its productive powers , in respect of quantity , may be discovered . In thus ascertaining the extreme weight ifc can bo induced to yield , a large amount of unprofitable fat is brought into existence . But fee alone , or a singular poiver of secreting fat , will not get an animal a Sniithfielil medal . The uniiiiated eye cannot penetrate the

superincumbent masses ; but a judge knows by ' the feel' of an animal the sort of meat—fat or lean , firm or loose . —its interior muscles are composed of , as easily as a physician , by a touch of the pulse , discover whether his patient is sick of inflammation . Indeed , long

practice m examining , first , the Jive forms of beasts , and then their dead carcases , enables breeders , by the unaided eye , without the assistance of touch , to tell of a creature ' what it is like inside . ' It would surprise the profane to be told ivith what accuracy the priests of the Sniithfield mysteries can by sight declare the history and worth of huge ox—its breed , feeding , weight , the quantity and character of the internal fat , the size ancl quality of each joint . At the firstoutset of the Sniithfield Cattle Clubthe jiulgescame to their

, decisions in the following manner . Out of an entire class they selected , by eye ancl handling , what appeared to them the two best beasts . These were killed , and after inspecting them dead , and examining their internal structure , the critics determined which was the better of the two . It was , however , ere long found needless , as well as embarrassing , to persevere in this plan . " Mr . . Tames Blackwood has the following works in preparation : —

Illustrious Men . ; their Stable Deeds , Discoveries , and Attainments . Illustrious Women ivho hace Distinguished Themselves for Piety , Virtue , anil Benevolence . And a new novel b y B . Hoinyng , The Darh Cloud with the Silver Llr . inr / . Mr . Henry Gouger , in the preface to his Personal Itarralive of Two Tears' Imm-isonment in Burmah , sav-s : — " After reading the

interesting book of Major Yule , and there finding the Ling and his Court discussing the merits of treaties with some appearance of common sense , holding disputations on nice questions of government and civil policy , giving good dinners , criticising paintings , manifesting goocl faith In compacts , getting rid of bad customs , abolishing degrading compliances at court , correcting its institutions , and , above all , coining to understand the map of tne world and the necessity of treating other nations with consideration ancl respect , 1