the feeling and expression of a work in color. In the background there are several old pieces of carved furniture, which are in accord with the scene and period. Aside, however, from the detail of the composition, which is excellent and creditable to Mr. Sarony's genius, the artistic execution of the work possesses peculiar merit. The faces are drawn with exceeding care, and they bear an expression of tenderness and feeling which is rarely secured in crayonpictures. The management of the light, too, is fine; and as it streams through the recessed window it gives relief to the figures, and invests them with a charm the spirit of which is suggestive only of refinement and the most delicate fancy. Wilkie Collins, in a recent letter to Mr. Sarony, complimented him greatly for the artistic taste shown in the composition of his photographic pictures. He said that he had "brought photography and art together." In the present instance we have pure art, executed without the aid of the camera, and it indicates that Sarony is as accomplished in the former field as in the latter. THE group of the Crucifixion in stone, ordered by the King of Bavaria, will soon be erected at Ober- Ammergau, on the mound above the stage on which the Passion Play is performed. A colossal statue, by Professor Drake, of Humboldt, designed for the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, has been exhibited at the artist's studio in Berlin. . . . It is asserted that the Parthenon at Athens is being shockingly wrecked and ruined. Tourists every season visit it, knock off limbs of statues, pull down portions of the frieze which Lord Elgin left, and, clambering up with hammer or stone, break off bits of the Doric capitals. "How amazing," exclaims London Society, "is the taste for art! On one single day could be counted up a programme of no less than twenty-five distinct picture-exhibitions!"..." The art of Black and White,' says the Saturday Review, in its notice of the London exhibition of works in black and white,' may be said to assume three phases: first, that where 'black' preponderates; secondly, that where light prevails; lastly and best, the intermediate condition, where the balance is struck between the two extremes. The English, as a rule, with timid, painstaking care, with small touches which deck out the subject prettily, play in a high key, and preserve as a means of light the white ground of the paper. It can hardly be said that they understand the language of chiaro-oscuro in its whole compass from the zenith of light down to the depth of a darkness visible.' On the other hand, the French often begin with darkness, and so through twilight work their way into day; but even the day threatens rain and thunder. Such landscapes are funereal. The works before us are for the most part partial and one-sided; they show the limit and monotony rather than the inimitable variety of the method. We can only hope that another year this praiseworthy attempt may find a more worthy fulfillment." In the current number of the Fortnightly Review there is a very exhaustive piece of artexposition, description, and history, by Professor Sidney Colvin. It is all about a pavement; but a pavement wrought all over with imagery in engraved and inlaid marble-a pavement like nothing else in the world, the pavement, in short, in the Church of Our Lady, in the Tuscan city of Sienna, over which have passed the reverend feet of Dante, and some of the episodes in which he has by his pen made more enduring than the marble in which they are traced. From Abroad. OUR PARIS LETTER. July 13, 1875. I HEAR from London that a report is cur rent there to the effect that the heirs of the Countess Guiccioli have recently offered the letters exchanged between Byron and herself to several of the leading publishers of England for sale, but could find no purchasers. This is as it should be. No literary nor historical interests could be served by the publication of these letters; there would merely be a revival of much of the old scandalous talk which has now happily nearly died away. A lady who was the intimate friend of the Marquise de Boissy (Madame Guiccioli) in her later years informs me that these letters were all written in Italian, and would, perforce, lose much of the beauty of their language in translation, and that, being simply impassioned love-letters, they would possess no literary value whatever. I had recently the pleasure of holding in my hand a locket which Madame de Boissy had presented to the lady in question. It contained two locks of hair, one a dark, slender ring, which had been clipped from Byron's head after death; the other a lock of silky, golden chestnut, unflecked with a single thread of silver, though Madame de Boissy was sixty-five years of age when she severed it from the mass of her still-abundant tresses to join it to Byron's in the gift for her friend. She preserved most of the traits of her wondrous beauty, her pearly teeth, her exquisitely-moulded shoulders, the grace and winning charm of her manners, to the latest hour of her life. She always wore around her neck the miniature of Byron, and the greatest proof of affection that she ever gave to her American friend was the permission to have this miniature copied. While the work was in progress she sat beside the easel, watching and directing the progress of the pencil. This miniature lay on her heart when, an aged lady, she was borne to her grave after a life which, apart from the one error of her youth, had been singularly noble and blameless. As the Marquise de Boissy, she was a veritable queen of society, and her receptions were celebrated as being among the most brilliant and successful ever held in Paris. A lady who has just returned from a somewhat lengthened sojourn in Florence tells me some items respecting the celebrated "Ouida" (Miss de la Ramé), who is at present residing there in much style and splendor, occupying superb apartments, and driving out daily in an elegant open carriage. She is a woman somewhere on the shady side of forty, with abundant yellow hair, but with no other pretensions to personal attractions, if we may except a very small and shapely foot, which she is extremely fond of displaying. She goes a great deal into society among a certain set, those conversant with Florentine social life being doubtless able to imagine which set I mean. She is very vain, more so of the personal charms which she does not possess than of the mental ones to which she has undeniably every claim. She is fond of attitudinizing, and of getting herself up in all manner of picturesque costumes. The portraits published of her represent her at her best, and are rather flattered than otherwise. The great success of her works, in the teeth of a persistent pressure from the moral and religious classes of the community on both sides of the Atlantic, is one of the literary phenomena of the age. Dentu has just published "Les Cinq," a new novel by Paul Féval, and one by Elie Berthet, entitled "Maître Bernard." He announces "The Defense of Paris," by General Ducrot, with forty-five colored maps. Klincksieck, 11 Rue de Lille, has on sale the concluding volumes of the correspondence of Leibnitz with the Electress Sophia, the mother of George I. of England, extracted from the papers preserved in the Royal Library of Hanover. Glady Brothers announce a novel in that scientific style which the success of Jules Verne's works has rendered so popular, entitled "The Conquest of the Air, or Forty Days of Aerial Navigation," by Jules A. Brown. H. Champion announces a new edition of the works of Rabelais, edited by Paul Favre, and ornamented with steel-engravings, among which are three ancient portraits of Rabelais. Of this edition only seven hundred copies have been printed. Plon & Co. publish a work on Spain, by P. L. Imbert, entitled "The Splendors and Miseries of Spain," and illustrated with numerous wood-engravings from designs by Alexandre Prévost, who is, some say, a rival, others an imitator of Gustave Doré. "The Diplomatic History of the Late War," by M. Sorel, is attracting much attention; it shows very conclusively what helpless puppets Napoleon III. and his counselors were in the strong and skillful hands of Bismarck. And, à propos of the late war, a French gentleman who has recently made an extensive tour through Alsace and Lorraine regretfully informed me that, if the votes of the inhabitants of Alsace were now taken as to whether they would remain German or become French again, the majority in favor of Germany would be immense. "Lorraine," he said, sighing, "is more French in its proclivities, but Alsace has become thoroughly Germanized." The educational facilities, and the advantages offered to the Protestant religion by Prussian rule, have probably had much to do with this change in the public sentiment of the transferred province-Alsace being largely Prot estant. An exhibition of the works of art purchased by the city during the past year has just been opened at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. The pictures are scarcely worth a visit, being mostly devotional subjects intended for the interior of certain churches. There is a very pre-Raphaelite-looking Corot representing the "Baptism of Christ." Two large frescoes by Lenepveu, representing scenes in the life of St.-Ambroise, and intended for the church of that name, show much power and talent. There is a fine painting of "Justice between Guilt and Innocence," by Bonnat, intended for the ceiling of one of the halls in the Palais de Justice. Speaking of Bonnat, I hear that the government has succeeded in purchasing from Madame Pasca her splendid fulllength portrait by that artist, and it is to be placed in the Luxembourg. Two paintings by Millet, and one by Jalabert, have also been recently added to that gallery. The Great American Circus, concerning which sundry rumors have been afloat for a long time, is about to become an established fact. Mr. Myers, the proprietor of the euterprise in question, has leased the huge Magasins Réunis, on the Place du Château d'Eau, and is to convert it into a circus forthwith. The building is of colossal proportions, and the home of the Comédie Française before the first Revolution, but it is also one of the most solidly built. There is talk of creating a second French Opera-that is to say, of reviving the functions and répertoire of the old Théâtre Lyrique. As the Grand Opéra has so decid run to seed on staircase and foyer, the idea is not a bad one. M. Arsène Houssaye is spoken of as its probable director if the enterprise ever assumes definite shape. will seat, I should think, some twenty or thirty thousand. Combined with the circus there is to be a menagerie, containing twelve elephants and nine lions, with other beasts in due proportion. The six chandeliers already ordered for the house are to cost one thousand dollars each. Mr. Myers has worthily inaugu-edly rated his enterprise by subscribing two hundred dollars to the fund for the victims of the inundation. John S. Clarke, our celebrated and favorite comedian, purposes coming all the way to Paris, from his country-seat at Boulogne-sur-Mer, to give a representation for the same charitable object. If he can secure a theatre he will come here toward the last of this month, bringing with him a complete English company. Madame Patti, who was prevented by Mr. Gye from lending her aid to the grand benefit performance for the inondés, in London, has offered her services to M. Halanzier for a representation at the Grand Opéra. Of course, her offer was eagerly accepted. As she has no time at her disposal till the last of September, the benefit performance will not take place till early in October. It is highly probable that Mademoiselle Aimée will not appear in Paris next winter, all reports to the contrary notwithstanding. Since her return from America, she has placed so high a value upon her services, and has put on such airs, that managers find it hard to come to terms with her. Vizentini of the Gaité tried to make arrangements with her to create the leading character in "The Journey to the Moon," which is to be the pièce de réistance at that theatre next winter. But the fascinating singer exacted, among other conditions, that her name in large letters should be placed at the head of the bill, that the piece should not be termed a fairy-spectacle, and that she was to be allowed to alter or refuse any morceaux of the music that did not suit her. As Offenbach is to compose the music, that last condition in particular was looked upon as an impracticable one. So Mademoiselle Zulma Bouttar has been engaged in her stead. Notwithstanding the season, a certain activity is reigning at present at the Grand Opéra. This is the period of the year when ambitious singers from the provinces, and aspiring dbutantes fresh from the hands of their teachers, are admitted to the honors of a hearing before the manager. It is whispered that several important engagements have been in this way already formed. A young tenor, M. Vitaux, who made a great sensation in "Guido e Ginevia" last winter, at Bordeaux, is shortly to make his first appearance on the boards of the Grand Opéra as Raoul, in "Les Huguenots." Another tenor, M. Valdejo, from Lyons, is in treaty with the management. The new drama of "Lea," which was to have been performed at the Gymnase this week, has been indefinitely postponed, owing to the illness of Mademoiselle Tallandiera. It is said that this fiery and impassioned, but crude and unrefined, actress is shortly to enter the Comédie Française, and it is also whispered that she will owe her advancement to the powerful protection of Alexandre Dumas, who persists in seeing in her the great coming actress of the Parisian stage. Mademoiselle Blanche Baretta is shortly to appear at the Français in the role of Victorine, in "Le Philosophe sans le Savoir." That will be the third character which she has assumed since she was transferred from the Odéon to these classic boards. The Théâtre de l'Odéon itself is threatening to tumble down, and extensive repairs of the foundations have been undertaken. It is one of the oldest theatres in Paris, having been A work by M. le Vicomte de BeaumontVassy is shortly to be published by Sartorious, bearing the title of " Papiers Curieux d'un Homme de Cour." Some passages have been quoted from its advance-sheets, among which is stated the curious fact that the boat that conveyed the Duke de Nemours from Boulogne to England, when the family of Louis Philippe fled from France, in 1848, brought back on its return-trip two passengers, Prince Louis Bonaparte and M. de Persigny. The prince, on hearing the news of the proclamation of the republic, had left London at once, and had taken the first boat he could find to bring him over. At Amiens the train conveying the future Emperor of France missed the connection with the train for Paris, and the travelers were forced to wait for some time at the little station of Czersan, notwithstanding the feverish impatience of Louis Napoleon. At last, word arrived that the train which they had missed by a few minutes only had met with a frightful accident, by which some twenty or thirty persons had been killed. The protecting star of Louis Napoleon had already arisen. The road being thus incumbered, the party were forced to pass the night in this miserable village, where there was not even an inn. The prince, his confidant, and MM. Biesta and Aragon, passed the night in a wretched wineshop, smoking and conversing about the great political change which had just taken place. There, upon the wine-stained table, the prince drew up his letter to the Provisional Government, wherein, "without any other ambition than that of serving his country, he offered his services to the republic." Thus the very first utterance of the future emperor, in his first steps toward the throne of France, was a deliberate falsehood. LUCY H. HOOPER. OUR LONDON LETTER. He THE editor of the New Quarterly, Mr. John Latouche-otherwise, Mr. Oswald Crawfurd, her majesty's consul at Oporto, as I think I have already told you-has just issued through Messrs. Ward & Lock his "Travels in Portugal." The volume consists of the articles on Portugal which he wrote for his magazine, and a very interesting book do they form. Mr. Latouche tells us much about the character, superstitions, and manners and customs of the inhabitants-they are, he assures us, "welltempered and well-mannered"- and much about the agriculture of the country. tells, too, more than one good story. Take this, for instance: "A traveler should do even more than speak French fluently; he should be able to discriminate between the accents and idioms with which other European nations speak it-no very difficult matter, and ignorance of which once brought the present writer into a somewhat awkward predicament. It was on the occasion of finding myself on board a large ocean-steamer. My cabin companion was a very lively foreign gentleman, whom I set down as a Swiss. We talked upon things in general, and, the conversation falling, as it always will fall between chance ac quaintances, upon the characteristics of different nations, my new friend descanted with some humor upon this subject, and I followed suit as well as I could. We had expended the small artillery of our ridicule upon the foibles of the people of nearly every country, excepting always England and Switzerland- as I thought our respective fatherlands-we had said smart and foolish things about Frenchmen, Germans, Russians and Danes, Italians and Spaniards; and, as for Dutchmen, I said they would be a great nation, in spite of their canals and even their trousers, if it were not for that story of the wooden nutmegs; it has made them absurd and shown them to be rogues the wide world over. Sir,' said my acquaintance, with a sudden accession of dignity, 'I was born at Rotterdam!'" Imagine the climax! Our author is very hard upon what he calls the "mere tourist-the ignorant, conceited, incurious, moneyed tramp❞—and he thinks that, owing to the bad food in the less frequented districts, the bad roads, etc., this class of people-and their name is, unfortunately, legion-would find it by no means pleasant to travel in the Peninsula; at the same time, he says that those who would quietly sojourn, either permanently or temporarily, in a charming winter climate, should go there. I see you have been quoting from the bright series of articles in Fraser on "German HomeLife;" ergo, you may like to know the name of their writer. It is the Countess von Bothmer. Will you allow me to mention, as a matter of literary news (not, mind you, as an advertisement), that my forthcoming mid-monthly, the London Magazine, will contain some unpublished scenes - including a page in facsimile-from Edgar A. Poe's tragedy of "Politian?" These will be incorporated in an article on the play in question by Mr. John Ingram, who has within the last few weeks acquired possession of the original manuscript. Mr. Ingram's edition of Poe has, I may tell you here, sold remarkably well. The first five hundred copies of the initial volume were cleared out on publication day, and since then there has been a steady demand for it and the others. The farewell dinner to Barry Sullivan came off, as I told you it would, on the 14th, and a very grand affair it was. The scene of it was the Alexandra Palace; and among those who were there to see, hear, eat, drink, and make merry, were Mr. Benjamin Webster and Mr. W. Creswick, the authors; Mr. James Albery, the young dramatist; Mr. Charles Gibbon, the novelist; Mr. F. Maccabe, who amused you so much lately by his motley impersonations; Mr. Joseph Hatton, Mr. Fiske's successor on the Hornet; and Mr. Ashby-Sterry, one of our very best essayists and writers of society verses. A live earl was actually in the chair -the Earl of Dunraven, a member of the Savage Club, by whom the dinner was organized -and his lordship, in proposing the toast of the evening, referred to the well-known tragedian in a most flattering-and, let me add, somewhat stilted-way: "As an interpreter of the greatest intellect the world had ever seen, they would find it hard to name his equal, while no man living had done more to familiarize the people of his country, and of far-distant English-speaking lands, with the great works of Shakespeare." So ran one of the earl's sentences. After an address wishing him prosperity and God-speed had been read, Mr. Sullivan, as the penny-a-liners have it, "then rose to respond." He declared that he never felt happier in his life, that his feelings were overwhelming, that he would not bore them with words, mere words; and then he sat down. Mr. Charles Gibbon is going to try his hand at an English novel. The scene of it will be laid in one of the most pleasant of our many pleasant English counties. Tennyson's "Queen Mary" is not selling at all well-for Tennyson. The "advance notice and a fulsome one it was in the "leading journal" by no means did the book good. Puff preliminary seldom does. Bythe-way, the Spectator, in its notice, is equally laudatory. It holds that the poet-laureate's drama is a greater work than "King Henry VIII." of our Master Shakespeare. Fact! Listen to its concluding remarks: " Certainly we should be surprised to hear that any true critic would rate Queen Mary,' whether in dramatic force or in general power, below 'Henry VIII.,' and our own impression is that it is a decidedly finer work of dramatic art." How the critics differ, to be sure! Here is the Graphic, notwithstanding what the Spectator says, declaring that Mr. Tennyson is totally wanting in dramatic power, and that the drama, as a drama, is a failure! Those are my sentiments also. I don't know how it is with you, but Joaquin Miller's "The Ship in the Desert" is being severely handled over here. The Athenaum's opening article the other day was devoted to its consideration. "Never before have we had occasion to read a poem so vague in conception and execution," is the reviewer's verdict. Then he goes on to point out grave faults in its rhyme, rhythm, and similes. This, thinks he, is the best passage in the book: "O thou to-morrow! Mystery! "O day in which we shall forget O shelter from all present storm! "O safest, best day for reform! But lead us blindfold to the end." WILL WILLIAMS. Science, Invention, Discovery. THE A NEW HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR. HE introduction of the elevator into our hotels, warehouses, commercial and private buildings, etc., bids fair to effect a marked change in the architectural features of all modern cities. We have already taken occasion to notice at some length the general character of this change, relating as it does to the modification of "ground plans," and the relative value for business purposes of lower and upper stories. With the general principles of the ordinary passenger-elevator our readers are familiar. A substantial and often richly-decorated car is drawn up and lowered by means of wire ropes extending over pulleys above, and attached to drums or pulleys below. These drums are caused to revolve by steam-engines specially adapted to the purpose. A second form of elevator, and one recently described in these columns, is that wherein the motive power is obtained from a weight. This weight is a bucket which, when filled with water, is heavier than the elevatorcar with its full load. When the car is at the top of the building, the water-bucket, which by its weight on the opposite end of the pulley-rope caused it to ascend, is at the bottom. In order to descend, the conductor, by means of a rope or rod, causes a valve in the bucket below to open, through which the water finds an exit until the bucket is lighter than the car, which at once descends, thus hauling the bucket up. Once at the top, the bucket is refilled with water from an adjacent tank till it is again sufficiently weighted to overcome the weight of the car. Thus, by this process of filling and emptying, the ascent and descent of the car are accomplished. The water with which to supply the reservoir is pumped up by a special engine. In this case, as in that of the common ropeelevator, it is evident that the main dependence for strength and safety is the rope, which in turn must be supported on pulleys fastened above. In accordance with a purpose already announced, we are prompted to give a descriptive account of a novel and what appears to be a marked improvement on the two kinds of elevators above described. We say that this " appears to be " an improvement, by which it should be understood that, so far as direct indorsement of the new appliance goes, we are ready to accept any criticisms which may be brought to our notice, having in mind at present the simple illustration of a compact, simple, and certainly very ingenious adaptation of hy. draulic power to the special purpose under discussion. This new form is known as the Telescopic Hydraulic Elevator, and is the invention of Mr. Thursby. As suggested by the title, and made plain by the accompanying illustration, the motive power is derived from pumps, and applied through a series of wrought iron tubes, shutting into each other as do the tubes of a telescope. When at the lowest landing, the position of these tubes is that shown on the right of the illustration. When an ascent is desired, the conductor, by means of the ordinary valverope, opens the pipe leading from the pumps. By this means a stream of water enters at the base of the lower or stationary tube, and at once the upward pressure of the column of water causes the tubes to ascend. As the car is attached to or rests upon the upper or smaller tube, it must ascend also, being literally pushed or lifted up by hydraulic force. When a return is desired, a second movement of the valve-rope shuts off the supply, at the same time opening a valve by which an exit is made for the water, which in flowing out permits the car to descend by its own gravity. The feature of this device, which will at once attract attention, is the absence of all ropes, pulleys, or gearing, above the car, as the whole motive power is applied from below. There is, of course, no need of a strengthened roof or danger from breaking ropes, etc. Whatever may be said as to the relative economy of the method, there can be no question as to its safety. Although it is our main purpose to present this sketch as illustration of an ingenious adaptation of hydraulic force, yet a careful examination of several large elevators now in operation convinces us that in practice, as well as in theory, it is a success. The new building now occupied by the Evening Post has adopted this device, which is now in constant use, and the fact that twelve of them are "set up" in the new Post-Office building is evidence that we are not alone in commending the invention to the attention of those interested. Since, however, no archi. tect will be likely to adopt so decided an innovation upon the old methods without a thorough personal examination, we are freed from any charge of favoritism in commending it to public attention. And we are certainly, from careful personal observation, prompted to commend this or any device which, like it, shows the mark of genius coupled with practical engineering skill and knowledge. AMONG the many different problems which our complex system of custom-duties compels the official examiner to decide are those relating to the constitution of the so-called mixed fabrics: if the duty on wool be a given amount, while that on cotton is another, silk still another, and so on throughout the whole list of textile fibres, it is evident that, when fabrics composed of indefinite mixtures of two or more of these substances are entered at the custom-house, the question of "rate," though in itself a complicated one, must in all cases depend on the question of relative quantity of constituents. Hence it is that chemists and microscopists are constantly called upon to aid the examiner in his work. Again, in this age of adulterations, the consumer is often, and with good reason, at a loss to know whether the material he is purchasing is "all wool," "all silk," or a mixture of cotton, etc. In view of the general interest of these questions, and the importance to the community, as well as the state, of a simple and sure method of deciding them, certain eminent chemists have made them the subject of long and thorough experiment. Though not designing to review at length the course of these experiments, we are prompted to give the following concise summing up, as made by M. Pinclion, and recently published in a French chemical journal. Though in certain of the cases noticed the services of the chemist may be required, yet in many the method of detection is so simple that it may be applied by those less familiar with the arts of the laboratory. In the tests here given the process of detection is shown in italics, to distinguish it from the substances experimented upon : "Substances which dissolve ENTIRELY when left in a caustic lye of potash or soda-silk, mixture of silk and wool, wool, phormium tenax, hemp, flax, cotton. "Substances which dissolve PARTIALLY in the same lye, fibres injured thereby—mixture of wool, silk, and cotton, ditto silk and cotton, ditto cotton and flax. "Dissolves ENTIRELY in chloride of zinc cold; alkaline solution blackens with a salt of leadsilk. "Dissolves PARTIALLY, or NOT AT ALL, in chloride of zinc; soluble portion does not blacken with a salt of lead; insoluble portion blackens with the same-mixture of silk and wool. "Does NOT dissolve in chloride of zinc. Fibre reddens when treated successively with chlorinewater and ammonia-water. Reddens also with nitric acid or peroxide of nitrogen-phormium tenax. "Does NOT dissolve in chloride of zinc. Does not color when treated successively with chlorine and ammonia water. Fibre colors with an alcoholic solution of fuchsine (one - twentieth), which color resists washing. Fibre turns YELLOW when treated with an aqueous solution of potash, or with iodine and sulphuric acid-hemp. "Does NOT dissolve in chloride of zinc. Does ter. not color with chlorine followed by ammonia-waFibre colors with an alcoholic solution of fuchsine (one-twentieth), and color resists washing. An aqueous solution of potash, or iodine and sulphuric acid, color the fibres BLUE-flax. "Does NOT dissolve in chloride of zinc. Does not color with chlorine followed by ammonia-water. Colors with a fuchsine solution, but colors will not bear washing. Fibres do not turn yellow with potash-cotton. "Dissolves PARTIALLY in chloride of zinc. Partly blackened with salt of lead. Fibres which remain insoluble in chloride of zinc may be partly dissolved in potash solution; those that resist this second treatment may be dissolved with Schweitzer's reagent-mixture of wool, silk, and cotton. "Dissolves PARTIALLY in chloride of zinc. Does not blacken with salt of lead. Picric acid turns a portion of the fibre yellow, the rest remaining white-mixture of silk and cotton. "Does NOT dissolve in chloride of zinc. Nitric acid colors a portion of the fibres, the rest remaining white-mixture of cotton and flax." THE English Mechanic, referring to the rapidly-increasing production of cheese and butter in Denmark, describes the system pursued in certain recently-established schools of industry. These schools receive government aid, and their main design is to train the pupils in the several branches of dairy-manufacture. Referring to M. Svendeen's school on the island of Zeeland, the report is as follows: "From 1st September to 1st November the establishment contains only girls, from 15th November to 1st August only lads, both classes entering the school at fifteen to eighteen years of age. They pay about two pounds a month for their board and education. The instruction is both practical and theoretical. For two or three hours daily they receive lessons in the keeping of accounts, dairy management, and natural history; they are instructed in the physiology of milch-cows, the action of the mammary glands, the food of cattle, etc.; and in the afternoon some time is given to music and singing. The greater part of the mornings, however, is devoted to practical work in the dairy, where the students are distributed to their allotted tasks of milking, making butter, cleaning utensils, preparing rennet, etc. About three to four hundred quarts of milk are treated daily, all the operations are carefully explained, and the establishment is provided with the newest and best apparatus for dairy-work. The students entering these schools (M. Svendeen has about forty yearly of either sex) are chiefly sons and daughters of farmers and proprietors. They come with a good previous education, and generally leave the school with a real enthusiasm for its pursuits. The success of the system is such that many applicants have to be refused admission every year. Norway and Sweden are following the example of Denmark." Surely there is that in this announcement to attract the attention of our Herkimer County readers, and by following the example of the Danish dairymen they will but anticipate the inevitable course of things which makes the establishment of more technical and special schools a foregone conclusion. ACCORDING to recent advices, the saloonsteamer Bessemer, an illustrated description of which recently appeared in these columns, has been made fast to the Millwall docks, where it is made to serve as a kind of mechanical museum, visitors being permitted to view thecabin that did not work," at the rate of one shilling a head. It is proposed to place the steamer on the docks in order to repair the damage done by the collision with the Calais pier. As she must wait her turn, however, it is highly probable that several months will elapse before she is again afloat. "We cannot help thinking," says the Engineer, "that these two months might be more profitably employed in taking out the swinging-saloon, which, apparently, will not swing, and decking her in. A weight of over two hundred tuns being thus removed, her designed draught might be obtained, and consequently greater speed and better steering. Although the saloon is so far a failure, the ship herself is admitted on all hands to be a success, as her low bows and large bilge-keels give her comparative immunity from both disagreeable rolling and pitching, and if the saloon were removed she would be the quickest and most comfortable vessel on the Channel service." Were it not for the numerous evidences we have of the indomitable energy and zeal of the inventor, we should be inclined to indorse the views of the Engineer; as it is, however, it may be as well to withhold any adverse judgment until Mr. Bessemer has himself admitted the failure of this his pet scheme. So far as we can learn, no test has been made to disprove the principle on which the oscillating saloon is built, and if the defects be merely those of mechanical construction, by no one can these defects be more certainly remedied than by the inventor of the Bessemer steel process and the hydraulic crane. HAVING recently briefly announced the discovery of a boiling lake in the island of Dominica, we would again refer to the subject, additional and interesting particulars having been received. Mr. H. Prestoe, Superintendent of the Trinidad Botanic Gardens, having paid a visit to the lake, published an account of his observation, from a report of which we condense as follows: The lake lies in the mountains behind Roseau, and in the valleys surrounding it are many solfataras, or volcanic sulphur-vents. In fact, the boiling lake is little else than a crater filled with water, through which the pent-up gases find vent and are ejected. The temperature of the water ranges from 180° to 190° Fahr. throughout the whole extent. The points of actual ebullition change from time to time. Where this active action takes place, the water is said to rise two, three, and sometimes four feet above the main surface, the cone often dividing so that the orifices through which the gas escapes are three in number. This violent action of the cones causes a general disturbance over the whole surface of the lake. Though these cones appear to be special vents, yet the sulphurous vapors arise in nearly equal density over the full extent of the lake. There seems to be in no case any violent action of the escaping gases, such as detonations or explosions. The water is of a dark-gray color, and is highly charged with sulphur. As the outlet of the lake is rapidly deepening, it is believed that soon the water must be drawn off, after which it will assume the character of a geyser, or sulphurous crater. It is probable that we shall be soon able to announce the worthy triumph, on foreign soil and among foreign competitors, of a worthy American invention. From unofficial sources, we learn that in a great trial of railway-brakes in England the Westinghouse Air-Brake gave the best results throughout the series of experiments. As there seems every reason to believe that this trial was a thorough and impartial one, the official report is awaited with interest, and, should it confirm the generally- | above the natural dislike of appearing to some accepted opinion, the victory of the Westinghouse brake will be as signal as it is deserved. In view of these facts, the question naturally arises, Why are our own railway companies so slow to recognize and adopt so important an improvement? to which we suppose the answer must be given, "It won't pay." IN a recent paper on "Anæsthetics," Dr. Prévost states that when the sleep produced by chloroform has continued so long that it is dangerous to administer more chloroform, the anæsthetic state may be safely prolonged by the injection of small quantities of morphine under the skin. It is also said that, if morphine be first injected, a much smaller dose of chloroform suffices to produce insensibility. AMONG the special attractions of the coming Geographical Congress at Paris will be an exhibition of the large map of France, executed by staff-officers of the French Army. As originally prepared, it was in sheets, which, when joined together, will form a continuous sheet, or panorama, of immense size. map will be reduced by a photo-microscopic process. Miscellany: The 66 In the course of a few weeks' ramble in Germany this summer (1867) I had but rare opportunities of ascertaining the present condition of the dramatic art, although during the last thirty years I have from time to time been fortunate enough to see most of the best actors Germany has produced. Now, as of old, there is a real respect for the art, both in the public and in the actors; and at each theatre we see that striving after an ensemble so essential to the maintenance of the art, but which everywhere else except at the Théâtre Français is sacrificed to the detestable star system. In Germany we may see actors of the first eminence playing parts which in England and America would be contemptuously rejected by actors of third-rate rank; and the condescension," so far from lowering the favorite in the eyes of the public, helps to increase his favor. I remember when Emil Devrient, then a young man, came to play Hamlet at Berlin, as a แ guest," the great tragedian, Seydelmann (the only great tragedian in my opinion that Germany has had during the last quarter of a century), undertook the part of Polonius. It was one of those memorable performances which mark an epoch in the playgocr's life. Such a revelation of the character, and such maestria of execution, one can hardly hope to see again. Had he played Laertes (and he would doubtless have consented to play it had there been any advantage in his doing so), he would still have been the foremost figure of the piece. At any rate he would have been the great actor, and the favorite of the Berliners. And here it is only fair to add, in extenuation of the English actor's resistance against sacrificing his amour propre to the general good, that if he obstinately declines to appear in a part unworthy of his powers or his rank in the profession, he does so because, over and disadvantage, he knows in the first place that the English public cares little for an ensemble, and in the second place that the majority of the audience will only see him in that unworthy part, and consequently will form an erroneous idea of his capabilities. It is otherwise with the German actor. He knows that the public expects and cares for an ensemble, and he desires the general success of the performance, as each individual in an orchestra desires that the orchestral effect should be perfect. He knows, moreover, that the same people who to-night see him in an inferior part saw him last week, or will see him next week, in the very best parts of his repertory. He has, therefore, little to lose and much to gain by playing well an inferior part. Further, his payment is usually regulated by the times of performance. Be the reasons what they may, the result is that always at a German Hof-Theater one is sure of the very best ensemble that the company can present; and one will often receive as much pleasure from the performance of quite insignificant parts as from the leading parts on other stages. The actors are thoroughly trained: they know the principles of their art -a very different thing from knowing "the business!" They pay laudable attention to one supremely important point recklessly disregarded on our stage, namely, elocution. They know how to speak-both verse and prose to speak without mouthing, yet with effective cadence; speech elevated above the tone of conversation without being stilted. How many actors are there on our stage who have learned this? How many are there who suspect the mysterious charm which lies in rhythm, and have mastered its music? How many are there who, with an art which is not apparent except to the very critical ear, can manage the cadences and emphases of prose, so as to be at once perfectly easy, natural, yet incisive and effective? The foreigner, whose ear has been somewhat lacerated by the dreadful intonations of common German speech, is surprised to find how rich and pleasant the language is when spoken on the stage; the truth being that the actors have learned to speak, and are not permitted to call themselves actors at a Hof-Theater until they have conquered those slovenly and discordant intonations which distort the speech of vulgar men. I was made more than ever sensible of this refinement of elocution by having passed some weeks in a retired watering-place wholly inhabited by Germans of the tradesman class, whose voices and intonations so tormented me that I began to think the most hideous sound in Nature was the cackle of half a dozen German women. To hear the women on the stage after that was like hearing singing after a sermon. Next to excellence of elocution, which forms the basis of good acting, comes the excellence of miming-the expression of character. There are three great divisions of mimetic art: first, the ideal and passionate; secondly, the humorous realism of comedy; and lastly, the humorous idealism of farce. In the first and last divisions the German stage seems poorly supplied at present. But in the second division there is much excellence. And I remember this to have been always the case: tragic or poetic actors are rare, their power over the emotions fitful, but comic actors are abundant, though seldom successful in the riotously and fantastically humorous. Now precisely in this division, wherein Germany displays greatest power, England has at all times been most feeble. There has, in deed, of late years, arisen a certain ambition on the part of actors, and a demand on the part of certain audiences, which may be said to be leading our drama into the region of humorous realism and high comedy; nor is it without significance that this movement should have been coincident with an almost complete extinction of the passionate and ideal drama; but without making invidious mention of a few exceptions, it is simple justice to say that the efforts of our stage in this direction are but trivial beside the German, and men with us gain a reputation as "natural actors" for mimetic qualities which would be quite ordinary in Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, or Wei mar. One excellence noticeable on the German stage is the presentation of character in its individual traits, with just that amount of accentuation which suffices to make it incisive and laughable, yet restrains it from running over into extravagance and unreality. THE anticipated production of Tennyson's "Queen Mary" on the English stage leads the London Daily News into a few suggestive comments on the historical drama: In producing Mr. Tennyson's "Queen Mary," Mrs. Bateman, who in cooperation with her late husband has done so much to restore the poetic drama to the theatre, will only continue, as it were, the tradition of the English stage, and add another to the chronicle plays which are, some of them, the finest and almost all among the most "useful" works of Shakespeare. People who know English history only through their Shakespeare know it by no means badly. The poet who outdid all antiquity, and before whom all future time is abashed, was not provided with the modern critical apparatus. He knew nothing of searches in the register-office, the records of Simanca were far out of his way, the pictorial pages of Holinshed and Stowe and Froissart served his turn. To these authorities Shakespeare must have added a wide acquaintance with the oral traditions of the English monarchy, which were no doubt much more lively at his date than in the later centuries. English history before Shakespeare's time was very personal, the wild passions of Plantagenets and Tudors left a deep mark in the popular memory. Kings and queens were great travelers, nowise chary of showing themselves to their people; and their people, having no reading and writing to impair their memories, and being deeply interested in their willful lords and masters, would long retain traits of their character. Any one who should set to work now to write a tragedy on George I.and though the idea at first seems absurd, there is well-known matter for a tragedy in the story of Sophia Dorothea-would find no help in popular memory. All the breath almost has gone out of oral tradition, and the facts of a new historical drama must be carefully collected from printed histories, from the opinions of the best scholars, and from a critical comparison of facts. It is difficult to give life to an historical play thus painfully and studiously pieced together. Yet if the English stage is ever to resume its old functions of teaching to the people the people's history, it is by the critical method that the historian must work. This is the great disadvantage that Mr. Tennyson has had to struggle with, and has encountered, it may be said, with no dubious success. Our generation, which is nothing if not critical, has done good work in historical criticism. Old tales are weighed, |