lady, but she is gazing forth into space in the most unsympathetic manner imaginable. The picture was taken, it is said, at the earnest solicitation of a poor photographer at whose rooms M. von Bismarck and Madame Lucca chanced to meet, and who saw in such an unusual combination of personages an opportunity for making a sensational picture. The picture did create a sensation—not only a sensation but a scandal-so much so that all the pictures and the negatives as well were bought up and destroyed by the police. Some stray copies, however, found their way into Austria, where the great Prussian was far from being very cordially beloved, and it was in Vienna that my copy was purchased. It must be remembered that Pauline Lucca in those days was far from being the scandalous personage that she afterward became, especially in these later days of many husbands and many divorces. A letter concerning the affair from the pen of M. von Bismarck himself is given at length, and it is rather amusing to see how he goes round and round the subject without giving any positive answer to the queries of his correspondent, who is evidently quite exercised about the matter.

Mr. D. R. Knight is still hard at work at Poissy on his "Market Scene" and "Harvest Scene." Both these pictures are already sold, the first to Mr. Anthony Drexel, the wellknown Philadelphia banker. The studies for the" Market Scene" were made from actual life, the artist sitting, with his sketch-book on his lap, in the open street, on market-days, and, whenever any picturesque group struck his eye, rushing to secure the immobility of the personages by some small payment. The painting will thus have all the vividness and vitality of real life. The "Harvest Scene" was almost literally painted in the open fields. There is a continual talk of forthcoming novelties at the Grand Opéra, but, somehow or other, they do not come. Mademoiselle de Reszké is to create her second character tomorrow night; it is Mathilde in "William Tell." I question much whether her voice and style will be found as well suited to the music of Rossini as that of Thomas or Verdi. Favre is to make his rentrée in the character of Don Juan, which opera is to be brought out for the occasion. The scenery is all ready, and rehearsals are proceeding briskly. Vergnet, who has a good tenor voice, but is as vulgar as a boiled cabbage, is to be the Don Ottatio. Midan-Carvalho, who is forty-five if she is a day, is to personate Zerlina; and poor, old, fat, voiceless Gueymord will play Donna Elvira. If ever a Don Juan was justified in running away from his wife, it will be he of the present cast. The scenery of "Robert le Diable" is all ready, and it is said that this will be the most gorgeous of all the operas as yet performed at the Grand Opéra. Camille Doucet's pretty comedy of "Le Baron Lafleur" has been revived at the Comédie Française, and is admirably played by Coquelin and Dinah Félix. Strange that this last, the sister of the greatest of French tragic actresses-the wondrous Rachel-should be the most vivacious and sparkling of French stage soubrettes. The play itself is a successful attempt to revive, on the modern stage, the style and personages of the Molièresque comedy.

The dramatic event of the week has been the production of "Jean-Nu- Pieds" at the Vaudeville. It is a four-act drama in verse, from the pen of a comparatively young author, M. Albert Delpit. In construction and characterization it betrays the inexperience of an unpractised hand, and the plot reminds one too much of that of Victor Hugo's "Ninety

Three;" but it has one strong qualification-it is interesting. The piece opens on the 9th of August, 1792, the day of the taking of the Tuileries by the mob, and, by an odd coincidence, the first representation took place on the 9th of August. The Marquis de Kardigan, a venerable Breton noble and a fanatic royalist, has three sons. The eldest is slain in the massacre of the 9th of August; the second, Jean, is an ardent republican; while Henri, the youngest, is devoted to the cause of the monarchy, like his father and his eldest broth

er.

Jean de Kardigan is in love with Fernande, the daughter of the republican deputy Hevrard. He becomes a general in the service of the republic, and gains the sobriquet of Jean-Nu-Pieds by an heroic deed, which renders him popular. His brother becomes one of the chiefs of the Vendéan insurrection, and wins the heart of Jean's love, Fernande Hevrard. The Marquis and Henri are captured by Jean's soldiery, are tried by a court-martial, and are sentenced to death. By means of his own passport, Jean contrives that his brother shall escape, and, taking Henri's place in the prison, he dies in his stead, blessed and pardoned in the last hour by the father whom he accompanies to execution and whose doom he shares. This last situation is peculiarly strong and striking. But the great mistake of the dramatist is made by depicting Jean as false in this last moment to the republican principles, which had led him to forsake his father, his family, and the olden cause of his race. The character of the stern republican, Hevrard, is probably the best-delineated one in the piece. The company of the Vaudeville is hardly suited to the personation of the rhymed drama. Stuart, who played in New York last season in that disastrous failure, the "Hero of an Hour," personated Jean de Kardigan fairly well, but his features lack mobility and his voice is unpleasant. Charly, from the Ambigu, played Hevrard admirably; and Madame Dupont - Vernon, a recruit from the Comédie Française, lent the charm of her cultivated and polished diction to the utterances of Fernande, but she is plain in person and lacks fervor as an actress.

Poor Sophie Hamet, the original Frocharde of the "Deux Orphelines," is dead. She was sixty years of age, and has been ailing for some time past. She used to be known on the bills merely as Madame Sophie, till, on assuming the role of La Frocharde, she took also her surname. On being asked the reason of her so doing, she made answer, "My son is studying at the Conservatoire, and I thought it might aid him before the judges when he came to compete for a prize, were it known that he had a mother who was already a successful actress." Poor Sophie Hamet! She was a good mother and a good woman, and yet she played the part of the atrocious old hag in "Les Deux Orphelines" with such striking realism that the excitable audience of the upper tiers used to hurl insulting epithets at her, and once, even, a band of strongarmed dames de la Halle waited outside the stage-door to give her the thrashing which they thought that her treatment of poor blind Louise richly merited. Fortunately, their purpose was discovered, and Madame Hamet was smuggled out of the front-door, thus escaping her ferocious would-be assailants.

LUCY H. HOOPER.

OUR LONDON LETTER. "BARON" GRANT's new investment, the little evening Echo, which rumor-and rumor is very busy at this dull season-says is to be

made into a morning publication, like its big rivals the Standard, Telegraph, and Daily News, has been giving us some information about Mr. Carlyle which is not generally known. Every thing anent the great Chelsea sage is of interest, wherefore I quote the Echo's remarks:

·

"It is" (runs the article) "generally supposed that Mr. Carlyle studied at the University of Edinburgh for the ministry of the Church of Scotland, and that it was only when he was on the point of receiving license'the Presbyterian equivalent to holy ordersthat he shrank from becoming a clergyman. This now turns out to be a mistake. Mr. Carlyle passed from school to the University of Edinburgh at a very early age, and studied the subjects embraced in what is known in Scotland as the Arts curriculum-that general and comprehensive course of culture which forms the prelude to special professional study; but whatever may have been his own original intentions, or those of his father, a shrewd Scotchman and sound Calvinist, the future author of Sartor Resartus' never attended any theological classes. From college he went to Annan, obtaining, by public competition, the post of mathematical teacher in the burgh school there, at which, singularly enough, he had received his early education. After two years, he exchanged this situation for a similar one in Kirkcaldy, where his boyish acquaintance with Edward Irving developed into a memorable and now historic intimacy. Tired of the school-master's life, he left Kirkcaldy in two years more for Edinburgh, where he devoted himself to reading enormously in the University Library, and to literary work of that lower order which he himself has called 'the stray-ground husbandries.' At length, release from drudgery came in the shape of the tutorship to Charles Buller. But at no time after his university studies came to an end did Mr. Carlyle contemplate entering the ministry. However interesting it may be, therefore, to speculate upon the influence a Reverend Thomas Carlyle would have had upon religious thought in the present time, there is no basis of fact for such speculations. Any attempt to make an inference as to Mr. Carlyle's opinions |—his orthodoxy or heterodoxy-from a supposed refusal on his part when a young man to subscribe certain theological standards, is, of course, equally idle."

Quite so; but, then, some writers are so fond of speculating! Why, aren't there people up to this very day speculating what Shakespeare would have become if he hadn't been the son of a butcher?

We have a phenomenon in London just now-the smallest man in the world." I don't know whether he has ever been in the States or not. His real name is Jean Hannema, his nickname Admiral Van Tromp, and his native place Francker, in Holland. His height tallies with the number of his years-he is twenty-six years, and he stands just twentysix inches in his stockings. Yes, he is actually half a foot shorter than Tom Thumb, and is, moreover, it is said, quite as accomplished. In sooth, he is a very Elihu Burritt, for he can converse fluently in English, French, Dutch, German, and Italian. Probably, like Porson, he "thinks in Greek."

Here is an anecdote which has just been told me of "Owen Meredith," the present Lord Lytton; I shouldn't like to vouch for its authenticity, but 'twill serve: Walking down Ludgate Hill, not very long ago, a low fellow pushed rudely against him, and made some unpleasant remark. "Sir," said his lordship, sternly, his "dander" rising immediately, "do you know whom you're addressing?"

invention may result to the advantage not only of large consumers, but in every instance where heat is needed, we are induced to lay before our readers the accompanying illustration of one of the more recent inventions. While not being understood as indorsing this or any other patented device to which we refer in these columns, justice to the inventor induces us to state that the Engineering and Mining Journal, the authority of which in this and kindred questions will not be gainsaid, in referring to the Eames furnace, states that "it promises to be one of the most important inventions of our fruitful times."

By a reference to the illustration, it appears that the Eames furnace belongs to that class where the petroleum is first converted into a gas, which gas, or mixture of gases, is conducted into the furnace, where it is consumed. Professor Henry Wurtz, having made the Eames system of furnace-working with petroleum a special study, embodies his views in an extended report favorable to the inventor, from which report we obtain the following description of the furnace, as now in constant use in Jersey City:

"The novel feature of the Eames furnace is the vapor-generator, shown in the illustration by letters A, B, J, D. Here we have a castiron vessel, A, inclosed in brick walls. Within this vessel horizontal shelves project from opposite sides; the oil conducted from the supply-tanks enters this iron vessel at D; at the same time a jet of steam, under a pressure of ten pounds per square inch, and heated to incandescence, enters from below through the superheating coil B, the heat for this coil being obtained from a fire, as shown. I indicates a charge of three thousand pounds of iron, for the reheating of which the furnace is designed. When the oil, having entered at D, begins to fall over the shelves, it at once encounters the rising current of heated steam; the result is that every trace of oil is taken up and swept into a mixing-chamber, which occupies the space which in the old method would be used for the fire-box. Between this chamber and the furnace proper is a brick wall hav

EAMES'S PETROLEUM IRON PROCESS.

ing a cellular wall, of fire-bricks placed on end, along the line G. While the gas is entering from the generator, a blast of air comes in at E, and mixes with it, the whole passing in through H. Here the combustion begins, and the flames are projected against the pile of iron I, and finally pass in along the line indicated by the arrows, heating the boiler above, and passing out at the chimney."

This description is sufficiently explicit to illustrate the main principle of the invention, which consists in the volatilization of the oil by the aid of superheated steam, and its subsequent union with an air-blast. By this means it is claimed that a complete combustion of all the carbon is effected. Whether this is actually the case may yet be a question, though the evidence at hand is certainly most favorable. Whatever may be the fate, good or bad, of this special furnace, the final solution of the problem, with its important effect on the industries of the country, is certain to come in due time. In the meanwhile we have accomplished some service in laying the subject before our readers, who, in spite of many failures, may yet rest assured that "the principle remains the same."

DURING the early stages of the discussion regarding the influence of forests upon the annual rainfall, we were induced, by what was deemed most significant testimony, to take the ground that as yet there was not sufficient evidence at hand to justify the popular opinion that the removal of forests resulted in the diminution of the annual rainfall. On the other hand, we have the testimony of Professor Draper and the meteorological records to prove that the average rainfall over the United States, taken year for year during the last fifty years, has neither increased nor diminished, though the removal of timber has been rapid and constant. Although we were inclined to consider this opinion regarding the annual rainfall as sustained by abundant evidence, we were also ready to admit that the clearing of forests did result in an increase in the violence and number of our local freshets. This effect was at

tributed to the fact that forests serve to check the too rapid melting of the snow, while they also serve to hold the surface-water and prevent its too rapid flow down the hill-sides to the streams below. Theu, again, the irregularities of surface, caused by the elevation around the base of each tree-trunk, and the intervening depressions thus caused, would seem to act as so many basins, in which the falling water might collect, and from which it must pass either by absorption or evaporation. The leaves also present an extended surface, upon which a certain amount of water is always retained, and from which it is again returned to the atmosphere by evaporation. We are thus prompted to review our reasons for believing that the removal of forests increases the liability to freshets and consequent inundations, in view of the fact that a recent French writer, M. Vallés, in a work entitled "Etudes sur les Inondations," takes opposite ground. The main argument advanced in support of his opinion that forests do not diminish the violence of inundations, is that over wooded districts "mosses and plants abound, beds of dry leaves accumulate yearly, and fill up all the interstices; the roots of the trees themselves fill up the fissures in the rocks." On the other hand, the writer claims that in the cleared regions the ground is kept ploughed and clear of weeds, while the countless numbers of furrows and ditches give the soil more time and opportunity to absorb the water. On reviewing this argument, it is evident that the writer, in support of his theory, is led into certain evident inconsistencies. For instance, it is claimed as against the forests that the roots of the trees fill up the "fissures in the rocks;" and yet immediately afterward and in the same connection, we are informed that in the cleared regions the ground is kept ploughed, although the ploughing and furrowing of rocky slopes is a rare occurrence. It is true that the vineyard districts along the Rhine are often the most barren of hill-sides, and yet they are hardly such as the term "rocky fissures" would indicate. Granting, however, that in exceptional cases the effect may be as stated, it is evident that to us in America the conditions may be altered. It is a demonstrable fact that the removal of forest in many of our wooded districts is not followed

by the subsequent cultivation of the land, and hence the leaf-covered surface, now hardened by the direct action of the sun's rays, soon becomes an impenetrable table, from which the water runs without impediment to the streams below. We would not have given to the discussion of this question so extended a space were it not that the subject is one of general interest, the recent floods in Europe having served to direct public attention to it, and already active measures are being taken to prevent the indiscriminate destruction of timber, and in cases of cleared lands the owners are advised to begin a regular system of treeplanting. While those who are now suffering from these causes are engaged in devising a remedy, we of this country would do well to adopt the wiser course, and by "prevention" avoid the need of "cure."

THE scheme for flooding the desert of Sahara still continues to attract the attention of engineers and meteorologists: of engineers, since with them rests the solution of the direct problems relating to levels, canals, etc.; and of meteorologists, since, whether with good reason or not, the question of the possible climatic changes consequent upon the changing of a desert into a salt sea seems to be worthy of consideration. As we have already noticed in the discussion of this subject, there are certain observers who do not hesitate to proclaim that the flooding of so great an area will result in such modifications of temperature and wind-currents as would change the whole climatic condition of Europe. Among the prominent observers who take this ground is Mr. Kinahan, of the Geological Survey of Ireland, who thinks it a subject worthy of attention as to whether the submergence of Sahara would not cause the snow-line in Southern Europe to descend to its ancient limits, and the Rhine, Danube, and other rivers, be changed into great glaciers. From recent reports, it is evident that these dismal forebodings have had little effect upon the ardor of the original projectors of the scheme, and, while the one party has been busy with its weather-maps and rain gauges, the other has been going over the ground with tripod and level, wisely determining to first settle the question as to whether the land of the desert be, in fact, lower than the adjacent sea. It is to the results of these special observations that attention may at present be fitly directed. At the time that M. de Lesseps first directed the attention of the French Academy of Sciences to the subject, an expedition was appointed to take the levels of the region of the Chotts (flats) in order to determine the extent of the area which was capable of being submerged. This expedition was organized under the leadership of Captain Roudaire, the original projector of the scheme; with him were associated two captains and a lieutenant of the Etat Major, an infantry-captain, a surgeon-major, deputed by the Geographical Society, and a young mining-engineer. We notice the constitution of this expedition so fully, since the further consideration of the matter was dependent upon their report, and it is from this report that we condense as follows: Four months were consumed in the prosecution of the work; during this time an' entire tour of the Chotts was made, and El Ould and Negrine connected by a transverse profile, the whole distance being over four hundred miles. As the result of this survey, it was determined that the region in Algeria whose depression below the sea-level renders it capable of being flooded has an area of six thousand square kilometres, included within 34.38° and 33.51° north latitude, and 4.51° and

3.40° east longitude. In the central portion of this area the depression varies from sixty to ninety feet. It was also ascertained that the Chotts Rharsa and Melvir were sufficiently depressed to admit of submergence. Should this great work be ever accomplished, the fine oases of the Souf would be converted into islands, since the lowest of them, Debila, is nearly two hundred feet above the sea-level. The engineering problem seems thus to be answered in the affirmative, and, should the report of Captain Roudaire be favorably received, we doubt not an early attempt to accomplish the work will be made.

Or the many papers read before the American Association at their late meeting at Detroit, that by Professor Riley on "Locusts as Food for Man" deserves special mention. From a brief report, we condense as follows: Before recounting his own experience, the writer refers to certain historic records as supporting his-the affirmative-side of the question. Among the Nineveh sculptures in the British Museum are representations of men carrying various meats to a festival, including locusts tied to sticks. In Leviticus and elsewhere in the Bible, the locust is classed as a clean meat fit for man's food. Herodotus names an Ethiopian tribe which fed on locusts, and Livingstone confirms the statement. In Morocco, where the insect appears in such numbers as to threaten the crops, they are killed and eaten, and roasted locusts are to be found for sale in the markets of Tangiers and other cities. The Jews of Morocco regard the markings under the thorax of the female locust as Hebrew characters, placed there to indicate that the food is clean, and thus a preference is given to the females- - not altogether a vain superstition, we would say, since it creates a demand for the mother-locusts, and thus checks an undue multiplication of the pest. It is also said that many tribes of American Indians make use of this food.

Regarding the methods by which the locust is rendered palatable, we learn that those of the Old World being large are easily prepared by first detaching their wings and legs, and then roasting, boiling, broiling, frying, or stewing them. The Romans are said to have roasted them to a bright-golden yellow. In Russia they are salted and smoked, and the Hebrews of Morocco use the salted insect as an ingredient of a mixed dish, which is cooked on Friday and eaten cold on the Sabbath-à la Boston baked beans. With such established records and worthy precedents in mind, it is not surprising that so wise and enthusiastic an entomologist as Professor Riley, since he knew every thing else about locusts, should wish to know their flavor, and this zeal becomes the more worthy when it is remembered that, as an incident to the meal, the learned epicure might discover the final remedy for exterminating the pest-that is, to eat them as they do in Morocco. Be the motive what it may-and we doubt not it was a wise one-the result was that he found the flavor of the cooked insect, prepared in almost any of the methods described, quite agreeable. Fried or roasted in nothing but their own oil, they had a pleasant, nutty flavor, peculiar but agreeable. All the more credit is due the professor from the fact that, owing to a prejudice begotten of ignorance, the cook and servants deserted the kitchen, leaving the naturalists masters of the turning-fork and griddle. "But," says the report, "the savory messes they concocted converted the kitchen, and cooks and guests alike agreed upon the excellence of the soups, fricassees, and fritters, which were materially composed

of locusts." In spite of the character of the last dish mentioned, it is evident that the naturalists did not "fritter" away their time in a vain endeavor, but made of their meal a scientific and a culinary success. Though prompted to review this paper in a semi-serious spirit, it is evident that the service rendered by Professor Riley is no mean one. We all have been taught to commend the bravery of the man who ate the first oyster, and yet we may now search the world over for him who would not gladly take a second. So may it prove with the locust; and, instead of the truly pathetic appeals for food which recently came to us from the locust-invaded districts, may we not yet receive during the time of the next invasion equally urgent invitations to come out and share with our Western friends in that royal and well-authenticated repast, "locusts and wild-honey?"

WE recently directed attention to the fact that a severe case of blood-poisoning had been reported in England, the cause of which was proved to be a hat-band which had been colored by some poisonous dye. It appears that this incident has given rise to a more extended investigation as to the constitution of many of the more-commonly-used dyes. That green wall-paper acts injuriously upon the health of those occupying rooms hung with it, seems to have been clearly proved. It has now been ascertained that many blue papers have also arsenic in the composition of the dyes used. The recent introduction and extended use of colored or striped stockings, and the evil effects experienced by the wearers of them, have served to direct the attention of the physician and analyst to the question of the dyes used in coloring them. The Pall Mall Gazette, in noticing the evil effects of wearing colored hose, cites several instances where the first symptoms were intense irritation in the skin of the feet, swelling, and an inflamed appearance; then an outbreak of watery blisters of all sizes, from groups of the size of hemp-seed to single blisters on the sole of the foot larger than a five shilling piece. This condition was accompanied by general feverishness, rigors, loss of appetite, and a sensation of pervading malaise. In a severe attack the patient was rarely able to walk for three weeks, and after one attack passed off it was often followed by another of a milder type. In one case a gentleman was obliged to wear cloth shoes for upward of eight months, and with other patients the system has been so impregnated with the poison that blisters have reappeared at intervals, not only on the feet, but on the hands, ears, etc., for more than three years. There was no doubt as to the cause and method of this blood-poisoning, for the blisters first came in stripes corresponding to the colored stripes of the stockings, and the laundresses complained of the irritation and inflamed condition of their hands after washing these poisonous articles. A Scotch lady who suffered from a like cause brought a successful suit against the firm which supplied her with the goods, and it was formally announced by them that henceforth the use of arsenic in the composition of the dyes would be discontinued. Although having no wish to appear as "alarmists," yet it is evident that the occasion is one calling for watchful care on the part of both purchaser and manufacturer. As we have suggested above, these facts are worthy of special consideration at present. For, while the fashion of wearing striped stockings will, without doubt, soon be confined to gentlemen alone, yet the use by them of questionable colors may result in the disastrous effects above described.