MR. MURDOCH'S NOTES AND REMARKS ABROAD.
tlrucumsTAsress rendering change of air desirable for some members o his family, Mr. Murdoch departed for Jersey in the autumn of 1843. and remained there six months. In the spring of 1844 he proceeded .to:St. Maio ; and sojourned there, or in its_neighbourhood, for some time; when he proceeded through Rouen to Paris. A month exhausted the capital, and saw the party again en route for Marseilles, by an unused way; proceeding by railway to Orleans, and thence ascending the Loire and Allier to Moulins. Notwithstanding the shallowness of the water, this was accomplished; and the party reached the Mediterranean in safety, and then steamed on to Naples ; taking up their quarters at Castellammare, and running into Naples by the railway at pleasure. Mr. Murdoch's family continued there some time, bat he himself was beaten by the heat: he lost his appetite, could not sleep, and retreated to Malta ; whence he returned by the General Steam Navigation Company's boats.
The unpretending volume which .contains Mr. Murdoch's Notes and Remarks differs in two particulars from the general run of tours. The author resided for some time in the principal places he describes; and he carefully avoids all reference to the commonplaces of the guide-book. He is also a man of observation, and apparently of business; so that his at- tention is directed to practical objects, modes of living, the cost of com- modities, the practice of agriculture, and other -topics of interest for the man of the-world-and the father of a family, though he is not altogether forgetful of manners and the external appearances of things. These cha- racteristics impart freshness and reality to his matter, albeit it is often of .common kind. Mr. Murdoch wants the skill in observation which practice produces, and the art of dressing up materials that a literary cook acquires; whilst he has not the comprehensive mind or the peculiar knowledge which advantageously supersedes them. For the loose writing in the earlier part, Mr. Murdoch offers the apology of not having sufficiently revised his notes : but it is not mere occasional roughness that we speak
or indeed writing at all, but a conjoint deficiency in comprehension and penetration.
The inquiring practical mind of Mr. Murdoch generally took him to the 'public institutions of the place; and here is an account of a horrible Wan of brutality in the Veterinary College near Paris. The barbarity of living dissections without any object of discovery cannot be altogether prevented, because individuals with this cruel propensity will evade even public opinion by dissecting in secret ; but the following atrocity letkes place in a public institution, under public authority, and only re- quires an official hint to put an end to a national disgrace.
- "I wish I could now bring my narration of what I that day there saw to a close; but I must not. Upon entering into what appeared to be a place of dis- section, I fonnd myself surrounded, not by dead, but by living subjects: it was a banding or shed open to the air on one side, furnished with many strong pillars rising from the floor to the roof. Here lay six if not seven living horses, fixed by every possible mechanical device by the head and the feet to these pillars, to pre- vent their struggling; and upon each horse were six or seven men engaged in performing the different surgical operations. The sight was truly horrible. The operations had begun early in the forenoon; it was nearly three o'clock in the after- noon when we entered the place; so the poor wretches, as may be supposed, had ceased being able to make any very violent struggles; but the deep heaving. of the still panting chest, and horrid look of the eyes when such were as yet remain- ing in the head, while the bead itself was firmly lashed to a pillar, was harrowing beyond endurance. The students had begun their day's work in the least vital parts of the animal; the trunks of the animals were there, having lost tails, ears, hoofs, &c.; and they were now engaged in performing the more important opera- tions, such as tying the main arteries, and boring holes in the head, and cutting in upon all the most sensitive and tender places, on purpose, as we were informed upon our expressing horror at the sight, that they might see the retraction and, motions of the several nerves, and muscles. One animal had one side of the head, including eye and ear, completely dissected; and the students were engaged when we entered in laying open and cauterizing the ankle of the same animal. What I have described was the result of the observation of a few seconds. I grew abso- lutely sick, and hastened away from this abode of horrid cruelty. "M. Blanc vindicated the practice, upon the plea of its necessity for the ad- vancement of science. A young medical friend, who accompanied me in my visit, exclaimed in reply, ' Je sum medecin moimeme; and no such practice is neces- sary.' 31. B. shrugged his shoulders. He was not, he said, a veterinarian; he had no right of interference with the prescribed course of study; he was merely the military governor of the establishment."
• NEAPOLITAN AQUA I AS.
There are certain aquatic amusements practised by the Neapolitans in the Bay, which are peculiar to that locality. As I do not remember having seen such ex- hibitions anywhere described, I may shortly allude to them. One of them is a tournament, in which the rival forces consist of twelve boats on each side, re- spectively painted red and blue: they are very small, probably about ten feet long, and are each manned by two men. One pulls the boat; i
the other, the champion, sands upon a platform raised flush with the-aides of the boat at its stern: these are armed with very long wooden lances, on the end of which is a leathern ball. At a-given signal a boat from each of the opposing Tanks pulls out; and, meeting midway, the two warriors level their lances; and, coming in direct collision, one, and sometimes both, are precipitated into the sea: the boats immediately pull back again into position, leaving the discomfited knight to pick up his lance and fellow at his leisure. In this way the fight continues till one side (or colour of boat) has every man immersed. Victory, then, as to the colour, is decided. It sometimes happens, however, two of one colour are left; and these again contend for the individual prize. These being the most dexterous, often sustain each other's shocks six or seven times; till at length one is precipitated into the sea, and so ends the fight.
.Another species of amusement consists in placing a purse of money at the outer
end of the bowsprit of a ship; the said bowsprit being well greased, and consider- ably inclined upwards. The purse becomes the property of the first man who Mu take it. The individuals who make the attempt run up the bowsprit in all variety of ways. Some of them set out as fast as they can; others warily and slowly; but as long as I looked on, none succeeded in reaching the purse: they invariably fell into the sea, and, swimming to the ship, ascended its side, and were again ready for another attempt. The bowsprit is, of course, disencumbered of all its cordage-for the occasion. The only risk which an individual runs in practising this amusement, is ingot being able to get away from under the bow- sprit before his next follower tumbles above him; in which case, as the height is considerable, the parties coming in contact are sometimes much hurt; and the keenness exhibited is so great that there are often two individuals on thebeam at the same time. There is no fear of drowning. All round the Bay of Naples the na- tives in their youth live more in the water than on the land: indeed, they spend the whole day lying naked on the shore and sporting in the sea—they are per- fectly amphibious; and the only way to drown a Neapolitan would be to tie twenty-pound shot to his neck.
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