gbe Vrobintes.

The proceedings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, on Saturday, consisted of an excursion round the Isle of Wight in the Lady de Saumarez steamer. Under the direction of Sir Roderick Murchison, the members enjoyed a sort of irregular lecture, by various profeseurs, chiefly on geology; the illustrations being furnished by the series of strata which were exposed to view as the vessel passed along the coast of the island. The members landed at Black Gang Chine and at Alum Bay. At the Chine, the Dean of Westminster and a party of friends loined the excursionists, the Doctor bringing with him" a large blue bag"; this he obligingly opened, and it was found to contain, among other cu- riosities, "an immense boiled crab," which he said he had purchased at Newport for Is. 4d. It weighed four pounds, and was considered by Dr. Buckland to contain dinner enough for three or four days. He further improved the occasion by delivering an amusing and instructive lecture On crabs and their habits. "He next drew from the bag a' pocket-pistol,' which he said was charged with sherry; and pulling out the cork, he drank the health of the company, amidst great laughter. He then offered the bottle to a few friends near him; and thus concluded the lecture of the bag." The immediate effect of this lecture seems to have been a general resort to the dinner-table. It was late in the evening when the party re- turned to Southampton.

On Monday, the Association received the promised visit from Prince Albert. Great preparations were made to do honour to the event; and the punctual Prince rewarded the expectant savans,—amongst whom we must for the occasion class the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council—by making his appearance precisely at the hour appointed, eleven o'clock. The Mayor having delivered himself of a neat address, and received a courteous reply, the Prince Consort was conveyed, in the Mayor's carriage, accompanied by that functionary and Sir Roderick Murchison, to Section A. The Prince subsequently visited Sections E, G, B, C, F, and D; and finished his somewhat rapid scientific curriculum by returning to he pier at half- past one; reembarking on board the Fairy, in which the Queen was wait- ing for him.

The General Committee assembled at three o'clock to determine the time and place for the next meeting. In alluding to Prince Albert's visit, the President said that the Queen had expressed to him her great interest in the Association, and her wish that an account of the progress which they made should be communicated to her. Mr. Taylor, the Treasurer, an- nounced that he had received, through Colonel Anson, a communication to the effect that it was the wish of his Royal Highness to present to the Association the sum of 100/., to be applied in any manner that the Asso- ciation might wish.

Turning from this agreeable episode, the claims of Oxford, Norwich, Swansea, Belfast, and Edinburgh, to receive the Association next year, were discussed; the meeting deciding unanimously in favour of Oxford. Sir Robert Harry highs was elected President for 1947; and after the appoint- ment of Vice-Presidents, two Local Secretaries, and a Local Treasurer, the meeting separated.

The last meeting of the General Committee, or what is termed by Sir Roderick Murchison, "the Parliament of the Association," was held on Wed. nesday afternoon. It appeared by the Treasurer's statement, that the num- ber of attendants at the present meeting was 843; of whom 269 were as- sociates, 198 were ladies, and 19 foreigners. The emaciates and the ladies may for the most part be considered as residents of the town. The amount received for tickets was 7101.; from the sale of the reports of the Association, 81.; Prince Albert's gift of 100/.; making a total of 8181. Professor Willis gave notice of a motion that he intended to bring forward next year at Oxford, for the reunion of the Mechanical Section with the Section of Mathematics and Physics. Certain officers having been reappointed, the meeting was adjourned by the President till Wednesday, the 23d of June next, at Oxford.

The public proceedings of the Association finally closed with a general meeting on Wednesday night; at which divers announcements were made, and thanks were distributed to the several officers, local officers, foreign visitors, and so forth. Among the announcements was one that ladies were henceforth to be admitted as regular members of the Association. The President and others touched upon the satirical attacks which have been made upon the scientific congress by the Times. Sir Roderick spoke man- fully—

"If any persons talk of our funds being failing, I know well the feelings of the class with whom we are associated, and I know that we never can die; that we are determined, and we have the means, to promote with our own monies, if no one will support us, the advancement of science. But we know that the great mass of the British nation will respond to our call." As evidence of a more friendly feeling in higher quarters, which must have its influence with the public, Dr. Robinson of Armagh alluded to Prince Albert's visit-

" He listened with interest, and when he took his leave, he conversed with Mr. Fairbaini, that distinguished engineer; and I listened with great pleasure to the conversation. There was an intelligence in the Prince's questions, a tone in his voice, far different indeed from that which, however great the rank of the person, would have been but a vulgar condescension had it appeared ; there was an in- terest in his tone, a reverential deference for the scientific acquirements of that great engineer, which convinced me that he was deeply and fully impressed with a sense of the nobility of science, and that he looked with reverence and respect to those who illustrated it. It was a great and a glorious sign of the times, especially to those who remember the contempt with which matters of this sort were once treated by statesmen." At eleven o'clock, the general Association, like its Committee, was ad- journed; to be holden in Oxford at Midsummer next.

Several of the visitors left Southampton on Wednesday; but many also staid and spent the Thursday in seeing the lions: a public ball ending the whole.

The matters discussed in the several Sections were far too voluminous, often too abstract and dry, for our pages. We select such passages in science or natural history as have the most popular interest.

Professor Owen delivered a lecture on the fossil mammalia of the British Is- lands. Of the rodentia [according to the classification of envier] we have fifteen species, including the rat, the water-rat, the hare, and the squirrel. Of the pachydermata there were the horse, the ass, and the bog; but none of these were, he thought, indigenous. Of the ruminantia, almost all the native species had become civilized. The red-deer and roebuck were, however, still wild in the Highlands of Scotland; though the ox, goat, and sheep, had been domesticated. In comparing these with the extinct species, he should first describe the strata in which the latter had been found. The eldest and fossil mammals had been met with in the oolitic strata on the Eastern coast of England. They were two species of small animals of the insectivore order, about the size of a mouse, and are called the runphitherium. They were marsupial quadrupeds, which order are now only found in Australia; and, what is very remarkable, the fossil shells and vegetables found with them have now their nearest living homologues in that continent. On these strata are deposited the enormous mass of rocks called the middle oolitic deposits, all of which are destitute of mammal remains. On these again are the Wealdon formation, eight hundred feet in thickness, possessing some very singular lizards, but no manunalia. Above this is the chalk mass. It would 'appear that, after the formation of those older rocks, an ocean must have rolled over our island for a length of time sufficient to allow a deposit of chalk of the thickness of one thousand feet. This is also destitute of mamnialia. The next deposit above the chalk would seem to indicate the existence of enormous rivers' which spread their debris above the chalk to the thickness of one thousand feet. This is called the eocene period by Mr. Lyell, and here mammalia again first ap- pear. The principal of the deposits of this period are in the London bisin and the Hampshire basin. Here have been found some mammals of which no cor- responding genera are now known to exist. The meet remarkable is the anoplo. thenum gracile, found in the Isle of Wight. It had teeth adapted for vegetable diet, and was possessed of no weapons, either of defence or offence. It had cloven feet, but differed from existing ruminantia in having the cleft extending higher than the hoof through the bone which answers to the human hand. It is a remarkable fact that this cleft is found in the young of all ruminating animals, and that the latter are with the single exception of the giraffe, also born without horns; so that the characters of this strange animal are still retained by those of the same order, though only for a very short time. With it existed a pachyder- nuttous animal, which resembled the tapir of South America, and is called the cheiropotamus. This animal has also been found in the Isle of Wight, in a gra,- turn exactly corresponding with one in which the same skeleton was found in the Paris basin. There also existed at that period a rhinoceros (the dinotherium), In which the horn extended downwards from the under jaw, so as apparently to enable it to anchor its immense body on the bank of rivers while it slept, or to tear up roate (rein the bottom. With it was found the mastodon in the 'Norfolk crag in strata, between the miocene and the pliocene periods. The humerus or arm-hone of this animal is fully twice the length of that of the largest Ceylon elephant Hundreds of fossils of this animal passed through his hand, and all were of the same vast dimensions. These left their remains for at least three or four thousand years in the post-pliocene deposits; in which have also been found two species of rhinoceros, both with enormous horns. They had also at that time a hippopotamus quite as large, and as formidably armed as that of Africa. Of the horse tribe, there were two species of the ordinary horse, and a small species that might have been either a zebra or a wild ass. 'There was also a boar not to be distinguished from the existing wild boar of the European continent. Co- existing with these animals in the post-pliocene period of the ruminantia was the megaseros, or great Irish elk ; a stupendous species of deer, with horns nine feet across. It was very rare in Britain, but abaunded in Ire- land. There was also existing at the same time in England a species of elk still larger in size, but with smaller antlers and also a species red- deer and a kind of reindeer, besides the roebuck, which was that found all over the island. There were also three sprcies of ox. One was a bison, or benassus, of enormous size; no doubt provided with a mane like the existing species, and in his opinion it was living in this inland at the time of the Roman poets. An- other species had the horns growing more forward, like the common ox, but of enormous size, being often a yard or more in length. There was also a smaller ox with short horns. He believed that all these still existed in Europe, and that two of them were found in England within the hiatorical period; and probably the stories of combats of heroes with dun sows, referred to the destruction of some of the last remnants of the race. He was likewise inclined to think that they had some of the blood of these species in some of their domesticated breeds in Wales and Scotland. With these was also found the goat; but there is no trace of the sheep. Of the carnivorous animals, the most extraordinary was one of the same character as the lion and tiger, but with canine teeth in the upper jaw of at least three times the length of the teeth possessed by these animals. '1 here was also another feline animal that differed from the living lion or tiger only in the larger size of its paws. A species of leopard and a wild cat, similar to that still found in Scotland, were living at this period. Of the ursine animals, they had a bear considerably surpassing in size the great grizzly bear of North America; a second variety, nearly like the grizzly bear; and a third, like the common European bear. The most common carnivorous animal in England was, however, the hyena; which had been beautifully illustrated by Dr. Buckland. In the insectivore they found, besides the mole and shrew, one of the latter at least four times the size of the existing species, and likewise an animal somewhat like a rat. Of the bat there was no extinct species; but abundant fossil remains of all the bats existing at the present day. There were also found undoubted remains of the ape now found on the rock of Gibraltar.

He next considered the question, how all these animals found their way into this island? He combated the assumption, that the remains only had been carried here, by various arguments; and "the conclusion at which he arrived was, that England was at one time united to France, though the two countries had been separated by some great irruption of the sea or other cause." During the excursion round the Isle of Wight on Saturday, Sir John Flerschel eonti ibuted to the instruction of the party, by explaining to them, as the vessel was passing the high downs at Dutinotte, the curious deviation of the plummet from the perpendicular. It had been noticed there by the Ordnance Surveyors when engaged on the trigonometrical survey. He attributed the phenomenon to the attraction of some denser mass underneath the superficial strata; and not, as in other cases of observed deviation, to the contiguity of mountain masses.

At the evening meeting on Monday, Mr. Lyell delivered a highly interesting discourse on the Valley and Delta of the Mississippi. One peculiarity of this ex- tensive district is the delta. For nearly fifty miles of its extent, that of the hlia- sissippi presents a vast river running nearly parallel with the sea, from which it is separated at particular places by an embankment only half a mile across. The valley is nearly level, there being only a rise of nine feet between the mouth of the river and New Orleans, a distance of 150 miles; and the inclination is equally trifling still farther inland, being never more than six inches in a mile. This uniformity is explained by the fact, that the moment the river reaches its banks it overflows, and so the velocity, which is only four miles an hour, is instantly checked. The debris carried along by the flood is deposited over the surrounding plains, the principal part being left near the bed of the river; the necessary result being, that the banks have been gradually raised to a higher level than the lands adjoining them. This slope from the river to the interior is as much as eighteen feet in a distance of a few miles. The interior consists of vast swamps, covered with trees, the tops alone of which are visible in time of floods. Sometimes the inhabitants on the banks of the Ohio or Red River, after making a large raft, on which they prepare to bring all the produce of the year, for 1,800 or 2,000 miles, to the market of New Orleans, find themselves near the termination of a journey of some two months, entire weeks of which may have been passed by them aground wait pig for a flool to float them off again, suddenly hurried through one of the open- ma which the river makes in its banks, at the rate of ten or twelve miles an hour, and left aground in the midst of is vast morass; where they are obliged to climb a tree for safety, and await the chance of a boat coming to their rescue. Nevertheless, the course of the river cannot be permanently altered by these violent torrents, on account of the great depth of the main stream. Respecting the age of this vast formation, some curious points were stated. It appears that the delta has not, in point of fact, advanced into the sea—notwithstanding all the assertions to the contrary—more than one mile in one hundred or one hundred and twenty years past; the amount of sediment in the water is only 1 in 1,800 by weight, or 1 in 9,000 by volume. The time required for the accumulation of matter found in the delta and valley of -the Mississippi, must have been 67,000 years; and another 83,000 years must have been required for bringing down to Its present position the great deposit above. The larger fossil animals found in the soil of the valley of the Mississippi are the mastodon, the megatberium, an extinct elephant, an ex- tinct species of horse, some bovine animals, and a kind of tapir. Taking the period which he assigned fiw the fonnation of the delta as a unit, it would be ne- cessary to conceive as many of these units as the unit itself contained years, in or- der to arrive at the vast antiquity of even the comparatively mode n formations beneath it. Mr. Lyell concluded by announcing as tact which geologists account most important; he had been enabled to confirm the discovery made by Dr. King of an animal in the coal formation, as he distinctly traced the footsteps of a huge saurian reptile in the Pennsylvanian coal strata. At the dose of Mr. Lyell's ad- , dress, which lasted two hours, Dr. Buckland showed some disposition to speak; 'tett Sir Rrrick Murchison said that after that magnificent address he would not Mvitedi5icatiasion; and the meeting at once broke up.

A vety ideresting paper by Dr. Forchhammer, "On Arctic Currents, as ex- hibited in Ofsh dibtrioution of the Northern drift," was read by Professor Owen. There were3eirious indications that the North of Europe formerly had a lower temperatereehan at present. This was partly ascertained from the examinatien of the trees we the vegeta they grew

y Prole.sror Scholibein in Seamark. In the lower portions, fossil d which grew in the coldest latitudes and the higher they ascended maina betokened a greater warmth in the atmosphere in which o conclusum to which the author arrived was, the, formerly the was a vast bay, formed by the union of England and France at the straits of Dover, and that a vast current flowed across Finland from the White Sea into the Bettie Undoubted traces of these facts existed; and the consequence must have been, that the German Ocean, and, ass matter of course, the adjoining countries, were at that time of a much lower temperature than they have been Since the admission of the warm currents from the Smith through the straits. He even found some traditions still existing in parts of Denmark that a king of that country having refused marriage to a queen of Britain, she ceased a vast trench to be cut, in order to inundate his dominions from the South; and that she suc- ceeded in her object, but perished herself by falling into the trench. Traces of a vast flood having passed over Denmark were apparent; and accounts of an inundas tion which destroyed a great part of the peninsula of Cimbrica, reached Greece in the time of Alexander the Great. Professor Owen added, that this alteration in

the shape of the German Ocean was probably not older than the filth or sixth centur3. before the Christian tens Professor SchOubein stated that they had found,

in digging a canal in Denmark, a submarine forest of beech covered by a peat hog, in which was an ancient tumulus contenting kuives of flint. He thought the pre- sent shape of the North of Europe had not been more than 2,500 or 3,000 years in existence. Sir Henry De Is Beetle said there were submarine forests found in Corn- wall, Brittany, and Spain, similar to those described as existing in Denmark. He was of opinion that the separation ef England and France was gradual, and not cansed by any violent commotion of nature: probably the intermediate soil was sandy, and had yielded a passage to the sea-waters.

In the Section of Zoology and Botany, on Friday, a somewhat lengthy discussion took place on the causes of the potato disease. The opinions were, however' so various that it would be impossible to collect any general conclusion. A fewob- servations elicited in the course of the discussion possessed some interest Dr. Crook said it had been satisfactorily proved that potatoes raised from seeds were quite as liable to the disease as the plants raised from tubers. He considered the disease to be entirely owing to meteoric causes, and not to anything that was situated in the plant itself. Dr. Lindsey stated that he had brought home seed- potatoes from Norway, where the disease had not made its appearance; and the sacks had only been lying for four days in the shop of Mr. Lawson, the seedsman, in Edinburgh, when the disease was found to have appeared among them. It weld appear, therefore that there was no use in importing seed.potatoes from. foreign countries. Professor Playfair said the disease could be produced on a cointnon plate in two helms, by mixing the gluten and starch of a scraped potato together, as in that time the fungi made their appearance. He had the unisfor- tone to be a Potato Commissioner; and after all his experience in that capacity, he freely confessed he knew less about the disease now than when be began hut experiments. There was no use in attempting to account for an affection of which they were entirely ignorant, by calling it a " miasma," when they knew that it had existed fur twenty years. They should rather inquire what had caused the disease to increase so much latterly. Dr. Selby feared that they had got in a permanent disease, which could not be accounted for by any of the causes before known.

At the Zoologied Section, on Tuesday, Mr. Ogilby read a paper from Mrs. Whitby, of Newlands, near Lymington, Hampshire, "On the Production of Silk in England." Mrs. Whitby fed her silkworms principally on the mortis multi- caulis, or that known as the Philippine variety oh the mulberry-tree. This plant grows rapidly from cuttings, and produces large leaves. The silk produced was found to be of a superior quality, and of a higher value than any im- ported. The mulberry-trees, which were first planted in 1836, were in a most flourishing condition; and the only difficulty which she found in rearing the silk- worms was in preventing the eggs from being hatched before the leaves of the mulberry appeared. To meet this difficulty, she planted some slips of the mul- berry under a frame in the autumn and these bore leaves in the spring sufficient to feed the young caterpillars until the general crop came into bloom. The total expense for a year, including rent of land anti cost of eggs, attendance, &c., was 501., with 10 per cent loss, makiug in all 661. Os. Ild.; and the total value of the silk produced was 1601. 9s. 45; leaving a nct profit of 941. 8s. 5d.

Some discussion ensued on the possibility of employing the poor in England. and the South of Ireland in the cultivation of silk; bat considerable doubt ap- peared to be entertained as to the possibility of feeding the silk-worms occasion ally on lettuce, sow-thistle, and other succulent plants. It was stated that Mrs. Whitby had cultivated the plant in the open air, but ai yet only in the South of England—at Truro and Lymington. In Section F, Mr. Nelson gave some interesting statistics of crime in England, and Wales during the years 1842, 1843, and 1844. Tables were read, showing the relation of the number of criminals to the population at the different periods of life; and a curious law was found to prevail, by which it appeared that in the male sex, from the age of twenty upwards, the tendency to crime in each de- cennial term of life is exactly 33 1-31 per cent leas than in the term of life immediately preceding; and in the female sex the tendency to crime in each decennial period of life is 25 percent less than in the period immediately preceding. Mr. G. R. Porter read a paper in Section F on the iron manufactures of Great Britain, containing some striking views on the results of the present demand for iron. From his statement it would appear, that the demand on account of rail- way enterprises will create an extraordinary pressure on the means of production.' Skilled labour will seize the opportunity to exact higher wages and thus others will be attracted into the occupation. Every effort will be made to supply the demand, and an immense iron-producing power will in this way be created. In time, however, the special demand will subside; but the means of production will: then be greater than ever they have been before; the price will fall; and the metal will be again employed for uses from which it may have been excluded by the high price, or even extended to still further uses.

Mr. Vignettes gave an account of " Chinese boring," as applicable to Artesian wells and the ventilation of mines. This process has been long practised in China, where they have thus bored to the depth of one thousand feet and more. Instead of the tedious and expensive method of boring. with rods, one heavy bar of east-iron from six to ten feet in length and of proportionate diameter, (four to six inches,) is furnished at the lower end with a cutting-tool combined with a suction- pipe, and is suspended from one end of a rope that passes over a large pulley tired above the bore-hole. The other end of the rope is wound round a windlsess and the whole is worked in a way like the winding-up and lowering-down a bucket in an ordinary well: a contrivance is attached to let the weighted toot tall down front any required height. As the rope is raised up and down ever the wheel, torsion gives to this heavy tool a circular motion quite :mitt:Sent to change the place of the chisel at each descent. Bore-holes of ighreen inches or two feet in diameters for the purpose of ventilation, at the Saarbruck mines have been sunk with faci- lity and economy, to a very great depth—several hundred yards. Mr. Fairhairn read a paper on Mr. Stephenson's proposed tubular bridges across the blenei Straits and the river Conway. After recognizing the uselessness of chain-bridges fur railway purposes, he showed the impossibility of constructing a bridge on arches of the span and height required. "Even the original plan of sup- pining the tubular bridge by chains had been abandoned. He described the diffi- culties which had been found to exist against making the tubes circular, for in every instance where such tubes were tested by weights, the metal puckered up. It was therefore determined to make the tube of a rectilinear form, nearly square, and to divide the top and bottom into double rues of square cells, as beat calcu- lated to prevent puckering and to support the platform. By the present con- btraction, the square tube will support Itself from pier to pier. Model bridges had been made of the form proposed, and of one-sixth the size; they had been proved by reat weights. One of these model bridges bore a weight of fifty-six tons with- out breaking, though wade of metal very much slighter, even according to its pro-.

Portionate size, than the bridge will be. The bridge over the 51enai Straits will be calculated to sustain a weight of 2,206 tons; which is four times the weight that could under any circumstances be placed upon it. Conway Bridge, which Will be constructed in the same manner, will be four hundred feet from pier to pier.

Some account was given at a general meeting, on Thursday, of Professor Schrinbein's gun-cotton; though a full explanation was prevented by the fact that the Professor had not quite concluded arrangements for a patent. The substance is cotton prepared in some way not yet explained. The explosive force is double that of gunpowder; yet the substance leaves no soil on fire-arms. There are two qualities—the second-best causing little smoke, the other none. Gunpowdsr ex- plodes at 600 degrees of heat; gun-cotton at 400 degrees; and it may be ex- ploded on gunpowder without the powder's igniting! Mr. Grove showed experi- ments with the new explosive. He first exploded a small quantity of gunpowder, for the purpose of showing the large quantity of smoke evolved. He then ex- ploded a small lock of the gun-cotton, of the second quality: it flashed off as rapidly as gunpowder, and but a very small quantity of smoke was perceptible. The paper on which it was exploded was slightly stained. The better kind of the gun-cotton exploded still more rapidly, without any smoke whatever; and it gave out an orange-coloured flame. The experiment was received with loud applause. Mr. Grove next exhibited a peculiar property. of the cotton in not being iujured by water. He steeped a piece of the cotton in a glass of water, and then pressed ft between blotting-paper to dry: though it could not have been thoroughly dry in the time, the cotton flashed off when the heated wire was applied to it, and without any perceptible smoke. The flash, however, was not in this case so in- stantaneous as that of the perfectly dry cotton. The last and most curious ex- periment was the explosion of a piece of the gun-cotton when placed upon loose gun- powder without igniting the latter. The experiment succeeded perfectly, though It requires the cotton to be quite dry to insure its success; for if the sombustion be less rapid the gunpowder explodes.

Doncaster Races have been held this week. The principal day was Wednesday ; the principal race that for the St. Leger Stakes. The attend- ance was full, almost as much so as in the best days of Doncaster; but visiters of " distinction " and fashion were not very plentiful. The St. Leger Stakes are made up by contributions of 501. each; and there were 149 subscribers ; but only twelve horses ran.

BETTING.-5 to 2 against Brocardo, 3 to 1 against Sir Talton Sykes, 1110 2 against titIng, 7 to 1 against The Traverser, 8 to I against Fancy Boy, (20 to 1 !aid at one time,) 9 to I against Iago, and 20 to 1 against any other.

Tun Recs.—The horses entered the enclosure shortly before four o'clock ; and having taken the usual canter down the course, were paraded past the stand, and at ten minutes after four reached the post, and were started at the first signal. Tom Tulloch immediately took the lead of a couple of lengths, and made play at a tremendous pace, followed by Sir Tattoo Sykes, (ridden by W. Scott,) nest to whom were Brocardo, (Holmes,) Sting, Fancy Boy, and one or two others ; but all lay close up save roynton, who was beaten before he had gone a quarter of a mile. In nearly this order they ran the Red-house turn ; where Tom Tullock beat a retreat, and Sir Tatton Sykes went on with a strong lead, followed by Fancy Boy and Brocardo ; lago, (F. Butler,) who had hitherto lain off, moving into the fourth place ; The Traverser and Sting also lying well up. Sir Tattoo maintained the running at a severe pace to the distance, where Ids two followers were beaten ; and [ago, passing them, waited on the crack to the stand. He there made his effort and reached Sir Tatton's quarters, but was never able to get up ; the latter outstriding him, and eventually winning In gallant style by a good half- length. Brocardo was a bad third, The Traverser fourth, and Fancy Boy fifth. Run is 3 minutes and 16 seconds.

On Thursday, the great Yorkshire Handicap Stakes were won by Mr. Cranston's Cranebrook.

The foundation-stone of the new steam-works at Devonport was laid on Saturday.- -The-establishment is to be constructed on the Devonshire bank of the River Tamar, at Moriee Town, Devonport; and is to be used for the building, repairs, and equipment of steam-vessels, the manufacture and re- pairs of steam-engines and machinery, and for other purposes. The care- niony was performed with great eclat by the Earl of Auckland, in the presence of the Lords of the Admiralty and a vast assemblage. The works, which are on a very large scale, are expected to be ready in about three years and a half. The total area of the ground which is to be included in the establishment will be about seventy-five acres. There will be two im- mense basins: the North Basin, 650 feet by 625 feet; and the South Basin, 625 by 560 feet; each having a depth of 27 feet of water at all times: they will admit eighteen first-class vessels to be fitted out, or twenty-five of all classes, exclusively of those in the docks. The two basins contain six- teen acres. There will be three large docks; one, (the North Dock,) 300 feet long by 94 feet wide, for the first-rates; another' 406 feet long by 82 feet wide, for the largest steamers; and the third, (the South Dock,) 300 feet long by 82 feet wide. The entrance-lock is to be so contrived as to permit steamers to be docked at low water, having eighteen feet at low water spring-tides; and it can be made either a lock or a dock, as might be re- quired. After the ceremony there was a dejeuner in the Model Room: and the whole of the workmen also were liberally regaled.

The public baths and wash-houses which have been erected in Miller Street, Manchester, were opened to the public on Wednesday in last week. The amount of receipts for the first three days was very encouraging. "The hours during which the establishment is to be kept open," says the Man- chester Guardian, "are, from six in the morning to nine in the evening in the summer, and from seven in the morning to nine in the evening du- ring the winter months; they will also be open to the public for three hours on the Sunday morning in the summer, and for two hours in the winter, finally closing for that day at nine o'clock in the forenoon. The -charge for the use of the private bath is 6d., and for the others 2d. Already a hundred male persons have availed themselves of the opportunity ti.us afford- ed them, and nine females." And speaking of the wash-house department, the Guardian says—" It was gratifying to witness, during the few moments of our visit last evening, so many of the middle and working classes resort to an institution of this description: not less than a dozen entered in the course of half an hour, amongst whom were three very respectably-attired females and two boys about twelve years of age, who had apparently just left work." "There were also several little children, standing in some quiet part of the house or sitting on the dry clothes or baskets; and having been well wash d they presented a striking contrast to the dirty faces and hands of the children in the neighbourhood." The institution allows to the washers soda and everything except soap.

The Worcestershire nailers have sent a new list of prices to their em- ployers, equivalent to an increase of ten to twenty per cent on wages, and declared that if this advance is not granted they will strike. It is supposed that the men will succeed in obtaining their demand; for if refused, num- bers can easily obtain employment in the iron-works and mines, where workmen are needed.

A meeting of' the East Kent Agrteulttnal Protection Society was held at Canterbury on Saturday, to consider the operation of the Malt-tax. The Chair was taken by the President, Sir Brook Bridges; both the Members

for East Kent were present, supported by several influential landowners. The business consisted of one resolution, which was carried unanimously— "flat a Committee be formed to confer with the Central Board of the So- ciety for the Protection of' British Industry as to the best means of obtain- ing relief from the burden of the Malt-tax." The two Members foresaW difficulties in striking off so large a source of revenue; but the general - opinion entertained by the meeting appeared to be, that since the repeal of the Corn-laws the agriculturists had a strong claim on the Government for - the removal of the tax on malt; and that, although not called on to pro- pose a substitute for the certain deficiency in the revenue, (which was the business of the Government,) they would prefer an increase in the Income- tax to a continuance of the Malt-tax.

At the last meeting of the Manchester committee of the Cobden National Tribute Fund, held on Tuesday, the amount of subscriptions was declared to be 73,4001.

On Saturday evening, the seven members of the Executive Council of the late Anti-Corn-law League, to whom testimonials were voted at the great meeting held in Manchester in July last, were invited to tea in the Council-room of the League by the committee appointed to decide on the nature of the testimonials. Mr. Brotherton, M.P., took the chair, and pre- sented the testimonials; which are thus described.

" Each consists of a complete silver coffee-service, with silver tea urn, and a large splendid salver. The urns are of the Etruscan form and style, the handles being richly worked with foliage, the body elaborately adorned with emblematic ornaments interspersed with scrolls, and the tops are surmounted with beautiful representations of three sheaves of wheat. The large salver is richly ornamented with a scroll border interspersed u ith wheat-sheaves, mid bearing the devices of the beehive, the cornucopia, and sailing and steam ships (all admirably exe- cuted); emblematic of industry, plenty, and commerce. These emblems are also elaborately worked on the whole of the service; the sugar-basin and cream-ewer being richly gilt inside. Each service was contained in a substantial oak plate- chest, with brass inscriptions, and having separate partitions for the various articles. Of these services there were five sets; but to meet the wishes of Mr. Woolley, the committee presented to him a magnificent silver epergne with a plateau or stand, of equal value with the other testimonials. This epergne was elaborately worked with similar emblematic ornaments, with four bninclies of frosted silver, and was placed upon an elegant plateau eighteen inches in diameter, with u richly-chased border of grapes and vine-leaves."

An extraordinary forgery of Bank of England notes has been discovered at Norwich. The person who attempted to utter them was Mrs. Sarah Hannah

Barker, an unmarried woman of middle age. She has been examined several times before the Magistrates. This is given by a local reporter as the substance of the evidence. " About a year since the prisoner's grandfather died, and left her a legacy of 1201.; this sum she placed partly in the East of England Bank, and

partly in the Savings-bank, and, having no outer resources, had been living on it ever since. About half this sum hasl been thus expended. On Wednesday week,

she went to the East of England Bank, and laid down upon the counter her deposit

receipt-book, and 501. in alleged Bank of England uotes, which she requested might be placed to her credit. At the first glance the clerk saw that they had not the usual signature; this induced a more minute inspection, when he discovered that the numbers of all were exactly alike. In all other respects the imitation was perfect, and might easily have deceived a less experienced eye. Knowing from these circumstances that they mast be forgeries, the prisoner was given into cus- tody; and the Police proceeded to search her house in Cross Lane, St. George's, Colegate. In her house was found a bundle of notes lying under the table, about thirty in number, in course of manufacture—some just begun, some spoiled, and

others nearly completed. A good Bank of England note was also found; and the thirty, as well as the ten presented at the bank, were all excellent imitations of this good note. One forged note—and only one—was found with a signature at-

tached. The copies were done in pen and ink, and had been traced up at a chamber-window. She Lad frequently been observed by the neighbours tracing

at her window, but they considered it was to obtain patterns of fancy needlework." The paper of the forged notes had no water-mark. From several circumstances, the Magistrates were inclined at first to consider the accused insane, and the for-

gery a mere act of madness. But two gentlemen thought no insane person could execute notes so correctly, and apply for payment with her deposit-book, without intending to pass them; she might, indeed, be ignorant of the neoesaity for dif- ferent numbers, and a signature for the validity of a note, but this was not in- sanity. The woman has not yet been committed for trial.

The Jury which was empanelled to inquire into the death of Policeman Clark met for the fifth time, at Dagenham, on Monday; but one of the jurymen being absent from illness, the investigation did not proceed. It is said that some dis- coveries have been made tending to throw light on this mysterious affair.

Policeman Tyler was charged, last week, before the Chatham Magistrates, with the following outrage. Two London tradesmen, named Porteh, and a Spaniard,

were at Chatham Races: a lady having been robbed of her purse, and a crowd having collected, the Portches Inquired if she were unprotected ? at this moment Tyler came up, and declared that the Londoners were Pentonville thieves. Some time after, the party encountered the officer again; lie was in company with ar. other man, to whom he pointed out the Portches. Upon this, Mr. Joseph Punch asked him what he meant by such conduct, and told him they were respectable tradesmen from London; to which the Policeman replied, that he knew as much of them as they did of themselves; and, pulling out his staff, struck Mr. Portch first a blow in the stomach, and then on the held; from the effects of which h6 was covered with blood. The constable also assaulted the two other gentlemen; and in the melee one was robbed. The offender was fined for two assaults; the third charge being mercifuliy withdrawn. The Sasses Magistrates living in the vicinity of Lewes have specially investi- gated the circumstances connected with the death of James Allen, who was alleged to have been starved in Lewes Gaol. They have declared themselves sa- tisfied with the conduct of the officers of the prison.

The Leicester Board of Guardians have resolved to remove a number of pauper lunatics from the Haydock Lodge Asylum to the County Lunatic Asylum. Ibis is the result of a report made by a committee whom the Guardians had appointed

to inquire into the treatment oh their pauper lunatics. It appeared that the clerk to the Guardians had visited llaydock Lodge twice since the Leicester lunatics

were sent there; but, from the observations made by him, there seemed no defi- ciency either in the food, accommodation, or clothing of the patients. The whole number of lunatics sent was twenty nine; out of which two had been cured, eleven had died, and sixteen remained there.

Another disastrous accident has occurred on the Eastern Counties Railway. On Monday morning, a long excursion-train left Ipswich fur London; it was drawn by two engines, one of which was driven by Mr. Taylor, chief of the locomotive department of the Eastern Union Railway. On reaching the Brentwood incline, the gradient of which is 1 in 90, the drivers shut off the steam. They had not got far down when they observed a truck, used by the plate-layers, Standing upon the up-line. The breaks were applied, and the engines reversed; but the weight of the train was so great that the friction had no effect in stopping it from coming into collision with the truck ; which was smashed to pieces. By the shock many of the passengers were thrown from their seats, but none of them were hurt. The

• two drivers had lumped off the engines immediately before the collision, and were found to be most seriously injured. They were conveyed back to the Brentwood station, and, having been seen by a medical gentleman, were brought op to town. The accident originated in the carelessness of the plate-layers, who, having brought the truck containing the plates out of a "siding," left it on the line in- stead of taking it back again. Notice of the accident was forwarded to the termi- nus at Shoreditch; several of the officials of the company went to the spot; and after a minute investigation, they gave the parties who left the track upon the line into custody.

The Reverend Samuel Page, chaplain of Ipswich County Prison, who was a passenger in the train, writes to the Tines an account of the accident, with an indignant commentary on the carelessness displayed. "This special-train, the first of its class on this line, was an object of interest and notoriety; every of- ficial on the line must have known of its running and of its approximate time; and yet at that very time when it must be approximating, this track is placed on the rails in this dangerous position. Whoever set those men to work must have been grossly negligent, or the workmen must have been grossly disobedient Suppose it was a sudden emergency—a rail loose—then a messenger should have been despatched to, or towards, Brentwood, to have apprized our engineers of the cies:amateur:es" A serious accident happened on Monday morning, on the Sunderland antrliew- castle Railway; the line which possessed so bad a notoriety as the " Brandling Junction." The disaster occurred about two miles from Sunderland. "It ap- pears that when the half-past five down-train had passed the Cleadon station, a connecting-rod of the engine snapped asunder, and one of the pieces penetrating the ground, the engine and tender, with two of the carriages, were thrown off the line; the former fell over on one side, and the latter on the other. The carriages fell on some stone sleepers which were laid on the edge of an embankment, and were smashed to pieces. In the train there were eight carriages, six of which did not receive any damage. The guard was seated on the top of one of these, and retained his seat until the train was brought to rest. When he got off; he saw the fireman, a young man named Joseph Henderson, lying on a stone block: he had been thrown ofithe tender, and was severely bruised about his shoulder and neck. The engine-driver, Richard Hall, was next found at the end of the engine, in a state of insensibility, with his head seriously cut and his body scalded." The passengers—about eight in number—in the overturned carriages were found not to have been hurt, though greatly terrified. Both the injured men are in a dan- gerous state, and no hopes are entertained of Henderson's recovery.

As a train was, passing along the Brighton and Chichester Railway, at full speed, on Wednesday afternoon, the skipper of a coasting-vessel leaped off at Goring station; he fell upon his head, and the skull was so fractured that death appeared inevitable. The mad act arose from the man's desiring to save the walk of a mile: the train did not atop at Goring, one mile from his destination; the next station was two miles from the place he was proceeding to.

The inquest on the body of the stoker who was killed on the Nottingham and Lincoln Railway was concluded on Monday. A letter from General Pasley on the cause of the disaster was read. He says, " I am of opinion that the breaking of an old spring of an old engine caused the accident." He naively remarks, "locomotive engines cannot last for ever, and the springs of old engines may break." A verdict of" Accidental death" was returned.

The Oxford station of the Great Western Railway was the scene of a fatal ac- cident on Saturday evening. As a number of men were hoisting logs of wood from a boat, on the Isis, into a railway-truck, the crane broke, and falling on two of the workmen killed them on the spot.

The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway, now in course of con- struction, passes under Dudley by a tunnel. Men are engaged in forming this; and on Tuesday while a man was ascending a shaft in a skip he fell out, and failing to the bottom, his head was crushed to pieces.

The Marley tunnel, on the South Devon Railway, near Ashburton, a part of the line now constructing, has partially fallen in, with fatal results. The brick-work being considered firm, the scaffolding of a portion of the tunnel was ordered to be removed; while the workmen were engaged in taking away the supports, the arch cracked, and the structure, to the extent of fifty yards, fell in. The men were buried in the ruins; and fear were so much injured that they died in a few minutes after they were got out Some repairs being required for the gasometer of a factory at Mill Hill, near Blackburn, a workman opened an aperture in the top to allow the escape of the gas, in order that he might enter the vessel. When he considered that the vessel was clear, he introduced a candle by the orifice—the result was a tremendous ex- plosion, which lifted the heavy vessel from its well, and blew the man into the air; the poor fellow descended upon some timber which was lying near, and was dread- fully hurt.

A boiler exploded in a factory at Treforest, with fatal effect. The building in which it stood, a substantial structure, was shattered to pieces; a man was buried in the ruins, and was taken out dead; two other workmen were dreadfully scald- ed. The disaster cannot be accounted for, the boiler having been in good order.