311i5allnurnun.

The Queen has resolved to purchase for the Prince of Wales, by "a donation in one sum, the perpetual right of immediate admission for a patient into some of the leading charitable institutions of London." By her command, Colonel Phipps applied to the Royal Orthopedic Institu- tion for a statement of the sum for which the desired privilege might be purchased in that establishment; the Committee fixed 250 guineas, and her Majesty acceded to the terms.

Prince Albert has presented to the boys of Eton College a copy of the large work of Grumer, "On the Arts in the Medieval Ages." On the fly-leaf preceding the titlepage is the autograph inscription, Presented to the boys of Eton College, with a hope that this book may not be considered merely as an ornament to their library, but as a work freely to be used by them for recreation and the acquirement of taste.—Albert, Windsor Castle, Feb. 6, 1850."

The favourite daughter of the Emperor of Russia her Imperial High- ness the Grand Dutchess of Leuchtenburg, will visit England very shortly, and reside in London for some time. Her Imperial Consort was ordered by the physicians to reside at Madeira, where he is at present The Grand Dutchess, who has given him an heir since his departure, is coming over to meet her illustrious husband on his way back from Madeira.— Morning Chronicle.

Lord Gough and Lady Gough arrived at Southampton on Sunday, by the Indus, from Bombay. The inhabitants of Southampton gave Lord Gough a public reception on Monday : Sir George Hewett and a large deputation of officers, clergymen, and leading townsmen, presented a congratulatory address on his return home. Lord Gough made a warm reply ; alluding to his fifty-six years of service, and acknowledging the double gratification of receiving the address through one of his oldest friends and most esteemed comrades, Sir George Hewett.

Major Edwardes has- also arrived by the Indus. He has at his own request, acted as principal aide-de-camp to Lord Gough throughout the journey from the Punjaub. Some newspapers stated that Major Ed- wardes had brought to England his wife and two children, and that on parting at the railway station Lord Gough shook hands with Mrs. Ed- wardes. In a letter to the Times, the Major corrects this statement- " 37, Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square. "Sir—My return to dear old England has made me acquainted with many friends of slum existence I was shamefully ignorant ; but the morning papers have overpowered me quite with giving me a wife and two children' at a blow ! How soon I have all three I care not ; but, having none, my country- women will easily imagine how many reasons (and fair ones too !) there may be for contradicting the report.

"The 'two children' I had charge of from India were the daughters of Mr. John Lawrence, of the Lahore Board of Administration ; the 'wife ' was either their black ayah or my aunt Lady Edwardes. Lord Gough is most likely to have 'shaken hands' with the latter.

"Believe me faithfully yours, HERBERT EDWARDES."

"It is a mistake," says the informant of the Daily .Aretes, "to suppose that the gallant Major is the bearer of the celebrated diamond won by his valour, and presented by Lord Dalhousie to the Queen. This jewel is still in India.'

A most interesting meeting took place on Saturday evening at the re- sidence of the Dutchess of Sutherland, in order to form a Committee of Ladies to cooperate with his Royal Highness Prince Albert in carrying out the design of the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1851.

Resolutions were agreed to by the following ladies who were resent : the Marchionesses of Aylesbury, Westminster, Londonderry, and 'carde; Viscountesses Jocelyn, Waldegrave, Palmerston, and Clams-imam ; and Indies Grey, Dover, Pee], Foley, Stanley, Mary Stanley, Caroline Las- ceIles, Shelburne, Ashburton, Granville, Flahault, &c. ; and Lords E. Howard and Dufferin were elected Secretaries to the Committee.—Times.

A deputation of Irish Members, headed by Sir Robert Ferguson, waited upon Lord John Rugsoll last week, to present memorials which had been agreed to at some large and influential meetings recently held in the North- west of Ireland, calling on the Government togive assistance towards the completion of the railways commenced in that part of the country. Lord John Russell gave marked attention to the statements of the several speak- ers, putting questions on several points : he stated that the memorials should receive every consideration.

A rumour has reached us that it is the intention of the Government to bring in a bill, after Easter, for the extension of the jurisdiction of the County Courts up to 50L; to give them onlimited jurisdiction over bills of exchange, except where the defendant makes an affidavit of merits, that he has good grounds of defence to the action; and lastly, to confer on them (what is greatly needed) an equity jurisdiction up to 3001.— Morning Chronicle.

Captain Austin has issued the following address to the service, on his taking the command of the new Arctic expedition.

"As unanimity of purpose and cordial cooperation are indispensable to the Emcees of an expedition of this kind, the undersigned is desirous of communi- cating in this manner (which it is hoped the peculiar nature of the service will justify) with all those who may volunteer their services in the en- terprise. This undertaking is a duty acknowledged by our is country; and the Government, with great liberality and kindness, is about to provide ade- quate means for its performance. "It is the present intention to fit out for this purpose two sailing-ships and . two auxiliary screw steam-vessels attached to them as tenders. • "The object of this address is to insure a good understanding with all who may be engaged in this service. None, therefore, should offer, who will not pledge themselves to the following conditions- " 1. To support, in its entire spirit and integrity, the discipline of the British Navy ; the main pillars of which are obedience and a good example. 2. To _join heart and hand in zeal for the service in which we shall be engaged ; in employing our best endeavours to promote the benefit, amuse- meat, and improvement of each other, and the general good of our little community.

"3. To refrain from evil-speaking; and especially to avoid what may be called our seamen's proverbial propensity, ' growling,'—a term well under- -stood in the service.

With these resolves inscribed on our banner, we go forward, trusting in Eim who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand' to'direct our way, and to crown our labours with success. "Henan° T. AUSTLW." ° The names of the vessels for the Arctic expedition under the command of Captain Austin, C.B.' have been changed from Bamboo, Ptarmigan, and Eider, to Resolute, Assistance, and Pioneer.

' The Austrian Government is about to send a scientific expedition into 'Central Africa, under the direction of Baron Jean Guillaume de Muller, the teamed linguist, who has already made two journies into that country. -He will be accompanied by M. Alfred Brehm, the zoologist, M. Oscar Irani, the chemist, and M. Viesthaler, a physician of Ccethen. The

thembers of the expedition will assemble on the banks bf the lake 131th-el- Raroun (Mceris) in Upper Egypt ; whence they will go by the Red Rea to Souakin, and thence to the North of Abyssinia, which will be the principal object of their voyage. They will embark on the river Bien, and follow its course and will endeavour, if possible, to reach the sources of the Nile and of the White River. The Austrian Government intends to establish commercial relations with Abyssinia, and in case of need to found a colony. M. de Muller has just received the appointment of Consul-General of Austria in Central Africa.

The General Board of Health have produced a detailed report on the state of Burial-grounds, and on the possibility of some Parliamentary enactment to improve interment in towns.

The report accumulates evidence, of a similar character to that already fa,. miller to the public, on the great unhealthiness of intramural interments. It recounts the result cf personal examinations prosecuted throughout the Me- tropolitan burial-grounds and vaults. Amongst the new information is an exposure of the disgraceful state of the vaults in nearly every Metropolitan penal. The vaults of St. Martins-in-the-Fields, St. Bride's Fleet 'Street, and St. Mary-le-Bow, the most favourable instances, can only be mentioned as in the "least" disgraceful condition. In all the others the state of things is revolting and saddening. One quotation from the details relating to the vaults of St. Mary-at-Hill, will exemplify the general condition of all. The appearances there are thus pictured— Here are placed some hundred and fifty coffins, in all possible positions, piled one above another, the lower crushed by the weight of those above. The great ma- jority are broken and decayed, the remnants of mortality falling out between the rows of coffins. In all but the newest coffins the external wood is decayed, leaving -the lead exposed. It is of course impossible, in these instances, to ascertain whose remains they contain. Enormous cobwebs and fungi, with much dirt and filth, ren- der the inscriptions that remain illegible. Many of the coffins consist of a mere shell of decayed wood, which on the slightest touch breaks into powder, and exposes the remains of the skeleton. The coffins are so fragile, and the piles so much out of the perpendicular, that it is dangerous to approach very near them. In the two .farther corners large collections of bones are piled together without any attempt at order or decency—a most revolting sight. The Churchwarden was not aware, it appears, of the condition of the vault. The vault is not ventilated, and the odour of decomposing flesh is extremely foul." Most of these eharnelhouses are dangerous to enter ; they are in fact never entered till the entrance-doors have been opened many hoses, in order that they may be somewhat ventilated. St. George's burial-ground, in the Bays- water Road, is "the only place where a perfect registry of till the burials has been kept." The first burial there took place in 1771, and there are now 1,120 coffins -stored in lofty rows • and it is stated to the credit of this place, that in the alleys between these rows "the atmosphere is not so foul as in the other vaults." The aggregate of all the spaces allotted to burial in the Metropolis is about 218 acres, and the number of burials yearly is 'up- wards of 60,000. In those 218 acres, within thirty 3-ears1 have been crowded a million and a half of corpses: an equal or greater multitude will have to be crowded into the same space in the next generation of thirty years, if other and better provisions be not made. The report states the result of scientific inquiry into the mode in which the results of decomposition permeate the soil round the grave, and are liberated in the atmosphere. The rapid and irrepressible diffusion of these morbid elements is remarkable— "Under the pressure of only three-fourths of an inch of water, gas, common cod., gas for instance, rapidly makes its way to the surface through a stratum of sand or gravel several feet in thickness ; the soil appearing to oppose scarcely any resistance to its passage. The evolution of the gases of decomposition takes place with so much force that they often expand, and occasionally burst the leaden coffin in which the body is confined ; and when, as in a common grave, they pass gradually and with- out restraint into the surrounding earth, they are only in part absorbed by the soil, and some of them are scarcely absorbed at all, but are diffused in every direction, though it would appear in the upward direction chiefly, thug directly polluting the air. Such, indeed, is the tendency of these gases to reach the surface, that it does not appear to be possible to prevent the occurrence. • it,' says Mr. Leigh, a chemist at Manchester, who appears to have paid particular attention to this subject, • bodies were interred eight or ten feet deep in sandy or gravelly soils, I am convinced little would be gained by it ; the gases would find a ready exit from almost any practicable depth; while it is obvious that their occasional escape would be still more easy through the fissures which are so common in clayey soils." Among the causes which tend to regulate the evolution of the elementary matters, is the action of an abundant and healthy vegetation. Decomposition invariably proceeds more rapidly near the roots of trees : the earth is always drier there than elseihere ; the fibres of the roots reach out towards the grave, and frequently penetrate the decayed wood of the coffin : it is probable these roots are unceasingly absorbing the products evolved, and thus limiting the pernicious effects of their progress to the surface. The plant arrests these noxious matters on their errand of destruction, and re- places them within the sphere of life to recommence a new cycle of healthful and useful organization.

The report discusses and dismisses the three following modes which have been proposed for curing the evils— "1, The grant of powers to parishes, separate or in combination. "2. The encouragement of private cemeteries, such as those of liensall Green, Norwood, Ste.

•• 3. The appointment of a Special Board of Commission."

The Board of Health decides in favour of a general scheme for extramural burial to be worked by a Special Board of Commission. Separate acts should be obtained for London and the Country.

All the Metropolitan cemeteries should be purchased, and some of them en- larged; and there should be established one grand Eastern cemetery sufficiently remote fromthe habitations of the Metropolis and yet accessible by the common road, the railway, and the river Thames. All the cemeteries should be cir- cumscribed by a zone of land upon which no new habitations might encroach. No grave should contain more than one corpse. The expense of all funerals should be regulated by a series of scales for -different classes, the whole cost of each funeral being included in the one sum fixed for its class. It is cal- culated that this cost would be reduced, in a gentleman's funeral, from the present amount of 100/. to 381. 108.; in a first-class tradesman's, from 50/. to 16/. 108. ; in a second-class tradesman's, from 29/. 10s. to 9/. 9s. • in an arti- san's, from Si. to 21. 10s. : the yearly saving for the Metropolis would be about 350,000/. Provision should be made to compensate all parties interested in the present state of things, by money or by office under the new scheme ; and especially also provision should be made, by building churches and chapels in !Appropriated departments of the cemetery, for the performance of the burial rites in a manner that should recall their ancient solemnity and re- ligious spirit. Subsidiary to the arrangements would bathe establishment of receiving-houses in the Metropolis, whence the dead should be officially re- moved, silently and unobtrusively, to the cemetery—" within the precincts of the cemetery only will the funeral procession be formed." The outlay for Carrying the scheme into effect might be raised by loan; the principal and interest of which could be secured primarily on the cemetery receipts, and ultimately on the Parliamentary rates.

It has been known for some time past that a public cemetery was about to. be made to the extent, in the first instance, of 400 acres, at Abbey Wood, a beautiful spot on the South bank of the river Thames, between Woolwich and Erith. When the examination of the ground took place, it was con- sidered to be for a private company, but now there is reason to suppose it is The place recommended, although not named, in the report of the Board of Chronkle.

Results of the Registrar-Generals return of mortality in the Metropolis for the week ending on Saturday last : the first column of figures gives the ag- gregate number of deaths in the corresponding weeks of the ten previous.

years.

Ten Weeks of 1539-49.

Week. of 1850.

Zymotic Diseases L. 1919 169 D5ppsy, Cancer, and other diseases of uncertain or variable seat.. 803 57 Merealar Diseases 1696 135 Diseases of the Brain, Spinal Marrow, Nerves, and Senses 1311 111 Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 348 50 Diseases of the Lungs, and of the other Organs MItespiration 2118 167 Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion 568 49 Diseases of the Kidneys, &e 91 14 Childbirth, diseases of the Meru*, ste 111

s

Rheumatism, diseases of the Bones, Joints, &a 84

s

Diseases of the Skin, Cellular Tissue, &c 9 1 Malformations 27 3 Premature Birth 231 22 Atrophy 121 18 Age 750 45 Sudden 139 22

Violence, Privation, Cold, andlntemperance

292

— ss

911

"The mortality of the Metropolitan districts, which in the last week of January amounted to 1,094 deaths, has during the three subsequent weeks steadily declined. The improvement is most conspicuous lath class of dis- eases which affect the organs of respiration ; and, in connexion with this

ature has been-about 8' higher than in the same period of seven years. Last week the mean temperature was 47' 2'; though in the corresponding weeks of ten previous years (1840-9) it only ranged from 31° 7' in 1845, to 45° 4' in 1849. In the last four weeks the deaths from consumption have been suc- cessively, 137, 135, 113, tuu1.94 ; from bronohitia, 126, 84, 88, and 79 ; from asthma, 33, 12, 22, and 21; from pneumonia, or inflammation of the lungs, 75, 69, 76, and 51. last week the deaths from the four diseases now men- tioned were only 215, whilst the corrected average of the same week is 331. But though the mortality from particular causes has so much declined, the deaths in the epidemic class show a small increase on those of the previous week.

"The mean daily read ir g of the laironseter et the Royal Observatory, Green- wich, was above 30 inches, except on Tuesday- and Wednesday. The mean of the week was 30.070 inches. The mean daily temperature was above 48' on Monday and Friday ; and the lowest, which occurred on Saturday, was not less than 45' 3'." The mean direction of the wind for the week Was South- west A paper on a new system of granite-paving, employed with great advan- tage in the Euston Square station of the London and North-western Rail- way, was read to the Institution of Civil Engineers, on Tuesday, by the inventor, Mr. William Taylor, of Birmingham. The general features of the plan are, the preparation of an extremely hard but highly elastic substratum, formed of three layers, each four inches thick, the lowest of gravel and the two -others of gravel mixed with clialk,--a material of which almost imperishable floors have from time immemorial been

Total (including unspecified causes) 10677

fact, it is worthy of remark, that since the 24th of January the mean tem

made. On this mass a layer of fine pure sand one inch thick is laid; and in this sand-bed granite stones carefully dressed and squared, four inches deep, four long, and three thick, are laid perfectly level and close. The whole surface is then rammed so as to drive each stone into a sort of socket in the under-bed. The result is a pavement extremely beautiful to the eye nearly noiseless, yielding a good foot-hold, yet so blending solidity with elasticity that the wear is reduced to a Mi.111M11131. The cost is about half as much as the grouted granite pavement of London streets.

The want of surgeons in the Austrian army is so greatly felt, that in order to induce civil surgeons to go into the army, the military authorities have de- creed that the usual fee for diplomas shall be remitted, and a present be given of from 100 to 150 florins.—Tinter.

In Germany, at present, there are 523 theatres of the first and second order, employing 3,398 performers, 612 singers, 2,340 dancers, 6,835 musicians, 143 prompters and 2070, employes, Among the actors are 1 count, 2 barons, and 36 unlitlednobles.

A letter, the direction of which is thus cautiously worded, "To the Editor f the Times, should this come to hand," was found in a bottle picked up on the 22d instant, off Cape Grinez and brought to Cala* whence it has been forwarded to us by the Vice-Consul. The contents are simple, but highly satisfactory, and 'we cheerfully accord publicity to them. They are as follows- " John Calvin, bound to California. Longitude 6 West ; latitude 48 North. Jan- uary 24, 1850. I am quite well and in cheerful spirits—with 12 cheerful messmates.

" Wmmast DownEm.."

This " William " has, doubtless, a "Susan," whose "black eyes" we trust this may meet. —Times.

Letters received from the British fleet in the Pirmus recount the facts of a Mal accident to Lieutenant Breen, of the Ganges, 84, and part of a crew under his command, on the 31st of January. Lieutenant Breen, and Mr. Chatfield, Midshipman with sixteen men, were returning from the shore to the Ganges in a boat Midshipman, with water; they were swamped by the rough sea, and their boat turned over just half-way between the ship Queen and the East point of the island of Lypso. Mr. Breen, Mr. Chatfield, and most of the men immediately struck out for the land, and reached it. The gale increased, i ed, and the cold became so intense that their clothes were frozen stiff upon them. In the morning they could see the fleet, but were unable to catch attention by signals. One of the men suffered so much from the cold, that Lieutenant Breen generously stripped off his coat and put it over him. As the day closed most of the men retired into a cave ; but Mr. Breen separated himself from the others, and was 110 more seen. On board the • Ganges it was thought they had not put off from shore ; but next night it was known that they had set out, and a boat was sent to search. As it was passing by the island of Lypso at dawn of the third day, the wrecked boat was accidently descried on the beach. Mr. Chatfield and half-a-dozen men were found in the cave, in a torpid state ; Mr. Breen was found dead, crouched under a bush ; and ten seamen are missing. There is little doubt that poor Mr. Breen lost his life from his generous act in favour of the suffering sea- man. The survivors found in the cave have all recovered.

Mr. J. Paterson, of Biggar, has perished in a storm -wlule returning on foot from Lanark. He was found dead in a plantation.

An inquest was held on Tuesday, in CareyStreet, on the body of John Drury, a an who came by his death in a singular mimner. Drury was a painter; he lived with his wife in a garret ; they had a quarrel and a fight, to which another lodger put an end ; the wife then went to the lower part of the house. Drury- said he would not meet his wife again by descending the, stairs, but would go down by the water-spout on the outside of the building, as he had done many times before. on this occasion, he struck against some obstruction mid-way in his descent and was pitched upon the stones in the yard. His skull was fractured, and the brain lacerated.

A young woman about twenty years of age threw herself out of the se- cond-floor window of a house in the Rue des Barres St. Paul, in consequence of a quarrel with her lover. She fell on the head of a passer-by, who was killed on the spot ; and she herself received such injuries that her life is despaired of.--Galignanis Messenger.

There seems no longer any•reason to doubt that the Sarah Weet.Incliaman

panshed during the late storm. She went down, apparently, on the Sand. Quantities of West India produce have been picked up. More than

thirty men are supposed to have perished in the ship.

One hundred and fifty-eight persons have been frozen to death within the last few days, the greater number in their own houses, in Constantinople and its environs. At Gallipoli twenty-three persons, and at Smyrna seventeen, shared the same fate. Fifteen persons were found frozen to death on board a Turkish vessel and eight fishermen were found dead from the same cause in their boat on the Bosphorus. The temperature was 13 degrees (Reaumur); but these fatal occurrences are explained by the very slight construction of the houses, the want of warm covering, as well as bad food. In the interior provinces the misery has been very great. The latter have been left uncared for, and the sufferings both of men and beasts have been very great.—Foreign l'apers.

At Guildhall Police Office, yesterday, Mr. Kenealey was definitively- com- mitted for trial at the Sessions, on the charge of cruelty to his son Edward Hyde.

At Abingdon Assizes, yesterday, Thomas Hillier, the military sentinel on

duty at Windsor Castle who fired musket three times at his comrades on the 13th of October last, was acquitted, though undefended by counsel, on proof that he was drunk at the time of the offence.

A series of views, by Mr. J. W. Allen, illustrating the line by railway from London to the Britannia Bridge, is now open at the Pictorial -Exhi- bition, next door to the Polytechnic Institution in Regent Street. The aeries includes Coventry, Birmingham, Chester, Conway Bridge and Cas- tle, and the Britannia Bridge as it will be -when completed. The paint- ings want the continuity of a panoramic view, and are indifferently exe- cuted. The interest lies in the Tubular Bridges ; of which a sufficiently clear idea is conveyed to explain the descriptions of the great work now in progress.