THE new colossal statue of Christopher Columbus in Genoa has been placed upon its pedestal by means of powerful steam machinery. GLACIERS IN THE EAST-INDIES.-Our survey par- tric fluid struck the girl's lower extremities, paralyzties in Cashmere and Central Asia, under Captain ing both feet, and producing an imprint upon the Montgomerie, have lately achieved several triumphs left leg and thigh of the color of scarlet, and in for science. The Alpine Club and all travelers who every respect resembling the tree itself, namely, have exhausted the tamer beauties of Europe, and the trunk, the branches, and the leaves, and in the are ennuyes, will be interested in a paper Captain most beantiful model form it is possible to conceive. Montgomerie lately read to the Bengal Asiatic So-She has regained the use of her limbs, and the daciety on the Himalayan Glaciers. I inclose a re- guerreotype appearance is fading away. Strange to port of his discoveries. He showed how inferior say, her dress was not in any way injured by the the glaciers of the Alps are to those of the Shigar electric fluid.-Cambridge Independent. valley, which he illustrated by the field-sheets of the Cashmere series of triangulations, on the scale of four miles to an inch. In the Alps, the Mer de Glace is about seven miles in length, and the largest, the Aletson, little over fifteen. But the larger gla ciers, surveyed by the Cashmere party, vary from fifteen to thirty-six miles in length. Next cold weather the facilities afforded for traveling will be 80 great that we ought to see India flooded with travelers. Whether science, sport, antiquities, and architecture, or mere scenery is the attraction, India far surpasses Europe in the vast and magnificent. The traveler who lands in Calcutta at the end of October would have five months of most delightful weather in which to exhaust the plains with their great cities, ruins, and strange peoples, and could then devote the hot weather to the Himalayas, still enjoying a climate which the English might envy.-Times Correspondent, Calcutta, April 28th. A FRENCH FIRE-KING.-A curious exhibition takes place every evening at the corner of the Rue Ville Just and the Avenue de St. Cloud. In a small field there is situated a wooden house, covered with pitch and other combustible matters, which is erected daily, and set fire to at about eight o'clock each evening. The flames in the course of a few moments reach a gigantic hight; and when they are most ardent, a man jumps into the midst of them, rolls about, and pulls down blazing rafters which he carries away. This salamander can stay in the fire from five to seven minutes. When he comes out the clothes which enabled him to do so smoke like a steam-engine; they are said to be made of asbestos, covered with sponges freshly imbued in some chemical preparation.-Paris letter. METEORS. Within the present year, M. Petit, of Toulouse, has calculated the hight of the great meteor of September 13th, 1858. He finds its hight to have been two hundred and twenty-two kilometers, (about one hundred and thirty-eight miles,) and its velocity per second nineteen miles. That which was seen and fell in France, on December 9th, 1858, was only three miles distant at the time of the explosion, and its apparent velocity was about three miles per second. It was twelve minutes after explosion before its luminous train had disappeared and violent detonations were heard. SINGULAR PHENOMENON. Recently, the hamlet of Aldreth, Haddenham, was visited by a thunderstorm. In this place there are two cottages standing in a lone place, occupied by Daniel Cockle and John Stokes, laborers. About five yards from Cockle's house, and in an adjoining field, there is a young elm-tree. The tree was struck by lightning; the fluid traveled from thence in a very indirect line to the furthest house, entering the back door, which was open. Ann Stokes, aged fourteen years, was standing in this room, not facing the doorway, but near the middle of it, and in a line with the door. The elec THE Duc d'Aumale says of Victor Hugo's sketch of Louis Philippe in Les Miserables: "I was going to write to you on the subject of the sketch of the King by Victor Hugo in Les MisI have as yet read erables. Our hearts have met. nothing so sympathetic. There are some errors and some reserves which I certainly do not accept; but the man is comprehended and well drawn, and there are sublime traits. It is the most splendid justice which has hitherto been rendered to that great and noble heart. In going through those pages, which took me by surprise, tears came into my eyes many times."-Henri D'Orleans. GALIGNANI announces the death, at the great age of ninety-four, of the Marquise de la Place, widow of the illustrious author of the Méchanique Céleste, formerly lady of honor to the Prineess Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, sister of the Emperor Napoleon. THIERS has handed over to the French Academy the prize of twenty thousand francs bestowed upon him for his History of the Consulate and the Empire, for the purpose of founding a "Thiers Prize, to be paid every three years, with the interest of the sum, amounting to three thousand francs, for a work the subject of which is left to the option of the Academy. THE French Academy of Inscriptions has awarded to M. Alexandre Bertrand, formerly member of the French School of Athens, the prize for the best essay on the discoveries since the beginning of the present century in relation to Celtic monuments. Four essays were sent in. M. Bertrand shows that the monuments of this kind in France become more numerous as the north-west and west coasts are approached. It is inferred that they are due to a littoral population which penetrated toward the interior, following the principal rivers and their affluents. He considers that the "dolmens" are sepulchral monuments, and believes that their origin must be referred to a period anterior to the invasion of the Celts. PEACE is the evening star of the soul, as virtue is its sun; and the two are never far apart. SIR RUTHERFORD ALCOCK, British Minister in Japan, is writing a two-volume narrative of his three years' residence in that country. EVERY man has a paradise around him, until he sins, and the angel of an accusing conscience drives him from his Eden. A LESSON FOR FINE YOUNG LADIES.-At the seaside residence of Queen Victoria, in the Isle of Wight, a large portion of the pleasure-ground is appropriated to the young princes and princesses, who have each a flower and vegetable garden, green-house, hot-house, and forcing-frames, nurseries, tool-houses, and even a carpenter's shop. Here the royal children pass many hours of their time. Each is supplied with a set of tools, marked with the name of the owner; and here they work with the enthusiasm of an amateur and the zeal of an Anglo-Saxon. There is no branch of gardening in which the royal children are not at home. Moreover, on this juvenile property is a building, the ground floor of which is fitted up as a kitchen, with pantries, closets, larders, and dairy, all complete in their arrangements, and here may be seen the young princesses, arrayed in their aprons and cookingjackets, floured to the elbows, deep in the mysteries of pastry-making, like rosy farm-girls, cooking the vegetables from their own gardens, preserving, pickling, baking, sometimes to partake among themselves, or to distribute to the poor of the neighborhood, as the result of their own handiwork. The Queen is determined that nothing shall remain unlearned by her children; nor are the young people ever happier than while thus engaged. Over the domestic establishment is a museum of natural history, furnished with curiosities collected by the young party in their rambles and researches-geological and botanical specimens, stuffed birds and animals, articles of their own construction, and whatever is curious or interesting, classified and arranged by themselves. Here the most exalted and purifying tastes are cultivated. Here Nature, common to all, is studied and admired; while, beyond this, a capability of entering into the condition of the people, and a sympathy of their labors are acquired by a practical knowledge of what labor is; and though we need scarcely suppose that the royal children weary themselves as those who gain their bread by the sweat of their brow, yet even in their moderate digging and working they must learn the better to appreciate the results of labor in the luxuries surrounding them. This is a picture of which the English nation may justly be proud. There is not such another royal family on the face of the earth. PERSIAN ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF WINE.Jerusheed, the founder of Persepolis, is by Persian writers said to have been the first who invented wine. He was immoderately fond of grapes, and desiring to preserve some, they were placed for this purpose in a large vessel, and lodged in a vault for future use. When the vessel was opened, the grapes had fermented, and their juice in this state was so acid that the king believed it must be poisonous. He had some vessels filled with it; "poison" was written upon each, and they were placed in his room. It happened that one of his favorite ladies was affected with a nervous headache, and the pain distracted her so much that she desired death. Observing a vessel with "poison" on it, she took it and swallowed its contents. The wine, for such it had become, overpowered the lady, who fell into a sound sleep, and awoke much refreshed. Delighted with the remedy, she repeated the dose so often that the monarch's poison was all drank. He soon discovered this, and forced the lady to confess what she had done. A quantity of wine was made, and Jer usheed and all his court drank of the new bever. age, which, from the circumstances that led to its discovery, is this day known in Persia by the name of Jeher-e-Kooshon, the delightful poison! STATISTICS OF THE LONDON FIRE DEPARTMENT.— The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the existing arrangements for the protection of life and property against fire in the metropolis have concluded their labors. It appears that twenty years ago the number of fires in London was about 450, and that last year the total number was 1183. Ac cording to Sir Richard Mayne's estimate, the whole of the metropolitan police area and the City of London together, extending over about 700 square miles, may be considered as containing rather above 8,000,000 of inhabitants, residing in about 475,000 houses, and the rental for taxation about £14,800,000. The magnitude of the interest at stake was also shown by Mr. Newmarch, who stated in his evidence that the total value of property insurable against fire within six miles of Charing Cross is not less than £900,000,000, and of this not more than about £300,000,000 is insured. It was further shown that this insured property now bears, through the medium of the fire offices, the expenses of the present Fire Brigade establishment. NEW TOMB OF JOHN BUNYAN.-A new tomb has been erected over the grave of the author of Pilgrim's Progress, in Bunhill - fields burial-ground. City-road. The requisite funds for this memorial have been raised by public subscription, under the presidency of the Earl of Shaftesbury. The length of the tomb is about seven feet and the hight rather over four feet. On the top, in a reclining posture, with book in hand, is the carved effigy of John Bunyan in stone, with the head resting on a pillow, the length of the figure being five feet eight inches. On the north side, in relief, is a stone panel represent ing Christian starting on his pilgrimage, with the burden on his back; and on the south side Christian is represented as in the act of reaching the cross, and the burden falling from his shoulders. At the east end of the tomb is the following inscription, engraved on a portion of the old stone: "John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim's Progress; ob. 31st August, 1688, æt. 60." The slab at the opposite end records the fact of the restoration of the work by public subscription, May, 1862. A LIVELY ELEPHANT.-A letter from Java states that among the animals to be brought to Europe by the Prussian vessel of war, the Elbe, now on a voyage to the East, is a young elephant, which is to be presented to the Crown Princess of Prussia by Sir Robert Schomburgh, her Majesty's Consul at Bangkok, in Siam. The animal is extraordinarily tame, and is the pet of the whole crew. In harbor and in good weather he is allowed to ramble about the deck, on which occasions the men indulge in exercise in equestrian style by mounting his back. He has also been taught many tricks, so that when he arrives at the Zoological Gardens at Berlin he is likely to be the lion of the season. The Ebe will also bring a great number of other animals for the samesngrida NAPOLEON has given directions for the compilation of a military and potitical history of Algeria. All the documents and state papers having reference to the subject are to be sent to the War Office. and institutions with a clear and nt insight, such as was unattainahe laborious non-juring historian, his vision had been more open and han it naturally was. e two volumes before us, the first ed to the Anglo-Saxon period, bewith St. Augustine's mission, and ting with the Conquest. The comprises the Anglo-Norman pem the Conquest to the close of the 7 of Stephen Langton, in the reign ry III. Dr. Hook has wisely not ted to penetrate the darkness that es to overhang the ancient British traditionally planted by one of ostles, and distinguished beyond n from its Roman successor by simplicity both of government and p. The subject is one that would |
