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Leader (1850-1860), 25th October 1851, Edition Town of 2, Page 1020

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      £ hey marked time with a motion of the body , swinging gently from side to side . As the chanting grew louder , the swinging became more violent , till , after an interval of about half an hour , they suddenly became silent , and , jumping to their feet , threw off their coats and -waistcoats , and ranged themselves m a row , still standing on the sheepskins . The singing was now resumed , and the -whole party began to swing their heads backwards and forwards ; at first gently , but gradually declining lower and lower both before and behind , till their heads almost touched the ground each way at every oscillation . So rapid was the motion , that I counted fifty declinations in a minute . . _ . , their i

      " From time to time the Dervishes left paces , in regular rotation , and , rushing into the circle , incited the devotees to accelerate their movements , jMieing each fanatic by the hands , and making him a profound bow . Suddenl y a Dervish darted round , and tore from every head its cap or turban , which he flung into a heap in the middle of the hall . On this two half naked negroes started up , and whirled furiously round on one toe , keeping their arms outstretched , and moving so rapidly , that the eye could scarcely follow them . In about a quarter of an hour they stopped with the same abruptness , but only for an instant , when they commenced jumping to and fro , sometimes rising three feet from the ground , and one young dervish , who joined in the exhibition , pertounded Ihis

      formed feats that would have as Kisley . ended the first heat , which so exhausted the performers , that when , after a brief interval , the second act commenced , only nine entered the lists , and these foil to four in the third . As a denouement , one of the most zealous , who had been worked into a perfect frenzy , endeavoured to kill himself , by dashing his head against the wall . Being prevented from accomplishing his design , he made a rush at me , and it was with some difficulty I avoided him . All the others , however , seemed calm and serious , and I particularly remarked the grave demeanour of the soldiers , whom I saw go home very quietly , beguiling the way with their pipes . I then left the place myself , after paying about a shilling towards the entertainment . "

      Every one knows the mysterious ' * Man in the Iron Mask" in French history ; here is a sort of pendant to it . " A palace , one of the residences of the Viceroy , rises in the midst of the gardens . It is a stately structure , commanding a varied and extensive prospect , and is fitted up with Asiatic splendour . But it derives a higher interest from its connection with a sad and romantic mystery , which has excited many

      conjectures and speculations , and an endless amount of curiosity , but lias never yet been unravelled . That regal fabric is a prison ; and the captive who pines within its walls , amidst everything that dsixzles and enchants the eye , is a young and lovely woman . " Who she may be , or what has been her offence , no one can tell , or if some few possess the secret , iear and prudence have effectually sealed their lips . Her captivity has already extended over several years , and will probably last till her death . "

      LOOK ON THIS l'ICTUKB AND ON THAT ! " In strolling throug h the town , I saw some of the dancing girls . They were standing at their doors , laughing und joking , and seemed a merry and reckless set . Their forms , more liberally displayed than ¦ was strictly consistent with Oriental decorum , seemed elastic and graceful , and were attired in gorgeous dresses of pink silk , bedizened with jewellery . " ? ' A melancholy contrast to these nymphs met us on the beach—a party of wretched old hags , bent with age and want , and having their half- naked forma hung with rags . Theao were the dancing girls of a patt age . "

      Mr . Mclly seemB to have been greatly amused by the conversation he held with a French slave in the Slave Market , who wan perfectly reconciled to her condition , nay , preferred it to freedom in her own country . Her ambition is certainly suggestive of BurcaHtnH : one of her hopes from the future , we are told , w ; ih that hIic would \ w . able to procure a < mm )( 1 supply of grciiKc : for her hair ! and Mr . Melly won her deep gratitude by giving her money which immediately enabled her to gratify her feminine love of adornment in the Kalydor department .

      "VVc have said that Mr . Melly inakct * no parade of historical learning . He hat * not crammed for his book . We arc grateful to him for it . Hut we will take the opportunity of one brief paKJsage , to » et before the muler u . piquant bit of erudite archaeology on the subject of Mcinnon'H statue . Mr . Melly'H passage recalled to uh Leimiuie'N admirable explanation , and wo will briefly Htato it . Mr . Mclly BiiyH : — " Kvery morning , if we arc to believe the teutiinony of ancient writers , Memnon « Btutue greeted with a melodious welcome tho riHiiig « un and at night lamented hin netting , # m » K utterance to a hoiuhI replete with melancholy aadneHs . " And that is nil ; he dom not speculate on tho matter , docn not vouch oven for tho fact . Wuo ibis wound , ft « commonly

      supposed , the artifice of priestly impostors ? M . Letronne shall tell us . He shows that the sounds were never heard till the reign of Nero , when the statue was cracked by an earthquake ; and never heard after the reign of Septimus Severus when it was repaired . In fact , the cause of the sounds was the sonorous vibration of the cold air rushing but on the sudden change of temperature at the rising of the sun . Broken , the statue saluted the sun ; when restored , it was dumb . A simple physical cause had produced this solemn mystery ; but who can wonder that the ignorant were awed by it ? We must return to Mr . Melly ' s book .

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      stockhardt's experimental , chemistry . The Principlet of Experimental Chemistry illustrated by Simple Experiment * . By Dr . Julius Adolpb Stockhardt . Translated from the flfth German edition . By C . H . Pierce , M . D . ( Bonn ' s Scientific Library . ) H . Q . Bohn . As an introduction to Chemistry , this is an excellent work . Not only does it familiarly expound the latest accepted views and discoveries , but it is essentially one to make a Chemist of the student ; for , besides the abstract statement of each law , it has a great variety of experimental illustrations . These experiments are characterized by one important difference from those commonly suggested in works on this subject—viz ., that whereas they presuppose aa extensive laboratory , and all " appliances to boot / ' this merely requires such an apparatus as may readily be obtained in all towns and by almost all purses—a few tubes and flasks , a spirit lamp , some corks , and India rubber , are pretty nearly the whole stock required .

      It is divided into two main sections—Inorganic and Organic Chemistry ; these are subdivided into smaller sections . Dr . Stockhardt having laid down a lew general principles , proceeds to consider all the Non Metallic Elements j or , as he calls them , Metalloids , This term will puzzle many of our chemical students . We observe that it has gained currency in France and Germany , even Liebig using it , and we can find no explanation of the apparent incongruity . Metalloid , according to all analogies of language , would mean having the form or nature of a metal ; to employ it , therefore , as the designation of elements which have not the former nature

      of metals , is a lucus a non lucendo worthy of explanation . Dr . Stockhardt quietly calls Oxygen and all the other elementary bases . Metalloids . He may have g « 'od reason for doing so , but he should state it . We , in England , are somewhat thrown out of our reckoning- by it . Quitting this merely technical objection , and turning to his classification , we find Dr . Stockhardt

      grouping Oxygen , Hydrogen , Nitrogen , and Carbon , under the one head of Organagens , or generators of organic bodies . Under the second head of Pyrogcns , or generators of fire , he groups Sulphur and Phosphorus . Under that of Halogens , or generators of salt , he groups chlorine , iodine , bromine , fluorine , and cyanogen . Under that of Hyalogens , or generators of glass , he groups Boron and Silicon .

      Having exhausted the Metalloids , Dr . Stockhardt then begins with the Acids , grouping them thus—Oxygen Acids , Hydrogen Acids , Organic Acids . This section is followed by the Light Metals—and the Heavy Metals ; and the first part concludes . The second part is wholly devoted to Organic Chemistry—vegetable and animal . As far as practical purposes go , this classification is a very useful one ; and the present work is preeminently adapted to practical purposes . The Chemical philoMopher , however , may reasonably demur to certain points . For example , Cyanogen

      i . s classed under the simple elements ( not by Dr . Stoekliardt alone , but by all ehemint . n we believe ) , although it is know to be a compound of Nitrogen and Carbon . The reason of this may be , that cyanogen , though a compound , acts like a simple element . It forms an exception to the fundamental rule that wimple bodies only combine with simple , compound bodies with compound . The exception , however , Hcems to point to the couoliiflion that the elements we are accustomed to regard as simple are in rcalil ^ y com pound ; it points aim ) to this further

      conclusion that all the varieties of elements are but varieties in the direction of force . If cyanogen comports itself towards other hodicu in a manner similar to that of chlorine and other Metalloidsif it i « guHeoiiH , and forum with hydrogen an acid a « oth « r elements do , and if , like them , it unites with metals { oxidizes them , ho to Kpeak ) , forming protocyanidcN and pereyanideh—does not this indicate that in the constitution of Cyunogen the molecular forces are in u line of direction t > iiiiijur to that iu O * yuren i

      But these questions are not within the provirT of a newspaper ; we leave them to the student am ? conclude by recommending him by all means to 1 hands on Dr . Stockhardfs volume . ?

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      <* CARLYLE 8 LIFB OF STERLING . A Life qf John Sterling . By Thomas Carlyle . Chap man and Hall , We had prepared our review of this work when an intimation reached us that one of our friends wished to handle the subject . To a writer so distinguished we delightedly gave way . But on receiving his article we found it less a review than an essay As such it lends lustre to our Portfolio , where the reader will find it ; but Carlyle ' s book is only in , cidentally touched upon in that article , we shall * therefore , return to it for a more formal review '

      Since we are giving explanations it may be well to add that press of matter delays the appearance of several papers in hand ; also that Browne ' s History of Classical Literature and Beddoea ' s Poems will appear forthwith .

      Untitled Article

      BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Port Royat Logic . Translated from the French , with Introduction , Notes , and Appendix . By Thomas Spencer Baynes B . A ., Author of an" Essay on the NewAnalytic Forms . " Second Edition , enlarged . Simpkin a nd Maruhall A second edition of this valuable work so rapidly called , for , indicates sufficiently how much it was wanted . Mr . Baynes , himself an accomplished Logician , has taken advantage of the reissue , not only to amend his translation , but to add thereto some learned and luminous notes , which greatly enhance the edition ; he has also translated the celebrated

      tract of Leibnitz on " Knowledge , Truth , and Ideas . " Altogether , this ^ volume is one to command a place in a philosophical library . England before the Norman Conquest . By the Author of " Every Day Wonders , " &c . Van Voorst . Every Day Wonders is the very best popular exposition of physiology for young minds , that has come under cur notice . England before the Conquest , by the same author , is not equal to that work , but it is nevertheless a clear , succinct , and entertaining little work , which children -will very greedily devour . It has none of the drynesa of juvenile history .

      How to Speak French : a Hand-book for private Students , Schools , and Travellers . Third Edition , improved . By Acliille Albites , A . B . Hamilton , Adams , and Co . A work of merit . The conversations resemble actual conversations , and the concluding portion , which contains a brief survey of the History and Literature of France , is both novel and useful . But while commending the work for its principal qualities , we must strongly protest against the attempt made to teach

      pronunciation . It is a difficult , perhaps impossible , task to represent French sounds by English sounds ; at any rate , ignorance the most profound would be better for the pupil than the f alse notions he would gain from this book . Guess reader , what this is : say sitssee } ( e ' est ceci ) , or this—sgong f { second ) , or this —ung bong vang blaung ? ( mm bon vin blaiic ) . Imagine a young Britain complimenting a Gaul upon his cleverness , thus : —Oh ! jvwahqvoozettforrt abbeel , andfeeling hurt that the entente cordialc was so little understood

      that the Gaul did not interpret the phrase mtoje vou que vous 6 tes fort habile . Having arrived at Dover , the same ingenious youth is supposed to say " let us go to the Pavilion ; one is perfectly comfortable there ; but this is what he does Bay : Allohns al-ottell dtt Pahveeyoh : oh-nee ay parrfaytmaung I Can that bo transcended ? A Portraiture of the Christian J ' rofetnion and Practice of th » Society of Friend : liy Thomas Clarkaon , M . A . « riu »» Friend iidition , with Biographical Sketch of the Author . j-rienu aoiuod , wiw . mug .-j-m ^ . ^™ -. " It 8 |

      wand . mea . Some time ago we animadverted on a gossiping and somewhat spiteful book on Quakerism ; to those wjio read that work , wo recommend the antidote ot tn volume before ue , which presents the ideal aspect 01 Quakerism : embracing the system of Education , tn Discipline , the Customs , and Religious Principles 01 the Society . .. . Th ! Metamorphos e * of Ovid . Literally translated i . « U > Kng , I ' roso , with copioiiH Notea and KxplumiUons , l >) « ¦ ' lliley , H . A . ( Holm ' s ClaHBic . il Library . ) ,,, «• One of the best of Mr . Bohn ' s translated { . laHsic ^ nmnnwhat BJicrificiniz beautv and energy ot ciicv ini

      to the desire for liter aliiess ; but the fuult , it » be , ms one on the right side . We have ^ nipart " variety of packaged , und find them trustlu 1 > , **> Bcieiirioimly rendered . The utility ol » uoh * ' * needs no unforo .-meiit . It was a bold attemi M Mr . Boliu to offi * such a series ; bucc-uhh Iiuh i ^ timized his attempt . The notes arc numerous , to the purpose . u , | d 8 oIl . Royal Exhibition Companion . J - , / , ,. ttCh of distinct Ilandlx 1 » ,, ot uihuw j *

      ThiH i « a collection Thin ih a collection * « . j > ul ) i , c devoted to one of the " Sights , " »^ ,, » , ^ ' We » t-HuildmgH , Public Galk-neH , tho low * ^ minister Abbey , St . Paul b , ^ l ^ otu ^ Hampton-court , Chelsea Hospital , &o . , «» , int . lhe price of one , pmny for thirty-two , « . « £ «¦ I at . The utility of « uch handbooks is ^ " ^ l ^ Zraey , much , however , will depend " ^^^ "i p Uuco . und of that we uro not competent to iorm «» "I

      Untitled Article

      1020 & %$ yLtftiltt * [ Saturday ,

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 25, 1851, page 1020, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1906/page/16/