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Leader (1850-1860), 24th October 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1018, Untitled Article

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      ox the dial of electric telegraphs ; and so contrived that no door , window , or gate , to which it is applied , can possibly he opened without an immediate alarm being given by the ringing of a bell ; at the same time a match is struck -which lights a candle , thus enabling the inmates , by the face of the indicator , to know -what particular apartment has been entered , and also indicate the progress of the unlawful visitor through the premises . Ax INDIAN Reform League has been inaugurated at Calcutta . Pekfpmert . —Curious as are the records of the indulgence of former ages in cosmetics and aromatics , it has certainly been , reserved , for our oiva time to perfect the science of perfumery . " > Vithin the laboratory of the

      perfumer , chemistry now holds a recognized place , and acres of some of tiie fairest spots in Europe and Asia are devoted to the cultivation of flowers whose fragrance is no longer wasted on the desert air , but preserved for the enjoyment of all -who choose to purchase it . India and Europe consume annually 150 , 000 gallons of perfumed spirits . One large Continental perfumer alone consumes every year 80 , OOG lbs . of orange blossoms , 54 , 000 lbs . of jose-leaves , 32 , 000 lbs . of jasmine , 60 , 000 lbs . of the fiowers of the acacia farnesiana , besides a large amount of lemon , rosemary , lilac , turbereuse , and other sweetsmelling flowers . England imports nearly 200 , 000 lbs . cf essential oils , a 3 ) out 20 , 000 bottles of eau-de-cologne , and an incalculable amount of pomatums , soap ? , and all

      the mysterious belongings of a lady s toilet-table . Pliny lamented the enormous sums that were -withdrawn from Rome in exchange for the spices and pearls of India and Arabia . The indulgence of perfumery amongst us increases the revenue 40 , 000 / . a year . The most novel and remarkable feature of the present manufacture of perfumes is the establishment of flower farms . Flowers , indeed , have taken the place of ambergris , musk , civet , and the odoriferous gums , ^ vhich are now only used to give stability to the more evanescent scents . There are flower farms in jEurope and Asia , and another is likely to be started in Australia for the cultivation of the wattle , a plant of the acacia genus , and resembling in odour very powerful violets , Practical men bear in mind

      the cheapness of mutton fat ( a very necessary consideration , the preparation of suet being an important branch of the perfumery business ) , and anticipate success . England lias her flower farm at Mitcbarn , in Surrey , where lavender and peppermint Sourish unrivalled . . Roses are also cultivated tbere , but only for the purpose of making rose-water . The Trench rose-water , however , is far superior ; and fo-r otto of loses we are dependent upon India and Turkey . The o tto obtained from roses grown at Ghazepore , in India , gained the prize at the Great Exhibition in 18 " 3 l . In Turkey , the cultivation is chiefly attended to by the Christians in the district of the Balkan . From that neighbourhood are obtained every year , on an average , 40 , 000 ounces of the otto . Some

      idea may be gained of the extent of the rose plantations from the fact that 2000 rose-blooms yield but one drachm of otto . Patchouli , another Eastern plant , is said to have been introduced into Europe in the following manner : —It was observed by the purchasers and sellers in Paris of Indian shawls that they possessed a peculiar fragrance . It was useless to attempt to pass off home-spun goods for the genuine aTticle ; however admirable was the imitation , the fraud was immediately detected by the absence of the true smell . At last the haberdashers discovered the secret ; 1 he scent vras owing to patchouli , and the plant which was then first imported to aid the deceptions of trade , soon became a fashionable perfume . —Fraser ' s Magazine .

      Beggahs in Madrid . —After the theatres , from eleven till one , when the cafes are at the fullest , beggars of a certain class are in their glory , and reap their harvest . These are the thoroughly professional mendicants witli children . The toleration extended to beggars , an < l especially to the juveniles amongst them , is very great , and rather astonishes a foreigner . Match-sellers , lotteryticket vendors , dealers in toys and soup , all enter tli o cafes , and are soldom ejected . At the door of the Cafe Suizo , at the corner of the streets of Alcala nnd Sevilln , a woman nightly stations herself , attonded by a troop of children . These , acting under her direction , make . raids into the caf << , and buow extraordinary ndroitness in ducking under tables and concealing themselves behind burly individuals in cloaks , when they see a waiter approaching . Now and then he detects them , and flaps them out of th-o place with his napkin , like flies ; but , like that persevering insect , he no sooner turns his back than they aro In again , ^ vitli one eye , vigilant , on hirn , with tho other , imploring , on the guests . One great object of the desirea of these incipient guerillas is tlio cigar-enda that lie about the floor , and in the pursuit of which they display a suppleness that seems to argue- a complete absence of hones , or , at the least , a double allowance of joints . Some of them carry bugs , wherein they collect the coveted fragments of moist tobacco , which are afterwards dried , chopped up , nnd converted into ciyaritm ( paper cigars ) of the best quality . One email urchin , about three fcot high , and apparently not much more than six years old , is a moHt active and valuable member of thia mendicant association . To sec him darting under benches and tables , and into impossible- coniora , nnd between people ' s logs , nnd collects ng his spoil under the very nbao of tlio waiters and doubling like a . bare , and scouring out at tho door when they moke a move in . his direction , is quito wonderful , lie

      • wears a sorap of brown cloth over his shoulders m imitation of a cloak ; his features are pretty , although sickly ; Ins complexion pallid , as may be expected in a youth of Ms years who frequents cafes until one in the morning 5 and it is to be feared that his diminutive size and tendet age earn him so many coppers that he will finally make a fortune by beggary , and bring up his children and grandchildren to the same trade . The circulation of beggars in cafe ' s does not strike one in Madrid so much as it would in most large towns , since here it is common for people scarcely better dressed than beggars freely to enter such establishments , where they are served quite as prompt ^' as if they were blue-blooded grandees . Basque peasants in round jackets , and red or "white flat caps ( the Biscay an boina , wiiich was the Carlist uniform cap during th «

      civil war , and was worn by Zumalacarregui and Cabrera ) , muleteers , and men who , from their appearance , might be of any low rough occupation , walk in , accompanied by their females , establish themselves round the marble tables contemplate their stubbly and not always very clean countenances in the handsome mirrors , repose luxuriously against the padded velvet that backs the benches , and take their cofl ' ee as coolly , converse as unconcernedly , and seem in all respects to consider themselves quite as much in their right place as any of the Excehticias and Senorias around them , and who show no more surprise at their intrusion than they manifest discomposure on finding themselves in such exalted society . But , as before said , Spain 5 s the land of real equality—more so than Franco , where it is much more talked about . —Black-wood ' s Magazine .

      The Pelican . —Some years ago , I formed an acquaintance with a most benevolent and mentally enterprizing English gentleman in Home . He was , at that time , fully bent on fitting out an expedition , from his own native land , to the interior of Africa , an order to christianize the barbarians of those far distant parts , and to make good English farmers of them . Many an hour ' s conversation I had with hirn on his darling plan of cultivating Africa . But he could not gain me over . I placed before his eyes the diseases of the climate , the pestilential swamps , the torrents of tropical rain , tlie heat of a fiery sun , and the hostility of surrounding tribes , savage as the savagest wild beasts of the forest . To all this , he answered that he would try : —and

      afterwards he did try on his return to England . Having organized an expedition at fearful cost to the country , it proceeded to Africa ; he himself staying at home . Woeful was its final issue . But to the point . One clay whilst our conversation turned upon the natural history of the country , he asked me if I believed that pelicans feed their young ones with the blood from their own breasts ? I answered that it was a nursery story . Then sir , said he , let me tell you that I do believe it . A person of excellent character , and who had travelled far in Africa , had assured him that it was a well-known fact . Nay , he himself , with his own eyes , had seen young

      pelicans feeding on their mother ' s blood . And how did she stanch the blood , said I , when the young had finished sucking?—or by what means did the mother get a fresh supply for future meals ? The gentleman looked grave . The whole mystery , sir , said I ( and which , in fact , is no mystery at all ) , is simply this : The old pelicans go to sea for fish , and having filled their large pouch with what they have caught , they return to the nest . There , standing holt upright , the young ones press up to them , and get their breakfast from the mother ' s mouth ; tlio blood of the captured ^ fishes , running down upon tlie parent ' s breast : —and this is all the keen observer saw . — Wutevtotfs Essays on JS ' utvral History .

      Anglo-Saxon SKrui / ruuis . —A very singular and , it is believed , unique mode of interment has recently been discovered by Mr . Akerman , secretary of tlie Society of Antiquaries , while engaged in antiquarian researches in an A'lK lo-Saxon cemetery 111 Brighthampton , near Witney , Oxfordshire . In a grave only two feet deep lay the skeleton of a man , measuring six feet six inches long ; an iron spear-head by the left ear , a knife in tlie lap , and the left hand still grasping the handle of the umbo of a shield . Tho skeleton l . iy with the head < iuc east , the exact reverse of the direction of the bodies in Anglo-Saxon graves , which nio generally found with tlie head to the west . Ifcncuth the skeleton , and in close contact , lay tlie remains of a woman , her head resting under tho legH of the man , and her feet under his head . Near the skull of the lower ( skeleton was found a luiirpin of bronze , on the breast a bronze fibula , and in the lap , where tho hands were placed , nine umber bends of unusually largo size , which had probably formed bracelets . DlHFItANGHIfllCMICNT OP LAWYERS IN VTkSTMINSTEH —At the sitting of tho Westininnter Kc £ ; istration , lunt Suturday , in tlio Court of tlio Lords Justices , Westminster Hull , Mr . Huggctt , tho Liberal agent , made objections t ne hundred and eleven lawyers of Lincoln's Inn , Clement ' s Inn , nnd New Inn . Mr . Hu ^ goU m » id that lie appeared as tho A ^ ent of the Westminntcr licforin Association , and that liia objections were , that , whiles the le # » il gentlemen in question claimed tho elective franchise- on the ground that they occupied chambers in tlie city of YVontiniiister , their place * of residence wero beyond tlio legiil dintunco from London . Ono of tho lawyers objected to was rated for u wrong number in New-square , Lincoln ' s Inn . Another was described by a wrong ChriHtiau nunio . Tho roviitiiig barrister expressed great uaLonishnient at these iimtaneea

      appropriate domestic conveniences , also a wash-hou j in the yard fitted with every modem improvement The buildings will be ventilated under the direction of the Air Syphon Ventilating Company . Messrs . Colls and Co ., ot Moorgate-street and Cauiberwell , builders who are the licence . es uf the invention , are also the contractors for the erection of the buildings . It is to be regretted that the architects have omitted to provide for warmth in tho case of sickness , by arranging for a fire-place ia each bed room . It is , however , not yet too late to remedy this default .

      of carelessness on the part of lawyers- ami th ~~ hundred and eleven names were struck off * ° Improved Dwellings for the Poou . l _ The * »!»* established in Lambeth for improving the dVSKS the poor have selected a site near the crowded nellf bourhood of the Vauxhall Station of the Scnah-WeSn Railway , and is now erecting upon it a scrlo * 5 thirty-two dwellings , from the design of Messrs aJ pital and Whicheord , architects . Of the ran ' ™ \ vhrX is four stories in height , each louse ' has a slate bS cony supported by iron columns , &c , each set Las a lofty sitting and bedroom , with water laid on and « ii

      A Dhseutkd Vessel , — -The cicw of a Welsh schooner have brought into Grhnsby a Dutch vessel , found about fifty miles from the mouth of the Humber , totally deserted . The vessel was laden with corn , and wh en found had about live feet of water in her hold , her sails and rigging were very little injured , and the water was soon got under . The captain and crew have since arrived in Grimsby : they had left her under the conviction that she would soon sink . Tukkish ihuGANDs . —A French subject has been

      carried oil" and held to ransom by some brigands of Scala Nova and Samos . It is tho " ught that these men have taken refu se in the latter inland and are now concealed there . The commander of the French steamer Solon has - been applied to by the consul , ami is about to start for Samos , and the Turkish authorities of Smyrna have also sent an Ottoman steamer with a detachment of police to line the shore , and thus prevent the brigands from escaping by sea . —Letter from Smyrna inthcMonlteur de la Flotte .

      NenaSaiilu ix a Novel . —A . new journal , called the-Annce J'l / itsfj ' ti . ' , which is advertised for next week , starts with a feuillclon entitled " Ncna Sahib , or tie Strangler of the Indies . " Death from Parish Neglicct . —An inquest has been held by Mr . "VVakley at the Elephant and Castle in Camclen Town , on the body of Elisabeth Hughes , who recently died in . St . Pancras workhuuso . Mv * . Hughe . had walked with her husband all the way from Birmingham to London , and they arrived at Islington about seven o'clock in the evening . As it was raining "very hard , they applied at the Islington workhouse for a night ' s lodging , but they were refused ' admission , and were referred to tiie St . Paucras worldiouse , which they iverc told was not above ten minutes' walk from lflinyton .

      They did not , however , reach the Paucras workhouse until after more than an hour ' s walk , when they were thoroughly drenched , and were then obliged to wait another hour before they were admitted . After they were taken in , Hughes and his wife were separated , and the former heard nothing more of her until tlie following morning , when lie was told she was dead . Hughes had nothing given him to eat on the night of his admission and he therefore went without any kind of refreshment , till some gruol was served out to him for breakfast next morning . Mr . Coster , the workhouse surgeon , said iu answer to this , Unit he must have been admitted after supper time , as supper was always supplied to all tramps on admission . He ( Mr . Coster ) had made a jmnt-viorteni examination , of the body of Mrs . Hughe .- * , from which he ascertained that she had died from disease of the heart ,

      lungs , and other organs , combined with cxeessru diarrhoea , and not from cholera as was at . first Mippoacu . Mr . Coster . stated , in reply to si remark frtnu tin , 'coroner touching the treatment , by ccrlain parishes , ot the vagrant poor , that the Panerasworkhou . se had m : i'V tl 0 U ' wards for cases like the present , but tlinl . norni of the adjoining parishes had any such accommodation ^ the consequence of which was " tliat the latter were- obliged to get rid of persons under similar < jirciuns ; imccs to Hughes and his wife by . sending them to St . l ' nucias . The jury returned a verdict hi accordant with tlie medical testimony .

      PitoH-isssiH :. AciAssiz . —Professor Agassi / , of Harvard University , Cambridge , Massachusetts has been ollereu by . Louis Nupolocm tho Professorship of Paleontology " the Museum of Natural History in Paris , niadii v « cauo by the death of M . d'Orbigny . He has declined , however , to accept the post , being unwilling t «> sever 11 . connexion with America . , Tine Nick ok Timic— -Ah tlie late Karl l < 'il / . lmr < li ngerf rent-roll in . supposed to have been / iboitt 40 , 1 ) 1 ) 0 / . a yetir , a nico pointit is remarked > nuy arise on the question

      , , the precise- hour of lii . s death , which irt iiimoiinml ahaving taken phieo ' about midnight' between the ll ) t ( and XItli hist . Ilia renta wure payable « t * <> M lim f > Mint in , Old Lady day and Old Micliuehnus-dny . /> MitthaelmuH-dny fell thin year on Sunday , the llthnmt . j and the day bo-inn at midnight . Now , the rent- »* <|» ° upon the Hint moment , of the day it becomes due , h «> tna at one uccoiid beyond twelve o ' clock of tlio lOlh m ^ - rout payable at Old Michuolmaa-dny in »» hiw < ll " '>

      Untitled Article

      1018 - THE LEA _ DER . [ No . 396 , October 24 , 1857 .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 24, 1857, page 1018, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2215/page/10/