Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 8th October 1859, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1133, LITERATURE.

Page 1133
Page 17
17 of 24

On this page

  • Departments (1)
    • LITERATURE.
  • Text (6)
  • Transcript

    • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

      Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

      Untitled Article

      Wo . 498 . Oct . 8 , 1853 . 1 THE LEADER . 1133

      Untitled Article

      ties Though for her size she spreads a very small amount of canvas , yet her captain and all the nautical men who have seen her express a most conndent opinion that with a fair strong breeze , her sailing speed will almost equal her steaming , borne of the sail , are being bent , and all will be ready before she starts on Saturday . The course of the vessel from this port will be to the Scilly Isles , and thence across Channel to the Old Head of Kmsale , and so on up Channel to Holyhead harbour . It is hoped and expected that during some part of this trip , which will last from the 8 th to the 11 th , an opportunity will be afforded of testing her sailing power , and the result of this trial is looked forward to with much interest . _ .

      The arrangements making for excursionists to Holyhead are on the most extensive scale . During one day ( the 17 th ) it is expected that the ship will be closed to visitors , as on that day it is rumoured her Majesty will inspect the breakwater , and of course visit the Great Eastern . While she is at Holyhead a great deal of work must be performed . The india-rubber packing between the flanges of the cast-iron masts has to be removed , and its place supplied with hornbeam ; the deficient boilers have to be repaired , feed and bilge pumps fitted to both engines , and fire pumps and hose attached to the auxiliary screw engines . At present the only fire hose are those attached to the pair of auxiliary engines forward , and these have also to pump the bilge , wash the decks , and work the steam gear for heaving round the capstan ¦

      forward-In the course -of Wednesday upwards of 100 able seamen joined as crow from London . On Thursday the forward boilers were tested with the hydraulic pumps , and the new machinery in connexion with the forward capstan got into gear for heaving in a little of the cable . Mr . Crace ' s men work incessantly to redecorate the grand saloon , but this will scarcely be completed before the arrival of the vessel at Holyhead . Much work to the lover saloon cabin fittings ' . will- 'then still remain to be accomplished , but progress with this is of little moment , as for the first voyage across the Atlantic there may probably be more cabins than occupants .

      The three injured stokers are progressing most favourably , and ruay be pronounced convalescent . Several additional subscriptions have been forwarded to Captain Harrison for the widows and orphans of those who have perished , many of whom have been left utterly destitute .

      Untitled Article

      MR . DISRAELI ON AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS . At the recent dinner of the Royal Buckinghamshire Agricultural Association the right hoh . gentleman took occasion to remark upon the advantages of this and similar institutions , and the superiority of the county of Bucks in cultivation and produce . He Said : —t" I can recall the time when it was necessary on every occasion to vindicate assemblies of this kind and . institutions of this character . The best answer , however , to the attacks that were made upon them is the fact that twenty-five years have now elapsed since the foundation and introduction of these societies , and that now they are sown broadcast over the land , and we find men of all parties supporting such societies and endeavouring to carry their objects into effect . We find , also , mi

      unanimous agreement among ail who have a due acquaintance with real life as to the beneficial effect which attends the operations of such as are open to criticism ; but I wish to know what in this world is not open to criticism . But , gentlemen , if there were only critics in the world , society would soon be at a standstill . To animate skill , to encourage enterprise , to reward merit , these have always been considered means by which a community is taught to nourish , by which mankind is rendered happier . But if there v : erc only critics in the world , none of those means would ever be had recourse to , for critics never encourage skill , critics never animate enterprise ,, critics never reward merit . It is now generally admitted that England is a country which takes , the lead in the

      cultivation of the soil , and there arc many other points with respect to which wo have boon in the habit of assuming superiority . Without now entering into any controversy as to whether that assumption is just or not , I think that superiority has boon questioned upon many other points by continental nations and critics , but with respect to agriculture never , and far this simple reason—the tost of the superiority of agriculture is the amount you produce from the soil of the country , and that country which produces the most from its soil is hold to bo the most skilful in agriculture , That being the case , the condition of ngrioulturo in this country is such that for a very long period of years wo have been famed for the cultivation of the soil , and for the progross which England has made in that respect . It

      has been the boast of the county of Buckingham that it has occupied no mean position ; and I am not at all aware , speiaking on that subject without extravagant feeling , I am not aware that the county of Buckingham is . at all inferior to that rdle it has hitherto Occupied in this country . Whether you look at the broad lands of the farmer , or the patches of the cottage labourer , or the land which has been more recently brought into cultivation , I say that there is no part of England in which , during the last quarter of a century , all that relates to farming can be said to have shown greater progress , nor can you find in any part of England better examples set than in Buckinghamshire . When you come to this district 1 I say that there is no portion of it of which you can be

      in the least degree ashamed , for it vies in competition with any part of the United Kingdom . While some men have been writing theoretical essays on agricultural proceedings , and others have been inventing machhies which have never been brought into use , a Buckinghamshire farmer—Mr . Smith , of Woolstone—has cut , as it were , the gordian knot , and has effected that which philosophers have only dreamed of , and which but few believed would ever be brought into practice . The county that has done all this , looking from its extreme north to its extreme south , need not , I say , be ashamed to hold up its head by the sideof any agricultnral county in the kingdom . I say even that it takes the lead in the cultivation of the soil and produces the greatest amount of food from that soil . Buckinghamshire , at any rate , has

      produced its due share towards the aggregate amount of agricultural skill and labour , and I feel that we should consider it a pride to belong to such a eommunit 3 .

      Untitled Article

      PHOTOGRAPHS IN NATURAL COLOURS . Upqn the first discovery of photographic phenomena it was confidently believed that the natural colours of objects would be fixed , as well as their form and light and shade . When , however , it was ascertained that the various rays of the spectrum had very diverse degrees of . ** photieity , " an insuperable difficulty seemed to pre .-ent itself . It is well known that the red , yellow , and green rays have very little power in producing the photographic image ; this is to say they " come out" nearly as black spots ; while , if the true relations of colour are sought to bu preserved witli these , the blue rays will appear quite indefinite and insipid as water .

      Photographers were , therefore , obliged _ to . content themselves with these unnatural relationships of colour , and satisfy themselves with browns and reds and neutral tints , according to the materials they employed , with no further reference to the colour of the objects represented . Great authorities even maintained that it was impossible to avoid this limitation which the very nature of optical laws imposed . Some few enthusiasts have notwithstanding still hoped to solve this great problem , and among these was M , E . Beczuerel , who , after studying this subject for twenty years , is announced to- have discovered a means of obtaining a photograph of the prismatic spectrum in its natural colours , and

      in very brilliant tints . The process is as follows : — M . Beczuerel takes a well-polished silver plate , and after covering the back of it with varnish so as to leave the front surface alone exposed , he attaches it by copper hooks to the positive conductor of a voltaic battery of one or two cells ; to the negative conductor of the battery is attached a piece of platinum . The plate of silver and the platinum are then plunged into a mixture of eight parts of water arid one of hydrochloric acid . The electric current decomposes the acid , and causes a deposit of chlorine on the surface of the silver , whilo hydrogen is liberated at the negative polo . The chlorine gas unites witli' the silver , and forms a

      violet-tinted coating which would become , quite black if the operation were continued a sufficient length of time . The coating is tolerubly ' sensitive to light when vorj thin , and in that condition produces the natural tints , although they are very weak . By increasing the thickness of the layer the tints become much brighter , but the sensitiveness diminishes . ' In order to ascertain exactly the amount of chlorine deposited on the silver plate , M . Beczuerel introduces into the voltaic circuit an apparatus for the decomposition of water , and since chemical decomposition is similar

      in quantity for each cell of a battery , by measuring the amount of hydrogen produced by this decomposition , the quantity of chlorine liberated on the surface of the silver plate is easily arrived at . An idea of the extreme tenuity of this film may bo obtuinad when wo loam that with six drsovou cubic coutimotros of chlorine to tho square decimetre , the layer of chloride of silver is only one-thousandth of u millcmetro in thickness , equal to about 000004 of an inch . With a film of this thickness tho best results are obtained . Before exposure to tho apeotruin the surface has a plain wpod colour , but if it bo

      heated to between 150 deg . or 200 deg . centigrade ( 300 deg . to 390 deg . Fahrenheit ) , it becomes rosecoloured on cooling . If , however ,. instead of raising the plate to a high temperature , it be enclosed within a copper box , and gently warmed , say from 90 deg . to 95 deg . Fahrenheitj and maintained at this heat five or * six days , or , better still , placed in a frame , covered with a deep red glass , and exposed to the sun ' s rays for from a quarter to half an hour , upon being submitted to the action of the prismatic spectrum the natural colours appear in all their beauty , and the green and yellow tints which previously were obtained with difficulty are now bright arid clearly defined . Thus this great problem of photography is in a fair way of solution , and we rhay still hope to see not only the beautiful effects of light and shade which we now obtain , but combined therewith the brilliancyof nature ' s coloring .

      Untitled Article

      mllERE is , this week , . is great a . dearth of news J . in the literary as in the political world , and we presume that matters will remain in this somniferous state for the next month . The new books which issue from the press at this time of the year . are seldom numerous or important \ no other result , indeed , can well be expected , since publishers , readers , and critics are all holiday making . Meanwhile , the Publishers' Circular summarises issues to be expected during the coming season : —Messrs . J . W . Parker and Son have in the press " Sword and Gown , " by the author of " Guy Livingston ; " " Misrepresentation , " a norel , by Anna II . Dnny , author of " Friends

      and Fortune ; " " Miscellanies , " reprinted chiefly from Fraser ' s-. Magazine and the JS orth British Review , by tho Rev . Charles Kingsley . Messrs . J . H . and J . Parker have in the press " A Manual for the Study of Monumental Brasses -, " " The Military Architecture ' of the ' Middle Age . * , " translated from the French of M . Viollet-lc-Due ; and the second and concluding volume of " Ancient Armour and Weapons in Europe , " with numerous illustrations , by John Hewitt . Messrs . Smith , Elder , and Co . ' s list commences with their important ne ~ w publication of a Monthly Magazine , under the editorship of Mr . Thackeray . Their new books will be ' Sir John Bowring ' s Visit to the Philippine Islands in 1858-59 , " with numerous illustrations ; Mr . Walter Thornbury ' s " Life in Spain ; " Mr . Ruskin ' s " Elements of Perspective : " Captain Brigg ' s " Heathen and Holy Lands , or

      Sunny Days on the Sal ween , Nile , arid Jordan $ " Mr . Andrew Bisset " On the Strength of Nations ; " and " Expositions of St . l ^ aul ' s Epistles , " by the late Rev . F . W . Robertson . Messrs . A . and C . Black , of Edinburgh , announce " The Church History of Scotland from the Commencement Jof the Christian Era to the Present Century , " by the Rev . John Cunningham ; " Paleontology , " by Professor Owen ; "A Compendium of English and Scotch Law , " by James Patterson , M . A . ; and Dr . Anderson ' s " Elements of Agricultural Chemistry . " Messrs . Blackwood and Son announce a " History of the Church of Scotland from the Reformation to the Revolution , " by the late Professor Lee ; the third and fourth volumes of Sir W . Hamilton ' s works ; a now edition of D . M . Moir ' s Poetical works ; besides Mr . Oliphant ' s Narrative of Lord Elgin ' s Mission ; and the New Library Edition of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton ' s works .

      The King of Bavaria , in recognition of tho services of tho Messrs . Sehlagintweit , has conferred upon these distinguishc ; l travellers titles of nobility . Tho Germans in Paris have appointed a committee to arrange a celebration of the anniversary of Sehiller ' s birthday . At present it is proposed to hold tho Jclc in tho Cirque do l'Impcratnce , in the Chumps Elyscos . The CaUdouian SIcrcury announces the acceptance by Sir David Browstcr of the office o ( Principal of the Edinburgh University , . .. , . rl Hitterhas died at

      Tho famous geographer , Ca , Berlin , and has been buried by a concourse of scientific men which was hardly inferior to that by which Hu mboldt ' s burial was honoured . " Our one , our only magazine , " says a Now York letter , " is again in danger . Wo have boon for many years dying for a magazine , and have been making divers uuHimcxssinl attempts to have one 4 of u . high order , ' thut would rival your JJlao / twood or VrauL'i ' . Our last attempt was Putnam ' s Magazine , which , after a brilliant career of a few yoara , was at last driven into that last haven of all crazy literary cruft—' first-class wuoil . engravings . ' It failed to find refugo even horo , however , and died a natural death in 18 & 7 . Immediately after some ontorprhiing individuals in Hoston stepped into the breach and sot on foot tho Atlantic Monthly Magazine , which was to bo kept up to tho highest point of excellence by con-

      Untitled Article

      LITERARY NOTES OF THE WEEK . - *>

      Literature.

      LITERATURE .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 8, 1859, page 1133, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2315/page/17/