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Evening Post, Issue 88, 22 May 1865, Page 2

The Canterbury Press says :—lf: — If Mr Weld's government were to leave offiice tomorrow they would have left their mark on the country at no Government has left it for many years—at least for good. The dismissal of the troops, the establishment of the Panama Route, and the publicity of the public accounts, are three measures which may well stamp any Government which has been in office only eight months. On Saturday night, "The Flowers of the Forest," an old Adelphi drama, written by Buckstone, was produced at the Theatre Royal, and, for the small space available for mechanical effect, it was capitally done. The scenerjj by Mr. Charles Massey, was excellent, and the acting throughout good. Miis Maggie Griffiths, as Cynthia, surpassed anything we have ever seen her do. Her dress, her look, and acting, were so thoroughly in keeping with what the character should be, we must congratulate that lady on a complete success. Miss Marian Dunn, as Starlight, also played remarkably well. She looked pretty, piquante, and a very saucy little Gipsy, and sung " Under the walnut tree"

1 with a charming grace. Miss Flora Anstead, although she had but little to do, played that little in an excellent manner. Mr. John Dunn of c mrse contributed his usual fund of the comic element as the Kinchcn ; and Mr Howe played the wolf in a careful and welj studied manner. Mr. Frank Towers seemed a little out of his element as Lemuel, comedy evidently being his forte ; but in whatever he might have been deficient in the tirst part, he made up in the tent scjne with Starlight Bess. Mr. Keeley, as the injured brother introduced all the impetuosity and hot temper that was required in the part. "Aladdin" terminated the performance. To-night it is to be repeated. Music— Until very lately there were few masters to be found in this city who could teach the young idea either to play or to sing, and there was a fine opportunity for any competant person to make a very good thing. Mr. Russell, since he came amongst us, has been very busily employed, and now another equally valuable professor is in the field, in the person of Mr. Owen, whose powers as a pianist are well known to any of the numerous visitors of the Theatre. This gentleman ia a perfect master of the art ; a member of the Conservatoire, Brussels, he has had the advantage of perhaps the ablest school in the world, from which he has cultivated and improved a natural taste for sweet sounds. Mr. Owen has been a professor of the pianoforte and singing in other places, and until he joined Messrs. Towers and Co., was the solo pianist at the Otago Exhibition. The Labour Market hardly seems to be over.done, even in the present slack times, if we are to take the Immigration Officer's returns of the Greyhound as a criterion. He reports that all the single women are engaged at wages varying from £16 to £30. Ten out of fifteen married couples have found employment, at from £60 to £70 a year, and twenty-one, out of thirty-five, tingle men, at from .£SO to .£6O. It would appear from this that " colonial" immigrants, such as diggers and their attendants, do not supply the gap occasioned by a falling off in the regular stream of immigration from England. The colonist is too independent to take service, having already served his apprenticeship.— Lyttelton Times. A Lion Tamer Lilled. — Soulages, a lion tamer, met a very tragical fate at Wurtzburg, Bavaria, lately. Being loudly applauded for his courage and command over the wild beasts, he collected in one den a lion, alioness, a white bear, two black bears, four hyenas, two wolves, and a tiger. He then entered himself, whip in hand, but the door was scarcely closed when the tiger made a spring at the white bear. This was the signal of a terrific struggle between all the beasts, which appeared at once to recover their natural ferocity. Soulages, hoping to intimidate the animals, fired two pistol-shots at the tiger and tha white bear. This act sealed his fate, for the tiger, leaving the bear, sprang on his keeper, threw him down, and began to tear him with his teeth and clawa. The other beasts, rendered furious by the smell o£ blood, all fell on the unhappy man, and in a few minutes he was torn to pieces and almost entirely devoured, in the presence of the horror-struck spectators, who were powerless to render assistance. The knowledge amongst the American Indians of the existence of a poison more . deadly than any with which civilised man is acquainted, has often been stated and has a« often been questioned. At length the doubts are set at rest. A considerable quantity of the poison has been obtained from a tribe of Indians fifteen or twenty days' journey from the frontiers of New Granada. It is called Curare. In appearance it is like liquoriceThe mode of its preparation is a mystery. Some consider it a purely a vegetable poison ; others, that it is compounded of several poisons, including the venom of snakes. If is harmless when taken into the stomach, and only kills when taken into the body through the circulation. A prick, so slight as not to be felt, from an instrument that has been dipped in the poison, is fatal to animal life, and apparently painlessly so. Its mode of action is not its least peculiarity. It paralyses the nerves which communicate motive power to the muscles, but does not for some time destroy consciousness or sensation. It would occupy too much length to describe the experiments by which the knowledge of this circumstance has been arrived at ; suffice it, that life in reality continues under its action long after death has seemed to supervene. This result has led to the discovery of ¦what may almost be considered an antidote to the poison. It is found that by cutting

into the traeheal artery and keeping up arti- . ficial respiration for a time, varying with tjbji| quantity of the poison absorbed, life^aja restored. The explanation is simple—" Curs|||| kills by paralysing the organs of the body, and so long as a sufficient quantity remains in the system to produce this paralysis, these organs cannot resume their functions ; but if artificial means are employed to continue the action of the lungs, the circulation is con" tinued until sufficient time has elapsed for the elimination of the poison." The article from which we have condensed the above interesting particulars proceeds to point out that artificial respiration may be found efficacious in cases of poisoning ry opium. The discovery of the properties of Curare shows that the poisoned rings of the Borgias may be something more than the exaggerations or fables that in modern times they have been considered. Singular Discovery. — A curious discuvery has been brought under the notice of the public at the Polytechnic Institution. Professor Pepper prophesies that medical results of the highest importance will follow from it. But, however this may be, there can be no doubt that it will receive the attention of the faculty of medicine and become the subject of experiment in pur hospitals and infirmaries. It occurred to a scientific gentleman — I am sorry to have to confess that I forget his name— to examine with the microscope the impression left on a piece of glass by the breathings of a number of persons ; he found that different figures or impressions were made by different breaths. He repeated the experiment, with similar re* j suits. This induced him to make drawings of the impressions, which drawings he submitted to Professor Pepper ; and the professor, ever enthusiastic in the course of scientific discovery, has had the drawings copied upon glass, and now exhibits them, through the medium of the magic lantern, to the crowds who visit the Polytechnic. I have seen them ; and I can assure your readers that they are extremely interesting in a physiological point; of view, and very curious even as matter of cursory observation. One of them presents the appearance of a view in a kaleidescope. On the magnified disc presented to the spectators there appear an almost infinite variety of shapes and Combinations— some like daggers, others resembling stars, others in flower-like form, &c. These represent the breathings of different individuals. Professor Pepper is of opinion that in case of phthisis (consumption) and other pulmonary complaints, obstructions on the character of the forms in which the breath is deposited on a glass or other surface after emission from the lungs will be most valuable. Certainly, it will be an extraordinary discovery that a diagnosis on the . state of one's lungs might be given from a microscopical observation of the particular form assumed by the breath, as deposited on a Bheet of glass, or emission from the mouth of the patient. As I have named the Polytechnic and Professor Pepper, I may as well take this opportunity of mentioning the marvellously effective ruanDer in which the Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm are every day illustrated at this institution. The Fairies are produced by the same optical appliances as those by which the professor summons ghosts ; and the effects are really surprising. — London Correspondent of the Liverpool Albion, Jan. 23. Icebergs. — The Newfoundlanders and natives have of them a mortal terror — never going, if it can be avoided, nearer than half a mile, and then always on the leeward side. " They kill the wind," said these people, so that one in passing to windward is liable to be becalmed and to drift down upon them — to drift upon them — because there is always a tide setting in toward them. They chill the water, it descends, and other flows in to assume its place. Those fears were not wholly groundless. Icebergs sometimes burst their hearts suddenly, with an awful explosion, going into a thousand pieces. After they begin to disintegrate, moreover, immense masses from time to time crush down from above or surge up from beneath ; and on all such occasions, proximity to them is obviously not without its perils. "The Colonel," brave, and a Greenland royager, was more nervous about them than anybody else. He declared, apparently on good authority, that the vibration imparted to the sea by a ship's motion, or even that communicated to the air by the human voice, >, would not unfrequently give these irritable ¦ monsters the hint required for a burst of ill-^J temper— and averred also that our schooner^ at the distance of 300 yards, would be rolled .^ over, like a child's play-boat, by the wave *

which an exploding or over-setting iceberg would- cau^. And it mi.^lit, indeed, be supposed that, did one of these prodigious creations take a notion to disport its billions of tons in a somersault, it would rise no trivial commotion. — " Ice and Esquimax," in the Atlantic Monthly. The Death of Lord Nelson. — I remember also the sort of personal love with which the name of Nelson used to be mentioned in society. When the news came of his death in the battle of Trafalgar, I was astonished to Bee my father in tears when I came home from morning school ; then I saw my sister in another room crying bitterly. I suppose I cried in company with them when I hsard ?• Nelson is dead."- But theirs was deep feeling ; and it was but a specimen of universal feeling. Never was a hero so beloved, so lamentel. His dying in the arms of victory enehanced the grief. I verily believe that, for the moment, the people of England would have been content to be without the victory it they might have kept their idol. There was more sadness, at first, than rejoicing at the mingled news. It was a similar case, so far as the feelings were concerned, to that which is described in 2 Sam. xix. 2. when the Israelites felt more grief on account of the king's sorrow thanjoy on account of the defeat of Absalom. Admiral Dundas told me that, two hours before Nelson died, he parted with him from on board his ship, with the rest of the captains. His speech to them he concluded thus;— "As long as the enemy resists it will bo your part, gentlemen, to sink, burn, and destroy ; but as soon as resistance ceases, you must do all you can to save and have mercy." Captain Dundas shook hands with him at parting and said, " My lord, I hope this day will eclipse all your former ones." "Aye," replied he, "Dundas, the 21st of October was always a lucky day for my family." The captain afterwards inquired what this could mean, and was told that it was the day bf a fair to which Nelson's family used every year to send their sheep to sell ! What coolness and cheerfulness did this show in Lord Nelson ! — Sketches from the Life of the Rev. Chancellor Bird. M.A., F.L.S. By the Key. Olaude S. Bird, M.A. Poote, dining one day with Lord Townscnd, after his duel with Lord Bellamont, the wine being bad, and the dinner ill-dressed, made Foote observe, that he could not discover what reason could compel his lordship to fltrht, when he might have effected his purpose with much more ease to himself. " How ?" asked his lordship. " How ?" replied the wit, " why you should have given him a dinner like this, and poisoned him."