CHINA AND THE GREAT EASTERN.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 232, 10 January 1860, Page 4

CHINA AND THE GREAT EASTERN.

The following letter appears in the Times: —" These twin disasters which have been announced together have startled us in our English revelries of triumphant success. It is well that it should be so, and that they should have occurred at once and together, 1 for out of this nettle danger we may pluck the flower safely.' Without anticipating the explanations from China, it is clear that we must revert to our plan of operations in the first war, and stop the supplies of the Imperial city, and we should be careful to make the most of the favorable season. Let, then, the trial trip of the Great Eastern be to the waters of China; arm her with Armstrong's guns, or the best and lightest rifled cannon, and embark tn her a sufficient force of infantry, engineers, and artillery, and let her make a summer voyage to Yang-tse-Kiang, which she may accomplish in six weeks or so. The appearance of such a vessel and such an armament at such a time from these shores would have a moral as well as a material .effect, not to be otherwise produced. No delay need occur in the equipment of the Great Eastern, for it may be presumed, after the recent disaster, that it will not be deemed necessary to redecorate the saloons with mirrors and gilding, nor that the men who are to achieve such a success would require them. If Lord Elgin should be disposed to resume his post, let him embark with the expedition, and the troops would be ready, with lighter craft, to proceed on, if required, to Peiho. As the telegraph to India is now open, let another expedition of European and native troops, who are without caste of prejudices, be organised and despatched from Bengal Bombay, and Kurrachee, co-operate. The season is as favorable for the voyage as it is for the operations in China, and if the French desire to co-operate, the Great Eastern, could accommodate a brigade of their troops with our own. Let an able afficer be sent in command from this country, and let Lord "Clyde select the commander for the Indian contingent, who should be volunteers,"

What you keep by you, you may change and mend; but words once spoken can never be recalled.

The Progress of Art.—Art' goes on. The results qf the working of the department of science and art in ail its divisions for the year 1858, show » great increase on the previous year in the attendance of the public on the museums, schools and lectures. The visitors to the various museums and collections in London, Dublin, aud Edinburgh, under the superintendence of the department, have been 875,898, being an Increase of 117,923 on the previous year. The first stone of the Irish National Gallery has been laid, and the Edinburgh Industrial Museum has been planned out by Capt. Fowler. The Government returns from the science institutions and schools with the attendance on scientific lectures, show the number of students to have been 68,212. The returns from all the artschools give a total number of 79,473 persons learning drawing, being an increase of 83 per cent, on those of 1857. This last year 456,288 persons have visited the South Kensington Museum, of these 217,016 were evening visitors. There has also been an attempt made to begin an historical collection of water colored paintings, from Paul Saiidby downwards, or rather upwards, to our'own time.—Athenmm. .

Influence of Foods.-— ln the new number of % The Proceedings of the Royal Medico, Chirurgical Society, " Dr. Edward Smith, of the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton, gives " Practical Deduction from an Experimental Inquiry into the Influence of Foods." He considers the use of arrowroot and other fashionable foods (consisting merely of starch and water) 'in preference to the cereals (wheat, &c.) utterly indefensible, even in cases of exhaustion. He draws the distinction between the action of that diet which increases the vital power, and that which merely tends to prevent the loss of it; and contends that beef-tea, wines, and brandy can act only in the latter mode, while the cereals act in the firstnamed manner. Milk and the cereals he asserts to be the most perfect form of food, and approves of the use of skimmed rather than of new millk in cases of fever. The great value of animal substance in diet, as increasing the respiratory process in addition to the supply of plastic material, is dwelt upon. In cases of debility, with lessened appetite^ and a soft perspiring skin, Dr. Edwards recommends fat to be applied to the skin rather than taken internally. He approves of sugar and water (the French eau sucree) as an inoccuous and refreshing beverage, and thinks that the ill-effects of sugar on the healthy system have been greatly exaggerated. Tea causes waste, and thus is injurious to persons under fed. It differs chiefly by increasing the action of the skin, and thereby tending to cool the body. Dr. Smith thinks that both tea and coffee ought to be more commonly used as medicinal agents. The latter he believes to be[a valuable febrifuge, and one particularly fitted for cases of nervous excitability. He considers all alcohols to have their chief influence in sustaining the action of the heart.

Novel Geological Tutor*—Mr. Porter, of Cumberland, has recently converted a level and verdant plain on his estate into a map of the world of great and singular interest. It really gives learners an expertness in geography much boyond what they acquire from books and maps. The spot is about 300 yards in length from east to west, and 180 in breadth from north to south. It is inclosed by a wall of dwarf dimensions. Thirty-six marks are made on it (east and westward), and 18 on the north and south, fixing the degrees of longitude and latitude at 10 degrees, or 600 miles asunder. Four pieces of oak timber is laid down, 30 feet long and eight inches square, with poles at the distance of three inches, or two miles from one another, thus making 36 inches a degree, and comprising in 10 of them a distance of 600 miles. The scales afford an opportunit}^ by cross-log lines of determining particular towns and cities in the same manner as we operate with a scale and compasses on paper. The continents and islands are made of turf, the sea is gravel, and the boundary is a border of box at particular places on this novel ocean of gravel; posts are set up indicating trade winds, currents, &c— lllustrated London News.