The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 6

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, TUESDAY, JANUARY 3, 1871. are kept moving in the portion of the isthmus forming El Guisr; the second is that the wind sweepB the surface, and the aani against the, first obstacle it meets with, and the means to protect the canal are very easy by planting CROQUET. (From Chambers' Journal.) CnctucT, after suffering much from the jealousy of rival implement-makers, rival law-makers, and rival players, lias at last assumed a definite shape. Last year, there was a loudly expressed complaint that croquet had no settled laws each lawn had its own rules, and this was a great drawback to the game. To meet this difficulty, a conference was called, consisting of delegates from all known croquet clubs (about forty in number) and after much deliberation, the conference settled the rules, which are now published (by Do la Rue and and are binding in all match and club play.

Supplementary to these, and affecting principally the management of prize-meetings, which were not legislated for by the conference, are the Bye-laws of the All-England Croquet Club (Horace Cox, Strand). At the tournament on the All-England Club Ground at Wimbledon, in June last, these laws and bye-laws were thoroughly tested, and the proof of their answering their purpose is, that this, while it was the largest, was at the same time the most successful prize-meeting ever held. Taking these, then, as the standard rules, we line of the canal was planned, certain features of the land being turned to profit. First it went- southward to Kantars, crossing the lake Menzaleh, for forty-five kilometres. At twenty kilometres further south it passed El Fordan, and the prominence of El Guisr at twelve kilometres.

The canal then enters Lake TimBah, the centre of it all. This lake measures four kilometres, Serapeum fifteen, the Bitter Lakes thirty-eight, the table land of Chaluf eight, and the plain of Suez as far as the sea twenty making one hundred and rixty-two kilometres instead of one hundred and seventeen, the least distance from sea to sea. Stations were established the work was organized by simultaneously attacking the whole isthmus, and the canal took a twofold direction in Port Said, towards the desert across Lake Menzaleh, and towards the sea to create a new port necessary to navigation, and for the furtherance of the canal. To the city and port founded was given the name of the Viceroy, a just homage of respect for his desire to give entrance in his dominions to European civilization: It was requisite to make this a store for all materials and necessaries, and because vessels could not collect owing to the small depth, an island was formed with stone from Alexandria, establishing on it large cranes to deposit in barges the cargoes from the vessels. At the out port two reefs were formed destined for the formation ef it one to the wjst 25,000 metres long, opposed to the north-west -winds, which almost always blow here; and the other of 1800 metres to the east, inclined to the former to confine the entrance of the road.

But distance made this a costly work, and the engineers founded an establishment on the spot, where they maae artificial stone, composed of sandand limestone compressed and dried. TheBe works, added to the employment of the dredges, completed those of Port Said, the population of which now amounts to a number above even that of Alexandria. From here to the desert the canal crosses Lake Menzaleh, which receives some water from the Nile between Damietta and Pelusium. The Mediterannean also penctrates.this lake in gales, giving water over those sandbanks which separate it'from the lake. In the year 1862.

the works for conducting the water to Lake TimBah were concluded, and the city of Ismailia rose upon its shore in which were established the offices of adminis tration, and the facility of going by land or sea from this place to Suez, Cairo, Zagazig, or Port said, rendered it one ot great importance. Jil Serapeum and its prolongation towards the Bitter Lakes was the next point of attack, the plain of Ohaluf, which succeeded it, was the most difficult to overcome from its rocky ground, and it became necessary to modify the first sketch of the engineers. In the plain of Suez, as far as the roadstead, no serious obstacles were found. After the arbitrary sentence of the Emperor the definitive impulse was received, and thousands of men were employed by groups on the whole line of the canal, like ao many of bees in the desert. Enormous dredges, with huge tubes, were at work at Serapeum above the level of the sea.

The engineers Borel and Lavalley were the creators of these colossal machines, real monuments from their dimensions, and intensely valuable from the service they rendered. By means of them, the sand was torn up from the bottom to a length of seventy metres from the centre of the canal. At the Bamo time they caught the water, destined to throw the sand outside of the tube, moving at the same time the pallets of chain with the-; same object. The sand thus removed was deposited in' mounds along the canal, so that the complicated details of the operation were executed by one and the same movement, and to the means by which this was effected is- due the rapidity with which the canal was finished, In order to deepen the canal it was necessary to take up from 25,000 to 30,000 cubic feet per month, which may afford some idea the service performed by the levia thans. Transported to Suez by the fresh water canal, they deepened the canal which terminates in the roads, and the lagoons, going by the desert as far as Chaluf.

At this point from the nature of the ground instead of dredges they established inclined planes, on which by means of horses, and donkeys the wagons ascended and descended, leaving their loads of sand and mud. The engineers Borel and Lavalley have proved themselves to be clever men, by the improved means of machinery which they have introduced; 'adding the emulation of their example to the labourers divided into groups to carry on the work. Hospitals are established for the reception of those attacked by disorders incident to the climate in fact there never was a work of so much importance that has cost so little expenditure of human lives. Until the present time the authors of the canal have turned to good account even the few obstacles to their work, they have also responded to all the objections made to the execution of the work. Stephenson declared it was not possible to form a port in the Pelusium gulf, forming his opinion on the winds and currents incessantly on the coast from the sea and said that the port as fast as it might be foimed would be filled up.

The engineers of the Isthmus were quite alive to this state of things but by the attention of Lieusson de monstrated that at the depth of ten metres the (bottom was mud, not sand and consequently at this dividing line there was nothing to be feared from such accumulation. With this data 2500 metres was determined for the extension of the western pier, and the sand has remained in the angle formed by the coast. The small amount found in the road is that which penetrates between the stones of the breakwater. Since the roadstead was formed the importance of this deposit has been calculated. Mr.

Fowler, one of the most distinguished English engineers, in his recent visit to the canal, has answered the objection of Stephenson, with a small amount of costs. Another objection was to the want of solidity in the banks of the canal, as it crosses Lake Menzaleh being foimed ef lime deposited by the water, and it seemed impossible that they should resist the" effect of the contained water. But the sandy mud hardened by tho sun has attained a solidity which affords a sufficient proof, and the tubes which conduct the fresh water from Ismailia are placed on iti It is very well known that the wind of the desert sweeps the sand along with it; and hence came another objection against the possibility of forming the canal. The very same objection was made to the railway, and yet for fifteen years the railway has been at work, and is not yet buried in the The lakes Menzaleh, TimBah, and the Bitter Lakes, have not been filled by the sand, and it is not doubted that it is quite practicable to keep the canal free through them. In fact two essential proceedings have been kept in view the first is that the sands substance.

Then rub in black lead or crayon dust lightly with the finger, and the slide is ready for use. Any one acquainted with the magic-lantern will know how to frame or mount it for use. In this way any number or picture, may be easily prepared, which, when showns in the lantern, have a satisfactory effect. To these persons who take pleasure com paring the condition of different countries, the following statement of the number ot larms throughout the United States of America may be interesting, beginning with the smallest, there are 52,642 farms of 3 acres and under 10 acres; 157,810 of 10 acres and under 20 acres 612,245 of 20 acres and under 50 acres 607,668 of 50 acres and under 100 acres 486,239 of 100 acres and under 500 acres 20,289 of 600 acres and under 1000 acres and 5348 of 1000 acres and upwards. The total number of farms is 1,942,241.

THE SUEZ CANAL. (from the Nautical Magazine for October.) The interesting particulars below are from the pen of Lieutenant Don Isiclro de Posadillo, of Posadillo The first attempt at canal to unite' the Mediterranean with the Red Sea dates from King Seti fourteen hundred years before our era. Starting from the Nile near Bubastis (at present Zagarig) the canal followed the land of Uoschen as lar as the Lakes, borne three hundred and twenty-six years before our era Necho took up the subject, having conceived the project of a canal of ten metres depth, and sufficiently wide to allow two to pass each other abreast. These works appear to have cost the lives of 120,000 men, and were never completed. But their track is indicated beyond Lake Timash, in the direction of the Pelusium branch ot the JNue.

Herodotus speaks of canals, by which commerce was carried on with the interior of Egypt, from the portB of the sea. CJ? With the assistance of the canals of the Isne, traversing the isthmus, the Egyptians had established an indirect communication between the two seas, which sufficed for their limited navigation. The Romans and the Arabs (the conquerors of Egypt) established and improved tho works of the Pharaohs, adapting them to their commerce until they were destroyed by the cailiff Almanzor, to prevent the transit of provisions, with the view of reducing the rebels of Arabia by starvation. Such in those days were these canals having no title whatever to form the communication between the two seas. The General Buonaparte conceived the grand idea of cutting the isthmus, in spite of the idea of any considerable difference of level between the two seas; and a scientific commission of the army received orders to carry it into effect.

M. Lepere, who was specially charged with the commission, met with great difficulties from the the desert being infested with hordes of enemies. Repeatedly interrupted in the beginning of his work he found a difference of level of 9-08 metres, which the scientific body considered as being contrary to the laws of equilibrium between the two seas. Lesseps, during his consulship in Egypt, took in hand the information of the engineers of 1798, and from it conceived the idea of opening the isthmus pursuing it in Spain and Italy, where in 1848 he formed a Government provisional commission. Having forsaken his political pursuits, he was called to Egypt by the friendship of the Viceroy Mohammed Said, where he studied the whole question, and on the 30th November, 1854, obtained a firman, which conceded to him the right to make the canal across the isthmus of Suez.

M. Lesseps, with the greatest care, obtained the confirmation of the Sultan to this firman from the Viceroy, and by the operation of two French engineers there was no doubt that the project would be carried out. The English Government and the Peninsular and Oriental Company declared themselves hostile to the work. Lord Palmerston, believing that France would occupy Egypt to the disparagement of India, placed himself at the head of its numerous enemies. But M.

Lesseps was not to be foiled. In Constantinople he had to contest with the opposition of the English ambassador. In London and Edinburgh he gave out his plans. In Paris he converted the nation to his project, and in Egypt he went on with his not omitting to inculcate his ideas wherever he could with the utmost zeal and activity, In 1855 a commission of leading men ef all countries was formed who published their reasonings, showing that on scientific grounds their plans were well supported. In 1856 (April), the Viceroy confirmed his decree of 1854 and approved of the statistics of the company, which was to be formed under the name of the Universal Company of the Suez Canal, while M.

LessepB studied most carefully the Pelusium roadstead, and in November, 1858, opened a subscription with which to commence the operations of the company. This met with extraordinary encouragement, and on the 25th of April, 1859, the first excavation was begun in the sand occupied now by Port Said. During the Italian war, an English squadron appeared on the coast of Alexandria intimating from the Sultan to the Viceroy that he should suspend operations on the work; but the Emperor Napoleon III. agreed with the English Government that the industrial question should be entirely separated from the political, and that the works should be continued for three years, in order that some severe storm might try the strength of the work in question. The Porte also prohibited the works, from the employment of the felattahs, and was also opposed to the cession of the land to the company.

In fact, the crisis had arrived. But M. Lesseps stood up for his rights with so much energy that he begged of the Emperor to regulate the question respecting the land, so that he at length succeeded. But the workmen fell off, urging the unhcalthiness of the climate for European workmen, and it became necessary to form a well provided camp between the isea and the desert. There was no fresh and it was necessary to bring it from Damietta or Alexandria on camels at a fabulous cost The place of starting the canal from the Mediterranean was not where the scientific international commission first pointed out.

By the inquiries of the hydrographic engineer Lieusson it was changed to further west, and although the canal, was augmented by this change of many kilometres, it admitted of the coast being within eight to ten metres, to where the reef terminated, which would form its sea These depths were found at 2600 metres from the shore, in the bay of Dabich, where the first spade full was turned, where now Port Said stands with 12,000 souls. The other end of the canal was at the road of Suez, already frequented by the vessels of the P. and O. Company. Here the difficulties were jess, and between these two points the bt-pt players arc made somewhat after the fashion of an American clothes-peg.

The advantage they have over the old tin clips is that they can be very readily removed and re-fixed. The four-ball game is now universally played in matches. If more than four want to play in practice, and there is only one lawn, this can easily bo managed by having two games of four, both going on at the same time, one set starting from each end of the lawn. There is a little inconvenience in sometimes finding a ball belonging to the other set in the way the ball, however, must be taken up for a moment, and then replaced. It is better to submit to this than to play an interminable six or eight game, which drags its slow length along for houi-B, and amuses nobody.

The most important modifications in the conduct of the game, settled by the conference laws, are as follow At starting, the player's ball is to be placed one foot from the first hoop, and opposite its centre instead of a mallet's length, as formerly. The object is to make the first hoop a moral certainty, and so to bring all the balls into play at once. If the first hoop is missed, the ball is not taken up, but remains where it lies, and is liable to be made use of by the other balls, whether they havo run the first hoop or not. This is sound. It places the player at the first stroke of his first turn in precisely the same relation to all the balls as he is in at the commencement of all subsequent turns.

Thus, during the game, a player may, at his first stroke, play for a hoop or roquet. Formerly he was obliged to run the first hoop before playing for a roquet; but now he may play for a roquet at ther commencement of his first turn, and before running a hoop. Tight croquet is abolished. This unscientific stroke had long been abandoned by agreement by the best players and now its rejection is confirmed by the conference laws. Pegging out an adversary is retained.

'This has always been a sore point, especially with lady-players but now that, by a decisive vote of the conference, it has been pronounced to be the proper game, we presume no player of any pretensions will object to it. It is certainly annoying, when about to go out, to have all one's plans spoiled by perhaps a lucky long shot but this is part of the chances of war, and the possibility of its occurrence sustains to the end the interest of the player who is behind in the game. The first important meeting held under the new laws was that of the All-England Club before mentioned, on their new and splendid ground, at Wimbledon. This club, which is the most important and influential in existence, was formed two years ago. A plot of, ground close to the Wimbledon Station (easily accessible from town) has been taken, and levelled.

A pavilion has been built, and all the implements andbther accessories provided, the committee having subscribed the requisite funds, free of interest. The ground covers four acres, and contains twelve practice grounds of full size. It may be pronounced the finest match and practice ground in the kingdom. The weather has been very much against getting new-laid turf in order this season, and consequently the grounds are at present rather lumpy, but by next season they will be in excellent match order. The club already numbers about two hundred members, including many fine players.

The subscription is a guinea, members being balloted for.as at other clubs. The ground was thrown open for practice in June last, and the annual prize meeting was held at the end of the month. An attractive programme was issued prizes, the aggregate value of about ninety pounds, being contended for the great event of the meeting, however, was the contest for the championship and a silver cup, value fifty guineas, open te all comers. The entrance-money for this was a guinea. Twenty-four competitors appeared, including all the most noted players of the day.

After much fine play, extending over four days, the cup eventually fell to Mr. Peel, who has before won several prizes open to all comers. Mr. Peel is therefore champion for 1870 but in order to retain that honour next year he will have to play the winner of the all-comers con-test at Wimbledon. SCIENCE AND ARTS.

(From Chambertt Journal.) Among the many interesting communications read at the meetings of the Royal Geographical Society, Mr. Shaw's account of his travel to Yarkand and Kashgar merits particular attention. The common idea of Tartary an expanse of great plains, over which wander barbarous hordes with cattle and tents but it will surprise many readers to learn that Mr. Shaw found a remarkably mountainous country, full of settled habitations, with nou rishing cities of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, where numerous are practised, and a considerable amount of civilisation exists. Life and oroDertv are secure commerce is protected; light carts drawn by horses frequent the roads and markets arc held on a fixed day of the week even in the smallest villages.

In Yarkand alone there are sixty colleges, endowments in land, for the education of students in Mussulman law and divinity; and in every street is a well-attended school attached to a mosque. in one street are displayed the silks of China in another, the cotton goods and prints of Russia; and elsewhere, tea, spices, and all kinds of foreign produce. Horseflesh, camel, beef, and mutton are found in the butchers' quarter; the bakers offer excellent light loaves made by a process of steaming and shops for the 'sale of iced sherbet and of tea are everywhere to be seen. The estimates formed of the number of the population arc from twenty to sixty millions. Their industry is remarkable for as no rain falls, the fields and gardens are everywhere watered by canals and water-courses, great and small.

If the system of artificial irrigation were cut off, tho whole country would become a howling desert. Yakoob Beg, the ruler, is a man of intelligence and energy, under whom the extension of irrigation, road-making, bridge-building, and sinking in the desert for the use of travellers are actively carried on. This in teresting country was visited by Marco roio five hundred years ago but it is so cut off from the rest of the world by high mountains and deserts, as to be lost in the vast and unknown regions described as Tartary. Mr. Shaw may therefore be regarded as having made a wonderful discovery.

And now he and Mr. Hayward, who has also travelled in those parts for tho Geographical Society, and the explorers employed by the Trigonometrical Survey of India, will have to find the easiest passes by which Yakoob Beg's dominion may be reached from Upper India. Pasteur, one of the ablest of French chemists, has been engaged for the past two years in investigating the silk-worm disease, which has prevailed so fatally on the continent, and brought down large districts in France from prosperity to adversity. In 1853, the revenue from sJk-cu)tnre among the French amounted to one hundred and thirty million francs the effects of the disease may be judged of by the fact-that in 1865 the amount was not more than thirty millions. In the same time the weight of cocoons produced had fallen from twenty-six million kilogrammes to four millions.

Here was, indeed, a case of sufficient gravity to justify the employment of the very best means in a search for the causes and for a remedy. Owing to the black spots by which it manifests its existence, the disease has been named ptbrinc; and this disease consists in the presence of an infinite number of living corpuscles, which take possession of the whole interior of the worm. They swarm to such an extent as to leave no room for the secretion" of the fluid from which the silk is spun. The worms die by thousands but it has been remarked that many of them, prompted by instinct, go tbrough the movements ot spinning although they have not a particle of silk to pro duce, as teur 9 inquiry led him to be able to predict what would take place with certain parcels of eggs of which he knew the history he showed how the disease could be propagated either by inoculation, by food, or by placing infected worms among healthy ones. Having gamed a thorough knowledge ot the disease, he showed what methods should be adopted to prevent its further spread, and pointed out the remedy.

ay caretul observation it is possible to detect the healthy moths if these are kept by themselves, there will be a stock of healthy eggs, and thus in course of time a new breed of healthy silk -worms may be introduced. In concluding the book which he has published on this subject, M. Pasteur mentions that in some of our colonies the mulberry tree would flourish, and the cultivation of silk might there be taken up with advantage. At the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, Dr. Sigcrson has given a lecture on Microscopic Appearances obtained from Special Atmospheres," in which, as was to be expected, he explained that in examining the air of factories and workshops he found the atmosphere of each charged with particles according to the nature of the trade carried on.

In an iron-factory he found carbon, ash, and iron, the iron being in the form of tranBlucid hollow balls one-two-thousandth of an inch in diameter. In the air of a shirt-factory, filaments of linen and cotton and minute eggs were floating and in places where grain is thrashed and converted, the floating dust is fibrous and starchy, mingled with vegetable spores but according to Dr. Sigerson, the dust of a scutching-mill is more hurtful than any, ancLas much pains should be taken to get rid ot it as that ol the grmding-mills of oherheld. In the air of type-foundries and printing-offices, antimony exists stables show hair and other animal matters; and the air of dissecting-rooms is described as particularly horrible, All this is very disagreeable to think of; but while it manifests that we should be care ful to purify the air we breathe, it teaches also that nature has given us a respiratory apparatus 'endowed with a large amount of self-protecting function. An American geologist employed by the United States Government to survey Colorado and New Mexico, discovered vast deposits of iron and coal in a range of hills the Katon Hills which, as he states, "will be of far more value than all the mines of precious metals in that country." And Dr.

Sterry Hunt. F.R.S., resident in Canada, reports that on the north shore of the St. Lawrence there are deposits of magnetic iron sand, so abundant that they may be regarded as practically inexhaustible." Similar deposits exist also between Quebec and Montreal on the shores ot Lake and at the mouth of Lake Huron. The iron produced from this sand is described as of excellent quality and to maintain this excel lence, Dr. Larue, of Quebec, has invented a machine, in which, by a series of permanent magnets, the magnetic iron sand is separated from the silicious sand and other non-metallic substances.

The operation is simple, though it throws on a ton ot the iron sand every hour and it is said that two men can attend to ten machines. From all this, we learn that Canada may now reckon magnetic -iron among her natural resources the more valuable inasmuch as it is free from phosphorus and sulphur. Will it rival the iron sand ot ISew Zealand trom which the well-known Taranaki steel is pro. duced The question is one which should be interesting to metallurgists. A method for- using mica as a substitute for bronze has been introduced in France.

The mica, crushed in a mill, is digested with hydrochloric acid, and after washing is sorted by sieves. Thus prepared, the scales have a. bright and silvery appearance, and show to great advantage when pressed into moulds and polished. And the articles manufactured are said to exceed in lustre the so-called metallic brocades. Bronzes when placed out of doors too often become black and dirty, and cease to be orna mental.

But it was observed in Berlin that those parts of a bronze statue which were much handled by the public retained good surface, and this led to the conclusion that fat had something to do with it. An experiment was therefore tried for some years with four bronzes one was coated every day with oiL and wiped with a cloth another was washed every with water the third was similarly washed, but was oiled twice a year and the fourth was left untouched. The first looked the third, which had been oiled twice a was passable; the second looked dead and the fourth was dull arid black. Perhaps public authorities in this country who have charge rf statues and other adornments will profit by the experiment here described- At Monte Video, meat is now preserved in large quantities for export, by a process which is thus described. A pickle is made containing 85 per cent, of water, with hydrochloric acid, glycerine, and bisulphate of soda, and in' this the meat, cut into lumps of from 61bs.

to 501bs. weight, is soaked for some days. When taken out, it is dusted over with dry bisulphite of soda, and is closely packed in air-tight boxes, in which it will keep sweet for years, and can be rendered fit for use at any time by soaking in a bath of cold water in which a small quantity of vinegar is mixed. Jars for preserving fruit and vegetables are now manufactured in Philadelphia with a close-fitting lid, which is kept' in tplace by a wire making a. spiral turn round the rim of the jar.

The upper end of the wire presses always on the centre of the lid, and keeps it in place with an' air-tight joint but yields sufficiently to allow for escape of steam when the contents of the jar are cooked for 'preservation. This new contrivance is called the Valve Jar. At a meeting of the 'Franklin Institute a mothod was described of preparing magic-lantern pictures in a new way, thus Get a sheet of gelatine such as is used by engravers for tracing purposes fix it over the engraving or drawing which is to be shown in the lantern, and. with a style or steel point, trace the lines oftlie picture pretty deeply on the transparent irees me buu waiticu vy me ixuq or their nourishment. Again, it has been asserted that the rise and fall of the tide in the Red Sea, from Suez to- the Bitter Lakes, would become a perpetual cause of destruction of the banks of the canal.

Mr. Fowler was alBo of opinion that the evaporation of these lakes would accelerate the) tidal current, Uut it may be said that if this; portion of the canal is most threatened it is also the part best delendcd by the nature of the soil, composed as it is of a resisting whitish, earth; it scarcely measures twenty kilometres and to pave it would be easy, and would cost little from the materials being at hand. With, reference to the effect of evaporation there are opinions opposed to that of Mr. Fowler, and by authorities no less eminent; and they calculate that the volume of water from the Bitter Lakes, would oppose a counterpoise to the flood from the Red Sea, regulating the intensity like a compensating pendulum, maintaining the equilibrium between the expansion and contraction of the fluid. Again a writer has discovered (under another point of view) the general deterioration of the banks of the canal.

In several numbers of tho Americain of Brest, the conclusions of the commission of M. Lesseps on the theory of opening the canal are refuted. According to the writer the destruction of the sides of the' canal is certain, Bhould vessels pass through it at a velocity greater than 203 miles an hour. Let us see, says he, what will take place when large vessels meet each other. They will displace five1 or six thousand tons of water each, or together twelve thousand tons, which quantity is the fifth or lixth part of the whole mass of water contained in a section of the canal equal in its length tp those vessels.

On passing the ndrrhal level would be elevated 1-5 or 2 metres, and more even towards the sides, against which the elevated waves are pushed with more or less velocity. I After these two vessels have passed each other, they would leave a vacuum of ten to twelve thousand tons towards the middle of the canal, whose level would nil two or three metres, which would cause them to ground if they were not wrecked until the water recovering the sides of the canal would fill the vacuum in virtue of the laws of havity. A difference ef level of two or three metres towards the centre less would make a whole difference of four five metres the water would pre cipitate itaelf towards the centre of the canal with! the violence of eight or nine metres per second, after passing the vessels, destroying the bottom and sides of the canal, from their being unable to resist such forces, whether foiiied of hydraulic bitumen, marble, or We willpot lose sight of the choice made of the displacement of water by such large vessels' in passing each other, and we shaU find the exaggeration is quite evident. The author of the foregoing has not taken into account the means possessed by the authors of the canal in the electric wire to preserve vessels from all such danger. Neither M.

Lesseps nor any maritime luthority consulted, have thought fit to record any details of so novel a creation in the use and preservation of channels of navigationl Among other precautions the eompanW engineers have given to the higher stle of the canal an inclination, such, that the waters may expand themselves on it like (the waves of the sea on the beach, and to seiure its consistency, have increased the numberof aquatic plants there, which are so abundant in the Red Sea. The object of great calculations and commentaries is the utility which commerce may recognise fn the opening of the canal. By the approximate tonnage passing the Cape of Good Hope, a cipher has been deduced sufficiently good as applicable to the Isthmus, The op-posers have adduced their ciphers and arguments against the friends of the canal have tried to prove that the use 'Jjof it would be costly ftom the dues i exacted by the company, that for sailing 'vessels from the northerly winds which prevail in the Red Sea for six and the other six from the opposite direction. But we believe that the greater the length of the passage, and. more, especially the greater Yia fldpufittf in nil commercial relations.

80. much more may these be multiplied. By the Red Sea steam vessels bring us the most valuable merchandise of India and China, in spite of the height of freight and the necessity of. transport Far from having any doubt of the navigation-of the canal we are of opinion that the company will eventually have to increase the dunensioas of it to meet the increase of the traffic: The- -d i if io cnifl nave proposed to double the actual depth for the sum of fifty millions of francs and the amount of this sum is small compared with three hundred millions laid out by the company. The.

installation of the canal has cost enormous1 sums the" road of Port Said, the works of Suez, the buildings for the administration, the fabrics, the leading of the fresh water, which of itself alone cost sixty millions, have absorbed the principal part of the first expenses. At present, the above work is reduced to extracting, a certain amount of sandy soil, and the time-required in which to do it may be readily circulated. It is certain that at first the cost of piercing the Isthmus was estimated at two' hundred millions of francs, an opera tion supposed to he done in three years, when scarcely three hundred millions have sufficed in ten years since the work was begun. But all this has arisen from the political opposition with which the work was received. Since the United States finished their gigantic railway of 3628 miles between Neir xork and Han francisco, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the most anxious opinions have been speculated on its commercial effect on the extreme east.

In ten days one passes from ocean to ocean, and the merchant of New York may go in twenty-five davs to Yokohama. The road being thus shortened, the question il asked, can it be prejudicial to the Suez Canal, lire American resB in accord with the JDngusn decidedly says no in fact, although the passage were the same, the rail would not have Li .1 i 1. uu tui uuuiKu over me canal, me transport ui one mode and another being three to one. It costs' as much to bring tea by rail from York to Chicago as it does by sea from Hong- Kong to xv ew xork. 'ihe time by steam from England to China via Suez, is less than that employed in crossing America and the Pacific.

The question would be more proportionate if a railway were open across the isthmus of Darien and Panama, Commerce might then choose between the eastern route of Suez and the western one by Panama. Let us see the distances between the three principal, points in the inter-ocean com. will proceed to discuss the more important of them. The proper size for a croquet ground has been variously estimated at from one hundred yards by sixty yards to thirty yards by twenty-hve yards. Ut course, any ot these sizes will do, just as billiards might be played on a table thirteen feet long, or on a miniature table.

But for matches, a regulation size was required, and the size determined cn by the All-England Club is forty yards by thirty yards. Thus, a precedent is set and all persons who can command a ground ot such size, would do well to fix its boundaries at that area. Practical experience has shewn it to be sufficiently large for the full development of the game, and yet not too extensive lor lady- players. The boundaries of the ground should be accurately defined before play begins, as there are several rules affecting the position of the balls when sent near to or beyond the boundary. To define the boundary in the absence of a path or trench, a thin white window-cord, pegged into the ground with garden pees, is found the most serviceable.

The most important of the laws affecting the boundary is what is called the dead boundary law, now commonly adopted in match-play. It comes to this if, when taking croquet, a ball is sent off the ground, the player loses the remainder of his turn. The object of the rule is to prevent the old coarse stroke, which enabled players to go any pace, without regard te strength, after balls lying safe at the further extremity of the ground. With the dead boundary law, the player going after balls at a distance is compelled to judge the strength. If he plays toe hard, and goes off, he loses his turn if he docs not play bard enough, he does not get a certain shot.

This is as it should be, as will appear a moment's consideration of the parallel ase of playing for a hoop after a roquet. If played too hard, the hoop cannot be made if too gently, an uncertain shot is left. The lead boundary is sound in principle, -and is a great improvement to the game, as it gives the player who is out of the break a better chance i getting in than under the old rule. The implements used in the game are balls, hoops, pegs, mallets, and clips. These have undergone such modifications in the last two or three seasons as almost to have revolutionised tVa tfvawin "Wa arrairt 4nlrA ao tlA atan.lnvrl till All-England Club dimensions, as laid down in their bye-laws.

The balls should be of well-seasoned boxwood, in diameter three and five-eighth inches, marked so as to enable the players to dis tinguish them. The best way ot marking the balls has long been a matter of dispute. Rings paint are sometimes employed, but it is now generally admitted that the best plan is to clour the balls all over, as is done with pool- balls. The hoops are now made of half-inch wrought iron, square at the top, and painted white. The old-fashioned slender hoops are not good, and are soon knocked out of shape.

Some players prefer the hoops painted a gray blue, but white is more general. The hoop, when fixed, should stand at least twelve inches out of the ground. As to the width of the boop, that varies with individual taste. Twelve fourteen inches was the original width now, hoops are used as small as four and a half inches and tour inches, though not usual, may be seen occasionally. So small a hoop is not recommended, except tor very superior players on a very good lawn.

Six inches is the maximum size permitted by the All-England Club, and this seems a' good width for the ordinary run of players. Hoops are cheap enough, and it is easy to have two sets of different sizes. It should be observed that the hoops are liable to spread a little when fixed in the ground. They require to be occasionally removed and pinched in. The setting of the hoops has long been one of the variable points, every one being at liberty to adopt any mode of setting, which is About as sensible as though, in ordering a billiard-table, each purchaser were to order the pockets to be put where it suited his lancy.

The All-England setting, as shewn in their bye- laws, is mostly used at prize-meetings. The principles involved in this setting are, not to have any peg or hoop less than eight yards from the boundary, and, to compel the players to run the middle hoop four times, so that, it a break down occurs at that hoop, a shot is left within reasonable distance, and one which may be taken with impunity, as it will seldom leave the -ball played last in the next players game. The pegs should be made of ash, and should measure one inch and a half in diameter. The colours of the balls should be painted on the pegs. The latest improvement is a small transverse branch piercing the top of the peg, to 'which the clips can be attached.

There is no restriction as to the size, shape, weight, number, or material of the mallets that may be used. All kinds of fancy mallets are in vogue; but the onegenerally played with las a cylindrical head of box about nine inches long, three inches in diameter, with an ash handle, about three feet lbng, and octagonal in the grasp; weight about two and three-quarter pounds to three sounds. There are various modifications of this mallet, such as checkered handles (a recent improvement), a small slice taken off the bottom, to steady it on the ground, and to forth. The mallet is manufactured by Mr. Prince, of Holland-street, Blackfriars, and is known as the Cavendish mallet.

At the All-England prize-meeting of 1870, for which all the most noted players of the day put down their names, with two exceptions all the mallets were of the pattern just described, and all the winners of prizes played with these mallets. Clips are essential in match-play, though, for ordinary practice, there is scarcely any occasion for them. The clipn fancied by the).