entered and demanded of a man whom he met there, whose flag it was; the man, who was really the proprietor of the house, professed not to know, saying he was only a lodger; and Ellsworth, with two companions, ascended to the roof and took it down, wrapping it around his body. As he descended, the proprietor, (Jackson,) who had concealed himself in a dark passage, fired, and killed him instantly, and the next moment himself fell dead, from the bullet of one of Ellsworth's companions, Francis E. Brownell. The body was borne sadly back to Washington, and the funeral services performed at the White House, with the President as chief mourner. From thence it was brought to his birthplace, (Mechanicsville.) A noble regiment, made up of one man from a town, in his native State, was raised as his fittest, though not his only monument. EPIDEMICS. The following papers upon these subjects were read before a recent meeting of the Epidemiological Society of London. The first, by Dr. M'William, the Secretary of, the Society, is a résumé of the principal epidemics that prevailed in various quarters of the world during the year 1861; and the second, prepared by Herbert Chalmers Miles, Surgeon Royal Artillery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, brings forward an Indian remedy for small-pox. 1. We have no epidemics of any magnitude to record as having occurred either in England or on the continent during the last twelve months. Cholera, which in 1860 and the early months of the past year was prevailing at St. Petersburg and other ports in the Gulf of Finland, ceased with the return of spring. The same disease also disappeared about the same time at Ceuta and other stations in the empire of Morocco. Typhus fever had raged to a disas trous extent in the beleaguered fortress of Gæta, and afterwards amongst the Neapolitan and Sardinian troops at Naples. Typhus had also been prevalent to some extent, but in a mild form, in some of the rural districts of England. In the northwest provinces of India, cholera had swept over extensive tracts of country with appalling force. Preceded by a desolating famine, the pestilence found in the starving population an easy prey to its ravages; and even amongst the European soldiery the percentage of deaths to attacks had been almost unprecedentedly great. The West Indies, more especially the island of Cuba, had been visited by yellow fever in the course of the year, with more than usual virulence. Several of her Majesty's ships had been infected with yellow fever at Havanna, and merchant ships had not only suffered from the disease while in that port, but some of them had lost part of their crews in the passage thence to England and other ports of Europe. Yellow fever had been actually introduced into St. Nazaire, at the mouth of the Loire, in the month of September last, by a ship from the Havanna; and within the past week cases of the same disorder were reported on board of a ship at Bordeaux. These facts were justly considered as highly important, and suggestive of the desirability of some authorized declaration of opinion, by a society like the Epidemiological, as to the vexed question of the infectious or non-infectious character of this terrible malady, which has on several occasions of late years extended beyond its usual recognized limits, and attained elevations and latitudes long considered incapable of maintaining its existence. Rear-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, K. C. B., Commander-in-Chief on the West India and North American Station, who is fully alive to the infectious character of yellow fever, and duly appreciates the value of preventive measures, had issued an order, to the effect that the ships of the squadron under his command were, unless under urgent necessity, to avoid anchorage in ports where yellow fever was known to prevail, and were not to remain in close harbors for more than ten days at a time; and, moreover, that in the event of a ship being invaded by yellow fever, she was at once to proceed to the northward for change of climate. Small-pox had continued to prevail in many parts of England, and in some districts, from the previous neglect of vaccination, had proved very fatal, more especially in the southwestern counties, in parts of Derbyshire and in Northamptonshire. The whole circumstances of the present epidemy of small-pox, which, since its commencement in 1857, had destroyed in England little short of 20,000 persons, had abundantly borne out the allegation as to the neglect and imperfection of vaccination, made by the Small-pox and Vaccination Committee of the Epidemiological Society in their Report of 1853 and Memorial of 1855. Sanitary reform had made very satisfactory progress, not only at home, but also in the colonies, and in some foreign countries which had long been remarkable for a disregard of the laws of health. In the colony of Victoria, Australia, at Alexandria, in Egypt, and in the empire of Brazil, sanitary improvement had considerably advanced, as well by private exertion as by legislative enactments. The census of the population of Jamaica had been taken in the course of last summer, the previous census having been taken in 1844. There had been an increase during the last seventeen years of 63,000 inhabitants, the population in 1844 having been 377,433, and in 1861, 441,264. Amongst the population there were 5,986 cripples, 1,294 blind persons, 1,512 persons afflicted with yaws, 776 with leprosy, 650 dumb, and 461 insane; or altogether between 10,000 and 12,000 permanent, and, to a large extent, incurable invalids in a population much under 500,000. A representation had been made in the early part of the year by Dr. Armstrong, Deputy Inspector-General, in charge of the Royal Naval Hospital at Malta, to Sir W. F. Martin, K. C. B., the Naval Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, submitting that, in consequence of the large number of men in the fleet suffering from syphilis, it was desirable he should use his influence with the Government at Malta to establish a system of periodical examination of the prostitutes of that city. A large number of prostitutes were found diseased, and being sent to the hospital, were cured. The examinations were rigorously continued by the police authorities, and the beneficial influence of the system had been most marked. The average daily number of primary syphilitic cases in the hospital had formerly been from 40 to 50, to say nothing of the numbers on the sick lists of the ships with the same disease, or of the large amount of secondary cases always under treatment afloat, as well as in the hospital. But during the last three months there had not been a single case of venereal disease that was contracted in the island received into the Naval Hospital. A memorial with a scheme for making the sickness and mortality amongst the pauper population of Great Britain available for the purposes of statistical and general inquiry, drawn up by Dr. Milroy, had been forwarded by Dr. Babington to the President of the Poor-law Board. Late accounts stated that the epizootic disease, known as "Steppe murrain" or "pestis boum," had been making great ravages in the western provinces of Russia. Pleuro-pneumonia had also prevailed in the early part of the year amongst the cattle in the colony of Victoria, Australia, and measures had been taken against its introduction into the adjacent colony of New South Wales. An epizooty amongst the hogs of Providence, Rhode Island, had also proved very fatal. 2. Indian Remedy for Small-pox.-Early in the last winter, a small coasting vessel landed a portion of her crew at an extreme seaboard village, a few miles from Halifax. The persons landed were sick of small-pox, and the disease soon spread, first among the cottagers with whom the fishermen mixed, and subsequently amongst those from the capital who resorted to the village for the purposes of trade. Through the early weeks of spring, rumor constantly as serted that vast numbers of the seafaring population were attacked with the complaint; but it was not until early in March that the large civil hospital of Halifax, by the number of its weekly admissions for variola, began to corroborate rumor, and to authenticate the justice of the public anxiety. The disease in process of time extended to the troops in the garrison, but the proportion of attacks to those amongst the civil population was singularly small. While certain portions of the inhabitants of Halifax were suffering from the epidemic, alarming accounts reached that place relative to the terrible ravages of the scourge amongst the Indians and colored people generally. Variola is the special plague amongst the Indians, and when they are invaded by this pestilence it sweeps them off by scores. Like the fire of the prairies, it passes over their encamping grounds, destroy ing all of human kind in its path. On this occasion, the most painful details were given of whole families being carried off by this loathsome disease. After some time, however, it was said that the pestilence had been stayed. One of the Indian race, it was asserted, had come into the disease-stricken camp, possessed of a preparation which had the extraordinary power of curing the kind of cases that had hitherto proved so fatal. This remedy was believed by the Indians to be so efficacious, that, if given to them when attacked with small-pox, they looked forward with confidence to a speedy and effectual cure. An old weird Indian woman was the fortunate possessor of the remedy in question. She had always been known as the doctress of her tribe, and had enjoyed celebrity for many years in consequence of her reputed knowledge of medicine and wonderful acquaintance with the herbs and roots of the woods. So well established was her fame among the Indians, that, when sick, they resorted to her rather than to the white doctors, whom they considered to be "no good." Captain Hardy, of the Royal Artillery, an able and intelligent officer, who has been for years amongst the Indians, says that "the old squaw's remedy has long been known amongst them as an infallible cure for small-pox," and that "the Indians believed it to be successful in every case." From the information gathered from the Indians, the following observations have been carefully sifted : 1. In the case of an individual suspected to be under the influence of small-pox, but with no distinct eruption upon him, à large wineglassful of an infusion of the root of the plant "Sarracenia purpurea," or pitcher plant, (several specimens of which, including the root, were exhibited on the table,) is to be taken. The effect of this dose is to bring out the eruption. After a second and third dose, given at intervals of from four to six hours, the pustules subside, apparently losing their vitality. The retient feels better at the end of each dose, and, in the graphic expression of the Micmac, "knows there is great change within him at once.” 2. In a subject already covered with the eruption of small-pox in the early stage, a dose or two will dissipate the pustules and subdue the febrile symptoms; the urine, from being scanty and high colored, becomes pale ard abundant; whilst from the first dose the feclings of the patient assure him that "the medicine is killing the disease." Under the inence of the remedy, in three or four days the prominent features of the constitutional dis S flower, and huntsman's cup. It grows in the swamps and This is the plant commonly known as the side-su”. peat bogs over all the Northern States, and to the near the Alleghany Mountains. It is distinguished curious hood-shaped hollow leaves, lined with Franke pointed downward, and usually half filled with water and drowned insects. The flower is globose and purple, siwa resemblance whatever to a side-saddle, but the plant is wed the top of a straight flower stalk a foot high There is e named a pitcher, or cup. turbance subside, although, as a precautionary measure, the sick person is kept in camp until the ninth day. No marks of the eruption (as regards pitting, &c.,) have been left in cases examined that were treated by the remedy. 3. With regard to the medicine acting (as is believed by the Indians) in the way of a preventive in those exposed to the infection, it is curious to note, that in the camps where the remedy has been used, the people keep a weak infusion of the plant constantly prepared, and take a dose occasionally during the day, so as to "keep the antidote in the blood." In the discussion which followed the reading of this paper, all the speakers concurred in the desirability of requesting Mr. Miles to procure a further supply of the root of the Sarracenia purpurea, with the view of having its antivarioloid powers tested. ERICSSON'S BATTERY. (See NAVY.) EVANS, JOHN, M. D., an American geologist, born in Portsmouth, N. H., Feb. 14, 1812, son of Hon. Richard E., Judge of the Supreme Court of N. H., died April 13, 1861. He graduated at the St. Louis Medical College, and was engaged, soon after taking his degree, as assistant in the geological survey of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska, under the charge of Dr. David Dale Owen. While engaged in this survey he first attracted the notice of scientific men by his discovery and description of a large deposit of fossil bones of extinct species of mammalia in the "Mauvaises Terres" of Nebraska. This discovery was deemed of such importance by European geologists, that one of the most eminent of their number was immediately sent to examine the collections as well as the locality from which they had been taken. The U. S. Government soon after commissioned him to carry on the geological survey of Washington and Oregon territories. He had, after several years of severe labor, completed this survey, and after acting for a short time as geologist of the Chiriqui commission, proceeded to Washington to prepare and superintend the publication of an elaborate report of his surveys of Oregon and Washington, where he was attacked with ty. phoid pneumonia, which speedily proved fatal. EXPEDITIONS, MILITARY AND NAVAL. At the commencement of the war the paucity of available vessels in the navy, and the large number required to maintain an efficient blockade over an extended coast line, rendered it difficult to spare a naval force sufficient for enterprises, the importance of which was fully understood by the Government; but as soon as a moderate blockading force was supplied, attention was turned to the organization of a series of expeditions, having for their object the capture of the best harbors on the coast, and the taking possession of extended tracts of country in their vicinity. The moral effect of these movements, in dividing the attention of the Confederate army, and exciting their alarm for their homes, as many of their regiments were from the seaboard and Gulf States, was a matter of quite as much importance as the actual territory seized. Six of these expeditions have been undertaken; all of them planned and two of them wholly executed in 1861, while some of the others have not yet completed their work. The order of their departure was as follows: 1. The Hatteras Expedition.-On the 13th of August, when General Wool took command at Fortress Monroe, he found that preparations had already been made for an expedition to the North Carolina coast. Hatteras Inlet, the point of destination, was a gap in the sandy barrier which lines the coast of North Carolina, about 18 miles S. W. of Cape Hatteras, and 160 miles below Fortress Monroe. Its channel was intricate but accessible without difficulty to those who were accustomed to it, provided the weather was good. This and Ocracoke Inlet were the principal entrances to Pamlico Sound, a large body of water lying between this sandy beach and the mainland of North Carolina, in which there was good anchorage, smooth water, and fine harbors. Hatteras Inlet would admit vessels drawing 7 feet water, but its tortuous channel, from which the Confederate authorities had removed all the buoys, made it difficult to enter in rough weather, without danger of grounding. On the sandy beach, commanding the inlet, the Confederate forces had erected, during the summer, two forts-the larger, named Fort Hatteras, being intended for 15 guns, though only 10 had been mounted; the smaller for 7 guns, of which 5 had been mounted. These forts were built of sand, and were 20 feet wide at top, and turfed. They had each a bomb-proof, the one at the larger fort capable of protecting about 400 men; that at the smaller 800. The guns were mounted en barbette, (that is, on the top of the earthworks.) The guns on both forts were thirty-two pounders, except one eight-inch shell gun on Fort Hatteras. Most of these particulars had been communicated to the Federal authorities about the 1st of August by Mr. Daniel Campbell, master of the schooner Lydia Frances, which had been wrecked about the 1st of May on the coast near Hatteras Inlet, who had been detained as a prisoner at the inlet for three months. The expedition intended for the capture of these forts consisted of the United States steamers Minnesota, Capt. Van Brune; Wabash, Capt. Mercer; Monticello, Commander Gillis; Pawnee, Commander Rowan, and Harriet Lane, Capt. Faunce; the U. S. chartered steamers Adelaide, Commander Stellwagen, and George Peabody, Lieut. Leroy, and the steamtug Fanny as transports, together with schooners towed by the steamers having surf-boats on them. The steam frigate Susquehanna and the sailing frigate Cumberland were ordered also to join the expedition. The naval portion of the expedition was under the command of Commodore S. H. Stringham, whose broad pennant was hoisted on the Minnesota. To this naval force was added a body of about 880 troops, consisting of 500 of the 20th Regiment N. Y. Volunteers, under command of Col. Max Weber; 220 of the 9th N. Y. Volunteers, (Hawkins' Zouaves,) under command of Col. R. C. Hawkins; 100 of the Union Coast Guard, Capt. Nixon commanding, and 60 of the 2d U. S. Artillery, Lieut. Larned commanding, who were embarked on the transports George Peabody and Adelaide, and were under the command of Maj.-General Benj. F. Butler. The expedition left Fortress Monroe on the afternoon of Monday, Aug. 26th, and arrived off Hatteras Inlet about 4 o'clock P. M., Tuesday. At daylight the next morning arrangements were made for landing the troops, and for an attack upon the forts by the fleet. The swell upon the beach was so heavy that after landing 315 men, including the regular troops and 55 marines, with two guns, one a 12-pound rifled boat gun, the other a howitzer of the same calibre, the boats were stove and swamped, and no more could be landed that day. Meantime the fleet had opened fire on the smaller fort, which was nearest the inlet, and continued it till about half-past 1 P. M., when both forts hauled down their flags, and the garrison of the smaller escaped to the larger. A small detachment of the troops already landed immediately proceeded to take possession of Fort Clark, and raised the Union flag. The fleet ceased firing, and the Monticello was sent in to the inlet to discover what the hauling down of the flags meant. She entered and proceeded within about 600 yards of Fort Hatteras, when the occupants of that fort commenced firing upon her, and inflicted serious injury to her hull; whereupon the Wabash, Susquehanna, and Minnesota came to her assistance, and the Confederates took themselves to their bomb-proof, and ceased firing. The little force which had landed now withdrew from Fort Clark to a safer position, where they threw up a slight intrenchment, and mounted their two cannon on it, together with one they had taken from the enemy. The General and the force on board the fleet felt much anxiety in regard to this little company, as it was suppos ed that the Confederates, who were known to have a considerable body of troops on board steamers in the Sound, would be largely reënforced in the night, and would take them prisoners. At 7 o'clock next morning, however, the Union troops were seen advancing in good order upon Fort Clark, and it appeared that Capt. Nixon of the coastguard with his company had occupied that fort during the night, and had hoisted the Stars and Stripes there. As a reenforcement from the fleet approached the shore, they heard firing, which they after wards found proceeded from the temporary battery erected by the Union troops, and was directed at the Confederate steamer Winslow, which had come down the sound loaded with reénforcements, but which, on meeting with this reception, made the best of its way out of range. The fleet renewed its fire upon Fort Hatteras at a little past 8 o'clock, and, sub stituting 15-second for 10-second fuzes, dropped almost every shell from their heavy guns inside the fort. At ten minutes past 11, a white flag was displayed from the fort. Gen. Butler went at once on board the steamtug Fanny, and, entering the inlet, sent Lieut. Crosby on shore to demand the meaning of the white flag. He soon returned with the following memorandum from the commander of the fort, who proved to be a former commodore of the U. S. Navy. FORT HATTERAS, Aug. 29th, 1961, Flag-officer Samuel Barron, C. S. Navy, offers to surrender Fort Hatteras with all the arms and munitions of war. The officers allowed to go out with side-arms, and the men without arms to retire. S. BARRON, Commanding Naval Division, Va. and N. Car. Accompanying this was a verbal communication stating that he had in the fort six hundred and fifteen men, and a thousand more within an hour's call, but that he was anxious to spare the effusion of blood. Gen. Butler sent in reply the following memorandum: Aug. 29th, 1861 Army, commanding, in reply to the communication of Benjamin F. Butler, Major-General United States Samuel Barron, commanding forces at Fort Hatteras, cannot admit the terms proposed. The terms offered are these: Full capitulation, the officers and men to be treated as prisoners of war. No other terms admissible. Commanding officers to meet on board flagship Minnesota to arrange details. After waiting three-fourths of an hour, Lieut. Crosby returned, bringing with him Capt. Barron, Major Andrews, and Col. Martin, the commanding officers of the Confederate force, who informed Gen. Butler that they had ac cepted the terms of capitulation he had proposed, and had come to surrender themselves and their command prisoners of war. General Butler informed them that, as the expedition was a combined one from the army and navy, the surrender must be made on board the flagship and to Com. Stringham, as well as himself. The party then proceeded to the flagship Minnesota, and the following articles of capitulation were there signed: OFF HATTERAS INLET, U.S. FLAGSHIP MINNESOTA, Aug. 29th, A. D. 1561. Articles of Capitulation between Flag-officer String ham, commanding the Atlantic Blockading Squadron, and Benjamin F. Butler, U. S. Army, commanding on manding the naval force for the defence of North behalf of the Government, and Samuel Barron, comCarolina and Virginia, and Col. Martin, commanding the forces, and Major Andrews, commanding the sana forces at Hatteras. parties, that the forces under command of the said It is stipulated and agreed between the contracting Barron, Martin, and Andrews, and all munitions of war, arms, men, and property under the command of said Barron, Martin, and Andrews, be unconditionally surrendered to the Government of the United States in terms of full capitulation. And it is stipulated and agreed by the contracting parties, on the part of the United States Government that the officers and men shall receive the treatment due to prisoners of war. Butler, on behalf of the United States, and the said In witness whereof, we, the said Stringham and Barron, Martin, and Andrews, representing the forces at Hatteras Inlet, hereunto interchangeably set our hands, this twenty-ninth day of August, A. D. 1861, Flag-Officer C. S. N., Com'g Naval Forces Va. & N. C. W. L. G. ANDREWS, Major Com'g Forts Hatteras and Clark. The results of this capitulation were the capture of 715 men, including the commander, Com. Barron, who was at the time Acting Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States, and Major Bradford, Chief of the Ordnance Department of the Confederate States army, 2 forts, 1,000 stand of arms, 75 kegs of powder, 5 stand of colors, 31 pieces of cannon, including one 10-inch columbiad, a brig loaded with cotton, a sloop loaded with provisions and stores, 2 light boats, 150 bags of coffee, &c. The forts were held and garrisoned by U. S. troops, and the Fanny and Monticello retained at the inlet to keep off the Confederate gunboats, and capture vessels attempting to run the blockade. On the 30th Sept. a fortification called Fort Oregon at Ocracoke Inlet, about 15 miles below Hatteras Inlet, was abandoned by the Confederate forces, and on the 16th of September, an expedition from Hatteras Inlet visited and destroyed it. On the 7th of September, four Confederate vessels, and on the 8th a fifth, attempted to enter Hatteras Inlet, and were all captured by the steamtug Fanny. On the 2d of October, the Fanny was captured by a party of Confederates in armed steamtugs; her two brass cannon and 35 men belonging to the 9th N. Y. Volunteers (Hawkins' Zouaves) were taken, and a considerable quantity of stores. On the 4th of October, the Confederate troops attacked the 20th Indiana Regiment at Chicamacomico, about 30 miles above Hatteras Inlet, and took a considerable number of them prisoners. The next day the Monticello and Susquehanna came down and shelled the Confederate troops, killing a large number, and driving the remainder to their boats. The U. S. Government authorized the enlistment of loyal citizens of North Carolina in the army, and a considerable number availed themselves of the opportunity. 2. The Expedition to Port Royal.-The Hatteras expedition having proved successful, the U.S. Government was encouraged to prosecute with all diligence a much greater and more formidable undertaking, which it had already projected. The finest harbor on the Southern Atlantic coast was that of Port Royal in South Carolina-a broad estuary, formed by the junction of Broad and Port Royal rivers, and Archer's Creek and their debouchure into the Atlantic. The interlacing of these and other rivers in the vicinity has formed a large group of islands, of which Hilton Head, Hunting, St. Helena, Paris, and Port Royal are the principal. This harbor is situated about half way between Charleston and Savannah, with both which cities it has an interior water communication. The parish, of which these islands form the greater part, was the richest agricultural district in South Carolina. It was the most important seat of the production of the fine long-stapled Sea Island cotton, and was also largely engaged in the rice culture. It was the largest slaveholding parish in South Carolina, having 32,000 slaves to less than 7,000 whites. The village of Beaufort and the adjacent country on Port Royal and the other interior islands was the summer residence of the wealthy planters of South Carolina. The Government at first seems to have purposed sending the expedition to some other point (perhaps Savannah) on the coast, but wisely referred the final decision of the point to be first attacked, to the thorough professional knowledge and skill of the flag-officer of the expedition, Com. S. F. Dupont, who, after much deliberation and consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Fox, fixed upon Port Royal, as being the best point from which to move either northward or southward. The preparations for the expedition were on an extensive scale, and required a longer period for the completion of all its equipments than was at first expected. It finally set sail from Hampton Roads on the 29th of October, consisting of fifty vessels, including transports. A fleet of twenty-five coal vessels, to supply the necessary fuel, had been despatched the previous day. The naval vessels connected with the expedition were the Wabash, (the flag-ship,) the Susquehanna, and the gunboats Mohican, Seminole, Pawnee, Unadilla, Ottawa, Pembina, Isaac Smith, Bienville, Seneca, Curlew, Penguin, Augusta, R. B. Forbes, and Pocahontas, the steam-tug Mercury, the frigate Vandalia, and the little steam-cutter Vixen. There were also thirty-three transports, many of them of the first class, such as the Baltic, Ocean Queen, Vanderbilt, Illinois, Cahawba, Empire City, Ariel, Daniel Webster, Coatzacoalcos, Ericsson, Oriental, Philadelphia, S. R. Spaulding, Winfield Scott, Atlantic, &c., &c.; and such sailing vessels as the Great Republic, Ocean Express, Golden Eagle, &c. The naval command was, as has already been said, assigned to Com. S. F. Dupont, but the transports carried out an army of about 15,000 troops, under the command of Acting Major-General Thomas W. Sherman. This force was divided into three brigades, commanded respectively by BrigadierGenerals Egbert S. Viele, Isaac J. Stevens, and Horatio G. Wright. The first brigade consisted of the Third New Hampshire, Eighth Maine, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, and Forty-eighth New York regiments; the second brigade of the Eighth Michigan, Fiftieth Pennsylvania, Roundhead Pennsylvania, and Seventy-ninth New York, (Highlanders ;) the third brigade, of the Sixth and Seventh Connecticut, the Ninth Maine, the Fourth New Hampshire, and the Third Rhode Island, with Hamilton's (late |