just delivered by the Government officers superintending the public works! A letter says

66

The peasantry are armed, or are arming, almost to a man. The stores of the armourer are more frequently exhausted than the provision stores. Auctioneers, with carts laden with Birmingham arms, attend almost every fair or market in the county of Cavan, and the adjoining counties. The rapidity with which they are sold is quite astonishing. A stranger would think the dread invader of our country was not famine, but a hostile armada. Yesterday, at the fair of Ballyjamesduff, two competing auctioneers sold large quantities, at the following prices, in the open street, to the frieze-coated peasantry

Double-barrelled detonating guns, one barrel being rifled........

Muskets, with bayonets

Carbines, with bayonets..

Horse pistols

Pocket pistols

£ s. d.

200

I 0 0

0 12 0 080 050

likewise their own homes and property, without any restriction whatever, except an invoice or certificate of the person from whom the arms are purchased. Thomas M'Grade is privileged by his Excellency, and fully empowered by the Hon. the Board of Excise, to offer for sale by auction to the peaceable inhabitants of this town, at the Assembly Rooms, Dublin Street, 500 double and single barrelled guns of various sorts, and 1,000 pair of pistols, warranted all double Tower proof, 500,000 percussion caps, a large quantity of powder-flasks, shotbags and belts, wash-rods, turnscrews, and nipple-wrenches, &c. Sale to commence on Wednesday the 23d instant.

"THOMAS M'GRADE,

"Licensed Auctioneer.

The sale was not allowed to take place in the Assembly Rooms; but the guns were sold at other rooms

Bullet-moulds from 4d. to 6d. each.

The Government made a slight effort to check this excitement, by issuing an official circular of warning; the only effect of which was to produce the following:

Whereas many evil-disposed persons avail themselves of the present scarcity of food as a pre

text to commit acts of violence against property, and otherwise disturbing the peace of the country, His Excellency the LordLieutenant is pleased to grant all her Majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects, without distinction, the power to have and to keep any description of fire-arms for the protection of the public peace, and

the account-" so crowded was the meeting-so anxious were the peasantry to secure arms-the competition for guns, pistols, powder, and percussion caps was so great that the auctioneer had some difficulty in providing a supply for the demand; guns and pistols being purchased the moment they were put up to auction. In fact, the country people, who crowded the town, marched off all armed; and the novelty of the sale was such, and so urgent the demand, that during the days of sale the room was crowded by this class, the bidding being momentarily, and the supply incessant.

As might be expected, the pos

session of arms has led to many frightful outrages, and the Irish journals teem with accounts of murders and forcible entries; these are chiefly for the sake of carrying off arms; but the Government clerks entrusted with funds for the relief of the starving Irish, are the favourite objects of attack.

DESTITUTION IN SCOTLAND.While the people of Ireland have succeeded in compelling notice of their misery, and have received the succour they in so many instances shamefully abuse, a scene of as great destitution, but borne with more resignation, exists in Scotland-fortunately the pauperised districts in Scotland are less extensive, but the misery is quite as deep. At a meeting held at the Music Hall, Edinburgh, under the presidency of the Lord Provost, the following statement was made : Taking round numbers, there were 430,000 souls, who, strictly speaking, inhabited the eight Highland counties. From statistics furnished from different parishes, this number were divided in the following manner :-those in comfortable circumstances, and who could not be affected much by the failure of the potato crop, amounted to 100,000; those who only depended for three-fourths of the year upon potatoes, to 200,000; those who depended upon that crop for the whole year, to 130,000. These numbers were an approximation to the truth. Mr. M'Leod read several other figures; of which the result was, that in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland there were 330,000 persons deprived of the usual means of subsistence

this year. Of these, 200,000 required assistance to enable them to live over the season. If they did not assist them immediately,

these poor persons would have to sell their cows, and eat their seedcorn, and thus utterly destroy the provision of the future. The other 130,000 required food immediately to save them from starvation. These were the only statistics he had to lay before the meeting. This was, however, only the beginning of the suffering in the Highlands. Bad as it was, it was on the increase. It was terrible now, but it would be far worse in spring. But all would feel that statistics were cold and heartless, and gave but a faint idea of the nature of the distress which prevailed.

Another speaker said :-He did not suppose that the whole of Skye could furnish twenty barrels of potatoes free of disease. The population numbered 4,000 souls. Of these, nearly 2,000 occupy small crofts, which have not yet yielded sufficient to support them for three months. months. The other 2,000 were in a state of absolute destitution. But the whole 4,000 would immediately be left destitute. The proprietor was Lord Macdonald; who had already made such arrangements for relieving the people as would involve an expenditure greater than the rental of the island. It was therefore plain, that unless the proprietor were assisted the people could not be supported. The letter concluded by stating, that from the writer's experience the destitution in 1836-7 was nothing at all compared to that impending at present.

The Government have not been remiss in their efforts to administer relief to these distressed districts. Several vessels laden with meal, rice, and other kinds of food have been despatched to the points where they are most urgently re

quired, and as the comparative fewness of the population brings them more within the reach of human aid, the extreme of suffering may happily be prevented.

DESTITUTION IN BELGIUM.While the different districts of this wealthy country are suffering the miseries of scarcity, it is not to be supposed that other countries have escaped the visitation. The distress in France has already been mentioned; Belgium is in a still more suffering condition.

A letter written at Courtrai, on the 18th instant, says―

"The distress which is raging at present among our population has caused the establishment of slaughter-houses for horses in several villages, which compete with the established butchers. As soon as it is known that a horse has been slaughtered, the flesh is immediately purchased by the operative classes at twelve centimes or 1d. the pound weight." The Journal de Gand, of the 19th, states, that on that day a band consisting of fifteen persons attacked the bakers' shops in that city, and plundered them of all their bread. Two of these rioters were arrested and lodged in prison. The number of indigent inscribed on the books of the charitable associations amounts to from 700,000 to 800,000, out of a population of 4,000,000—that is, nearly a fifth of the population.

USE OF ETHER IN SURGERY. A discovery of the very highest importance in operative surgery, and in practical medicine, has been made by Doctors Jackson and Morton, eminent surgeons, of Boston, in the United States. The following letter, published in the " British and Foreign Medical Review,"

gives a succinct account of this useful discovery :

"Boston, Nov. 29.

"I found on my arrival here, a new thing in the medical world, or rather the new application of an old thing, of which I think you will like to hear. It is a mode of rendering patients insensible to the pain of surgical operations, by the inhalation of the vapour of the strongest sulphuric ether. They are thrown into a state nearly resembling that of complete intoxication from ardent spirits, or of narcotism from opium. This state continues but a few minutes-five to ten-but during it the patient is insensible to pain. A thigh has been amputated, a breast extirpated, teeth drawn, without the slightest suffering. The number of operations of various kinds, especially those in dentistry, has been very considerable, and I believe but few persons resist the influence of the agent.

"The effect is not exactly the same on all. In some the insensibility is entire, and the patient is aware of nothing which is going on; in others a certain degree of the power of perception remains, the patient knows what the operator is doing, perceives him, for example, take hold of a tooth and draw it out, feels the grating of the instrument, but still has no pain.

66 There are no subsequent ill effects to detract from the value of this practice, none even so great as those which follow a common dose of opium. One person told me she had some unpleasant sensations in the head for a short time, and was weak, languid, and faintish through the day, but not more so

than she ordinarily was from having a tooth drawn. Another told me that he experienced something of the same kind, and, in addition, that his breath smelt very strongly of ether for forty-eight hours, and was indeed so strongly impregnated with it as to affect the air of the room in which he sat, so as to be disagreeable to others.

"One of our best operative surgeons informs me that he regards it as chiefly applicable to cases of the large and painful operations which are performed rapidly, and do not require any very nice dissection; but that for the more delicate operations, which require some time, he would prefer to have the patient in his usual state. But it is impossible at present to judge what will be the limits to the application of such an agent. Objections may arise of which we do not dream, and evils may be found to follow, which we do not now perceive. Still it certainly promises much in surgery, and perhaps may be capable of application for other purposes besides the alleviation of pain. Would it not be worthy of trial in tetanus, in asthma, and in various cases of violent internal pain, especially from supposed spasms? a

66

It was brought into use by a dentist, and is now chiefly employed by that class of practitioners. He has taken out a patent for the discovery, and has despatched persons to Europe to secure one there also; so you will soon hear of it, and probably have an opportunity of witnessing its effects.-Faithfully yours,

JOHN WARE."

To this letter is appended a number of cases in which the discovery was successfully applied. These consist of the extraction of

the molar teeth, amputation of the leg, &c. During these painful operations, the patients were insensible to pain. The discovery was immediately turned to use in the London Hospitals. Mr. Liston, at the London University Hospital, amputated the thigh of a man, and removed part of a nail in onychia (a very painful operation), the patients having been previously narcotised by the vapour of ether; and other successful applications have been made. The vapour does not seem to have the same effect on all patients, and some do not seem affected by it.

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28. COURT MARTIAL. This morning a Court Martial was held on board the Victory, at Portsmouth, to try Commander Frederick Patten, of Her Majesty's late sloop Osprey, 12 guns, and the officers and ship's company generally, for the loss of that vessel, on the western coast of New Zealand, in March last.

Some evidence was brought forward; but a simple statement of the circumstances of the wreck carried with it the exculpation of the parties under trial. There are two places on the coast of New Zealand, within fifteen miles of each other, known as True Hokianga, and False Hokianga. They resemble each other in so extraordinary a manner as to baffle the most experienced navigator. The coast has never been surveyed. The ship made the True Hokianga in the evening, and then stood off for the night; during which the weather became boisterous, and the Osprey drifted to the northward, opposite the False Hokianga. Commander Patten was not aware of the existence of the two places so exactly resembling one another. In the

morning he found the landmarks and compass bearings precisely the same as on the previous evening. A flag like that at Hokianga, was raised as a signal [probably by a native] in reply to a gun; Captain Patten appoached the land in full confidence; and the ship struck within three miles of the shore.

In his defence Commander Patten gives an account of the subsequent proceedings of the ship's company, so much to their credit, and affording so strong a contrast to the miserable scenes that followed a wreck in former days, that it is worth preserving. The gallant officer says:

Every effort was instantly made by bracing the yards round to extricate Her Majesty's sloop from her dangerous position. This, unfortunately, could not be accomplished, as the rudder soon became unshipped and the main boom carried away, which rendered the vessel unmanageable. The afterpart of the upper deck was also knocked up from striking the bottom with much force. Four feet of water being in the well, and the heavy rollers pouring down, I directed the mast to be cut away, the guns thrown overboard, and hatches secured down, which was most promptly and ably done, reflecting the greatest credit on the officers and ship's company, by whose energy the lives of all were saved at that critical period; and the Osprey being a new vessel, and very strong, fortunately held together. Being relieved from this important weight, and by keeping the lower stays fast, it assisted very much in dragging the hull nearer the shore, the heavy rollers forcing the mass of yards, masts, and sails before it. The starboard bulwark was then cut away, and with the

assistance of the spare topmasts, the pinnace was launched overboard with safety through a heavy surf. I opened a communication with the shore, which enabled the crew, with their arms and ammunition, to land in detachments from the bowsprit on the following morning. Not knowing whether the wreck would fall over on her broadside the following tide, or a gale of wind knock it to atoms from the exposed position, as much ordnance material and provisions as could possibly be got was saved that night, guarding against the numerous natives that assembled near us (the country being in a very unsettled and excited state); but fortunately they were amicably disposed, although previous to our departure thence a large tribe at night plundered a quantity of lead for warlike purposes, which with some difficulty I compelled them to return on making preparations to attack them.

"I trust, Mr. President and gentlemen of this honourable court, that the evidence laid before you will have shown that every exertion was made to save the vessel, also to heave her keel out of water to ascertain the extent of damage sustained, and to save nearly everything belonging to Her Majesty's service, including shot, tanks, ballast, and nearly all the copper off the ship's bottom, and 1800 copper bolts drawn from the hull, and transporting them through a deep sand of more than a mile in extent, which the surveys laid before you (taken by the officers of Her Majesty's ship Castor at Auckland) will certify. Having accomplished everything that could be effected during two months of the most indefatigable labour by the officers as well as the ship's company, and the provisions being expended, I