veracity, I should not refer to that letter.* I beg leave, however, here to state, that the unworthy manœuvre by which it was obtained, was simply the production of the Trésor itself with his name in it-when, and under what circumstances placed there, will appear hereafter-and that the letter was sealed by Mr. Henning, and, of course, so delivered to the Chairman on the same day, and has never since even been seen by me, or any other person connected with Lachevardiere and Co. I now proceed to the more serious charges. This correspondence, be it observed, was opened by a letter addressed to Mr. Lenor, mant, the Editor of the Trésor, who communicated with Messrs. Lachevardiere on the subject, and they immediately returned the following answer:

"Translation of a Letter from Messrs. Lachevardiere and Co. to John Henning, dated Paris, 11th November, 1834.

"Sir,-Mr. Lenormant has communicated to us the letter which you have addre sed to him, and in which you complain of the sale of our engravings from your reduced intaglios of the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon. The work is not sold in London on our account. The booksellers in Paris, who have a regular connexion with some of the London booksellers, have bought it from us without telling us any thing about the ultimate destination of the copies, and they are sold there on their account. We quite agree with you, Sir, that this property belongs to you, and that you are the only master and possessor of it, and we are therefore quite dis posed to do any thing that may be agreeable to you, to compensate in some manner a real disappointment to you, in which, however, we are not directly concerned. The publication of this work being now terminated, it would be extremely difficult to alter the text and to introduce your name, as the author of the reduced bas-reliefs, which we have employed. If, however, you attach great importance to it, we will do so, regardless of any expense which it may cost us. We can only offer you, to make up for the little injury, copies of this work, which you may distribute among your friends. If there be any other mode which you would prefer, only have the kindness to inform us of it,-we hope

"11, Seymour-place North, Euston-square, "July 7th, 1836.

"Sir,-Having been led to believe that a certain part of my evidence, given by me on the 21st of June, before the Committee on the British Museum, may be misconstrued, so as to imply a censure on th publishers, at Paris, of a set of engravings from my sculptures, after Parthenon and Phygaleian friezes, I consider it just to state to the Committee, that I am now in possession of a volume of that work, in which my name is introduced as the author of the reductions from which the engravings have been done, not only in the preface, but also in the index; this I find was done immediately on my complaining of the neglect, which I am now satisfied was unintentional. As I do not wish a false impression to go before the public, I beg that you will have the goodness to allow this to be inserted on the Minutes of the Committee.

"With the greatest respect,

"I have the honour to be, yourhumble servant, (Signed) "JOHN HENNING, Sen. "To the Chairman of the Committee."

†The reader will notice, that only one edition of the Parthenon has ever been published. But a second edition, with engravings from casts bought from Mr. Henning himself, will appear shortly, with the text in English.

we shall be able to satisfy you. We hold at your disposal, 1. Twelve copies of the collection of your bas-reliefs; 2. One copy on India paper; which we shall send you, free of expense, the moment we are acquainted with your address. Be so kind as to answer without delay, that we may enjoy the satis faction of making amends, as far as it may be in our power, for the injury which this publication may do you, although we cannot but repeat, we are not directly the cause of it. "We are, &c.

"LACHEVARDIERE AND Co."

Now, Sir, whether this was the reply of an honourable man, I leave to the decision of your readers. Mr. Henning thus described it:" Mr. Lachevardiere gravely replied, that the matter concerning which I had written was an affair with the publishers in London; but he very politely proposed to send me thirteen copies (one on China paper), and that they should be delivered free of expense. Liberal compensation, certainly!" forgetting altogether that the offer was conditional-it being left to him to suggest

66

any other mode of compensation which he might prefer." However, what Mr. Henning thought of it at the time, and before he had entered into the engagement with Mr. Bate, will best appear from his own letters:"Extracts from a Letter from John Henning to Lachevardiere and Co.

"Sir,-I received with much pleasure your letter of the 11th inst.; I am disposed to accept your offer of, 1. Twelve copies of the collection of basreliefs; 2. One copy on papier de chine-on which I will give up all thought of hindering the sale of your work here. My first letter must have convinced you, that I was more hurt at not being mentioned in your letter-press as the restorer of this very unique series of sculptures, than from any supposed injury to the sale of my own work, In fact, a gentleman having presented me with a copy, I surveyed it in a kind of delirium of pleasure, exclaiming at intervals, I wish that Mr. Collas had operated from more perfect casts !

....

"I was so struck with the general beauty of the work, that I accounted for some deficiencies (not distortions,) which I could not detect, as arising from defective casts which might have been used in doing the work, and this was a subject of regret to me... I have just learned that you have also published engravings from my Phygal ian sculptures. I would only now think of proposing to pub lish my hypothesis concerning the Centaurs. Amazons, and Lapithæ, and connecting it with your work, have it published at Paris first, but have it. announced that an English edition would be pub. lished at the same time in London by Longman's house. This would secure the copyright with you, it would secure it here. I do not mean to propose that the work should be published with your work, because that would lead to an infamous claim of eleven or twelve copies to be given to institutions which have abundant means to purchase.

(Signed) "JOHN HENNING, sen. "Lenton, 18th November, 1834."

"From Lachevardiere to John Henning. "We are in hopes that you have received the copies of the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon, which we have forwarded to you the 25th ult. We now ask for your permission to engrave by our machines, 1. Your reduced intaglios of the Cartoons of Ra

The first engravings were executed from casts bought in Paris from the Italian dealers in such commodities, at the current price of forty francs. Mr. Henning was paid 107. for the original casts, purchased after the publication had taken place.

phael; 2. The sundry bas-reliefs, of which you have likewise executed reduced intaglios, on the same terms as those that have been agreed upon for the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon. We shall then desire you to make your own choice of the best plaster casts. .. you will be so obliging as to send us all these things packed up with care, ........ and let us know the amount, so that we may remit it to you immediately.

(Signed) "LACHEVARDIERE AND CO. "Paris, 5th January, 1835."

Here the reader cannot fail to observe there is an actual treaty with Mr. Henninghis permission is asked to engrave his "intaglios of the Cartoons of Raphael, and the sundry bas-reliefs of which you have likewise executed reduced intaglios, on the same terms as those that had been agreed upon for the basreliefs of the Parthenon;" and if he consents, he is requested to select and forward the best plaster cast, &c.—and it will appear from the following letters, that Mr. Henning did select and forward copies of such of his works as he thought would serve the "purpose" of his correspondent, and in due course sent in his bill for them, which bill was paid :

"From John Henning, Sen., to Lachevardiere.` "Sir, Yours of the 5th inst. arrived of course, and custs have been made of my different reduced bas-reliefs, which shall be packed properly, that they may reach you in safety, of which I will inforn you on their dispatch The Transfiguration by Raphael is too large for your purpose I am afraid, but if it may do by separating it into two, you might do it as the others, in which case, however, I would empower you to secure the copyright of the bas-reliefs according to the law of France.

"London, 27th January, 1835."

From Lachevardiere and Co. to John Henning, Sen.

"We accept with much pleasure your offer respecting your reduction of the Transfiguration. It is our intention to publish some numbers of an extra size, and this plate will form a part of the collection..

....

"It is well understood that whatever you may think fit to send us will be accepted on the terms already agreed upon for the bas-reliefs.

"Paris, 12th June, 1835."

"From John Henning, Sen., to Lachevardiere and Co.

"My dear Sir,-I must acknowledge that I was very reiniss in not informing you of the safe arrival of the impressions of your engravings after the reductions of the Parthenon and the Phygaleian sculptures........ Your work is much praised, and after distributing in presents a number of those which you had the goodness to send, I have at present six or seven ordered. Particularly desirous to serve one of my friends, I waited upon Mr. Bailliere and got a copy of the four numbers. I paid twenty shillings for it, and caused one of my sons to hand it to the Duke of Norfolk at the same money. I have not a doubt that had you men tioned my name in your letter-press in the first instance, it would have had a great influence in promoting the sale. Your beautiful work has found its way into the first libraries in the land,

It is fairly to be inferred from this passage, that Mr. Henning knew at this time that his name had been inserted in the Trésor, and yet it was nearly twelve months after this letter was written that he gave evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons.

and I have not met with one of my friends who. enabled me to accomplish that work, which took me from seven to eight years, but who expressed a wish to have the engravings which you have done. I hope when you have done the Cartoons, that you: will not forget the name of the old Scotchman, and, I will do every thing in my power to promote the sale of your work among my friends here, at Edin-" burgh, at Glasgow, Liverpool, and to the chief promoters of art in this country to whom I am personally known. I am just going to see Mr. Fellman at his lodgings, of whom I will inquire at what rate I might be served from your house, that? I may have the opportunity of serving my friendswho might want them; of course I would take care. that they should be sold at the same rate that the printsellers, your agents, do here. I beg to present you with a glass impression of an intaglio done by one of my sons, who fell in the pestilence of 1832. I also send you a fac-simile of a letter from Canova, and with the kindest wishes for your success, I am, with the greatest respect,

(Signed) "JOHN HENNING, "London, 30th June, 1835."

"From John Henning, Sen., to Lachevardiere and Co.

"Dear Sir,-Yours, containing a bill of exchange on Coutts' for 11. 6s. 6d., arrived safer.... I immediately prepared a cast of the Transfiguration, and, as soon as it was dry, opened the case to see that all was right within. It was pleasant to find all well, and room for some little things besides the Transfiguration. I have inclosed impressions from two dies of my first work of intaglio engraving in steel. If they are of any use to you, I beg that you will keep to yourself the secret of whom you have got them, and you may have the other four sides....... While I am in a fever. about the safety of your case, I am surprised by a case containing two prints of Louis Philippe. I have to ex

.. ..

press my most cordial thanks for this mark of your attention. The execution is to my eye admirable; so much am I pleased with it, that I beg leave to ask if you would like to do a British design after this manner of our father shepherd, William IV. Let me know how I might be able to serve you here as regards the publication of the Cartoons and Transfiguration here. ...... I have had many applications for your engravings after my sculptures from the Parthenon and Phygaleian marbles. The ap plicants I have sent to Balliere. After I had given away all that you had the goodness to send me, I had occasion to apply for one copy, for a very par ticular friend. Now, if I could get them at what is called the dealer's price, I could often dispose of copies, as many have had my, who are wonderfully pleased with your work.

(Signed) "JOHN HENNING, Sen. "London, 29th March, 1836."

This is the last letter received from Mr. Henning, and here I am content to take leave of the subject. I cannot, however, but express a hope respecting the atrocious piracy of his son's work, that the reader will observe how it came into the possession of Lachevardiere and Co.tand as to the insult offered to his widow, it is proved, by the letters here given, that it was positively agreed on be tween the parties, that for leave to engrave from all intaglios sent by Mr. Henning, they should give him the same remuneration as for the bas-reliefs of the Parthenon, that is to

+ Mr. Henry Hering sent a second cast at his expense for the purpose of being engraved on his account, as the plate had been sold to him at a stipulated price.

say, copies of those beautiful works which he "surveyed in a kind of delirium of pleasure"

which his friends were "so wonderfully pleased with," that he proposed to become an agent for the sale of them (see letter of 26th March) if he might have them at the trade price-but which copies he now describes as "bits of paper that might cost the Company a shiling a-piece." However, this was a question in which the widow rather than Mr. Henning was interested, and as she desired to have money instead of copies, her wish was complied with, as appears by the following receipt:

"London, 24th Dec. 1836. -Received the sum of four pounds sterling in full of all demands on the score of real or supposed injury by the sale of a medallion engraved by Collas, representing the Canterbury Pilgrimage,' published by him and engraved by making use of a bas-relief executed by my late husband, Mr. Samuel Henning, after Stodhart's picture.

(Signed) "ANN HENNING."

I regret, Sir, to have been obliged to trou ble you at such length, but Mr. Henning's letters are the best answer to Mr. Henning, and essential to the justification of Lachevardiere and Co.

Yours, &c. VINCENT NOLTE.

GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IN FAVOUR OF THE ELECTRICAL THEORY OF THE

UNIVERSE.

Sir, I have read with considerable interest the observations of your several correspondents, relative to the Electrical Theory of the Universe; and from the arguments adduced on both sides, I am more and more convinced, that the general principles of that theory, when examined fully, and compared with geological facts, will be found to rest upon a good foundation. The principal feature of the theory is, that at one period of the earth's existence, it was attended by sevenal satellites, like the superior planets, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, which have been successively precipitated upon the earth's surface; and that which now accompanies the earth in its revolutions, will eventually follow the same course. Now the geological facts that have been already collected, give strong corroborative evidence of this opinion; some of these which have fallen under my observation, appear to give a degree of proof more full and satisfactory, than even those already submitted by the supporters of this theory. The present geological theories, it is well known, do not furnish consistent explanations of various important facts which have recently been

brought to light; for instance, how granite came to be deposited upon the inferior members of stratified rocks? how for a season, there appears to have existed a gradual increase in organic life-followed by nature, as it were, sinking into imbe cility, incapable of the production of animation-and again, with renewed vigour, animals and plants being created? Further, how it was possible for the waters to deposit organic remains at such altitudes as those in which they have been discovered? to what cause we are to attribute the imbedding of fish in the solid rock, some in the very act of swallowing their prey, and others with the undigested remains of their newly swallowed food; the conical heads flattened, even the teeth broken, and the remains of various fossil animals otherwise shattered? These ques tions, and others of a similar character, are wholly inexplicable by the theories of Werner, Hutton, and other modern geolo gists; but by the admission of the hypothe sis of the deposition of a satellite, they be come of easy solution. In the first place, with respect to the deposition of granite on the inferior members of stratified rocks, as found in the Western Alps, where, according to M. Elie de Beaumont, granite rests upon limestones equivalent to a part of the oolitic series; at the Montagnes de l'Oisans, and also at Predazza, granitic rocks rest on beds of the Alpine limestones, and dolomite plunges beneath them at an angle of 50o or 60°. The position of the granite in this instance cannot, I think, be accounted for by a volcanic eruption; for if there had been a flow of melted matter from the interior of the earth, it would have found, in the same manner as the lava of a volcano, its lowest possible level, instead of resting upon high and steep mountains. But if the deposition of a satellite be admitted, those parts thereof which formed the superior members of its strata, would rest upon all those strata of the earth at that time existing; consequently, the granite of the satellite would be superior to all the strata of the earth, and in many cases to the strata of the satellite. Such a convulsion would also tend to destroy life of every description within reach of its effects: hence, at this period, there would be fewer animals in existence; and as the increase in vegetation is more rapid than that of animals, so those strata formed immediately after the deposition, would contain more vegetable than animal remains. The elevation of

mountains, as well as the existence of fossils on their summits, may be accounted for in the same manner. We see in various parts of the world, extensive chains of mountains of great altitude, corresponding in number to the satellites which this theory supposes to have existed. Why may not these several chains of mountains, have been the places of deposit of particular satellites, and the fossil remains found on their summits the productions of these satellites, differing as they do from the species at present existing on the earth. That most curious and interesting phenomena-fish being found imbedded in the solid rock, in the very act of swallowing their prey-has not yet been ac counted for in a satisfactory manner. This occurs in that part of the strata called by geologists graywacke, whose characteristic feature is the impressions of fish, indi eating most clearly the dreadful turmoil which existed at their eutombment. At Mount Bolca, the most celebrated locality of fossil fish, the revolution which caused their entombment must have been sudden, for one specimen fish now in the gallery of the French Museum, belonging to the genus blochius, had not time before it died to let go another which it was in the act of swallowing. This fact has been reasoned upon, and its cause endeavoured to be shown, by several geologists, among whom is Dr. Ure, whose reasons I will give as a sample of those of others; he says, "in our climates when any fish (and especially one furnished with an air bladder) dies in summer, it remains at the bottom of the water for two or three days; it then rises to the surface before it be comes tainted, and falls to the bottom to rise no more, till putrefaction disunites its constituent parts." Hence, if some days had elapsed between the death of the blochius above described, and its getting impacted in the strata, it would have mounted to the surface, and thus it would have been separated from the fish which it was swallowing when arrested by the dreadful catastrophe. Other fish have been found in the same locality, in which are the bodies of others which had been newly swallowed; showing how quickly they had been killed after satisfying their appetites, even before the digestive powers so vigorous in these animals had time to dissolve their food. Those which we do find, must have been buried immediately after death in a bottem of sand or mud, which concealed them, and hindered them from

mounting to the surface. Dr. Ure also adds, in endeavouring to account for their being so suddenly imbedded, that "it is not unusual to find a great number of fossil fish in one district, as in Monte Bolca and other localities, where a volcanic eruption, or some other revolution, had killed all at once. In certain places, their remains occur lying on their belly, or lengthwise, with their fins and tails extended. These remains, in some cases consist of bones, spines, and scales, distributed in their natural positions. In others they are found in a constrained posture, suggesting the idea they had perished in boiling water; examples of which have occurred in the submarine vol. canoes of modern times. Lastly, in certain localities, as at Plattenburg, in the canton of Glaris, they are in a flattened state and covered with scales, but destitute of bony skeleton." Now does this reasoning of Dr. Ure account for the phenomena described? He allows and, moreover, proves, that they must have been buried immediately after death, inasmuch as they would soon be disunited by putrefaction, and the food they had swallowed would have been digested. He suggests the idea of their having been destroyed by boiling water, and, in proof, refers to the submarine volcanoes of modern times; a very ingenious mode certainly of accounting for their death - but how does this account for the formation of the rock in which they are imbedded? Does the rock present the appearance of volcanic action? Has it any of those features common to rocks of igneous origin, or have the strata immediately above or below it these peculiarities? Graywacke has not the appearance of a rock of volcanic or igneous origin, as it consists chiefly of argillaceous matter of a slaty texture, in which numerous frags ments of other rocks and stones are imbedded it, moreover, presents the ap pearance of a rock formed of the shiats tered parts of other rocks, consolidated into stone by the interposition of water; and if they were destroyed by volcanic influence, where and in what manner was the force applied to flatten them? The eruption of the boiling water must have been indeed sudden, when the poor fish had not the least intimation of its ap proach. Did ever Dr. Ure, or any of the readers of the Mechanics' Magazine, see a fish that had been destroyed by the ac tion of a modern submarine volcano,

while in the act of swallowing its prey? I think not; neither does it appear to me reasonable. But allowing the deposition of a satellite to have taken place, a cause can be assigned sufficient to account for this and other phenomena of a like kind. The fall of the satellite would be so sudden, and so little intimation given of its approach, that every thing in that part on which it fell would be instantaneously buried; and by the fresh accession of matter there would not only be a rise of the waters, but they would undergo considerable changes in their position, they would retreat from the place of deposition with tremendous force, carrying every obstacle with them; tearing asunder the prominent parts of existing rocks, and intimately mixing the fish which were in the waters with these masses of rocks and the sands which had previously been forming at the bottom of the ocean. What power of pressure must there not have been exerted, to break the heads and bones of fossil animals, such as, for instance, the head and jaw discovered at Maestricht, the heads of the palæotherium and anoplotherium found at Montmartre, and the head of the crocodilus priscus, whose conical heads are not only flattened, but even the teeth are forced out and broken. "If I may be permitted to decide," says M. Sæmmering, "from my own anatomical and pathological knowledge, I should say that this com pression of the head was not effected during the dry, friable, and brittle state of a skeleton; the injury appears rather to have been inflicted on the living animal, when the periosteum and top of the head could hold together the fragments of the bones, notwithstanding their crushed condition. Some attention, I think, ought to be paid to this circumstance Why these once very strong heads and teeth should now be so broken and dislocated." No answer to my mind is so applicable as the force of the satel lite, deposited on the earth: every thing must have yielded to it, and whatever gave only a comparatively small resistance, must inevitably have been crushed.

If these remarks are calculated to throw any light upon Mr. Mackintosh's Electrical Theory of the Universe, or to clear up any particular point, both Mr. Mackintosh and his supporters are welcome to them through the medium of your Maga žine. And if you should think them

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY
COMPANY.

Seventh Half-yearly Report.

The Directors since their last Report have entered into contracts for the works of the stations in London and Birmingham.

At the London end of the line near Camden-town, the Company have about 33 acres of land, intended as a depôt for the buildings, engines, waggons, goods, and various accessories of the carrying department of the railway. At Euston-grove they have a station of about 7 acres for the passenger traffic;. and both stations are connected by the extension-line. Passenger-trains are to be moved on this portion of the railway, by a stationary-engine in the Camden depôt, and locomotive-engines are to be employed on every other part of it. At the Birmingham end of the line the Company have a station of about 10 acres, which will serve both for passengers and goods. The arrangement of these stations, and the plans for the necessary buildings and machinery connected with them, have been maturely considered, and the contractors are under penalties that the various works in London shall be completed by June next (with the exception of the fa çade of the Euston station, for which three months more are allowed), and the works in Birmingham by November next.

The entrance to the London passengerstation, opening immediately upon what will necessarily become the grand avenue for travelling between the metropolis and the midland and northern parts of the kingdom, the Directors thought that it should receive some architectural embellishment. They adopted, accordingly, a design of Mr. Hardwick, for a grand but simple portico, which they cons sider well adapted to the national character of the undertaking.

The plans and specifications of the buildings at the intermediate stations are in progress, and the whole of this portion of the work will be completed against the opening of the railway.

The greater part of the locomotive-engines required to convey the trains of passengers and goods, and of the necessary carriages of all descriptions, are also contracted for, and will be delivered in succession as they are required to meet the wants of the Com pany.

2