and also in the finale of the first act, which deservedly received considerable applause. In the second act, there is too much parley and too little of regular vocal pieces, and, in these, want of good distribution and order is felt, so that some symptoms of languor occasionally intrude, which, with another Anna than Madame Pasta, might prove fatal.

Of that lady's representation of the arduous and paramount part of the unfortunate Queen, it is difficult to convey an adequate idea, except to those who have beheld her in her best characters, and in more than one alone. It seems as if the poet, after having witnessed the full display of Madame Pasta's genius in Medea, Desdemona, Nina, and Maria Stuart, had determined to concentrate in one character all the striking features of those parts, in order to give full scope to her wonderful histrionic powers-and he has completely succeeded in the attempt. Indeed the poet has done more for Anna Boleyn than the composer; for there is more of recitative than of regular singing in the part, and whether it be owing to the superlative execution of the former, or to the comparative weakness of the latter, Madame Pasta's declamation and acting have left a much more forcible impression with us than her singing in this opera. The part of Percy, less de clamatory and more melodic, is preferable in a merely musical sense, and afforded Signor Rubini great scope for the full manifestation of his highly-cultivated voice and talent, when unimpeded by an indisposition, from which he suffered, more or less, at one or two of the earlier representations. The pieces assigned to him are the best in the opera, and he sang them with that pathetic fervor and emphasis so peculiar to his style. A. Madame Gay appeared, for the first time at the King's Theatre, as Jane Seymour. Though above the ordinary height, and past the bloom of youth, her exterior is pleasing and lady-like. The voice, a genuine soprano, is agreeable and sufficiently powerful; its cultivation bespeaks a good school; her style, though somewhat French, is tasteful; and strong as the part is, she acted and sang it satisfactorily, and at times impressively. Mlle. Beck, in the page, had not much to do, but the little that fell to her share deserved approbation, especially the romance with a harp accompaniment.

Of Signor Lablache's exertions in the important part of Henry VIII. we cannot speak with much praise. His carriage, mien, and acting were any thing but kingly-and, but for the costume, would rather have suited a surly publican than the amorous tyrant. But non omnia possumus omnes! Those that have seen Signor Lablache as the deaf Don Geronimo, the Maestro Campanone, and in one or two other comic parts, will

still remain in his debt, in spite of the little satisfaction which most of his serious characters have afforded. In the costume alone Signor Lablache resembled Henry VIII., especially as regards the trim of the head, hair, and beard, which presented almost a facsimile of the royal bust.

The other novelty was Gnecco's comic opera, "La prova d'un'Opera Seria," compressed, unfortunately, into one act. Though not a new composition, it had never before appeared at the King's Theatre. It is one of those mistaken dramatic burlesques which lay open the secrets of the playhouse, and let us into the mysteries behind the curtain; a knowledge very destructive to our enjoyments before it. None are more taken with such shop-smelling things than the players themselves, little thinking of the wanton suicide they thus inflict on their craft; and as they know their own caprices and squabbles better than any body else, they are quite at home in this line of " business," and thus seldom fail to act marvellously well and true to nature. They enjoy the joke, and we cannot help joining in the laugh.

Such is the subject of "La prova d'un' Opera Seria," the music of which is not con. spicuous for originality, but extremely appropriate and replete with humour. The representation, moreover, yielded the interesting spectacle of beholding Madame Pasta, the Queen of Tragedy, in the broad comic part of the prima-donna seria. Madame Pasta, too, seemed to enjoy the joke; and to see her smile is worth going miles for. Her spirit and vivacity, carried even to the extent of skipping and dancing about the stage, were a novelty, a great curiosity; though the exhibition could scarcely astonish those who considered the extent of this lady's intellectual powers, and knew something of the land of mirth that owns her. Her scene with the Maestro Campanone (Lablache), and their duet, "Oh, guardate che figura!" shook the risible faculties of the most elderly and demure among the audience. Here, Lablache was in his element, and his humour proved equally, if not more, irresistible in the concluding scene, where he directs the orchestra. When a manager sees such comic excellence in one of his sujets, it would but be an act of charity to lock up the buskin for ever from his sight.

In the ballet department, no novelty whatever has occurred; the changes were rung upon "Kenilworth," and "La Bayadere," till the ringing was any where but at the caisse, especially while Taglioni's indisposition continued." "Masaniello" was therefore roused from its slumber in the repertoire.

Another new opera is announced for Sig

nor Rubini's benefit, but will be too late for this report. It is Bellini's "Sleep-walker," or "La Sonnambula," purposely composed for Madame Pasta and Rubini at Milan. What a pity there should be such a glut of novelties in the hottest and very last days of the season, which is to close on the 2nd of August! Opera matters this year seem to have begun at the wrong end, or rather ended as they ought to have begun; but we console ourselves with the old adage, "All's well that ends well."

"PSICHE."

(Azione Drammatica a più voci; poesia di S. E. Petronj; musica di Giovanni Liverati.)

In noticing, in our number for May last, the publication of the Terzett, "Son' finite omai le pene, pene," we expressed our regret at not having been able to attend a private performance of the above operetta of " Psiche," of which the Terzett in question forms a part. We have since witnessed a public display of the music at the benefitconcert of Signor Liverati, the composer, exclusively by singers who are, or have been, his pupils. The space to which the present report has already extended prevents any critical comment upon the numerous pieces comprised in this valuable work. Many of them evinced, in a striking manner, the author's taste, and the masterly grasp with which he commands his art; and repeated bursts of applause testified the gratification felt by the audience. But independently of the delight we experienced from the music, the spectacle of such a number of young vocalists, some of matured talents, others more or less advancing in their art, and the thought of all this collective skill being the work of one individual, filled our mind with a degree of pleasing emotion, in which those around us seemed fully to share.

The principal characters, Psiche, Amore, and Zeffiro, were assigned to the Misses Bruce, Palmer, and Absolon, and ably sustained by them. Miss Bruce, in particular, showed, to the fullest extent, the great effects to be produced by a sound and welldirected course of tuition. This lady is an accomplished singer, and, like many from the same school, does honour to her instructor.

The nature of this drama-one of the most able specimens of modern Italian poetry-confines the action almost exclusively to female performers-a circumstance which, except towards the close of the piece, deprived the composer of that essential variety of light and shade to be attained by an admixture of male voices. But even with its predominance of female parts, we make no

Aug. VOL. XXXIII. NO. CXXVIII.

doubt, that with the aid of scenery and costume, "Psiche" would meet with decided success on the stage.

The performance of this operetta was followed by a variety of other music, of the most classic description, executed by Madame Pasta, Madame Stockhausen, Miss Stephens, Signor Rubini, and other vocalists, supported by an orchestra of first-rate talent. Among the numerous pieces of this miscellaneous act, none made a greater impression than Madame Stockhausen's scena and aria, "Tacete, alfin godrete," expressly composed for her by Signor Liverati." This is a vocal gem, not surpassed in beauty by any composition of the present day; and to hear Madame Stockhausen execute it in her

pure, chaste, and truly perfect style, was an enjoyment not soon to be forgotten. Another feature of singular interest in the evening's entertainment, was the performance on the guitar of little REGONDI, a child of eight years! He played a theme, with variations of great difficulty, with a degree of apparent precision of execution, and an emphatic expression and brilliancy, which in a performer of mature years would have gained universal applause, and, at so tender an age, could not but excite sensations of astonishment and delight.

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MUSICAL PUBLICATIONS.

Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels. By Eliza Flower.

Illustrations are the fashion, and the motto aflixed to this collection so well describes the fair composer's object in thus giving "sweets to the sweet," that we must quote it:"Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away,

And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway,

The wizard-note has not been touch'd in vain." Lady of the Lake.

The collection contains fourteen airs, and it will be sufficient to interest all lovers of true harmony in their favour to say, that the composer's taste has been formed on the models of the old masters of song. "Lucy Ashton's" ballad is pleasing; "Norman the Forester's song" spirited; but "The Death of Madge Wildfire" is too long; it is longer, but not so varied as that collection of exquisite moods called "Ophelia's Songs;" and there is no light to relieve the darker shades; this, indeed, is the fault of the collection; they are generally of too sombre a character, and however delicious melancholy music may sometimes be, yet fourteen dismal airs, no matter how correct their harmony and perfect their science, are enough to throw one into the hands of the blue devils at any time. "Here's a Health to King Charles," is well conceived; but D is a harsh treble note to dwell upon, though the key (two sharps) is a good one for an animated movement: it is obvious that the lady's powers lie in the pathetic; at all events, we thank her for a collection which, we repeat, will yield gratification to all lovers of true harmony.

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Royal Society. Several valuable papers have been read at the meetings of this society during the past month. Among others the following:-a paper on the tides in the port of London, by Mr. Lubbock. The author remarks, that the tides in the river Thames are remarkably regular: whether the moon's declination be N. or S., no change takes place in tides generally; and it appears that there is high water at the same instant on the coast of Portugal and the northern shores of America. Two papers by Snow Harris, Esq.; the first was on the efficacy of screens in arresting the progress of magnetic influence. The author shows that every substance susceptible of magnetic change can operate as a screen; the screening power being directly as the mass and susceptibility of magnetic change. The second was on the effects of masses of iron in controlling the attracting force of a magnet: the author here endeavours to show that in the attracting phenomena ob served between a magnet and a mass of iron, the former is to be considered rather as the patient than as the agent.

College of Physicians. Dr. Francis Hawkins, the registrar, read a paper, in which Dr. Gregory, physician to the Small-pox Hospital, explained the grounds on which he had been led to form the conclusion, that the cause of the frequent failure of cow-pox to protect the constitution completely against the attacks of small-pox, is to be sought for, not so much in any imperfect performance of vaccination, nor in the nature of the variolous poison itself, as in the inability of cow-pox to render the constitution insensible to its own influence beyond a certain time. The shortest period in which Dr. Gregory has observed the immunity from cow-pox, in consequence of vaccination, to wear out, is ten years; and when the immunity ceases, it is reasonable to suppose that the constitution is left again obnoxious to small-pox; and Dr. Gregory is then in the habit of recommending re-vaccination. But in many instances the immunity, both from cow-pox and small-pox, lasts for a much longer period. And even when it ceases to exist in perfection, it generally has still sufficient power to mitigate the severity, and diminish the danger of small-pox occurring subsequently to vaccination. A paper was also read, communicated by Dr. Wilson, which was drawn up by the late James Wilson, Esq., at the request of Sir Joseph Banks, for the information of the Royal Society. In this paper were related the particulars of a case, in which the veins that usually supply the liver with venous blood for the secretion of bile, were found to enter the vena cava without passing through the liver, and this organ received

no other supply of blood than that furnished by the hepatic artery, although bile appeared to have been formed in quantity and quality the same as usual.

Second Report of the College of Physicians on the subject of the Cholera Morbus.-" In compliance with the farther wishes of the Lords of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council, that we should state in detail the reason of the opinion contained in our report, dated June 15, we beg to submit to their Lordships the following statement, observing, at the same time, that the information in the documents laid before us is deficient on some important points, particularly with respect to the description of the disease.

"Our knowledge of the symptoms of the disease called cholera morbus, in Russia, is derived entirely from a report drawn up by Sir W.Crichton, at St. Petersburgh, for the medical council at that capital, and from reports of medical practitioners in different parts of Russia where the disease had appeared. We have, however, no direct information from any Russian, or other physician, who had actually seen the disease. The remarkable facts attending its progress, and manner of extension over the vast tract of country in which it has successively appeared, are as follow:----It showed itself at Astracan, near the mouth of the Wolga, on the 20th of July 1830, immediately after the arrival of a vessel there from the port of Bakon, on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, on board which vessel, during the passage, eight men died of the disease. From Astracan, it spread itself in an eastern direction to Gourieff, and far up the course of the river Owrab; and at the same time proceeded northward, in a course following strictly the great line of river communication of the Wolga, affecting successively all the principal towns on each bank of the river, as far to the north as Yaraslov, and at dates corresponding with the ordinary rate of the navigation up this stream. The earliest deaths at each place usually occurred among the boatmen employed in the navigation.

"It is an important fact, that while thus ascending the couse of the Wolga in a north direction, it was contemporaneously convey. ed down the course of the Don in a southwest direction to the Sea of Azof, and to the coasts of the Black Sea; and details are given, warranting the belief that it was carried by personal intercourse across the neck of land which separates these two great lines of water communication.

"The disease appeared at Moscow in the first or second week of October, alleged to have been brought thither from Saratoff, an infected town on the Wolga. At Moscow it prevailed during the coldest months, hav

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ing first appeared in the south part of the Russian dominions during the hottest season of the year. Quarantine was established on the road from Moscow to St. Petersburgh. Upon this road the disease has never extended itself; but on another line of approach to St. Petersburgh from Saratoff, where no quarantine was established, the disease advanced as far as Tikhvin, within 160 miles of St. Petersburgh, where it appears also to have been arrested by quarantine.

"It is important to mention here that the Moravian colony of Sarepta, on the right bank of the Wolga, several German colonies in the Government of Saratoo (around which the disease raged with great severity), and the School of Military Cadets at Moscow, were exempted altogether from the disease; istrict precautions having been used in each of these several instances to prohibit all intercourse with the surrounding population.

"The mode of ingress of the disease into Podolia and Volhynia is not equally certain; but it appears to have followed the great Elines of communication between the southern parts of Russia and those provinces, and to have accompanied the march of the armies

in this direction.

"The disease appeared very early in May on the road between Posen and Warsaw, and in the army of the Grand Duke Michael; subsequently at Praga and Warsaw, and in the Polish armies. A report, drawn up by a Board of Health of Warsaw, and transmitted to the French Government, and athence to the English Government, gives a statement of the numbers infected during seven days in the hospitals of Warsaw and its neighbourhood.

"The latest accounts we have before us are those regarding the extension of the disease to the seaports of Riga and Dantzic on the Baltic, and the great mortality which has occurred in the former of these places.

"From the progress of this disease, uninfluenced by latitude or by seasons, through various districts of the Russian empire, following gradually the courses of great rivers and roads in other words, the general line of traffic and communication, and from the fact that different towns situated in its route were exempted from its visitations by establishing a system of non-intercourse, we are of opinion that the disease called cholera morbus, in Russia, is of an infectious nature. Our decision is corroborated by the opinion of Sir Wm. Crichton, of St. Peters burgh; by the measures taken by the Russian and Prussian Governments; by the statement of the English physician, Doctor Walker, sent from St. Petersburgh to Moscow, who, after much hesitation, decided peremptorily in favour of contagion; by that also of Doctor Albers, sent by the Prussian Government, who first entertained a suspicion that the disease was contagious, af

terwards doubted, and at last determined upon its contagious nature. We beg again to call your Lordships' attention to the circumstance that neither the statements of Doctor Walker, nor those of Doctor Albers, nor those of the report of the Committee of Health at Warsaw, contain any description of the symptoms of the disease.

"We have no evidence before us sufficient to decide whether this disease be communicable by merchandise or not; there are some statements which appear to support the latter opinion, but they are neither numerous nor distinct enough to convince us that this disease does not, and will not, observe the laws which regulate other infectious disorders. Should the Government be enabled to lay before us hereafter a more precise account of this disease, and a more enlarged statement, by which the propagation of its infection may be distinguished from that of other infectious diseases, we shall be very ready to re-consider our opinion. But until such information can be obtained by us, called upon as we are to consider the security of the public, we can give no other opinion with respect to the transmission of the disease by merchandise, than that we think the safety of the community will best be consulted by submitting merchandise to the usual regulations of quarantine; and we can at present make no other distinction of articles than is made by the law established for this purpose.

"Signed, on behalf of the College, by
"HENRY HALFORD, President.

College of Physicians, June 18, 1831."

Animal and Vegetable Life in the City.Dr. James Mitchell has recently given, at the City of London Literary and Scientific Institution, and at the Spitalfields Mathematical Society, some lectures, the objects of which were to call attention to many subjects of natural history that might be observed, even in large cities; and also to notice the effect of the air of a metropolis such as ours upon animal and vegetable life. He took all his instances from within the City, properly so called; since whatever life was found there, would afford proof that the living thing would subsist equally well in most

other towns.

In treating of the zoology of the City of London, he noticed first the domestic animals, and after having adverted to the creature of various qualities, which wears mustaches more gracefully erect than the greatest dandy of the Tenth-which has feet as agile as those of Taglioni-which, when at rest, sits as elegantly and demurely as a prude, and when it raises its hair in anger is like an irritated old woman-which, in disposition, is as crafty as an Italian, as patient and vigilant as a place-hunter, as cruel as the Spaniards towards the Indians, and yet forms an object of attachment to certain persons, to whom misfortune, or the injustice of the male sex, has not allowed more appropriate objects for the expenditure of their amiable sympathy-the felis domesticus, or common cat-he proceeded to notice the dog, and amongst these the varieties which were considered indigenous, the red and white lapdogs, spaniels, and others, which thrive well in the City. The number of dogs, and of curs especially, was generally deemed a nuisance; but although many of them might be dispensed with, yet a large proportion of them rendered valuable service as cheap cooperators with the police, in the protection of property; many belonged to persons living in courts and alleys, and who, unhappily, having no property to protect, nevertheless shared their scanty pittance with their four-legged friends. The poor man was not on this account to be contemned. Neglected, and too often at war with the world, having few pleasures allowed to him, his dog should in charity be spared to him, that the beneficent feelings and affections might not be totally extinguished in his breast.

In noticing the noxious quadrupeds that were found in the City, he adverted to the rats. He said that, in many parts of the country, the Norway rat has almost extirpated the ancient legitimate occupier, the English black rat, not so much by regular battle, as by depriving him, by his superior strength, of the means of obtaining a living; but this was not the case in London; for in certain distilleries and breweries both the brown and the black rat were to be found on the same premises. The metropolis of the rats, Ratopolis it might be called, was assuredly the common sewers of London. In them the rats lived as in streets, and from thence the levies were made in thousands for the supply of the ratticides at the pit or circus at Westminster.

It is stated that, a few years ago, four prisoners in Newgate, under sentence of death, managed to descend from the watercloset into the sewer, having formed the daring project of proceeding along it until they got to the Thames; but by the time they got as far as Fleet Market, they were beset by such legions of rats, who furiously set upon them to revenge the invasion of their dominions, that the unhappy men were compelled in their agony to scream for assistance, and people having heard them, opened the gratings and hoisted them up when they were conducted back to the place from whence they came. The men who enter the sewers to clean and repair them carry lights, and are in too great force to be attacked.

Ornithology of the City of London. The sparrow and the swallow manifested their ancient attachment to the abodes of men by coming to the City in great numbers. The

London sparrows were often as sooty and black as chimney sweeps. Their favourite abode for building their nests was within the foliage of the capital of Corinthian columns and pilasters. The lecturer stated that sparrows build within the mouth of the lion at the top of Northumberland House. The benevolence of some, and frequently the cruelty of others, placed pots on the sides of houses for their reception. Dr. Johnson marks with his abhorrence one man who did this. The sparrows, not knowing the character of the man with whom they had to do, built their nests in his pots. It was disgusting to hear the fellow express his delight at the prospect of making pies of their young.

The martin (hirundo urbica) arrived in this city in the spring, built its nest, brought up its young, and in due season disappeared, proceeding, probably, to the interior of Africa; but this was an unsettled point. Thousands of swallows and martins were seen assembled on the tops of warehouses near the Thames, and in a few days they all disappeared.

The jack-daw (corvus monedula) built its nest in the tower of St. Michael's church, Cornhill. The rook, from its garb-some say its disposition-and in its gravity of carriage and demeanour, has ever been regarded as a sacerdotal bird. Anciently, many of them had good livings in the City of London, where they lived undisturbed by those dissenters, the farmers. They had, however, suffered much in these troublous and innovating times. A few years ago, London might number amongst its inhabitants an unchartered company of rooks, who occupied by prescriptive right the boughs of the great plane-trees of St. Dunstan's in the East; but being disturbed during the building of the Custom-house they took their departure, and had not since deigned to return.

A few years ago, a crow, with his fair lady, intending to confer upon London the honour of making his progeny genuine native citizens, by being born within the sound of Bow-bell, more securely to effect his object, actually built his nest between the wings of the dragon on the top of the steeple, from which, with calm philosophic dignity, he might look down on the scene of human ambition and vanity below. The place was well selected for security, as the head of the dragon always pointed to the wind, and the two wings protected the nest on each side. The place was also sufficiently capacious; for the body of the dragon is almost as large as that of a horse. A gentleman, who was more an amateur of projectiles than of ornithology, with much bad taste, amused himself by shooting balls at the crow from an air-gun-but between the wings of the dragon he sat, and defied the vain attempt. Unfortunately the steeple required repairs, and the scaffolding and workmen disturbed