NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10832, 16 August 1898, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The news that the ancient town of Deal is threatened with submersion by the encroachment of the sea, as mentioned in one of our cable messages yesterday, serves to remind us of a fact in the physical history of the earth which is apt to he forgotten, or at least overlooked, namely, that change is constantly going on, however imperceptibly, and that the struggle of earth and sea is as ceaseless as the flight of time. On the whole, however, the earth is more than maintaining its own In this endless contest. A series of 30 marks was made, in 1851, on the Baltic coast, from Tornea to the Naze of Norway, and in 1884 these were examined by a commission of the Swedish Academy of Sciences. By these observations it was established tlfat the movement of elevation was contained in the north, and that of depression at the southern extremity of the peninsula. About Kalmar and Karlskrona no change of level could be detected as having occurred within recent years, But since 1750 it was proved that the head of the Gulf of Bothnia had risen at the rate of 1.170 metre per century. This rate of elevation declines progressively towards the south. It is not more than 0.30 of a metre at the Naze, and it is zero at Bornholm. The mean elevation of the Swedish coast is thus 1.60 metre per century. From these and a host of similar data, no doubt can exist regarding the rise of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and inferentially there was a period when the Arctic Ocean communicated with the Baltic. The Japanese Islands are also rising, and many districts around the Sea of Aral and the Caspian are ill a similar plight, according to evidence equally conclusive. In more southern regions data equally cogent are ready to our hand. Crete lias risen 17ft above its ancient level; the old Greek ports are high and dry; and limestone rocks, which the sea never touches, are to be found pierced by a species df shellfish which bores into stone, though, it may be added, so little can any law be formulated regarding these areas of elevation and subsidence that on the eastern side of the island the ruins of several Green towns may be seen under the water.

Marine shells far above the highest tidal I mark are found plentifully along the shores of South America, commencing at Terra del Fuego, and along the west coast for a distance of at least 2000 miles, and in patches probably as far north as the Isthmlis of Paha-' ma,' these evidences of upheaval being deposited at elevations varying, according to Darwin, from 300 ft to 1300 ft over the sea

i I i the rii«a &A beaches, Vvhich are ■&■ £3 to nsiiig of the land, are 1 tnd lot" only around the places already South America— at Coquunbo for example I and along rtirtny pArh of the shore' of Great ! Britain At Brighton, for instance, there is I specimen of this in the cliffs east of Kemptown; virile Robert Chambers wrote in Mabbhite work, mainly deschphve of tkse to be traced along the Scottish coasts at all heights up to 100 ft above the present , ea level Again- though belonging to life sa'liie class of jWßfc. the bleHt.oit of tk coast litre is indicated by caves, formed bj the constant dash of the waves, being found alohg the coAste of Scdtknd, hear Campbeltown, and Neill, in tiantire, for example, a places far above the reach of the sea, which leaves tl.b base of the cliffs in wll eh fc are excavated. In Natal upheaval is still ™ing bn, and the eastern boast of AfncA is generally bfelleved ttt be risilig; us ra < , oh the north-east, if hot oh the whole of the east coast, is rising. .Until a very ate period in the geological history of 'lasihan.a, the Site of Hflbartofrti was cdvered by the sea; and in New Zealand, though there is an atea of depression on the extreme north-fresterii point, the Mass of the land is rising.

the trial and conviction of Dr. Collins for causing the death of Mrs. Uziella by means of an illegal operation—the facts of the case have appeared in the columns of the Herald Supplement— served as a text for the London journals to preach some pertinent homilies on the morals of modern society. The case was a reinarkable one only by reason of the social position Of the victim, who belonged to what is known as the smart set in London society, and the cluttactet add career of the accused, who had been surgeon to ii distinguished regiment, and was a man of no ordinary ability. The Loltdon Times, in the course of a striking leader oh the ease, says that on commencing private practice in London, Collins became known by Common report, after a time, as the favourite doctor of a particular set of women, some of litem of high tank, most of then! aspiring to be "smart." Tile grounds of his popularity were more than suspected, but his secret, if lie had one, was actually known only to it few, and his career appeared to be successful and fortunate. All at once he was charged with having committed forgery ahd presently a Very ugly Story waS disclosed. Me pleaded guilty; but had the good fortune to be tried before a judge who thought it not improper to exempt him from punishment, and who simply ordered him to come lip for judgment if called upon. His name was removed from' the Medical Registrar, but this fact did not deter his fashionable clients from continuing to resort to him. In the meanwhile, although supposed to be ih large practice, he waS not prosperous in a pecuniary sense, and was compelled to become banknipt. It was believed that his considerable gains were heavily taxed in order to purchase the silence of people who could have given evidence against him. Perhaps the moSt extoofdinaly feature of the case (adds the Times) has been the "recommendation to mercy" of the jury. There are crimes which It would be impossible to leave Unpunished, but which, nevertheless, appeal to I hp universal woakenricsses of human nattlre. Most men are conscious that in certain circumstances they might themselves be hurried into offences by jealousy, by passion, by hatred, or by the desire to take revenge for injury; and it is therefore intelligible that those Who yield to such temptations should, in some measure, be felt to be proper objects of compassion. Tile crime of which Collins was convicted was purely sordid. For a certain sum of money he Was willing, as a matter of business, to destroy the lite of an unborn child, and to imperil the life of the mother. He could not do dither one bt the otter without violating all the traditions of a profession which has the preservation of life for its ntaifi object. Tile ohe plea which can be urged in extenuation of his conduct is that he was tempted by the women who made use of him for their civil purposes, and who, as Mr. Justice Grantham said in his summing up, would be equally guilty with himself. Even from tliis temptation a proper sense of professional dignity and responsibility would have preserved him. He must, have known iii what degree his calling Ms esteemed, or he himself, as a member of it, when he found that his patients were as ready to honour him with their confidence after tie bad been convicted of felony as before, and that a trifle of this kind scarcely at all affected his.position. How much they now care for the victim, as in a sense he was, of their selfish wickedness may be gathered from a story which is current, and which, if not true, is at least ben trovato. Soon after his imprisonment a lady of the class referred tJ was asked what she and her friends Would do, now that Dr. Collins Was no longer available. " Oh," was the reply, "we have found another man." All we can hope is that the " other jilan," if such there be, may not only speedily share the fate which has overtaken Dr. Collins, but that some of his patronesses may survive to stand in the dock beside him. Weak medical men may be induced to tread in the of Collins until a time comes when their would-be patients are made to realise that the law in relation to the murder of unborn children is no respector of persons or of sex."

Miss Marie Corelli lias at last broken through her splendid isolation, and has condescended to be "interviewed," just (is if she were no more than a professional beauty, or an ambitious actress. She told tile interviewer that sotno three or four years ago Mr. Gladstone paid tier a visit, and drank tea with her. The conversation "touched on a very wide range of subjects, on (ill of Which lie displayed a wonderfully intimate knowledge"—for instance, he thought Miss Corelli "pretty and good," that she could write " courageously find well," that in her work there was "a power working for good," that there was "a magnetism in her pen/' nil So forth. Aliiohg other things We leirn from this interview that Miss Corelli is fond of music, but that she hates concert and theatre-going. The latter is to this superior young person most disappointing. "It is not," she said to the interviewer, "as if we had any great actors worth seeing. They are, all mediocre. Irving is an artistic student of things dramatic and poetic, but lie is not a great histrion. Ellen Terry is nothing but a very graceful 'comedienne.' Forbes Robertson is, I suppose, our greatest rising actor, and I admire his voice and perfect elocution. But he never rouses me to the least emotion or enthusiasm! Do you really think," Miss Marie Corelli continued, "that there is anyone on the stage worth going out to see on a cold night, for instance, when your own room, with its blazing fire and cosy chairs, invitee you to remain and read books full of beautiful thoughts and classic wisdom ? I would l'ather stay at home with Camille Mammarion's latest volumes, or Clifford Harrisons admirable 'Notes on the Margin' essays, than see the most famous mime that ever pretended to be whit he is not, aided by grease-paint and fcfotlight-glare Do you call it an art? Well, I suppose it is, but you must own that it is on the lowest rung of the ladder. : Even monkeys inimiO men, and that is just all that actors do. Bib more they mimic, the cleverer the monkeys are. ; I like the real, true men; the imitations are irritating!" Mi Corelli we are afraid, is a confirmed dyspeptic. ' Now 'that peace has been ' concluded the Americans are beginning to count the tost of

the war. It is estimated that it W ; ready cost £30,000,000, and probably thi~ '• amount, large though it is, will be fan k?§igjj| to be colisidohbly under the mark. situation in Austria gives cause for ' anxiety. ... appears to be imminel'Mp anxiety. A crisis appears to he imminent over the vexed question of the renewal 'of the Ausgleicli. Count fisterhazj l las committed for trial on a charge of f or K ef The condition of the Pope is said to be critical. He is reported to be slowly dyi n A proclamation lias been issued by the Hit Commissioner of South Africa, against au expedition of Boers, which proposed to trek 'k' to North Zambesi on lands claimed by the * Chartered Company. A wreck, unliapffily st'cbompaiiied by serious loss of life, jjjj curred in Bass' Strait, l'lie American bar- ' quentine C. C. Funk, from Paget Sound to Melbourne, during thick and tempestiiolik weather, struck on Flinders' Island. In a „ attempt lo Ibwer the boats they werfe"'??. smashed, and the crew then took to the rijj. gihg, including the captain's wife and two children, who were on board. The Vessel llSftevei-, caitted, throwing tlleiii all into Ibj j. •'' < sea, and only two out of the ship's conipanj '" escaped, the others being drowned. -VlP"!