are then handed over to one of these gentlemen,
who begins dancing, and his perspiration
mingling with the butter, gradually converts
the pelt into leather. Mahogany dust is now
introduced, which completely clears away any
superfluous grease. This done the skins are
taken out, opened, and handed over to the
flesher. Here he is." The person alluded to
had just come tumbling in the most professional
manner down the open throat of the cellar, to
avoid the trouble of the staircase. He said,
"Good morning," and at once took a seat
where he got full benefit of the daylight. An
upright post stood before him, into which was
fixed perpendicularly a knife about a foot and a
half long. The edge was turned from him. He
took up a skin perfectly flat and soft, but
which looked far too wide to have belonged to
a coney. Having further stretched it by giving
a sideway tug or two, he brought its pelt against
the blade, and in a few minutes had pared off
the whole of the outward integument, thus
exposing a most delicate leather, equal to any
dress kid. The skin was now ready for dying;
a process usually managed off the premises.
The dyer generally is some German living in
the neighbourhood of Whitechapel or Bethnal
Green. In a few days it finds its way back to
the dresser so completely changed that not even
a rabbit—- much less any lady—- would understand
it to be a rabbit skin. Now it passes
into the hands of the manufacturer of collars,
cuffs, tippets, muffs, &c., and very soon appears
behind a sheet of plate glass, ticketed "Mock
Sable," " Mock Neutre," &c., or without the
prefix "mock." People who fancy that they
know the real article when they see it, might
be taken in by a mock sable, no one could
possibly be deceived by mock ermine. That is a
complete mockery. It is attempting too much.
It is like trying to palm copper off for gold. A
child might see that mock ermine is only white
rabbit skin, though everybody may not know
that the little black tails which ornament its
surface are not tails at all, but made of strippings
from the legs of black rabbits.

       THE ECLIPSE SEEN IN INDIA.

IN number four hundred and eighty-four of
our last volume, we gave some account of what
might be expected from the then coming eclipse,
looking at it from the French scientific point of
view. As the event was followed by two very
remarkable circumstances, we now relate briefly
what occurred according to the same authorities,
and notably that of M. Henri de Parville. There
is no need to remind the reader of our neighbours
natural and honourable jealousy as to
their priority in any discovery.

When the mission charged by the Minister
of Public Instruction with observing the eclipse
of the 18th August last, embarked at Marseilles,
M. de Parville wrote: "Most of the European
governments are sending missions to Hindostan
and the coast of Siam. It is fortunate that
French astronomy will be represented at this
sort of competitive meeting to be held at the
extremity of Asia, and of which the eclipse will
be the principal object. It affords an excellent
opportunity of proving that our astronomy has
been calumniated, and that it is capable of
occupying, now as formerly, the foremost rank in
the world. Our anticipation has been fulfilled.
France has brilliantly confirmed her
preponderance. Henceforward, there is connected
with the French mission to India an ineffaceable
souvenir, a striking discovery, which will mark
an epoch in our astronomical annals. The
learned world owes it entirely to M. Janssen,
the envoy of the Minister and the Academic des
Sciences."

Let us now state what this discovery is. Until
very lately, it cannot be denied, we had very
incomplete notions respecting the physical
constitution of the sun. Strange enough, from a
distance of ninety millions of miles, more or less,
we weighed it, calculated its superficial area,
determined its enormous volume, fixed the time
of its rotation on its axis, but what this dazzling
sphere was, no man could tell—- whether a solid
or liquid globe, or merely a balloon of white-hot
vapours. To increase our perplexity, on its
brilliant disc towards the centre black spots
were noticed here and there, whose configuration
changed ceaselessly. They revolved with the
sun, and sometimes appeared in considerable
numbers. It was calculated that some of them
occupied a space four times the total surface of
the earth. Their diameter sometimes exceeded
thirty thousand miles, that of the earth being
eight thousand only. Consequently they
presented abysses in which the earth itself would
make about the same figure as a big stone thrown
into a well.

It can hardly be wondered that the spots on
the sun set astronomers' imaginations to work.
Fontenelle's ideas respecting the plurality of
worlds still retained their hold on many minds.
Every star and planet must be habitable. The
sun was peopled with inhabitants. It has
already been told how the sun was enveloped with
atmosphere over atmosphere, one screening its
surface from insupportable glare, another
radiating light and heat to the outer universe. The
sun's spots were rents through these overlying
atmospheres, allowing us a peep at the solid and
shaded solar surface beneath. Great men, like
Herschell and Arago, believed in or accepted this
hypothesis, which we now feel too complex and
ingenious to be true.

It has also been told how Bunsen and
others, by spectral analysis, i.e. by examining
the spectrum cast by a prism, enabled us to
glance into infinite space and scrutinise the
materials of which the stars are made. There
does not, in fact, exist a substance which,
when burning, does not send us its own distinct
luminous note. Our eye, unfortunately, is
unable to appreciate their differences. That
organ, inferior to our ear, fails to catch the
shades of this glittering music; there are
chromatic scales which it cannot seize. Nevertheless,
by a clever artifice, the difficulty is got
over to some extent. The eye is enabled to