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    THE LYRIC DRAMA . Co vent Garden . —On Tuesday La Gazza Ladra was revived with a powerful cast , and went off with amazing spirit , which began with an encore of the piquant and picturesque overture , finely played . The attraction of the evening was Ronconi's " Podesta "—a novelty in all sense to the English , audience , and one of the finest examples of comic

    acting to be seen . Essentially differing from the version given by the great Lablache , it was , to our tastes , even superior to that well-known impersonation ; more artistic , more coherent , and truer in conception . Lablache makes the " Podesta " a jovial , luxurious old fellow , full of lazzi and roguish geniality , suddenly changing to a malicious and malignant scoundrel , without any of those gradations which could render the transition credible . Ronconi from

    first to last never lets the character slip through his grasp ; he enters a thin , wizen , impotent , scheming , and unscrupulous villain , and he remains such throughout . His love-making was sublimely odious : the very incarnation of impotence and non-success . You saw underneath that grinning amiability all the thin ferocity of his malice . And even in his opening scena , " II mio piano e preparato . " which he sang to perfection , instead of the chuckling joviality - Lablache throws into it , he showed the catlike cruelty of his nature . The look and shake of the forefinger

    accompanying the words " Efalirenon potra' were most significant , and fully prepared the burst of triumph on the crescendo of " rinvigorito , ringalluzzito , ringiovinito , trionfero I" It was indeed a great performance throughout . Madame Castellan was to have Oeen •? Ninetta , " but " sudden indisposition" was pleaded , and Grisi took the part . Alas ! she is no longer the Giulia Grisi who fifteen years ago enraptured all London with her lovely face , magnificent bust , and incomparable voice , fresh , and vigorous as that of a lark

    ** Singing of summer in full-throated ease . ' Nothing then could surpass her " Ninetta : " singing , acting , appearance , all were things to dream about throughout a lazy summer-day . When we remember what she was , we are lost in amazement at the shameless effrontery of the critics who sing in a chorus the monstrous absurdity that she is as fresh in voice and as enchanting as ever ! Grisi is still Grisi ; a fine artist , who has been a magnificent singer ; but her art now mainly consists in concealing the ravages of Time . The freshness and the glory of her voice are gone beyond recal . To compare her is like her than

    with what she was comparing more matronly appearance with the beauty which once ravished all eyes . It is to degrade art thus to promulgate such fulsome absurdity . Having made this protest , let us hasten to add that Grisi played with all her accustomed excellence—simple , joyous , loving , and passionate ; and in the two groat finales was , perhaps , as fine as ever . Her singing is still remarkable , but the gush and exuberance of the *• Di piacer , " whieh formerly she sang as no one ever sang it , were feebly rendered , and she seemed only struggling ngainst difficulties . Oh ! why did we see Giulia Grisi thus inferior to our memory of her !

    " I had a vision of my own ; ' Oh ! why did I destroy it ?" Mario eang with great energy and efi ' ect ; Mile . Meric made an agreeable Pippo , " and Tamburini , as Fernando , " acted us finely as of old , and sang finely in parts , especially in the grand trio and in the finale to the second act—but he has a tendency to slobber ( wo know no other word ) his florid passages , which greatly mars the effect of his singing . How fresh and instinct with life the music is

    what an eternal youth , and what animal spirits m those melodies , any one of which would make the fume of a modern composer I Rossini , after Verdi or Halovy , is like the pulsations of vigorous life which runs through the frame , on escaping from the hot and sickly attempt at rurality in the patches of garden , and training scarlet-runners of suburban spots , into the broad plains and headlands of the open country . In careless prodigality and inexhaustible life ltossini resembles Shakespeare , and like Shakespeare was at first poohpoohed by all the " classical " critics .

    1 / ic rrophi-. tc . On I hursday Madame Viardot made her entree in her greatest creation , Fides . There is no need to speak now of the magnificence with which the Vrophite is placed upon the stage , nor of the essentially theatrical ( in a good and ill sense of the term ) quality of the music . There is , perhaps , less of the mechanical in this opera than Lrs Huguenots , but there is also less melody . Its superiority is greatly owing to the superiority of tho libretto , which

    is really picturesque and dramatic , and has stimulated Meyerbeer to grand choral and orchestral effects . Several novelties in the cast called for notice . There was Madame Castellan , in lieu of Catherine Hayes , as " Bertha" ( her original part ) ; Formes , in lieu of Marini , as " Zaccharias ; " and Maralti as " Gione . " Madame Castellan is a pretty woman

    and an improving singer , but her acting is all pulled by wires , and that not adroitly ! It is curious and instructive to notice the French pettiness of her manner beside the largo of the Italians . Formes was picturesque and sombre as ' * Zaccharias , " with an occasional lapse into his fault of bawling , but , on the whole , a decided improvement upon Marini . The sepulchral tones of his voice in the lower register had a ghastly effect .

    Mario , though a little hoarse , was magnificent as " Jean of Leyden , " singing the great finale to the second act with thrilling vigour , and , as he exclaimed— " Ed il monte a noi di seg-ni Bella gloria del Signor ! " his whole frame seemed swelling with the fanaticism he inspired . In , the great scene of the third act , where he disowns his mother , and bids her unsay her words , he played with an intensity we never believed him capable of . Over his handsome face the

    hurrying emotions passed like the swift clouds over a stormy sky ; and his look of mingled sternness and love , the love breaking thi-ough the sternness like beams struggling through a thundercloud , was in the finest spirit . We cannot say more of his acting in this scene than that it was worthy of the trying situation , and was not crushed by the unparalleled intensity and truth of "Viardot . To her , indeed , belong the honours of the night . She shares with Rachel the tragic crown ; a more impassioned , thrilling exhibition of the exaltation of despair , and the forlorn abandonment of hope is not

    to be seen . When her son disowns her , she wraps herself in her despair , with a look and gesture that make the nerves quiver ; and she renounces him with such an agonized cry , with such withering , heart-wringing intensity of vroe , that the audience is moved to the very ecstacy of emotion , and the roar of applause which burst forth was deafening . She was m excellent voice , and sang with her usual daring and sticcess . Her call at the end of the third act was a curious illustration of the effect created on an audience by tragic intensity ; it reminded us more of the frenetic enthusiasm of Italy than the " coldness" with which our country is reproached .

    With llonconi and Viardot this theatre may now boast of two consummate artists .

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    IlESriKATiON . —MM . Iiegnault and Keisct have published investigations on the respiration of animals ; among some of their conclusions are to be found the following : — Animals fed on their ordinary food constantly give out nitrogen , but seldom more than- one per cent , of that which is consumed . The heat of the body depends on the burning of carbon and hydrogen ; but it cannot be well calculated , as the compounds containing these elements are not entirely consumed , but pass into other compounds . The amount of vital air or oxygen consumed varies with the amount of exercise and with the state of digestion . Young animals took more than old ones , and lean animals took more than fat ones .

    Small sparrows and goldfinches took ten times more for the bulk than hen ' s . The warmer-blooded animals give out infinitely small quantities of ammonia , and gases containing sulphur . Dormice actually increase for awhile to a small extent in weight by absorption of air : they consume very little when dormant , but at the moment of waking they consume a great deal , and become warm . An animal during hy her nation can . live in an air which kills one in an active state . They consider that miasma , if it exists in the air , must be in very small quantities , and seem not to attach much importance to it as affecting the life of animals .

    Reasons for Cj . eanli n ess . — " Though no animalcules can be found in the saliva , great numbers of different kinds may be discovered in the whitish matter which accumulates between the teeth , if it be picked out with a pin or needle , mixed with a little rain-water , and placed under the microscope . Sometimes they are so incredibly numerous , and so full of motion , that the whole mass appears alive . Some of all the three kinds may be found pretty constantly in the matter taken from between the teeth , especially from between the grinders , even of those persons who wash their teeth continually and clean their teeth with the utmost care ; but from the teeth of people who arc more careless , tho said matter affords another sort of animalcules , in the shape of eels or worms .

    These move themselves backwards and forwards , and force their way through the minute animalcules , every where around them , with the same ease as a large butterfly would break through a swarm of gnats . " This is from Baker on the microscope , now an old book ; but from recent observers we hear that the teeth have not yet improved . We must , in fact , be constantly on the watch ; the forces of external nature are continually fighting against us , and we must so take care of ourselves that our vital force will get the better of all opposing forces , whether it be the sudden decomposition induced in the system by a plague or the insidious evils produced by want of cleanliness . As Liebig remarks , man is a balance between two forces , chemical and vital , each one striving to have the upper hand .

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    order . Alehouses and clubs are less frequented ; the home more beloved , and the readings m the family circle during the autumn and winter evenings give a new delight and a new interest to family life . — Lredenka Bremer's Easter Offering .

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    306 Q&fyt & £ && £ ?? [ Saturday ,

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    MUSEUM OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY . Tub new museum in Piccadilly and Jermyn-street is an object worth the attention of those who look at sights , and also those who like to see something done by the Government for Science . The geologists have had more of the patronage of the Government than others who "have had an equal station in natural philosophy and history . The survey does , however , offer so many important advantages to the country that no one will grudge them even more favour . The mines in England have been worked

    with no knowledge as to their capabilities , they have been filled up , too , and no record has been kept of what has been done ; unfortunate men have sunk a shaft into an exhausted and filled-up mine and been disappointed . The first difficulty will be obviated by the extensive knowledge now gaining by the staff of officers now in the museum , and men need not now sink for coal , or copper , or any other substance , without some idea of what they are about . The wonder , however , is that , when so many important districts in Lancashire and Yorkshire are waiting for examination , these

    supports of our manufacturing interests should be left . Perhaps it is supposed that the northern people can take care of themselves , and , indeed , this is not far from the truth . The many shafts sunk have given us a knowledge of geology which could not have otherwise been gained , unless men had thrown away their money on grand mistakes ; they have also by such ignorance obtained valuable products which all theory would have asserted to be absent entirely from the district . The museum , however , is well worthy of attention j our native products may be seen , and marbles in agreeable forms make geology somewhat graceful .

    The entrance is free , but we must confess it is forbidding . There is a large door with no handle , somewhat like one attached to a gaol . There is a great bell-handle fixed in the wall at some distance from the door , which can only , by a process of reasoning peculiar to men accustomed

    to observe systematically , be supposed to be connected with the mode of entering the establishment ; and , when you pull the mighty handle , you feel that you have performed a feat . A loud peal , is heard , and you really have blown the horn which wakes the giant ; you somewhat fear the opening of the door and speculate as to your reception . Probably when all is in order inside , this door will be left open during the day , and the public will be invited by a more courteous entrance . The hall of the Museum is fine ; the whole has a cheerful look , and one feels that here at least science has been treated respectfully .

    There is also a lecture-room : it is this part of the building which will perhaps be the most important . The studies to be followed will , in all probability , be confined to the objects of the institution , and the industrial resources of England carefully made out . One only feels sorry that this is to be done when England has already made so much of her advantages ; and one is apt to fear that the institution , coming so late , will be in a great measure an exposition of the present state , and a memorial of the things done in past time . If

    even this be all , it will be well : the practical science of this country has not been written , and has not been explained in any institution , except in detached portions . The mining records of the nation , which it will be the part of the institution to keep , must tell a wonderful tale of enterprise , where the captains of industry have fought against the difficulties of an underground campaign , and the soldiers have risked their lives against enemies far stronger than their more gaily-dressed brethren that fight on the surface of the earth are generally called on to encounter .

    In building a place for scientific men , mineralogists , geologists , palaontologists , chemists , miners , &c , it is to be expected that everything should be done in a complete manner . As an exercise of invention and ingenuity , nothing offers a better field than a chemical laboratory ; and here there has really been a great step made in adding to the many conveniences of a chemist . These have been worked out by the architect and by the chemist to the institution , Dr . Lyon Playfair ; under whose care the important science of chemical geology , so to speak , will , no doubt , emerge from its present obscurity .

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• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 22, 1850, page 306, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1843/page/18/