asunder the fibres_ of the longitudinal
supporters. No wooden bridge can be built of so great a span. Mr.
Remington believes that he can build a span at least 1320 feet in
length, while the span of the old wooden bridge at Fairmount, near
Philadelphia, which was one of the largest in the world, was but little
over 300 feet. The annals of mechanical art afford few instances where a
great invention has been developed and prosecuted under apparently more
adverse circumstances.

* * * * *

NEW PLANET.--The _Tempo_, of Naples, publishes a letter from M. Leopold
Del Re, Director of the Observatory at Naples, announcing that the
celebrated astronomer, Don Annibale de Gasparin, late discoverer of the
_Igea Borbonica_, has discovered a new telescope planet, being the ninth
between Mars and Jupiter. It is a star of the ninth magnitude, and is at
present in apposition with the sun.

* * * * *

IN SURGERY.--A correspondent of the _Lowell Courier_ claims for the late
Dr. Twitchell, of Keene, the honor of successfully tying the carotid
artery several months before Sir Astley Cooper made the attempt. The
latter has always had the credit of being the first to achieve this
extremely difficult and dangerous process.

AUTHORS AND BOOKS.

The Rev. THOMAS H. SMYTH, D.D. of South Carolina, whose work upon the
Unity of the Human Races, suggested by the recent declarations of
infidelity, by Professor Agassiz of Harvard College and others, has been
published by Putnam, and received with a hearty applause by Christians
and scholars, is not, as is commonly supposed, an American author,
though he has long resided in this country. He was born in Belfast, in
the North of Ireland, and educated at the Royal College in that city,
pursuing afterward his theological studies in London, and at Princeton
in New Jersey. He has been eighteen years minister of the Presbyterian
church in Charleston, where he was married, and where he will probably
always reside, while in this country; but his liberal fortune and
inquiring spirit tempt him to frequent travel, and he is now absent upon
a tour which will probably be extended to Nineveh and all the most
interesting scenes connected with the history of religion in the eastern
world. Dr. Smyth possesses one of the largest and most valuable private
libraries in the United States, and has therefore been able to compose
his learned works in th