CHRISTMAS SIGHTS.
The Christmas season of 1861 has been not very fruitful in novelties in that department of supply which is the more special demand of the time. The places of amusement open in London, never otherwise than nu- merous, are naturally all the more so now, and in a state of more active vitality ; but they remain, with few exceptions, the same as heretofore, or present only some accessory features of renewal—some furbishing- up for the occasion, enough to warrant a fresh appeal to the public, of augmented force, without important change of programme. The Panorama; Dioramas, Cycloramas, Polyoramas, Cosmoramas, Diapho- ramas, and what not, are in the ascendant ; the hold of this form of en- tertainment upon sightseers evidently growing firmer year by year.
Foremost among the novelties is an addition to Mr. Burford'a pano- ramic views—a panorama of the excavations conducted by Dr. Layard is the mound of Nimroud. The picture discloses a part of the city of Nine- veh ; and we trace the windings of the Tigris within the boundary of the Chaldean and Kurdish mountains. The vast scale of the picture brings all the details of the scene prominently forward; while the relative situ- ation of the reclaimed portions of the ancient city, and the general aggre- gate amount of work hitherto accomplished, appear in the comprehensive unity of this representation, with more clearness than is attainable in any other method. The views of the lake and town of Lucerne, of Niagara, and of Jerusalem, continue standing attractions at Mr. Burford's exhibition. Meanwhile, the diorama of Nineveh, and the scenes of Dr. Layard's la- bours, painted by his companion Mr. Cooper, and open elsewhere for several months past, draws to a close.
The same fate is announced as at last impending over the joint dio- ramas of the Overland Route and the Crystal Palace as a Winter Garden; the former of which, in its well-deserved and prolonged popularity, seemed to have grown almost into a permanence. But it yields to the siege of no less a general than the Duke of Wellington—a record of whose achievements is announced to supersede it Of the Holy Land, the very large and complete diorama by Mr. Bart- lett at Hyde Park Corner, and that at the Egyptian Hall, continue open. Hindostan is installed in Baker Street; Egypt and the Nile, together with Nubia and Ethiopia, in Pall Mall, with "pyramids, sphinxes, temples, palaces, statues, and tombs."
The seekers after pure (but farfrom dryer unattractive) educational pro- fit, find it largely provided for them by the Great Globe of Mr. Wyld ; il- lustrated, as it now is throughout the day, by lectures, and associated to a most various and extensive collection of every kind of means and appli- ance for studying geography in all its senses. Books, maps, models, and specimens, fill the approaches to the globe itself: here it is a model of Mont Blanc, Tintern Abbey, or a new Westminster Bridge ; there, a case of geological specimens. It is difficult to say of how enlarged and lasting benefit Mr. Wyld's noticeable enterprise may prove ; to the search of how many and diversified fields of inquiry it may be made to minister ; or of how many scientific purposes and projects it may be adopted as the nucleus.
It is rather late in the day to talk of the Colosseum and the Polytechnic Institution : yet it is impossible to take a survey, however general, of the miscellaneous entertainments of London, and more especially of Christmas entertainments, without contemplating these as fixedly in the foreground. The truly extraordinary panorama of London by day at the former, and the more eye-catching Paris by night—extraordinary for scale, accuracy, and completeness—amply merit the high reputation they enjoy : and similar praise extends to the great moving picture of the Earthquake at Lisbon, which all pleasure-makers will do well to visit at once, as it is advertised to vanish with the Christmas holydays. At the Polytechnic, Dr. Bachhoffner lectures on the philosophy of scientific recreation ; and Mr. George Barker (somewhat slipshodly, it is possible) on English song, with specimens,—a selection being made apposite to the season : the dis- solving views —first-rate of :their class—and the microscopic marvels, remaining en permanence.
If art is wanted, there is the gallery in Pall Mall, with its " sketches and drawings," to resort to: if mesmerism, with a problem to solve, M. Lassaigne and Mademoiselle Prudence Bernard at Hungerford Hall: if electro-biology, the lectures and experiments of the Reverend Theophilus Fiske, in Leicester Square : if conjuring, Hungerford Hall again, and M. Langlois,—or, even better, the great Robin, Olympian bouquet, fan, bed- feathers, gold-fish, and live-stock-compeller ; who has added some dis- solving view; with peculiar effects of his own obtaining, to the well- known features of his "Soirees Fantastiques." If you are a Kossuthite —or perhaps the sight will be more congenial to an Anti-Kossuthite—go and see the " Hungarian Exile " at Madame Tussaud's : if you remember with regret Madame Warton, "clad all in silken tights," patronize that unmistakeable Teuton, Professor Kress°, who boasts himself connected with the illustrious Crappo, and whose troupe will supply you, for a shil- ling expended at Saville House, with "athletic, mystic, equilibristieal, and mimic plastics' performances,"—personation of "Amor" and "Eteocles and Polynices " included: or, if a real undeniable money's worth is in request, you will find the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park still pleasant, in spite of January,—the hippopotamus and ourang- outang holding levee from eleven to four. And, while adverting to the animal kingdom, let us not, through any party-spirit in favour of the larger collection or of mammalia in particular, omit all notice of the allurements—(for which, however; personal ex- perience has not enabled us to vouch)—of certain so-advertized protegees of the Emperor Nicholas, domiciled at No. S Leicester Square—" Herr Leidersdroph's industrious and learned fleas." Here do "fleas of all na- tions give their astonishing performances" ; here they "fire cannon and boat-race " • and here are to be contemplated " Kossuth on an Austrian flea, and Louis Napoleon on a Riumien flea."
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