TEXAS. 



TFKKKY. 



77 J 



TEXAS. Agricultural labors in Texas were 

 exceedingly prosperous in 1864. Large num- 

 bers of slaves had been brought into tht- 

 from Arkansas, arid Mississippi, and Louisiana 

 for safety, so that labor became abundant. The 

 crop of cotton was estimated at five hundred 

 thousand bales, thus exceeding the crop in all 

 the other cotton-growing States, which was 

 estimated at four hundred thousand bales. The 

 crop of corn was estimated as sufficient to fur- 

 nish a supply for two years. 



The control of the Richmond Government 

 over the people was in a great measure lost by 

 the Federal occupation of the Mississippi River. 

 The troops raised in Texas during the year re- 

 mained west of the MUsN-lppi, and took no 

 part hi the great campaigns in Georgia and Vir- 

 ginia. The rule of the Sc was as se- 

 vere as at any previous period, and those who 

 were known to entertain Union sympathies ex- 

 perienced great suffering. 



The military operations in the State were 

 confined to some movements on the Western 

 border, of little importance. Brownsville, op- 

 posite Matamoras, was opened to trade by a 

 proclamation of the President, in February ; 

 but the Union forces were subsequently with- 

 drawn. 



In the latter part of the year the successes of 

 the Federal troops in the East had produced an 

 effect on the public mind ; the Union sentiment 

 became more open and avowed, and a dispo- 

 sition was manifested to make peace. 



THOMSOX, ROBERT DCXDAS, M. D.. a Scot- 

 tish chemist and professor, born in Scotland in 

 1811, died at Richmond August 17, 1864. He 

 commenced his professional education at the 

 Edinburgh University, and subsequently studied 

 under the auspices of his nncle, Professor Thomas 

 Thomson, at the University of Glasgow. On 

 the completion of his course he was appointed 

 rint-surgeon in the navy of the East India 

 Company, and as such he proceeded on a voy- 

 age to India and China. On his return he com- 

 menced the practise of his profession hi Lon- 

 don, where he continued about eight years, 

 during which time he was instrumental in 

 founding the Blenheim Free Dispensary, acting 

 gratuitously as one of its physicians. At this 

 time he conducted a monthly periodical entitled 

 " Records of General Science," and also a 

 in editing the " Annals of Medicine." On his 

 marriage with the daughter of Prof. Thomas 

 Thomson, he removed to Glasgow, and for a 

 period of ten years assisted his uncle in the ac- 

 tive duties of his professor's chair, delivering 

 regularly the course of lectures. Subsequently 

 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry hi 

 St. Thomas's Hospital, London. In 1856 he was 

 appointed health officer of Marylebone, and af- 

 terwards, on being chosen member for chemis- 

 try in the council of the University of London, 

 he resigned his professorship at St. Thomas's. 

 Dr. Thomson was a voluminous writer on scien- 

 tific subjects. He was for three years editor 

 of the "British Annual; " published a book on 



" Food for Cattle," also a iicmistry," 



and contributed largely to the ](<>; 

 of which he was a fellow, and to t! 

 ological Society, of which he was president. 

 His more elaborate work, the " Encyclopedia 

 of Chemistry," which evinces enormous labor 

 and research, is well known in the scientific 

 world. His death was caused by a tumor of a 

 malignant character, which ultimately pre- 

 vented his taking nourishment. 



TOTTEX, JOSEPH GILBEET, Brevet Major- 

 General of the U. S. Army, and Chief of the 

 Engineer Department, born in Xew Haven. 

 Conn., An?. 23, 1788, died at Washington, 

 D. C., April 22, 1864. He graduated at 

 Point in 1805, as 2d lieutenant of engineers, 

 and remained in the service until March, 1806, 

 when he resigned and went into civil Me, from 

 which he again entered the army in 1808. 

 Promoted to be a 1st lieutenant in 1810, and 

 captain in 1812, he was Chief Engineer of the 

 Army on the Xiagara frontier in the campaign 

 of 1812 and 1813. Brevetted as Major "for 

 meritorious services," June, 1813, he became 

 Chief Engineer of the Army on Lake Cham- 

 plain in the campaign of 1814, and was bre vet- 

 ted Lieutenant-Colonel,September 11, 1814, "for 

 gallant conduct at the battle of Plattsburgh." 

 Passing through the successive grades of major 

 and lieutenant-colonel in his own corps, he be- 

 came Colonel and Chief Engineer, December 7, 

 1838. From 1816 to 1838, with but an inter- 

 mission of two years, he was a member of the 

 Board of Engineers for planning the national 

 defences. During the Mexican war he served 

 as chief engineer of the army under General 

 Scott, until the capture of Yera Cruz, conduct- 

 ing the siege operations against that place, and 

 was brevetted a brigadier-general " for gal- 

 lant and meritorious conduct " on that occasion. 

 Subsequently he resumed his duties as chief 

 engineer, continuing in their performance with 

 but two short intervals until his death. The 

 fortifications of Xewport, R. I., were built un- 

 der his immediate supervision, and with other 

 defences and fortifications are enduring monu- 

 ments to his memory. In the first days of the 

 rebellion Gen. Scott urged upon Gen. Totten 

 the acceptance of the position of Commander- 

 in-chief, which the latter declined on the ground 

 of physical inability for field service. Gen. T., 

 amid all his other labors, found time to translate 

 and have published Vicat on Ifortars, the work 

 of one of the ablest of the French corps of civil 

 engineers. During the period of twenty-six 

 years in which Gen. Totten stood at the head 

 of the engineer department, he discharged his 

 varied duties with untiring devotion, spotless 

 integrity, and signal ability, as an acknowledg- 

 ment of which the President, upon hearing of 

 his serious illness, forwarded his commission se 

 brevet Major-General. 



TURKEY. An Empire in Eastern Europe. 

 The present ruler is Sultan Abdul-Aziz-Khan, 

 born February 9th, 1830, the thirty-second 

 sovereign of the family of Osman, and the 



