CALCUTTA. 



801 



It is described as a white, crystalline substance, with 

 much lustre, insipid and inodorous, much resembling 

 spermaceti, but differing in being less fusible, and in 

 not forming a soap with alkalies. It is also convert- 

 ed, by the action of nitric acid, into a peculiar acid, 

 called cholesteric acid. This is slightly soluble in 

 water, and forms soluble salts with the alkalies. 

 Cholesterine consists of carbon 85.095, oxygen 3.025, 

 and hydrogen 11.88. It has lately been detected in 

 the bile itself, both in that of animals and of man. 

 Besides cholesterine, biliary concretions contain a 

 portion of inspissated bile, and the yellow colouring 

 matter of the bile in a concentrated state, which, from 

 the beauty of its hue, and its permanence, is much 

 valued as a pigment. 



Urinary calculi are of very variable characters 

 and composition. The following substances enter 

 principally into their composition : uric acid, i irate 

 of ammonia, phosphate of lime, phospliate of am- 

 monia, and magnesia, oxalate of lime, silex, some- 

 times oxyde of iron and animal matter these be- 

 ing more or less pure or mixed, and being often 

 diversified by mechanical structure, so as to render 

 it difficult to constitute well-defined species. The 

 six following species embrace the principal varieties 

 of urinary calculi: 1. that composed chiefly of uric 

 acid; 2. that consisting chiefly of the triple phos- 

 phate of ammonia and magnesia ; 3. the bone-eartli 

 calculus, formed, almost entirely, of phosphate of 

 lime ; 4. the fusible calculus, composed of 4he two 

 preceding intermixed ; 5. the mulberry calculus, con- 

 sisting of oxalate of lime; and, 6. a rare species, the 

 cystic oxyde calculus. Two others, still more rare, 

 are, the xanthic oxyde and fibrinous calculus, disco- 

 vered by Dr Marcet ; and, lastly, calculi have been 

 met with formed of carbonate of lime. In all these 

 calculi, besides the saline matter, there is present a 

 portion of animal matter, which is conceived to be the 

 mucus of the bladder. This seems to give them co- 

 lour and induration. It is found even in those which 

 are white and crystalline. In the mulberry calculus 

 it is present in a larger proportion than in the others. 

 The ingredients of calculi are often, also, diversified 

 by intermixture in layers. These must, of course, be 

 various, and, as their production is, in some measure, 

 accidental, irregularly arranged. Those which have 

 been the most frequently observed are alternations of 

 uric acid with phosphate of magnesia and ammonia, 

 or phosphate of lime ; or of oxalate of lime with uric 

 acid, or with either or both of these phosphates. 



CALCUTTA, the capital of Bengal, and of the whole 

 British East Indies, is situated on the west branch of 

 the Hoogly, an arm of the Ganges, on which the 

 largest East ludiamen may come quite up to the city. 

 The navigation, however, on account of several sand- 

 banks, which are continually changing their size and 

 position, is very dangerous. This place, formerly the 

 insignificant village of Govindpour, rose, in the last 

 century, to the size of a great city. The climate, 

 when the English first made a settlement here, in 

 1690, was as unhealthy as that of Batavia ; but it 

 lias been gradually becoming less fetal to settlers, 

 partly by the removal of a forest near the city, partly 

 by greater attention, in the settlers themselves, to 

 their mode of living. Notwithstanding the unhealthi- 

 ness of the place, it continued steadily to increase, 

 quickly recovered from its losses in 1756, and is now 

 one of the most magnificent cities in the world. In 

 1802, the population was computed at 600,000 ; a few 

 years after (including the suburbs), at 1,000,000, of 

 which about one-halt are given to the city. The dif- 

 ferent population estimates, howerw, are very con- 

 flicting; and the number of 200,000 or 300,000 inhabi- 

 tants seems to approximate nearest the truth. The 

 population of the surrounding districts, within a space 



of twenty miles, was estimated, in 1802, at 2,225,000 

 inhabitants. The houses of the British, who occupy 

 a separate quarter of the city, are of brick, elegantly 

 built, and many of them like palaces. On account of 

 the heat of the climate, they are not joined together, 

 but stand at some distance from each other, have hrgh 

 and airy apartments, flat roofs, and are surrounded 

 with verandas. With this part of the city, " the 

 black town" so called (the Peltah"), which is the quar- 

 ter occupied by the natives, forms a striking contrast. 

 It lias extremely narrow and crooked streets, inter 

 spersed with gardens and innumerable tanks. Some 

 of the streets are paved. The houses, which are 

 some of brick, some of mud, but mostly of bamboo or 

 straw mats, present a motley appearance. 



Fort William, not far from the city, was begun by 

 lord Clive, in 1757, and is a magnificent work, in the 

 form of an octagon, but on too extensive a scale for 

 the purposes of defence. It has bomb-proof barracks, 

 large enough for 10,000 men, and would require 600 

 pieces of cannon for the works. It commands the river. 

 A trench is drawn round the whole, which may be 

 filled, in case of need, with water from the Hoogly, to 

 the depth of eight feet. Between Fort William and 

 the city there is a plain, which forms a favourite pro- 

 menade of the inhabitants. Hindoos, blacks, Euro- 

 peans, equipages of all sorts, and palanquins, are here 

 seen mixed together in a motley crowd. On the 

 western side stands the new palace, built by the mar- 

 quis of Wellesley, at an expense of a million pounds 

 sterling, and reminding one, by its grandeur, of the 

 fabled palaces of Arabian story. The old fort is now 

 a custom-house, and the infamous " black hole" has 

 been turned into a warehouse. An obelisk, fifty feet 

 high, at the entrance, contains the names of the un- 

 fortunate captives, who, in 1756, when the cily was 

 taken and plundered by Suraja Dowla, fell victims to 

 the most inhuman cruelty. 



Amongst the other public buildings are the court- 

 house, an Armenian and an English church. In the 

 middle of the city is a large tank, for the purpose of 

 supplying the inhabitants during the hot season, when 

 the river^water becomes offensive. Here is the resi- 

 dence of the governor-general of India, and the seat 

 of the supreme court ot justice, which decides causes 

 according to the British law, without regard to rank, 

 station, or country. Smaller offences are tried by the 

 superintendent of police and justices of the peace. 

 Order is maintained by several companies of sepoys, 

 who make regular patrols through the city. 



C. is the great emporium of Bengal, and the chan- 

 nel through which the treasures of the interior pro- 

 vinces are conveyed to Europe. The port is filled 

 with ships of all nations. Mercantile enterprise is 

 nowhere more active than here. There are some 

 houses which trade, annually, to the amount of four 

 or five million pounds sterling. The trade in sugar, 

 opium, silk, muslin, &c., is very considerable. Large 

 quantities of salt are exported to Assam, and gold, 

 silver, ivory, musk, and a peculiar kind of silky cot- 

 ton, are brought back in exchange. Cowries, a kind 

 of small shells, passing as coins, are received in ex- 

 change for rice from the Maldives. The trade with 

 Pegu, Siarn, and the Malay isles, formerly so profit- 

 able, has very much declined. The British merchants 

 are, as might be expected, the most numerous ; and 

 many of them have acquired fortunes which enable 

 them to live in a style of great splendour. Next to 

 them, in number and respectability, as well as in out- 

 ward show, are the Armenians. They are peaceable 

 and industrious merchants. Many of them have large 

 capitals, and cany on an extensive trade to China 

 and the ports to the west, as far as the Persian gulf. 

 The Mongols, however, are the wealthiest ; and, as 

 they lend only at an enormous interest, their profits, 



