of vases) containing 86 subjects, 41 drawings of lamps, vases, rings, and instruments of martyrdom to the number of more than 100 subjects, and finally 90 contain copies of more than 500 sepulchral inscriptions. Of the 154 drawings of frescoes two-thirds are inedited, and a considerable number have been only lately discovered. Amongst the latter are the paintings on the celebrated wells of Platonia, said to have been the place of interment, for a certain period, of St. Peter and St. Paul. This spot was ornamented with frescoes by order of Pope Damasus, about A.D. 365, and has ever since remained closed up. Upon opening the empty tomb, by permission of the Roman government, M. Perret discovered fresco paintings representing the Saviour and the Apostles, and two coffins [tombeaux] of Parian marble. On the return of M. Perret to France, the minister of the interior (M. Leon Faucher) entered into treaty with him for the acquisition of his collection for the nation. The purchase has been arranged, and the necessary amount, upwards of 7,500_l._, obtained by a special vote of the National Assembly. The drawings will be published by the French government in a style commensurate with their high importance, both as works of art and as invaluable monuments of Christian antiquity. * * * * * A Dr. JECKER has left the Paris _Academy of Sciences_ $40,000 to found an annual prize in organic chemistry. Recent Deaths. The celebrated Mrs. SHERWOOD, the most popular and universally known female writer of the last generation, died on the 22d of September, at Twickenham, in England. She was a daughter of Dr. George Butt, chaplain to George III., vicar of Kidderminster, and rector of Stanford, in the county of Worcester. Dr. Butt was the representative of the family of Sir William De Butts, well known as physician to Henry VIII., and mentioned as such by Shakspeare. Mary Martha Butt, afterwards Mrs. Sherwood, was born at Stanford, Worcestershire, on the 6th of May, 1775. In 1803 she married her cousin, Henry Sherwood, of the 53d regiment of foot. In 1805 she accompanied her husband to India, where, in consequence of her zealous labors in the cause of religion amongst the soldiers and natives dwelling around her, Henry Martyn and the Right Rev. Daniel Corrie, D.D., late Bishop of Madras, became acquainted with her, and the intimacy which then commenced also remained unbroken until death. Her principal works were that favorite tale of _Little Henry and his Bearer_, _The Lady of the Manor_, _The Church Catechism_, _The Nun_, _Henry Milner_, _The Fairchild Family_, and more recently, _The Golden Garland of Inestimable Delights_. In some of her later compositions, she evinced a tendency to the doctrine of the Universalists, which lessened her popularity. The great number of her books prevents an enumeration of even the most popular of them. Mrs. Sherwood's husband, Captain Sherwood, expired, after a most trying illness, at