plants, are to be found the most remarkable chemical decompositions, which no chemist can ever produce. Here various bodies are fixed or eliminated, and nourishment supplied to the tissues. Then, as to exhalation-from the green parts of plants we find that oxygen, the chief essential of plants and animals, is given off abundantly from those parts which are colored. Carbonic acid is important to plants; containing carbon, a black body resembling charcoal, of which it is the chief constituent. A remarkable instance of the adaptation of birds to their leafy habitations, is, that in singing they give off this body largely, mixed with air. Animals are chiefly fed by plants, containing the same four elements abovementioned, but modified in their condition.

It is

a well known fact that, unless we eat and drink, we die; but that while we are eating and drink ing we are really dying, may appear a paradox. It nevertheless is strictly true. The destruction and reproduction of the particles of the human frame are continually going on; so that a man at forty years, though apparently the same as at twenty, has not probably a single atom in his body which has not been changed. Respiration itself is, in fact, a species of slow combustion. By this, the vital current is purified and supplied with oxygen; while a portion of the same body combined with superfluous carbon, is again given off. So that we may truly be said "to die daily,' and to enter again upon a kind of new life; this continues till the vital force finally becomes extinct, when another series of changes are produced.-CHEMICUS.

Insects, Lasiocampa, Rubi, &c.-I am not at all surprised that "Cerura's" friend has been unsuccesful in rearing the larvæ of Lasiocampa ·Rubi. Many years ago, I myself made the same mistake in feeding them on the bramble. They all, of course, died. Experience has made me wiser; and I have many a time reared them as mentioned in the March number of OUR JOURNAL. Bear in mind that I lay down no absolute rule; I speak of that which I individually have found to be best. Wet food I have always considered objectionable; for there is generally sufficient moisture in the leaves for the proper nourishment of the larvæ. But by all means let "Cerura" follow his own fancy in this matter. "Chacun a sa façon." I shall have pleasure, at the proper season, in sending him through you some eggs of Potatoria. I did not positively assert that his larva of Ligustri was stuck by an ichneumon; I merely suggested (ante page 125), the probability of such a thing. "Cerura" says he is able readily to decide when a caterpillar is unfortunately so stuck. I confess that I have often been deceived by appearances; and knowing how very liable the larva of Ligustri is to be destroyed by its enemy the ichneumon, I really did conclude his had fallen a victim to this abominably destructive insect. After all, I have still some slight misgivings as to this matter, more especially as "Cerura" simply affirms his own disbelief, without stating his own opinion of the fact. Is "Cerura" fond of coleopterous insects? If not, let me recommend him to study them as an additional most instructive recreation (if simply recreation); but I would much rather see it made a thorough study.-BOMBYX ATLAS.

A Beautiful" Dove-like" Flower.-The Panama Star mentions a beautiful lily, with a bulb root, long oval leaves, and a stock four feet in length, found only on one particular part of the Isthmus, near Panama. It is named Espiritu Santo, and is thus described:-"The plant possesses little beauty beyond what is contained in the flower itself, which is of a most elegant and peculiar formation. The outward part, which is smaller than a pigeon's egg, resembles a curiously shaped vase: on opening the lid of which, the most perfect and beautiful fac simile of the dove is found within The head is turned over its back, appearing as if it were about to take its farewell of earth, and soar to some brighter region. No person can see this extraordinary flower for the first time without a deep feeling of wonder and admiration at the perfection and beauty displayed in its formation; and every succeeding time it is met with, the observer gazes upon it with increased admiration and curiosity."-HELEN W.

[The flower is elsewhere styled the "Paradise Flower;" and if we remember rightly, there is a sonnet to it in a collection of poems, by the Rev. J. W. Burgon, of Oriel College, Oxford.]

or mixed with an equal bulk of spirits of wine. No stain will be left; and if spirits of wine be used, the odor is by no means disagreeable.ARABELLA E.

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Death of "the Nottinghamshire Entomologist."-Mr. John Trueman, of Edmonston, well known in Mansfield and its neighborhood as "the Nottinghamshire Entomologist,' was killed accidentally on the 4th ult., at Ollerton races, by coming in contact with a fly which was driving at a rapid rate. His collection of English insects was one of the completest ever formed by a private individual, and the British Museum is indebted to it for many specimens.-E. W.

How to turn a White Dahlia blue.-I have been told, but never have tried the experiment, by a celebrated cultivator of dahlias in Belgium, that he hopes to be able, in the course of a year or two, to produce a blue one, by keeping constantly watered the root of a white one with a solution of sulphate of iron. The sulphate of iron turns hydrangeas blue, and why not, he says, other white flowers as well? Of course, the solution must be very weak when used.-G. C.

Epitaph on a favorite Mouse.-A few days since, my old master was looking over some manuscripts written very nearly half a century ago; when all of a sudden I saw a peculiar smile on his face. As he was calmly watching my movements, I asked--what amused him so much? He then showed me the book, and extracted from it the following epitaph on the "Death of a favorite Mouse," written thirty-five years ago. It will prove to my little cousin, Bo-peep," that formerly our race was as much petted as they are I admire the verses so much for their simple, natural, and unaffected feeling, that I thought you would not object to giving them a corner in OUR JOURNAL.-DOWNY.

now.

ON THE DEATH OF A FAVORITE MOUSE.

Beneath this beech, we quiet lay

The ashes of a fav'rite mouse, Which Death untimely snatched away And laid within its narrow house.

In vain thy coat of velvet sleek,

Thy fair long tail and sparkling eye, To ward the fatal blow would seek;

Since mice, as well as men, must die.

But yet thy mem'ry long shall live,

And in our hearts for ever dwell; And sorrowing friendship still shall give A tear for one she loved so well! Gatcombe Park, April, 15, 1818.

X. Y.

Cats, beyond all question, " Vermin".-Let me confess to you, my dear Sir, that there has always been one point, and one only, in which I considered there was some little discrepancy between your "preaching and practice;" but, having now discovered my error, and no longer thinking so, I cannot do otherwise than write you 'a plain unvarnished tale" by way of making the amende honorable. I could never for a moment imagine until now, how you, being as well as myself such

a lover of all dumb created things, could write so strongly against that silky, artful creature, "the Cat;" until "woful experience" has opened my eyes to such being quite consistent with your other opinions on Natural History. The fact is th My "second-self" has for some years past kept a few, say ten or a dozen, little Bantam fowls-great pets of ours as you may guess, living as we do in the midst of bricks and mortar in a town. From time to time, however, during several years, divers of these pets have most unaccountably disappearedI say unaccountably, for from their house being a brick-built and slated one, with railings at the sides, and no rat-holes discoverable therein, it became impossible, unless I could believe in what I considered your "theory," that cats could be the aggressors. This year likewise, three chickens and one hen have been destroyed in the same mysterious manner; and on Friday night last our greatest pet, a splendid little fellow and a present to our only child, was killed. It was found on the following morning, much mutilated; the head being off, and the body mangled. A piece or two of fur were adhering to the spurs of the bird, evidently from his struggles with the enemy. Doubt seemed now at an end; accordingly the next night a rat gin was placed close to the fowl-house door, and baited with the head of the unfortunate cock. The next morning, a brown monster in the form of a cat was discovered, caught by the leg. I need not tell you that his life was speedily put an end to with the kitchen poker. We now hope to have a little peace for our feathered pets. I really feel bound, Sir, to absolve you from the charge of cruelty to animals; and to admit that you are fully justified in using the strong language you occasionally do against those plagues the domestic cats, which are allowed to range at large in such numbers during the night.-JOHN GARLAND, Dorchester.

Insects, Potatoria, &c.-Let me thank C. MILLER for his obliging communication (ante page 253). I have bred some thousands of Potatorias, but certainly never adopted the plan he speaks of. I hope this year to try the experiment. I fear C. Miller's olfactory nerves are not very sensitive; as he has not yet been able to perceive the offensive smell emitted by the caterpillar and chrysalis of the Goat-Moth. Only three days since, I had occasion to examine a box which contained one of these chrysalides; and I can assure him the perfume was as pungent as ever, although placed there nine years ago.— BOMBYX ATLAS, May 5.

The Country; and the Benefits derivable from Early Rising-You are really very tantalising, Mr. Editor, for writing so graphically and so vividly about the joys of the country, and the sympathetic feeling that unites all ramblers in the fields. I want to do as you do, but cannot. I drink deeply into the spirit of every word you write, and long to share with you all the delectabilities you speak of. I am confident we should sympathise. But where I live-some two hundred miles from you-people do not regard pure feeling; they ridicule everything like sentiment. My heart, like yours, is formed for friendship; but I live in an atmosphere where friendship, properly so called, cannot flourish. Eating, drinking, and

ourself have said on this subject. The cheat was too transparent to last for any length of time. The question of rap-ping up Spirits has no connection whatever either with philosophy or science. Neither is it a delusion wrought on the minds of the practitioners. It is simply one of the newest modes of studied extortion. John Bull may be superstitious; but this is too large even for his swallow. We have heard of Judas Iscariot being recently seen reflected in the globules of a crystal. He was clad in scarlet hosen, and he wore an alarmingly large cocked-hat. The boy who held the crystal, declared he saw him thus habited. In his hand was a snuff box; and he sat cross-legged; in his mouth was a small pipe. The boy remarked, he was blazing away." He was mesmerised when he saw this. Here we have" the explanation." But the boy heard no rappings; and used no printed alphabet. He was wandering in his sleep; and his disordered brain saw a vision—a droll one we confess. The sooner these tom-fooleries cease the better.]

66

Death of the mutilated Jackdaw at Southampton. The poor animal about whose cruel treatment you have so interested yourself, is dead. His sufferings have terminated. I observe the following remarks in the Hampshire Advertiser of May 7.-" The Mutilated Jackdaw. The poor pet at Blechynden-terrace, whose story has twice appeared in our columns, and afterwards been found worthy of a niche in KIDD'S JOURNAL, died about a month ago; as we learned upon recent inquiry. His mistresses were unceasing in their attentions to him, but he gradually dwindled away after our previous visit; and they imagine it was owing to the want of out-of-door's food, which the mutilation of his lower mandible prevented him from obtaining."-With all my endeavors, Mr. Editor, I have been unable to obtain the name of the fiend who committed this barbarous act of inhumanity. He is screened by everybody-as if he had done a meritorious action! What an unaccountable world this is!-HEARTSEASE, Hants.

-

[It is indeed, "Heartsease!" This fellow is even a greater miscreant than KING, who did finish roasting his victim and her unborn family, We lament, as much as you do, that we cannot immortalise his name; we still hope to be able to do so.]

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England, or the Tropics?-Our countrymen are getting dissatisfied, Mr. Editor, with our happy land," and are flying all over the world. Let me recommend them to take a trip to a tropical climate, and then see if England has not some claims upon their love. To mention only one "treat" peculiar to tropical climates--the visitation of insects. Of these Sydney Smith says:-"The bête rouge lays the foundation of a tremendous ulcer. In a moment you are covered with ticks. Chigoes bury themselves in your flesh, and hatch a large colony of young chigoes in a few hours. They will not live together, but every chigoe sets up a separate ulcer, and hath his own private portion of pus. Flies get into your mouth, into your eyes, into your nose; you eat flies, drink flies, and breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches, and snakes, get into your beds; ants eat up the books; scorpions sting you on the foot. Everything bites,

stings, or bruises. Every second of your existence you are wounded by some piece of animal life that nobody has ever seen before, except Swammerdam and Meriam. An insect with eleven legs is swimming in your tea-cup; a nondescript, with nine wings, is struggling in the small-beer; or a caterpillar, with several dozen eyes in his stomach, is hastening over the bread and butter. All nature is alive, and seems to be gathering all her entomological host to eat you up, as you are standing, out of coat, waistcoat, and over-alls. Such are the tropics! All this reconciles us to our dews, fogs, vapors and drizzle; to our apothecaries rushing about with tincture and gargles; to our old British constitutional coughs, sore throats, and swelled faces."-Aye, most truly reconciles us, say I. We never know half our comforts, till we are deprived of them.-JULIANA. [Well spoken, “Juliana." "Old England for ever!" say we. If we cannot live here, we can live nowhere. There is very little poetical feeling abroad, we imagine.]

The Rose Maggot.-Two years ago, minutely inspecting the buds of my Rose-trees about the end of March, I observed some very small powdery matter about them, and on examining with a glass, I found a very small maggot in the bud; it occurred to me that as there are side buds which come into growth when the main bud is accidentally destroyed, I should possibly get rid of one set of caterpillars by removing all the main buds; I did so on a large branch, leaving the rest of the bush to take its chance. On the back of many of the buds I found the little creatures busy at work. I noticed the denuded branch during the summer, and found my conjecture confirmed. New buds came, and the branch was covered with flowers uninjured, whilst the rest of the tree was very much infested-the only drawback was, that the roses on the experimental branch came somewhat later. I repeated the experiment last year with the same result, and I make this communication in the hope that others may be induced to try the same mode of getting rid of one of our worst pests, as the plan has the advantage of extirpating, as far as it is practised, the propagation of the progeny. A quick hand, after the bushes are pruned, would soon clear a number of trees much quicker and very much better than could possibly be effected by hand-picking, when the mischief, in nine cases out of ten, is already irretrievably done. If any of your correspondents should try this mode, perhaps they will communicate their results.-T. H., Stoke Newington.

on

Destructive Birds.-Some remarks have lately appeared in your columns relative to destructive birds. If your correspondents could destroy the birds of which they speak, they would soon wish them all back again. A King of Prussia procured the destruction of sparrows throughout his dominions, but soon retraced his steps. One pair of sparrows in the spring and early summer destroy 6000 caterpillars a week. In the French game laws of 1840, or thereabouts, it is expressly enacted that it shall be lawful for the prefects of departments to forbid the destruction of all small birds. It is fit to add that bird-catching is practised on