248 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



spirits were consumed in Great Britain, and 

 211,685 in Ireland. Of homemade spirits, the 

 consumption was 16,884,955 gallons in Great 

 Britain, and 8,136,362 in Ireland. Foreign and 

 colonial wine, 6,227,022 gallons in Great Britain, 

 586,809 in Ireland. Beer, 16,543,781 barrels in 

 Great Britain, 640,251 in Ireland. Malt, 

 40,362,102 bushels in Great Britain, 1,630,076 in 

 Ireland. Sugar, 6,999,884 cwts. in Great Britain, 

 487,705 in Ireland. Tea, 51.001,851 lb. in Great 

 Britain, 7,832,236 lb. in Ireland. Tobacco, 

 24,940,555 lb. in Great Britain, 4,624,141 lb. in 

 Ireland. Taking the population as being much 

 the same in number in 1853 as in 1851, when the 

 census was taken, the average consumption during 

 the year must have been, then, considerably above 

 a gallon of spirits (nearly nine pints, or about a 

 sixth of a pint per week), nearly a quart of foreign 

 wine (or half a pint in three months), and about 

 22J gallons of beer (not quite half a pint a day). 

 An individual average, however, is very wide of 

 the mark. It may give a somewhat better idea 

 of the quantity to take the average by families. 

 According to this return, if there had been a Com- 

 munistic system, and these beverages had been 

 equally distributed, a family of six persons must 

 have had to drink, in the course of the year, 52 

 pints of spirits (a pint a week), six quarts of 

 foreign wine (a pint a month), and 1,080 pints of 

 beer (not quite three pints a day). The following 

 rough calculation is made of the amount spent on 

 spirits and tobacco : the prices placed against 

 each article are under the cost; but even at such 

 low rates the amount of money thrown away an- 

 nually is incredible : — 



5,143,324 gals, of foreign and colonial 



spirits, at 15s. per gal. £3,857,493 



16,884,955 gals, of gin, at 10s 8,442,477 10 



8,136,362 gals, of whiskey, at 6a 2,440,908 12 



6,813,831 gals, of wine, at 15s 5,110,373 5 



17,175,032 brls. of beer, at 20s 17,175,032 



29,564,696 lbs. of tobacco, at 4s 5,912,939 4 



£42,939,223 11 



Forty-two millions, nine hundred and thirty-nine 

 thousand, tico hundred and twenty-three pounds, 

 eleven shillings, spent annually in Great Britain 

 and Ireland for spirits, beer, and tobacco I — 

 James R. 



[The italics introduced by our correspondent in 

 his concluding sentence, save us the necessity for 

 commenting on the above " awful facts." Let 

 anybody read the above, and say if our strictures 

 from time to time (severe though they be) are 

 anything but just. Men and beasts — what a 

 slight partition divides the two !] 



Domestic Duties " not " Disgraceful. — The 

 elegant and accomplished Lady Mary Wortley 

 Montague, who figured in the fashionable as well 

 as in the literary circles of her time, has said that 

 " the most minute details of household economy 

 become elegant and refined when they are en- 

 nobled by sentiment." And surely, my dear sir, 

 they are truly ennobled when we attend to them 

 either from a sense of duty, or consideration for a 

 parent, or love to a husband. "To furnish a 

 room," continues this lady, "is no longer a com- 

 monplace affair, shared with upholsterers and 

 cabinet-makers; it is decorating the place where 

 I am to meet a friend or lover. To order dinner. 



is not merely arranging a meal with my cook ; it 

 is preparing refreshments for him whom I love. 

 These necessary occupations, viewed in this light 

 by a person capable of strong attachments, are so 

 many pleasures, and afford her far more delight 

 than the games and shows which constitute the 

 amusements of the world." — Phcebe, Brighton. 



Death of a Distinguished Naturalist. — Mr. 

 George Newport, F.R.S., long known to the 

 scientific world as a distinguished naturalist, 

 more particularly in the department of entomo- 

 logy, died at his residence in Cambridge Street, 

 Hyde Park, on the 7th ult, after a compara- 

 tively-short illness. Mr. Newport was a surgeon ; 

 but in order to apply himself more fully to scien- 

 tific pursuits, he had almost withdrawn from 

 practice of late years, being enabled to do so 

 chiefly by a small pension from Government — 

 a pension conferred upon him for his attainments 

 in natural science. He contributed several 

 valuable papers to the Transactions of the Royal 

 andLinnaean Societies ; among them were papers 

 " On the respiration and on the temperature of 

 insects;" "On the reproduction of lost parts 

 in insects and myriapoda;" "On the impreg- 

 nation of the ovum in amphibia;" "On the 

 natural history and development of the oil- 

 beetle;" "On the formation and use of the air- 

 sacs in insects ; " " < >n the vapor expelled from 

 bee-hives ;" and "On the generation of the aphides." 

 He was the author of the article " Insecta " in 

 the " Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology." 

 He was a fellow of the Royal and the Linnaean 

 Societies, as well as of many other similar so- 

 cieties on the Continent and in America. He 

 had been more than once elected president of 

 the Entomological Society, in the originating 

 and advancing of which he took a lively interest. 

 Mr. Newport was not less estimable as a member 

 of society, than he was eminent as a man of 

 science. — G. W. 



Beetles. — I have had a beetle given me, which 

 I am told is a Golden Ground Beetle ; but I am 

 unable myself to decide the question. Will you 

 please give me the distinguishing features of this 

 insect, whereby I shall be able to satisfy myself? 

 It is a beautiful creature, and I feel anxious to 

 know its value. — E. R., Hampstead. 



[We find the "Golden Ground Beetle" thus 

 described in " Harrison's Cabinet of Entomology," 

 No. 2. By comparing the particulars with the 

 marks on your beetle, you will easily be able to 

 come to a conclusion : — " Golden Ground Beetle 

 (Carabus auratus). Head, thorax, and elytra, 

 green, glossed with gold; head lightly punctulated, 

 with a longitudinal impression near each eye ; 

 thorax, subcordate, transversely wrinkled, an 

 oblong impression on each side towards the 

 posterior angles, which are somewhat deflexed ; 

 elytra, oblongovate ; convex margin, with a 

 coppery tinge, rather rough, and, approaching the 

 apex, sinuous; each elytron with a triple series 

 of rows of smooth elevated ribs, the interstices 

 finely granulated; the legs, tarsi, four basal joints 

 of antennae, and organs of mouth, of a brownish 

 red color ; under parts of body, bluish black. 

 Of this highly beautiful insect, but few individu- 

 als have been taken in this country. In France, 



