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KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



plants, is what the blood is to animals. Its vigorous 

 flow reaches every part of its composition, and 

 gives to each its proper play and function. We 

 can show frequent instances of a decrepid, shri- 

 velled branch, (by the throwing open and manuring 

 of the roots, and a thorough pruning of the whole 

 top) increasing from an inch to two inches in 

 diameter in a single season ; and without assis- 

 tance it grew, bursting and throwing off its old 

 contracted bark as freely as the growth of a vigo- 

 rous asparagus-shoot will develop itself during a 

 warm shower in May. Such nostrums are only 

 the invention of the head to the laziness of the 

 hands. — There is much good sense in the above, 

 and it should be widely diffused ; I therefore send 

 it to Our own Journal.— J. G., Hounslow. 



Tree Labels. — I am of opinion that nothing 

 equals thin sheet-lead for this purpose. It is 

 very pliable and durable. The letters should be 

 stamped on it ; and the labels soldered to small 

 iron stakes, or nailed to the wall, as the case may 

 be. I have seen labels of this kind which had 

 been in use for 60 years. To all appearance they 

 were as good as they were the day they were 

 made. Putty paper, or wood, are more fit for the 

 boudoir than to stand the test of the seasons. 

 They want renewing every 5 or 10 years ; but 

 this is not the case with lead, which is very last- 

 ing. — W. Brown, Merevale. 



English Churches and English Women. — I am 

 often struck with the " power of memory " shown 

 by ladies who go to church regularly on Sundays 

 and week days. Is it not, indeed, something 

 superhuman which enables a woman after she has 

 passed an hour and a half in church, without 

 ever lifting her eyes off her prayer-book, or letting 

 them wander from the preacher, to describe to 

 you the toilette of every lady in church, without 

 omitting the smallest details ? She will not for- 

 get either their gloves or the collars ; she will 

 never give to one lady the lace or ornaments of 

 another. Not only does this require great perfec- 

 tion in the powers of memory, but a singular 

 and phenomenal development of the sight ; for 

 ladies who sit on her right or on her left hand, or 

 behind her, will not be omitted, any more than 

 those who sit before her. She will have seen 

 them all, she will have remarked all the details 

 of their attire — even those which are the most 

 insignificant in appearance, without having been 

 once caught turning her head, and without 

 having exhibited a sign of being engaged with 

 anything but — her prayers. — Alphonse Karr. 



[0, fie ! Alphonse Karr, you are a rash man 

 thus boldly to express your sentiments in the face 

 of day. We nev-er !] 



Wild Men of the Himalayas. — A race of wild 

 men called "Harrum-mo, " are said to inhabit the 

 head of the valley, living in the woods of a district 

 called Mund-po, beyond Bah ; they shun habita- 

 tions, speak an unintelligible tongue, have more 

 hair on the face than Lepchas, and do not plait 

 that of their heads, but wear it in a knot ; they 

 use the bow and arrow, and eat snakes and ver- 

 min, which the Lepchas will not touch. — Dr. 

 Hooker. 



Curious Calculation to illustrate Population. — 

 If all the people of Great Britain 6ays Cheshire, 

 in his " Eesults of the Census," had to pass 

 through London in procession, four abreast, and 

 every facility were afforded for their free and un- 

 interrupted passage during twelve hours daily, 

 Sundays excepted, it would take nearly three 

 months for the whole population of Great Britain 

 to file through, at quick march, four deep. To 

 count them singly, at the rate of one a second, 

 would take a year and a half ; assuming that the 

 same number of hours daily were occupied, and 

 that Sundaysalso were excepted.— Jane W. 



A Remarkably-pleasant Climate. — The following 

 is the Calendar of a Siberian or Lapland year : — 

 June 23. — Snow melts. 

 July 1. — Snow gone. 



9. — Fields quite green. 

 17. — Plants at full growth. 

 25. — Plants in flower. 

 Aug. 2. — Fruits ripe. 



10. — Plants shed their seed. 



18. — Snow, — continuing to June 23 ! 



— Quiz. 



The Cowfish. — The Cowfish, a species of 

 Manatus, inhabits the Amazon, and is particularly 

 abundant in the lakes in this part of the river. I 

 saw a female, about six feet long, and near five in 

 circumference in the thickest part. The body is 

 perfectly smooth, and without any projections or 

 inequalities ; gradually changing into a horizontal 

 semicircular flat tail, with no appearance what- 

 ever of hind limbs. There is no distinct neck ; 

 the head is not very large, and is terminated by a 

 large mouth and fleshy lips, somewhat resembling 

 those of a cow. There are stiff bristles on the lips, 

 and a few distantly scattered hairs over the body. 

 Behind the head are two oval fins, and just beneath 

 them are the breasts, from which, on pressure 

 being applied, flows a stream of beautiful white 

 milk. The ears are minute holes, and the eyes 

 very small. The color is a dusky lead, with some 

 large pinkish -white marbled blotches on the belly. 

 The skin is about an inch thick on the back, and 

 a quarter of an inch on the belly. Beneath the 

 skin, is a layer of fat of a greater or less thickness ; 

 generally about an inch, which is boiled down to 

 make an oil used for light and for cooking. The 

 intestines are very voluminous, the heart about the 

 size of a sheep's, and the lungs about two feet 

 long, and six or seven inches wide, very cellular 

 and spongy, and can be blown out like a bladder. 

 The skull is large and solid, with no front teeth ; 

 the vertebrae extend to the very tip of the tail, but 

 show no rudiments of posterior limbs ; the fore 

 limbs, on the contrary, are very lightly developed, 

 the bones exactly corresponding to those of the 

 human arm ; having even the five fingers, with 

 every joint distinct, yet enclosed in a stiff inflexi- 

 ble skin, where not a joint can have any motion. 

 The cow-fish feeds on grass at the borders of the 

 rivers and lakes, and swims quickly with the tail 

 and paddles ; and though the external organs of 

 sight and hearing are so imperfect, these senses 

 are said by the hunters to be remarkably acute, 

 and to render necessary all their caution and skill 

 to capture the animals. They bring forth one, or 

 rarely two, young ones, which they clasp in their 



