368 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



perfumery, jewellery, papier mache\ &c. &c. 

 We came in turn to their solicitations urged 

 upon us ; and we marvelled mightily, in our 

 innocence, at what appeared to be a great 

 mistake. 



A " temple of the arts " devoted to buying 

 and selling — and public barter transacted in 

 this shameless way by people who so loudly 

 vaunt of their grand aims and objects! 



Do pray tell me, my dear sir, is this at all 

 correct ? I admit that comparatively few 

 tradesmen have as yet descended so low as 

 to patronise such a mode of dealing ; but if 

 "the principle " be recognised, we know not 

 what may eventually take place. We quitted 

 the building in disgust — not that we were 

 dissatisfied with the artistical part of its 

 arrangements (this was indeed beautiful), 

 but at the grovelling spirit shown by the 

 Directors in mixing up matters of trade with 

 an introduction of the Arts and Sciences. 

 One of the People. 



[Your remarks are very just. The holders 

 of season-tickets will view this buying and 

 selling with abhorrence. It is quite foreign 

 to the original purpose, as made public ; and 

 will bring the whole affair into very ill odor. 

 " The Great Crystal Palace at Sydenham " is 

 a depot for shops and shopkeepers ; where 

 money may be heard ringing, between the 

 performances of the band, and the rattling of 

 knives, forks, plates, spoons, and dishes ! 

 This is the simple fact. We were really 

 pained to see the poor attendants at these 

 " shops " under the necessity of " touting."* 

 There could be no objection to certain articles 

 being shown in neatly-arranged cases, with 

 reference made to the names of the inventors. 

 It is the forcing of sales, and the sound of 

 money passing through the building, that one 

 objects to. Sydenham Palace is not the place 

 ladies would choose for shopping. We were 

 present (from curiosity) on the very day you 

 speak of. We can, therefore, attest the 

 truth as well as the force of your observa- 

 tions. Only 10,246 persons paid at the 

 doors. This " first day " proves what " the 

 people " think of the Palace.] 



* We already observe, by announcements in the 

 Times, and elsewhere, that the Soho Bazaar and 

 the Crystal Palace tradespeople are at variance. 

 " A nation of Shopkeepers " are we truly ! 



SYMPATHIES OF SOUND. 



It is owing to the sympathetic communication 

 of vibrations, that persons with a clear and powerful 

 voice have been able to break a large tumbler 

 glass, by singing close to its proper fundamental 

 note. We have heard of a case -where a person 

 broke no fewer than twelve large glasses in suc- 

 cession. 



The sympathy of vibrations, or tendency of one 



vibrating body to throw another into the very same 

 state of vibration, shows itself remarkably in the 

 case of the going of two clocks fixed to the same 

 shelf or wall. It was known, near a century ago, 

 that two clocks set agoing on the same shelf will 

 affect each other. The pendulum of the one will 

 stop that of the other; and the pendulum of the 

 clock which is stopped, after a certain time, will 

 resume its vibrations, and in its turn stop that of 

 the other clock. 



Mr. John Ellicott, who first observed these 

 effects, noticed that two clocks, which varied from 

 each other ninety-six seconds a-day, agreed to a 

 second for several days when placed on the 

 same rail. The slowest of these two clocks, which 

 had a slower pendulum, set the other in motion in 

 sixteen minutes and a half, and stopped itself in 

 thirty-six minutes and a half. These effects are 

 clearly produced by the small vibrations commu- 

 nicated from the one pendulum to the other t! trough 

 the shelf, or rail, or plank on which they both rest. 

 It has been found that two conflicting sounds 

 produce silence ; as two converging rays of light 

 produce darkness. — Herschel. 



HOME. 



BY A. SMITH. 



'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest hark 

 Bay deep-mouth' d welcome as we draw near Home; 

 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark 

 Our coming,— and look brighter when we come. 



Bvkon. 



There is a simple little word — 



Oh ! ne'er its charm destroy; 

 Throughout the universe 'tis heard, 



And nowhere but with joy; 

 There's music in its magic flow, 



Wherever we may roam ; 

 The dearest, sweetest sound below — 



That little word is "Home." 



The soldier in the battle's hum 



May all things else forget; 

 'Mid bay'nets flash, and beat of drum, 



His " home's" remember'd yet. 

 The exile, doom'd on foreign lands 



Through hopeless years to toil, 

 May do the despot's stern commands, 



Yet sighs for "home" the while. 



I care not where may be its site, 



Or roof'd with straw or tile, 

 So that the hearth-fire burns more bright 



'Neath Woman's radiant smile : 

 Affection on her fondest wing 



Will to its portals fly ; 

 And hope will far more sweetly sing 



When that blest place is nigh. 



It may be fancy, it may be 



Something still nobler — far ; 

 But Love is my divinity, 



And "Home" my polar star. 

 Oh ! sever not Home's sacred ties; 



They are not things of air; 

 The great, the learned, and the wise 



All had their training there ! 



