KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



99 



will and power of motion. When its suckers 

 are examined by a strong magnifying glass, 

 they are found to consist of very complex 

 machinery, with hooks and stays, admirably 

 adapted for hooking firmly to a proper 

 object. 



It is supposed that these parasites are cre- 

 ated not only for personal enjoyment, but for 

 the good of the animals on which they feed 

 A great part of them, including all the mi- 

 croscopic species, pursue their avocations 

 unknown to the creatures from whom they 

 extract their nourishment. They cause no 

 pain, or irritating sense of their presence. 

 Perhaps there is a surplus quantity of juices 

 produced through the taking of food, which 

 requires to be thus disposed of; or, there 

 may be some unwholesome particles which 

 would injure the organs, or pollute the cir- 

 culation, which it is the office of these para- 

 sites to consume. Such a supposition, far 

 from being extraordinary, is only analogous 

 to other provisions of nature. Each of its 

 departments has appropriate scavengers to 

 devour the refuse of animal and vegetable 

 substances. Birds, beasts, reptiles, fishes, 

 and insects of various orders, perform this 

 necessary work in the forest, the fields, the 

 water, and in populous cities of the East. 

 And why should there not be similar workers 

 in the streets, lanes, and nooks of a living 

 body ? When we consider the strange com- 

 pounds that are swallowed, the delicacy of 

 most of our organs, and the facility with 

 which the capillary tubes would be hurt or 

 impeded, we shall not wonder at nature's care 

 in furnishing cohorts of invisible leeches to 

 cleanse every part, and keep it from being 

 overloaded. 



Every creature has its use. The larger 

 parasites, to which we only made a passing 

 reference, and which breed in the feathers or 

 woollen coats of various birds and beasts, are 

 supposed to be of important service in clean- 

 sing the roots of the hair from sundry im- 

 purities which it is liable to contract ; and 

 which, if allowed to remain undisturbed, 

 might harden and seriously injure the pores 

 of the skin. This may be the case even with 

 those revolting creatures which infest the hu- 

 man body when kept in an uncleanly condition ; 

 and their presence is a warning that healthful 

 ablutions have not been attended to. They 

 are at once a bane and an antidote. We can 

 easily understand such a position. An ani- 

 mal may be repulsive, on account of its 

 occupation, whilst its office is a dire necessity. 

 Few persons would choose the employment 

 of a chimney-sweeper, or a deporteur of of- 

 fensive matter ; and, when in their dirty robes 

 of office, they are naturally shunned by 

 sensitive organs ; yet their labor is needful, 

 and we could not dispense with their assist 

 ance. So it is with some of those disagreeable 



creatures which nature employs to purify 

 larger or smaller portions of the earth or its 

 inhabitants. We instinctively repel them 

 from us, without acknowledging the great 

 obligations under which we lie to them for 

 their ill-requited services. We import leeches 

 from distant lands, and gladly avail ourselves 

 of them to reduce an inflammation which is 

 palpable to the senses ; whilst we feel no 

 gratitude for that abundant provision of 

 nature which supplies us with thousands of 

 unseen bleeders, who cause us no annoyance 

 whilst they pursue their unwearied task of 

 preventing a plethora. But the regular and 

 unperceived works of nature are far more 

 wonderful and kind than extraordinary cures 

 or flashy expedients. A sensitive imagi- 

 nation may shrink from the idea of his body 

 being a world sustaining a living population ; 

 whilst he hesitates not to engulf hundreds of 

 animalcules at every breath, and feels no re- 

 pugnance at devouring scores of shrimps or 

 oysters at a meal Why should we grudge some 

 little superfluous juices to afford food and 

 enjoyment to thousands of useful parasites? * 



* These particulars are gleaned from a most 

 interesting periodical, entitled " Hogg's Instruc- 

 tor," a copy of which has been forwarded to us for 

 review. The work deserves a wide circulation ; 

 it is published by Mr. James Hogg, of Edinburgh. 

 —Ed. K. J. 



LINCOLNSHIRE, AS WE SAW IT. 



Many persons imagine that Lincolnshire is 

 another term for "bogs" and " fens ; " and that 

 these uninteresting features have no boundary 

 within the county. We are sure that our 

 drainage commissioners would repudiate the for- 

 mer appellation ; and as to the latter, we are 

 inclined to think that it should excite our grati- 

 tude, as being synonymous with the best corn- 

 producing soil in the country. 



In former times, the fens may have been a good 

 thing in a bad place ; but so well is the water 

 drained from the land, that even the bad place 

 has become good. As an almost inevitable con- 

 sequence, the latter quality or virtue has resulted 

 in a double degree. 



Nature abounds with illustrations of " the 

 nearness of extremes." That which produces the 

 great amount of mortality in some of our large 

 towns, is that which furnishes us best in producing 

 food ; and that which formerly created ague and 

 fever, is largely contributing to the formation of 

 the staff of life. In place of stagnant mud-pools, 

 we have the most thriving corn-fields. In place 

 of dreary and idle waste, we have lands producing 

 wealth that will rival the gold-produce of our 

 antipodes ; and in place of disease and decrepi- 

 tude, a population possessing soundness of body 

 and mind that is the very personification of 

 " good health." 



But the fens do not constitute so large a por- 

 tion of Lincolnshire as is too generally supposed ; 



