KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



191 



of one of our East India ships brought some of 

 them to England in the year 1728.— Eliza G. 



The Gapes in Fowls. — How can I remove from 

 the throat of my suffering birds, the worm that 

 prevents them from eating their food ? They pine 

 sadly, and hide away in corners. — Dorothy T. 



[Take a soft feather. Strip it to within an 

 inch of the bottom, and carefully put it down the 

 invalid's throat. After twirling it rapidly round 

 between your hands, and quickly withdrawing it, 

 the enemy will be found adhering to the feather. 

 To facilitate this operation, place the chicken 

 between your knees.] 



Arrivals of Strange Birds in Cornwall, and 

 Devonshire generally. — During the month of 

 February, many birds not generally seen here- 

 about, flocked to this neighborhood in large 

 numbers. I am no ornithologist, but all who 

 en j°y the power of observation who were hereabout 

 during the early part of February, could not help 

 seeing some of the many strange birds driven 

 south by stress of weather. Amongst these were 

 the lapwings, or pee-weets of many localities. 

 On one occasion, I saw fully two hundred of them 

 on about an acre of meadow grass. The natives 

 have shot many of them for stuffing. Golden 

 plovers are another species that came to see us — 

 a very shy bird likewise, yet some of them fell a 

 prey to the amateur sportsman. The water wag- 

 tails, as they are called in the north, likewise came 

 in goodly numbers. In some instances these 

 birds will soon become as familiar as the gar- 

 deners' well-known acquaintance, the little pug- 

 nacious robin-redbreast. Many goldfinches were 

 seen ; some of them were found to have died 

 from the effects of the cold. Starlings were re- 

 sorting to the more sheltered portions of the 

 higher grounds, and every now and again passing 

 and repassing in considerable flocks, keeping up 

 amongst themselves an incessant chatter. Since 

 about the 20th ult., the above-named migratory 

 inhabitants have apparently nearly all taken 

 themselves off from this neighborhood. The lap- 

 wing is so seldom seen here, that many persons 

 had never observed any of them before. Moor- 

 hens, likewise, came in immense numbers, and 

 many water-fowl ; all testifying to the severity 

 of the weather throughout Great Britain. — 

 G. Dawson, Cornwall, March 5. 



Introduction of the India Pink into Europe. — 

 The following extract from the delightful book of 

 Mr. Stirling, the " Cloister Life of Charles V.," 

 may be interesting to your readers : — " From Tu- 

 nis he is said to have brought not only the best of 

 his laurels, but the pretty flower called Indian 

 Pink, sending it from the African shore to his 

 garden in Spain, whence in time it won its way 

 into every cottage garden in Europe. Yuste was 

 a very Paradise for these simple tastes and harm- 

 less pleasures. The Emperor spent part of the 

 summer in embellishing the ground immediately 

 below his windows ; he raised a terrace on which 

 he placed a fountain, and laid out a parterre, and 

 beneath it he formed a second parterre ; planted 

 like the first with flowers and Orange trees. 

 Amongst his poultry were some Indian fowls, sent 

 him by the Bishop of Placencia. He also caused 



a couple of fish-ponds to be formed with the water 

 of the adjoining brook, and stored one of them 

 with trout and the other with tench. It was evi- 

 dently his wish to render himself comfortable in 

 the retreat where he had a reasonable prospect of 

 passing many years." — Dodman. 



Sagacity of the Sheep Dog, or Collie. — On the 

 18th February says the Banffshire Mail, the shep- 

 herds on the extensive grazing grounds belonging 

 to Captain Grant, Achorachan, Glenlivat, were 

 compelled, in consequence of the heavy falls of 

 snow, to drive the sheep from the high grounds. 

 It turned out that sixty head were missing. For 

 these, instant search was made by the shepherds. 

 For a long time, no clue was got to the missing 

 animals, and the shepherds were nearly exhausted 

 with fatigue ; when one of their dogs was seen 

 digging a hole in the snow with its fore feet. The 

 shepherds went to the spot ; and down the hole 

 made by the animal, one of the men thrust a stick, 

 and instantly discovered by the motion that he 

 touched a living animal. The men now all set 

 to work ; and after removing snow to the depth of 

 some six or eight feet, found the whole of the mis- 

 sing sheep all huddled together. Had it not been 

 for the timely discovery, it is more than probable 

 that not one of the sheep would have been left un- 

 smothered. — E. S. 



Death in the Pot. — Alas, Mr. Editor, what a 

 world we live in ! We can neither eat, nor drink, 

 without danger. Head what is now going the 

 round of the press ; and tremble, if you be u a 

 man given to appetite." We are warned to mark 

 yonder portly individual. He has scarcely passed 

 the period of maturity we are told, and yet he 

 incessantly complains of ailments which the art of 

 no physician has yet been enabled to reach. His 

 health is evidently breaking ; his system 

 has struggled long against the ravages of an 

 insidious foe. Probably the water with which 

 his domicile is supplied, besides being tainted 

 with all the foulness that a " London Company " 

 can impart, is received into leaden cisterns, which 

 are fast corroding from the action of cai'bonic 

 acid ; and are thus hourly tending to bring their 

 victim to the grave, by means slow but sure, 

 and terrible as sure. At breakfast, his tea, 

 colored (as it commonly is) with Prussian blue, 

 chromate of lead, or carbonate of copper, adds 

 to the already poisonous nature of the water 

 with which it is combined. His bread, if he 

 resides in London, is certainly adulterated with 

 alum, not improbably plaster of Paris or sand. 

 His beer is " doctored with coculus Indicts, 

 grains of Paradise, quassia, &c. Those ghirkins, 

 of emerald hue, that appear so innocent, and, 

 consequently so tempting in their prismatic jar, 

 owe their seductive beauty to one of the dead- 

 liest poisons in all the range of chemistry ! 

 The verdant apricots in that tart, are attractive 

 from the same baneful cause ! The anchovy- 

 paste, produced contemporaneously with the 

 cheese, if analysed, would be found to consist of 

 an amalgam of decayed sprats, Venetian red, 

 and red lead. Nay, that double-Gloucester it- 

 self is not free from contamination. Its color is 

 due to annatto ; and that annatto has been com- 

 pounded of red lead, chrome, and ochre. The 



