KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



247 



mously considered the essay by Mr. Desborough, 

 of Stamford, as most worthy of the prize, which 

 has accordingly been awarded to him. The Essay 

 is now in course of being printed in the Society's 

 " Transactions," but it is understood that a 

 limited number of separate copies will be printed 

 for sale. — Q. 



Public Parh and Botanic Garden at Southamp- 

 ton. — I am very happy to tell you, Mr. Editor, 

 that the important port of Southampton is about 

 to enjoy the advantages of a public park and 

 botanic garden. A large piece of waste ground 

 in the centre of the town, which has long been 

 lying idle, is to be devoted to this purpose. — 

 Heartsease, Hants. 



Wishes. — Every man has a right to "wish," 

 Mr. Editor. You wish — he wishes — we wish. As 

 for me, had I my wish, — 



A little airy sprite I'd be, 

 A being of mirth and jollity, 

 A laughing little merry fay, 

 I'd revel all my time away. 

 Clad in sunbeams' luscious light, 

 Glittering in radiance bright, 

 Endowed with a magician's might, 

 I would I were an airy sprite ! 

 With joyous heart and open hand, 

 Pure goodness for my magic wand, 



O'er the strand, 



'Cross the sand, 

 I'd flee 

 And see 



O'er every land ! 



All evil I would change to good, 

 Affection plant where malice stood ; 

 All care-worn want, too, I'd destroy, 

 And misery I'd turn to joy. 

 Where lovers breathe 

 My form I'd wreathe, 

 And each fond thought direct. 

 The mother's joy, 

 Her smiling boy, 

 My fostering care, too, should protect — 

 For true to my mission endowed from above, 

 I'd live in each heart a pure Spirit of Love ! 



J. Barker. 



Trout introduced into New Zealand. — I re- 

 gret that I cannot give " T. G." (see p. 179) any 

 detailed account of the transit of the spawn from 

 England to New Zealand. I have merely heard 

 from the brother of the gentleman who took 

 them out, that the fish, or many of them, had 

 arrived ; and so far, the plan pursued had 

 proved successful. Last season, however, some 

 trout spawn obtained from me was sent, together 

 with some salmon spawn, in a vessel bound for 

 Australia. It was placed in gravel in large iron 

 tanks ; a supply of water from the Wandle being 

 also provided for the necessary change. The 

 ova came to maturity some days before the usual 

 time, on the arrival of the vessel under the tro- 

 pics. The result of my own experience is, that 

 about 42 days is the time required from the 

 spawning, but this varies according to season, 

 temperature, and other causes, for which I cannot 

 account ; as for instance, this year I had some 



ova sent me from Derbyshire, which was spawned 

 on Christmas-day ; most of them I put into my 

 boxes, but some I kept in the house in a small tin 

 vessel, into which water supplied from a tank on 

 the house-top, and consequently at a low tempera- 

 ture, was kept constantly dripping. I have ob- 

 served that this spawn has been very irregular in 

 the time of its hatching ; some of it coming to 

 maturity in about 70 days, and one egg not till 

 the 80th day, and that at the moment I was 

 examining it with a microscope, under which the 

 little creature is a splendid object exhibiting to 

 perfection the circulation of the blood in a mar- 

 vellous manner. W T ith regard to the wish ex- 

 pressed in the conclusion of " T. G.'s" letter, 

 that a hybrid between the salmon and trout 

 should be attempted in the Wandle, I am airaid 

 that as the above-named river is merely a suc- 

 cession of mill-dams, having no unbroken commu- 

 nication with either the sea or a large river, a 

 hybrid possessing any of the distinguishing 

 marks of the salmon could not be expected to 

 thrive in it. — S. G. ; Carshalton. 



More "Causes" of Insanity. — The total num- 

 ber of brewers in the United Kingdom is 2,678 ; 

 of victuallers, 89,963 ; of persons licensed to sell 

 beer to be drunk on the premises, 39,378 ; not to 

 be drunk on the premises, 3,348 ; 26,564 vic- 

 tuallers, also 13,813 persons licensed to sell beer 

 (to be drunk on the premises), and 1,014 (not to 

 be drunk on the premises) brew their own beer. 

 The total quantity of malt consumed in the United 

 Kingdom by brewers, was 21,540,058 bushels ; 

 by victuallers, 7, 720,128 bushels ; and by persons 

 licensed to sell beer (to be drunk on the premises), 

 3,378,165 bushels; not to be drunk on the pre- 

 mises, 391,457 bushels.— E. W. 



[When we reflect how much poison, in the form 

 of drugs, vitriol, etc., is to be added to this beer 

 when made, we can only express the wish — not 

 hope, that the drinkers' constitutions may prove 

 an antidote to the poison imbibed. We hate the 

 name of beer, and the smell of beer.] 



The Trees of Oregon. — A fir-tree, standing on 

 the farm of Judge Strong, at Cathlamette, twenty- 

 five miles above Astoria, on the Columbia river, 

 is of the following dimensions : diameter, five feet 

 above the ground, where it is round and sizeable, 

 10 feet ; height to the first limb, 112 feet ; height 

 of the tree, 242 feet, " The trunk," says a writer 

 in the Philadelphia Horticulturist, " is perfectly 

 straight, diminishes very gradually, and the whole 

 tree is beautiful ; yet in this respect not singular, 

 for our forests are composed of trees lofty, straight, 

 and beautiful. A spruce tree, standing on the 

 bottom lands of Lewis and Clark's river, twelve 

 miles from Astoria, measured accurately with 

 the tape five feet above the ground, is 39 feet 

 in circumference. The place of measuring is above 

 the swell of the roots. The trunk is round, and 

 with a regular and slight diminution runs up 

 straight and lofty. We did not ascertain its 

 height. Nor is it " alone in its glory," but in a 

 forest of spruce, cedar, and fir, some of the trees 

 of nearly and perhaps quite equal size. General 

 John Adair, of Astoria, informs me that about 

 three years ago he bought a hundred thousand 

 shingles, all made from one cedar tree, for which 



