KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



313 



ourself have said on this subject. The cheat was 

 too transparent to last for any length of time. The 

 question of rap-ping up Spirits has no connection 

 whatever either with philosophy or science. 

 Neither is it a delusion wrought on the minds of 

 the practitioners. It is simply one of the newest 

 modes of studied extortion. John Bull may be 

 superstitious ; but this is too large even for his 

 swallow. We have heard of Judas Iscariot being 

 recently seen reflected in the globules of a 

 crystal. He was clad in scarlet hosen, and he 

 wore an alarmingly large cocked-hat. The boy 

 who held the crystal, declared he saw him thus 

 habited. In his hand was a snuffbox ; and he sat 

 cross-legged ; in his mouth was a small pipe. The 

 boy remarked, — he was " blazing away." He 

 was mesmerised when he saw this. Here we 

 have " the explanation." But the boy heard no 

 rappings ; and used no printed alphabet. He was 

 wandering in his sleep ; and his disordered brain 

 saw a vision — a droll one we confess. The sooner 

 these tom-fooleries cease the better.] 



Death of the mutilated Jackdaw at South- 

 ampton. — The poor animal about whose cruel 

 treatment you have so interested yourself, is dead. 

 His sufferings have terminated. I observe the 

 following remarks in the Hampshire Advertiser 

 of May 7. — " The Mutilated Jackdaw. — The poor 

 pet at Blechynden-terrace, whose story has twice 

 appeared in our columns, and afterwards been 

 found worthy of a niche in Kidd's Journal, died 

 about a month ago ; as we learned upon recent 

 inquiry. His mistresses were unceasing in their 

 attentions to him, but he gradually dwindled away 

 after our previous visit ; and they imagine it was 

 owing to the want of out-of-door's food, which the 

 mutilation of his lower mandible prevented him 

 from obtaining." — With all my endeavors, Mr. 

 Editor, I have been unable to obtain the name 

 of the fiend who committed this barbarous act of 

 inhumanity. He is screened by everybody — as if 

 he had done a meritorious action ! What an unac- 

 countable world this is ! — Heartsease, Hants. 



[It is indeed, " Heartsease ! " This fellow is 

 even a greater miscreant than King, who did 

 finish roasting his victim and her unborn family. 

 We lament, as much as you do, that we cannot 

 immortalise his name ; we still hope to be able to 

 do so.] 



England, — or the Tropics'? — Our countrymen 

 are getting dissatisfied, Mr. Editor, with our 

 " happy land," and are flying all over the world. 

 Let me recommend them to take a trip to a tropical 

 climate, and then see if England has not some 

 claims upon their love. To mention only one 

 "treat" peculiar to tropical climates — the visitation 

 of insects. Of these Sydney Smith says : — " The 

 bete rouge lays the foundation of a tremendous 

 ulcer. In a moment you are covered with ticks. 

 Chigoes bury themselves in your flesh, and hatch 

 a large colony of young chigoes in a few hours. 

 They will not live together, but every chigoe sets 

 up a separate ulcer, and hath his own private por- 

 tion of pus. Flies get into your mouth, into your 

 eyes, into your nose ; you eat flies, drink flies, and 

 breathe flies. Lizards, cockroaches, and snakes, 

 get into your beds ; ants eat up the books ; scor- 

 pions sting you on the foot. Everything bites, 



stings^ or bruises. Every second of your existence 

 you are wounded by some piece of animal life that 

 nobody has ever seen before, except Swammerdam 

 and Meriam. An insect with eleven legs is 

 swimming in your tea-cup ; a nondescript, with 

 nine wings, is struggling in the small-beer ; or a 

 caterpillar, with several dozen eyes in his stomach, 

 is hastening over the bread and butter. All nature 

 is alive, and seems to be gathering all her ento- 

 mological host to eat you up, as you are standing, 

 out of coat, waistcoat, and over-alls. Such are 

 the tropics ! All this reconciles us to our dews, 

 fogs, vapors and drizzle ; to our apothecaries 

 rushing about with tincture and gargles ; to our 

 old British constitutional coughs, sore throats, and 

 swelled faces." — Aye, most truly reconciles us, say 

 I. We never know half our comforts, till we are 

 deprived of them. — Juliana. 



[Well spoken, " Juliana." "Old England for 

 ever ! " say we. If we cannot live here, we can 

 live nowhere. There is very little poetical feeling 

 abroad, we imagine.] 



The Hose Maggot. — Two years ago, on 

 minutely inspecting the buds of my Bose-trees 

 about the end of March, I observed some very 

 small powdery matter about them, and on exa- 

 mining with a glass, I found a very small maggot 

 in the bud ; it occurred to me that as there are 

 side buds which come into growth when the 

 main bud is accidentally destroyed, I should pos- 

 sibly get rid of one set of caterpillars by removing 

 all the main buds ; I did so on a large branch, 

 leaving the rest of the bush to take its chance. 

 On the back of many of the buds I found the 

 little creatures busy at work. I noticed the 

 denuded branch during the summer, and found 

 my conjecture confirmed. New buds came, and 

 the branch was covered with flowers uninjured, 

 whilst the rest of the tree was very much in- 

 fested — the only drawback was, that the roses on 

 the experimental branch came somewhat later. 

 I repeated the experiment last year with the same 

 result, and I make this communication in the hope 

 that others may be induced to try the same mode 

 of getting rid of one of our worst pests, as the 

 plan has the advantage of extirpating, as far as 

 it is practised, the propagation of the progeny. 

 A quick hand, after the bushes are pruned, would 

 soon clear a number of trees much quicker and 

 very much better than could possibly be effected 

 by hand-picking, when the mischief, in nine cases 

 out of ten, is already irretrievably done. If any of 

 your correspondents should try this mode, perhaps 

 they will communicate their results. — T. H., 

 Stoke Newington. 



Destructive Birds. — Some remarks have lately 

 appeared in your columns relative to destructive 

 birds. If your correspondents could destroy the 

 birds of which they speak, they would soon wish 

 them all back again. A King of Prussia procured 

 the destruction of sparrows throughout his domi- 

 nions, but soon retraced his steps. One pair of 

 sparrows in the spring and early summer destroy 

 6000 caterpillars a week. In the French game 

 laws of 1 840, or thereabouts, it is expressly enact- 

 ed that it shall be lawful for the prefects of depart- 

 ments to forbid the destruction of all small birds. 

 It is fit to add that bird-catching is practised on 



