370 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 



Birds and Bird-Catchers. — I need not tell you, 

 my best of friends, how delighted I am to read 

 all you say about those villanous bird-catchers. I 

 hate them as bitterly as you do. My old master, 

 Bombyx Atlas, too, is equally their enemy. Now 

 and then (for he is ever on the look-out) he catches 

 s >me boys and men climbing the trees ; and waits 

 till they get pretty high up towards the nests. 

 Knowing what game is " up," I hide myself till 

 my master's whistle summons me to my pleasing 

 duty. The rascals are then loudly called to, and 

 desired to " come down instantly." I hasten their 

 descent by a bark and a growl, both perfectly com- 

 prehensible I assure you ! When " Bombyx "has 

 done with them, — and a pretty dressing they get 

 from him ! — I lend them a hand, by seizing them 

 a tergo. My teeth generally meet, — not in their 

 flesh, but right through their habiliments ; and 

 when I have frightened them till they are nearly 

 half dead, then I allow them to escape. I have 

 created quite a reign of terror in our neighbor- 

 hood among the bird-catchers ; and I still watch 

 them narrowly. But now, my dear friend, I have 

 " a bone to pick " with you. How could you 

 fall so cruelly foul of me, — the Public's " own 

 dog " — in your last number ; and so cruelly mis- 

 understand the parenthetical remark I made about 

 "Our Editor?" Do read again what passed in 

 that " Stroll through Epping Forest." Neither I 

 nor my master, while speaking of that old bird- 

 catcher, commended his "calling." Surely not! 

 We spoke of him as a weary traveller. My remark 

 that he was "just the man for you," had reference 

 to his knowledge of the habits of birds ; with all 

 which, he said, he was so intimately acquainted. 

 Pray set me right with the world on this matter — 

 for I am now a public character, and must not 

 have any slur cast upon me that I do not deserve. 

 Indeed you were very snappish with your old 

 friend. You snubbed me cruelly ; nor did I get 

 any sleep, after reading your severe remarks, for 

 several days and nights. I know your disposition 

 too well, to imagine that you will refuse to do me 

 justice ; and therefore at once appeal to your 

 generosity to see me righted. You told me to 

 " shut up." Do you remember this ? Oh ! cruel 

 remark ! What did you mean by it? Adieu! 

 Thine own faithful, loving friend, — Fino, Totten- 

 ham, June 10. 



[Thou very best of all good and loving dogs ! 

 That we have injured thee is too true, — in word 

 though, rather than in thought. The fact is, 

 Fino, at the time your excellent master's account 

 of your " Stroll through Epping " reached us, we 

 were half crazy at the complaints made to us from 

 all parts of the country, about the doings of " bird- 

 catchers." The very allusion, therefore, to one 

 of their tribe, no doubt irritated us ; and our ire 

 fell upon your devoted head. Forgive us, dear 

 Fixo. Hand us thy faithful paw, and let us shake 

 it with all the sincerity of true friendship. From 

 our very heart we love thee, and thy dear master 

 too. So wipe thy eyes, and let us all be better — 

 (no, that cannot be) as good, we mean — friends as 

 ever. — P.S. What delightful weather this is, for 

 you to tear away after those rabbits ! We hope 

 to join you soon in a forest ramble.] 



New and Curious Method of Causing Plants 

 to Blossom at Will. — I observe, Mr. Editor, a 

 very curious account given of some experiments, 

 recently made at Onslow House, Brompton, illus- 

 trative of a process, the invention of M. Herbert, 

 for promoting, in a space of time so short as to 

 be not improperly termed " instantaneous," the 

 flowering of plants. Some geraniums, and also a 

 rose tree, it appears, were placed under a species 

 of glass receiver ; the earth in which they were 

 set having already been impregnated with certain 

 chemical compounds, which, submitted to the 

 action of a prepared fluid poured upon it by the 

 operator, generated a strong vapor, and with it a 

 peculiar condition of heat, the effect of which was 

 to expand the buds of the geraniums, and throw 

 them into full bloom. The rose tree remained im- 

 practicable ; but M. Herbert accounted for the 

 failure in this instance by saying, that he had 

 not had the plant in his possession sufficiently 

 long to prepare it for the process. The experiment 

 was curious, and the promised " blossoming " was 

 no doubt accomplished ; but to what extent the 

 process may be made available, with what degree 

 of ease, what the safety as regards the plant itself, 

 and what the period of the bud at the moment of 

 making the experiment — are points yet to be 

 satisfactorily elucidated. The geranium flowers 

 which were produced by M. Herbert, on this occa- 

 sion, were distributed among the ladies who were 

 present. This experiment is rather curious than 

 useful, for nobody could take pleasure in sys- 

 tematically setting aside the operations of nature. 

 — Helen W. 



Oak-Apples. — What are these, Mr. Editor, and 

 how are they produced ? I was asked the question, 

 one day last week, and was obliged to confess my 

 ignorance. — Rosalie. 



[They are the produce of a fly, scientifically 

 called Cynips. This little creature is furnished 

 with an ovipositor, or egg-layer. With this instru- 

 ment, the bark or leaves of a tree are perforated. 

 An egg is then deposited therein, and around this 

 arises an excrescence, termed a "gall," or oak- 

 apple.] 



Hoses and Rosebuds. — At a season when we 

 are positively revelling in the enjoyment of flowers, 

 — whose praises, my dear sir, you do so rejoice to 

 sing, let me " assist " in directing particular atten- 

 tion to the fairest of all our flowers, — the Rose. It is 

 now shedding its sweetest fragrance on all around. 

 The Rose may be said to be the oldest of celebrated 

 flowers ; and, in the impassioned strain of the 

 ancients, we find it associated with the Lily of the 

 Valley, as expressive of all that is pleasing to the 

 senses and renovating to the mind. In the my- 

 thologic ages, it was sacred as the flower of young 

 affection and endearment, and of mature love, — 

 the favorite of Cupid and of Venus ; and stripping 

 this of the mythological phraseology, which in all 

 cases was a fictitious mantle thrown around some- 

 thing previously felt, no similitude of any flowei 

 could be more appropriate. The Rosebud, the 

 sweetest subject that appears in the garden, is 

 typical of all beginnings from the issue of which 

 enjoyment and pleasure are expected. The early 

 dawn, — the lamb playing its first gambols around 

 its mother, — the young bird trying its half-fledged 



