prisoners comfortable and happy, but ignorant of 

 the best way to go about it. To these, and all 

 such as these, Kidd's Journal will be an inva- 

 luable acquisition, as its more extensive circula- 

 tion is sure to follow the knowledge of its exist- 

 ence. You will consult your own interests by ad- 

 vertising it two or three times (in the Liverpool 

 Mercury), when you may confidently expect a 

 large increase in the demand. Will you tell me, 

 whether a few anecdotes of animals would from 

 time to time be acceptable? if so, I should be 

 glad to furnish a few original ones. Last week 

 I had a linnet given to me, which I was told was 

 an excellent singer; as it was in one of the ex- 

 tremely small, and, as I thought, uncomfortable 

 cages, in which linnets are generally kept, 

 I put it into a larger and better cage; but it has 

 never sung since. Is this owing to the change? 

 The bird seems quite well. Apologising for the 

 length at which I have troubled you, and with 

 my best wishes for your success, I am &c, — 

 Alpha, Windsor, near Liverpool. 



[We make it a "case of conscience," having 

 the name and address of this real friend to " an 

 honest cause," to publish his letter entire. The 

 public are largely interested in it. We offer 

 no comment. Truth makes its own way. We 

 have said, " the world is not bad ;" must we be 

 compelled, to " eat our own words ? " First, we 

 present the right hand of fellowship to Alpha. 

 We shall, we hope, soon know more of him and 

 his family. By all means send us some of your 

 original anecdotes of animals. The linnet will 

 not sing well in his cage this season ; but he will 

 next. It is cruel to keep birds in these little cages. 

 Write to us freely whenever you will. We are 

 bound to you by every kind tie between man 

 and man. Our Agents in Liverpool are 

 Philip and Co., South Castle Street; but it 

 seems Our Journal is "too good" for the 

 Liverpudlians. As for Heywood, near Man- 

 chester, and many of our provincial manufactur- 

 ing towns, if our paper reaches the hands of our 

 subscribers at these places when only a fortnight 

 old, they consider they get it early! We are 

 tired of complaining of this dishonesty. We 

 only know that we are robbed to a frightful ex- 

 tent, and that we are without any remedy but 

 endurance.] 



"Ease and Elegance." — I have "a bone to 

 pick with you," Mr. Editor. You have sat in 

 judgment, unasked, on an article of comfort 

 which we ladies highly prize — I mean the 

 arched shade which projects beyond our bonnets, 

 to protect our faces from the sun. That is a 

 very sweet article of yours about " Sunburn," 

 and I am free to confess I like the writer more 

 than passingly well ; but you surely went beyond 

 your province in censuring what we really use 

 for comfort. Will you apologise, and be forgiven ? 

 — Violet. 



[Sweetest of all fragrant flowers ! pardon us. 

 We have erred innocently. Unasked, we ought 

 not perhaps to have volunteered an opinion upon 

 what you consider does not concern us. In our 

 zeal for the cause of beauty, we spoke our 

 mind freely; too freely it seems. Hutentre nous, 

 we cannot alter the opinion given. We hold 

 these same "shrouds" in perfect abhorrence, 



and cannot by possibility believe that any 

 person who wears them can be amiable. We 

 have seen many of them in use during the past 

 week. We have shuddered at the wearers, and at 

 their temerity. For your sake Ave would, if we 

 could, reconsider our " verdict," but it is impos- 

 sible. Rather oblige us, Violet, and lay aside 

 as unworthy your sweet visage, what so awfully 

 disfigures — aye, defiles the human face divine. 

 We will, in return, undertake to answer any 

 number of questions on any subjects that you 

 may propound to us. If in this way we can 

 atone for our fault, consider your will ours; but 

 never, Violet, let us sanction such rank offences 

 against Nature. We feel that we are forgiven. 

 Thank you.] 



The Summer of 1852 — Its excessive Heat', with 

 a Glance at by-gone hot Summers. — At a time, 

 Mr. Editor, when we are all rapidly consuming 

 with heat, it may not be amiss to record in our 

 Journal the statistical account of the various 

 hot Summers that have preceded the present. 

 It will be a curious document to refer to here- 

 after, if the heat of the present month does not 

 kill us all. From the registered accounts, we 

 find that in 1132 the earth opened, and the rivers 

 and springs disappeared in Alsace. The Rhine 

 was dried up. In 1152 the heat was so great 

 that eggs were cooked in the sand. In 1160 at 

 the battle of Bela, a great number of soldiers 

 died from the heat. In 1276 and 1277, in France, 

 an absolute failure of the crops of grass and oats 

 occurred. In 1303 and 1304. the Seine, the 

 Loire, the Rhine, and the Danube, were passed 

 over dry-footed. In 1393 and 1394 great 

 numbers of animals fell dead, and the crops 

 were scorched up. In 1440 the heat was ex- 

 cessive. In 1538, 1539, 1540, 1541, the rivers 

 were almost entirely dried up. In 1556 there 

 was a great drought over all Europe. In 1615 

 and 1616 the heat was overwhelming in France, 

 Italy j and the Netherlands. In 1646 there 

 were 58 consecutive days of excessive heat. In 

 1678 excessive heat. The same was the case 

 in the first three years of the 18th century. In 

 1718 it did not rain once from the month of 

 April to the month of October. The crops 

 were burnt up, the rivers were dried up, and 

 the theatres were closed by decree of the Lieu- 

 tenant of Police. The thermometer marked 

 36 degrees Reaumur (113 of Fahrenheit). In 

 gardens which were watered, fruit trees flowered 

 twice. In 1723 and 1724 the heat was extreme. 

 In 1746, summer very hot and very dry, which 

 absolutely calcined the crops. During several 

 months no rain fell. In 1748, 1754, 1760, 1767, 

 1778 and 1788 the heat was excessive. In 1811, 

 the year of the celebrated comet, the summer 

 was very warm and the wine delicious, even at 

 Susenes. In 1818 the theatres remained closed 

 for nearly a month, owing to the heat. The 

 maximum heat was 35 degrees (110.75 Fahren- 

 heit). In 1830, while fighting was going on on 

 the 27th, 28th, 29th of July, the thermometer 

 marked 36 degrees centigrade (97.75 Fahren- 

 heit). In 1832, in the insurrection of the 5th 

 and 6th of June, the thermometer marked 35 

 degrees centigrade. In 1835 the Seine was 

 almost dried up. In 1850, in the month of 



