KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



Ill 



words in your interesting Journal on the sub- 

 ject? I once had a large aviary, and among my 

 birds was a nightingale (presented to me); 

 I therefore had an opportunity of watching it 

 while in this state of partial confinement in a 

 cage, wherein it was put during winter, to secure 

 it from cold. To me the greatest charm of those 

 charming creatures, birds, is their tameness. 

 But the nightingale was always shy, both among 

 the other birds and with me. He usually skulked 

 behind the bushes in the aviary, and was never 

 fully reconciled to his fate ; while the other birds 

 built their nests and reared their young. He 

 requires excessive care. It is almost impossible 

 to leave home, even for a day or two, with one 

 in your possession ; and few people will take the 

 needful trouble of preparing nicely the scraped 

 sheep's heart and hard-boiled egg, just suffi- 

 ciently moistened, and quite fresh. Pie and the 

 robin are peculiarly unfitted for confinement 

 The canary breeds in confinement, which fact 

 diminishes by one half the wrong done him by 

 his jailor; sings almost as finely as the nightin- 

 gale, wood-lark, sky-lark, or tit- lark; continues 

 longer in song, is far handsomer, more easily fed, 

 and more engaging in manners. Besides, ha 

 never pines for a great spider, the little gentle- 

 man! But the poor nightingale absolutely 

 requires such prey. Of the robin, I would say — 

 " To hurt the robin and the wren 

 Is hateful both to God and men." 

 To take them seems useless cruelty. A few 

 crumbs scattered from the window, will bring 

 the bright-eyed redbreast instantly to almost 

 your hand; and he will pour forth his gratitude 

 in a song from a branch close by, which will 

 amply repay the boon. In the garden now my 

 robins hop before me, looking for bread and 

 butter, and reproach my negligence very intel- 

 ligibly when I forget to take their accustomed 

 meal. I could tell you many pretty tales of the 

 free birds. One word to your correspondent 

 who "caged a chimney swallow." He proved, 

 what was previously self-evident, the utter im- 

 possibility of reconciling to confinement a 

 creature fitted only for constant flight by nature— 

 " Nature, that name for an effect whose cause is 

 God." When pity touched the heart of its 

 captor, the wretched sufferer was no longer able 

 to profit by the tardy gift of liberty. Months of 

 cruel care had produced — a cripple! If your 

 readers are curious on the subject, they may read 

 an interesting account of the swallow in Bewick. 

 The whole swallow tribe are very useful, ridding 

 us of swarms of gnats. The whole time of their 

 sojourning with us is occupied in preparation 

 for, and care of, a family; to kill them is there- 

 fore peculiarly cruel. Their little home is closely 

 attached to ours, on which account the Romans, 

 by no means a sentimental people, respected the 

 laws of hospitality, and spared their nests. — A 

 Lover op all Creation. 



Gardens. — Who planted the first garden? 

 Our great Creator ! Does not a garden yield the 

 very purest of human pleasures? Truly it does. 

 It is indeed one of the greatest refreshments to 

 the spirits of man; without it, buildings and 

 palaces are but gross handiworks. 



INFLUENCE OF THE MIND ON THE BODY. 



Attention to any part of the body is capable of 

 exalting the sensibility of that part, or of causing 

 the consciousness concerning its state to be 

 affected in a new manner. Thus a man may 

 attend to his stomach till he feels the process of 

 digestion; to his heart, till conscious of its con- 

 tractions; to his brain, till he turns dizzy with a 

 sense of action within it; to any of his limbs, till 

 they tingle; to himself, till tremblingly alive all 

 over; and to his ideas, till he confounds th em 

 with realities. 



When we would learn more of some mystery 

 important to us, we turn away from all other 

 subjects, and cast our attention in upon the con- 

 sciousness of our own spirit, as if expecting 

 there to discover a reply to our inquiry; and by 

 thus standing, as it were, in the attitude of ex- 

 pectation, to observe thoughts as they pass before 

 us, we often discover great secrets, and find our 

 moral nature enlightened and enlarged by new 

 convictions and new desires. 



But, by some mysterious reaction, this strong 

 awakening of the mind renders it more conscious 

 of the body when the abstraction is over, and 

 hence the most intellectual are generally also 

 the most sensitive of mortals. Many diseases 

 are produced, increased, and perpetuated, by the 

 attention being directed to the disordered part; 

 but employment, which diverts the attention 

 from disease, often cures it. Every one who has 

 had a tooth drawn, knows the charm of ex- 

 pecting the final agony ; a sight of the operator 

 or the instruments has put the pain to flight. 



THOUGHTS ON THE SEA. 



Whilst engaged in watching the sea, neither 

 the eye nor the mind ever become weary. Each 

 successive wave, as it curls its silver foam and 

 dashes on the shore, has some novelty in it. 

 Thereds no monotony in the motion of the waves, 

 and the mind speculates momentarily on each 

 variety of motion and of form, finding in all an 

 inexhaustible fund of amusement, excitement, 

 pleasure, and wonder. It is no less true than 

 remarkable, that the ocean is the only substance 

 which, in its movement, has not a wearying effect 

 upon the gazer. All other forms, animate or 

 inanimate, may amuse for a moment, a minute, 

 or an hour; but their charm is quickly gone. 



DELIRIU 



The mental disorder is chiefly remarkable in 

 the disposition of the patient to consider himself 

 quite well. He is accordingly found sitting up, 

 or walking about, or disposed to leave the 

 hospital; while the tenor of his speech indicates 

 a similar delusion. In the remission or at the 

 commencement of delirium, the patient is most 

 generally sensible when spoken to; requiring, 

 however, at times, a short period to comprehend 

 what has been said to him ; and he lapses into 

 delirium, or a half- dozing state, when the call 

 upon his attention has ceased to operate. As the 

 disease proceeds, it is of a protracted nature, each 

 exacerbation of fever adds to the intensity of the 



