KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



205 



a few here and there, where they are very close; 

 by and bye, take a few more away, leaving the 

 strongest at proper distances to bloom well and 

 just reach one another. Loosen the soil occa- 

 sionally round the plants, and put some rotten 

 dung on the soil to reach a foot all round. 

 Whenever you water them, you wash some of 

 this extra nourishment into the ground. But, if 

 you object to the litter which this makes, put 

 half a peck of rotten dung into ten gallons of 

 water, and atter dissolving it as well as you can 

 by letting it stand for a day, and stirring it, use 

 this instead of water. You must continue this 

 thinning high up the stem ; and at six or eight 

 feet, according to your fancy, take off the top of 

 the plant. We shall hear no more of disappointed 

 hopes. If your air be as good, your flowers will 

 equal those of the nursery where you bought 

 them. This is not exactly the time, perhaps, to 

 tell people how to manage a plant on which a 

 good deal of the mischief may have been done 

 already, but it is just the time to recommend people 

 to go to Mr. Turner or Mr. Brig&s, of Slough; 

 Mr. Chater, of Saffron Walden ; Mr. Parsons, of 

 Ponder's-end ; or Mr. Bircham, of Bungay, to 

 see the plants in perfection — to observe how the 

 buds have been thinned, the plants supported, 

 the ground spread with dung or drenched with 

 dung water, and to make choice of plants they 

 wish to grow another year. — G. Glenny. 



The Chameleon. — Your intimate acquaintance, 

 my dear Sir, with the brute creation, and your 

 extensive knowledge of their habits, &c, &c., to 

 say nothing of your great courtesy to your many 

 correspondents, induces me to apply to you for 

 aid under the following distressing circumstances. 

 We have just had two chameleons sent us from 

 Africa, as '• pets;" and as we do not believe that 

 they can live on air, will you take pity on us, 

 and tell us the best method we can pursue in or- 

 der to keep them alive, and in health ? If you 

 will, I am sure that I must always acknowledge 

 myself your much-obliged and grateful — EMME- 

 LINE. 



[Oh, Emmeline — gentle Emmeline, why with- 

 hold your real name and address, in a ease re 

 quiring an immediate reply? We should have 

 been delighted to answer you at once; and now, 

 perhaps, we may be too late in our endeavor to 

 serve you. Your name would be " sacred " with 

 us: your handwriting, too, convinces us that you 

 know what we say is true. (?) The chameleon 

 is a singular little animal, and is thus noticed by 

 Mr. Madden, in the account of his "Travels 

 in Turkey." Its living on air is fabulous, of 

 course. " I had a chameleon which lived for 

 three months ; another, two months ; and seve- 

 ral which I gave away, after keeping them ten 

 days, or a fortnight. Of all the irascible little 

 animals in the world, there are none so choleric 

 as the chameleon. I trained two large ones to 

 fight, and could at any time, by knocking their 

 tails against one another, insure a combat. 

 Their colors are then most conspicuous. This 

 is only effeetei by paroxysms of rage, when the 

 dark gall of the animal is transmitted into the 

 blood, and is visible enough under its pellucid 

 skin. The gall, as it enters and leaves the cir- 

 culation, affords the three various shades of 



green, which are observable in its colors. The 

 story of the chameleon assuming whatever co- 

 lor is near ir, is, like that of its living on air, a 

 fable. It is extremely voracious. I had one so 

 tame, that I could place it on a piece of stick op- 

 posite the window, and in the course of ten 

 minutes I have seen it devour half-a-dozen flies. 

 Its mode of catching them is very singular. The 

 tongue is a cartilatjenous dart, anchor-shaped. 

 This it thrusts forth with great velocity, and 

 never fails to catch its prey. The mechanism of 

 the eye of the chameleon is extremely curious. 

 It has the power of projecting the eye to a con- 

 siderable distance from the socket, and can make 

 it revolve in all directions. One of them, which 

 I kept for some months, deposited thirteen eggs 

 in a corner of the room. Each was about the 

 size of a large coriander seed. The animal never 

 sat on them. I took them away to try the effects 

 of the sun ; but from that period she declined 

 daily in voracity, and soon after died." — Do let 

 us hear from you again. We feel anxious to 

 know if the above reaches you in time to be ser- 

 viceable. For the future, remember we always 

 print our Journal a full week in advance. The 

 Booksellers have " vowed a vow " to annihilate 

 it ; but we are determined that, so far as we are 

 concerned, it shall appear with undeviating re- 

 gularity every Wednesday (dated the Saturday 

 following). If the Booksellers will not supply 

 it, our Publisher will — gladly.] 



"Might against Right." — I have, after much 

 trouble and delay, procured your First Volume 

 and subsequent Monthly Parts. I feel it right to 

 tell you, you are quite smothered in 4 Liverpool, 

 and have no chance of success. [Bright pros- 

 pect this for us — very.] " Kiixd's Own," in 

 Weekly Numbers, it is useless, quite useless, to 

 hope or try to get regularly, from the vendors 

 here. They tell me, indeed, " they do not know 

 whether it is going on, or not." [They wont 

 know.] They sell so many thousands of other 

 old-established cheap periodicals, fiat they are 

 independent. [They are — truly ! ] You have 

 wisely raised your price to three pence. You 

 ought to have originally brought it out at that 

 price — it could not "pay" at less. Unless, in- 

 deed, you had a large fortune at your back, to 

 bribe and gorge the vendors. The only way to 

 force a large circulation now, is, by exhausting 

 all the powers of " puffing," and by advertising 

 in every possible shape and form, \ our dyspeptic 

 "notice" to me (in No. 16, April 17), met my 

 eye, for the first time, to-day. Of course I am 

 highly furious, — raving at you, mentally, like a 

 Bedlamite. Still, I continue to pick out the golden 

 " nuggets " from " Kidd's Own," — so full of 

 interesting gossip and instruction. Of course 

 this is from your old enemy — " An Impertinent 

 Correspondent," Liverpool. 



[Our correspondent, if a diamond, is a " rough" 

 one, — certainly not "polished." His two for- 

 mer epistles were insolence personified, and we 

 are amazed at again beholdiig his handwriting! 

 We are still more amazed at his being able to 

 fancy anything we can write, or publish. We 

 imagine it is the effusions of our Correspondents 

 that so delight him. Be it so: at all events, 

 fas est ab hoste doceri. Even our enemy may 



