Vinegar ; and the Penalty of Using it. — Do, 

 Mr. Editor, call attention to the fact of almost 

 all, if not quite all the vinegar now in use, being 

 poisonous. The Analytical Sanatory Commission, 

 by the aid of microscopical and chemical re- 

 search, has just examined the vinegar of almost 

 every maker of any note by whom the metropolis 

 and its suburbs are supplied. The results are 

 perfectly frightful. We appear to have given 

 death a crystal sanctuary, and invited him to the 

 centre of our table. " There is a skeleton," says 

 an old writer, " present at every banquet:" but 

 here, in the shape of sulphuric acid, or vitriol and 

 acetic acid, the unscrupulous manufacturers have 

 provided us with the means of rapidly convert- 

 ing all assembled into grim anatomies. A word 

 from you, Mr. Editor, will be a public benefit. — 

 A Housekeeper. 



[This is sent us just in time to form a part of 

 "our Code of Health" (see page 210). We can 

 readily believe, by our own daily experience, that 

 the above are " real facts." Among things to be 

 avoided, therefore, let us at once insert the word 

 " vinegar." If, as in the case of ardent spirits, 

 people will gratify their appetites (knowing the 

 consequences), on themselves' be the just punish- 

 ment of drinking this "haunted" vinegar. Why, 

 the very oysters, although so " used" to it, would 

 recoil from imbibing it!] 



Value of a Man when "Dead." — My dear 

 Mr. Editor, — Whilst a man lives, his real value 

 is not known. Let him die; and if he be a public 

 man, his value is increased a thousand-fold ! 

 Strange, but true ! The good old Duke of 

 Wellington had not been " gathered to his fa- 

 thers" six hours, before every book that contained 

 one word about him in his early, middle, or later 

 life (from Id. to two guineas), was looked up, 

 advertised, and paraded before the public as being 

 " the only authentic account of this great man's 

 life." The papers have, ever since Sept. 16, 

 groaned with these advertisements." This sug- 

 gests an idea to me. Suppose you let yourself 

 some day be announced as " dead," for about a 

 month. I imagine you would by this move find, 

 on your coming to life, that the stock of our 

 Journal had been greedily bought up, and its 

 "value" properly appreciated ! It is really 

 worth the trial. Do die, Mr. Editor, — pray do ! 

 — Nannette.' 



[Agreed, fair Syren. Will you, meantime, 

 undertake to hold the reins for us, and see that 

 our team is carefully driven? We will then 

 "depart" before winter sets in; and, in a distant 

 land, complacently read in the newspapers the 

 account of our own " regretted death."] 



Sagacity of the Dog. — Your love for the canine 

 race, Mr. Editor, and the many delightful anec- 

 dotes yon have so lovingly and graphically re- 

 corded of them, induce me to send you the fol- 

 lowing. The scene of action was Thames Dit- 

 ton ; the owner of the dog, Mr. Baker, of that 

 village. The dog's name was "Brutus." Now 

 Brutus, a black French poodle, was in the habit 

 of going out with the horses ; but when 

 the distance to be travelled over was great, he 

 was not allowed to accompany them, but was 

 shut up. One day, the horses being got ready 



for a journey, Brutus was sought for, to be " tied 

 up;" but he was " non est." All search for him 

 proved vain, and his master set out. Half a 

 mile from home, however, there was Brutus, ly- 

 ing in ambush to join the cavalcade ! His 

 "leaps" up to the horses' heads were joyous be- 

 yond conception ; and he seemed to revel in this 

 little harmless act of deception. This was often 

 repeated, until a final stop, as was supposed, had 

 been put to the trick. One day, however, he 

 heard the order given for— " the horses to be har- 

 nessed." The dog was off in a moment ; and on 

 this occasion he was observed and watched. He 

 was traced warily jogging towards a builder's 

 yard, and here he artfully secreted himself be- 

 hind a quantity of timber, in a sly corner. His 

 nose was then projected between the railings ; 

 and as there was a view from hence of the meet- 

 ing of the three roads, and of a foot-path for 

 pedestrians across a public field, all that passed 

 must come under his eye. He knew this ! No 

 sooner was the chaise driven past on the road to 

 which the footpath led, than out rushed Brutus. 

 After crossing the field, he joined the party on 

 the other side, as quietly as if he had started with 

 them from home. Is this not '-thought," Mr. 

 Editor? — Verax. 



[It is very much like thought. We have wit- 

 nessed many similar acts of prevision in the dog; 

 which accounts for our always naming him 

 among our earliest and very best of friends.] 



Cochin China Fowl*. — They should be either 

 dark bay, light buff, cinnamon, or partridge color. 

 However, uniform buff, nankeen colors, are diffi- 

 cult to be met with. Thighs very full fluffed, 

 especially the hens. Legs heavily feathered, 

 even to the toes. The comb small, upright, and 

 serrated; rose comb decidedly bad. Wings well 

 clipped, doubled up under the middle feather. 

 Tail very short, quite a bob, and no sickle fea- 

 thers in it. Five toes not admissible. Legs yel- 

 low. Double pendant ear — Lobe hackle, as 

 evenly placed as if cut ; and the crow of the 

 cock " lengthened sweetness long drawn out." — 

 C. P., Boston, Lincolnshire. 



Singular Habits of a Dove-house Pigeon. — The 

 delightful character of Our Journal, uniting as it 

 does so many in one harmonious feeling of sym- 

 pathy, and love for God's creation, induces me, 

 without ceremony, to send you, pro bono, the fol- 

 lowing curious particulars of a pigeon. When 

 at Cambridge in the early part of last year, I 

 heard it mentioned that a common farm-house 

 pigeon was every evening in the habit of entering 

 the house of Mr. Tarrant, its owner. Mr. T. was 

 landlord of a well-known inn on the New- 

 market Road. Here would this singular crea- 

 ture roost; ensconcing itself very happily and 

 cosily in one corner of a large kitchen. This 

 said kitchen was also used as a common tap- 

 room. Naturally interested in this curious state- 

 ment, I walked over to Mr. Tarrant's, one after- 

 noon in February; and having made known my 

 wishes, Mr. T. at once gave me every facility 

 for witnessing the truth of what I had heard. At 

 the same time, he showed me his most extraor- 

 dinary collection of animals. I here found 

 dogs, rabbits, common and fancy pheasants, 



