observation. — William Whyteiiead, Risky, 

 Suffolk. 



[We have lately drawn public attention to the 

 curious habits of the Toad and Frog; and we 

 trust we shall be able to elicit many interesting 

 particulars connected with their natural history, 

 which are as yet imperfectly known.] 



Calif ornian Onions. — The Madeira onion, 

 which never weighs more than a pound in any 

 country, except Spain and Portugal, — and which 

 in the last-mentioned country never exceeds 

 six pounds, acquires, it is said, in the gold soil of 

 California, as many as twenty-one pounds. — W. 



Ants and Fairy Rings. — In answer to your 

 correspondent " F. G." (at page 58,), I would 

 observe, that the ants no doubt obtain some pro- 

 visions either from the fungi or its seed. There 

 are some wild animals particularly partial to 

 fungi, as food. The cells of some ants are con- 

 structed in a different mode to those of others, 

 having a roof of rushes ; and over that, a coat of 

 cement, which probably they may derive from 

 the fund. — Myles Golding. 



Curious " Bill of Costs" — The Rev. Augus- 

 tus Toplady mentions in his collected Works, 

 Mr. Editor, that the churchwardens of a parish 

 near Cirencester received a bill, made out as 

 follows : — 



To mending the commandments, ob- 

 taining the belief, and making a 

 new Lord's prayer £1 1 



One item in the above, I should say, is a 

 " moderate charge." It is alone worth the whole 

 cost. To " mend " what are being hourly 

 " broken," for twenty-one shillings — is surely an 

 unheard-of achievement ! — M. 



A Cure for Corns. — Everybody, Mr. Editor, 

 that will have a pretty foot, must have corns. 

 For this army of martyrs then, I send the follow- 

 ing, taken fromCooper's " Dictionary of Surgery." 

 Take two ounces of gum-ammoniac, two ounces 

 of yellow wax, and six drachms of verdigris; 

 melt them together, and spread the composition 

 on soft leather; cut away as much of the corn as 

 you can, then apply the plaster, and renew it 

 every fortnight till the corn is away." — Martha 

 F. 



Curious Fact connected with the Color of the 

 Cocoon of the Silkworm. — If silkworms be fed 

 upon lettuce or mulberry leaves powdered with 

 madder, they will, it is said, produce rose-colored 

 cocoons; whilst those fed upon leaves sprinkled 

 with indigo, produce blue cocoons. About a 

 fortnight before they begin to spin, is the best 

 time to try the experiment. — A. L., Manchester. 



Walls covered with Paper, etc. — I have read 

 the article headed as above, in your Journal ; 

 and as the guilty party is not, in my opinion, the 

 man of Paper, but the man of Color, I should 

 like to be heard at the bar of public opinion as 

 evidence on the question of Paste — and in favor 

 of Paper. What a man seeth he may vouch for. 

 Consequently, I would beg leave to call attention 



to the modus operandi of paper hanging. The 

 paper whether lining or colored, is clean; and 

 Mr Dickens allows this by having the rooms 

 papered at last, and not colored. In this I agree 

 with him. But on the score of paste we differ; 

 and that, for the following reasons: — A first-rate 

 upholsterer and paper hanger commenced oper- 

 ations in a new house, where I found it necessary 

 to be present; and after procuring some very fine 

 flour, and very clean water, he had the same 

 mixed and boiled. To this gruel, paste, or batter, 

 he added some finely-powdered resin, and fined 

 down his paste for use. With this, the clean 

 paper was attached to a clean lime-washed wall ; 

 and if he had laid on fifty folds of paper, there 

 could not have been any putrid animal matter 

 present — unless a house-fly, or a gaffer long-legs 

 had got entangled in the folds, and been pasted 

 up. Here closes the case for the culprit, Paper. 

 It is a well-known fact, that house coloring is 

 held in its place by size, and this size is made of 

 animal matter. Consequently, the man who will 

 have his house colored, and not oil-painted, must 

 have every room coated with leather, jelly, size, 

 glue, etc., to keep the color from coming off. 

 Therefore, I claim a verdict in favor of paper- 

 hanging, and should hang the color-man for the 

 silent slaughter of his sleeping neighbor. — W. X. 



Food for the Silkworm. — On a recent visit of 

 the Duke and Duchess of Montpensier to Venice, 

 the Royal and Imperial Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture presented to them Teresa Tarn or, who 

 had produced silk from silkworms in sixteen days, 

 by feeding them with the leaves of the centinode. 

 This is identical with the common Polygonum 

 aviculare-, called in England knot-grass. These 

 leaves are stated to be preferred by silkworms, to 

 those of the mulberry. — Jane E. 



Utility of Blue Glass for Hot-Houses. — In 

 vegetable growth, the blue rays are the most 

 active, the red ones the least so. Hence the 

 benefit of employing glass stained blue or green, 

 for the roofs of houses. — J. 



The Nettle converted into Cloth A coarse 



but durable cloth has been produced from the 

 stalk of the common nettle. This use of a seem- 

 ingly insignificant and valueless plant, has been 

 long known to the Japanese. Thunberg informs 

 us that from two species of nettles, Urtica 

 japonica and Ur. nivea, which grew wild upon the 

 hills, they spin threads so fine that even linen 

 is made from them. " As materials for cordage 

 and lines, even of the thicker kinds, which may 

 serve on board of vessels," he says, " these net- 

 tles are still more valuable." Mr. Smith, of 

 Brentwood in Essex, has made many experi- 

 ments to ascertain the relative merits of the 

 fibres of the nettle compared with those of flax 

 and hemp. We learn, as the result of this gen- 

 tleman's observations and experiments, that 

 those nettles which produced the longest, finest 

 fibres, and are obtained with least waste, are 

 commonly found growing in the bottom of 

 ditches, among briars, and in shady valleys, 

 where the soil consists of blue clay or strong- 

 loam. — E. Johnson. 



