rained. Near this cage, when bent on mischief, 

 he would secret himself and look out for prey. 

 Jack had a saucer of bread and milk always 

 placed in his cage. This held out a tempting 

 lure to certain chaffinches and sparrows, and 

 other little birds. Jack availed himself of this 

 knowledge, and set the trap for his victims with 

 an artfulness perfectly wonderful. Shrouded in 

 ambush, how often has he .been seen to watch 

 for a victim! Sometimes an ill-fated chaffinch, 

 sometimes a luckless sparrow, would be over- 

 come by the sight of the tempting saucer; and 

 enter the cage to taste the bread and milk. Quick 

 as thought, up rushed Jack in pursuit; and in 

 less than a minute, the adventurer lay dead at 

 his feet. His fute was indeed sad! for brains, 

 eyes, and heart, all were devoured by Jack, — 

 who afterwards left the mangled corse to be 

 removed by his master. His mode of picking 

 out the heart was particularly " neat." Every 

 bird's structure he perfectly comprehended, and 

 went to work like a student of anatomy. We 

 always knew when a prisoner was taken ; for 

 Jack set up a regular " war-whoop." On one 

 particular occasion, a prodigious fracas was 

 heard to come off in Jack's cage. Out rushed 

 my cousin, just in time to see Jack tackling a 

 blackbird. This time he had his match, or 

 nearly so. However, he set his foot upon poor 

 blacky, and nearly strangled him with a gripe, — 

 dragging him into the water with a view to 

 drown him! Another five minutes would have 

 seen him drowned. My cousin, however, came 

 to his timely rescue, and released him when more 

 than half dead. Dire was the mischief com- 

 mitted by Jack, if left to himself. One clay he 

 artfully approached a cage in which were five 

 pet birds. Opening the door gently, he soon 

 devoured /cwr of them (at least their eyes, brains, 

 and hearts); the fifth luckily escaped. You will 

 ask, — what became of Jack? He shared the fate 

 of all " pets." One dajr, when sought for, he 

 was non est. It was surmised he had "been 

 stolen: for he was never seen afterwards. My 

 cousin, like yourself, possesses the power of 

 taming any living creature. He throws a spell 

 over them that wins them at once. He has some 

 beautiful bantams that go to sleep on his knee. 

 I. shall have more " nice" anecdotes to send you 

 as soon as I return home. — Fanny A., Brighton. 

 [Thank you, thank you : Fanny. Our pages 

 shall be always open to you. You write so 

 pleasingly, that our readers will soon love you as 

 much as we do.] 



Cloves.-— Cloves are the unopened flowers of 

 a small evergreen tree,, that resembles in appear- 

 ance the laurel and the bay. It is a native of the 

 Molucca or Spice Islands, but has been carried 

 to all the warmer parts of the world, and is largely 

 cultivated in the tropical regions of America. The 

 flowers are small in size; and grow in large num- 

 bers, in clusters at the very ends of the branches. 

 The cloves we use, are the flowers gathered be- 

 fore they have opened ; and whilst they are still 

 green. After being gathered, they are smoked by 

 a wood fire ; nnd then dried in the sun. Each 

 clove consists of two parts; a round head, which 

 is the four petals or leaves of the flowers rolled 

 up, inclosing a number of small stalks or fila- 



ments. The other part of the clove is termi- 

 nated with four points, and is, in fact the flower- 

 cup and the unripe seed- vessel. — J. P. 



Mechanism of a Watch. — A watch consists of 

 902 pieces; and forty trades, and probably 215 

 persons, are employed in making one of these 

 little machines. The iron pf which the balance- 

 wheel is formed, is valued at something less 

 than a farthing. This produces an ounce of 

 steel worth 41.2 pence, which is drawn into 3250 

 yards of steel wire, and represents in the mar- 

 ket £13 13s. But still another process ofharden- 

 ing this, originally a farthing's worth of iron, 

 renders it workable inlo 7650 balance springs; 

 which will realise, at the common price of 2s. 6d. 

 each, £956 5s.; the effect of labor alone. Thus, 

 the mere labor bestowed upon one farthing's 

 worth of iron, gives it the value of £956 5s.; 

 which is 918,000 times its original value. — 

 E. J. Dent. 



Plants for Pillar-Decoration. — Experience of 

 the usefulness of the common Heliotrope (Heli- 

 otropium Peruvianuni) enables me to come for- 

 ward as its advocate ; and I can justly place it 

 foremost in the rank of plants for adorning pil- 

 lars, wires, or any other suitable situation of a 

 cool conservatory where a graceful pyramidal 

 appearance would be deemed an acquisition. 

 Few lovers of plants and flowers, pass through 

 our conservatory without granting their tribute 

 of praise on the subject under notice, Which runs 

 up a pillar to the height of fourteen feet, and 

 about three feet diameter at the base. It tapers 

 too in its upward progress, to a couple of leading 

 shoots, forming a pyramid of pendent branches, 

 with clusters of flowers hanging gracefully 

 from the extremities of each of them. I find it 

 requisite to pinch all the laterals proceeding 

 from last year's growth of the leader, or any 

 other strong shoot protruding without the bound- 

 ary. This induces them to throw out a number 

 of a weaker stump or flowering shoots; checking 

 their vigor and benefiting those underneath, by 

 directing the current of sap to them. From 

 their spurred nature, and from repeated prunings, 

 they break with more shoots than are required. 

 The weakest should be weeded out, to allow 

 the others the benefit of the sun and air, when 

 they will shoot out rapidly ; and produce that much 

 admired form, the pyramid. The usefulness of 

 this plant for the conservatory, or cut bloom, 

 may be best understood when I say, that du- 

 ring nine months of the year, it is covered with 

 bloom. I believe it would prove perpetual were 

 pruning not requisite to keep it in form. That 

 operation is performed in the beginning of 

 March. In a few weeks after, it is covered with 

 a lively green, and its growth encouraged during 

 that season with frequent waterings of liquid 

 manure, which are discontinued in August. 

 After that time, the plants placed upon the soil 

 wherein it grows supply it plentifully with the 

 water that has passed through them ; and the 

 increasing moisture of the atmosphere and with- 

 drawal of sun-heat make its wants more mode- 

 rate. An interesting companion opposite to it— - 

 in habit and foliage resembling it very much, 

 whilst in the color of the flowers it forms a 



