KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL, 



certain 'Elegant Trifles' that otherwise 

 might wander down the stream of time and 

 perish in forgetf illness. Another—to foster 

 and encourage latent talent ; and a third, to 

 throw open our Columns for fail* and 

 temperate Discussion on all Subjects con- 

 nected with the best interests of Society and 

 the Useful Arts. This will enable us to 

 arrive at ' truth,' which ought to be the basis 

 of every branch of Science." 



Here we must halt. 



Now that our Friends know the tack on 

 which we wish to sail, let us ask them 

 frankly for a helping hand. Everybody has 

 something interesting to relate, something 

 new to tell. In helping us, they help them- 

 selves, and the public too. All are gainers 

 thereby. Such " mutual exchanges " are 

 indeed " profitable investments." 



Our next immediate step, adopting the 

 practice of both Houses of Parliament, will 

 be— to Order that 



" This Paper be Printed." 

 If our legion of anticipated readers will 

 follow another equally good example, set by 

 the same honorable Assemblies, and Order 

 that our Paper 



"Do lie upon the Table" — 



then will our fondest wishes be realised. 

 Our " good ship" will soon be "under weigh." 

 The fires are lighted, the steam is being 

 generated, and our machinery is in excellent 

 trim. But as we shall have sometimes^ to 

 put on extra power, and work by "high 

 pressure," it rests with our kind patrons, 

 the Public, to keep our "boilers" in order 

 by pouring in plenty of their copper. Half- 

 pence and penny-pieces will do nicely, So 

 far as we are concerned, that is our " Safety 

 Valve." Verbum sat! But we hear the 

 Captain shouting out to us— " Go ON ! " we 

 must therefore at once to our post. 



EEYXEW OF BOOKS. 



As it is our desire to make this Periodical 

 useful as well as readable ; and as much 

 knowledge is to be found in books — we 

 purpose, not so much to shew our critical 

 acumen in the analysis of their con- 

 tents by sitting in judgment upon their 

 deficiencies, as to extract from them that 

 which is really good. It may fairly be 

 inferred that, if the books noticed are not 

 worthy of that honour, they would never 

 have been selected by us. We shall al- 

 ways cultivate conciseness, believing, as 

 we do, that "brevity is the soul of wit," 

 and the very essence of wisdom; and there 

 can be no doubt that as we progress, this 

 particular department of our " London 

 Journal 1 ' will be one of very considerable 

 interest. 



The Naturalist, — A popular Monthly Maga- 

 zine, illustrative of the Animal, Vegetable, 

 and Mineral Kingdoms. Conducted by 

 Beverley R. Morris, Esq., A.B., M.D., 

 T.C.D., Mem. Wern. Club.— Nos. 1 to 10. 

 — Groombridge and Sons. 



This is a monthly periodical, established 

 with the laudable view of eliciting " facts " 

 connected with the various branches of 

 Natural History ; and the Editor has shown 

 much judgment in requiring the names and 

 addresses of all contributors before their 

 articles can appear. This gives the public, 

 confidence in the authenticity of the commu- 

 nications ; and it takes all undue responsi- 

 bility from the Editor. Among the writers, 

 we recognise many estimable, clever men, 

 and we have been pleased to mark the ami- 

 able spirit which pervades all their writ- 

 ings. The work has now been before the 

 public nearly a twelvemonth, and each 

 successive number has shown an improve- 

 ment ; we do not mean in the value, but ra- 

 ther in the extent of the communications. 



Natural History seems now to be a 

 favorite study with the public, and we 

 attribute this, in a great measure, to the 

 popular and agreeable form in which, from 

 time to time, the subject is brought before 

 them. Dry and mere matter-of-fact books 

 have had their clay, and a spirit of inquiry is 

 abroad that promises well for the future. 



From the mass of valuable matter con- 

 tained in these ten numbers, we might 

 enrich our pages to a considerable extent ; 

 for singular anecdotes and remarkable pecu- 

 liarities of birds, animals, &c, drawn by gra- 

 phic pens, abound. But we shall, on the 

 present occasion, merely make one selection, 

 with a view of correcting an error put forth 

 by Mr. Smee, in respect to the want of 

 sight in the Mole. Mr. S. Hannaford, junior, 

 a very observant naturalist, and regular con- 

 tributor, writes thus at page 193 : — 



" I was much surprised, on reading Mr. Smee's 

 'Instinct and Reason,' to observe the following: 

 ' There is a common animal in the fields, which, 

 being almost exclusively in the dark, in subter- 

 raneous passages, has no eyes. This creature is 

 the sleek-skinned Mole. It is a common proverb 

 to speak of a person as blind as a mole, but it is 

 equally common to hear the casual observer speak 

 of the error of the proverb ; because on turning 

 aside the hairs on each side of the head, a little 

 black tubercle appears, which is called an eye. 

 These black tubercles have no optical contri- 

 vance, and a distinguished physiologist has 

 shewn that the little tubercle is not supplied by 

 the optic nerve. In consequence of this creature 

 having no eyeballs, there are no sockets in the 

 skull to receive the eyeballs.' — Instinct and 

 Reason, page 26. 



" This was so much at variance with my own 

 ideas on the matter, that I immediately con- 

 sulted all the works on Natural History in my 



