KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



"While the lecturer held the knob by his 

 fi nger and thumb, a person standing by touched 

 the operator's left hand with his own right, when, 

 instead of a circular motion, an oscillatory one 

 was produced, but in a direction different from 

 the other two. On this, a chain was formed by 

 the gentlemen present joining hands, and as the 

 chain increased, the arc of oscillation increased 

 until the bob swung as far as the sides of the 

 dish ; the contribution of a few more hands, and 

 it must have struck the glass. If the bystander 

 touched the experimenter with his finger (index) 

 only, the same effect was produced as if the expe- 

 rimenter touched the instrument with his finger only, 

 and so with the thumb. 



"Now came the extraordinary and 'myste- 

 rious ' part of the subject. The lecturer stated 

 that if, while the operator's finger and thumb 

 were producing the left-to-right movement, a 

 woman were to touch his left hand, the bob would 

 immediately refuse to proceed in the normal direc- 

 tion, and be carried round in the opposite direction 

 — right to left. [This is quite true; for we saw 

 it proved by Dr. T. Leger, at Hungerford Hall.] 

 No ladies were present, but the lecturer stated 

 that anything which had been worn or carried 

 about by a female for a length of time, or even 

 a letter written by one, would do as well. In- 

 credible as this may seem, it was put to the proof 

 and succeeded. The instrument being at rest, 

 the operator placed his right hand on the knob, 

 and a letter written by a lady was laid in the palm 

 of his left, when the bob immediately commenced a 

 circular movement from right to left. This was 

 tried with several documents, one of which was 

 of the date of September 27th, twenty-four days 

 previous. One of these experiments was startling, 

 and touches on a disputed and much- vexed ques- 

 tion; but we may venture to state what really 

 occurred. One letter, placed on the hand, pro- 

 duced an apparent indecision on the part of the 

 bob to such an extent, that the lecturer ' gave 

 it up;' he could not tell what sex the writer was. 

 It proved to be a woman ; but the writing had 

 been penned while in the mesmeric sleep — on 

 which the lecturer remarked, that Mr. Mutter 

 had already ascertained the fact of the disturbing 

 influence exerted by a somnambulist." 



The above abridgment of " facts " must 

 suffice. We hardly need remark, that if 

 the " principle " herein involved be " true," 

 (and we by no means pledge ourselves thus 

 early to affirm that it is so), the doctrine of 

 Homoeopathy is likely to go rapidly a-head. 

 We gather this, not only from what we have 

 given above, as evolved by the " experi- 

 ments ; " but from the further and striking 

 experiments submitted by Dr. T. Leger at 

 Hungerford Hall. We shall have an eye 

 upon this subject, and our readers shall 

 reap the benefit of our observations. Mean- 

 time, let us thank Mr. Rutter most cor- 

 dially, and most sincerely, for the disinter- 

 estedness and energy he has displayed 

 towards the public, from first to last. To 

 him alone, we repeat, is all the honour of the 

 discovery justly due, " Suum cuique ! "is 

 our invariable motto. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



kx.vitK.~~ By ail means send your proposed contribution. 

 It has reference to a subject likely to be of very general 

 interest. 



Cantab.— It is impossible for us, at this early period, to 

 define what you wish to know ; but every successive 

 week will assist in developing it more clearly. 



Phii.os. — Yes, such subjects are quite admissible; but 

 we wish all communications to be as concise as pos- 

 sible. 



Argus.— Now that our First Number is issued, and our 

 desires are made known, you will see (with your 'hundred 

 eyes') what aid it is that we so much covet. We are as 

 anxious to expose abuses, as we are to inform the public 

 mind. Your assistance is gladly accepted. 



Our ' Extra' Contributor's article on " Female Costume" 

 is received. It is " pointed" -ly clever, and shall as- 

 suredly have a place in our next number. It comes 

 quite within the scope of our Journal to insert it. 

 Thanks for your earnestness in the cause of Reform. 



Spectator. — Any hint of the kind that may strike you, 

 we shall be glad to receive. Drop it into our Letter 

 Box. Only give us a text, and we shall well under- 

 stand how to "handle it." 



Legion.— We prefix this signature to express to our 

 friends collectively how sensible we are of their kind 

 promises of literary aid, which will be at all times 

 most acceptable. 



Correspondents sending in any " facts" connected with 

 Science or Natural History, are requested in every 

 case to append their names and places of abode. In no 

 instance, however, will their names be published with- 

 out their express sanction. 



Notice to Subscribers and Others. — It having been 

 deemed expedient, to meet the views of the Trade, that 

 this Journal should always be published by anticipa- 

 tion, Contributors and others will be so kind as to 

 bear in mind that they must give us an extra " week's 

 grace," and wait patiently till their favours appear. 



All persons who may send in MSS., but which may not 

 be " accepted," are requested to preserve copies of 

 them, as the Editor cannot hold himself responsible 

 for their return. 



To obtain this Paper without any difficulty, our readers 

 need only order it to be sent to them by any of their 

 local Booksellers or News vendors. It is published 

 simultaneously with all the other weekly periodicals. 



KIDD'S LONDON JOUENAL. 

 Saturday, January 3rd, 1852. 



It may very naturally be asked, — Why 

 is another Literary Journal added to the 

 already large number of those at present 

 existing ? The answer is short and simple. 



The popularity of the subjects on Natural 

 History, which we originated in the year 1849, 

 in the Gardeners' Chronicle, (and which series 

 of Articles are still in course of publication 

 in that extensively-circulated paper) is such, 

 that we are urged, positively urged, by those 

 who wish us well, to issue a cheap Weekly 

 medium of communication with the reading 

 public, in which all such interesting topics 

 can be more fully discussed, and entered 

 upon in greater detail. It would indeed be 

 unreasonable to expect these matters to be 

 assigned more than a very limited space in 

 a first-rate Horiicultural+p&ipei', their intro- 

 duction being incidental rather than needful. 



Having given the matter our mature con - 

 sideration, and calculated the chances of 

 success, which, if our friends kindly rally 

 round our standard as promised, we should 

 hope cannot be doubtful — we have let the 

 casting vote be in favor of the public voice. 



