KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



Our good friends, the Publishers, can aid 

 us materially in our enterprise ; and we make 

 no scruple in asking them to do so. " Unita 

 vis fortiori There is nothing comparable 

 to the "pull altogether." 



Now for a passing word about our ap- 

 pearance to-day. 



It is an undeniable fact, that all first 

 numbers of a New Periodical ought to be 

 the best of any. It is as undeniable, that 

 they are invariably the roorst of any. The 

 reason is obvious. It is just as impossible 

 to collect and arrange the necessary materiel 

 for a forthcoming literary work, in a few 

 short days, as it would be to get a new ma- 

 chine to work perfectly when first taken, for 

 an experimental trial, from the hands of the 

 manufacturer. There always remains some 

 slight improvement to be made, some little 

 alteration or amendment to be introduced. 

 Nevertheless, we are well content to let our 

 first Number speak for us, so far as regards 

 the new features which it holds out, and the 

 plan, in outline, upon which we purpose to 

 proceed. 



We see before us, a prospect of intense 

 interest ; and our weekly task, as the seasons 

 advance, will indeed be a " labour of love." 

 As we well know who will be our readers, 

 our pen will move with as much freedom of 

 thought, as it does with celerity of touch ; 

 and having the good will, and hearty wishes 

 of the Public for our success, we have every 

 reason to believe Ave shall — " go a-head ! " 



OEIGINAL COEEESPQNDENCE. 



" How can I get rid of Eats ? " — I am 

 told you know all about this ; having been so 

 cruel a sufferer by their frightful depredations. 

 I wrote to you some time since, though the Edi- 

 tor of the Gardeners' Chronicle, for full particu- 

 lars of your loss, and also to know how you 

 exterminated the intruders. You referred me to 

 three back numbers of that paper, for which I 

 have applied vainly. They are, I am told, out 

 of print. Now I cannot help thinking, that if 

 you were to put the public in possession of the 

 little affair ab initio, you would not he a loser 

 thereby; for the ravages made by rats are, I fear, 

 in many parts of the country, alarming. Will 

 it be asking you too great a favor, to assist me in 

 this matter ? I am sure it is of public interest, 

 and therefore well suited to the "object" which 

 you recognise so decidedly in your prospectus. 

 —J. T., Hants. 



[We will gladly reprint these three articles, 

 having, fortunately, a copy of the papers in our 

 possession. The first will be found elsewhere, 

 the others shall appear weekly.] 



The Cuckoo. — I have just read in the Family 

 Herald, a periodical which finds its way I 

 believe into every corner of the globe where 

 there is a family — and so it ought, — some 

 account copied from your writings, of the 



cuckoo. It would appear from the remarks 

 made by the editor of the Family Herald, 

 that there has been some "most interesting 

 controversy" about this bird, a visitor so 

 little understood in its singular habits. Do you 

 mean to allude to it at all in your London 

 Journal? I feel curious to know all that has 

 been ascertained about its peculiarities ; for, in our 

 part of the country, all sorts of stories are told, 

 yet few of them, I imagine, true — Alfred M. 



[It is our intention, shortly, to collect all the 

 materiel which has been recently brought before 

 the public in " shreds and patches." The true 

 habits of the bird are now fully known — not all, 

 perhaps, but those which have hitherto been 

 matters of dispute among vulgar minds.] 



Gold Fish. — Can you tell me if gold fish are 

 easily tamed, and how I must teach them to feed 

 from my hand? I have had a pair given me 

 in a glass bowl, but they take little or no notice 

 of me, or any one else. — A. W. 



[Goldfish are very easily tamed; but their 

 tameness is more pleasing when they are seen 

 disporting in a pond, or large body of water. 

 Read the following, which appeared in the 

 Gardeners' Journal, Nov. 15: — " About the mid- 

 dle of July, 1850, four gold fish were put into 

 the Victoria tank in the house in which the 

 royal water lily is growing in the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Regent's Park. The four fish in ques- 

 tion were, at the time they were put into the tank, 

 full grown. The water has been kept at about 

 85 deg,, with a supply of fresh water constantly 

 falling into the tank. In the course then of these 

 fifteen months, these four golden fish have laid 

 many thousands of golden eggs, and become the 

 progenitors of three or four generations of young 

 goldings, numbering a visible offspring of several 

 hundreds, and many hundreds more below a line 

 in depth which we regard as invisible. It was 

 found that the Victoria lily, as well as the fish, 

 rejoiced in brilliant sunbeams, as well as heat ; 

 no shading was therefore used during the bright- 

 est sunlight of the past summer, though abun- 

 dance of top air was given. About a barrow- 

 load of rough gravel was laid into a shallow part 

 of the water in the tank, and in this neither soft 

 nor smooth bed the gold fish delighted to nurse 

 and rear their 3 r oung. The animalcules in the 

 water are not now so plentiful as in summer, and 

 there is besides a vast increase of little mouths 

 to be fed. Their pasturage is therefore not so 

 rich as it w r as some months ago ; and so keenly 

 do they now watch to be fed that a finger dipped 

 into the water, and slightly agitated, will instantly 

 bring every fish in the tank to the same spot. 

 They are quite tame, and if the hand be dipped 

 into the water, it is immediately surrounded by 

 scores of little nibbling mouths seeking for a few 

 crumbs."] 



The Ostrich, — I fear you have been lately too 

 severe, whilst writing about the unnatural habits 

 of the ostrich. I have seen someAvhere in print, 

 but cannot now rem ember in what publication 

 it appeared, that this animal is very affectionate, 

 and careful to provide for her young. If you 

 insert this in your London Journal, as a 

 query — no doubt, out of your host of readers, 



