KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL, 



25 



When people are reminded by an inward 

 monitor that it is time to recruit the body 

 (having sometimes to wait a long time be- 

 fore their wants can be supplied) — it is 

 then they require something to beguile the 

 awful interregnum between the order given, 

 and the order executed. What can be 

 better, under such ' disastrous circum- 

 stances,' than to have recourse to something 

 smart, something striking, something pithy, 

 something pleasingly-instructive? The 

 vacuum, the aching void, should be tilled 

 up in some such way — to satisfy Nature's 

 requirements. " Nature abhors a vacuum," 

 as Ave all know. 



We quickly learnt that this was THE desi- 

 deratum. Had it been a mere matter of 

 opinion with some few only, Ave should 

 have paused ; but we are quite convinced 

 that the general mind leans towards our 

 vieAv. 



Having therefore satisfactorily ascer- 

 tained what is "good 11 for the public 

 health, and how to keep their pulse " evenly" 

 beating — Ave shall endeavor, all that in us 

 lies, to establish ourselves as a Literary Phy- 

 sician in all parts of her Majesty's do- 

 minions ; and so vary the matter Ave intro- 

 duce, as by all means to please some, 

 instruct others, and secure all (?) 



OEIGrlNAL COERESFQNBENCE. 



Instinctive Habits of Geese. — I have noticed 

 with pleasure your Essays upon " Instinct," &c, 

 in various birds, animals, and so forth ; and as 

 I quite agree with you, and consider your argu- 

 ments conclusive (although I have never given 

 the subject half the attention which it is evident 

 that you have done), I beg to hand you the 

 following communication, tending to throw a 

 little more Aveight into your side of the scalp : — 

 A day or tAvo ago, I was passing through Leaden- 

 hall market, and observed several large hampers, 

 called in the trade (I believe) "flats," freighted 

 Avith live geese. They were in the process of 

 being opened, having come from a distance — 

 probably from Ostend ; and from long and close 

 confinement, evidently were much cramped 

 through being in one position for a long time. I 

 Avas much struck at seeing each goose (I saw 

 perhaps 100 or more of them), directly it Avas 

 liberated, stretch out its neck at an angle of 

 about 35 degrees, then make a hissing noise, and 

 finally, flap its Avings. The uniform manner in 

 Avhich this was done was very remarkable. I 

 asked myself the question : Are these possessed 

 of reason ? if so, they would not all of them do this 

 thing in precisely the same manner. If any should 

 doubt this, I would refer them to the stations of 

 some of our large railways, on the arrival of some 

 of the heavy trains from the country. Hero 

 many of the genus " Homo" possessed of 

 '•reason," show by their different movements, 

 that they exercise that reason as they think best, 

 and not all in the same manner. — N. B. 



A Dog's Attachment for a Kitten; a Remarkable 

 Fact Your paper holds out such direct encour- 

 agement for people who have any curious facts to 

 relate, to relate them, that I feel a pleasure in send- 

 ing you the annexed particulars. The dog and cat 

 are both living, and I should indeed be happy 

 to show them to any of your renders Avhose faith 

 in my narrative may be " weak." A few months 

 since, a favorite cat of mine had three kittens. 

 Deeming one sufficient for preservation, the other 

 two Avere drowned. When the kitten Avas about 

 three days old, my terrier, christened by my 

 little girl, " Rover " (although of the female sex), 

 paid marked attention to it. First, she Avent up 

 and smelt the basket, as dogs will do, to recon- 

 noitre; then she jumped into the basket, side by 

 side with the cat, and ''nestled down" Avith the 

 mother and child very cosily. The strangeness 

 of this proceeding on the part of Mistress "Rover," 

 who, let me remark, had not given birth to any 

 children of her own since 18 months previously, 

 induced me to let her remain some little time to 

 see Avhere all would end. The cat, however, not 

 quite approving of this intervention in her 

 domestic affairs, and evidently becoming un- 

 happy, the dog Avas removed. At night, 

 after my household had retired to rest, an 

 incessant barking from poor " Rover, 1 ' told us of 

 the anguish she endured at the separation. The 

 barking Avas kept up till the folloAviug morning. 

 Much to our surprise, Ave found, on coming 

 doAvn stairs (the door having been opened by 

 the servant), that "Rover" had again installed 

 herself guardian of the basket; and, on this occa- 

 sion, she expelled the mother, barking furiously at 

 her to keep her aAvay, which she did all that day. 

 At night, when preparing to retire, we debated 

 Avhat should be done in the matter. Humanity 

 settled the question. Mistress " Rover " was 

 ejected forcibly, barking furiously the while ; and 

 the cat was restored to her kitten. At night, 

 the same occurrence again took place ; and 

 next day Ave Avere obliged to drive the dog away, 

 to prevent the kitten being starved for Avant of 

 its natural nutriment. The most remarkable part 

 of this communication yet remains to be told. 

 The affinity beween " Rover " and the kitten 

 was such, that at last the latter had positively 

 produced in the former a supply of milk, which it 

 preferred to that of its own parent ! Under these 

 circumstances, Ave interfered no more, and the 

 dog and kitten Avere inseparable. If the mother 

 put in a claim for "a right" to join in a game 

 at play, a quarrel was the inevitable conse- 

 quence. To be brief, I thought it better to part 

 Aviththe kitten, Avhich I have done. I may truly 

 say I have inflicted more pain on the wet-nurse 

 by this decision, than on the mother! — T. B. 



The Ostrich.— -In your last Aveek's paper you 

 referred to some remarks you had made soine- 

 Avhere, about the ostrich. I have just read them. 

 You have termed the bird, I see, unnatural; and 

 insinuated that it tb lays its eggs in the sand, and 

 there leaves them to be hatched by the sun." As 

 you court information, I forward you a paragraph 

 wh ich I have copied from A Hunter 's Life in 

 South Africa. In it you Avill see a nest is made, 

 and that it is large enough to hold a man! The 

 following is taken from the book to which I have 



