KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



Ill 



be produced in a perfect state ; each organ 

 must be capable of performing the office as- 

 signed it by nature ; otherwise the act of 

 fertilising, or " setting the fruit," cannot be 

 accomplished. 



Over excitement in any degree, whilst the 

 flowers are in the bud-state, will derange 

 their structure ; one part will grow into 

 another, and the result will be abortive 

 flowers, which will wither away soon after 

 they expand ; being incapable of performing 

 their functions, they are of no further use. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS. 



The Marionette Theatre. 



The public journals have been sounding 

 the praises of this very harmless and very 

 amusing introduction of the French paste- 

 board puppets, far and near. We, too, feel 

 justified in still further extending the fame 

 of the exhibition. It is singularly clever in 

 its conception ; and the manner of " working" 

 the little dramatis personal, is deserving of 

 the most honorable mention. 



To notice " Theatres," properly so called, 

 is beyond our province, but this comes 

 legitimately within our scope ; for as a work 

 of art, and illustrative of " progress," it is 

 unique. Not only do children raise shouts of 

 laughter at the passive performers, so mar- 

 vellously rendered " active," but older folk 

 join right heartily in the chorus of merry 

 voices. 



In addition to the Manager's Room, Bom- 

 bastes Furioso, and the grand ballet of action, 

 Pauline (all admirably "got up"), there has 

 been produced the laughable melodrama of 

 the Bottle Imp. The acting of the puppets 

 in this piece, as well as in the others, is 

 really surprising ; and the little personages, 

 from the way in which they go through their 

 parts, almost cheat one into the belief that 

 they are things of real life. The singing and 

 dancing are in admirable keeping with the 

 other portions of the entertainment, and the 

 audience nightly depart in ecstacies. 



We know no place where two or three 

 hours could be more pleasantly spent than 

 in this little theatre. 



TEE BOA-CONSTMCTO&'S STOMACH. 



"'Tisalla matter of taste!"— The Gourmand's Note 

 Book. 



What a multitude of jokes have been 

 passed, or " cracked," upon the unhappy 

 reptile that recently swallowed a blanket, 

 whole ! Punch will have it that the animal's 

 sagacity knew it would keep him warm during 

 the winter ! Another says it did not know 



a blanket from a rabbit ; this is the " popular 

 belief." But a third comes forward, and 

 says that serpents are chemical essayists ! 

 This is a noble instinct ! The following 

 appeared in a recent number of Chambers' 

 Journal. If it be true, all we can say is : 

 Chacund son gout!— u Some naturalists have 

 surmised that serpents have no sense of taste, 

 because the boa-constrictor in the Zoological 

 Gardens swallowed his blanket. Chemistry 

 may, however, assist us in solving the 

 mystery, and induce us to draw quite 

 an opposite conclusion from the curious 

 circumstance alluded to. May not the 

 ' mistake ' of the serpent be attributed to 

 the marvellous acuteness of his taste ? Take 

 this reason : all vegetable substances con- 

 tain starch, all animal substances contain 

 ammonia : now it is most probable that the 

 snake detected the animal quality — the am- 

 monia — in the wool of the blanket, and he 

 therefore naturally enough inferred that his 

 bed was something suitable to his digestive 

 organs. It is certain that he committed an 

 error of judgment, but that error may be 

 traceable to the subtlety of his taste rather 

 than to its obtuseness. We throw out this 

 suggestion as a specimen, if nothing better, 

 of what contradictory inferences may be 

 drawn from a single fact ; and as a hint of 

 how much caution is necessary in arriving 

 at absolute opinions, even when the evidence 

 is apparently most unmistakeable-" 



We cannot help thinking that the boa 

 wanted a " change of diet," and helped 

 himself to the only " variety" that was 

 at hand. We, too, throw this out as — a 

 suggestion ! 



AN EXTRAOSDIKAHY PIKE. 



As we feel bound to record all " curious 

 facts" in natural history, what can be more 

 worthy of record than the following? — 



" On Thursday, the 22nd ult, a pike, not 

 only remarkable for its more than ordinary 

 dimensions, but also for the singular beauty of 

 its variegated colors, was caught in the orna- 

 mental water at Rep (or Knapp) Castle, near 

 West Grinstead, county of Sussex, the seat of 

 Sir C. Burrell, Bart. The dimensions of the 

 fish were, extreme length 45 inches; girth 27|- 

 inches, and weight upwards of 30lbs. This is 

 considered most extraordinary, as, judging from 

 the smallness of the head and appearance of 

 the teeth, it is evidently not more than 2|- 

 years old. It was forwarded to Grove's, Charing 

 Cross, where it was exhibited to the public, and. 

 attracted much attention." — Morning Advertiser. 



Considering the estimated age of this fish, 

 we should say the purchaser of it would, if he 

 carried it home himself, find it " full weight." 



Impose not a burden on others, which thou 

 canst not bear thvself. 



■■WW ' mm ) i mtm u j ; 8 



