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KIDD'S LONDON JOURNAL. 



distilled water so as to be deprived of all 

 food, their condition becomes reduced, they 

 regain their spirits and activity, and once 

 more amuse themselves in pursuit of the 

 more minute animals which are supplied to 

 them. These they swallow without depriv- 

 ing them of life, as by the aid of the micro- 

 scope, the smaller, thus devoured, has been 

 observed moving within the body of the 

 greater. The microscopic researches of 

 Ehrenberg have disclosed most surprising 

 examples of the minuteness of which organ- 

 ised matter is susceptible. He has shown 

 that many species of infusoria exist which 

 are so small that millions of them collected 

 into one mass would not exceed the bulk of 

 a grain of sand, and a thousand might swim 

 side by side through the eye of a needle. The 

 shells of these creatures are found to exist 

 fossilised in the strata of the earth in quan- 

 tities so great as almost to exceed the limits 

 of credibility. By microscopic measurement 

 it has been ascertained that in the slate 

 found at Bilin, in Bohemia, which consists 

 almost entirely of these shells, a cubic inch 

 contains forty-one thousand millions ; it fol- 

 lows that one hundred and eighty score 

 millions of these shells must go to a grain, 

 each of which would consequently weigh 

 the 187,000,000th part of a grain. All these 

 phenomena lead to the conclusion that these 

 creatures must be supplied with an organiza- 

 tion, corresponding in beauty with those of 

 the larger species. 



Worms in Flower Pots. 



Ladies who cultivate flowers in their parlors 

 will find the following an excellent receipt for 

 destroying a very troublesome reptile: — Worms 

 in pots may be easily destroyed, simply by water- 

 ing the soil with lime water, which may be made 

 by putting a piece of lime, weighing about two 

 pounds, into a pail of water; when the Avhole is 

 slacked and well stirred up, it should be allowed 

 to settle. The clear water may then be turned 

 off, and the soil in the pot should be liberally 

 watered with it. The worms will soon leave the 

 premises by crawling upon the surface, when they 

 may be taken off and destroyed. If any remain, 

 another watering may be applied. We have 

 never found any difficulty in destroying them by 

 this method. 



The Great Exhibition of 1851. 

 Most sincerely do we congratulate the Country 

 on the approaching demolition of this gigantic 

 Fashionable Lounge. Erected for the aggran- 

 disement of the few at the expense of the many, 

 it has succeeded admirably. Thousands of broken 

 hearts, and desolate hearths, can attest this. Let 

 us here write its Epitaph : — 



" Be mortuis nil nisi bone 'cm ! " 



And now, Messrs. Fox and Henderson, — let us 

 advise you to pack up the mortal remains of your 

 spoilt child with all convenient speed. They are 

 becoming a stench in the Public's nostrils. 



SPRING. 

 Lo! where the virgin Spring is seen, 



Dancing forth in bright array, 

 Blithe as an Eastern Bridal Queen 



To wed the Lord of Day. 

 And see! where rising Nature homage yields, 



And all her breathing incense pours along 

 O'er dewy meads, and the wide open fields; 



The stream's soft murmur, and the poet's song, 

 All, all, her smiles attend. Earth, water, sky, 



All wake to thee, fair Spring, their sweetest 

 minstrelsy. George Dyer, B.A. 



Lo! where the rosy-bosom'cl hours, 



Fair Venus' train appear, 

 Disclose the long-expecting flowers, 



And wake the purple year! 

 The attic warbler pours her throat, 

 llesponsive to the cuckoo's note, 

 The untaught harmony of spring; 



While, whisp'ring pleasures as they fly, 



Cool zephyrs through the clear blue sky 

 Their gather'd fragrance fling. Gray. 



Inscription for an Arbour. 



Stranger, or friend, whichever name accord 

 With Tomkins' hearty shake or civil word ; 

 Enter, where interlacing boughs have made 

 O'er lattice trellis-work a verdant shade. 

 Here seat thyself on benches greenly damp, 

 Fraught with lumbago sweet and cooling cramp ; 

 Here rest thy back against this wall of brick, 

 Perhaps the recent whitewash will not stick. 

 Here view the snail, his lodging on his back, 

 Mark on the table's length his silvery track; 

 Here, when your hat and wig are laid aside, 

 The caterpillar from the leaf shall glide, 

 And, like a wearied pilgrim, faint and late, 

 Crawl slowly o'er the desert of your pate. 

 Here shall the spider weave his web so fine, 

 And make your car the period of his line; — 

 Here, should still noon induce the drowsy gape, 

 A headlong fly shall down your throat escape; 

 Or should your languid spirits court repose, 

 Th' officious bee shall cavil at your nose; 

 While timid beetles from a chink behind, 

 In your coat pocket hurried shelter find. 

 Oh! thou, to whom such summer joys are dear, 

 And Nature's ways are pleasant, — enter here! 



Botanical Explanations. 



Botanists have divided all plants into twenty- 

 four classes and 121 orders; and they have dis- 

 covered 3000 genera, 50,000 species, and 

 varieties of the species without number. With 

 regard to the roots, plants are bulbous, as in 

 onions and tulips; tuberose, as in turnips or 

 potatoes ; and fibrous as in grasses. They are 

 deciduous when their leaves fall in Autumn ; and 

 evergreen when they are constantly renewed, as 

 in most resinous trees. They are said to sleep 

 when they change the appearance of the leaves 

 or flowers at night. 



London : Published for William Kidd, by William 

 Spooner, 379, Strand, (to whom all Letters, Parcels, 

 and Communications, Addressed to "the Editor," 

 and Books for Review, are to be forwarded) ; and 

 Procurable, by order, of every Bookseller and News- 

 vendor in the Kingdom. Agents; Dublin, Edward Mil- 

 liken ; Edinburgh, John Menzies; Glasgow, Murray 

 and Son. 



M. S. Myers, Printer, 22, Tavistock Street, Cogent Gar cler,. 



