
200 KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

ALAS, THAT HE SHOULD DIE! 

I nave the letter yet, Minnie, 
You sent the very day 
That gave your first-born to your arms, 
And I was far away. 
I saw through every trembling line, 
How precious was the boy; 
How pleasure shook the weakened hand 
That wrote to wish me joy. 
Of all thy mother’s little ones, 
The plaything and the pet, 
Poor children, lovingly they come 
To rock the cradle yet; 
And, knowing not how sound his sleep, 
All arts to wake him try. 
Alas! from so much love,.-Minnie, 
To think that he should die! 
Look at the small pure hand, Minnie, 
So motionless in mine; 
I used to let it, soft and warm, 
About my finger twine. 
And as it fastened in my heart 
That slight uncertain hold, 
Its touch will linger on my hand 
Till my hand, too, is cold. 
Our bridal day; that summer day— 
Dost thou remember now? 
Joy’s blossoms were unsullied then 
As those about thy brow. 
Thank God, I have my fair bride still; 
And by thy loving eye, 
Thou wouldst not give me up, Minnie, 
E’en that he might not die. 
A Heaven of safety and repose ; 
Al! should we wish him back, 
From its clear lights and thornless flowers, 
To tread life’s dusty track ? 
Think what a radiant little one 
Shall meet us by-and-by ; 
And yet, that he should die, Minnie! 
Alas, that he should die! 
From ‘“‘ Household Words.” 
HUMAN LIFE, IN A NUTSHELL. 

Day dawn’d. Within a curtain’d room, 
Fill’d to faintness with perfume, 
A lady lay,—at point of doom. 
Day closed. A child had seen the light ; 
But for the lady, fair and bright, 
She rested in undreaming night ! 
Spring came. The lady’s grave was green, 
And near it, oftentimes was seen 
A gentle boy, with thoughtless mien. 
Years fled. He wore a manly face, 
And struggled in the world’s rough race, 
And won at last a lofty place. 
And then, he died !—Behold before ye, 
Humanrry’s brief sum, and story,— 
Lire, Dears, and all that is of—Guory. 
Barry Cornwattu. 


DOMESTIC CURIOSITIES. 
THE VINEGAR PLANT. 
SOME OF OUR READERS may have heard 
of, and perhaps seen, the Vinegar Plant ; 
but we feel quite sure that many of them 
have not. We shall therefore tell them 
something about it. 
To look at it, nothing could be more 
unsightly than the Vinegar Plant. It is a 
tough, gelatinous object, resembling a lump 
of boiled tripe; of a dirty-brown color, and 
enveloped in a succession of folds. Yet 
has it wonderful reproductive powers. Ere 
it is one day old—that is to say, disen- 
gaged from the parent stem—it commences 
the work of reproduction ; and i sta weeks 
has given birth to another progeny prolitic 
as itself! The original parent, be it observed, 
never leaves off its fertility, but continues, 
every six weeks, to produce a new off- 
spring. 
This is quite an amusing experiment. 
Procure a tureen. Place in it half a pound 
of treacle, and half a pound of coarse brown 
sugar. Add to these two quarts of spring 
water, and stir the whole well together. 
Into this mixture put your Vinegar Plant. 
It will float on the surface for six weeks ; 
it will then sink to the bottom. ‘The mix- 
ture will have become very strong, very 
excellent vinegar; not to be su:passed in 
strength or flavor. 
After having removed the vinegar, with- 
draw the plant. Adhering to it, you will 
find an excrescence. Separate this carefully, 
by gently-applied manipular force. You 
will then be in possession of two Vinegar 
Plants, each one equally vigorous. 
Again make a mixture, as before, and 
procure two tureens. Fill these as already 
described, and put one of the plants into each 
tureen. From that hour, reproduction is 
going steadily on; and your family, in six 
weeks, will be quadrupled. This enables 
you to be generous—a principle we are ever 
inculcating. At the present time of writing, 
we are watching the progress of a mother- 
plant. Soon after this JOURNAL sees the 
light, we shall have to pay marked attention 
to dz and its offspring. What “ fine pickles” 
we shall have, for “a relish,” at Christmas! 
The best place in which to keep the tureen 
is a warm cupboard in the kitchen. The 
fermentation then soon commences. Whilst 
the change is going on, the further develop- 
ment of the plant proceeds. It divides into 
two distinct layers. ‘These, incourse of time, 
would again increase in size and divide; and 
so on, each layer being suitable for removing 
toa separate jar for the production of vinegar. 
The layers may also be cut into separate 
pieces for the purpose of propagating more 
freely. ‘The solution necessarily causes the 
a a a 

