470 
THE COTTAGE GAKDENEB. 
hen-coop, which stood in a hack j-ard on tiie iirenhses. On 
the following morning, to the surprise df their now master, 
the old birds wore in attendance and endeavouring to feed 
their young ones ; they continued about the neighbourhood 
witli this object for some days, hut finding their efforts 
fruitless, they at length returned to their old haunts. Tliis 
furnishes anotlicr example of the force of natirral altoction, 
guided by instinct. 
(Juuious Hybrids. —Some time ago, whilst attending an 
■•Agricultural Meeting, hold at AVickham Market, my atten¬ 
tion was called to three singular looking animals in a pen, 
which were a cross between the fallow deer and our common 
sheep. Their heads and legs were those of the deer, with 
linn smooth hair of a rufous, or light reddish-brown colour, 
.and their tails, instead of being of w'ool, were of hair also. 
The man, in whose charge they were, said that the sheep 
and deer grazed together in the same park, and it was to 
this circumst.ance that their origin was owing. The animals 
in question partook much of the doer in their habits, they 
were wild and active, and much of the deer in their appear¬ 
ance, being light and elegant. They w'ero, I think, about a 
year old; and what became of them afterwards I never 
heard. 
Tame Lions. —AVliilst breakfasting one morning, at a | 
boarding-house, in King-street, Cheapside, a gentleman 
who sat next mo, remarked that one of his lions, which ho 
had brought from the Cape of Good Hope, had escaped 
from confinement, and after wandering along a street or 
two, had entered a banking house, and ipiietly placed his 
head upon the counter, to the dismay and confusion of the 
clerks and officials; and it was in this office, on his being 
sent for, tliat he had found him. He .accordingly hastened 
his poeket-handkerchief round the animal’s neck, apologised 
fur the alarm which his unexpected intrusion had occa¬ 
sioned, and led him b.ack to his domicile. Observing some 
incredulity in my looks at this narration, the gentleman 
added, “ If you please you shall walk with me, and see the 
lions.”- So after breakfast we proceeded together to the 
AVhite Bear, in Basinghall-street, which was close by, and 
having ascended a flight of steps to an upper room, he un¬ 
locked the door, and asked me to follow him. I felt unable 
to sust<ain the part of Daniel in the lion’s den, and hesitated. 
“ They ’ll not hurt you,” said he; and forthwith di'ew me 
inside and fastened the door. I stood in company -aith four 
full-grown lions, about fourteen months old, and the size of 
large Newfoundland dogs. Being a stranger, they rpuckly 
surrounded me, and began to exhibit all sorts of playful emo¬ 
tions ; one of them attempted to place his fore-paws on my 
shoulders, another took my arm in his mouth, whilst a third 
smelt at me all round. “ Dont be afraid,” said the gentle¬ 
man ; “ they are only wanting to have a game of fun with 
you.” Thus reassured, I returned their caresses, and we 
soon became the best friends in the world. But lions play 
is no joke. They bounded about, and gr.appled with each 
other upon the floor. I maintained my standing position 
during the melee, but my companion was upset, and found it 
very difficult to rise from the floor with two or three lions 
upon him at once. Their strength was prodigious, and 
their muscular energy, as shown in sport, told a fearful 
lesson of its effects wlien excited by revenge nr prompted by 
hunger. They would seize a glove from the end of a stick 
when held up to the ceiling eight feet high. Their coats 
felt more liko short wool than hair, and became unctions 
through exertion. AVe left, after amu.sing ourselves with 
them for about half an hour. The gentleman told mo that 
he had brought them to this country on siieculation, and 
that they had consumed twenty sheep during the voyage. 
AVhat prices he obtained for them I never learnt; but one 
of the animals, I believe, found its way into some private 
collection, and the remaining throe into our travelling me¬ 
nageries.—S. P., Jiimlnnere. 
HYBRID BETWEEN THE PHEASANT 
AND FOWL. 
“ A perpebuded cross between the pheasant and the fowl 
there never was, nor ever will be.” 
By the unfortunate omission of a single word, I have 
decidedly brought down the vengeance of “ Scrutator’s” pen 
IAIaucii 17. ! 
upon my negligent head. T saw my mistake instantly when 1 
I read the sentence in print, though I considered it would | 
be understood, that a hybrid monstrosity does make its ap- | 
pearance, by rare cbance, in the shape of a cross between the 
fowl and the pheasant, and I thought the sense of my ' 
subject, from wh.at almost immediately followed, would , 
sufficiently unfold and correct my omission, without troubling i 
our Editor again upon the matter. I never could succeed ' 
in breeding a cross of this description; I never saw one,. 
1 went to London, note-book in hand, on purpose to see the 
Metropolitan Poultry Show, and found the meeting put off 
till the following week, and being obliged to return 1 missed 
it, and the liybrid “ Scrutator” mentions into the bargain. 
I have heard tell before of the like nature, and from what 1 
could learn, it was certainly no beauty. 
“ Scrutator” objects to my “talk” agreeably to nature’s 
dictation ; but I really do think ho is wrong when ho says 
the hen renders “«o assistance whatever !" It is certainly 
usual for her to cast the shells from the nest, though 1 
never remember having stated that she interfered mamlibly 
at the parturition of the chick from the shell. I was con¬ 
scious, some twenty years ago, of the “instrument at the end 
of the beak,” and 1 always thought tliat the chick worked 
its deliverance from the shell, in the first instance, with 
this “ instniment; ” or, as “ Scrutator” says, that it “ cuts 
its way out.” 
The “nature’s dictation” that I mean causes the hen to 
sit very close at that time, and from the warmth of lier body 
the chick becomes strong, and is thereby enabled naturally 
to burst from its confinement. If it cannot do so of its own 
accord I would not give much for its chance, that is, for its 
ever growing up to become a first-rate fowl. 
The attendant on “ Mr. Cantelo’s machino” keeps it to a 
proper temperature, turns the eggs, Ac., following “natures 
dictation” as near as may be; and so they did in Egypt 
centuries ago. 
But in my work-a-day article I have drawn my inferences 
from my own practice. 
As to I’heasants—where have I made use of the expn's- 
sion “on or about the lilth day?” If “Scrutator” will 
scrutinise my writing correctly, he will find it expressed 
thus, “ at the expiration of nineteen days,” Ac. Now, surely, 
it is preferable to be on the yni vine at the 2()th, rather than 
remain careless about the matter till the 4!ird or ‘-14th day. 
Also, begging “ Scrutator’s” pardon, I have had eggs hatch 
two days before their usual tune, and that of no later date 
than last spring. AA’ith fresh eggs, and a good sitting hen, 
is it an unusual circumstance ? At any rate, the 2:ird or 
‘44th day is not early for pheasant eggs to hatch under 
proper management. 
I am much obliged to “Scrutator” for pointing out the 
sentence, which was certainly calculated to mislead. It 
will also caution correspondents to beware of the slip, both 
of the mind and the pen, and teach us to endeavour and 
express ourselves properly; for I have no doubt, if the 
truth were known, our Editor has a vast deal of bother 
about some of us on this account.— Upwards and Onwards. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
Hokticdltukal and Pomological Association (A Nursery¬ 
man ).—This association is not one which interferes with, but will pro- I 
mote your legitimate trade; and in the formation of the association no ' 
such idea as opposition was entertained. For several years a vast number 
of our correspondents have written to us, wishing us to procure florists’ 
flowers, seeds, trees, and plants for them, and complaining that in their 
neighbourhood they cither could not obtain the articles at all, or could 
not depend upon obtaining them of true and genuine quality. It is, 
therefore, to accommodate all such that the association has been formed ; 
and so far from clashing with the interests of the trade, its chief end is 
to obtain from the most respectable and pains-taking of that body such [ 
articles as the members of the association may require, and in which the 
greatest confidence can be placed. All nurserymen and seedsmen who ! 
have anything new or rare which they have to dispose of, will do well to 
forward their lists to the association, that it may be enabled to act as 
agent between them and purchasers, with whom they otherwise would 
not come in contact. There are some men who are so narrow-minded on j 
these subjects, they look with jealousy on every attempt to propound or , 
extend a principle with which they are not themselves personally in¬ 
terested. We even know some old-fashioned nurserymen who were 
foolish enough to make a stand against the establishment of the Horfi- i 
cultural Society, and who maintain that position to the present day; and : 
we have heard others say that the nursery trade has never been what it 
was since that society was instituted. 
