a bitch, which having been accidentally shut up alone in a country house, existed for forty days without any other nourishment than the stuff on the wool of a mattress which she had torn to pieces. A crocodile will live two months without food, a scorpion three, a bear six, a chameleon eight, and a viper ten. Vaillant had a spider that lived nearly a year without food, and was so far from being weakened by abstinence, that it immediately killed another larger spider, equally vigorous but not so hungry, which was put in along with it. John Hunter enclosed a toad between two stone flower-pots, and found it as lively as ever after fourteen months. Landtortoises have lived without food for eighteen months; and a baker is known to have kept a beetle in a state of total abstinence for three years. It afterwards made its escape. Dr. Shaw gives an account of two serpents, which lived in a bottle without any food for five years. -I could add largely to these facts, but it is unnecessary. I wish you could prevail upon the Booksellers in the country to procure your JOURNAL earlier. Sometimes it does come down sometimes it does not! - SOPHIA, Reading.

[We publish, early EVERYWEDNESDAY MORNING-Our JOURNAL bearing the date of the following Saturday. We cannot do more than we have done; and regret with you that "bad is the best!" We must go-a-head, even though it be slowly. Thanks for your kind favor.]

"Forget-me-Not." -Will you, my dear Sir, be so obliging as to tell me the origin of the lovely flower, the "Forget-me-not?" I have heard it, but it has escaped my memory.-ISABEL.

[The origin of this universally-beloved flower -so dear to us all that we have it engraved on our seals, is given in "Mills' History of Chivalry." It was first discovered, or noticed in England, in the time of Edward IV.:-" Two lovers were loitering along the margin of a lake, on a fine summer's evening; when the maiden discovered some flowers growing in the water, close to the bank of an island at some distance from the shore. She expressed a desire to possess them; her knight, in the true spirit of chivalry, plunged into the water, and swimming to the spot, cropped the wished-for plant. But his strength was unable to fulfil the object of his achievement; and feeling that he could not regain the shore, although very near it, he threw the flowers on the bank; and casting a last affectionate look on his lady-love, said-' Forget-meNot!' and was buried in the water!" A lovely legend this! endearing our favorite to us more than ever. No flower so delights us. When we use it, as a seal.-it says for us, very often, what we dare not say for ourselves! It is indeed a most powerful "advocate."]

Fertility of Animals-the Rein-deer.-I find the following, Mr. Editor, in Dr. Lyell's Geology"As an example of the rapidity with which a large tract may become peopled by the offspring of a single pair of quadrupeds, we may mention that, in the year 1773, thirteen rein-deer were exported from Norway, only three of which reached Iceland. These were turned loose into the mountains of

Guldbringe Syssel, where they multiplied so greatly, in the course of forty years, that it was not uncommon to meet with innumerable herds consisting of from forty to a hundred, in various districts." In Lapland, observes a modern writer, the rein-deer is a loser by his connections with man, but Iceland is this creature's paradise. There is in the interior, a tract which Sir G. Mackenzie computes as not less than forty thousand square miles, without a single human habitation, and almost entirely unknown to the natives themselves. There are no wolves; the Icelanders will keep out the bears; and the reindeer, being almost unmolested by man, will have no enemy whatever, unless it has brought with it its own tormenting gadfly. To this, we might add the known fertility in England of rabbits, hares, pigs, pigeons, &c., whose offspring, if not destroyed, would soon over-run the entire country.-WILLIAM B.

The Ship-worm. - There are some very curious particulars, Mr. Editor, connected with this singular creature-particulars that ought to appear in OUR JOURNAL. Though the animals of some of the land-shells, as the snails, do him some injury in his garden, man seldom suffers very materially from their ravages; but the shipworm, where it gets head, does him incalculable injury, destroying piles as far as they are under the water, and everything constructed of timber that is placed within their reach, to which they are as injurious as the boring woodlouse; they even attack the stoutest vessels, and render them unfit for service. Their object, however, is not to devour the timber, but, with the same view that the pholads bore into the rock, to make for themselves a cell in which they may be safe from their enemies; their food is probably conveyed to them in the sea-water. The mode in which these animals bore, has not been ascertainedprobably it is by the rotation of their valves. Sir E. Home describes them, as protruding a kind of proboscis which has a vermicular motion, and which he supposes to act as a centre-bit while the creature is boring. The shells, by means of their ridges, probably act like those of the pholads, as rasps. They bore in the direction of the grain of the timber, deviating only to avoid the track of others. Did an animal, with the boring powers of the ship-worm, says Kirby, enter our rivers and abound there, we should see the magnificent bridges that so much adorn our metropolis, and are so indispensable to its inhabitants, gradually go to ruin; the vast stones with which they are built might become the habitation of pholads, and other rock borers, and the communication between the two sides of the river greatly interrupted. But a merciful Providence has so limited the instincts of the different animals it has created, that they cannot overstep a certain boundary, nor extend their ravages beyond the territory assigned to them. The study of these wonders of creation, Mr. Editor, must surely make mankind better-else must their hearts be "hard" indeed. I agree with you, quite, that the "world" is good; but alas! not its inhabitants!-MARY G., Nottingham.

[We are told, we have hosts of "friends" residing at Nottingham. How is it that we only

"

hear of them by a side-wind? Write, good folks, write; and send us many such articles as these. We can have but " one interest, viz., trying to make the "people" of the world better. It may be done,-believe us. We are well backed by zealous correspondents, who lean towards our view. Nobody of any " taste" would prefer a bad dinner in preference to a good one, -if furnished at the same cost. Think of this, "friends" at Nottingham, and elsewhere.]

"My First Salmon." -Some time since, you gave us, dear Mr. Editor, a most graphic and delightful account of an eagle fighting with a salmon. I have heard it spoken of in a multitude of quarters. Let me, as a pendant, furnish you with another brilliant description of the capture of "Christopher North's first salmon." It has been in print, years ago; but it deserves re-printing again- and above all things, in OUR OWN JOURNAL. I have transcribed it entire; merely remarking-what would I not have given to "witness the performance!" "Now let us try the fly. A gaudy-a gorgeous tyke-arrayed in silver and gold, and plumed from the Bird of Paradise. Nothing is ever found in a salmon's stomach-some blockheads have said-but animalculæ in a state of decomposition. How do they account for his swallowing with avidity a bunch of worms? How will they account for his attempting to swallow this humming-bird? Goodness, have mercyupon us! was it we that fell there into the water? Thankful are we no-there it is again-A FISH! A FISH! Shall we let our lure dangle six feet high in air, or let it wet its wings in the Leven? Wet its wi

Mercy! he is on! What will become of us! Hush! hush! stand out of the way. Hang that wretched cork tree! No-no-no-a harmless hazel! All's right-all's right! The banks are bare on this side for a mile down. But, hang him-the river horse won't swim down-and, if he leaps up that waterfall! Sulky already, by Jove! like a stone at the bottom. That is a good omen. He has it in his tongue, and is taciturn. Tom Stoddart would recommend us to go in and kick him. But we would rather be excused. Let us time him. Twenty minutes to-Whew! there goes a watch, like winking, into the water, Let the Kelpie fob it. Now we call that strong steady swimming; and we are willing to back him against any fish in the river. You could not swim in that style, you villain! but for us. There, take the butt, my boy; how are you off for a barb, my darling? If you suppose you are on single gut, you are gudgeon; for let us assure you, sir, that you are snuving on three-ply! Alas! poor fellow, we could pity you; but we cannot let you off. Our character is at stake -and after we have slain thee, we should like to have a shot at yon eagle. Perhaps you are not so much of a monster after all, and we are willing to conclude a bargain for you at two stone, Troy. Well, that beats Bannagher, and Ballyshannon too! Ten loups, six feet high, in instant succession! Why, when we get you on shore we shall let you astonish the natives, by bouncing in and out a dozen empty barrels all waiting for your brethren when they come to be cured. Didn't we tell you that could not last?

Such feats of agility were not becoming-barely decent in a fish in your melancholy situationand you should be thinking, without showing it, of your latter end. We begin to suspect in good earnest that we are a great natural genius. Only think of learning how to kill a salmon at a single lesson!'Angling made easy, or every man his own Lascelles.' We wonder how long we have had him on;- let us look - whew! minus a watch and appendages-what care we for them more than a leg of mutton and trimmings? Yet, for her sake, we wish we had not lost that exquisitely-delicate silk paper, with Cupid upon it, pulling his arrow from a bleeding heart. But away! away, my love! and come hither; for the rain it is over and gone, and the greensward sleeps in the sunshine:-come! oh, come to these longing arms!-side foremost or on thy backwhichever posture suits thee best-languishingly -dyingly-too weak-too faint of thyself to move towards thy lover; but he will assist thee, my jewel, and we two will lie down, in the eye of heaven, in an earth-forgetting embrace. Oh! red, red, are thy lips, my love! What aileth these small teeth of thine? And what, we beseech thee, hast thou been doing with that dear nose? Not a word in reply, but a wallop between our legs, that capsized us. 'AND THUS IT WAS, CHRISTOPHER NORTH SALMON.' "- There are reasons, my dear Mr. Editor, why the insertion of the above at the present moment, will be read with even an increased zest.-ALEXANDER B., Edinburgh.

KILLED HIS FIRST

[Our Correspondent has awakened by this recital all our old feelings. "Still in our ashes live their wonted fires." We are rampant for our rod; and mad for a run on the bank. And when he talks, under his mighty efforts of piscatorial ingenuity, about her," - Cupid,"-" the arrow," and "the bleeding heart" it really is too much for us. How often have we played the same game in our early days!

Substitute for Soap in California. It appears, Mr. Editor, that a very curious plant, the Soapplant, grows all over California. The leaves make their appearance about the middle of November, or about six weeks after the rainy season has fully set in; the plants never grow more than a foot high; and the leaves and stock drop entirely off in May, though the bulbs remain in the ground all the summer without decaying. It is used to wash with in all parts of the country, and, by those who know its virtues, it is preferred to the best of soap. The method of using it is, merely to strip off the husk, dip the clothes into the water, and rub the bulb on them. It makes a thick lather, and smells not unlike brown soap. The botanical name of the plant is Phalangium pomaridianum. There can be no excuse, my dear Sir, for a want of cleanliness under such circumstances, unless indeed the "love of gold" has altogether extinguished the love of the "better part." LYDIA T.

Poland Fowls (Gold and Silver) without Beards. -Dear Mr. Editor, Dr. Horner, of Hull, says (see Agricultural Gazette) "The very best authorities-men of great experience, observation, and knowledge-tell me that no really good and true-bred gold or silver Poland is without the beard. Mr. Baker, being recently asked by a friend of mine how it happened that a few persons condemned the beard of Polands, significantly replied, 'Ah, because they know nothing about it.' This gentleman, whose experience and knowledge will hardly be doubted, writes me that on the Continent (as in Holland, France, &c.) all the best and really pure Polands have beards; and emphatically states his opinion that they should have. My own observation and experience quite confirm this. I have recently had Polands from the Continent, Ireland, and other parts, and in all cases the beardless fowls were miserably inferior to the bearded ones inferior both in carriage, plumage, and shape itself; their top-knots being comparatively small, their necks thin and spare, their gait and deportment wanting in the pomp and circumstance of a fine and true Poland. Nay, so evident were these deficiencies, that, in every instance, I could at once select a bearded from a beardless Poland, where the throat itself was not visible. Possessing at present both the bearded and the beardless sorts, I am impartial in my opinion; but from observation and reflection, I feel convinced that the beard of gold and silver Polands is a natural-aye, and (in them)

a

really

becoming appendage; it entirely comports with the tout ensemble of the Poland-it is in keeping with his magnificent top-knot-with his large, full, thick, and long neck-his long, flowing hackles, and with his general dashing and de bonnaire deportment. It is highly probable that the beardless Poland is a crossed and mongrel bird, originally produced between the Poland and the spangled Hamburgh fowl; and in color of plumage there is much similarity. A thoroughbred bearded Poland ever produces bearded progeny. Out of forty chickens reared this year, all are bearded. On looking over the chickens, bred from beardless silver Polands, I find that not a few of the cocks have the double or rose comb of the silver-spangled Hamburgh. I have but just seen this, and surely it is 'confirmation strong' of the opinion just expressed, that beardless Polands are a mongrel breed. I have this year crossed the bearded with the beardless Polands, cock with hen and hen with cock, and the result is, in by far the greatest majority of cases, that I have spoiled all; most of them still

have some beard, but are ruined in all other points as in small top-knots, thin necks, &c.; but a very few cases there is the smooth face, with a tolerably large top-knot, and the full neck."

I have sent you the above (which I have slightly abridged) in order to raise a question, the discussion of which in OUR JOURNAL will be hailed with delight.-THOMAS D., Seven-oaks.

[Dr. HORNER is a very sensible man; and we are very pleased to register his name in our columns. We have been in correspondence with him on former occasions.]

Habits of the Pigeon. In OUR JOURNAL, my dear Mr. Editor, there is an admirable article by Charles Waterton, on the "Dovecot Pigeon." I have been reading it with delight-delight hardly inferior to that which I feel in perusing

the articles which proceed from your own pen [Gently, Mademoiselle]. I mark well, what Mr. Waterton says about the strong attachment shown by pigeons towards their cot. It is notoriously true; still, that there are some exceptions to a general rule, I shall prove, for I can tell of at least one pair of pigeons that do roost away from their cot at night. They are in my possession at the present time. I had them taken young from the nest, and reared them by hand. Their parents had the range of a large dove-cot, and lived in social harmony with a large family of other pigeons, of their own kind; the whole of them being at full liberty to fly where they would. When my birds could feed themselves, I treated them to a house of their own. When set at liberty, they kept " at home" the greater part of the day, as well as using their house for a sleeping apartment at night. This they continued to do for some time; but on a sudden, they would only come to their house in the day time, persisting, as they do still, never to sleep in it! They roost on a small piece of iron in the wall, quite uncovered, and exposed to wet and cold. If it be hot, they perch during the day in a shady tree. In the cool of the evening, before retiring to roost, they enter our family dwelling, and search till they have found us all. They then fly on our shoulders, or trot out with us round the garden, making themselves perfectly "free of the house." In truth we love them, and they know it. Affection on our part begat love on theirs; and the compact is held sacred. Can you throw any light upon this?-LEONORA, Leeds.

[A heart like yours, LEONORA, would tame any thing-pigeons of course included. That part of the question is easily disposed of. The cause of your birds forsaking their dormitory at night, is their having been visited by one of those domestic nuisances (real "vermin"), a CAT. "Once caught (or nearly so) twice shy." The instinct of pigeons, in this respect, is remarkable. We very much question if they will ever again be induced to enter that house, while it stands where it does. Invite us down "specially" to look to this for you. We will rid you at once of ALL the cats. In our early days, we kept pigeons by the hundred. We can give you very valuable information about them. We wait your bidding, fair lady.]

Painted Wires of Bird Cages. -Mr. Editor-I

have painted my bird cages inside, according to the advice given by you. I have also painted the wires of the cages. This you did not advise. I have gained "experience" by my folly; for I have lost a very fine blackcap. Let it be a warning to others. My "fairest flower" told me, with all gentleness, I was doing wrong not to be guided by you. Still I was bent on having my own way, and had it; with what benefit, I have told you already.-ZIGZAG.

[Your "angel of life" was right. You were quite wrong. The paint not adhering to the wire, which was non-absorbent, was pecked off by the bird, and eaten. Hence his death! Never keep birds where painting is going forward; and never put them into a newlypainted cage. The "warblers," in particular,

are liable to suffer from being in the vicinity of paint. You have confessed your fault nobly. You have now only to beg pardon where you first offended; and learn wisdom by experience, for the future.]

Affection "to" Animals, and Affection "in" Animals. We have a pet canary, "Tiny Tim" by name. When we approach him, he receives us with extended wings, flies round the cage, apparently very angry; and pecks at our fingers. Is this affection, or is it anger? Do pray tell us, Mr. Editor, for it is a " vexed question." You are rather severeupon pet dogs we see. We have one; such a sweetly affectionate creature! But we never let it kiss our faces," of course. You do not object, we apprehend, to our petting our dog; but to the "excess of fondness." Is it not so?-Your devoted admirers, -HANNAH and MARY, North Devon.

[Beyond all dispute, your canary "loves" you with much affection. What he does is quite in play-not in anger. He is as delighted as you are, to have " a game." Encourage this fondness for animals, by all means, dear Mademoiselles. As for your little dog,-do not let your affection for him diminish in the smallest degree. Our remarks were not intended for you, but for " certain people" whose fancies are depraved, and whose tastes are disgusting. The innocent must kindly bear with us, whilst our anathemas fall heavily upon the guilty. Did we not speak plainly, we could hardly expect to effect any reformation. "Some people" must be shamed out of their dirty practices.]

NEW REGULATION OF TIME.

ELECTRICITY is making rapid strides; and bids fair, at no distant day, to supersede every other agency, where despatch is an object. Its last application is, to the regulation of time; and it is now not only possible to have correct time all over the country at one and the same minute, but it may be regarded as done. The object at present in view is to distribute and to correct mean Greenwich time, in London and over the country, at one o'clock.

The ball which surmounts the Royal Observatory at Greenwich Park, has long been an object of interest to visitors, who have often watched with interest its descent, as the clock gave the first stroke of one; thereby telling the seagoing men in the river the exact state of the chronometers which were to become their guides over the faithless waters. Such a ball has been

raised, on a pole upon the dome of the Electric Telegraph Company's West End station, No. 448, Strand, opposite Hungerford Market; and at one each day is to drop, by electric action, simultaneously with that at Greenwich-both balls being, in fact, liberated by the same hand; and, falling on a cushion at the base of the pole, is to communicate standard time along all the telegraphic wires of the country. At the same instant, the bells will ring out "one" at the most distant places-Hull, Holyhead, Aberdeen, Harwich, and Devonport. The great metropolitan clocks, such as the Horse Guards, the Exchange, and the New Palace, are to be regulated on the

new principle. Some of the railway companies also propose to avail themselves of these means to obtain an exact uniformity of time.

The ball itself is a remarkable object, being nearly six feet high and sixteen in circumference, and could with ease accommodate three people inside. It is formed of zinc, painted red-so that it may be better seen in contrast with a light sky-with a broad white belt round its diameter, making it look like a great globe," or representation of a ringed Saturn. The shaft is continued a few feet above the ball, and at the extremity is a bright gilded weather vane, with "E. Т. С." on the arms, being the initials of the "Electric Telegraph Company."

To make the nature of the mechanism generally comprehensible, we may remark, that the apparatus is provided with an air cylinder, in connection with the telegraphic wires between London and Greenwich; and that when the ball at Greenwich falls, an instantaneous shock of electricity will be communicated along them: this acting on an electrical trigger connected with the ball in the Strand, will cause it to fall simultaneously with that at Greenwich. A uniformity of time all over the country, is a desideratum we all have long felt. The want of it has been oftentimes attended by serious inconvenience. This is now rectified. We expect soon, to be enabled to "fly."

PARTICULAR PEOPLE.

BY AN EMANCIPATED VISITOR.

READER! DID'ST EVER LIVE with a particular lady? one possessed, not simply with the spirit, but the demon of tidiness? who will give you a good two hours' lecture upon the sin of an untied shoe-string, and raise a hurricane about your ears on the enormity of a fractured glove? who will be struck speechless at the sight of a pin, instead of a string; or set a whole house in an uproar, on finding a book on the table instead of in the book-case? Those who have had the misfortune to meet with such a person, will know how to sympathise with me.

Gentle Reader! I have passed two whole months with a I had often particular lady. received very pressing invitations to visit an old schoolfellow, who is settled in a snug parsonage about fifty miles from town; but something or other was continually occur ring to prevent me from availing myself of them. "Man never is, but always to be blessed!"ו Accordingly (I shall never forget, if I live to the age of old Parr), having a few spare weeks at my disposal, I set out for my chum's residence. He received me with his wonted cordiality; but I fancied he looked a little more care-worn than a man of thirty might have been expected to look, married as he is to the woman of his choice, and in the possession of an easy fortune. Poor fellow! I did not know that his wife was a precision--I do not employ the term in a religious sense.

The first hint I received of the fact was from Mr. S., who removing my hat from the first peg in the hall to the fourth, observed, "My wife is a little particular in those matters; the first peg is for my hat, the second is for William's, the third for Tom's, and you can reserve the fourth, if you please, for your own; ladies, you know, do not like to have their arrangements interfered with." I promised to do my best to recollect the order of precedence with respect to the hats, and walked up stairs, impressed with an awful veneration for a lady who had contrived to impose so rigid a discipline on a man formerly the most disorderly of mortals, mentally resolving to obtain her favor by the most studious observance of her wishes. I might as well have determined to be Emperor of China!

Before the week was at an end, I was a lost man. I always reckon myself tolerably tidy; never leaving more than half my clothes on the floor of my dressing-room, nor more than a dozen books about any apartment I may happen to occupy for an hour. I do not lose more than a dozen handkerchiefs in a month; nor have more than a quarter of an hour's hunt for my hat or gloves, whenever I am going out in a hurry. I found all this was as dust in the balance. I might as well have expected to be admitted a contributor to Blackwood because I could write "joining hand."

The first time I sat down to dinner, I made a horrible blunder; for, in my haste to help my friend to some asparagus, I pulled the dish a little out of its place, thereby deranging the exact hexagonal order in which the said dishes were arranged. I discovered my mishap on bearing Mr. sharply rebuked for a similar offence; secondly, I sat half the evening with the cushion a full finger's-breadth beyond the cane-work of my chair-and what is worse, I do not know that I should have been aware of my delinquency, if the agony of the lady's feelings had not, at length, overpowered every other consideration, and at last burst forth with, "Excuse me, Mr., but do pray put your cushion straight; it annoys me beyond measure to see it otherwise."

My third offence was, displacing the snuffer-stand from its central position between the candlesticks; my fourth, leaving a pamphlet I had been perusing on the pianoforte, its proper place being a table in the middle of the room, on which all books in present use were ordered to repose; my fifth, but in short I should never have done, were I to enumerate every separate enormity of which I was guilty.

My friend's drawing-room had as good a right to exhibit a placard of "Steel Traps and Spring Guns," as any park I am acquainted with. In one place you were in danger of having your legs snapt off, and in another your nose. There never was a house so atrociously neat; every chair and table knew its duty; the very chimney ornaments have been "trained up in the way they should go," and woe to the unlucky wight who should make them "depart from it!" Even those "charitable libertines," the children and dogs, were taught to be as demure and hypocritical as the matronly tabby-cat herself; who sat with her fore feet together, and her tail curled round her as exactly as if she had been worked in an urn-rug, instead of being a living mouser. It was the utmost stretch of my friend's marital authority to get his favorite spaniel admitted to the honors of the parlor: and even this privilege is only granted in his master's presence. If Carlo happens to pop his unlucky brown nose into the room when is from home, he sets off directly, with as much consciousness in his ear and tail as if he had been convicted of a larceny in the kitchen, and anticipated the application of the broomstick.

As to the children, Heaven help them! I believe that they look forward to their evening visit to the drawing-room with much the same sort of feeling. Not that Mrs. is an unkind mother, or, I should rather say, not that she means to be so; but she has taken it into her head, that "preachee and floggee too" is the way to bring up children; and that as young people have sometimes short memories, it is necessary to put them verbally in mind of their duties,

"From night till morn, from morn to dewy eve."

So it is with her servants; if one of them leaves a broom or a duster out of its place for a second, she hears of it for a month afterwards. I wonder how they endure it! I have sometimes thought that from long practice they do not heed it-as a friend of mine, who lives in a bustling street in the city, tells me he does not hear the horrible noise of the coaches and carts in the front of his house, nor of a confounded brazier, who hammers away in his rear from morning till night. The worst of it is, that while Mrs. never allows a moment's peace

to husband, children, or servants, she thinks herself a jewel of a wife; but such jewels are too costly for every-day wear. I am sure poor thinks so in his heart, and would be content to exchange half-a-dozen of his wife's tormenting good qualities, for the sake of being allowed a little commonplace repose.