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KIDD'S

OWN JOURNAL;

FOR

INTER-COMMUNICATIONS ON NATURAL HISTORY,

POPULAR SCIENCE, AND THINGS IN GENERAL.

CONDUCTED BY

WILLIAM KIDD, OF HAMMERSMITH.

VOLUME V.

A DEEP mysterious SYMPATHY doth bind
The human heart to NATURE's beauties all;
We know not, guess not, of its force or kind,

But this full well we know,-When ill doth fall

Upon us, when our hearts are sear'd and riven,

"Tis then we seek the shade, and raise our eyes to HEAVEN,

R. NICOL.

LONDON:

PUBLISHED FOR WILLIAM KIDD, BY

GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, 5, PATERNOSTER ROW;

AND PROCURABLE, BY ORDER, OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.
AGENT FOR DUBLIN, JOHN WISEHEART; EDINBURGH, J. MENZIES;
GLASGOW, JOHN M'LEOD, 66, ARGYLE STREET.

M. DCCC. LIV.

LONDON:

M. 9. MYERS, 22, TAVISTOCK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

7671

30-5

TO THE READER.

ANOTHER HALF-YEAR has very quickly passed away. AGAIN are we called
upon to offer a few brief observations whilst issuing this our FIFTH VOLUME.

Since our last Preface was penned, the whole aspect of affairs has undergone a
change. Magic itself could not have worked a greater change. War has usurped
the place of Peace. The world is universally disturbed. Very many of our
excellent friends have been called away by "duty" to a Foreign land. The
inhabitants of the earth are running hither and thither in a state of restlessness.

Literature, too, has quite altered its healthy tone. The better class of our
Cheap Periodicals is, we are told, fast dwindling down in sale to zero. Two of
them, in self-defence, have actually been compelled to commence a NEW NOVEL
in their columns. These, "written to order," are doled out in weekly installments!

There is no denying the fact, that public taste now inclines towards the vilest
and cheapest trash. Countless Shilling Volumes, tricked out in grotesque green
covers to attract the eye, are the order of the day, their contents, for the most part,
injurious in the highest degree. These are devoured by young and old; master
and mistress, man-servant and maid-servant. ALL swallow greedily the mental
poison prepared for them. Wholesome food for "the mind" is not wanted. It
is out of fashion.

At this peculiar crisis, prudence bids Us (for the present) back out of the field.
The race is too "fast" a one for our breath to keep up with. The "odds "
being against us, we regard our mission as ended. We retire from the course with
an empty pocket. That might be expected (for we have fought bravely to the

very last); but as an equivalent, we preserve, intact, a tender heart and an honest
conscience. We have labored hard to do good; and we scarcely need remark that
philanthropic pursuits are not "remunerative."

What our labors have been for the last few years (and our heavy loss by the
venture), stand recorded in our FIVE VOLUMES. But such a phalanx of honorable
men and women have we had as supporters, as have rarely fallen to the lot of any
one public man. We acknowledge it with thankfulness, and speak of it with
pardonable pride.

May OUR JOURNAL long continue to extend its genial influences (for we
sincerely believe it will never die); and may ages yet unborn "take a leaf out of
Our Book," for which, in after time, they may feel inclined to grant us their
blessing! It is "something" to live for posterity.

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Crystal Palace, The, at Sydenham, 52, 258, 316,
350, 367

Mild Climate of, 187

Dew, and its Phenomena, 69

Dog, The, 41, 43, 103, 154, 171, 237, 298, 356
Domestic Duties,-not beneath a Woman's no-
tice, 248

Dormouse, The, 191

ESSAYS AND SKETCHES.

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