40 STUDIES IN ANIMAL LIFE. 



the heath is close at hand. Nay, if the case were 

 otherwise, I should object to dwarfing comparisons. 

 It argues a pitiful thinness of nature (and the major- 

 ity in this respect are lean) when present excellence 

 is depreciated because some greater excellence is to 

 be found elsewhere. We are not elsewhere; we 

 must do the best we can with what is here. Be- 

 cause ours is not the Elizabethan age, shall we ex- 

 press no reverence for our great men, but reserve 

 it for Shakspeare, Bacon, and Ealeigh, whose tra- 

 ditional renown must overshadow our contempo- 

 raries? Not so. To each age its honor. Let us 

 be thankful for all greatness, past or present, and 

 never speak slightingly of noble work or honest 

 endeavor because it is not, or we choose to say it is 

 not, equal to something else. No comparisons, then, 

 I beg. If I said ponds were finer than rock-pools, 

 you might demur ; but I only say ponds are excel- 

 lent things, let us dabble in them; ponds are rich 

 in wonders, let us enjoy them. 



And, first, we must look to our tackle. It is ex- 

 tremely simple. A landing-net, lined with muslin ; 

 a wide-mouthed glass jar, say a foot high and six 

 inches in diameter, but the size optional, with a bit 

 of string tied under the lip, and forming a loop over 

 the top, to serve as a handle, which will let the jar 

 swing without spilling the water ; a camel's-hair 

 brush ; a quinine bottle, or any wide-mouthed phi- 

 al, for worms and tiny animals which you desire to 

 keep separated from the dangers and confusions of 



