EDITOR'S TABLE. 



417 



Excursions." Abstracts of these papers 

 are given in the " Transactions," and 

 thej are of a very instructive charac- 

 ter. 



If we had space we would print the 

 whole of the admirable " Inaugural Ad- 

 dress," by Mr. James Fletcher, who hap- 

 pily remarks in his opening : " One of 

 the chief benefits bestowed by an or- 

 ganization such as ours, is, that it en- 

 ables one always to know where to 

 find a sympathetic companion. Of all 

 recreations, there is none, to my mind, 

 more enjoyable than a walk in the coun- 

 try with a congenial friend. No kind 

 of intercourse brings you into closer 

 contact with a companion than taking 

 a walk. You can not take ten steps, 

 even with a stranger, without feeling a 

 necessity of saying something, and, if 

 there is anything in a man, you can 

 soon bring it out of him in a country 

 walk. Now, it is very clear that a 

 judicious choice with regard to your 

 companion is a most important matter ; 

 but it is not always easy to find one 

 who has the same tastes or takes an in- 

 terest in the same subjects as yourself. 

 John Burroughs, in ' Winter Sunshine,' 

 writes as follows : ' Professional walk- 

 ers are very fastidious in choosing or 

 admitting a companion, and hence the 

 truth of a remark of Emerson that " you 

 wiU generally fare better to take your 

 dog than to invite your neighbor." Your 

 cur dog is a true pedestrian; he enters 

 into the spirit of the enterprise ; he is 

 not indifferent or preoccupied ; he is 

 constantly sniffing adventure; laps at 

 every spring ; looks upon every field or 

 wood as a new world to be explored ; 

 is ever on some new trail ; knows some- 

 thing important will happen a little far- 

 ther on; whatever the spot, or what- 

 ever the road, he is always satisfied 

 with it. In short, he is just that happy 

 excursive vagabond that touches one at 

 so many points, and whose human pro- 

 totype in a companion, when such can 

 be found, robs miles and leagues of 

 half their power and fatigue.' 

 VOL. XVIII. 27 



" The most interesting companion in 

 anything is undoubtedly the one who 

 can tell you most about it. Therefore, 

 the best companion in the country must 

 be a naturalist, who can point out ob- 

 jects of interest and explain their beau- 

 ties and wonders. No one looks upon 

 the world so kindly as he does ; no one 

 else gives so much attention to, or 

 takes so much enjoyment from, the 

 country as he does, and he holds a more 

 vital relation to nature, because he is 

 freer, and his mind is more at leisure. 

 Moreover, when a naturalist gets a 

 friend, who is not one, out in the coun- 

 try, he feels a sort of moral responsi- 

 bility resting upon him to find some- 

 thing particularly interesting to point 

 out, so as to arouse his curiosity, and, 

 if possible, to convert him to the study 

 of 'La Belle Science.' I say particu- 

 larly interesting, because everything in 

 nature is interesting and beautiful ; and 

 I defy any one to bring me a single ob- 

 ject, picked up by a country roadside, 

 which is not beautiful, and even ex- 

 quisitely so a stick, a piece of straw, 

 a leaf, or a stone, it matters not what, 

 if properly examined and understood, 

 they are aU wonderful and lovely." 



As before remarked, we refer to 

 the early experience of this club be- 

 cause it may aff'ord guiding suggestions 

 for the formation of similar associations 

 elsewhere. In smaller towns there 

 might not be found so many men culti- 

 vated in natural history to sustain such 

 a society as in Ottawa, but that is not 

 essential. In every village of five thou- 

 sand inhabitants there is cultivated 

 capacity enough, if it were combined, 

 to carry on with some method and to 

 valuable results the work of scientific 

 self-improvement. It may be done to 

 some extent anywhere, in many ways 

 and with few facilities. All over the 

 country there are individuals working 

 alone and to great disadvantage; these 

 would help others and be helped in 

 turn by such combination and' cooper- 

 ation as might be almost everywhere 



