90 On the Study of Natural History, 



trees from " the grub" and " the caterpillar;" as if all grubs and 

 all caterpillars were alike — appeared at the same season — and 

 were to be destroyed by the same means ! It is even lament- 

 able to see even respectable writers treat this subject in much 

 the same vague, loose sort of way. In this, as in medicine, the 

 disease or injury must be watched from its commencement 

 through all its stages; accurate observations must be noted 

 down, even on the most trivial point ; and finally, if the injury 

 does really originate in an insect, specimens of that insect, in 

 all its stages of growth, must be preserved. With such mate- 

 rials the naturalist's advice may be asked with some advantage. 

 But until the parties most interested will take this trouble upon 

 themselves, no reasonable hope can be entertained of curing the 

 evil. 



To this general ignorance of the true nature of the most com- 

 mon animals, those, in fact, which we are daily in the habit of 

 seeing, must be attributed the prejudice which most farmers, 

 and many country gentlemen, entertain against crows and rooks 

 — birds which nature has kindly given us, to keep within due 

 limits the myriads of insects, which would otherwise devastate 

 and destroy our crops. But enough has been said to show how 

 usefully a slight knowledge of natural history may be applied to 

 subjects immediately affecting our interests or our comforts ; 

 and that so far from there being nothing left to record in the his- 

 tory of our native animals, there is yet a wide and inexhaustible 

 field open to those who are disposed to illustrate the subject, 

 either for their own gratification, or for the benefit of mankind. 



Every admirer of nature must, however, rejoice to see that 

 natural history has assumed an importance in this country, 

 within the last few years, which it has hitherto never been 

 thought to possess, and that its cultivation is now spreading 

 with a zeal and a rapidity quite unexampled. To increase this 

 feeling, by showing that the science may be successfully prose- 

 cuted by all who have either leisure or inclination, and that 

 there are paths open to the most humble admirers, has been the 

 object of these pages. Nor shall I consider that time unpro- 

 fitably employed which has been given to a subject possessing, 

 as this assuredly does, so much general interest. 

 Warwick, Feb. 25, 1827. 



