10 THE STUDY OP NATURE. 



which the Naturalist regards the objects of his study. "The greatest amount 

 of happiness to the greatest number," is the Benthamite dogma upon which 

 philanthropists of modern days found their theories for benefitting mankind. 

 To some, things sensual form the greatest means of being what they call 

 happy. Manly sports, as the excitements of the ring and the turf, have charms 

 for many. The love of money, the stern duties of a life of labour, even the 

 contentions of party, small and great, include the aspirations of vast numbers 

 after the desideratum of life — human happiness. 



Turning from the sensual to the intellectual, the field opens still wider, and 

 we make a great lift in the scale. The human mind is after all a wonderful 

 and noble effort of Creative Wisdom. Divest it of its little and pardonable 

 vanities, let it revel in the wide field of thought and reflection, develop its 

 hidden powers, moderate its somewhat too lofty aspirations, and imbue it with 

 the great truth that it is part of a responsible Being: and how glorious a 

 picture can that self-same mind draw of its own position in the scheme of 

 Nature. 



Now of all intellectual operations the love of Nature is among the purest 

 and the best. We will not disparage others, as the love of art — of science — 

 of profound study — of oratorical display — of poetry or song — but we say 

 among these, intimately wound up as it is with some of them, we rank not 

 least, the Study of Nature. 



It is our business, however, to confine ourselves here to that part of 

 Nature which comprises the "World of Insects." Those gay, transient, often 

 insignificant forms, which live their short day of life and then pass away for 

 ever, leaving behind them records of their habits and instincts: a part of 

 the Great Scheme it is the vocation of the Naturalist to unravel. And let 

 not any one imagine that this is a trifling or a useless study. We have no 

 sympathy with those who shrug their shoulders and cry cui bono to a 

 pursuit which they do not xmderstand. All science is useful as a means of 

 education. A knowledge of insects has in addition other claims to our 

 notice. One of the greatest discoveries of modern days — that of the reflex 

 function of the nervous system — was perfected by the dissection of the larva 

 of Sphinx ligustri by Newport and Marshall Hall ; and many a poor sufferer 

 who is treated with the knowledge which this discovery has added to the 

 science of medicine, has reason to bless those who have thus studied the 

 Physiology of Insects. 



Entomology, as a popular pursuit, has the great advantage of being open to all 

 classes of society. The poorest and most uneducated person can rig up a 

 net, stick a piece of cork into a box, and become at once a "Student of 

 Nature." We care nothing about such a one being termed a "mere collec- 

 tor;" his collection makes him happy, and the pursuit expands his mind, and 

 gives him an insight into the beautiful works of Creation. "I am a poor 

 man," writes one of our correspondents, "and have a family to support, 

 which obliges me often to work from four in the morning to eight at night. 

 after which I go into the woods to sugar for insects," Surely the pursuit, 

 must have many charms if it can produce effects like this. 



