THE USES OF SEA-WEEDS. 77 



benefiting by tlie information/^ ^^But how much more 

 vivid/'' subjoins Mr. Paterson, of Belfast, ^Hhis emotion 

 becomes when we have the pleasure of seeing the beneficial 

 efPects of one animal or plant in giving emploj-ment to 

 thousands, and multiplying the comforts of the whole civilized 

 world. Is it needful to adduce, as an example, the silk- 

 worm or the cotton-plant?^^ Great also is the pleasure in 

 studying the physiology of plants, in watching their growth, 

 in examining their structure, in observing the evidences of 

 design in the adaptation of one part to another, and. the 

 arrangement of means to an end. 



The naturalist knows nothing of that tcBclium vitce, — that 

 vampire, enntd, which renders life a burden to thousands. 

 To him every hour is precious. He may have little leisure 

 for his favourite pursuits ; but even those scraps of time 

 which occur in the busiest life, and. which many allow to be 

 lost, he gathers up as precious fragments. Habits of ob- 

 servation, of patient research, of accurate discrimination, 

 and orderly arrangement are gradually acquired. AYherever 

 he is — on the wild moor or on the shore of the sea, he 

 learns to see thousands of beautiful, wonderful things 

 which the untrained, uninitiated eye never observes. Is he 

 healthy ? His rural rambles are conducive to the con- 



