MODE OF STUDY. 247 



royalty, now a habitation for Owls and Jackdaws. What a 

 beautiful view ! Arthur's Seat, with its green and craggy 

 slopes ; Duddingston, and its quiet lake edged with reeds ; 

 the grounds and mansion of Sir Robert Dick ; the village of 

 New^ington ; Edinburgh, with its magnificent castle-rock ; 

 the Braid Hills, and all the intervening fields and woods. 



It is a delightful district for a naturalist to live in. The 

 numerous eminences afford a great variety of trap or igne- 

 ous rocks, while the low tracts are composed of the coal for- 

 mation, having beds of sandstone, shale, ironstone, and lime- 

 stone, which are easily studied in the numerous quarries, and 

 in the natural sections along the streams. Various interesting 

 organic remains have been found in the strata : huge trees in 

 Craigleith Quarry, teeth and scales of fishes in the Burdie 

 House limestone, and abundance of shells in that of Gilmerton. 

 All these the student mav have the advantage of having demon- 

 strated by the celebrated Professor of Natural History, who is 

 a field naturalist too. Then, there could not be a better dis- 

 trict for plants, the science that refers to which finds many 

 keen cultivators under the guidance of its eminent Professor, 

 as well as several not less active teachers. Of animals too, 

 especially birds, there is good store, although I am not ac- 

 quainted with a single bona fide shooting, dissecting, and col- 

 lecting ornithologist in the district. In the city there are a 

 few tolerable libraries, two good museums of natural history 

 and comparative anatomy ; plenty of societies ; and, I believe, 

 many excellent people of all classes, although I am not much 

 acquainted with them, nor they ^vith me. 



Let us now cross the fields to gain the highway, return to 

 our homes, continue our investigations, and, living as much as 

 possible at peace with all men, endeavour to confer, and be 

 ready to receive that mutual solace and aid, of which we all 

 have need in this uncertain and eventful stage of our exis- 

 tence. 



Although a single walk does not make a naturalist, yet the stu- 

 dent may learn more of the habits of birds in a day in the fields, 

 provided he take note of every occurrence, and ponder upon it, 

 than he could in a week in his closet. But in studying ornitho- 



