J. E. HASTING — STUDY OF NATITKAX HISTOEY. 53 



Or possibly their indifference may proceed from a contemptuous 

 opinion of what they are pleased to term a childish pursuit. But 

 here again how mistaken is their idea. It surely cannot be childish 

 to labour at acquiring knowledge, and we know from experience 

 that the application of knowledge is power. 



The author of that pleasant little book, ' Glaucus ; or, the 

 "Wonders of the Shore,' says: — "Let no one think that Natural 

 History is a pursuit fitted only for efi'eminate or pedantic men. 

 We should say rather that the qualifications required for a perfect 

 naturalist are as many and as lofty as were required by old 

 chivalrous writers for the perfect knight-errant of the middle ages ; 

 for our perfect naturalist should be strong in body, able to haul a 

 dredge, climb a rock, turn a boulder, walk all day, uncertain where 

 he shall eat or rest ; ready to face sun and rain, wind and frost, and 

 eat or drink thankfully anything, however coarse or meagre ; he 

 should know how to swim for his life, to pull an oar, sail a boat, 

 and ride the first horse which comes to hand ; and, finally, he 

 should be a good shot and a skilful fisherman, and if he go far 

 abroad, be able on occasion to fight for his life. 



' ' For his moral character he must, like a knight of old, be first of 

 all gentle and courteous, ready and able to ingratiate himself with 

 the poor, the ignorant, and the savage ; not only because foreign 

 travel will be often otherwise impossible, but because he knows 

 how much invaluable local information can be only obtained from 

 fishermen, miners, hunters, and tillers of the soil. !Next, he should 

 be brave and enterprising, and withal patient and undaunted — not 

 merely in travel, but in investigation. He must be of a reverent 

 turn of mind also ; not rashly discrediting any reports, however 

 vague and fragmentary ; giving man credit always for some germ 

 of truth, and giving Nature credit for an inexhaustible fertility and 

 variety, which will keep him his life long always reverent, yet 

 never superstitious, wondering at the commonest, but not surprised 

 by the most strange. 



" Moreover, he must keep himself free from all those perturbations 

 of mind, which not only weaken energy, but darken and confuse 

 the inductive faculty ; from haste, and laziness ; from melancholy, 

 testiness, pride, and all the passions which make men see only 

 what they wish to see. Of solemn and scrupulous reverence for 

 truth ; for without truthfulness, science would be as impossible 

 now as chivalry would have been of old. And last, but not least, 

 the perfect naturalist should have in him the very essence of true 

 chivalry, namely, seK-devotion ; the desire to advance, not himself 

 and his own fame or wealth, but knowledge and mankind. The 

 spirit which gives freely, because it knows that it has received 

 freely ; which communicates knowledge without hope of reward, 

 without jealousy and mean rivalry, to fellow-students and to the 

 world." 



This is but an ideal sketch, but nevertheless one worthy of se- 

 rioiis consideration ; for although it be impossible and absurd to wish 

 that every one should grow up a naturalist by profession, yet this 



