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study of some branch of natural history for the first thne. 

 Every one of our members who may possess any special 

 knowledge will, I am sure, gladly lay open the stores of his 

 information for the assistance of such beginners. Were I 

 asked how such studies ought to be commenced, I would un- 

 liesitatingly say — begin by making a collection. Fix upon 

 some group of animals or plants that may specially appeal to 

 your interest, and get together as many species as you can, 

 collecting them in all cases where possible with your own 

 hand, and noting their habits and localities in so doing. You 

 will tlius get together a certain amount of raw materials 

 whicli will require further study in order to arrange them ; 

 you are in the position of a child with a dissected puzzle, 

 and the problem before you is to arrange your collection 

 naturally — i.e., to bring together those forms that are akin 

 and to separate those which are not allied. In this way by 

 referring to standard works, or still better to living authorities, 

 the great principle of biological classification will gradually 

 dawn upon you, the organic forms by which you are sur- 

 rounded will become imbued with a new interest, you will be 

 born again into the kingdom of nature, and the lowliest plant 

 or the most minute insect that you had formerly passed un- 

 heeded by will no longer be in your eyes as unmeaning frag- 

 ments, but will become portions of a great system — parts 

 of that 



" Stupendous whole, 

 Whose body Nature is, and God the soul." 



In order to grasp this principle of classification tlioroughly 

 and scientifically, it is not sufficient to know that this or that 

 book catalogues the species in such or such order. You must 

 ask in every particular case ivhy these species have been 

 grouped together and those separated from them. The system 

 of making a collection first and then arranging it from some 

 already classified cabinet is, I am persuaded, a most pernicious 

 one so far as the educational value of collecting natural 

 history specimens is concerned. It is those who have accu- 

 nmlated row upon row of insects without any ultimate object 

 in view beyond the mere possession of specimens who have 

 made of ''the mere collector" a "nay word and a common 



