190 Transactions of the [Sess. 



length of time at a bird or insect, or gathering and examining a 

 weed, or breaking rocks and stones, was looked upon rather as a 

 naturalist with the three last letters omitted, or, as they say in Scot- 

 land, " daft " ; but now happily all this is changed, and any one pur- 

 suing these inquiries in the present age is not considered absolutely 

 insane. It is true he may, under certain circumstances, run the 

 risk of being considered a poacher, as occurred to a gentleman well 

 known to many of us last summer. He wished to ascertain some 

 details respecting the habits of birds near the Pentlands, and for 

 this purpose, in Izaak Walton's words, he " prevented the sun- 

 rising," and just at dawn found himself suddenly confronted by a 

 sturdy keeper, who exclaimed, with an air of evident disappoint- 

 ment, " Oh, it's you, is it ! why, I have been watching you for the 

 last half hour through the mist, in the hope that I was about to 

 nail a poacher." 



I purpose in these remarks to consider field-naturalists and their 

 work, and to take as types of a class Gilbert White and Charles 

 Waterton ; and if I were to name a living author whose example we 

 should do well to follow, it would be pre-eminently Sir John Lub- 

 bock, for it is impossible for any one to read his recent remarks on 

 insects without being forcibly impressed by the indomitable pa- 

 tience and perseverance which characterised his researches, and 

 how, in order to ascertain with accuracy any particular fact, he 

 closely watched for hours and days the actions of the creatures 

 who were then the subjects of his investigations. The discoveries 

 and theories of Darwin would well occupy a whole evening or 

 more, and may perhaps appropriately form the subject of some 

 future president's address. Frank Buckland, too, has written 

 much that is novel and instructive. 



The first book I ever purchased with my scanty pocket-money, 

 when nine years old, was a very minute and portable edition of 

 ' The Compleat Angler,' often at that time perused in many a pic- 

 turesque spot beside a midland stream, while waiting for a nibble 

 by Perch or Gudgeon. My second purchase, a few years later, 

 was White's ' Natural History of Selborne,' which I well remember 

 I read with great delight and interest. It was kept under the 

 school-desk on a ledge constructed for a slate, whence it could be 

 furtively slipped out and placed open over a Latin dictionary, and 

 perused, as Hood expresses it, " by stealth 'twixt verb and noun." 

 There were three other boys at the same desk who heartily joined 

 me in notices of natural objects, and we were in the habit of dis- 

 cussing any incident which occurred in our half-holiday rambles, 

 often referring to White's ' Selborne' for confirmation of our remarks. 

 I have met with all these three boys in after-life, and with the same 

 good-fellowship which existed at school. One is now a dean ; 

 another a rector ; and the third, a quiet but plucky boy, afterwards 



