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LEDS ROGT IH OHRCTS 
91 
REMINISCENCES IN THE STUDY OF NATURAL 
HISTORY. 
By TOM DUCKWORTH. 
(Read at Carlisle. ) 
In this paper I have followed no regular system, but in a desultory 
manner, simply give it as a collection of notes, taken from my 
note-books ; short accounts of rambles, facts and incidents, which 
have occurred to me in the many years I have devoted to the 
study of nature. In looking back to the early days of my youth, I 
sometimes think what a great advantage the young people of the 
present day possess in the number of cheap books on nearly every 
subject connected with natural history. In years long ago, many 
a time have I puzzled my brain trying to fathom the secrets con- 
nected with the study, and not possessing the requisite works of 
reference. Still it may have been for my benefit, as it engendered 
habits of observation, and made me rely more upon my own 
capabilities. Often have I known the life histories of birds and 
insects without ever knowing their generic names, until years after 
IT read them in books. Still, even then, I could have added some- 
thing fresh, something new, which had not been written before. 
Carlisle has always been remarkable for the number of its 
working naturalists. In the fifties, and long before, there were 
_entomologists, botanists, and ornithologists, in every quarter of the 
City. It is a pity there was no cheap, popular magazine at that 
time devoted to the subject, as a mass of information has been 
lost, simply for want of recording. I have now in my possession 
an old herbal that belonged to my grandfather, who was an 
enthusiastic naturalist, which was looked upon at that time asa 
