II 



of practical work, of minute and even painful training, which 

 is required of students in Biology, with its handmaids, 

 Botany and Zoology, as they are represented at Cambridge and 

 South Kensington. Again, concentration is the order of the 

 day in intellectual pursuits as well as in those of a com- 

 mercial character, and now that locomotion is so easy, it is 

 not surprising that both enquirers and those who have the 

 results of long and careful observations to communicate, 

 gravitate towards the great societies at Burlington House 

 and elsewhere, where men of mark most do congregate, or 

 else impart their observations to the specialist journals, 

 where they are sure to find the largest number of appreciative 

 hearers and readers. 



But while for these reasons we are likely to be disap- 

 pointed if we expect to have to record startling discoveries 

 or to achieve notoriety as a Society, still a most useful field 

 lies open to associations like our own. Our very pre- 

 sence here to-night shews that in our informal intercourse 

 and mutual interchange of experiences as well as in the 

 more formal discussion of topics of common interest, we, 

 each of us, expect to gain as well as give something : we are 

 all of us lovers of Nature, and some are her diligent servants 

 though in different fields ; Nature, who is such a beneficent 

 mistress that while she reserves her richest rewards for her 

 most patient and devoted followers, she leaves neither the 

 humblest nor the youngest enquirer to go away empty- 

 handed ; Nature, of whom we may safely say what 

 Xenophon makes Socrates declare of a country life, that 

 her pursuits are alike profitable to the body and the soul. 

 For Nature, while she affords the most exquisite gratification 

 both to the intellect and to the senses, yet never wearies the 

 one nor dulls the other with satiety, such is her exquisite 

 variety. She exacts no price or penalty for her richest 

 favours. Her most devoted service brings no remorse in its 

 train, damages no future, and weakens no constitution ; but 

 unlike most other pleasures, it brings health and peace of 

 mind, if not wealth with it. 



