116 THE NAUTILUS. 
And as we cannot exercise feelings of veneration and gratitude 
for mere names of unknown persons, it is well for us to become some- 
what acquainted with the lives of the great naturalists whose initials 
meet us whenever we glance over our collections. For some of us, 
perhaps, this is not an easy task; but fortunately books and papers 
upon these subjects are becoming more common, and it is much 
easier now to obtain this information than it was a few years ago. 
Such names as Say and Gould and Binney, for instance, while they 
serve primarily to identify the terms which these authors applied to 
their species, may themselves be studied and identified; and as we 
learn more of their pure and earnest lives, we shall have a deeper 
respect and a more profound veneration for the men who studied 
and wrote before we were born, and who left us the fruits of their 
labors. Veneration for character and admiration for attainments 
are healthful feelings, and their free exercise speaks well for the 
youthful mind. 
And not only for the dead, but also for the living naturalists we 
should cherish these feelings, and seek for information concerning 
their lives. Many of them in their youth experienced the same 
perplexities and encountered the same dithculties which beset some 
of us now, and as we learn of their victories we may be encouraged 
to more vigorous action. 
But while we entertain these sentiments of respect and esteem for 
hoth the past and the present workers in science, it is well to 
remember two things. 
First. The men and women who are to be eminent in science 
forty years hence are boys and girls now. Each year adds to the 
list of the honored dead. A few, like the venerable Isaac Lea, spend 
nearly a century among the scenes of their labors and pleasures ; 
but others, like the lamented Tryon, are cut down suddenly, in the 
midst of active vitality. The ranks are being recruited, it is true, 
but the recruits must ever come from the young. 
Second. Truth is greater than any of its expounders. While it 
is desirable to know the names which eminent men have given to 
the various species of mollusks which we collect, it is still more im- 
portant to know their nature, their habits, their food, stages of growth, 
and changes, and to observe their motionsand conditions of activity or 
repose. Where we cannot observe the living animal, we can at least 
study the shell, and notice its points of resemblance to others, also its 
differences ; we can examine its structure, test its composition, note 
