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to the time when we too have to cross the Rubicon and enter 

 upon the Great Unknown Land which lies beyond, that we have 

 only read the first few lines of the preface to the Great Volume 

 which ever lies open for our instruction, and have hardly grasped 

 their meaning. There is much to be done but how ai'e we to do 

 it 1 We can obtain a complete list of the Mammals of the Island ; 

 "We can compile an approximately accurate list of the wonderful 

 birds which adorn our forests and make the welkin ring again 

 with their music and noisy chatter. We can find out the names 

 of all the finny denizens of our streams, our ponds and our 

 swamps ; We can compile a roll of our reptiles and our amphibia 

 which may be more or less complete ; We can turn our attention 

 to the insect world and attempt to gain a slight idea of the 

 hundreds of thousands which compose it and we can essay ar- 

 ranging them under their orders, their sub-orders, their families and 

 we can even go lower still in the scale of creation and work out 

 our diatoms ; and we can gain a fair knowledge of our rich field 

 of botany. But all these things gentlemen are not the objects of 

 our Club. All this can be done from the examination of dead 

 specimens forwarded by collectors to specialists in various parts 

 of the world. Our chief object is a totally different one. As I 

 said last year so again I repeat it this year. Let us gain as much 

 knowledge as we can of the various habits and peculiarities in 

 the animals, the birds, the fish, the reptiles and insects which 

 come under our notice. Let us find out what they are good for ; 

 if possible their reason for existence in the great scheme of 

 Nature. Let as throw aside all attempts to become anything 

 more than observers. The truest lovers of Nature do not reckon 

 thousands of impaled insects and scores of dead animals and 

 birds their greatest achievements ; it is the knowledge of their 

 habits which constitute their greatest success. He who can with 

 accui'acy trace the life history right through from the egg to the 

 caterpillar, from the caterpillar to the chrysalis, from the chrysaUs 

 to the gorgeous butterfly which flits, clothed in magnificent beauty, 

 over the surface of our cocoa and bamboo shaded streams, or 

 rushes up into the bright sunshine and chases its comrades back- 

 wards and forwards and is in turn pursued back to its cool shady 

 retreats ; he who can describe its food, its mode of living, its loves, 

 its life, its enemies, its death, the use of its gorgeous hues and 

 colours ; he who can do all this does more for the advancement of 

 the knowledge of Natural History, than he who fills cases upon cases 

 with specimens of which he knows nothing but their bare names. 

 The history of animal life cannot be learned from stuffed skins, 

 from bottled specimens, from impaled insects ; but if we observe 

 in the manner I have tried to indicate and, having found out and 

 are sure of the object we are observing, let us end^avoiir to get 



