54 On the Study of Entomology. 
assistance; for it is obvious that without classification as an instru- 
ment, the naturalist would be unable to work, or he would have to 
spend his time in manufacturing his own tools. Classification, how-- 
ever, is but an instrument, and a very imperfect one; and to confine 
entomology to this acceptation is as bad as it would be to rank 
index-making on a level with authorship. Or, rather, it would be 
to reduce entomology to the condition of an abstract science, deprived 
of the practical usefulness which chiefly distinguishes it, and further 
denuded of that grace and poetical charm which constitute its 
greatest attractions. 
The third and highest category comprises the naturalists, this 
name being here taken in its proper sense. Of these it would be 
invidious to say that there are not many; but the great shining 
lights—the Linnés and Darwins—unhappily occur only at the rate 
of two or three in a century, or still more rarely. The aims and 
functions of the naturalist are immeasurably beside and beyond 
those of the two classes just mentioned. He may be compared to 
the architect who plans and directs the building of an edifice; the 
collector brings the stones, and the systematist, who serves tables, 
is the clerk of the works. The naturalist, then, begins where the 
others leave off; he accepts the results of his colleagues as the 
foundation and materials of a higher superstructure, reserving to 
himself the right of judging, adopting, or rejecting, the vast 
accumulation of facts. He is not necessarily the possessor of large 
or well-ordered collections; in fact he is more disposed to dissect 
specimens than to preserve them. He is not the slave of any par- 
ticular kind of classification, knowing that most of the existing 
systems are houses of cards, liable to fall flat at a breath, or elaborate 
cobwebs which any bouncing wasp can disorganize in a moment. 
His principal attention is most likely given to his register of ob- 
servations, filled with real treasures, although inappreciable to the 
public mind until some results are forthcoming, which (as in the 
ease of Darwin) at once command the admiration of all, with full 
recognition of their wisdom and usefulness. 
It is worth while to turn aside for a moment, just to illustrate the 
kind of results referred to, of which I do not hesitate to assert the 
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