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between one form and another, to discover affinities between 

 different groups, perchance to study their transformations and 

 habits, possibly to call the microscope in aid to investigate their 

 anatomy ; and by degrees he who was once a collector, and 

 nothing more, developes into a naturalist worthy of the name. 

 So also there is hope for a describer or a synonymist : the latter 

 can scarcely fail at some time or other to realize the fact that 

 science is not a thing of names alone, but that w'e have living 

 things to contemplate and study ; and though the former's vanity 

 is at first tickled by the sight of a " Papilio mirabilis, m?7n," and 

 he plumes himself upon his achievement as if, forsooth, he had 

 created the insect, and t-alks of it as " my species," this silly 

 conceit must soon give way to a more legitimate kind of parental 

 pride ; for though the naming of a creature unnamed before is 

 nothing more than affixing a label by which it ma}' in future be 

 distinguished, yet a man may have a justifiable feeling of fondness 

 for an object he has been the first to bring to light, and it is 

 something to have been the first to distinguish accurately between 

 two species which before were confounded. Mere description of 

 species is only singling out bricks and marking them for the 

 master-builder ; it is the builder wdio arranges the materials, and, 

 by placing them in their proper position and relationship, gives 

 sensible exposition of the architect's design. The naming and 

 description of species is necessary, but it is only a means to an 

 end. Let us then not be satisfied wdth mere descriptions, but let 

 us rather try to make use of the accumulated mass of descriptive 

 work; let us investigate and record the -natural history and trans- 

 formations of species, their anatomical structure, and their natural 

 relations to one another ; let us attack the larger and higlier 

 problems of biology by apph'ing our collected facts to the eluci- 

 dation of the general laws of life, and bringing scattered details 

 to illustrate the grand scheme of Nature. 



It has been well said that the qualifications required for a 

 perfect naturalist are as many and as lofty as were required by 

 old chivalrous writers for the perfect knight-errant of the middle 

 ages. And though we cannot hope that all will attain to the 

 ideal, may I, in conclusion, presume to exhort my hearers to 

 attempt to realize Charles Kingsley's sketch : — 



"Our perfect naturalist should be strong in body; able to haul a 

 dredge, climb a rock, turn a boulder, walk all day, uncertain where he shall 



