REGISTRATION AND LABELLING. 21 
Stimulation. — When cold, fatigued, depressed in mind, and on other occasions, you 
may feel inclined to resort to artificial stimulus. Respecting this many-sided theme I have a 
few words to offer of direct bearing on the collector’s case. It should be clearly understood in 
the first place that a stimulant confers no strength whatever ; it simply calls the powers that be 
into increased action at their own expense. Seeking real strength in stimulus is as wise as an 
attempt to lift yourself up by the boot-straps. You may gather yourself to leap the ditch and 
you clear it; but no such muscular energy can be sustained; exhaustion speedily renders further 
expenditure impossible. But now suppose a very powerful mental impression be made, say 
the circumstance of a succession of ditches in front, and a mad dog behind; if the stimulus of 
terror be sufficiently strong, you may leap on till you drop senseless. Alcoholic stimulus is a 
parallel case, and is not seldom pushed to the same extreme. Under its influence you never 
can tell when you are tired; the expenditure goes on, indeed, with unnatural rapidity, only it 
is not felt at the time; but the upshot is you have all the original fatigue to endure and to 
recover from, plus the fatigue resulting from over-excitation of the system. Taken as a forti- 
fication against cold, alcohol is as unsatisfactory as a remedy for fatigue. Insensibility to cold 
does not imply protection. The fact is the exposure is greater than before; the circulation and 
respiration being hurried, the waste is greater, and as sound fuel cannot be immediately supplied, 
the temperature of the body is soon lowered. The transient warmth and glow over, the system 
has both cold and depression to endure ; there is no use in borrowing from yourself and faney- 
ing you are richer. Secondly, the value of any stimulus (except in a few exigencies of disease 
or injury) is in proportion, not to the intensity, but to the equableness and durability of its 
effect. This is one reason why tea, coffee, and articles of corresponding qualities, are preferable 
to alcoholic drinks ; they work so smoothly that their effect is often unnoticed, and they “stay 
by” well; the friction of alcohol is tremendous in comparison. A glass of grog may help a 
veteran over the fence, but no one, young or old, can shoot all day on liquor. I have had 
so much experience in the use of tobacco as a mild stimulant that Iam probably no impartial 
judge of its merits: I will simply say I do not use it in the field, because it indisposes to mus- 
cular activity, and favors reflection when observation is required; and because temporary 
abstinence provokes the morbid appetite and renders the weed more grateful afterwards. 
Thirdly, undue excitation of any physical function is followed by corresponding depression, on 
the simple principle that action and reaction are equal; and the balance of health turns too 
easily to be wilfully disturbed. Stimulation is a draft upon vital capital, when interest alone 
should suffice; it may be needed at times to bridge a chasm, but habitual living beyond vital 
income infallibly entails bankruptcy in health. The use of alcohol in health seems practically 
restricted to purposes of sensuous gratification on the part of those prepared to pay a round 
price for this luxury. The three golden rules here are, —never drink before breakfast, never 
drink alone, and never drink bad liquor; their observance may make even the abuse of 
alcohol tolerable. Serious objections for a naturalist, at least, are that science, viewed 
through a glass, seems distant and uncertain, while the joys of rum are immediate and unques- 
tionable; and that intemperance, being an attempt to defy certain physical laws, is therefore 
eminently unscientific. 
§5— REGISTRATION AND LABELLING. 
A mere Outline of a Field Naturalist’s Duties would be inexcusably incomplete with- 
out mention of these important matters; and, because so much of the business of collecting 
must be left to be acquired in the school of experience, I am the more anxious to give explicit 
directions whenever, as in this instance, it is possible to do so. 
Record your Observations Daily. — In one sense the specimens themselves are your 
record, — prima facie evidence of your industry and ability; and if labelled, as I shall presently 
