( cxxxiii ) 



The subject that I have selected, and am venturing to 

 expound this evening, is that of the preservation of nature. 

 I have selected this subject because it is one in which I per- 

 sonally take great interest, and which I feel has not received 

 as much attention as it really deserves. 



I propose to lay before the Fellows of this Society certain 

 facts connected with the preservation of nature, and I can 

 only hope that I may stimulate the interest which I know 

 they already take in this subject. 



The world is always changing ; it always has been changing, 

 and it always will change. There was, perhaps, never a time 

 when the whole history of mankind was so in the melting- 

 pot as it is at this moment. Geology teaches us that nothing 

 comes to stay, and the world, like Topsy in " Uncle Tom's 

 Cabin," was not born, but growed. It is not these changes 

 that Nature has herself ordained that I touch on to-night, 

 but it is the changes which are due to the actions of mankind, 

 " Nature's insurgent son," as Professor Ray Lankester has 

 termed the human race. 



We know that much of the ground which has seen those 

 bloody battles between the Kaiser's army and that of the 

 Czar was, in 1812, when Napoleon passed over it, virgin, 

 swampy forest ; it now consists of fields and grazing land for 

 cattle. This change is due to mankind, and I cite it as an 

 illustration of the great change which is coming and going, 

 and passes every year over the whole surface of the globe. 



I propose to discuss to-night certain aspects of this change 

 which mankind is bringing about, and how, perhaps, some 

 vestiges of Nature's handiwork, untouched by that of her 

 " insurgent son," may be preserved for posterity. 



The preservation of nature in one aspect or another is as 

 old as the hills. The sixth verse of the twenty-second chapter 

 of Deuteronomy is perhaps the earliest game law, as the late 

 Professor Newton called it. Here the warning is given that 

 if you rob a nest with a view to taking the eggs or the young 

 birds, the female should be allowed to go free. 



Now the preservation of nature can be attempted in several 

 different ways. Laws can be passed to prevent the killing, 

 or even molesting of animals, birds, insects, and plants. 



