38 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



His own studies in natural history were in the 

 first instance chiefly devoted to the structure and 

 character of certain groups of insects and Crustacea. 

 Much that he has written on points of dispute and 

 uncertainty on fixed points in connection with these 

 lias an interest only for the specialist. 



There is, however, much that he has written and 

 spoken which has been within the comprehension of 

 the general public, and on the habits and peculiarities 

 of ants in particular he has caught the popular style ; 

 and naturalists owe him a debt of gratitude for 

 probably more than any other writer having familiar- 

 ized the public with most interesting facts respecting 

 ants ; and further than this, has given to many 

 young folks and adults to take up the study of 

 the lower forms of insect life. 



Those who have heard him lecture know full 

 well with what an interest he envelops his subject ; 

 and by way of illustrating his style I will give 

 portions of a lecture on "Ants" which he delivered 

 some time ago before the Leeds Philosophical 

 Society. 



Sir John Lubbock, in the course of his lecture, said 

 that to the true lover of nature there was no one species 

 of animal or plant which would not repay even the 

 devotion of a lifetime. No doubt some were more 

 interesting than others, and few more so than the ant. 

 In bodily structure monkeys approached nearer to man 

 than did any other animals, but when we considered the 

 habits of ants, their social organisation, their large 

 communities, their elaborate habitations, their road- 



