Mr. Morrell's Address 185 



We have before us not merely a study of the things 

 of Nature in the concrete form, tangible, whether 

 alive or relics of the past, but also of the forces and 

 powers of Nature which, though not tangible, yet can 

 be perceived or felt, for these last demand our atten- 

 tion in all country pursuits quite as much as things 

 tangible. We are to consider the whys and where- 

 fores, not merely to satisfy curiosity, but as indivi- 

 duals desiring to take our place intelligently in the 

 complex surroundings in which we live; nay, further, 

 when we in some degree understand them, we have 

 to consider how to capture some of these forces, and 

 compel them to act in a particular direction for our 

 own benefit all this in ten minutes. 



Country pursuits trend in so many directions the 

 passive contemplation ; the pick-to-pieces anatomical 

 form of investigation ; then conversion ; and appropria- 

 tion ; then unravelling and regrouping with full appre- 

 ciation of Prof. Grove's old dictum, that "all the forces 

 of Nature, heat, light, electricity, magnetism, chemical 

 affinity, and motion, are all convertible into each 

 other". Is it not obvious that Nature-study must 

 hold a first place in forwarding an intelligent enjoy- 

 ment of country life? But this has not been the case 

 hitherto. Nature-study has been relegated to a late 

 period of life. 



To take up Nature-study early is considered a new 

 move. I well recollect, in 1860, at Rugby, a pioneer 

 start was made in this direction, and that at Oxford 

 about the same time the admission to a degree was 

 granted to an honours man in natural science without 

 Greats, provided he had taken up an extended course 

 in Moderations. It has taken some years to get 



