What Oik 
N a certain afternoon 
last August, having just 
completed a particu- 
larly laborious work 
upon which I had 
long been engaged, 
and with my mind 
naturally inclined 
towards relaxation 
in my plans for the 
morrow's labors, my 
eye instinctively 
sought a certain note-book 
upon my table. It was a 
note-book containing memoranda on a wide va- 
riety of Nature topics, but presented in a partic- 
ular place a choice, selected list of topics under 
the title of " Young People." A large number 
of these memoranda were crossed off with a 
pencil line, which told me that these particular 
topics had already served their purpose, were 
