92 NAT URAL HISTORY 



money value than ours, if we judge by the eagerness 

 with which we devise plans, and our willingness to 

 endure labors. The money value is the one w^e 

 oftenest quote, and when we remember its power 

 we can hardly wonder that we do so. It is a neces- 

 sary means for the growth of the fine arts, as well as 

 the moving power of the useful. It renders possi- 

 ble those gigantic schemes by which progress is 

 hastened, seas covered with commerce, mountains 

 pierced with tunnels, states joined by roads of 

 iron, and nations joined with telegraphic cables. 

 We are not only taking a ground of common inter- 

 est when we consider the bearing of Natural His- 

 tory upon Wealth, but one deservedly so, for it is 

 important. Should we define wealth as some seem 

 to do, with good reason, as any thing which can be 

 enjoyed or purchase enjoyment, we should give it a 

 much wider signification than is usually connect- 

 ed with it; but our work for the present will be 

 more simple if we give it the common meaning, 

 which is money, or something which money rep- 

 resents. 

 The most obvious benefit of Natural History is 



