122 NATURAL HISTORY 



We increase wealth, when we change to means of 

 enjoyment what had before been useless. Our hills 

 may be filled with riches, but if we can not recog- 

 nize the precious ore, we are as poor as though it 

 were pebble-stones. The blind man is unmoved by 

 the beauty of his landscapes they might as well be 

 rough and dreary as beautiful. The deaf man is 

 none the happier for sweet sounds, that others 

 would pay lavishly to hear. A cultivated taste dis- 

 covers sources of enjoyment where the unrefined 

 would be like the blind man among pictures, and 

 the deaf among music. The connection of Taste 

 with Natural History we have already discussed. 

 It is able to throw around even the poor man more 

 means of enjoyment than wealth can purchase for 

 the uneducated and unrefined. If every young 

 man would acquire such a taste for these studies, 

 such a love for the beautiful that, by his labor or 

 direction, a single acre of ground should be ren- 

 dered more productive or attractive, what an advan- 

 tage to himself and the world ! It is a great ac- 

 quirement to be able even to rightly appreciate and 

 enjoy the labors of others. The lover of Nature's 



