2 CONCHOLOGY A RATIONAL STUDY. 



all, and to which you are more than ordinarily exposed in a 

 " haunt remote from public life." A man who is anxious 

 that these hours should not be wasted in the indulgence of a 

 lazy, listless humour,* or in diversions where mind and feel- 

 ing have no place, will do well to provide against the evil by 

 some occupation in harmony with his natural disposition ; 

 and although I have no wish to overrate the advantages of 

 seeking that occupation in the study of the works of creation, 

 yet to those whose minds are so framed that they take plea- 

 sure in their contemplation, there is nothing to forbid the 

 indulgence of their taste, and much to say in favour of it. I 

 need not dwell on these advantages, since they are common to 

 Conchology with other branches of natural history ; and they 

 have been so fully argued by many authors of late years, and 

 more especially by Herschell, that their validity is generally 

 acknowledged. Now, indeed, when man's varied pursuits 

 are fairly enough estimated, natural history probably numbers 

 among the sciences more votaries than any other ; so that no 

 sooner shall you have entered on the field of your choice, 

 than you will find yourself surrounded and encouraged by 

 a galaxy of congenial spirits engaged in the same or con- 

 generous studies ; and, so far from having to bear up against 

 the ridicule which might, at no late period, have been your 

 portion, as it was that of some of our predecessors, you will 

 find, not certainly a strong tide of popular favour to carry 

 you along, but a tacit acquiescence in the becomingness of 

 the study, and a forbearance, at least, from all censure which 

 might fray even the most sensitive. Should inclination or 

 leisure therefore serve you no further than to attain the abi- 

 lity to arrange and name your collection after some approved 

 system, you will be thought even then rationally and worthily 

 employed, and, in my opinion, justly so. To know the name, 

 in reference at least to many objects of nature, is to know the 

 thing : before this could have been ascertained, the principles 

 on which the system is founded must have been mastered, 

 and the characters of the object whose name is sought after 

 must have been examined with the most scrupulous care ; all 



* " If men from their youth were weaned from that sauntering humour, 

 wherein some, out of custom, let a good part of their lives run uselessly 

 away, without either business or recreation, they would find time enough to 

 acquire dexterity and skill in hundreds of things, which, though remote from 

 their proper callings, would not at all interfere with them. And therefore, 

 I think, for this, as well as other reasons before-mentioned, a lazy, listless 

 humour, that idly dreams away the days, is of all others the least to be 

 indulged or permitted in young people. It is the proper state of one sick 

 and out of order in his health, and is tolerable in no body else of what age 

 or condition soever." — Locke. 



