INTEREST OF A WALK. 325 



barren. Even a public road may answer the pur- 

 pose, for there are the hedges with their wild plants, 

 creeping below or entwined among the bushes ; and 

 as the hedge is a sort of hill, and the ditch a sort of 

 valley, the two together form a sort of epitome of a 

 considerable tract of country. The changes that 

 take place in the wild plants, from changes of soil 

 and elevation, present a constant succession of new 

 objects, so that, upon the most beaten path in the 

 country, the man who uses his eyes need never 

 weary, or feel tedious, even when alone. And if 

 one be confined to the same spot, the changes in 

 time have just as much variety and continual nov- 

 elty in them, as the changes with the change of 

 place. The spot must be a little one, in which 

 something new shall not be met with every day; 

 and whatever is found, if it be examined in its rela- 

 tions to other things, and to its own state previously, 

 there will be knowledge obtained. 



The great difficulty lies in beginning. Few peo- 

 ple have their attention called to natural appear- 

 ances and productions, in that early period of life, 

 when the only object is the acquiring of knowledge 

 purely for its own sake. The natural desire which 

 parents and others, who have the care of young 

 people, have that the preliminary instruction which 

 is to prepare them for business should be uninter- 

 rupted and occupy their whole attention, naturally 

 renders those parties rather averse to the observa- 

 tion of nature, as falling more within the category 

 of play than of that of business. Also, when the 

 young do take a turn for that species of occupation, 

 they are apt to become inquisitive, and to put ques- 

 tions which are not very easily answered, even by 

 those who know a little of the quality of natural his- 

 tory which is current m the printed books. Indeed, 

 as the science of plants consists very much in the 

 technicalities of a system, of which beginners can- 

 not easily see the use, either in acquiring a know- 

 Ee 



