308 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



too many ; but these real students of any sub- 

 ject are students at heart always, and never turn 

 a deaf ear to the suggestions of some humble 

 thinker to whom Nature may have made a sug- 

 gestion. Certainly, it is incumbent upon every 

 right thinking man to give every novel sug- 

 gestion a respectful hearing. Ideas that were 

 stamped as absurd at their birth have survived 

 the unjust assaults and later revolutionized the 

 world of thought. 



The dividing line between amateur and 

 professional has never been quite satisfactorily 

 drawn. Some sudden change in worldly cir- 

 cumstance may induce the amateur to make his 

 studies his life-work, and, Presto ! Change ! he 

 is from that moment professional ; and what a 

 change it sometimes proves to be ! Ashamed, 

 it would seem, of his former self, he actually 

 looks down upon amateurish work with disdain ; 

 yet an unbiassed observer cannot discover by 

 so much as the breadth of a hair how he of to- 

 day differs from him of yesterday. 



The amateur naturalist has everything to be 

 thankful for and few reasons for serious sorrow. 

 Far removed from a controversial atmosphere, 



