244 On the Study of JS^atural Hislory. 



forgetful of the relation we hold to this world of beauty. 

 The inexhaustible sources of instruction it possesses, will 

 always command the respect of the student of truth. The 

 effect of such studies will be to create a more refined taste, 

 a nicer perception of good, and a delicate sensibility to what- 

 ever is excellent. Free from the prejudices, the passions, 

 and the interests of the world, he partakes of that divine 

 spirit of beneficence which breathes throughout nature, and 

 one with the Great Mind, he will acknowledge to himself the 

 relation he holds with Divine Intelligence, the fountain and 

 source of all good. 



"To pursue with efficient usefulness, any or all of the de- 

 partments of natural history, demands of the inquirer certain 

 requisites of the utmost importance, even to the general 

 student. To reduce to system and order the diversified forms 

 of organic life and bodies, is one of the great ends of science. 

 The nice perception of analogies or differences, on which a 

 system should be established, will call forth the energies of 

 the mind to a happy result. To the scholar, these cannot but 

 be highly beneficial. The progress which natural history has 

 been making towards such a natural system, as it is called, 

 exhibits, in a forcible maimer, the necessity of great exactness 

 and method. All system, however, is artificial; nature itself 

 knows no method, no nice chain or order of being. The 

 human mind needs such aids and helps; and to assist it to 

 comprehend, as it were, at a glance, the extent of nature in 

 all its modifications and diversities, it were necessary that it 

 have resort to artificial method. Analysis, too, is requisite; 

 and this begets habits of scrutiny and the nicest discrimina- 

 tion. What some of the higher branches of mathematical 

 science are to the scholar, the pursuits of natural history may 

 become. To detern)ine with accuracy what it is requisite to 

 know, will be strengthening the reasoning powers, and aiding 

 the facilities of sound and just reflection. 



"The formation of a new society for the promotion of the 

 study of natural history may be deemed evidence of the fact, 

 that this subject, so long overlooked, is beginning to be ap- 

 preciated as part of a system of education. Attention to 

 such pursuits is much needed in all our schools and colleges. 

 We have been sadly behind other countries in this particular. 

 Let me congratulate you then, gentlemen, on the prospects 

 of your own Society. The spot on which we stand may be 



