ON HABITS OF OBSERVING. 33 



the autumnal season, and keep up a perpetual 

 humming not unlike that of a drone, consider- 

 ed to be bees.* Indeed it is hardly possible to 

 enter much into society, without being struck with 

 the positive manner, in which we sometimes hear 

 persons stating matters as facts, which every one, 

 in the least degree acquainted with science, knows 

 must be erroneous. We remember once hearing a 

 gentleman distinctly assert that humming-birds were 

 found in this country, and surprised at our denial 

 of the fact : it appeared that he had frequently seen 

 the well-known humming-bird hawkmothf hovering 

 over the flowers of plants, and had mistaken it 

 for a real bird. Such errors are pardonable in those 

 who have paid no great attention to natural objects, 

 and who pretend not to collect facts for scientific 

 purposes; but they show the caution that must 

 be exercised, and the scrutiny that must be made, 

 before trusting to first impressions upon the senses, 

 as soon as we may have enlisted ourselves in the 

 rank of scientific observers. J 



(21.) But besides being carried away by first im- 

 pressions, we must carefully guard against being in- 

 fluenced by prejudices. And such prejudices as are 

 likely to interfere with correct observation are of 

 two kinds. We may be prejudiced by popular no- 

 tions, which have been long and generally enter- 



* Allusion is here made to the Eristalis tenax of Meigen. 



t Macroglossa stellatarum, Steph. 



$ We may allude to the erroneous statement of Jesse, that "ear- 

 wigs turn to flies," (Gleanings, 3rd. Ser. p. 149,) as an instance of 

 the mistakes which sometimes occur in our popular works from 



incorrect observation. 



c5 



