HOW I BECAME A NATURALIST 19 



Fortunately for the present generation, our scientific men and 

 women are beginning to recognise the interest shown by the 

 common people in things that count, and it is one of the most 

 pleasing signs of the times to realise the hall-mark of simplicity 

 with which our learned fellows are now framing their studies, 

 so as to be understood by the man-in-the-street. 



Skipping several years of my life as a Naturalist, during which 

 I industriously pursued my outdoor observations, brings me to 

 the point when, several years ago, I was, of necessity, compelled 

 to devote my whole energies to the sublime prosecution of my 

 hobby. These later years have proved to be the happiest of 

 all, and my experience among men and things has broadened 

 my outlook upon life, and brought me into touch with pleasant 

 associations which I had always fondly striven to create. As 

 an unknown writer has well said : 



" All men in their skeletons look alike. There are cultured 

 men in the tents of India ; there are savage men in Parliament. 

 The fabric of life is woven with warp and woof. The *varp is 

 made up of the long strands that keep us altogether, and that 

 reach back far into the past. The woof is 'made of the short 

 strands made by the opinions and events of to-day. The warp 

 is the immortal part, and the woof is the passing show. The warp 

 means Shakespeare, and Columbus, and Napoleon, and Crom- 

 well, and Lincoln, and the Bible, and the Magna Charta. The 

 woof is the news of the day as we read it in magazines and news- 

 papers. He who forgets the warp of life becomes a shallow trifler, 

 blown here and there like a fallen leaf by every chance wind of 

 opinion." 



I have long since become an optimist, like the tuneful Thrush. 

 An optimist ! 



" They found a lot of courage that simmered in the sun ; 

 They blended it with patience, and just a spice of fun ; 

 They poured in hope and laughter, and then, with sudden twist, 

 They stirred it all together, and made an optimist ! " 



The faculty of wonder which so completely differentiates us 

 from the brutes has always been uppermost in my mind. Man 

 is, and shall remain, the animal with the up ward 'look. A friend 

 of mine erected a welcome resting-place on the site of fair Hitchin 

 Hill, and upon it had inscribed these blessed words : 



Look up ! Better ahead. 



