34 MY LIFE AS A NATURALIST 



lifetime. Charles Darwin's recipe might well become the heart- 

 engraved motto of all those who would successfully enter the 

 threshold of Nature : " It's dogged that does it." 



When I think, as I so often do, of man's triumphal emergence 

 from the forest ; when I think of the heaving bosom of our 

 great Mother Nature once entirely hidden by the deep dark 

 waters of aeons ago ; when I think of a one-time flowerless and 

 birdless world ; when I think of the bright and beautiful world 

 in which we live to-day, of the great strides in human existence, 

 human thought and deed, then, as Coulson Kernahan says, even 

 the heart of the tiny wayside flower seems to portray to me the 

 likeness of an all- wise Creator, and I must for very joy of life 

 cry aloud, " I believe." 



Believing, then, that the study of Nature is something worth 

 pursuing, that it is a subject fit for old and young alike, and not 

 merely for the Kindergarten, or the Nursery, as so many seem to 

 consider, it at least teaches me to be tolerant in all things. 

 Nature knowledge has been proved over and over again to be 

 of value to the individual, and can be so applied by the pains- 

 taking and zealous investigator as to be of welfare to the com- 

 munity, and even to the State. But, perhaps, above and beyond 

 all, the chief value of Nature Study is its priceless value to the 

 character and inner life of the individual. 



Nature is prodigious, but she is not wasteful. Civilised man 

 has been wickedly wasteful since he emerged from the forest 

 ages ago. Earth's treasures, animals, plants, rocks, minerals, 

 have been granted to us for our support, our comfort, and our 

 improvement. Some of them are usable within reason for the 

 benefit of humanity, but the wilful slaughter of harmless animals, 

 the destruction of plants, the neglect of forests, the misuse of 

 crops, and all short-sighted and ignorant waste should stop. 

 But the greatest of all values to the individual is the cultivation 

 of a love of the beautiful. Nature is tne greatest and truest 

 Art Mistress in the world. Her masterpieces attract, impress, 

 educate, and inspire. One who studies her wisely and well cannot 

 fail to see what is beautiful, or hear what is harmonious. The 

 ear is very receptive, for one can read the music score of the 

 bird orchestra ; and even the sighing of the wind, patter of rain, 

 gurgle of the brook, gentle stirring of the trees in leafy June, 

 monotone of winged creatures, drowsy hum of busy Bees, should 

 be noted and loved, and the mind enriched thereby. 



We often speak glibly of our senses of sight, hearing, feeling. 



