22 HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF NATURE 



warning them against trespassing in the fields and 

 woods where Nature's hidden beauties abound. 

 Hence the writer has avoided as many as possible 

 of such barriers, and has tried to erect only such 

 notices as may invite and attract young readers 

 to take up some branch of study directly connected 

 with Nature. 



In a certain sense all Nature is the common 

 property of all people, whether rich or poor, and 

 there is no royal road to its hidden beauties and 

 wonders. Even the stars in the heavens are one 

 man's possession as much as another's, and may 

 be studied without hindrance. History shows that 

 such studies could not be undertaken with impunity 

 in less enlightened times. We should, therefore, 

 value highly our own great privileges. 



The study of the vast and only partially trodden 

 fields of Natural History, whether undertaken in 

 a practical manner or adopted as a pastime, is 

 sure to be productive of much pleasure and utility. 

 Few pastimes are more laudable. We need not 

 hesitate to adopt as our special line of pursuit 

 the study of any particular group of plants or 

 animals, rocks or minerals ; for no naturalist, how- 

 ever long he may have lived, or however clever 

 he may have been, has so exhausted any one 

 department of Nature that nothing remains to be 

 explored. 



To make the acquaintance of hidden beauties 

 of Nature, we cannot do better than form a collection 



