26 HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF NATURE 



papers before scientific societies, delivered lectures, 

 and helped many beginners to start collecting for 

 themselves. Some years before he died he exhibited 

 valuable objects of interest before the Royal Society. 

 The plan he adopted cannot be beaten even now, 

 with all our advantages, viz. that of having the 

 actual specimens to look at and to examine as he 

 read about them. 



Apart from the intrinsic value of the collections 

 referred to, an amount of useful knowledge is gained 

 in an attractive way, and the pleasure afforded to 

 the collectors is real and lasting. All honour to 

 such men. They are useful in their day and genera- 

 tion. They encourage us to put a proper value upon 

 our time, and they teach us the high possibilities 

 that we can attain to if we are not idle. 



Those concerned in the education of the young 

 would do well to facilitate any tendency towards 

 Natural History study, and where possible to coun- 

 tenance the making of collections of a suitable 

 character. This gives great interest to school work. 



Each locality has its own representative fauna 

 and flora (animals and plants), rocks, and possibly 

 minerals ; therefore specimens can be easily obtained. 

 When such objects are classified and exhibited in 

 their own neighbourhood they become quite a 

 revelation to the uninitiated, and in any case are 

 educational. Thus the foundation of small museums 

 might be laid, and collections, if limited to purely 

 local supplies, would be of immense value in scores 



