REMARKS. 531 



able sources of human enjoyment ; and I agree with what 

 Pythagoras is reported to have said in his conversation 

 with Leontius, that " as there is nothing more noble than 

 to be a spectator without any personal interest, so, in this 

 life, the contemplation and knowledge of nature are infi- 

 nitely more honourable than any other application." My 

 opportunities of ascertaining the existence, and defining 

 the limits, of those centres of organization said to exist on 

 the surface of the earth, and which researches into the 

 geographical distribution of plants and animals tend to 

 elucidate, have been very limited indeed a Naturalist, in 

 a ship, may be compared to a bird of passage, which, re- 

 posing here and there in the course of its flight, gathers 

 a stray grain or so, and is off in a moment ; nor must the 

 remark of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre be lost sight of: 

 " La nature est infiniment etendue, et je suis un horn me 

 tres-borne."* 



With reference to the natural history of the Philippines, 

 that sagacious and most indefatigable traveller, Hugh 

 Cuming, Esq., has anticipated us in many points ; and in 

 the China Seas, the elaborate researches of De Haan and 

 others, have left us little more to do than follow in their 

 footsteps. A parting word in extenuation of the style I 

 have adopted in the preceding Summary, and I respect- 

 fully take my leave. It is, I think, right, that in the pre- 

 sent reading age, the Naturalist should impart to the 



* The multifarious avocations of the Naturalist are thus pleasantly 

 alluded to in a letter written by De Lamanon, one of the unfortunate 

 Zoologists of the Expedition of La Perousc : " I have fish to anatomize, 

 quadrupeds to describe, insects to catch, shells to class, events to relate, 

 mountains to measure, stones to collect, languages to study, experiments 

 to make, a journal to write, and Nature to contemplate." 



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