500 BibliograpJdcal Notices, 



The whole subject is arranged under four heads : — 

 1 . Effects of the study of Natural History on the mental facul- 

 ties. We quote the following very just observations which the au- 

 thor makes upon this part of his subject : — 



" Tlie study of Natural History, though suitable for manhood, is highly 

 attractive to youth ; and bends itself, with easy adaptation, to the varying; 

 intellectual capacities of its votaries. To the very young — to children only 

 four or five years old, its objects are perhaps among the most pleasing that 

 can be presented to their notice. At that age, when the observant faculties! 

 are in constant action, and the reasoning powei-s are as yet immature, the 

 flowers, the shells, the birds or quadrupeds, by which the child is surrounded^ 

 form naturally the primary subjects of his admiration and inquiry. Those 

 who have had any experience in the management of children will testify 

 with what delight they listen to stories about such things, when the narrator 

 possesses the art or making himself intelligible to the capacity of bis audi- 

 tors. How frequently is he again and again asked for the recital, while 

 each repetition serves only to enhance its charms ! Should the teacher be 

 collecting flowers in sprkig, or gathering the shells which are scattered over 

 the strand, he will find in children bis most delighted and zealous assist- 

 ants, and will mark with what facility they can be taught to discriminate 

 the several kinds, and to recollect the names of those which are the most 

 attractive. And if the same individual — whether a parent or a teacher — - 

 be speaking on the subject to the same children some weeks afterwards, he 

 will find, as I have often done, that the facts of which he knew they had 

 been cognisant, were, in truth, but a small portion of those actually ob- 

 served, and that a whole host of concomitant circumstances, and vivid, 

 though sometimes fantastic associations, had been connected, by the chil- 

 dren, with the visible objects to which he had supposed their entire attention 

 had been directed. From such facts it may be fairly inferred, that Natural 

 History is a study peculiarly well adapted for early youth. 



" By thus directing the attention to various external objects which are re- 

 garded with interest, we learn the very useful habit of ' having our eyes 

 about us.' We have all read in our school-boy days the story of ' Eyes and 

 no eyes;' and we all know the difference which exists among educated peo- 

 ple, as to the pov/er of observing what is actually before their view. One 

 sees a part only, and that imperfectly ; another, at a glance, takes in every- 

 thing peculiar to the scene, almost by intuition. That prompt perceptive 

 powers are desirable, and that they, to a great extent, are dependent on cul- 

 tivation, every one will admit. The objects which Natural History embraces 

 are well adapted to call these powers into action, and train them to prompt^ 

 itude and vigour. Hence I rank among its intellectual effects, the benejicial 

 injlucnce it exerts on the observa?it faculties. 



" But this influence is not limited to quickness in using our eyes. As we 

 advance a little beyond childhood, it takes in a wider sphere of usefulness. 

 It teaches i\s to note resemblances among objects ; thus enabling us, in 

 some degree, to group them together by their apparent affinities ; and it 

 accustoms us also to mark the differences among those which, in many par- 

 ticulars, are alike. On this all classification among external objects must 

 depend : on this must rest the divisions of classes, families, genera, and spe- 

 cies, so indispensable to the naturalist. To discover resemblances, to de- 

 tect differences, are processes totally distinct from the mere power of ob- 

 serving. They are not acts of the perceptive, but of the reflective faculties. 

 They require not merely the exercise of our eyes, but of our powers of com- 

 parison and judgment. In other words, by the study of Natural History 

 we acquire habits of discrimination. 



