THE "WOXDEKS OF THE SHORE. 145 



enough of this. We need only direct the 

 reader to his exquisitely humorous account of" 

 the ways and -works of a captive soldier-crab,* 

 to show them how much there is to be seen, and 

 how full nature is also of that ludicrous element 

 of which we spoke above. And, indeed, it is in 

 this form of Natural History : not in mere classi- 

 fication, and the finding out of names, and quar- 

 rellings as to the iirst discovery of that beetle or 

 this butter-cup, — too common, alas ! among mere 

 closet-collectors, — " endless genealogies," to apply 

 St. Paul's words by no means irreverently or 

 fancifully, "which do but gender strife"; — not 

 in these pedantries is that moral training to be 

 found, for Avhich we have been lauding the study 

 of Natural History: but in healthful walks and 

 voyages out of doors, and in careful and patient 

 watching of the living animals and plants at 

 home, with an observaticjn sliarpened by practice, 

 and a temper calmed by the continual practice 

 of the naturalist's first virtues, — i)ntience and 

 perseverance. 



Practical directions for forming an " Aqua- 

 rium " may be found in Mr. Gosse's book bear- 

 ing that name, at pp. 101, 255, ct scq. ; and 



* Aqunrium, p. 103. 

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