A MODEST AMBITION 317 



were most prized in it and of the consequent changes 

 that have come about in the construction of instru- 

 ments, and the successive improvements in those 

 which possessed the desired quaHty in the highest 

 degree and the eUmination of others which were 

 without it. I have not then gone beyond my last, 

 the modest ambition of a field naturalist to see the 

 things that lie on the surface. It is for the biolo- 

 gist to seek for pearls in the deep waters; for me 

 to keep to the safe shallows where the children 

 paddle, and the wet sands at low tide where I 

 can gather my little harvest — my ribbons of sea- 

 weed and a few painted shells. 



