30 NATURE STUDY 



impression upon our mind because of our 

 failure to give them names. If we observe 

 that a certain tree is infested by some insect 

 unknown to us, and we note, ' Observed a 

 tree infested by a green insect,' what value 

 has such a note for ourselves, or any other 

 person? But if we can name the tree, and 

 still more if we can name the insect, our 

 observation may be extremely useful. 



It is my design in this book to enable 

 the reader to give names to things. Infor- 

 mation about those things is added, but the 

 first object I have set before me is to assist 

 in identifying and naming some of the objects 

 which form illustrations in the Book of 

 Nature. I introduce the reader to a number 

 of plants and animals, which he ought to 

 know at the outset of his study of Nature. 

 They are but a handful compared with the 

 endless variety of known species, and still 

 more insignificant if we consider the vast 

 number which are probably unknown to 

 science, and yet they include a large part 

 of those which will catch his eye in his first 

 rambles afield. 



Two facts are remarkable in Nature study 



