KNOWLEDGE GROWS 3 7 



rambles afield, using one's eyes and ears, 

 and prepared by some general introduction 

 to perceive intelligently what is passing 

 around one, acquaintance with Nature grows 

 rapidly and pleasantly. 



One soon learns to distinguish ordinary 

 objects, and each step which is gained 

 leads to the knowledge of other things. The 

 store of information increases in a sort of 

 arithmetical progression. Each person will 

 naturally adopt the manner of observation 

 which best suits himself, but I shall, in this 

 place, give one example, partly for the sake 

 of showing how to set about the work, but 

 more particularly for the sake of illustrating 

 the distinction between several large groups 

 of living creatures, which, perhaps more 

 frequently than any others, are likely to come 

 in the way of the observer. 



Let us suppose that we are walking in 

 a country lane, and stop to raise a flat stone 

 in a cool, damp, moss-grown corner. Suppose 

 further, as is probable, that four creatures 

 are disturbed by our action a woodlouse 

 (called a ' slater '), a spider, a centipede, and an 

 earwig. They are not superficially attractive 



