228 CAUSES OF DISAPPOINTMENTS. [CHAP. i. 



been kept captive in Europe at least 250 years, are, or 

 are not, easily and profitably propagable in British farm- 

 yards. 



The above-mentioned short-comings, and the reason 

 why we cannot yet refer to Zoology for a decided answer 

 as to what creatures, still in a state of nature, may be 

 reckoned upon as hereafter reclaimable for the use and 

 service of Man, can be accounted for in two ways. 



First. In studying any class of natural phenomena, 

 the mode is, to collect together all the facts, specimens, 

 and reasonings, bearing in any manner upon the subject, 

 which come within the inquirer's reach in fact, to 

 make an intellectual and a material museum of things 

 pertaining to that department; and then, by careful 

 and persevering inspection and comparison, to discover 

 what they mean, to observe in what theoretical direction 

 they tend, to what conclusions they point and lead the 

 way; and thus, sometimes by patient reasoning and 

 working the problem out, occasionally and rarely by a 

 sudden comprehension of the hidden riddle, to arrive, 

 if not at the very truth itself, at least at a close ap- 

 proximation to it. Now, the science of Zoology is at 

 the present epoch in the exact position of a student ac- 

 cumulating observations, collecting specimens, and com- 

 paring theories of natural phenomena; she is as yet 

 but a humble learner and investigator of a most varied 

 and intricate field of knowledge ; she is rather in a con- 

 dition to receive hints and to be thankful for contribu- 

 tions of information, than either to dogmatise boldly, 

 or to lead the way into unknown regions by means of 

 the possession of any unvarying compass of well-ascer- 

 tained principles for her guidance. " The time has not 

 yet arrived," Mr. Gould truly remarks, in his magnificent 



