168 



OKNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 15-No. 11 



Natural History Business. 



Perhaps one of the most alhuini;' hranches of 

 industry is the one known under the above 

 title. Dating back to the time Adam secured 

 his first specimen ''Eve" to tlie present day it 

 lias been carried on more or less by mankind in 

 every clime. The vastness of the field, with its 

 various branches, offer every facility to meet 

 the taste of all. The man who ignores anthro- 



offers a continual pleasure, while to him who 

 follows it as a business the extent and variety 

 are the rocks that court financial sliipwreck. 



The vast numbers scattered over the country 

 who are engaged in making private collections, 

 and who by the routine of life are confined to a 

 locality, must k)ok to others for assistance, 

 and procure specimens from other localities 

 either by purchase or exchange. 



This is often done bv direct communication 



•v. 



FRANK BLAKE WEBSTER. 



pology bows in reverence to concliology. He 

 who would travel miles to worsliij) at the 

 shrine of lu'rpetology scorns ornitliology, while 

 the magnate who looks in utter amazement at 

 the toil of the entomologist, strips off his rai- 

 ment and with the energy of youth collects the 

 "biting" flea. Some pursue the calling as a 

 study, some as a pastime, while others turn to 

 it under the exacting law, " By the sweat of 

 thy brow." To the man who by the smile of 

 foitinu' can combine study and pUasure, it 



between collectors, but as a rule will be found 

 to require a great deal of tinu' and itatience and 

 liability to be tinted witli disai)i)ointment. It 

 was to meet a demand for centralization of 

 exchange that stimulated the writer to estab- 

 lish a Naturalists" Supply Depot. In the year 

 18(57, with a view to the enterprise, tlie depart- 

 ment of taxidermy was taken u]) as a study, 

 Niglit after niglit in tlie "wee, small hours," 

 familiarity with tlie scalpel and stuffers was 

 courted, and oology llirted with. After seven 



