THE ZOOLOGIST 



FOR 1861. 



Notices of New Books. 



' Tlie Romance of Natural History.'' By Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S. 

 372 pp. demy 8vo ; twelve plates. London : Nisbet & Co., 

 Beineis Street, Oxford Street. 1860. Price 7s. Qd. 



" There are more ways than one of studying Natural History. 

 There is Dr. Dryasdust's way ; which consists of mere accuracy of 

 definition and differentiation ; statistics as harsh and dry as the skins 

 and bones in the museum where it is studied. There is the field- 

 observer's way ; the careful and conscientious accumulation and record 

 of facts bearing on the life-history of the creatures ; statistics as fresh 

 and bright as the forest or meadow where they are gathered in the 

 dewy morning. And there is the poet's way ; who looks at nature 

 thi'ough a glass peculiarly his own, the aesthetic aspect, which deals, 

 not with statistics, but with emotions of the human mind, — surprise, 

 wonder, terror, revulsion, admiration, love, desire, and so forth, — 

 which are made energetic by the contemplation of the creatures 

 around him. 



" In my many years' wanderings through the wide field of Natural 

 History, I have always felt towards it something of a poet's heart, 

 though destitute of a poet's genius. As Wordsworth so beautifully 

 says, 



' To nie the meanest flower that blows can give 

 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.' 



*' Now this book is an attempt to present Natural History in this 



aesthetic fashion. Not that I have presumed constantly to indicate — 



like the stage directions in a play, or the ' hear, hear !' in a speech — 



the actual emotion to be elicited ; this would have been obtrusive and 



VOL XIX. B 



