THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



THE COLLECTOR. 



IIV I'K. Mi'KKl- 



Collecting is a fad. Or I may say that 

 collecting is a feature of our civilization, 

 and that fads in collecting are the momen- 

 tary, or rather transitory, efforts of a class, 

 society, neighborhood or nation to gather 

 a collection of any description. 



It is a matter of history that these fads 

 took root at a very early day, as instanced 

 the surprising number of wives which vSol- 

 omon took unto himself. Solomon was 

 considered a very wise man, and yet we 

 are fully prepared to assert thac he was 

 rather reckless in amassing so extensive a 

 matrimonial alliance. History, either sa- 

 cred or profane, fails to account for the 

 requirements of these odd thousands of 

 giddy houris, but the chances are that Sol 

 simply desired pre-eminence as a much- 

 married man, and therefore set his scoop- 

 net in order to maintain his reputation for 

 wisdom. In other words, he assumed his 

 kingly prerogative in great shape, and 

 scooped all competitors in the fad of those 

 days. 



There is a tribe of supporters of the old 

 style of household arrangements living in 

 Utah at present, but as the adoption of the 

 multiple-spouse deal has not met with gen- 

 eral favor in Uncle Sam's domain, the pros- 

 pects are for a total uprooting of wife- 

 collecting in America. 



Some of the spasmodic freaks of collect- 

 ing which have developed within the last 

 few centuries are remarkable for the extent 

 to which simple whims may be carried. 

 The rage for the culture of tulips in Hol- 

 land was perhaps the most noticeable of the 

 many ridiculous fads. The passion for col- 

 lecting and cultivating tulips, which was 

 nothing but the outcome of a desire to 

 eclipse one another in a new departure, be- 

 came at last of a magnitude that rivaled 

 every other .social interest. The whim not 

 only became infectious to all cla.s.ses in the 

 land of its birth, but was spread to other 

 nations, England even becoming involved 



in the ludicrous and ephemeral fad. Tulip 

 inilbs of merit sold readily at two thousand 

 dollars and more, and the scheme assumed 

 such proportions that an institution was 

 organized which we would have called a 

 board of trade nowadays. Kut at length, 

 like all bubbles, the fad for collecting tulips 

 burst. 



A .seemingly ridiculous mania for the 

 forming of collections of rare plants has 

 assumed some proportions of late, but 

 fortunately the frenzy has only assailed the 

 wealthy; those who are able to pay from 

 one to five thousand dollars for a single 

 orchid. At the present date there are sev- 

 eral varieties of orchids, which formerly 

 sold at fabulous figures, which can now be 

 purchased at about one-tenth of the old 

 price. But even at this reduced price there 

 are a number of private collections of these 

 exotics which are valued at from fifty to 

 one hundred thousand dollars. 



The love for forming collections api^ears 

 as an inborn trait in the cases of the major- 

 ity of our American youth. We may say 

 that the habit, or rather tendency which 

 results in habit finally, is the outcome of 

 influences which constantly surround our 

 boys and girls. Nevertheless, although we 

 must acknowledge that influence plays an 

 important part in regulating the taste as to 

 fashions of the times, we must still allow 

 that the spirit of acquisition is natural 

 within us. From this point we can readily 

 understand that the same tendency which 

 governs the miser in ama.ssing his filthy 

 lucre, also controls the schoolboy in his 

 greed for birds' eggs and postage stamps. 

 Some may assert that the fact that, many 

 collectors impoverish themselves in order 

 to gratify their love for collecting, is a con- 

 tradiction to the foregoing conclusion. On 

 the contrary, it more strongly proves it, 

 showing a perversion equal to the extreme 

 oddity of the miser. 



During the past two centuries there have 

 been many collectors of snuff-boxes, and it 

 is recorded in history that one person of 

 distinction had amassed over four thousand 



