HOW TO BEGIN. 



' Nothing so difficult as a beginiiiiig'. 

 Unless, perhaps, the end."— Byron. 



begin is always very puzzling, aud tlie school- 

 boy who essays to write his first letter home 

 to his parents knows it full well. A well-informed 

 and earnest supporter of our journal perhaps has a 

 fact or two, interesting and new, which he is desirous 

 of contributing to its pages, but he is lost in be- 

 wilderment at " How to begin." Another, equally 

 earnest, is equally puzzled, because he is desirous 

 of studying some branch of natural history, and, for 

 the life of him, does not know " How to begin." It 

 is for the especial benefit of the last-named indi- 

 vidual that we have begun this chapter. 



Pirst of all, we are bound to assume that our neo- 

 phyte is in earnest. This assumption being correct, 

 all the rest is comparatively easy. If he is in 

 earnest, a few disappointments will not discourage 

 him, a few failures will not dishearten him, and a 

 little work will not alarm him. If he sJiouldixa^gma 

 that it is all as easy as "Gossip," he will soon 

 become disappointed, disheartened, aud alarmed. 

 But to be earnest means a determination to succeed, 

 and with such a determination none can fail. To 

 begin well, he must have a clear conception of what 

 he would wish to do. Never mind the ambition 

 being a high one; the higher the aim, the more 

 success he is likely to achieve. He should decide 

 for himself to what his taste impels him, whether to 

 the study of insects or plants, high life or low life, 

 minute organisms, or only such as the unaided eye 

 can take cognizance of. Then let him muse still 

 further upon the subject, and select some well- 

 defined group or section. If he has a leaning to- 

 wards Insects, the field is a wide one ; his time and 

 means limited, and his subject must be limited like- 

 wise. There are butterflies and moths [Lepidoptera), 

 beetles and ladybirds [Coleoptera), with sundry other 

 •opteras aud -ipteras, from which he may choose; 

 but let him confine himself to one. We are continu- 

 ally being inquired of, " What is the best book for a 

 beginner in the study of insects?" Our reply is, 

 "Books are very good servants, but very bad 

 masters." "Insects" is such an indefinite term in 

 the way it is employed. To gain a general know- 



ledge of the whole class is very useful, but that is 

 evidently not what the querists intend. Therefore, 

 for the future, let them make up their minds "where 

 to begin," and begin at once. Suppose that the 

 choice should fall upon beetles. Let the student 

 immediately go out and find two or three of different 

 kinds, aud then come home and examine them for 

 himself; see wherein they agree, and wherein they 

 differ; spend the whole evening over them. We 

 have spent many a pleasant evening over the exa- 

 mination of one minute portion of an insect, such as 

 the tongue or foot of a fly ; and felt at the close that 

 we could spend another on the same object, and 

 still leave something to learn. Books will neces- 

 sarily have to be applied to for the technicahties of 

 the science, for these must be mastered. There is 

 no science without technicalities, as there is no trade 

 or handicraft without them. We lately heard of a 

 class of working-men who had devoted themselves 

 during the evenings of a whole winter to the study 

 of Botany without technicalities, and then found 

 that they could not understand the Flora of their 

 own county, or any other botanical work, and had 

 to commence their elementary work over again. A 

 good friend is a great help, if, having a knowledge 

 of the subject, he is disposed to aid a beginner. 

 There may be such a thing as /(//^^ help, even though 

 well meant. Bor example, to send a friend twenty 

 or fifty specimens at a time, and persuade him to 

 name them for you, is abusing the friend, and doing 

 yourself au injury. The truest friendship on the 

 part of such a friend would be to refuse. When 

 the student trusts to himself, he will examine the 

 object thoroughly; he will, of necessity, study the 

 classification closely, review the characteiistic fea- 

 tures of allied genera and species, and through a 

 train of logical aud silent argument arrive, at length, 

 at the wished-for goal. This may at first occupy 

 much time, but gradually the time occupied in de- 

 termhiing a species will be diminished, until ulti- 

 mately it can be done with facility. If a Irieud 

 names all but the most prominently marked and 

 easily recognized species, he may do so a hundred 



