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by a strange variety of animal life. The antiquarian has reached 

 the floor of the deserted keep to conjure up the scenes of mirth 

 and revelry that made its portals ring in former days. The botanist 

 is at once plunged among ferns and stonecrops, mosses, and 

 marine algae. The artist has selected his most favoured point 

 of view, and is noting effects for future reference. The 

 geologist is musing on the form and character of the fossil he 

 has extracted from the rock or gathered on the beach, and while 

 the sea breaks against the Red Sandstone of the undercliff and is 

 stained by its marls, he recognises the same processes and con- 

 tinued forces by which the rocky barriers behind him were formerly 

 built up. The mechanic only sees the waves wasting their power 

 upon the beach, and wonders if this agency could not be utilised. 

 The mathematician notes the same power, and strives to express 

 it in some algebraic formula. The poet pensively asks, " What 

 are the wild waves saying ?" And the moralist, from a still higher 

 standpoint, whispers, " 'Tis the voice of the great Creator that 

 speaks in that mighty tone." This may be an ideal, but by no 

 means an exaggerated, description of what you may have often 

 seen together, and it faintly illustrates one of the advantages of our 

 organization in affording every student of nature an opportunity of 

 indulging his or her own inclination, and to do so with their fellows 

 for the common good. All the methods of investigating natural 

 phenomena may be divided into three groups — the practical, the 

 artistic, and the moral. The practical or utilitarian, the artistic or 

 aesthetic, and the moral or spiritual. All our effective work must 

 be practical, and all our results must submit to be tested by this 

 standard. Every collector has found this out by experience. 

 Who is it thit has collected fossils, or plants, or any other natural 

 object, and has not been asked from time to time — " Well, but of 

 what use are they ?" If you are fern-hunting in the country, you 

 will doubtless be followed by some inquisitive rustic who wishes 

 to know " if you want them for a cure ?" or, if you show any inte- 



