.328 NOTICE OF THE LIFE OF JOSHUA ALDER, ESQ., 



reliable an authority in Conchology. A supplement to the Cata- 

 logue, communicated in 1835, raised the number of species to 

 seventy-seven. 



This Catalogue gave a new and vigorous impulse to the study 

 of our native Conchology, which at that time seems to have been 

 languishing, and raised Mr. Alder suddenly into a conspicuous 

 position among his contemporaries. 



When, in 1846, the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club was 

 founded, the original Committee consisted of Mr. J. H. Fryer, 

 Mr. Joshua Alder, and Mr. T. K. Loftus ; and a special Com- 

 mittee on Mollusca, Crustacea, and Zoophytes, contained the 

 names of Messrs. J. H. Fryer, Joshua Alder, Albany Hancock, 

 and John Hancock. The next year Mr. Alder was elected Vice- 

 President, and in 1849, President of the Club. His address at 

 the end of his year of office was characteristic of the man, clear, 

 orderly, minute, and accurate in its particulars, replete with use- 

 ful remarks and good advice, and concluded with the following 

 recommendations as to the mode and spirit in which the study 

 of Natural History should be pursued — "To search out nature's 

 treasures in the woods and fields is a rational, a healthful, and a 

 pleasant pursuit ; but the naturalist who confines himself to the 

 collecting and naming of specimens only, loses one half the plea- 

 sure and instruction which it is calculated to impart. The works 

 of nature can never be rightly understood without an examination 

 of the structure of the plants and animals he collects. Their 

 habits, their uses, and the beautiful adaptation of their organs to 

 the functions they have to perform, afford a highly interesting 

 enquiry ; and if the microscope be used, a still more wonderful 

 and elaborate organization is revealed, extending even beyond 

 the limits which our instruments can reach. In this way only 

 can we truly appreciate the works of nature, and perceive how 

 infinitely they surpass the rude efforts of human skill. Nor need 

 we go far for examples, for rarity is not an element in this inves- 

 tigation — 



"Not a tree, 

 A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains 

 A folio volume. We may read, and read, 



