320 AN INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



search after rare specimens is sometimes mere trifling, 

 and the searcher equally ignorant of the nature and 

 structure of the prized specimen as of that of common 

 kinds ; the connoisseur in rare insects or shells is no 

 more necessarily a zoologist, than the connoisseur in 

 rare books is necessarily possessed of learning. The 

 study of local Zoology, however, will not carry the stu- 

 dent very far in investigating the animal kingdom; nor 

 will the study of specimens in local museums, except 

 perhaps in our largest towns ; but an occasional visit to 

 the Natural History Department of the South Kensing- 

 ton Museum will be possible to most people, and will 

 be an invaluable experience for the provincial student. 

 Those who have any taste for Zoology, however, will 

 find specimens to learn from somewhere or other ; and 

 those who have no taste for the science should turn 

 their energies elsewhere. I must, however, impress 

 it on the reader, that a real acquaintance with Zoology 

 can only be gained by practical work or out-door ob- 

 servation : Zoology cannot be learnt from books alone. 

 Companionship in every pursuit adds to the pleasure 

 of it ; and in nothing is it so necessary as in studying a 

 diflScult subject, when two heads are often better than 

 one, and the help of more experienced workers is a ne- 

 cessity. There are now in many districts local Societies 

 for the popular study of microscopic or zoological 

 science. These may usually be heard of, through 

 their reports, at the Free Library of the nearest large 

 town ; and the names of some of the more ambitious 

 among them may be found in the Year-Book of the 



