Idle Days. 135 
researches ; useless, I say, and take great delight in 
saying it, for if there is anything one feels inclined 
to abhor in this placid land, it-is the doctrine that 
all our investigations into nature are for some 
benefit, present or future, to the human race. 
Night also brings supper, welcome to the hungry 
man, and hours of basking in the genial light and 
Calodromas elegans. 
warmth of a wood fire, I on one side, and my 
bachelor host on the other. The smoke curls up 
from our silent lips, whilst idle reveries possess our 
minds—fit termination of a day spent as we have 
spent it: for my host is also an idler, only a more 
accomplished one than I can ever hope to be. 
We read little; my companion has never learnt 
