INTRODUCTION. 5 



natural history ever becomes a close preserve of 

 specialists and professors. For a brief review of 

 the progress of knowledge ifi this direction shows 

 that many of the most important discoveries have 

 been made by the despised amateur. Further- 

 more, it is from the ranks of these enthusiastic 

 volunteers that by far the best material in the 

 great army of regulars is recruited. The true 

 naturalist, like the poet, is born, not made. No 

 amount of scholastic hammering, or Government 

 patronage, or societies for the organisation of re- 

 search, can evolve a Cuvier or a Darwin. 



Yet if it be true that the old-fashioned amateur 

 is trending towards extinction, he has chiefly him- 

 self to thank. Should he fail to adapt himself to 

 his changed environment, he must go the way of 

 all flesh which has proved its unfitness in the 

 struggle for existence. His chief weak point 

 hitherto has been his lack of versatility. We 

 shall find the cause of many failures in attempts 

 to apply the principles of Darwinism in this want 

 of power to accord with new conditions. In some 

 cases it is evident that efforts to keep pace with 

 the times have ended in confusion because there 

 has been an attempt to pile new bricks upon an 

 old and sapped foundation. In many others 



