II Some of the " Best Books " on Animal Life 361 



and zoology, and other sciences, though we would have our eyes 

 lightened so that we may see into the heart of things, our brains 

 cleared so that we may understand what is known and unknown 

 when we are brought naturally in face of problems, and our emotions 

 purified so that we may feel more and more fully the joy of life. 

 Therefore I would, in the name of education, urge students to 

 begin naturally, with what interests them, with the near at hand, 

 with the practically important. A circuitous course of study, 

 followed with natural eagerness, will lead to better results than the 

 most logical of programmes if that take no root in the life of the 

 student. 



Let me suggest some of these indirect ways of beginning. 

 Begin with domesticated animals and their history. See Darwin's 

 Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (1868), etc. 

 Concentrate your attention on some common animals. See, for 

 instance, Darwin's Formation of Vegetable Mould through the 

 action of Worms (1881); Mivart's i^ro^ (Nature Series, London); 

 Huxley's Crayfish (Internat. Sci. Series, London) ; M 'Cook's 

 North American Spiders (2 vols., Philadelphia, 1889-90); F. 

 Cheshire's ^«£r and Bee-keeping (\o\. i., Lond., 1886); Lubbock's 

 Ants, Bees, and Wasps (Internat. Sci. Series, London) ; Flower's 

 Horse (Lond., 1891). 



Enjoy your seaside holiday. See Charles Kingsley's Glaucus ; 

 J. G. Wood's Common Objects of the Sea-Shore (1857); P. H. 

 Gosse's Mqnual of Marine Zoology (1856), and Tenby; G. H. 

 Lewes's Seaside Studies i^&m. 1858); L. Fred&icq, La Lutte pour 

 V existence chez les Animaux Marins (Paris, 1889). 



Form an aquarium. See J. G. Wood's Fresh and Salt Water 

 Aquarium ; P. H. Gosse, The Aquarium (1854), and many similar 

 works. 



Begin a naturalist's" year-book. See the Naturalises Diary 

 by Roberts ; the Field Naturalises Handbook, by J. G. and 

 Th. Wood (Lond., 1879); and K. Russ, Das heimische 

 Naturleben im Kreislaufdes Jahres ; Ein Jahrbuch der Natur. 

 (Berlin, 1889). 



Observe the animals you see on your country walks. See 

 J. G. Wood's Common Objects of the Country (1858), The Brook 

 and its Banks (1889) ; Life of a Scotch Naturalist, Thomas 

 Edward, by Samuel Smiles; The Moor and the Loch, by J. 

 Colquhoun (Edin. 1840, 8th ed. 1878) ; Wild Sports and Natural 

 History of the Highlands, by Charles St. John (Lond., illust. ed., 

 1878); Woodland, Moor, and Stream, edited by J. A. Owen 

 (Lend., 1889); W. Marshall, Spaziergdnge eines Naturforschers 

 (Leipzig, 1888) ; Lloyd Morgan's Sketches of Animal Life (Lond., 

 1892), etc. etc. 



