152 NATURE AND WOODCRAFT. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



A COUNTRY NATURALIST. 



The remarkable race of artisan naturalists so 

 abundant at the beginning of the present cen- 

 tury is now nearly extinct. Tarn Edwards of 

 Banff is a type of the class ; as also Dick, the 

 baker of Thurso. A number of other names 

 at once suggest themselves; but the two first 

 named, through fortunate accident, have now 

 become familiar to their fellow-countrymen. 



The country naturalists of which we speak 

 were essentially outdoor and field workers. 

 They came upon the scene when natural science 

 had made but little progress ; and each in his 

 hobby, whether geologist or only simple ob- 

 server of bird-life, did much to place practical 

 physical science on the broad basis upon which 

 it now rests. 



