58 The Hawkey e 0. and O. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



BY W. H. WINKLEY. 



I was much pleased with the tone of Mr. Ford's article in. the 

 April No. of the H. O. and 0., and with the permision of the 

 editor 1 would like to express mv opinions on the same subject. 



The true naturalist is enthusiastic in the pursuit of authenticate 

 information and the acquisition of facts having a.- direct baring 

 on the objects of his special study — the collection of specimens is 

 always secondary. In the field he collects and preserves speci- 

 mens, seting them aside that he may examine them more care- 

 fully at his leisure, and to compare them with others collected in 

 other localities or at different times. ' The specimens themselves 

 probably posess no intrinsisk value to him. I would advise all 

 persons who are making a collection "just for the fun of it," or 

 because it suits their soi distant character of being "a naturalist, 

 sir," to quit at once or to study up their specimens untill they be- 

 come an authority on those subjects. 



I care not what strange relics are exhumed from the ice of 

 Rusia or the cave dens of paleothic man in Franc; what undi- 

 scribed forms of animal and vegetable life are found in the depths 

 of the swamps of the Amazon oi' on the heights of the Sierras; 

 wherever and by whomsoever these objects of interest may be 

 collected, they will finely pass into the pose-sion of those who 

 can comprehend their inarvles and appreciate their value. ■■. ■ The 

 wholly ignorant are no more responsible for the distraction; and 

 mutalation of valuable specimens, and what is worse the. . loss of 

 orach valuable data, than are the hobbiest. 



There is another class of persons who are a constant manace 

 o the advancement of the cause, and they are those who have no 



