GLAMORGANSHIRE: NEATH 191 



eye-piece of a small opera glass. With it I was able to 

 observe the moon and Jupiter's satellites, and some of the 

 larger star-clusters; but, of course, very imperfectly. Yet it 

 served to increase my interest in astronomy, and to induce 

 me to study with some care the various methods of construc- 

 tion of the more important astronomical instruments ; and 

 it also led me throughout my life to be deeply interested in 

 the grand onward march of astronomical discovery. 



But what occupied me chiefly and became more and more 

 the solace and delight of my lonely rambles among the moors 

 and mountains, was my first introduction to the variety, the 

 beauty, and the mystery of nature as manifested in the vege- 

 table kingdom. 



I have already mentioned the chance remark which gave me 

 the wish to know something about wild flowers, but nothing 

 came of it till 1841, when I heard of and obtained a shilling 

 paper-covered book published by the Society for the Diffu- 

 sion of Useful Knowledge, the title of which I forget, but 

 which contained an outline of the structure of plants and a 

 short description of their various parts and organs ; and also 

 a good description of about a dozen of the most common of 

 the natural orders of British plants. Among these were the 

 Cruciferse, Caryophyllese, Leguminosse, Rosacese, Umbelliferae, 

 Compositae, Scrophularinese, Labiatae, Orchidese, and Glum- 

 aceae. This little book was a revelation to me, and for a year 

 was my constant companion. On Sundays I would stroll in 

 the fields and woods, learning the various parts and organs 

 of any flowers I could gather, and then trying how many of 

 them belonged to any of the orders described in my book. 

 Great was my delight when I found that I could identify a 

 Crucifer, an Umbellifer, and a Labiate; and as one after an- 

 other the different orders were recognized, I began to realize 

 for the first time the order that underlies all the variety of 

 nature. When my brother was away and there was no work 

 to do, I would spend the greater part of the day wandering 

 over the hills or by the streams gathering flowers, and either 

 determining their position from my book, or coming to the 

 conclusion that they belonged to other orders of which I knew 



