236 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



on this basis ; and it would not be too much 

 to say, that those who are most in the 

 habit of questioning its utility, are really 

 anxious to conceal or excuse their own 

 ignorance by depreciating the labors of those 

 who have been more energetic and persever- 

 ing than themselves. 



Yet these simultaneous investigations lose 

 much of their importance and value from 

 the isolation of those who conduct them. A 

 student of the natural sciences, to make 

 regular observations, must be a constant 

 resident in rural — often in remote districts, 

 where intercourse with other men of science 

 is rare, and where all libraries and other 

 means of obtaining information regarding the 

 progress made elsewhere are inaccessible ; 

 and if his resources do not allow him to 

 obtain for himself continual supplies of the 

 most recent publications bearing on the 

 subject of his pursuit, and if, moreover, he 

 have not his time in a considerable degree at 

 his own command — it is impossible that he 

 can keep pace with the general advance ; still 

 less that he can expect to contribute 

 materially to the general stock of information. 

 He may be diligent and enthusiastic ; but, if 

 he be alone, many of the most valuable results 

 of his observation are unavoidably lost. 

 Again, if there are several such men. residing 

 perhaps not many miles distant from each 

 other, and pursuing the same inquiries 

 independently, if they possess no facilities or 

 systematic plan of communication — much 

 waste of time must ensue ; since one may be 

 slowly and patiently struggling to arrive at 

 a conclusion which another has already 

 attained. 



Hence arises the importance, it might 

 almost be said necessity, of co-operation, which 

 has been met in several counties by the 

 establishment of local associations, whose 

 utility, when judiciously conducted, is un- 

 questionable. There are no doubt instances 

 where they have not met with success, and 

 where a temporary blaze of enthusiasm 

 has died out, leaving behind no trace that it 

 ever hid existence; but, in most of such 

 cases, this has arisen from the fact that they 

 were established on a wrong basis. Public 

 libraries, museums, and formal soirees are 

 very desirable and very important in their 

 proper place — that is, where a town contains 

 a sufficient number of persons interested in 

 science to keep them up with spirit and 

 success ; but where, as is frequently the 

 case, the members, or those that should be 

 members, are dispersed over a large county, 

 all these things are of little real value. 



The kind of society of the greatest actual 

 importance under these circumstances is 

 what is termed a " Naturalists' Field Club," 

 whose members, not of necessity compelled 

 to maintain libraries and museums when they 



can but rarely make use of them, are afforded 

 opportunities of occasionally meeting and 

 combining their local investigations into one 

 common fund. 



There is, however, an essential difference 

 in the object of associations of these two 

 kinds ; they may exist simultaneously, but 

 they should be separate in .constitution. 

 What is usually implied by a provincial 

 " Athenaeum" is not so much the extension 

 of the existing limits of science, as the 

 diffusion among the general public of what is 

 already known ; while naturalists who meet 

 in an independent club, take for granted what 

 is made the subject of exposition in popular 

 lectures, and go farther and deeper, aiming 

 not so much to teach as to discover — their 

 Society, as compared with the others, being 

 a Columbus set against a teacher of naviga- 

 tion. 



Having thus endeavored briefly to explain 

 the nature and general objects of these inte- 

 resting associations, we propose, in a future 

 number, to enter into further detail — to give 

 an outline of the rules laid down by some of 

 them, to notice what has been done and is 

 now doing among their members, and to offer 

 a few suggestions towards the further 

 development of the system. 



Meantime, we should esteem it a favor if 

 such of our readers as are connected with 

 " Naturalists' Field Clubs " will communi- 

 cate any particulars of interest connected 

 with them, and aid us in our attempt to pro- 

 mote their welfare. 



NO! "WHY" SHOULD I? 



Shall I, wasting in despair, 

 Die because a woman's fair ? 

 Shall my cheeks look pale with care 

 If another's rosy are ? 

 Be she fairer than the day, 

 Or the flowery meads in May, 

 If she think not well of me 

 What care / how fair she be ! 



Shall a woman's goodness move 

 Me to perish lor her love ? 

 Or her worthy merits known, 

 Make me quite forget my own ? 

 Be she kinder, meeker than 

 The lovely dove or pelican ; 

 //' she he not so to me 

 What care i" how kind she be ! 



Be she kind, or meek, or fair, 

 I will ne'er the more despair; 

 If she love me, this believe, 

 I will die e'er she shall grieve. 

 If she slight me when I woo, 

 I will scorn, and let her go; 

 If she he not made for me, 

 What care /for whom she be ! 



Y. Z. 



