898 The American Naturalist. [October 
In England many of the local scientific societies are affiliated with 
the British Association and send their delegates regularly to the meet- 
ings. This year, as in years past, there was.a conference of these dele- 
gates, and Professor Miall, of Leeds, made some remarks before them, 
which seem to us so suggestive and so valuable that we must make 
them the text for a short digression from our main subject. 
‘One who is at all familiar with the material which is constantly sub- 
mitted for publication in our scientific journals soon realizes that there 
is an immense amount of wasted, or misdirected energy among the 
scientifically inclined. Naturally these persons attack the most prom- 
inent questions—questions far beyond their capacities, or at least be- 
yond their facilities for doing good work. As we once heard it ex- 
pressed, only the editor of a scientific periodical can realize how many 
second class men write upon first class problems. Now there is work, 
good and valuable work, which these willing individuals can do. In 
most cases they are removed from library facilities and large collec- 
tions ; not unfrequently they are ignorant of all languages except their 
mother tongue. They are good observers, have good reasoning powers, 
but are the victims of their environment. It was to such provincial 
naturalists that Professor Miall spoke, and he advised them to turn 
their attention to the study of the life-histories of the common forms 
about them, and to his every word we say a hearty “amen.” We 
know too little about our intimate neighbors ; we are too apt to think 
that some form from the interior of Africa or from some remote island 
of the South Seas is far more interesting, far more important, than 
those objects which we see every day. Yet these forms often possess 
extreme interest. We have only to think how glad our European fel- 
low workers are to get our ganoids and our Limulus, to realize that we 
have important animals and plants in our own country. This study 
of the life-histories needs no library, no collections, no acquaintance. 
with foreign tongues. It needs only a pair of sharp eyes to turn out 
work which shall be as full of interest and as valuable as the classic 
paper of Smeathman upon the white ants. That our most familiar 
forms will reveal new and unsuspected points of interest, is evidenced 
by Dr. H. H. Wilder’s recent discovery that, contrary to all our text 
books, several of our salamanders are lungless. One cannot read the 
pages of the late W. H. Gibson, without realizing that there is much 
to be found out about the animals andiplants about our very doors; 
and every new fact about the commonest form is a positive contribution 
to knowledge. 
