THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



91 



legal proceedings, was that sufficient reason why I should not go back again ? 

 I do not think so. I have been often caught and threatened, but could not 

 resist going back to the same place shortly afterwards, and have never failed 

 to obtain the desired permission to visit the estates whenever I pleased. It 

 is this enthusiasm in an entomologist that overcomes all difficulties. 



I have often thought it curious that, whenever I visit any part of the 

 country new to me, no matter how beautiful and grand the scenery may be, 

 my first thought is, "I really wonder. what species of lepidoptera are to be 

 found here ? " In saying this I do not mean it to be understood that I have 

 no eye for the beautiful — no one loves to gaze upon the rugged, heather-clad 

 hills, the sparkling river, or the peaceful glen and pasture land, more than I 

 do — but, somehow, my thoughts naturally revert from the beauty of the 

 scenery to the various varieties of insects which are likely to be found there. 

 It is a natural enough transition, and shows the peculiar likings of the 

 individual. A geologist would think of the peculiarities of the rocks 

 around, while a botanist would go in search of new plants for his herbarium. 

 It is in thus having a special object of study that the student of nature has 

 has a great advantage over one who has no taste that way. I have some 

 friends, who, when they go away to the country for their midsummer holi- 

 days, can never enjoy themselves for more than a few days. As soon as the 

 novelty of the change of air and surroundings has worn off they become 

 quite tired, and wish they were home again at their desks. I know this is 

 very generally the case with people who go to the Highlands every summer 

 as a mere matter of course, and it certainly is a very pitiful state of things. 

 Does the entomologist grow tired of the woods and fields in this way ? Go 

 with him when he departs from the dusty town to spend a fortnight in some 

 quiet secluded spot. Is he not light-hearted, and talking glowingly of 

 what wonderful captures he expects to make if only the weather keeps bright ? 

 Every nook and corner for miles around are searched for their insect treas- 

 ures, and if a new species is captured, which he has never seen before, he is 

 as happy as a king. He never grows tired, and as likely as not, when his 

 holidays are at last over, you will hear him bitterly complain of the cruel fate 

 which demands a cessation of his pleasure. Let the weather, however, during 

 his holidays be of such a disagreeable nature that he is confined to the house, 

 and you have got a " grumbling bear" and a " disappointed man" at the 

 one time. 



On leaving town on a holiday the entomologist leaves his kid-glove respect- 

 ability behind him. He is no longer the sharp business man known in town 

 as John Tompkins,, Esq.,. Wholesale Warehouseman, he is now only simply 

 John Tompkins, Little would his business friends in town recognise in the 



