74 THE YOUNG 



take a few specimens each year, that he 

 may have the species for his friends. 

 If he goes on an excursion to a distant 

 place, he will probably do more when 

 there than any of the collectors on the 

 spot can do, for he has studied collect- 

 ing, and knows all the best methods, 

 and the most suitable places. He does 

 not pretend to know everything. His 

 sugar may sometimes be neglected, his 

 light prove unattractive ; but if you can 

 get out with him you are more likely 

 to have a successful excursion, than 

 with most of people. He does not dis- 

 dain larva hunting. He can go down 

 on his knees among the herbage, and 

 find larvae in abundance, and when he 

 has found them he knows what they are. 

 He can tell you a great deal about the 

 habits of insects, for he has collected 

 with his eyes open, and he does not 

 readily forget. Tell him that you have 

 failed to obtain a particular species, and 

 he will put you on the right track. He 

 will tell you the hour at which it flies, 

 the place where it is most abundant, or 

 at all events the sort of locality in which 

 it should be looked for. He will tell 

 you the food of the larva and describe 

 it to you, tell you where it grows, and 

 on which portion the larva feeds. If 

 you still fail, the fault will be yours. 

 From mixing with so many people who 

 take no interest in Entomology, he is 

 rather reticent, and is not prone to ofler 

 information. He has been so often 

 annoyed at the manner in which his 

 great liberality has been abused ; that 

 even to one calling himself an Entomolo- 

 gist he does not at first open out the full 



NATURALIST. 



treasury of his stores, either of know- 

 ledge or of specimens. But when once 

 you have won his confidence nothing is 

 withheld. He does not publish much. 

 It would be well if he published more. 

 "When he goes to a new locality he will 

 publish what he has done, but the vast 

 storehouse of information he has in his 

 mind he does not seem to value enough 

 to print from. He learned it all him- 

 self, and you may do the same. It is 

 not worth publishing, he thinks, what 

 is as open to every one as it was to him. 

 There he makes agreat mistake. His col- 

 lections are a treat to look at, all his speci- 

 mens are beautifully set, and all in the 

 same way— he has never thought it a trou- 

 ble to relax a specimen so as to get it to 

 his liking. His rows are full, but he has 

 been careful to get his specimens from 

 localities far apart when possible. He 

 will tell you which is the Scotch form, 

 which from the North of England, and 

 which from the South, He will point 

 out the difi'erences, in a clear and lucid 

 manner. He will even sometimes ven- 

 ture to express an opinion not in har- 

 mony with that of recognized authority, 

 and he will tell you why he thinks so. 

 You will be astonished at his rows of 

 rarities, but he took most of them 

 himself. Yes, I took those eighteen 

 years ago, I have never been there 

 since;" or '*Yes, I got those last 

 Autumn, at so and so, I have some 

 duplicates left, if you would like 

 some." Then his duplicate boxes will 

 come out, and you can help yourself. 

 He is giving you a lot of specimens^ 

 worth several pounds perhaps, and he 



