The imm HATOBAIIST: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 154. OCTOBER 21st, 1882. Vol. 3. 



REGRETS. 



AS was to be expected, we have had 

 numerous letters from our readers 

 regretting that the weekly issue is to 

 be given up, but such regrets come all 

 too late. Our readers cannot feel more 

 sorry about it than we do, for we have 

 enjoyed its preparation quite as much 

 as they can have enjoyed its perusal. 

 The correspondence it has brought, and 

 the new friends we have made tlirough 

 it^ have all been sources of pleasure to 

 us ; but we venture to hope that none 

 of these will be lost to us because the 

 Young Naturalist ceases to appear 

 often er than once a month. One of 

 our friends sends us a graphic descrip- 

 tion of the gathering of " young natu- 

 rahsts " at our agent's shop ; their 

 disappointed faces if the papers have 

 not arrived, and the eager perusal of 

 the contents if they have. We rather 

 fancy he overdraws the picture, though 

 we may imagine it to be "founded on 

 facts." Many others express their 

 personal feelings in terms that are 

 very gratifying to us, but we had con- 

 sidered all that they say before we 

 arrived at our conclusion. One young 



gentleman, in giving his views, suggests 

 that if we would double the size of the 

 paper, add a cover, and give a coloured 

 plate weekly, without increasing the 

 price, our circulation would more than 

 double in a twelvemonth. We need 

 not reply to such a suggestion. The 

 time has not yet come when such an 

 undertaking could be ventured on with 

 any hope of success. On the other 

 hand even a larger number express 

 approval of the change, and more 

 particularly of the arrangement we 

 have made respecting the plates. " It 

 just exactly meets my views on the 

 matter" says one gentleman, whose 

 letter has reached us as we were pen- 

 ning these lines, and we are glad tlie 

 change we are making is acceptable to 

 so many. Still, there are regrets in 

 our own mind, for the weekly issue 

 is our preference. Remembrance of 

 how eagerly we looked for The Weekly 

 Intelligencer of our early days, and 

 how much we were encouraged in our 

 pursuit by the perusal of its pages, 

 has made us long for a similar paper 

 ever since that time ; and in these days 

 of telegrams and telephones, a month 



