A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



Xo. 2. 



NOVEMBER 8th, 1879. 



Vol. 1. 



TO OUR READERS. 



^V^TE have commenced our Magazine 

 SwCvS at a season of the year when 

 there is comparatively little • to do in the 

 favorite branch of Natural History — Ento- 

 mology.. You must not therefore look, at 

 present, for very much in the way of news* 

 But, after all, we are inclined to think, it is 

 the best season for beginning such an 

 undertaking. We have all the winter be- 

 fore us, in which to lay before you our 

 plans, and to give the beginner as much 

 information as possible, so that he may he 

 -well prepared to enter upon active life in 

 the summer of 1880. Like the larvae that 

 have buried themselves in the ground for 

 their change, the collector has retired, -lor 

 the present, from public life, and we trust 

 .during the time he is in pupa he will be 

 so matured that he will emerge in 1880, 

 perfect in all his parts, without shrivelled 

 wings or other defect, and with plenty of 

 energy for the work before him. 



There are many matters upon which we 

 shall have to enlarge before then; at 

 present, we will just map out roughly the 

 course that seems to lie before us. We 

 are confident, and every one tells us so — 

 so it must be true— that a Magazine like 



what we wish to make The Young 

 Naturalist, is very much needed, and if 

 naturalists will only take an 



workim 



interest in it, and bring it well before 

 young people, we trust it will exercise 

 such an influence over the minds of many 

 of them, as will be beneficial to them- 

 selves, as well as a source of pleasure. 



It is too early yet to lay before you our 

 ideas with respect to the Exchange Club 

 we referred to in our last, but we may 

 point out the benefits we 'hope to confer, 

 " Exchange " among collectors is now an 

 absolute necessity. There are compara- 

 tively few who can travel from place to 

 place, and take the various species for 

 themselves. While we trust the present 

 system will never be abandoned, leading 

 as it does, almost' to friendship among 

 parties who never saw each others faces, 

 but who have become intimate from lono- 

 correspondence and the" pleasant feelings 

 engendered by rendering mutual aid, we 

 still think that very much of this willingly 

 rendered help is lost for want of system. 

 This is particularly so with beginners, who 

 neither know what species are likely to be 

 acceptable to other collectors, nor how to 

 approach them. Attempts have been 

 made in past years to accomplish the ob- 



