A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 8. 



DECEMBER 20th, 1879. 



Vol J. 



PATIENCE. 



}C* MONG the many encouraging 

 j:J^ letters we have had from our 

 aclers, one or two have complained that 

 mething or other in which they had a 

 ecial interest, had not yet been attended 

 , or not been enlarged upon sufficiently, 

 le complained we had not enough 

 tany, another that we had too much 

 tomology, and a third actually found 

 lit because we had not enough about 

 rds' eggs. We are willing to admit that 

 fr shortcomings may have been great, 

 I t we think with all due deference to our 

 Jung friend's opinion, that the latter com- 

 | lint, is not well founded. But whether 

 vll founded or not, to one and all we say, 

 Itience. We shall not get great credit 

 f ? originality of thought, if we remind our 

 riders that Bome was not built in a day ; 

 Xobably they will imagine they have 

 lard a similar remark before, but we 

 be glad if they will apply the good 

 cl adage to themselves. We cannot in 

 pe number, nor in many, tell you all you 

 T,nt to know, nor yet all we want you to 

 low. It will be a long time before our 

 Jges can contain a complete manual of 

 Natural History, but have Patience and 



all will come in good time. If there be 

 anything special about which you want 

 information, write for it, and we will try 

 to supply it. Our articles on Egg Col- 

 lecting and Larva Preserving, were both 

 written in response to enquiries, and others 

 of kindred character are waiting an oppor- 

 tunity of appearing. This we can always 

 do, but to complaints of a general charac- 

 ter we can only say, Patience. 



But it was not to say this only that we 

 began this article. Patience is a virtue 

 most necossary to Naturalists, and more 

 especially to Entomologists. Beginners 

 generally want to do and get everything 

 at once. The least they will be content 

 with, will be to obtain all the British But- 

 terflies in their first season. To rear an 

 insect from the larva or from the esro; is a 



CO 



process far too slow for them. If it would 

 go through all its metamorphosis in a week 

 or so, they might manage, but to watch 

 tha eggs through a vrinter, to feed the 

 larvse through a summer, and to wait per- 

 haps into the third season for the imagines^ 

 is a trial of patience utterly beyond them. 

 When the perfect insect can be obtained 

 on the wing, who would bother with so 

 tedious a method of obtaining them %' 

 But would be naturalists must learn that - 



