®ltc gmmjj Naturalist : 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 37. JULY 10th, 1880. Vol. 1. 



OUR OBJECT. 



WE have done our best in the 

 selection of material lor our 

 pages to show the object we have in 

 view by such selection. It has been a 

 matter of considerable gratification to 

 us that our aim has been understood 

 and appreciated, by many of those to 

 whom we are all accustomed to look up 

 as the Patriarchs of Natural History. 

 Nevertheless, because we were not 

 able to do at once, all that everyone 

 wanted done, to publish at once all 

 about everything, and a good deal 

 more, we have had from time to time 

 hints that this would have been better 

 out, or that would have been better in, 

 to the exclusion of the other. In 

 replying now to these hints we do not 

 wish it understood that we desire such 

 communications to cease. They are 

 at times of great value to us, for 

 though we may fancy we know better 

 than anyone else, what we really want 

 to be at, we do not pretend for a 

 moment to that sort of universal know- 

 ledge that would enable us to tell you 

 what you want, to know better than 

 you do yourselves. Many papers that 

 have been published, and which we are 

 pleased to believe have been of service 

 to our readers, have been suggested by 



! our correspondents ; and it is always a 

 ! gratification to us to find our readers 

 are taking interest enough in our 

 paper for them to point out faults, and 

 suggest improvements. All such com- 

 munications are welcome, and have 

 the fullest attention given them. But, 

 with reference to the Young Naturalist 

 we propose now to say a few words. 



In our first number we said our desire 

 was '-to cultivate a taste for Natural 

 History among the young," and we also 

 said while we would "endeavour to 

 help the mere collector, we will at the 

 same time try to induce him to study 

 and observe as well as collect." We, 

 had a vivid recollection of our own 

 own early difficulties — difficulties bo 

 great that had the pleasures we found 

 in the pursuit not been very great, we 

 might have abandoned it in despair. 

 These difficulties we have always kept 

 in our mind, and in the selection of 

 subjects have tried to write upon those 

 that would help the beginner. Now 

 that our magazine is fairly under way, 

 and may (we hope) be considered an 

 accomplished fact, we are perhaps able 

 to do better than we did at the begin- 

 ning, and instead of having to write 

 generally, upon the various subjects ; 

 we have ventured to attempt mono- 



