©lie §tsm% Naturalist: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 49. OCTOBER 2nd, 1880. Vol. 1. 



LIBRARIES. 



AMONG the difficulties that beset 

 the path of the student in Natural 

 History, the want of suitable books is 

 one of the greatest. In some branches 

 there are no books fitted for a beginner, 

 or indeed no manuals or introductory 

 works at all. In some groups of insects 

 for instance the only thing there is, is a 

 catalogue of species occurring in Britain, 

 and this perhaps very imperfect. It 

 may be that the only descriptive work 

 in existence, is in a foreign language, 

 and descriptive not of our British species, 

 hut of the order generally, or of the 

 species that have been taken in the 

 country where the author resides. But 

 even in these cases where books already 

 published are all that can be desired, 

 they are generally so high priced, 

 owing to the very limited circulation 

 such works obtain, and the great cost 

 of carefully prepared plates, that they 

 are almost out of the reach of young- 

 people, or the working classes. In 

 those towns that are fortunate enough 

 to possess Free Libraries, there may 

 sometimes, if there happen to be any 

 Naturalists on the Managing Com- 

 mittee, be a few such works in the 



Reference Department. Where there 

 is a good Subscription Library, such as 

 obtains in most large towns, though it 

 is likely to contain the books wanted, 

 the annual subscription is often a 

 guinea, which again excludes those 

 whose means are limited. A difficulty 

 like this is not easy to overcome, but 

 we venture to make a suggestion or 

 two that may help some of our readers. 



In the first place, the few Naturalists 

 there are in any town could meet 

 together, hand in a list of such books 

 as they possessed, and arrange to lend 

 them to one another on certain con- 

 ditions. This would give everyone 

 access to all of the books belonging the 

 whole of those whe entered into such an 

 arrangement. The conditions needed 

 would be for their safe custody and 

 return, and greater care should be 

 taken of them than is generally be- 

 stowed on those belonging a public 

 library. 



A second plan, which can be adopted 

 in addition to the other, or separately 

 as may be most desirable, is that each 

 one pay a small weekly contribution 

 into a common fund. So soon as 

 enough is subscribed to purchase one 



