Onic Domtq Naturalist: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 52. 



OCTOBEK 23rd, 1880. 



Vol. 1, 



W 



RETROSPECTS AND 

 PROJECTS. 



E are now approaching the end 

 of the first year of our existence, 

 and it seems fitting we should say a 

 tew words now. about the future as well 

 as the past. We are aware that our 

 shortcomings have been great, but our 

 [readers' sufferings from this cause are 

 , nothing to what ours have been, 

 " Did I but tell thee half, thy tortured brain 

 ' Would burn like lire, and minego wild again.'' 



We have in our collection of auto- 

 graphs, a letter of the late Charles 

 feickens apologising to a contributor 

 for delays, in which he assures his 

 correspondent that if these matters 

 annoy or irritate his contributors they 

 reduce the unfortunate editor to the 

 itst stage of nervous uncomfortability." 

 \Ve could even give vent to stronger 

 xpressions. And the blunders ! the 

 ypographical errors ! ! Miss Biddy 

 udge complained long ago that when 

 he- 

 Talked of the dewdrops from freshly blown 

 roses, 



'he nasty things made it, from freshly blown 

 noses." 



Our readers might sometimes won- 

 m that we advocate the use of Latm 



names, when we appear to make such 

 a sad hash of English. But " the past 

 is past." Let us hope that the future 

 of the Young Naturalist may show con- 

 siderable improvement in spelling as 

 in other matters. 



We are glad to know that many of 

 the papers we have published during 

 the past year have been appreciated by 

 our readers. The brief monograph of 

 British Land and Fresh-Water Shells, 

 completed in the .last number, is a 

 sufficient manual for the beginner. 

 The papers on British Ferns, though 

 perhaps rather technical for those who 

 know little of Botany, have proved 

 useful to some. While, hackneyed as 

 the subject is, some even of our ex- 

 perienced readers have been good 

 enough to express their satisfaction 

 with our "British Butterflies." This 

 class of papers will be continued in the 

 new volume. We hope during next 

 year to complete " British Butterflies," 

 while "British Birds, their Nests and 

 Eggs " w ill be commenced, probably 

 in the first number. The occasional 

 papers on Botany, by Mr. J. P. Soutter, 

 will be continued from time to time. 

 We also are able to promise a serial 



