82 THE YOUNG 



on nettles, and by close searching he 

 has even found another, concealed in a 

 leaf, but suspended by the tail only, 

 and from the constant repetition of the 

 same facts he begins to draw con- 

 clusions, and when he finds a belted 

 chrysalis he at once concludes it is a 

 " white." If he finds some hanging 

 by the tail under the nettle leaves he 

 says these are ' Tortoise shells,' they 

 always come out of chrysalides so 

 fixed." If they are concealed under a 

 closed leaf he says, " these will pro- 

 duce ' Pied Admirals.' " The " twenty 

 times " has learned him something the 

 "once" did not. By this regular 

 occurrence of the same thing with the 

 same species we have learned a great 

 deal about the habits and economy of 

 very many animals of all kinds. We 

 know that "Foxes have holes, and birds 

 of the air have nests ;" that rabbits live 

 in burrows, and hares do not ; that a 

 robin never nests in a tree, or a rook 

 on the ground ; that newts live in 

 water, lizards on the earth ; that each 

 species has its own peculiarities and 

 habits and modes of life. But we have 

 only learned ail this by the same thing 

 coming under our notice so many 

 times, that we have been forced, as it 

 were, to accept it as something that 

 was invariably the same, and we now 

 connect the habit with the animal as 

 two things that are inseparable. How 

 has this knowledge been attained ? By 

 habitual observation, and by a careful 

 record of what has been observed, not 

 by one person, but by very many. But 

 while we know a little about some of 



NATURALIST. 



the various creatures that inhabit the 

 earth, there are very many of whose 

 habits and economy we know nothing, 

 while of those with which we have most 

 knowledge there is vastly more to learn 

 than we have yet surmised. There are 

 probably more lepidopterists in Britain 

 than of all other naturalists together, 

 and we doubt if ever there were a tithe 

 of the number in any other country 

 in' the world. Yet we have not 

 we have not learned all, or 'nearly all, 

 about our very limited number of 

 Butterflies. Of some we scarcely know 

 how many broods there are in the year. 

 We are in doubt how many pass the 

 winter, and even the highest authorities 

 differ on the points. The larvae of 

 some are unknown, and even of some 

 of the commonest species they have 

 been so seldom seen that few can tell 

 you how to find them, and, except on 

 the wing, have no knowledge of the 

 species except what they have read, 

 which is not enough to enable us to 

 observe for ourselves. Our ignorance 

 perhaps will be more evident if we 

 attempt to answer a series of questions, 

 say on the eggs of some particular 

 species. How are they deposited, 

 when, and where ? In the day or 

 night ? Singly or in batches ? Loose 

 or attached ? If attached are they on the 

 food plant or not ? Does the egg remain 

 over winter ? If so, is any protection 

 afforded to it against cold 1 How does 

 cold effect it ? Can its vitality be 

 extinguished by cold ? Against 

 enemies'? To what enemies is it sub- 

 ject ? When does it hatch ? What 



