The ¥0010 8AT9BAUST: 



A Penny Weekly Magazine of Natural History. 



No. 89. JULY 23rd, 1881. Vol. 2. 



HOLIDAYS. 



AT this time of the year the greater 

 part of our young people are at 

 home for the holidays, and Paterfamilias 

 and Materfamilias too are much troubled 

 to know what to do with them during 

 these weary weeks. Tired with the 

 duties of the day, the father cannot bear 

 their noise, and the poor mother sighs 

 many a time as she is 



" Setting out the tea things, 

 For a howling herd of hungry boys," 

 and wishes the Midsummer holidays 

 were not quite so long. Lads who have 

 been at school all day, with "home 

 work " for the evenings, and only Sat- 

 urday with nothing to do, have not 

 found the time hang heavy on their 

 hands, but when Midsummer with its 

 six or seven weeks holiday has arrived, 

 when the weather is fine and the days 

 long, it often happens that the holidays 

 which are looked forward to with much 

 exuberance of delight, are found not to 

 be quite so pleasant as time goes on. 

 At first they would say with the Poet, 



" Blest power of sunshine, genial day, 

 What balm, what life is in thy ray ; 

 To feel thee is such real bliss, 

 That had the world no joy but this, 

 To sit in sunshine calm and sweet, 

 Oh ! 'twere a world too exquisite." — 



But getting out into the fresh country 

 air, which of itself was almost enough 

 to begin with, ceases to have so great a 

 charm, and if the youths are to be kept 

 out of mischief, they must have some- 

 thing to do. The ordinary amusements 

 of young people may be all very well in 

 their way. It is not our place to speak 

 disparagingly of them, but they have 

 one fault — they are amusements and 

 nothing more. They may serve as pas- 

 time in the true sense of the word — to 

 pass the time, but they do no more than 

 that. They afford no food for the mind, 

 no intellectual improvement follows 

 even the best of our athletic sports, and 

 as a consequence they either pall, or 

 those who follow them cease to have 

 any higher aspirations. We would not 

 for instance say a word against such a 

 game as cricket, which is no doubt an 

 exceedingly manly and attractive game. 

 But it cannot require much intellect to 

 play even at cricket, and the youth 

 whose aspirations rise no higher than a 

 good average score, or even to be the 

 champion player of his neighbourhood, 

 has certainly little desire for mental 

 advancement. On several previous occa- 

 sions, and again at this holiday season, 

 we put forth the pursuit of Natural 



