362 



THE YOUNG NATUBALIST. 



apparently, but we are free to admit 

 that they have neither been so good as 

 we would have liked nor as they should 

 hav< been We propose in the third 

 volume to go back to the plan with 

 which the second volume was begun, 

 viz , one plate every month, and eight 

 pages of letter-press weekly, of which 

 not more than one shall be used for 

 advertisments if we can help it, though 

 wewill need to take up a little space 

 occasionally for " At Homes" and 

 similar announcements. The plates we 

 promise shall be as good as we can 

 make them. 



The interesting Botanical papers by 

 Mr. J. P. Soutter will be continued 

 from time to time, and we also propose 

 to publish a series of articles on Botany 

 of an introductory character. It is not 

 intended to be a manual of British 

 Plants, or anything so elaborate and 

 ambitious — in fact, the space at our 

 command would not allow us to complete 

 such a manual in any reasonable time. 

 Our idea is merely to give such a plain 

 and simple introduction to the study of 

 botany as will make it more easy for a 

 young student to master the rudiments 

 of the science. 



"We are exceedingly desirous to have 

 some papers on Coleoptera of a similar 

 character to that on page 134 of vol. i., 

 on the Plunger Beetle (Dytiscus margi- 

 nalisj. The "Life History" of very 

 few beetles has been fully written, and 

 We confess our own inability for the 

 task. Can any of our readers help us. 



We have the promise of " Life His- 

 tories " of some of the Ichneumonidce, 



and we shall have pleasure in receiving 

 such articles on any species, even on the 

 despised Diptera. Why the life of an 

 animal should only be supposed to be 

 interesting if it belongs an order that is 

 largely collected we do not know In 

 our opinion all are equally desirable to 

 have known, and if any of our readers 

 are inclined to study the more neglected 

 orders, we shall have pleasure in finding 

 space for their articles. 



To those of our readers who are less 

 ambitious we would say, send us your 

 notes and observations as you go along ; 

 never mind whether it has been printed 

 before or not. You cannot tell whether 

 it has or not, and if it has, its repetition 

 will do no harm. We cannot tell 

 whether what you have observed is a 

 regular occurrence until it has been 

 noticed over and over again. 



In conclusion we would ask our 

 readers to try and increase our circula- 

 tion for us, that we may be able to 

 improve its character. Our ambition is 

 to add a cover to the weekly number, 

 so that an additional page of readable 

 matter may be given, and the advertise- 

 ments no longer bound up with the 

 book. This we can only do if the 

 circulation be considerably increased. 

 Kindly help us in this matter also. We 

 shall be pleased to send sample numbers 

 to any address, or to send parcels to 

 any friends who will distribute them. 



Since the above was in type, we have 

 been offered a series of papers on the 

 British Ants, from the pen of Mr. G. C. 

 Bignell. These will be commenced in an 

 early number and continued fortnightly. 



