WITH THE YOEKSHIRE NATDRALISTS," 



[Eeprmted from the " Huddersfield Weekly News,^^ 

 Av^ust 7th, 1880.] 



The fifth meetingr and excursion for 1880 in connection 

 with the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union took place on Mon- 

 day last. I was favoured with an invitation, and as it 

 may not be generally known what naturalists do on their 

 excursions, an account of what took place may not be un- 

 interesting. I must confess that I joined the party in 

 fear and trembling. There are only two conventional 

 ideas of a naturalist. One is that of a wizened old Dryas- 

 dust, with goggle eyes and a skin the colour of lemon and 

 the texture of parchment, who prowls about stagnant 

 pools carching water-newts, and for whom little sympathy 

 is felt (by unnatnralists) as 



He got hold of her tail, and to land almost brought her, 

 When he plump'd head and heels into fifteen feet water. 



The other accepted notion of a naturalist is precisely 

 similar to the last one but of the feminine gender. So far 

 as Yorkshire naturalists, at any rate, are concerned, 

 however, there could not be a greater misconception. 

 Genial and jolly, full of spirits, rich in the glow of 

 health, and merry as the sunshine, it is evident that the 

 studies they pursue are a pleasure to them, and that these 

 scientific excursions are their delight. They speak 

 scientifically, of course, and an uninitiated person is 

 somewhat taken aback when he hears the veins 

 in a leaf described as " isolated fibrovascnlar bundles '' 

 or a stinging nettle called an ' Urtica dioica." But one 

 soon gets used to this kind of thing, and, as poets often tell 

 us, we may enjoy all the beauties of Nature without 

 knowing the name of a rock or a fiower. 



By what narne 

 Botanic, ye are known, 

 I care not ; you're the same — 

 In glory garmented — each in your own ; 

 And. God's benignant mercy to his creatures 

 Speaks out in all your fascinating features. 



But it must be remembered that scientific names appeal 

 not only to Englishmen but to all the world, and are not 



