42 
OBSERVATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY. 
further, in addition to a knowledge of struc- 
ture, the naturalist requires a knowledge of 
habits. The former, indeed, is always con- 
nected with, and more or less subordinate to, 
the latter. And though he may sometimes 
infer a particular habit from a given structure, 
yet such inference can only be the result of 
having first actually observed their co-existence 
in a large number of instances. After all, 
what is more varied than the habits and in- 
stincts of different animals ? How multiplied 
are the resources of Nature in compassing her 
ends ! How often do we find the same object 
attained in as many different ways as there 
are cases in which the object is sought ! 
Again, how strangely are both habit and 
structure sometimes modified by accidental cir- 
cumstances, and by conditions affecting cer- 
tain particular localities ! — So that it is at 
once obvious, that, in order to become ac- 
quainted with all the phenomena of Natural 
History, a man must leave the retirement of 
his study, and pursue Nature into her own 
haunts, amid fields, waters, woods and moun- 
tains, (to say nothing of travelling into foreign 
climes,) or else he must have a large propor- 
tion of such facts collected to his hand by 
others, upon whose accuracy he can depend." 
—Pp. 6—8. 
There is a good deal of truth in all this. A 
fact that may seem of no importance may 
form a link in the chain of circumstances and 
peculiarities which complete the natural his- 
tory of an animal, and the want of that link 
may have left it in doubt. The author how- 
ever takes a more enlarged view of the case. 
He treats of natural history as subservient to 
other sciences, and here there is a wide range. 
No one can deny that in Horticulture much 
depends on the knowledge of natural history, 
not only of plants but of the living myriads 
that live on them and on the soil they grow in. 
So it is with other sciences. Meteorology, 
for instance, a science almost in its infancy, 
may be greatly assisted by the knowledge of 
the habits of many living subjects. As the 
author says : — 
" We have hitherto spoken of observations 
in Natural History, as made with a view to 
promote the advancement of that particular 
science, and to supply facts upon which all 
generalizations must rest. But some of these 
facts, when obtained, may be of use in other 
ways. They may assist in forming the sta- 
tistics, as it were, of other sciences, particu- 
larly Meteorology, for which purpose they 
have been assiduously collected by some ob- 
servers. The different times at which the 
periodic movements of animals take place, 
their times of breeding and hybernation, and 
many interesting phenomena of the same na- 
ture also, in the vegetable kingdom, the 
times of the leafing of trees and the flower- 
ing of plants, the ripening of fruits, &c. — all 
these are more or less connected with the pro- 
gress of the seasons, and climatological consi- 
derations, and on this account are well worthy 
of our notice. The Calendar of Flora in the 
Amoenitates Academicce of Linnajus is well 
known, and White's Naturalist's Calendar 
known, perhaps, still better in this country ; 
and from the circumstance of the attention of 
the scientific public having been lately re- 
awakened both here and abroad to this sub- 
ject, we have been induced to devote to it a 
certain portion of this work, as a guide and 
stimulus to those who are disposed to join in 
making observations of this nature. What, 
however, we have chiefly to say on this head 
will serve as an immediate introduction to 
the Calendar, which we propose offering to 
the reader in another place. We shall simply 
state here that the regularity which pervades 
nature, as regards the recurrence of periodic 
phenomena, is very striking. We mean not 
that the incidents of the several kinds above 
alluded to always fall out on a particular day, 
though no doubt the averages of many year's 
observations, taken at intervals, would bring 
them to a near coincidence. But it is rather 
the regularity with which they uniformly suc- 
ceed each other, from which there is little 
deviation, that is so remarkable. Why the 
toad should always be a few days later in 
spawning than the frog ; — or why the phea- 
sant should hatch before the partridge, though 
the latter pairs for the breeding season long 
before we hear the sexual crow of the former ; 
— or again, why the apricot should invariably 
flower a few days before the peach, yet gene- 
rally come into leaf a day or two later ; these, 
and a thousand other little matters of the 
same kind that might be mentioned, furnish 
much room for reflection to the thoughtful 
inquirer. Nothing also is more surely regu- 
lated by the seasons than the various sounds 
emitted by different animals, whether the 
notes of birds, or the cries of insects, &c, 
which falls so gladly upon the ears of the 
naturalist, indicating to him the different 
feelings by which such animals are actuated. 
The pleasure, indeed, afforded by rural sounds 
has been often rapturously spoken of by ardent 
lovers of Nature, and the poet has left us 
lines on that subject, the beauty and force of 
which have been frequently alluded to : — 
Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, 
Exhilarate the spirit, and restore 
The tone of languid nature, 
******* 
Ten thousand warblers cheer the day, and one 
The livelong night : nor these alone, whose notes 
Nice-finger'd art must emulate in vain, 
But cawing rooks, and kites that swim sublime 
In still repeated circles, screaming loud. 
The jay, the pie, and ev'n the boding owl, 
