THE OBSERVATION OF NATURE 
225 
Aylksfoki) Bridge. — The interesting and picturesque bridge 
over the Medway, half-way between Maidstone and Rochester, 
being again threatened with destruction as an obstacle to naviga- 
tion, the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has 
come forward with an alternative scheme. This was fully de- 
scribed and illustrated in tlie Daily Graphic for September 16. 
The Society’s proposal is to cut a short canal across a bend of 
the river to take the water traffic, to straighten the southern 
approach to Aylesford Bridge, and to replace a dangerous level 
crossing by a railway arch. It would unfortunately be necessary 
to widen the old bridge, which it is proposed to effect by timber 
staging. The scheme is an attractive one but, we are afraid, 
somewhat costly. 
THE OBSERVATION OF NATURE. 
By W. F. Uenning, F.R..A..S. 
Author of “ I'eUscopic IVotk for Starlight Evenings," 
N YONE who stands in suburban fields on an early day 
in spring will find much to e.xhilarate him. The ex- 
IKilwAW panse of landscape, the primroses lining the hedgerows, 
the insects sporting in the sun, the mated birds carolling 
a welcome to the returning foliage, must all induce a gratifying 
sensation in the attentive observer, though he may be there alone 
to contemplate the scene. In the great city near, tens of thou- 
sands of persons crowd the shop-girt streets and parade the 
principal thoroughfares. Strange, that in the bordering country, 
where all the congenial attributes of spring are strikingly de- 
veloped, charming the prospect and opening out attractions of 
singular beauty, there is scarcely a solitary individual to admire 
and enjoy ! But it was ever so. Mankind loves companionship, 
delights in seeing and being seen, and often prefers art to Nature. 
Yet at the very best, artificial productions are but weak and 
clumsy imitations of natural objects. 
When the glow of the vernal sun is forgotten and when 
autumn provides us with one of her most transparent nights, 
let an observer stand out in the open at a late hour. Looking 
upwards, he will perceive myriads of God’s stars scattered in 
grand profusion and endless variety upon the dome of heaven. 
The town near is still, its inhabitants are wrapped in slumber, as 
if indifferent to, and certainly unconscious of, the magnificent 
panorama unfolded above their heads. A meteor falls, momen- 
tarily lighting up the firmament with its glories, a comet steals 
slowly along the constellations, an aurora borealis shoots its 
coruscating rays over the Arctic sky, but there is no one to 
“ read, mark and learn ” these celestial mysteries. Only the 
wind and the night-birds break the silence of the dark profound. 
Awhile the pale dawn steals into the east and nocturnal beauties 
begin to fade away. Sol, in his golden car, will soon arise and 
call the world to a renewal of life and activity. 
