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227 
nearly every class is to actjuire wealth, so as to be in a position 
to have and enjoy all the good things which affluence alone can 
command. Many of us are not mercenary, but it is absolutely 
necessary that we should enter keenly into the struggle for our 
betterment, if not indeed for daily existence. The requirements 
of life shape our employments, occupy our heads and hands ; and, 
amid the scarcely ceasing rush of business cares and private 
concerns, there is very little leisure or incentive for the mind to 
dwell on scientific hobbies, or for the eye to cultivate habits of 
accurate observation. Young people are usually taught to be- 
lieve that happiness and prosperity are only to be assured by 
close and exclusive attention to business. Nature-study is not 
often supposed to be essential, and rarely meets with serious 
encouragement. Science offers, in fact, few inducements to 
success in life : her ways are devious and doubtful, and in her 
by-paths the thorns are many and the roses few. A youth who 
develops a tendency to study Nature and devotes time to her 
service is often regarded with feelings of commiseration, for he 
is thought to be grasping at the shadows which, in the absence 
of the substance, are apt to veil the sunshine of life. Fame, 
when courted and won, has often proved a disappointing illu- 
sion, capricious and sometimes transient : she may smile like the 
rich and attractive tints of a beautiful sunset, and be quickly 
transformed into the dark, frowning clouds of night. In the 
unwearying pursuit of her favours the enthusiast may experience 
the thrills and “ heart-throbs ” of much pleasurable excitement 
which nothing else could give, but unless he utilises the tide of 
his success to gain some material advantage he may find him- 
self in the autumn of his existence stranded upon a bleak and 
barren shore. 
Thus we need not be surprised at the fact that the votaries 
of unprofitable science are extremely few in numbers, and that 
this is brought about by the opposing influences of our modern 
civilisation. Only perhaps one in one hundred thousand of our 
population becomes an habitual and capable observer, and that 
by force of the great love inherent in him, which leads him 
gently to the pure and sweet shrine of Nature along a pathway 
gilded with glorious attributes, if not paved with gold. 
REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES. 
Ants and Some Other Insects: Inquiry into the Psychic Powers of these Animals. 
By Dr. August Forel, translated from the German by Professor William 
Morton Wheeler. London ; Kegan Paul. Price 2 s. 6d. 
[The following review, by our President, appeared in the Daily Chronicle, and 
is reproduced here by the kind permission of Lord Avebury and of the Editor of 
that paper.] 
From his life-long and conscientious study of ants Dr. Forel is peculiarly 
qualified to write on such a subject ; while from his position at the head of a great 
lunatic asylum he has had exceptional opportunities, of which he has ably availed 
himself, for the study of mind in various phases. 
At first sight it might seem as if insects were hardly likely to throw much 
