882 
INSECTS AND THEIR RELATION 
are inclined to look back on the time when the collection 
of mutilated butterflies, the hatching of some chrysalises 
surreptitiously saved from the gardener’s wrath, or the blowing 
of birds’ eggs, were the ideals of this hobby ; for at that stage in 
our lives it could not be called science. A few years later, the 
school society fell into one’s black books partly because it 
entailed — rather like the music-master — the sacrifice of a few 
precious hours a week : more often because it was surrounded 
by an aroma of servitude, and its members, headed by a quasi 
scientific master, did not usually include the most interesting 
boys ; nor were the subjects chosen for discussion often of the 
same material value as those regarding the present position 
of Surrey and Yorkshire, or the standing of one’s favourite 
football club. 
So in later life the mention of natural history recalls at 
once birds and butterflies ; but with all respect to ornitholo- 
gists and lepidopterists this branch of nature does not end 
there. These enthusiasts will be the first to admit that ; and 
when each one of us realises this fundamental truth, we shall 
find that both youth and adult will see in all nature something 
that will take us from our every-day worries, will give us a 
truer insight into sociological and economic problems of the 
world ; and, if our careers are so destined, a hobby that shall 
be our work and a work that will be our hobby. 
No section of any community is without interest in natural 
history — Mammalia are eagerly studied after death by the 
Kavirondo and during life by the Masai. Aves form the 
subject of many bitter disputes between Kikuyu and mistress, 
both as to the price to be paid per fowl, and often as to the 
original ownership of the parents of those eggs now offered 
for sale. Pisces delight the soul of the Swahili as well as the 
Goanese cook ,* and, in the form of the esculent herring with 
its long, long trail, has been known to be of frequent service 
to many essayists and budding politicians even in this new 
country. 
Lower down the scale of animal life the phylum Mollusca 
furnishes the Cockney with his winkle, the Head of Depart- 
ment with his Zanzibar oyster, and the wife of the East African 
stock-owner with her pearls. 
