24 
WOMAN AS AN OBSERVER. 
enter upon a course of observation, of long and 
delicate studies of life. I am not surprised that Made¬ 
moiselle Jurine contributed so largely to her father’s 
astonishing discoveries respecting bees, nor that 
Madame Merian, as the fruit of her far-off wanderings, 
has bequeathed to us her wise and beautiful book of 
drawings of the Insects of Guiana. The eyes and hands 
of women, so delicate and well adapted for dealing with 
tiny objects, are eminently appropriate for such pur¬ 
suits as these. They have also a greater respect for, 
attention to, and condescension towards trifling exist¬ 
ences, than man exhibits. Though poetical, they are 
less poets, and impose less upon the Real the tyranny 
of their thought. They are more docile towards it, 
do not dominate over it, submit themselves to it, and 
do not bestow on these little beings the rapid and 
often disdainful glance of the higher life. And when, 
with all this, they are patient also, they may well 
become excellent observers, and miniature Reaumurs. 
Feminine qualities are specially needful in micro¬ 
scopical studies. To succeed in these, one must become 
somewhat of a woman. The microscope is amusing at 
a first hasty glance ; but if one would make a serious 
use of it, it demands a certain amount of dexterity, 
patient tact, and especially leisure,—considerable leis¬ 
ure,—full liberty of time,—in order that one may 
indefinitely repeat the same observations, and examine 
the same object on different days, in the pure light of 
morning, in the warm ray of noon, and occasionally even at a later 
hour. For certain objects which we must regard as a whole are best 
