REVIEWS. 
7 
of others, or write random nonsense of their own. To obviate such a re¬ 
sult it is incumbent on each naturalist who foresees the coming demand, 
and who has the facility of writing sterling works, to put his shoulder man¬ 
fully to the wheel; that is, to take the pen in his hand, so that if books 
are wanted, books may be had, without having recourse to the aid of scis¬ 
sors and paste to generate them. 
It may well be doubted whether any book has appeared for years past 
which has done more to promote the study of natural history than the little 
book we have now under consideration will certainly do, and we think it 
rather discreditable to the naturalists of the present day that they should 
allow such laurels to be gathered in their own domain by a perfect stranger. 
We fear that each naturalist has been tOo much bent on prosecuting in his 
closet his own particular branch of natural history, and has neglected to dis¬ 
seminate amongst others the pleasures he himself has been enjoying. The 
professors are too apt to leave the popularizing of their studies to other 
and less competent hands. 
In the following passage, pp. 24-27, we see in juxtaposition the igno¬ 
rance we have already remarked upon, as well as an excellently graphic 
account of the pleasure of meeting, in one’s foreign travels, new plants and 
animals:— 
“ Ask yourself seriously, ‘What branch of natural history shall I begin to inves¬ 
tigate, if it be but for a few weeks, this summer ? ’ 
“To which I answer, ‘Try “ the Wonders of the Shore.”’ There are, along 
every sea-beach, more strange things to be seen, and those to be seen easily, than 
in any other field of observation which you will find in these islands. And on the 
shore only will you have the enjoyment of finding new species, of adding your mite 
to the treasures of science. 
“ For not only the English ferns, but the natural history of all our land species, 
are now well nigh exhausted.” 
This is perfect news to us, and we fear Mr. Kingsley must have been 
dreaming of some El Dorado, not like those mentioned in “Westward Ho!” 
where the people revelled in gold, but some paradise, where all the people 
were naturalists, which is certainly not the case in England. Mr. Kingsley 
continues—“ Our home botanists, entomologists, and ornithologists are 
spending their time now, perforce, in verifying a few obscure species, and 
bemoaning themselves, like Alexander, that there are no more worlds left 
to conquer. For the geologist, indeed, especially in the remoter districts, 
much remains to be done, but only at a heavy outlay of time, labour, and 
study; and the dilettante (and it is for dilettanti, like myself, that I prin¬ 
cipally write) must be content to tread in the tracks of greater men who 
have preceded him, and accept at second and third hands their foregone 
conclusions.” 
