Be. {Es THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
_ lation to the facts of Nature are something more—indeed, 35 
a great deal more than the mere relation of a mind to the 
differential calculus, or the principle of gravity, some- 
-thing more than to a chemical formula or a triumph in 
physics. Fabre, the French Naturalist, of whom and of 
tig » whose works we have heard and read a great deal 
Se lately, called Nature, a prodigious poem;  ‘‘all 
Nature filled him,’’ he says, ‘‘with ~ curiosity 
and wonder.’’? A voice; he says, ‘‘charmed him; un- ~ 
ae translatable, sweeter than language, vague as a dream.’’ — 
‘| have already referred to the fact that the Greeks termed — 
these to whom Nature gave the great call Nymphelepti, 
as being inspired by, or in some way intoxicated by, Nature, 
- and Fabre would be one of these. Indeed, in a more or 
less degree, so are all Naturalists; and it appears to me 
that the spirit is present in nearly all people. This very 
enthusiasm has possibly a material explanation. The 
- humblest Naturalist has felt this in his searches face to 
_ face with Nature. What I feel is this: that the spirit of 
wonder exists in every child, and a natural instinct calls 
him to Nature; but how few are directed in the way? To~ 
_ observe .correctly and systematically is as difficult as to 
reason accurately, and to observe Nature as we should is 
not a usual accomplishment. Observation, of course, in 
- its highest examples, is pure genius. Fabre, in his re- 
searches into the Scarabeus, whose history since the tima 
‘of the Pharaohs had been a tissue of legends, required a 
observation and research, extending over forty years 
_-to complete the study of its habits, and to solve 
the mystery of its cradle. But it is not to observation 
so highly developed that I refer, but to simple ordered ob- 
servation, of which the most ordinary person is capable. 
_ __If it were possible to take every child in its early life, and 
let the spirit of wonder grow by bringing it face to fac 
- with Nature, what would result? You would fill the 
child with the magic mystery and poetry of Nature, and — 
open its eyes to the miracles of beauty and wonder at its 
feet! It is not at all impossible to do this. Remember, 
‘however, the imagination of science is ordered and con- — 
trolled. The magic and the mystery and poetry arise not | 
from mental feelings only, but from mental feelings arous- 
‘ed by a knowledge rightly gained by correct and patient 
observation. .It is the marvel and wonder of the little 
a, 
