Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/113



O begin is always very puzzling, and the schoolboy who essays to write his first letter home to his parents knows it full well. A well-informed and earnest supporter of our journal perhaps has a fact or two, interesting and new, which he is desirous of contributing to its pages, but he is lost in bewilderment at "How to begin." Another, equally earnest, is equally puzzled, because he is desirous of studying some branch of natural history, and, for the life of him, does not know "How to begin." It is for the especial benefit of the last-named individual that we have begun this chapter.

First of all, we are bound to assume that our neophyte is in earnest. This assumption being correct, all the rest is comparatively easy. If he is in earnest, a few disappointments will not discourage him, a few failures will not dishearten him, and a little work will not alarm him. If he should imagine that it is all as easy as "Gossip," he will soon become disappointed, disheartened, and alarmed. But to be earnest means a determination to succeed, and with such a determination none can fail. To begin well, he must have a clear conception of what he would wish to do. Never mind the ambition being a high one; the higher the aim, the more success he is likely to achieve. He should decide for himself to what his taste impels him, whether to the study of insects or plants, high life or low life, minute organisms, or only such as the unaided eye can take cognizance of. Then let him muse still further upon the subject, and select some well-defined group or section. If he has a leaning towards Insects, the field is a wide one; his time and means limited, and his subject must be limited likewise. There are butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), beetles and ladybirds (Coleoptera), with sundry other -opteras and -ipteras, from which he may choose; but let him confine himself to one. We are continually being inquired of, "What is the best book for a beginner in the study of insects?" Our reply is, "Books are very good servants, but very bad masters." "Insects" is such an indefinite term in the way it is employed. To gain a general knowledge of the whole class is very useful, but that is evidently not what the querists intend. Therefore, for the future, let them make up their minds "where to begin," and begin at once. Suppose that the choice should fall upon beetles. Let the student immediately go out and find two or three of different kinds, and then come home and examine them for himself; see wherein they agree, and wherein they differ; spend the whole evening over them. We have spent many a pleasant evening over the examination of one minute portion of an insect, such as the tongue or foot of a fly; and felt at the close that we could spend another on the same object, and still leave something to learn. Books will necessarily have to be applied to for the technicalities of the science, for these must be mastered. There is no science without technicalities, as there is no trade or handicraft without them. We lately heard of a class of working-men who had devoted themselves during the evenings of a whole winter to the study of Botany without technicalities, and then found that they could not understand the Flora of their own county, or any other botanical work, and had to commence their elementary work over again. A good friend is a great help, if, having a knowledge of the subject, he is disposed to aid a beginner. There may be such a thing as false help, even though well meant. For example, to send a friend twenty or fifty specimens at a time, and persuade him to name them for you, is abusing the friend, and doing yourself an injury. The truest friendship on the part of such a friend would be to refuse. When the student trusts to himself, he will examine the object thoroughly; he will, of necessity, study the classification closely, review the characteristic features of allied genera and species, and through a train of logical and silent argument arrive, at length, at the wished-for goal. This may at first occupy much time, but gradually the time occupied in determining a species will be diminished, until ultimately it can be done with facility. If a friend names all but the most prominently marked and easily recognized species, he may do so a hundred