The Practical Naturalist's Guide

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1858 edition. Excerpt: ... THE PEACTICAL NATUEALIST'S GUIDE. INTRODUCTION. The value of a judiciously arranged collection to the naturalist cannot be over-estimated, provided always that the collection itself be looked upon as a means to an end, and not the ultimatum of his solicitude. Unfortunately, it is too often the case that large accumulations of specimens are brought together by amateurs, at an enormous cost, with no other object in view, on the part of the collector, than the gratification obtained from mere possession. Such collections are useless to the owner, and though hundreds of pounds may have been spent on their purchase and ornamentation, the shabbiest and smallest cabinets in the closets of real working naturalists immeasurably transcend them- in real value. A collection, whether public or private, should be, not a mere show-thing to please the eye, but a perfectly consultable, and consequently well-arranged assemblage of specimens, illustrating, either typically or specifically, the natural history perhaps of the whole world, or--as in most workable private collections--some special group of the animal kingdom. The following pages are written with a view to promote this the proper use of private collections; and while much in these pages may be of use to the museum curator, they are not originally intended for his instruction, seeing that, in the course of his preliminary training, he must already have acquired far more knowledge by experience than can possibly be expressed in writing, --that kind of knowledge which is only to be obtained by daily labour among his specimens. The chief intention of the writer is to supply, within small compass, so much knowledge as will enable the student and amateur, as also the traveller in foreign countries, to..