106
THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS.
published in 1843, and his "Observations" (not published till 1846)
he tells us, were commenced when he was yet warm with the ardour
inspired by a first perusal of White's work. The forty-six pages
of his introduction on "Habits of Observing" may be especially
commended.
The collection of specimens and observation of phenomena is but
the first step, though perhaps the only sure basis of natural science ;
but let not the failure to discover anything new or rare depress the
unrewarded zeal of an enthusiast. The study of the structure and
physiology of the plants and animals we already know is certainly of
higher scientific value, and will well reward the utmost labour and
research that can be bestowed upon it. The inquiring mind of the
true scientist will not rest satisfied with the study of Nature's outward
and visible signs ; he will strive to rise from effects to causes, and:—
" Dear must that moment be when first the mind,
Ranging the paths of science unconfined,
Strikes a new light; when, obvious to the sense,
Springs the fresh spark of bright intelligence."
The wholesale massacres recorded in notices of ornithological and
entomological captures, or the ruthless destruction necessary for the
sustenance of botanical exchange clubs, is not what we wish to
encourage; the gun, the net, the box do not further the ends of
science to any great extent; it is observation and diligent searching,
not greedy collecting, that is wanted. Neither is science merely the
reduction of natural phenomena to an intelligible order by observa-
tion and experiment. The scientist may discover these principles
and laws, the enunciation of which constitute the highest aim as
well as the chief privilege of philosophy.
Darwin, truly characterized by the Duke of Argyll as "the greatest
natural observer who has ever lived," called himself "a machine for
grinding general laws out of large collections of facts."5 Let our
Essex naturalists help in supplying some of the facts at least, if nothing
more can be accomplished. They have a wide, distinct, and specific
field in which to work, notwithstanding the, let us hope, idle talk
about the alteration in our county boundaries. The broad field for
observation in Essex has apparently lain fallow for many years, but
with judicious cultivation and encouragement great results may
reasonably be expected. John Ray (b. 1627), William Derham
(b. 1657), Samuel Dale (b. 1659), George Edwards (b. 1693),
5 Darwin's "Life and Letters," vol. i, p. 127.