EVERYDAY OBJECTS
MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBURGH,
PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
[Illustration: EVERYDAY OBJECTS.
(_Frontispiece._)]
EVERYDAY OBJECTS
OR
Picturesque Aspects of Natural History.
_WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS._
EDITED AND ENLARGED BY
W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS,
AUTHOR OF "THE CIRCLE OF THE YEAR," "SWORD AND PEN,"
"BEFORE THE CONQUEST," ETC.
"To know
That which about us lies in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom."
MILTON.
WILLIAM P. NIMMO:
LONDON: 14 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND;
AND EDINBURGH.
1876.
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
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The very favourable reception accorded both by Press and Public to
the "Circle of the Year," has induced me to prepare a second volume,
similar in design, but dealing with different branches of the same
subject. As the former was founded on the _first_ series of a popular
French work, "Les Saisons," by M. Hoefer, so the present has been
suggested by the _second_ series; but in availing myself of it, I
have omitted much, I have revised more, and at various parts my
additions have been considerable. And here, as in my former effort, I
have written from a popular rather than a scientific point of view.
It has not been my object to sketch the outlines or lay down the
foundations of any science; but to show, as best I could, how much of
wonder and beauty enters into our daily life, and what inexhaustible
sources of study lie at our very feet. It is, perhaps, a misfortune
of our common systems of education that they too much neglect the
tuition of the eye; that the young are not taught to mark the curious
and interesting objects which are comprehended within their daily
vision; that they know so much about ancient mythology and so little
about modern science,--so much about gods and heroes, so little about
stars and flowers.
I have called this volume "Everyday Objects," not because those which
it describes may be seen every day, but because they mostly belong
to the region of the commonplace and familiar; and I have called it
"Picturesque Aspects of Natural History," because I have endeavoured,
in companionship with my French _collaborateur_, to indicate the
poetical side of the various sciences into which I have presumed to
penetrate. If it should awaken a love of nature in any breast, or
develop a spirit of inquiry, which may lead the student further and
further on the path of knowledge, the labour bestowed upon these
pages will not have been in vain.
The instinct of curiosity,--says M. Hoefer, in his preface to the
first series of "Les Saisons,"--is the awakening of the intellectual
life: it commences with the lisping of the child, accompanies the
adult in every phase of his existence, and, far from becoming extinct
with the last throb of the heart, revives before the unknown shadows
of the grave. What, then, is there in the whole world of greater
importance to follow and direct than the movements and impulses of
this curiosity, of these uncertain pulsations of the soul? In this
lies the secret of all education; and upon education depends the
future of humanity.
Unfortunately, he continues, the methods hitherto employed have been
absolutely insufficient. And the insufficiency is most notable as
regards the imperfect and defective training given to the instinct
of curiosity. Observe the child. Of everything which excites his
attention, he never fails to ask you the _reason why_. It is thus
that he enters into the connexion of "cause" and "effect." It is
a sign. But instead of following up this natural indication, and
developing the thought by the exercise of the reason, we proceed as
if the being under our charge were incapable of reason; we overload
the memory of the child with a multitude of words, whose value he
cannot understand until later in life, and perhaps never. The true
direction of the mind is to proceed from the thought to the word, and
not from the word to the thought. It is for want of having recognised
and applied this principle that our educational systems have failed
so utterly.
Let us take, for example, the study of nature. No science, assuredly,
ought to prove more attractive to the mind than natural history. Yet
mark how repulsive zoology, botany, and mineralogy are made at the
very outset, by the dryness of their nomenclatures and the dreariness
of their classifications. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to lay down a
course of study in the midst of the marvels which everywhere surround
us; undoubtedly names are required for the objects which attract our
notice. But are not the methods we employ directly opposed to the end
we set before ourselves?
I address myself to parents and teachers; and I say to them, Do you
wish to inculcate a love of science, and yet put into the hands
of your children or pupils books which differ as widely from the
book of nature as human brotherhood--(a fiction!)--differs from
universal gravitation? Instead of familiarising us at first with the
animals and plants within our everyday reach, you collect, under
the same irrevocable iron "form," genera and species never intended
to meet in any one particular zone, and many of which are so rare
that few persons will ever be fortunate enough to see them except
in collections and engravings. And, curious to state, the rarest
species nearly always obtain your preferences; judging, at least,
from the minute descriptions which you consecrate to them. Monstrous
absurdity! You seek at a distance that which lies close to your
hands, as if the Everyday Objects above, beneath, and around, were
unworthy of the science you profess.
But here we must pause. Upon the principles thus laid down by M.
Hoefer, have been founded the two unpretending companion volumes,
of which the second is now submitted to the lenient judgment of the
public.
W. H. DAVENPORT ADAMS.
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CONTENTS.
BOOK I.--WINTER.
CHAP. PAGE
I. WHAT MAY BE SEEN IN THE HEAVENS:--
The Number of the Stars, 4
The Great Bear and the Little Bear, 8
Orion, 13
Diurnal Movement, 15
Determination of the Cardinal Points, 17
II. WHAT MAY BE SEEN UPON THE EARTH:--
The Snow, 32
Red Snow, 39
The Eternal Snow, 44
The Inhabitants of the Eternal Snows, 48
The _Arvicola Leucurus_, 49
The Marmot, 53
The Chamois, 56
The Eagle and the Wren, 57
The Snow Bunting, 66
The Red-billed Crow, 68
Reptiles, 70
Inferior Animals, 71
Herbaceous Plants which best endure the Cold of Winter, 75
The Dog Mercury, 77
The Garden Nightshade, 82
The Dog's-tooth Grass, 88
* * * * *