“I confess myself wholly ignorant of the subject,” observed Alexander one day, “though I feel that it must be interesting to those who study it; indeed, when I have walked through the museums, I have often wished that I had some one near who could explain to me what I wished to know and was puzzled about.  But it appears to me that the study of natural history is such an immense undertaking if you comprehend all its branches.  Let me see,—­there is botany, mineralogy, and geology—­these are included, are they not?”

“Most certainly,” replied Mr. Swinton, laughing; “and perhaps the three most interesting branches.  Then you have zoology, or the study of animals, ornithology for birds, entomology for insects, conchology for shells, ichthyology for fishes; all very hard names, and enough to frighten a young beginner.  But I can assure you, a knowledge of these subjects, to an extent sufficient to create interest and afford continual amusement, is very easily acquired.”

“‘The proper study of mankind is man,’ says the poet,”—­observed Alexander, smiling.

“Poets deal in fiction, Mr. Wilmot,” replied Mr. Swinton; “to study man is only to study his inconsistencies and his aberrations from the right path, which the free-will permitted to him induces him to follow; but in the study of nature, you witness the directing power of the Almighty, who guides with an unerring hand, and who has so wonderfully apportioned out to all animals the means of their providing for themselves.  Not only the external, but the inward structure of animals, shows such variety and ingenuity to surmount all difficulties, and to afford them all the enjoyment their nature is capable of, that after every examination you rise with increased astonishment and admiration at the condescension and goodness of the Master Hand, thus to calculate and provide for the necessities of the smallest insect; and you are compelled to exclaim with the Psalmist, ’O God, how manifold are thy works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all!’”

“You certainly do put the study in a new and most pleasurable light,” replied Alexander.

“The more you search into nature, the more wonderful do you find her secrets, and, by the aid of chemistry, we are continually making new discoveries.  Observe, Mr. Wilmot,” said Swinton, picking up a straw which had been blown by the wind on the quarter-deck, “do you consider that there is any analogy between this straw and the flint in the lock of that gun?”

“Certainly, I should imagine them as opposite particles of nature as well might be.”

“Such is not the case.  This piece of wheat-straw contains more than sixty per cent. of silica or flint in its composition; so that, although a vegetable, it is nearly two-thirds composed of the hardest mineral substance we know of.  You would scarcely believe that the fibers of the root of this plant were capable of dissolving, feeding upon, and digesting such a hard substance; but so it is.”