Memories of the Months; being pages from the Note-book of a Field Naturalist and Antiquary, to wit, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart, MP

Abstract

THE competitive exactions of business and social pleasure have their reaction. An increasing number of people are turning with interest to the study of natural history, and are willing to learn from those who can write about it. This is a hopeful sign to those who believe that the social health and physical standard of the nation depend in large measure on affection for country life, and that it would be an evil thing should field and flood cease to afford attractions for active minds. As Sir Herbert Maxwell truly remarks, no head is constructed to carry about an explanation of half the things noticed in the course of a single morning's walk; but if notes are made at the moment of what attracts the eye, be it a landscape, a ruin, a battle-field, a flower, bird, or insect, recourse may be had at home to the information abundantly stored in books, and the significance of what seemed commonplace or trivial becomes evident at once. Without attempting to become a specialist himself, every one has at command the accumulated fruits of the labours of specialists.

Memories of the Months; being pages from the Note-book of a Field Naturalist and Antiquary, to wit, Sir Herbert Maxwell, Bart., M.P.

Crown 8vo. Pp. xii + 300. (London: Edward Arnold, 1897.)