Abstract
THE value of Natural History would be more fully appreciated if its higher aims were more perfectly understood. Too many fancied that the study of natural history consisted in mere collecting and naming, and looking at pretty objects. This was, however, mere scientific play; whereas the more thorough study was real work, of use not only as an intellectual training, but also as applied to the practical life of every day. They often heard the remark that the proper study of mankind was man, but to confine their study to him would be to take the first term of a great series, and neglect all the other terms—a proceeding which could lead only to an inaccurate and one-sided view of the order of the universe.
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On the Study of Natural History * . Nature 9, 228 (1874). https://doi.org/10.1038/009228a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/009228a0