My life : a record of events and opinions - Wallace-online.org

102 MY LIFEand Jupiter'ssatellites, and some of the larger starclusters; but, of course, very imperfectly. Yet itserved to increase my interest in astronomy, and toinduce me to study with some care the variousmethods of construction of the more important astronomicalinstruments ;and it also led me throughoutmy life to be deeply interested in the grand onwardmarch of astronomical discovery.But what occupied me chiefly and became moreand more the solace and delight of my lonely ramblesamong the moors and mountains, was my first introductionto the variety, the beauty, and the mystery ofNature as manifested in the vegetable kingdom.I obtained a shilling paper-covered book publishedby the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,the title of which I forget, but which contained anoutline of the structure of plants and a shortdescriptionof their various parts and organs ;and also agood description of about a dozen of the most commonof the natural orders of British plants. This littlebook was a revelation to me, and for a year was myconstant companion. On Sundays I would stroll inthe fields and woods, learning the various parts andorgans of any flowers I could gather, and then tryinghow many of them belonged to any of the ordersdescribed in my book. Great was my delight whenI found that I could identify a Crucifer, an Umbellifer,and a Labiate ; and as one after another the differentorders were recognized, I began to realize for the firsttime the system that underlay all the variety ofWhen my brother was away and there wasnature.no work to do, I would spend the greater part of theday wandering over the hills or by the streamsgathering flowers, and either determining their positionfrom my book, or coming to the conclusion that they