A thought may here strike the reader. How was it that Edward knew that there were six Gobies found along the coasts of Great Britain? How did he know that the Equoreal Needle-fish had never been found in the Moray Firth before? And, last of all, How was it that he knew the scientific names of the Fishes, the Zoophytes, and the Crustacea, which he collected? The names were, for the most part, Latin. Yet he had never learnt Latin. He must then have learnt them from books. No! He had no books. He often ardently desired books; but he was too poor to buy them. His earnings were scarcely sufficient to enable him to feed and clothe his children. Under such circumstances a man cannot buy books. Sometimes his children fared very badly, especially when he was laid up by illness. At such times they had almost to starve.
EDWARD’S INFORMANTS.
How was it then that, under these difficult circumstances, and amidst his almost constant poverty, Edward was enabled to carry on the study of science without the aid of books? He did so by the help of correspondents at a distance. When he collected a batch of objects, he sent them off by post to Naturalists in different parts of the country, for the purpose of obtaining from them the proper names. They referred to their scientific works, and furnished him with the necessary information.
Edward sent his specimens of Crustacea to Mr. Spence Bate, of Plymouth, Devonshire; his fishes to Mr. Couch, of Polperro, Cornwall; and many other objects to correspondents in Norwich, York, Newcastle, Birmingham, and London. The Rev. George Gordon, of the manse of Birnie, Elginshire, was one of his first correspondents respecting the Crustacea. Mr. Spence Bate was then engaged (in conjunction with Professor Westwood) in writing the History of the British Sessile-eyed Crustacea. Mr. Gordon first forwarded to him some of Edward’s specimens, and Edward afterwards corresponded directly with Mr. Bate. Thus he obtained his scientific knowledge, not from the books in his own neighbourhood, but from the books of gentlemen sometimes living at the opposite ends of the island.
HOW TO HELP HIM.
There was, indeed, some talk of supplying Edward with books, to enable him to pursue his scientific researches. At a public dinner in Banff, the principal speaker, after paying a high compliment to Edward for his wonderful perseverance, and his devotion to Natural Science, proceeded to describe the great influence which books exercised in developing the powers of the human mind. After informing his audience that they did not know the value of the man they had got amongst them, he said, “Assist and encourage him by all the means in your power, but”—here he paused, and all eyes were turned upon him;—“but,” he continued, “give him no money—(loud cheers). I know him, as you all do, to be no drunkard, no idler, but a sober hard-working man. But still, I again say, give him no money. Give him Books; provide him with the means of reading, and he is just the man to make money for himself.” The auditors thought that they had done sufficient justice to Edward by cheering the proposal of the orator; but it was words—mere words; for Edward neither got a book, nor even the leaf of a book, from any of his local admirers.
EDWARD’S ENTHUSIASM.
How different from this cold counsel, was the enthusiasm of Edward when speaking of his favourite science. In an article which appeared in the Naturalist on the Rayed Echinodermata of Banffshire, after regretting the small amount of observation and research which had been made along the shores of the Moray Firth, he said, “It is a great pity that the Moray Firth was never dredged by naturalists, as I am led to believe it never was, on a scale worthy of its waters. If such were done, and done as it should be, I am quite sure, from what I know, that many a valuable rarity, and, I have no doubt, many new species, would be procured, and better got than those already known. If I were but possessed of half the means that some are, it should not long be so. Wind and weather permitting, I should have it dredged from the one end to the other, over and over again. Alas! that Nature, that fair and comely damsel, whom I supremely admire and love so well, should have called me into existence at the very moment when Want and Starvation stood hand in hand, ready to stamp the unconscious heir of immortality with their accursed brands. Money, it is said, is the root of all evil; but tell me, ye who know, what the want of it is!”
HIS LOST LETTERS.
We have already said that Edward, because of his want of books on Natural History, obtained the principal knowledge of the objects which he discovered from gentlemen at a distance. But even this was not accomplished without difficulty. It was not always a pleasant task, and sometimes it was rather expensive,—expensive at least for a poor man. He occasionally encountered disagreeable rebuffs. Some complained that they could not read his writing, and that what he said was unintelligible. Another hindrance was, that when he sent a number of new specimens to Naturalists at a distance, they were often kept, and thanks only were returned. But he was scarcely in a position to resent this conduct. At last he sent none but those of which he had duplicates, preferring to keep them without a name rather than run the risk of losing them altogether.