Robert Southey to Robert Lovell, 5-6 April 1794: 'My silence on natural history & natural philosophy, arose from ignorance. they are subjects upon which till lately I knew nothing, & now but little. it is not however my nature to sit down contented with ignorance. The study claims my attention; anatomy chymistry & botany will be my chief studies. how much truth is there in the old adage Life is short—Science is long! I experience the truth every day. one book leads on another one study demonstrates the necessity of another, & so we proceed from year to year till Death—compresses all our acquisition into a clod of the valley!'