To the child in stamp-collecting the boundless world is small; he will seek to bring into his net stamps from everywhere, postage and fiscal, exhibition labels, trading stamps, and all that has the shape or semblance of what he conceives to be subjects for his collecting. The collector of fuller experience knows that he must make a lesser world of his own. To attempt the whole wide world, even in what I may term "ordinary" postage-stamps, is a task which can scarcely attain even approximately to completion in these days, and the collector on such a scale would lose much of the advantage that comes of specialisation in particular directions. He would know little of the world's postage-stamps except in a superficial way, that would never bring him a bargain, and would probably make him a frequent victim of the unscrupulous. It is well enough that the beginner should first flounder in a sea of stamps, to learn the first rudiments of the study. The specialist needs a general education as a groundwork in stamp-collecting, just as he does in any other pursuit. But it is almost unavoidable that the tendency must come to the advancing collector to reserve his strength in the direction which most attracts him, or for which he enjoys special advantages. It is in the defining of these limitations that many collectors are constantly seeking for guidance. "Can you tell me a good country in which to specialise?" is an ever-recurring query. The answer should, of course, be extracted from the experience of the individual who sets the question. It may be laid down as a maxim that the general collector is not yet ripe for specialism until his general experience has turned his inclinations to some well-defined speciality. The trend of one's inclinations may be clearly reflected in the general collection, where it is seen that one country has been by some--possibly unconscious--bias developed beyond all others. Every stamp-lover knows that there are some stamps which exert over him personally a peculiar fascination. It may be due to some interest in the country of their issue, or to some special attractions in their style of production, and indeed to a variety of other causes.