The collector, too, does not waste his money. There is not a collection of pictures or of minerals, of birds or of butterflies, of chinas or of books, of armor or of gems, of laces or of tapestries, if made with ordinary care and knowledge, but is worth more--often ten times or fifty times more--than it has cost. Even in a pecuniary way, therefore, the hobby is productive; and the collection is not only as interesting, but it is as good as gold. OUR COLLECTIONS.--Of collections of porcelain and pottery one must of course look for great exhibitions to the museums of Europe--such as the Kensington Museum, in London; the Cluny, in Paris; the Green Vaults, in Dresden; the Oriental, at Leyden--and to private collections, such as the Rothschilds have made at London and at Paris, to Lady Schreiber's, and many more, in England. What are accessible to us are the private collections of some of our own people. In New York, Mr. WILLIAM C. PRIME's collection is quite large, numbering some four thousand pieces. It is particularly devoted to the porcelains of Europe, and is an excellent collection. In it are some four or five complete dinner-services of old Dresden and Sèvres porcelain, and many single pieces which rank high. Mr. S. P. AVERY's collection of Oriental porcelains is the most complete we have, and is very rich in all the departments, especially the Chinese. His pieces of "celestial blue" number more than any other single collection in this country. In the Loan Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have been exhibited many examples from Mr. Prime's collection of porcelains, and about five hundred pieces of Oriental ware from Mr. Avery's, of nearly every distinctive style made in China and Japan in their best times. The collection of Mr. ROBERT HOE, Jr., is extremely choice in its admirable specimens of Oriental porcelain. Its egg-shells, crackles, and "celestial blues," are not to be excelled. In this collection are also examples of other styles, among them some of the best of old Dresden. Mr. W. L. ANDREWS, of New York, has a very choice collection of Oriental porcelain, probably the best in the country, and, containing the most of the "rose-back" and other "egg-shell." Mr. EDWARD CUNNINGHAM, of Milton, Massachusetts, has many superb vases, some of them of great size, obtained by himself in China. In Albany, Mr. J. V. L. PRUYN has several complete dinner-services of Sèvres porcelain, made for King Louis Philippe, one large service of Lowestoft, and many other individual and interesting specimens. Some of his examples of Sèvres painting cannot be surpassed. He has also a small breakfast-service of "celestial blue," mounted in silver, which is excellent. In Boston, Mr. G. W. WALES's collection is very varied and rich. He has excellent examples of Oriental and of European porcelains, and some perfect pieces of "celestial blue." Many of his best specimens are on loan in the Boston Art Museum.