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the necessary details and investigations, into which the Naturalist is obliged to enter, in order to lift up, s much as possible, the thick veil, which Providence, in his wisdom, has dropped between us and the origin of things, are not fit to be laid before the eyes of all readers indiscriminately. Yet that natural bent, which leads every one towards knowledge, the dread of ignorance, and the pruriency of investigation, called aloud for a substitute; and in this view the Description of at least Three Hundred Animals, as it has been entitled from the beginning, was offered to the public. Its utility was soon and generally felt; the book was adopted and patronized by private families, and chiefly in those useful seminaries where youth is educated; and the editions succeeded each other with astonishing rapidity. In the present neither trouble nor expense has been spared, to render it worthy of every enlightened reader, instructive to the ignorant, amusing to the idle, and consentaneous with the ideas and pursuits of the religious of all persuasions. With the pruning knife of delicacy in our hands, we have lopped off every thing, which might have given the least uneasiness to the strictest sense of modesty, or the slightest offence to the lovers of truth; and we are confident, that it may assume the following French line for its motto:

"La mère en prescrira la lecture à sa fille :"

Mothers will bid their daughters to peruse it.

After these preliminaries, it is needless to observe, that nearly every one of the articles has been entirely recomposed. Numerous additions upon interesting animals have been introduced; and personal observations upon the works of nature, made with unbiassed

and zealous curiosity, will contribute to the general and lively interest, which the perusal of the book cannot fail to excite in a sensible mind. Whatever blind superstition, vulgar belief, or improbable traditions, had surreptitiously ushered into the former editions, has been dismissed, without either partiality or mercy; and the whole can fairly boast, we are bold to say, of a well-founded claim to implicit confidence.

Acquainted with the different classifications adopted by numerous writers upon Natural History in all countries in the world, we are not unaware of the difficulties inseparable from every system of nomenclature. The fact is, that the admirable chain, which unites Classes, Orders, Genera, and Species in nature, is composed of links, so intricately and so closely assimilated to each other, that it is impossible to follow rigidly the ramifications, to which they give origin. The system of Linneus, however, being now generally used, particularly by the writers of our own country, it appeared necessary to give the reader a slight sketch of his arrangement, embracing the classes, orders, and a few of the leading genera, which are as follows.

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man, ape, bat, &c.
elephant, rhinoceros, &c.
dog, cat, mole, &c.

hare, beaver, rat, squirrel, &c.

cow, sheep, goat, &c.

horse, pig, &c.

whale, dolphin, &c.

vulture, falcon, owl, &c.

woodpecker, hoopoe, parrot, &c. duck, goose, swan, &c.

heron, woodcock, &c.

ostrich, cock, pintado, &c,

sparrow, finch, lark, &c.

tortoise, sea turtle, &c.
lizard, crocodile, salamanders:
toad, frog, &c.

rattlesnake.

boa.

viper.

snake, &c.

eel, sword-fish, &c.

codfish, blenny, &c.

doree, plaice, gurnard, &e.
salmon, herring, carp, &c.

branchiostegi sunfish, frogfish, &c.

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chondropterygii... skate, shark, &c.

coleoptera

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hemiptera
lepidoptera....

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neuroptera
hymenoptera

diptera
aptera

jutestina.
mollusca.

testacca.

zoophy ta.
infusoria.

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beetle, lady bird, &c.
grasshopper, cricket, &c.
butterfly, moth, &c.
ephemera, &c.

gall-fly, ant, bee, &c.

fly, gnat, &c.

flea, lobster, spider, &c.

This arrangement however is too artificial for a popular work like the present, as it separates animals that have a natural resemblance, and brings together others, that have no apparent affinity. It seems natural to class together the inhabitants of the deep: but here some of the most conspicuous of these, as the whale and the dolphin, are classed with quadrupeds, under the general title of mammalia, because, like these, they suckle their young; others, as the lobster and crab, with insects; while the limpet and the oyster are ranked among worms. Accordingly, retaining for beasts the old and appropriate name of quadrupeds; for, though they are not the only animals that have four legs, they all possess this mark of distinction; we have removed the whale tribe to the fishes, which they resemble in shape and general habits, and with which they share one common element. To the fishes we have added also those worms and insects, which, inhabiting like them the water, are covered with a shell; retaining their wellknown appellation of shell-fish. Thus, we think, we shall have done no violence to nature, while we commit no unpardonable sin against science.

As we have hinted above, we did not consider this book as being exclusively calculated for the instruction of children. We have contrived, therefore, as much as we had it in our power, to raise its style and composition to a higher degree, without depriving it of that original simplicity, which made it at first so popular, and has ensured to it the protection of the public. We have also interspersed the running prose with poetical quotations, which we consider as amusing to the adult, as they will be useful to infancy, to aid recollection. Memory has always found a good

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and helping friend in the Muses. The Greeks, whose lively imagination was so able to discover the nicest relations between the faculties of the human mind, and to describe them through the allegorical meanings of mythology, supposed, that the nine sisters were daughters of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory; and that, subservient to their mother, they assisted her in return. Boys or girls, more able to learn the measured lines of poetry by heart, than the loose periods of prose, will retain a few verses, which will easily bring back to their mind the article and its.

contents.

We have paid likewise a particular attention to the. figures intended to represent the animals. In the former editions they were placed on prints, interbound. with the letter-press, in such a way that the reader was obliged to interrupt his perusal to recur to the engraving. Now every animal, engraved on wood, under the direction of the editor, and many after his own designs, stand at the head of the description as a voucher for the truth and correctness of what the article contains; and we hope, that the graphic execution will do credit to both the engraver and the work.

We do not intend to enter here into a scientific dissertation upon the works of Providence; we shall only remark, that the study of nature produces in the. mind a high sense of gratitude, accompanied with veneration and awe for the Author of all things; and it is in this sense, that the fear of God is called the first step towards wisdom; Initium sapientiæ timor Domini; "the fear of the Lord is. the beginning of wisdom." It is beyond doubt,, that the study of nature, and a contemplation of the mysterious wonders which surround us, are the basis of religion; and indeed

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