PREFACE. 



It has been Mr. Loudon's custom to preface each Volume of the 

 Magazine of Natural History with an Address to the Contribu- 

 tors and Subscribers ; and the adoption of such a course might 

 naturally be expected from the present Conductor, upon the occa- 

 sion of bringing to a close the First Volume of the New Series. 



Prior, however, to the commencement of another year, it is hardly 

 possible to form any decided estimate of the opinion which the 

 Subscribers at large entertain of the general character of the Ma- 

 gazine under the existing arrangements ; and, until all uncertainty 

 upon this point is removed, it would, perhaps, be premature to dis- 

 cuss the present condition, or anticipate the future success, of the 

 work. 



The Editor, however, feels bound to acknowledge the support 

 afforded to this Periodical, at a period when the attempt to carry it 

 on promised to be attended with considerable difficulty, from the 

 withdrawal in 1 836 of a large number of the Contributors, and the 

 establishment of a Journal devoted to Zoology and Botany, by par- 

 ties in no way dependent on their literary labours. 



A large proportion of the contents of the present Volume has 

 been communicated by individuals of established reputation as Na- 

 turalists, while the entire number of writers amounts to nearly one 

 hundred ; and in no instance whatever has the slightest remunera- 

 tion been given to any one Contributor, either for translations or 

 original articles. 



The circulation of the English scientific journals is so limited, 

 that, taken in the aggregate, the sum realised by their sale falls 

 short of the actual cost of printing and publishing ; a result conse- 

 quent upon their multiplicity, and perhaps still more upon the very 

 general establishment of museums and public libraries ; these in- 

 stitutions affording parties the means of consulting the pages of 

 periodicals, without being obliged to have recourse to individual 

 subscription. 



The Magazine of Natural History is very generally admitted to 

 have done much towards exciting an interest in the pursuits con- 

 nected with the investigation of natural objects ; and, so long as 

 circumstances admit of the present Editor's carrying it on, if it con- 



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