38 PREFACE. 



flower," SO sweetly sung by one of Nature's own poets. 

 The humblest weed or moss will ever afford him some- 

 thing to examine or to illustrate, and a great deal to ad- 

 mire. Introduce him to the magnificence of a tropical 

 forest, the enamelled meadows of the Alps, or the won- 

 ders of New Holland, and his thoughts will not dwell 

 much upon riches or literary honours, things that 



" Play round the head, but come not near the heart." 



One idea is indeed worthy to mix in the pure con- 

 templation of Nature, the anticipation of the pleasure 

 we may have to bestow on kindred minds with our own, 

 in sharing with them our discoveries and our acquisi- 

 tions. This is truly an object worthy of a good man, 

 the pleasure of communicating virtuous disinterested 

 pleasure to those who have the same tastes with our- 

 selves ; or of guiding young ingenuous minds to wor- 

 thy pursuits, and facilitating their acquisition of what 

 we have already obtained. If honours and respectful 

 consideration reward such motives, they flow from a 

 pure source. The giver and the receiver are alike in- 

 vulnerable,, as well as inaccessible, to " envy, jealousy 

 or rivalship," and may pardon their attacks without an 

 effort. 



The natural history of animals, in many respects even 

 more interesting than botany to man as an animated 

 being, and more striking in some of the phaenomena 



