PREFACE. XVll 



Sweden Natural History is the study of 

 the schools, by which men rise to prcfer- 

 liieiit; and there are no people with more 

 acute or better regulated minds than the 

 Swedes. 



To those whose minds and- understand- 

 ings are already formed, this study may 

 be recommended, independently of all 

 other considerations, as a rich source cf 

 innocent pleasure. Some people are ever 

 inquiring " what is the use" of any par- 

 ticular plant, by which they mean " what 

 food or phj^sic, or what materials for the 

 painter or dyer does it aiford ?" They look 

 on a beautiful flowery meadow with ad- 

 miration, only in proportion as it affords 

 nauseous drugs or salves. Others con&ider 

 a botanist with respect only as he may be 

 able to teach them some profitable im- 

 provement in tanning, or dyeing, by 

 which they may quickly grow rich, and 

 be then perhaps no longer of any use to 



b 



