^.xxxii LIFE OF WILvSON. 



has rid our orchards, and whose ravages, if not counteracted, would soon de- 

 prive us of all fruit; if the crow and the black-bird be not too greedy, we may 

 surely spare them a part of what they have preserved to us, since it is ques- 

 tionable, if their fondness for grubs or cut-worms did not induce them to 

 destroy these enemies of the maize, whether or not a single stalk of this ines- 

 timable corn would be allowed to greet the view of the American farmer. 



The beauties of this work are so transcendent, that its faults, which are, in 

 truth, mere peccadillos, are hardly perceptible ; they may be corrected by one 

 of ordinary application, who needs not invoke to his aid either much learning 

 or much intelligence. A book superior in its typographical execution, and 

 graphical illustrations, it would be no diificult matter to produce, since the in- 

 genuity of man has advanced the fine arts to a state of perfection, sufl&cient to 

 gratify the most fastidious choice ; but who could rival it in those essentials 

 which distinguish it from all other similar undertakings, and which constitute 

 it one of the most valuable offerings to natural science which taste and genius 

 has ever produced ? 



