INT ROB UCTOB Y. 15 



two turned-down leaflets ; the Parsley, its fertile and barren 

 fronds rising from the same root ; the Holly, with its 

 prickly leaves ; and the delicate Bladder-fern, abound. For 

 the sake of the many who are interested in them, a list, 

 ■with a short description of each, is added at the end of the 

 volume. 



Few pursuits can do more than natural history in the 

 way of beneficially occupying the mind, and giving it an 

 object which has power to interest and soothe, amid all the 

 perplexing and often lowering cares of life. It is not always 

 that that which diverts or relieves the mind leaves nothing 

 but a pure and elevating influence behind ; yet such is the 

 case with the study of the works of nature ; and, in parti- 

 cular, the special branch before us, in the land of the great 

 mountains, is fitted to teach one most important lesson. 

 There it is impossible for a person at all thoughtful not 

 to feel sometimes almost weighed down with a sense of the 

 power and greatness all around, before which he is as nothing. 

 And with the realisation of littleness comes the feeling of 

 being no more to the One who formed the mighty moun- 

 tains than the withered leaf to the blast which drives it and 

 thousands of its fellows in its headlong fury. Something 

 like the flowers, the gem-like Forget-me-not, the blue 

 Gentian, the tiny pink nestling Campion, is needed to speak 

 of a Being, part of Whose greatness consists in being able 

 to descend to the most minute, apart from individual trust 



