INTRODUCTORY LETTER. O 



than the mineral, yet the animal is more excellent than 

 the vegetable. Now it is an indisputable axiom, I 

 should think, that the more exalted the object tJie more 

 excellent the study. By this observation, however, I 

 would by no means be thought to depreciate or dis- 

 countenance the study either of plants or minerals. All 

 the works of our Creator are great, and worthy of our 

 attention and investigation, the lowest in the scale as 

 well as the highest, the most minute and feeble, as 

 well as those that exceed in magnitude and might. Nor 

 ought those whose inclination or genius leads them to 

 one department, to say to those who prefer another — 

 " we have no need of you" — for each in his place, by 

 diffusing the knowledge of his works and adding to the 

 stock of previous discoveries, contributes to promote 

 the glory of the Great Architect of the universe and 

 the good of his creatures. 



It is not my wish to claim for my favourite science 

 more than of right belongs to her; therefore, when the 

 question is concerning rank, I must concede to the 

 higher orders of animals, I mean Fishes, Amphibia, 

 Birds, and Quadrupeds, their due priority and prece- 

 dence. I shall only observe here, that there may exist 

 circumstances Avhich countervail rank, and tend to ren- 

 der the study of a lower order of beings more desirable 

 than that of a higher : when, for instance, the objects 

 of the higher study are not to be come at or preserved 

 without great difficulty and expense ; when they are 

 few in number ; or, when they are already well ascer- 

 tained and known ; circumstances which attach to the 

 study of those animals that precede insects, while they 

 do not attach to the study of insects themselves. 



