﻿

E 



A 



E. 



ccclxxix 



dy of this branch of Natural Hiflory ; and I think it 



ry mail to affefl in fo laudable a dcfegn : for the mojl defpicable infecl 



luty 



eve- 



we 



now know* may, hei'eaftcr, he difcovered to have the mofl fur pri fin g qua 



) 



lities, or found of the greatefl ufe to mankind \ and the knowledge of the 



heir properties 



individuals, is the firfl flep towards a difcovery 



which can be hardly obtained without the ajfijlance of many, an 



cumflanfial accoimt of the f pedes commonly found in every country. 



> 



a en 



? 



vperties a?id mecha?iifns ; with the obfervations of the vulgai 

 long experience frequently learn both their genius and qualities. 



■> 



who 



Kir 



a 



was, I mtt ft achiow- 



'The confederation of the ufe of fuch an inflitution, 

 ledge, the only motive that engaged me to engage in this part of the work ; 

 for the fludy of Vegetables was always the mofl agreeable to me, and the 

 I/land, whofe Natural Hifloiy I now write, furnijhed a great variety of 

 them, tho there was but a few fpecies of the a?ii?nal tribe peculiar to it ; 

 mofl of thofe ?iow obferved there, being introduced from foreign parts, ana 



the fife 



bes 



> 



bird. 



s 



> 



and many of the infeEls 



5 



uc/j as are 



quently 



(j 



ferved in other feas and countries. But as I had f)7?ietimes met with bo- 

 dies of this kind that were not defer i bed before, and frequently Gbferved 

 ethers that were but imperfeElly reprefented, I was induced to digefl the 

 whole \ and to difpofe what I had obferved o?i the occafion, in 

 which it now appears. 



form i 



in 



I have endeavoured to follow the diflrihut'wi of Linneus, as much as 



e, in the arrange?nent of this tribe as well as of the foregoing 



y 



but as I proceed from the 7nineral to 



vegetable, and thence to 



animal reign, I was obliged to invert the order in which he difpofed them, 

 and to begin with thofe that fljew leaf of animality. Nor is this the only 

 circumflance in which I differ from him ; for, wherever I thought his dif- 

 pofetion either forced or irregular, I have fludied to follow that which 



feemed the mofl confor?nable to ?iature, whether adopted by another, or the 



produce of my own imagination. 





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T HE 



* 



