PREFACE. XVU 



with January, 1843, commenced the ' Zoologist,' of which the 

 founder hved to conduct an uninterrupted series of thirty-tliree 

 annual volumes, — a circumstance probably without parallel in the 

 history of journalism throughout the world. He would often look 

 at the row of red volumes on his bookshelves with a quiet pleasure, 

 not unmixed with a certain pride. The following extract from the 

 Preface to the first volume gives, in his own words, an idea of 

 the character and scope of the journal: — "The attempt to 

 combine scientific truths with readable English has been 

 considered by my friends as one of surpassing rashness ; and 

 many have been the kind and pressing solicitations I have 

 received to desist from a labour so hopeless ; many the suppli- 

 cations to introduce a few Latin descriptions, just to give the 

 work a scientific character. In reply to my friends, I would beg 

 to instance White's ' Selborne.' That most delightful of histories 

 is written in pure, plain, intelligible English, and has found 

 ample favour in the eyes of the public. White is now no more ; 

 but his mantle has fallen upon others : a multitude of observers 

 have arisen in the same field, and, what is more to my purpose, 

 have become contributors to the pages of the ' Zoologist.' 

 Nature herself is exhaustless ; our field of observation is wider, 

 a thousand-fold, than White ever enjoyed ; our capacity for 

 observation is certainly not less. These are the grounds I have 

 for hoping that the ' Zoologist' will succeed." The practice of 

 writing Natural History in simple English, thus rendering it 

 interesting even to those not deeply versed in Science, was one 

 on which Mr. Newman strongly insisted. In the Hsts of con- 

 tributors to the pages of the 'Zoologist' appear the names of 

 almost every British naturalist of note. 



In 1844 the second edition of the ' Ferns ' made its appear- 

 ance, the first having gone rapidly out of print. In the second 

 edition the work had increased from 104 to 424 pages. The 

 Equisetacefe and Lycopodiacese were added, as was also such a 

 mass of additional information that the work was almost 

 rewritten, and hardly to be called a second edition, deserving 

 to rank as a new book. From this time — "with the exception of 

 the collected 'Letters of Eusticus' (1849) — until the publication 

 of a third edition of the ' Ferns,' in 1854, he brought out no 

 new book, his time and thought being sufticiently occupied with 



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