TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. Vil 
It is to be feared that many of my readers may consider 
an apology to be necessary on my part for the style of the 
translation, and think that I might have followed the German 
less closely with advantage; the nature of the subject, how- 
ever, involving as it does such very minute descriptions, and 
the constant repetition of the same terms, added to the im- 
possibility of doing justice to the Author’s close deductions in 
any other form than a literal translation, necessitated a much 
more rigid adherence to the original text, than I should have 
thought requisite under any other circumstances. 
The Plates have been most faithfully copied from the 
originals by Mr. Henry Adlard. 
HENRY SMITH. 
HENRIETTA STREET, CAVENDISH SQUARE; 
November 30th, 1847. 
