IV * PREFACE. 



been the very best which could be devised, 

 and has met with proportionate success. 



By beginning ah initio, by lowering the 

 first steps to the temple of knowledge, by 

 removing the obstructions which tirst op- 

 pose the desire for progress and improve- 

 ment, implanted, for the wisest purposes, 

 in every active and ingenuous mind, many 

 persons may be tempted to proceed, till, by 

 a little perseverance, they become masters 

 of the science, they, otherwise, would not 

 have dared encounter. For such reasons, 

 the good sense of the well-informed has in- 

 duced them to write elementary books, on 

 the subject of natural history, adapted to 

 the use of those who are less capable than 

 themselves of searching for, and collecting 

 together all the information, which works. 



