MR. DRURY'S PREFACE 



TO THE FIRST EDITION. 



VOL. I. 



It is universally allowed that the study of nature is one of the most pleasing employ- 

 ments that can engage the mind of man. The entertainment it affords is as infinite as 

 the variety of subjects of which it is composed ; and such a vast field of speculation lies 

 open to our view, either in the animal, vegetable, or mineral worlds, that each of them is 

 fully sufficient to engross the attention of a single person. It must be allowed, that the 

 study of natural history is so far from having attained that degree of perfection it might 

 have done, by the assiduity of the curious, that it cannot, at present, be considered as 

 having attained its meridian ; and the slow manner in which it arrived even to that, has 

 subjected us very much to the reflections of foreigners ; many of whom appear surprised, 

 that a nation, not inferior to others in every branch of science and knowledge, should 

 discover so great a want of curiosity, and little attention to a study that has been produc- 

 tive of so many advantages to mankind, and probably, may hereafter produce many more. 

 Certainly, such opportunities for improvement never presented themselves in this kingdom, 

 as in the present age. All corners of the world are visited by our ships ; the remotest 

 shores of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, are not unknown to our countrymen ; but 

 feel the effects of that insatiable thirst for traffic and gain, that animates the present 

 generation. Every lover, therefore, of this study must naturally hope, that such noble 

 occasions of increasing the knowledge of nature, may not be neglected. It is indeed true, 

 that the number of its votaries, in England, are but few, in proportion to other states, 

 where professorships and societies are established under the patronage and protection of 

 the chief personages : yet if we consider it as affording an inconceivable fund of enter- 

 tainment to its followers, it is rather to be wondered it is not more encouraged and propa- 

 gated among us, than that we should find a few who have resolution enough to judge for 

 themselves, and follow a study that is always new and always pleasing. The sneers and 

 contempt thrown on it by men of narrow minds, who are impatient at hearing of persons 

 bestowing their time in collecting a plant, an insect, or a stone, may perhaps contribute 



