xii PREFACE. 



therefore in fome meafure be faid to 

 be an invention of art. 



Should it be afked whether poifonous 

 plants have any ufe among the works 

 of nature, it might be replied, that in 

 judicious hands they become effedual 

 remedies for many complaints. They 

 are likewife innocent food to various 

 animals. Quails will thrive upon 

 hellebore, and goats upon water- 

 hemlock : ftarlings and other birds 

 feed upon the feeds of the cicuta 

 major. It might be added that there 

 are tribes of infeds nourifhed and 

 proteded by them, which ferve as a 

 prey to other creatures that are more 

 confiderable in the afcen(5ing climax 

 of the creation. 



REFE 



