TO SIR JOSEPH BANKS, BART. 



ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL; PRESI- 

 DENT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON ; AND MEMBER 

 OF MANY OTHER LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



SIR, 



THE following pages, although a considerable portion of 

 them relates to a science which you do not cultivate (that of Me- 

 dicine), are, with peculiar propriety, inscribed to you. 



To you, Sir, the cultivators of Natural Science, in every part 

 of Europe, have been proud to own their acknowledgements, as 

 the most universal patron of whatever relates to natural history, 

 and has a tendency to benefit mankind. I am anxious to show 

 you, that in the United-States there are also cultivators of this no- 

 ble science, and that they cannot but acknowledge how great have 

 been your services and merits. 



But my personal acquaintance with ycu, the advantages which 

 I have derived from your correspondence, lead me, impel me, to 

 beg your acceptance of the First Part of a work, which, I flatter 

 myself, will ultimately tend to the extension of Medicine and Na- 

 tural History, both in my own and in other countries. 



To you, Sir, I am, certainly, indebted for a portion of what lit- 

 tle reputation I may have in life ; for u portion of that happiness 



a 



