TO THE INDULGENT READER. 



HE papers now for the first time associ- 

 ated, were addressed, many years ago 

 in the form of letters, to the Editors of 

 the ' Magazine of Natural History/ of 

 the ' Entomological Magazine/ and the 

 ' Entomologist.' 

 For years past I have observed partial reprints of these 

 letters published from time to time, with or without ac- 

 knowledgment, sometimes tolerably correct, sometimes 

 greatly altered and mutilated; and I have also observed 

 that such partial reprints have been favourably mentioned 

 both by those who produced and those who read them. 

 These circumstances led me to consider the propriety of 

 issuing the whole as a complete although fragmentary 

 work. The copyright had long since passed into my 

 hands, and I had only to deliberate on the chances of the 

 success likely to attend the venture. 



Having at length concluded on making the trial, a dif- 

 ficulty arose in finding an editor who would undertake to 

 collect and arrange the papers. This was scarcely a print- 

 er's task ; and yet, as I read and re-read letter after letter, 

 I felt so carried back to the scenes of my boyhood, I seemed 



so 



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