MEMOIR 



OF 



ALEXANDER WILSON. 



A PECULIAR usefulness in biographical writings is 

 in their presenting to the reader the characters of . 

 the persons whose Memoirs are recorded, in de- 

 tails, from which all can draw conclusions at once 

 instructive and interesting, seeing that the mo- 

 dels are taken from real objects and the parti- 

 culars from real incidents ; but we cannot help 

 remarking, that the lives of those whose pursuits 

 have been directed to the study and contemplation 

 of Nature, possess a charm peculiar to themselves. 

 True, there may be neither the stirring din or pomp 

 of war, nor the exciting turmoil engendered by poli- 

 tical struggles for supremacy, in the histories of 

 such men; but nevertheless, the calm and placid 

 tenour of their pilgrimage to the " dark valley" may 

 be marked with much that is most instructive. 



In the Naturalist's Library, we have recorded 



the histories of no less than forty-one such persons, * 



all of which are marked with much interest, and 



many most instructive, both in a historical and 



* See Chronological List at the end of the present Memoir. 



B 



