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that it is one of the purposes for which our faculties 

 were imparted to us. 



There are persons who entertain the opinion that 

 the study of natural history is only an amusement, or 

 the gratification of an useless curiosity. If they were 

 to examine the subject more carefully, they would per- 

 ceive that natural history is the basis of domestic and 

 public economy, and that it contributes essentially to 

 the prosperity of families and the wealth of nations, by 

 the resources which its productions offer to agriculture, 

 to commerce, to the arts, to manufactures, and to all the 

 wants of life that it is to the study of natural history 

 that civilized man is indebted for the use and enjoyment 

 of the best races of domestic animals, the abundance of 

 his food, the variety of his drinks, the comfort and 

 warmth of his clothing, the beauty and solidity of his 

 furniture, the remedies which restore him to health, the 

 metals which multiply his force and contribute to his 

 defence, and for most of the luxuries and enjoyments of 

 his existence. Cuvier, than whom no one was better 

 able to give a correct opinion upon the advantages of 

 this study, says : " The habit acquired in the study of na- 

 tural history, of mental classification of a great number 

 of ideas, is one of the greatest advantages of this science. 

 It teaches method which may be applied to all other 

 studies. He who has cultivated this science merely for 

 amusement, is surprised at the facility it affords him in 

 disentangling the most difficult affairs. It is," he goes 

 on to say, "sufficiently extensive to satisfy the most pow- 

 erful, and sufficiently varied and interesting to calm the 

 most agitated mind. It sheds consolation in the bosom 

 of the unhappy, and stills the angry waves of passion." 



