PREFACE. 



&quot; THEEEASON WHY NATURAL HISTORY,&quot; will particularly commend itself 

 to most readers by the conversational freedom of its style by the bold 

 pertinence of some of its questions, and the frank, straightforwardness of 

 its answers. It will thus b seen that it is not a mere compilation of the 

 arid facts of naturalists, or a drowsy catechism of the wonders of this 

 branch of creation ; it is, on the contrary, a lively table-talk, as it were, 

 between an eager, observant, curious inquirer, and a gossippy friend thor 

 oughly informed upon every point on which his friend is probing for en 

 lightenment and entertainment. Besides the grand basis, therefore, of 

 acknowledged scientific truths relative to the higher order of animal life, 

 (for the author has been compelled to crowd Entomology out of this work, 

 and reserve it for a future volume,) THE REASON WHY NATURAL HISTORY, 

 gives us a vast accumulation of interesting facts from the private storehouse 

 of current experience. The interrogatories are just those which an inquisitive 

 student would be likely to put to his instructor in obedience to the sugges 

 tions of the text; but, they are consequently those to which, in numberless 

 instances, no work extant could furnish him with a satisfactory reply. He 

 could obtain that reply from nothing but the practical knowledge of one 

 familiar with the every day details, as well as the less common-place class 

 of information on the subject. In this volume, all he seeks is grouped 

 before him. The mental food he craves is prepaied to his hand, seasoned 

 to his taste, and exquisitely fitted to his moral digestion. 



With this brief allusion to the nature of THE REASON WHY in its connec 

 tion with NATURAL HISTORY, the publishers leave it to the judgment of the 

 reader, confident of the laUer s gratification, as well as of the merits of the 

 work. The most erudite of us need, at times, a brushing up of the nap of that 

 old familiar knowledge which, little by little, gets trodden down by the foot of 

 time, almost out of sight. The less fortunate require a convenient grasp at 

 such knowledge, to atone for early inexperiences. The thoughtless may be 

 amused by it into larger views of life. The philosopher will love it as a 

 lesson in non-polemical theology ; for he knows that : 



&quot; All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 

 Whose body Nature is, und God tbo uouL&quot; 



