6 PREFACE. 



The same objects have been described by other 

 and abler pens, but facts and laws present them- 

 selves in different aspects to different minds, 

 and the ceaseless and diversified operations of 

 Nature cannot be too frequently portrayed. Even 

 those who would not care to claim the character 

 of students of Nature are not unwilling to be 

 considered lovers of Nature, and for such the 

 plain and non-technical descriptions of a few 

 of her secrets, by those who tell the story of 

 what they themselves have seen and felt in her 

 presence, cannot fail to possess some degree of 

 interest. 



As to the value of scientific study in these 

 days, it is almost superfluous to argue. As a 

 means of mental discipline, the methods of inquiry 

 and reasoning made use of in the pursuit of 

 physical science are of great utility, while almost 

 all matters affecting health and life are of such 

 a sort as to be profitably dealt with only by a 

 rigid adherence to those methods. What misery 

 some bring upon themselves and others by dense 

 ignorance of the most elementary laws of Nature ! 

 And certainly the sum of happiness is much in- 

 creased by some acquaintance, however superficial, 

 with the results of the researches and doctrines of 

 men of science which bear upon the vast problems 

 concerned in the origin and history of life, the 



