gue]S'o:n^'S introduction^ 

 to his new reyised edition. 



Error is propagated with the rapidity of lightning ; before it every ob- 

 stacle disappears, and popular favor seems to welcome it. Truth, on the 

 contrary, is received with indifference, often even with doubt, suspicion, 

 and distrust. Indeed, how often have we not seen the author of a dis- 

 covery which, having been accepted and realized ought to have advanced 

 the public good and increased the general welfare, come into contact with 

 the hatred, the ignorance, and the envy, and thus become the laughter of 

 fools and the jest of the wise. To some the inventor seemed without good 

 sense ; to others an ignoramus. Too feeble to struggle against all, he 

 died broken hearted, and left to his powerful antagonists the glory of 

 having, perhaps for ages, buried his discovery, and to those who bring to 

 perfection cities and fields the deprivation of a good up to that time un- 

 known. 



If more happy than those martyrs for a new idea, I should reach, at last, 

 that which concerns me, after twelve years of incessant struggles, to cause 

 the truth to appear to the eyes of all, I should have nothing more to de- 

 sire. Nothing would remain for me, except to bless the generous hearts 

 which shall hav^e aided me in triumphing over routine and error; then on 

 quitting this world, only to bequeath the worthy men who have so bravely 

 encouraged and seconded my efforts, the task of simplifying my discovery, 

 and rendering my method popular to cause the analytical knowledge of 

 cattle to penetrate even into the most obscure hamlet, and while dividing 

 thus with me the glory of having done this good, their names will be held 

 in grateful rememberance by future generations ; such has been the idea 

 which has guided every moment of my life, all the efforts of my mind. 



For nearly twelve years, since I have given my method to the public, 

 through a first edition of my '' Treatise on Milch Cows," the savants and 

 the practitioners have been greatly prepossessed with it. When they have 

 seen me make a successful application before them of my system, by a 

 single inspection of animals which I saw for the first time, they have 

 expressed a lively surprise. 



In the vegetable kingdom, skillful nurserymen have distinguished more 

 than eighty different orders of pears of summer, of autumn, and of winter ; 

 each of these orders has its distinctive characteristics, as many for the 



