PREFACE. 



William Smith, create melancholy blanks in the list of the con- 

 tributors to this Journal. Yet, while we have to deplore the loss 

 of these distinguished men, we may nevertheless find matter of 

 congratulation in the steady advance which Natural History itself 

 has made in this country towards a more general recognition of 

 its value as a science. With the various Natural- History sciences 

 admitted as branches of education, not only in the Medical 

 Schools, but also in the Military Seminaries, and especially in 

 the Universities, we may hope soon to see the rise of a numerous 

 generation of young British Naturalists, amongst whom doubt- 

 less some will be found who will worthily occupy the places of 

 those whose loss we still feel. 



Besides original papers, the Editors will continue to furnish 

 the readers of the "Annals" with translations and abstracts of 

 important and interesting memoirs published abroad; and, as 

 heretofore, the New Series will contain early and faithful reports 

 of the Proceedings of the principal Natural- History Societies of 

 the metropolis, besides many of the more important papers read 

 before the leading provincial Natural- History Societies and 

 Clubs. 



In the hope that the "Annals" may still meet with the same 

 favourable reception as in former years, the Editors now enter 

 upon their Third Series; and they confidently trust that they 

 may on this occasion again find the number of their subscribers 

 increased, as it is entirely upon the circulation of the Journal 

 that the maintenance or augmentation of its value and interest 

 must depend. 



