xii PREFACE. 



the sedulous care of an affectionate relative, the companion of all my 

 excursions, the encourager of all my exertions, in so tedious, laborious, 

 and difficult a work, for the finest of any that exhibited to the British 

 Association, taken by herself from the garden pond at Binns House, in 

 Linlithgowshire." Another passage, dictated by the same grateful con- 

 siderations, occurs in the same volume, p. 1 24, under Plumatella repens. 

 " Of these an admirable example occurred near a ruinous mansion called 

 Fenton Tower, in the county of Haddington, about twenty-one miles 

 east of Edinburgh, for which I was indebted to that same affectionate 

 companion of my excursions already noted, who takes the liveliest in- 

 terest in all my pursuits, and who values the beauties of Nature as de- 

 monstrations of the Divine essence vouchsafed to the gaze of admiring 

 mankind." 



When this affectionate relative had somewhat recovered from the 

 bereavement which deprived her of a valued companion, she resolved to 

 undertake the task which he had contemplated. Difficulties, however, 

 of a formidable kind at once presented themselves. The state of the 

 manuscripts was such, that, independent of their almost illegible charac- 

 ter, which the intelligent printers of the former volume could alone 

 decypher, there were so many erasures and changes of nomenclature, as 

 to render much caution requisite in judging of the latest views intended 

 to be expressed. Many of the references to the Plates, in consequence 

 of the numerous alterations which had taken place in the text, required 

 to be corrected. The unfinished Plates, and the Figures which had 

 not been engraven, stood in need of assortment, and a careful revision. 

 Much of this indispensable labour she only could perform, and here her 

 efforts were above all praise. But there were portions of the task in 

 which some assistance was needed. This Sir JOHN DALTELL foresaw, 

 should the work prove a posthumous one, and had expressed to his 

 relative a hope that I might, perhaps, endeavour to give her the requi- 

 site aid ; especially as I had for many years previous to the publication 

 of the " Rare and Remarkable Animals," urged upon him the propriety 

 of giving to the world those observations, in the making of which he 

 had expended so much successful labour. In proof that such efforts 



