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ed ; for the more we trace design and purpose in 

 the works of Nature, shall we not sympathize the 

 more with the fitness of means to end in human 

 conduct ? The more we enter into the details of 

 natural operations, shall we not increase our taste 

 for facts ? — which is, in other words, the love of 

 truth — the very foundation of justice and honesty ? 

 The venerable Bewick boldly asserts that " a good 

 naturalist cannot be a bad man!" 



It has been said that ignorance in philosophy is 

 preferable to superficial knowledge ; but it is other- 

 wise in the study of Nature ; where every acquisition 

 is useful, from the simplest perception to the deepest 

 researches ; from the minutest detail to the most gen- 

 eral views ; where there are problems to be solved 

 which may gently exercise the weakest, or severely 

 task the strongest, intellectual powers. Indeed, it 

 frequently happens, that the most ingenious and ap- 

 parently incontrovertible reasoning in Natural His- 

 tory is overturned or confirmed by facts accidentally 

 observed by the feeble and unscientific. Fortunately, 

 a profound knowledge of all, or even of any of its 

 branches is not essential to the horticulturist, however 

 desirable it may be ; and although a slight acquaint- 

 ance may not enable him to make make many very 

 valuable reprisals from the dark abyss of Nature's 

 mysteries, or add much to the advancement of science 

 for the good of mankind, it (certainly will do what is 

 perhaps the next best thing in the world, — it will 

 incalculably promote his own enjoyments. 



