PREFACE. 



beneath, while its leaves are drawing in the 

 gases from every breeze that moves them, to 

 build up the fabric so the mind must be 

 trained to gather food from every field of 

 thought, and change, by its vital power, to an 

 element of strength, the mental accumulations 

 which to many become a burden to the mem- 

 ory alone. Many students, enjoying a high 

 reputation for accuracy, leave college with a 

 knowledge of the text-books indeed, but, we 

 might almost say, unfitted for future acquisi- 

 tions by those already made. That studies in 

 an educational course should be selected for 

 their educating power, would seem to be 

 evident. But the truth is, information is mis- 

 taken for education. And Natural History has 

 in general been valued simply for the informa- 

 tion it furnishes, rather than as an educating 

 power. It is in this light that it is generally 



