RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



No. I. 



FROM early youth devoted to the study of nature, 

 it has always been my habit to embrace every oppor- 

 tunity of increasing my knowledge and pleasures by 

 actual observation, and have ever found ample means 

 of gratifying this disposition, wherever my place has 

 been allotted by Providence. When an inhabitant 

 of the country, it was sufficient to go a few steps 

 from the door, to be in the midst of numerous inte- 

 resting objects; when a resident of the crowded 

 city, a healthful walk of half an hour placed me 

 where my favourite enjoyment was offered in abun- 

 dance; and now, when no longer able to seek in 

 fields and woods and running streams for that know- 

 ledge which cannot readily be elsewhere obtained, 

 the recollection of my former rambles is productive 

 of a satisfaction which past pleasures but seldom 

 bestow. Perhaps a statement of the manner in 

 which my studies were pursued, may prove interest- 

 ing to those who love the works of nature, and may 



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