BIOLOGY 



PREFACE 



IN deference to the wishes of many friends the 

 writer has collected the following articles, the out- 

 come of a few hours of leisure in a busy life. In 

 doing so, he desires to express his obligations to 

 the editors of the various magazines in which the 

 papers originally appeared for their kind permission 

 to reprint them. To the courteous editor of Long- 

 mans his thanks are especially due, for the majority 

 of the articles were published in the pages of that 

 excellent magazine, the recent withdrawal of which he, 

 with many others, regrets. He also wishes to offer 

 his acknowledgments to the editors of the Cornhill, 

 Temple Bar, Chambers s Journal, The Monthly Packet^ 

 and The Churchman for like favours. The papers are 

 reprinted almost entirely in their original form : it 

 seemed best not to attempt to recast them, even if 

 here and there a slight repetition be discernible. 



Among the illustrations special interest attaches 

 to the frontispiece, which represents the design of a 

 school which it was proposed to erect at Selborne as 

 a memorial to Gilbert White. The original sketch 

 was lately discovered by Mr. John Lane in a cottage 



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