6 



des Compartiments now practised; and explanations of 

 some of the old technical terms made use of in the Ordin- 

 nance. The proceeds from sales of this volume, if they 

 suffice for the purpose, will be spent on the publication of 

 one on the subsequent Forest Economy of France ; and the 

 subsequent proceeds of the sales of both, if sufficient, will 

 be spent on the publication of one on Sylviculture and 

 Forest Management in France at the present time. 



In the conclusion of my letter accepting the offer made 

 to me, I said : " I may add that it is my purpose, if any 

 such arrangement be carried out, to devote subsequent 

 proceeds of sales to the publication of some similar works 

 which I may consider likely to be useful, but not likely to 

 command a sale which would make it remunerative to a 

 publisher to publish on his own account." 



The reference made was to treatises on the Forest 

 Economy of different nations on the Continent of Europe. 

 The number of probable readers for such works is very 

 limited ; and I speak advisedly when I say that no pub- 

 lisher in Britain or America would undertake the publica- 

 tion of such otherwise than at the risk of another, and 

 that they are acting in accordance with strict propriety in 

 declining the risk. 



Some fifty years ago, Isaac Taylor, in his volume 

 entitled Saturday Evening, remarked : "The extension of 

 knowledge, and the incalculable multiplication of readers, 

 has effected, in an indirect manner, a revolution in litera- 

 ture as complete as that produced by the invention of 

 printing, though less conspicuous. If a plain fact is to be 

 spoken of in plain terms it is this, that books have at last 

 thoroughly come under the laws that regulate the quan- 

 tity, quality, fashion, form, and colour of silks, potteries, 

 furniture, jewels, and other articles of artificial life. The 

 exceptions to the rule are when the production is of so 

 rare or peculiar a kind, &c., or when the demand is so 

 limited that the traffic escapes the spirit of trade. It is 

 an illusion to suppose that any very extensive or perma- 



