PUBLISHERS' NOTE 



So much attention is now given to the practical 

 and systematic study of science in schools that the 

 valuable influence of descriptive scientific literature 

 is apt to be overlooked. An intimate knowledge of 

 the simplest fact in Nature can be obtained only 

 by personal observation or experiment in the open 

 air or the laboratory, but broad views of scientific 

 thought and progress are secured best from books 

 in which the methods and results of investigation 

 are stated in language which is simple without 

 being childish. 



Books intended to promote interest in science 

 must differ completely from laboratory guides, text- 

 books, or works of reference. They should aim at 

 exalting the scientific spirit which leads men to 

 devote their lives to the advancement of natural 

 knowledge, and at showing how the human race 

 eventually reaps the benefit of such research. In- 

 spiration rather than information should be the 

 keynote ; and the execution should awaken in the 



