PREFACE. 



IF the study of the sciences is so much neglected in England 

 at present, it is certainly not for the want of illustrious profes- 

 sors, for we may congratulate ourselves on always possessing 

 men of the first rank in science. Nevertheless, the great 

 majority of all classes are scarcely acquainted with even the 

 rudiments of these branches of knowledge, because the primary 

 instruction of children does not include any of these very 

 useful sciences, which would be a real amusement to them, and 

 which are of such numerous and* frequent application in the 

 arts, industry, agriculture, commerce, and, in short, the ordinary 

 business of life. 



What is to be done to remedy this state of things ? We 

 must inspire and develope a taste for the sciences from infancy, 

 and for this purpose must select one of the simplest and most 

 attractive practical sciences, which is also of very frequent 

 application. Natural History will certainly answer our purpose 

 best. In truth, the peculiar attraction which natural history 

 possesses for children is so striking that most writers of alpha- 

 bets and other elementary books, try to make them interesting 

 to the scholars by giving pictures and descriptions of animals. 

 Unfortunately, these pictures are often bad, and represent the 

 rat of the same size as the lion ; and thus tend to mislead the 

 notions of children; and the descriptions are generally no 

 better than the pictures in this respect. We were inclined to 

 think that natural objects, or good diagrams, of the natural size, 



