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an unsuccessful experiment well observed, must esta- 

 blish some truth, or tend to remove some prejudice. 



Even considered merely as a philosophical 

 science, this department of knowledge is highly worthy 

 of cultivation. For what can be more delightful than 

 to trace the forms of living beings and their adapta- 

 tions and peculiar purposes ; to examine the progress 

 of inorganic matter in its different processes of 

 change, till it attain its ultimate and highest destina- 

 tion ; its subserviency to the purposes of man. 



Many of the sciences are ardently pursued, and 

 Considered as proper objects of study for all refined 

 minds, merely on account of the intellectual pleasure 

 they afford ; merely because they enlarge our views 

 of nature, and enable us to think more correctly with 

 respect to the beings and objects surrounding us. How 

 much more then is this department of enquiry worthy 

 of attention, in which the pleasure resulting from the 

 love of truth and of knowledge is as great as in any 

 other branch of philosophy, and in which it is likewise 

 connected with much greater practical benefits and 

 advantages. " Nihil est melius, nihil uberius, nihil ho- 

 mine llbero dignius" 



Discoveries made in the cultivation of the earth, 

 are not merely for the time and country in which they 

 are developed, but they may be considered as extend- 

 ing to future ages, and as ultimately tending to bene- 

 fit the whole human race ; as affording subsistence 

 for generations yet to come ; as multiplying life, and 

 not only multiplying life, but likewise providing for 

 its enjoyment. 



