viii PREFACE. 



included in this volume in no* sense lay any preten- 

 sions to fulness of detail ? They are intended to 

 be suggestive rather than informatory ; and as such, 

 may perchance serve to whet the appetite of my 

 readers for more solid and more extensive knowledge 

 of the fair world in which we dwell. One can surely 

 hope for no higher result for his labours, than that 

 they may be instrumental in stimulating thought, 

 and in inducing a closer acquaintance with Nature 

 in her ever-varying moods and tenses a study 

 wherein the wisest of men have found comfort in 

 sorrow, and a grateful relief from the ills and worries 

 with which human existence is apt to be afflicted. 



