Q/7/ 



PEEFACE BY THE PUBLISHER. 



GBEAT pains have been taken with the present translation, 

 as well in regard to fidelity and style, as in what may be 

 termed the accessories. In addition to all that is contained 

 in the original work, it comprises a fac-simile of the author's 

 handwriting ; head-lines of contents ; translations of the 

 principal Latin, French, and Spanish quotations ;* a very 

 complete index ; and a conversion of all the foreign measure- 

 ments. It was at first intended to give both the foreign 

 and English measurements, in juxta-position ; but this plan 

 was abandoned on perceiving that the pages would become 

 overloaded with figures, and present a perplexing and some- 

 what appalling aspect, without affording any equivalent 

 advantage to the English reader. In some few instances, 

 however, where it seemed desirable, and in all the parallel 

 tables, duplicate measurements have been inserted. The 

 French toises are converted into their relative number of 

 English feet ; and German miles, whether simple or square, 

 are reduced to our own. The longitudes have been calcu- 

 lated from Greenwich, conformably to English maps, in lieu 

 of those given by Humboldt, which are calculated from 

 Paris. The degrees of temperature, instead of Beaumur's, 

 are Fahrenheit's, as now the most generally recognised. 



It here becomes necessary to say something of the trans- 



* To instance a few, see pp. 241, 245, 255, 259, 304, 320, 325, 32G, 

 385,41% 124. 



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