Vi PREFACE. 



previously unsuspected ; not a height does he gain from 

 which his prospect is clearer and more extensive, but his no- 

 tion of these wonders acquires a yet more astonishing vast- 

 ness. The more he knows, the more he desires to know, and 

 the further he advances, the more does he perceive how much 

 delight is yet in store for him. 



The beneficent Creator of all has not only ordained, that 

 every part of his works should be good, should be adapted 

 to answer its designed end, and should contribute in the 

 highest degree of which it is capable to the well-being of his 

 creatures; but he has made every thing "beautiful in its 

 season," he has so formed the mind of man that it derives 

 pleasure from the contemplation of the glorious works around 

 him. And it is therefore a worthy employment of our fac- 

 ulties to encourage this pleasure, and to place it upon a more 

 solid and extended foundation than that afforded by the mere 

 forms and colors of the objects around us, however beautiful 

 they may be. 



One great source of the pleasure derived from the inquiry 

 into the structure and mode of existence of the living beings 

 around us arises from the beautiful adaptation of their parts 

 to each other, and of the whole to the place it has to occupy, 

 which we can easily trace in every one. The philosopher 

 who studies the motions of the heavenly bodies, and the sta- 

 tion of this earth among them, traces these adaptations no 

 less clearly, but it requires profound and long-continued study 

 to be able to comprehend them aright. The naturalist, how- 

 ever, can discern them with far less research in every animal 

 that breathes, and he meets with a constant variety, which 

 prevents him from growing weary of the pursuit. Yet many 

 are too frequently kept in ignorance of the wonders and 

 beauties around them ; and whilst encouraged to learn many 

 languages and read many books, they remain unacquainted 

 with the bright volume of creation, the pages of which are 

 daily and hourly unrolled before them, " written," to use the 

 impressive words of Lord Bacon, "in the only language 

 which hath gone forth to the ends of the world, unaffected by 

 tfle confusion of Babel." But these pages are not to be read 

 without some study ; the alphabet and grammar must be 

 learned, in order that their* beauties may be rightly compre- 

 hended, and those who are entering upon the inquiry need 

 to be rightly directed by those who are more advanced. 



