PREFACE. 



THE object of this Volume is to present a familiar 

 exposition of the nature and habits of some of the in- 

 visible beings which people our lakes and streams ; in 

 the hope, that by placing the most interesting pheno- 

 mena in a striking point of view, and describing them in 

 language divested as much as possible of scientific 

 terms, the subject may be rendered attractive to the 

 general reader, and some intelligent and inquiring minds 

 be led to the cultivation of a branch of natural know- 

 ledge, pre-eminently calculated to impart just and com- 

 prehensive views of the grandeur and harmony of the 

 Creation, and of the Infinite Wisdom and Beneficence 

 of its DIVINE AUTHOR^ and which, in every condition 



