INTRODUCTION. 3 



are occupied with the necessary employments and cares of the 

 world, and who seek in the pursuit of knowledge a source of 

 refreshment and re)axation. But the objects of its several de- 

 partments are not commonly understood. The study includes 

 the examination of the structure, habits, and mode of existence 

 of all the living beings which so thickly people the surface of the 

 globe ; and it is only in order to become acquainted with these 

 more readily, that the Naturalist arranges or classifies them, 

 placing those together which have most in common, and sepa- 

 rating these from others which are widely different. Classifica- 

 tion, therefore, is not the object of Natural History, but a means 

 of gaining that object ; and it is very easy to enter upon many 

 interesting inquiries, without the slightest knowledge of it. The 

 structure and actions of Man, for example, may be examined in 

 the greatest detail, without knowing anything of his place in the 

 general scale of being (although such knowledge will often shorten 

 the student's labour) ; and other kinds of animals and plants may 

 be observed in the same manner. In fact, several of the most 

 valuable and interesting observations we possess, upon the habits 

 and actions of particular animals, were made by hose who de- 

 voted themselves almost exclusively to that special object. Thus 

 it is scarcely out of the power of any one to contribute something 

 to the general stock of knowledge ; still less, then, can any be 

 prevented from adopting some department of this pursuit, for the 

 health and invigoration of their own minds. 



The study of the structure and actions of Plants, constituting 

 what is known as VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, has been less brought 

 under the notice of those who pursue Natural History only for 

 the improvement and recreation of their minds, than it perhpas 

 deserves. In regard to the importance of the Vegetable King- 

 dom in the economy of Nature, it can scarcely be said to rank 

 lower than the Animal Creation; for all Animals are either 

 directly or indirectly dependent upon Vegetables for their suste- 

 nance, and must cease to exist if they were destroyed. The 



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