INTRODUCTION. 



" Observatores pauci, qui, scientise mysteriis initiati, 

 rite colligunt, collecta examinant, discrimina quaerunt, 

 naturae arcana rimantur." 



SCOPOLI. 



THE attention that of late years has been 

 devoted to the study of Natural History, and 

 its importance to our commerce, manufactures, 

 and domestic economy, must render every 

 attempt to increase or simplify our knowledge 

 of it at once praiseworthy and desirable ; and, 

 it is hoped, will be a sufficient apology for the 

 reprint of a work which has already gone 

 through several editions. 



The Natural History of Selborne, by the 

 Rev. Gilbert White, appears to have been 

 written at the suggestion of Mr. Pennant, the 



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