INTRODUCTION. 37 



of opinion, notwithstanding, that they ought to occu- 

 py a distinct place in elementary education, because 

 they possess many important recommendations, of 

 which those mentioned are certainly not the least. 

 The study of nature may be pursued in any degree, 

 as a relaxation from other studies, as a pleasing 

 occupation invigorating alike to the mind and the 

 body, or as a science capable of calling into action the 

 noblest faculties of man, and of affording employment 

 to intellects of even a higher order than any of those 

 who have hitherto acquired distinction in the walks of 

 literature. Natural history has already to boast of 

 an Aristotle, a Ray, a Reaumur, a Linnaeus, a Hal- 

 ler, a Hunter, and a Cuvier. What other science can 

 rank abler men among its cultivators ? And, as is 

 remarked by one of the most eminent naturalists 

 that this country has produced, the late president 

 of the Linnsean Society, " How delightful and how 

 consolatory it is, among the disappointments and 

 anxieties of life, to observe science, like virtue, re- 

 taining its relish to the last !" 



