PREFACE. VU. 



Wordsworth has said that man and nature are essen- 

 tially adapted to each other, and that the mind of man is 

 naturally the mirror of the fairest and most interesting 

 properties of Nature. The same mighty mover of the 

 human heart tells us that " Poetry is the impassioned 

 expression which is the countenance of all Science." And 

 all that is required to make the remotest discoveries of the 

 Man of Science proper objects of the Poet's art is famili- 

 arity with them, so that " the relations under which they 

 are contemplated by the student be manifestly and palpably 

 material to us, as enjoying and suffering beings." 



Another eloquent ^vriter thus speaks of the relation 

 existing between Poetry and the Physical Sciences. 



" Such studies lift the mind into the truly sublime of 

 nature. The poet's dream is the dim reflection of a 

 distant star : the philosopher's revelation is a strong 

 telescopic examination of its features. One is the mere 

 echo of the remote whisper of nature's voice in the dim 

 twilight ; the other is the swelling music of the harp of 

 Memnon, awakened by the Sun of truth, newly risen from 

 the night of ignorance."* 



Yet I would not have it supposed that I have ever 

 stated the facts of Natural History in a loose, vague, 

 imaginative way. Precision is the very soul of science, — 

 j)recision in observation, truthfulness in record : and I 

 should ^eem myself unworthy of a place among natu- 

 ralists, if I were not studious to exhibit the phenomena 

 of Nature with the most scrupulous care and fidelity. 

 Humanum est err are : I dare not suppose I have escaped 

 error ; but I am sure it is not the result of wilfulness, I 

 trust it is not that of carelessness. 



Some of the investigations here touched upon are of 

 high interest to naturalists : such as those connected with 



• Hunt's ' Poetry of Science', p. 292. 



