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terrestrial life, from the nebulae of stars to the geograph- 

 ical distribution of mosses on granite rocks, and this 

 in a work in which a lively style shall at once inter- 

 est and charm. Each great and important principle, 

 wherever it appears to lurk, is to be mentioned in 

 connection with facts. It must represent an epoch in 

 the mental development of man as regards his know- 

 ledge of nature. The Prolegomena are nearly ready, 

 containing, The inaugural Lecture (discours d'ouver- 

 ture) entirely recast (I delivered it viva voce, but dic- 

 tated it the same day) ; the picture of Nature ; induce- 

 ments to the pursuit of Natural Philosophy to be found 

 in the spirit of the age ; which are threefold : 1 . Poesie 

 descriptive, and vivid pictures of scenery in modern tra- 

 vels ; 2. Landscape-painting, visible representations of 

 exotic life, its origin, when it became a necessity of 

 life and a source of exquisite delight ; why the ancients, 

 with their desire to gratify the senses, could not have 

 possessed it; 3. The vegetable kingdom, classification 

 according to the characteristics of the plants (not 

 botanical garden fashion) ; the history of the physical 

 description of the World ; how the idea of the Universe 

 of the connection between all phenomena has been 

 becoming clear to different nations in the course of 

 centuries. These Prolegomena form the most impor- 

 tant part of the work, and contain, first, the general 

 heads. They are followed by the special part, com- 

 prehending the detail (I enclose part of a tabulated 

 list) : Space the physics of Astronomy the solid 

 portion of the globe its interior and exterior 

 the electro-magnetism of the interior Vulcanism, 

 i.e., the reaction of the interior of a planet upon its sur- 

 face the arrangement of matter a short Geognosy 



