ADVERTISEMENT. 
desired, yet the editor is confident that the abundance of authentic 
facts, and of useful and entertaining matter contained in its pages, 
will amply repay the reader for the time spent in its perusal. 
It has been remarked by an elegant writer, that ‘‘ the pursuit of 
Natural History in almost any way, as a study or an amusement, is 
both indicative and productive of gentleness, refinement and virtue.” 
This we believe to be strictly true, and if the present volume shal 
be instrumental in diffusing a taste for knowledge, the influence 
of which is so salutary, we shall deem the labor bestowed upon the 
compilation as abundantly rewarded. 
THE EDITOR 
