to the genus Lophius ; and by its " depressed body, 

 and rounded head," he discovers it to be the Common 

 Angler, or Fishing Frog (Lophius Piscatorius), a 

 heavy, sluggish animal, that swims with difficulty, 

 lurks behind sand-hills and heaps of stones, and 

 throws over the long slender appendages resembling 

 worms, or baits, with which its head is furnished, in 

 order to entice the little fish to play round them, till 

 they come within its reach to devour them. 



That the English student may be put in possession 

 of this vast treasure, comprehending and illustrating 

 all Nature through the three kingdoms of Animals, 

 Vegetables, and Minerals ; a translation from the 

 last edition of the Systema Naturae of Linne, by 

 Gmelin, amended and e*ilarged by the improvements 

 and editions of later Naturalists, is now undertaken at 

 great labour and expence. 



The expediency of this translation has long been 

 acknowledged, and the want of it often lamented ; 

 and it shall be a principal view of the Editor to de- 

 jiver it in as intelligible and as useful a form as the 

 nature of such a work will admit. The Linnaean 

 terms will be rendered as nearly as possible to the 

 idiom of the English language ; and a general Ex- 

 planatory Dictionary of such as are peculiarly ap- 

 propriate to the Science will be affixed to the last vo- 

 lume, which will also contain a biographical account, 

 and a fine portrait of the author. The work will be 

 accompanied by such copper-plates as are properly 

 introductory to the several departments of Birds, 

 Fishes, Insects, Botany, &c. And for the conve- 

 niency of such as wish to become acquainted with 

 the productions of their own country, the different 

 subjects of Natural History, hitherto found in Great 

 Britain, will be pointed out by an asterisk. It will 

 be printed nearly in the same form as Withering's Bo- 



