40 GLAUCUS; OE, 



they fulfil in the great economy of our planet, we 

 cannot wonder at finding that books which treat of 

 them carry with them a certain charm of romance, 

 and feed the play of fancy, and that love of the 

 marvellous which is inherent in man, at the same 

 time that they lead the reader to more solemn and 

 lofty trains of thought, which can find their full 

 satisfaction only in self-forgetful worship, and that 

 hymn of praise which goes up ever from land and 

 sea, as well as from saints and martyrs and the 

 heavenly host, " all ye works of the Lord, and 

 ye, too, spirits and souls of the righteous, praise 

 Him, and magnify Him for ever ! " 



I have said, that there were excuses for the old 

 contempt of the study of Natural History. I have 

 said too, it may be hoped, enough to show that 

 contempt to be now ill-founded. But still, there 

 are those who regard it as a mere amusement, and 

 that as a somewhat effeminate one ; and think that 

 it can at best help to while away a leisure hour 

 harmlessly, and perhaps usefully, as a substitute for 

 coarser sports, or for the reading of novels. Those, 



