IV. INTRODUCTION. 41 



be one of the purest sources of intellectual pleasure. It places before us structures 

 the most exquisite in form and delicate in material ; the perfect works of Him who 

 is Himself the sum of all perfections : — and if our minds are properly balanced, we 

 shall not rest satisfied Avith a mere knowledge and admiration of these wonderful 

 and manifold works ; but, reading in them the evidence of their relation to their 

 Maker, Ave shall be led on to investigate our oivn. 



I do not assert that this study is, of itself, sutficient to make men religious. But as 

 the contemplation of any great work of art generally excites in us a tAvo-fold admi- 

 ration — admiration of the work itself, and of the genius of its author — so a true 

 perception of the wonders of nature includes a certain worship of the author of those 

 wonders. Yet we may study natural objects, and admire them, and devote our 

 whole life to elucidate their structure ; and after all may fail to recognize the being 

 of Him who has fashioned them. Such blindness is scarcely conceivable to some 

 minds ; yet to others, the opposite appears but the effect of a warm imagination. 

 So inexplicable is the human mind ! The moral evidence which stirs one man to 

 his centre brings no conviction to another. Physical truths, indeed, cannot be 

 rationally denied ; but there is no metaphysical truth which may not be plausibly 

 obscured or explained away by self-satisfied prejudice. Hence the inconclusiveness 

 of all reasoning against infidelity. The failure is not in the reasons set before the 

 mind, but in the non-acknoAvledgment of the imperative force of moral reasons. 

 No man can be convinced of any moral truth against his will ; and if the will be 

 corrupt, it is possessed by a blind and deaf spirit, which none can cast out until a 

 " stronger than he " shall come. 



Here I pause ; but I cannot conclude this Introduction without expressing 

 my warm thanks to the kind friends Avho have aided me in my researches, both 

 with specimens and with sympathy To some of them I am personally unknown, 

 and with others I became acquainted casually, during my recent tour along the 

 shores of the United States. From all I have received unmixed kindness, and 

 every aid that it was in their power to render. Indebted to all therefore, I am 

 more especially bound by gratitude to my friend. Professor J. W. Bailey, of West 

 Point, the earliest American worker in the field of Algology. Well known in his 

 own peculiar branch of science, he has found a relaxation from more wearing 

 thought, in exploring the microscopic world, and his various papers on what may 

 be called "vegetable atoms" (Diatomacecf) are widely known and highly appreciated. 

 From him I received the first specimens of United States Algaj which I possessed, 

 and, though residing at a distance from the coast, he has been of essential service 

 in infusing a taste for this peculiar department of botany among persons favourably 

 situated for research ; so that either from him or through him I have obtained 

 specimens from many localities from which I should otherwise have been shut out. 

 To him I am indebted for an introduction to a knot of Algologists who have 

 zealously explored the south-Avestern portions of Long Island and New York 

 Sounds, Messrs. Hooper, Congdon, Pike, and Walters of Brooklyn, from all of 

 Avhom T have received liberal supplies of specimens ; and through him Professor 

 Lewis R. Gibbes, of Charleston, whose personal acquaintance I had afterAvards the 

 happiness of making, first communicated to me the result of his explorations of 



VOL. III. ART. 4. G 



