PREFACE. ■ ^il 



But these advantages are small, com- 

 pared to those derived from the knovvlege 

 of nature in the representation of objects: 

 painting is an imitation of nature ; now, 

 who can imitate without consulting the 

 original ? But to come to what is more 

 particularly the object of our inquiries ; 

 animal and vegetable life are the essence 

 of landscape, and often are secondary ob- 

 jects in historical paintings : even the 

 sculptor in his limited province would do 

 well to acquire a correctness of design with 

 a perfect knowlege of the muscles of ani- 

 mals. But the painter should have all 

 this and more ; he should be acquainted 

 with all their various tints, their manner 

 of living, their peculiar motions or atti- 

 tudes, and their places of abode,* or he 

 will fall into manifest errors. 



* That great artist, Mr. Ridinger, of Augsburg, exceeds 

 all others in the three last particulars ; nothing can equal 

 his prints of animals for propriety of attitudes, for a just 

 idea of Iheir way of life, and for the beautiful and natural 

 scenery that accompanies them. His finest works are, his 

 Wilde Thiere, Kleins Thiere, and Jagdbare Thiers '; but 

 there are scarce any of his performances that can fail 



