INTRODUCTION. 



To the beginner in the use of the microscope, in- 

 deed to the beginner in the study of any department 

 of natural history, the name of the specimens found is 

 of the first importance. It is the key that opens the 

 door to further knowledge, and until it is obtained the 

 beginner is helpless; the books are closed to him, all 

 conference with others in reference to the object or 

 specimen is impossible, and, in many, a budding in- 

 terest that might otherwise bloom and bear fruit is 

 crushed and destroyed. The first question asked is 

 always, "What is it ?" and unless the questioner has. a 

 kind and experienced friend to whom he can take the 

 specimen, or a book of common objects from which 

 the names of ordinary natural history materials can be 

 ascertained, the question is too often unanswered, and 

 the beginner soon loses his relish for the unknown in 

 Nature, because to him it always remains the unknow- 

 able. 



In England innumerable little hand-books in all de- 

 partments of natural science are within the reach of 

 every reader, even the least wealthy. They are writ- 

 ten in an attractive style, they are usually accurate as 

 far as they, go, and they aim to describe the common 

 objects to be found in the green lanes and in the 



