( 5* ) 



greatly to the intriufic value of the original work, when it ftiali, 

 by means of this tranflation, become more generally known, for 

 fupport in carrying through his arduous undertaking. By this, as 

 a fpecimen, the public opinion may be guided, refpecTmg the 

 merit of the whole work, which in the original is undoubted ; and a 

 judgment may be formed of the fidelity with which it has been tranf- 

 lated, and of the value and propriety of the numerous additions 

 that have been made to it in this edition. 



A very curfory infpe&ion will fhew at once, to fuch readers as 

 are in any degree acquainted with the original, that what is now 

 fubmitted to the public, is not, by any means, a mere tranfla- 

 tion ; for, although every thing that is contained in Dr Gmeltn's 

 edition of the Syjlema Naturae be retained with the moft fcrupulous 

 exaotnefs, and confequently a great deal more than is in any of the 

 Linnaean editions, very large additions have been made to the prefent 

 tranflation, from zoological writers of eminence, whofe works the Iaft 

 learned editor had then no opportunity to confult. How far thefe ad- 

 ditions may be ultimately found to have improved the work, it be- 

 longs to others to difcover; all that can, with any propriety, be faid 

 on this fubjec"t, is, that for the purpofes of improvement alone, they 

 fiave moft feduloufly been employed. Though the tranflator does not 

 prefume to have executed his tafk in fuch a manner, as even com- 

 pletely to fatisfy his own ideas of a perfect zoological fyftem, he 

 can with juftice aflert, that neither labour nor expence have 

 been withheld, to render it as free from faults, as the nature cf the 

 fubject, and the prefent ftate of zoological knowledge, fo far as' it has 

 reached him, would admit. Having earneftly endeavoured to do juftice 

 to this important branch of fcience, and faithfully to execute his duty 

 as editor and tranflator, he humbly ventures, with fome degree of 

 confidence, to claim the patronage of the public, to a work in a great 

 meafute national, as it is intended to make the fyftematic part of 



Natural 



M 



