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AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
Vol. 1.—MARCH, 1867.—No. 1. 
—<~“>— 
INTRODUCTORY. 
In laying before our readers this first number of a pop- 
ular scientific monthly, we commence a publication in 
which we shall endeavor to meet the wants of all lovers of 
nature. zo 
The rapidly increasing interest in the study of the va- 
rious departments of Natural History invites the establish- 
ment of a journal which shall popularize the best results 
of scientific study, and thus serve as a medium between 
the teacher and the student, or, more properly, between 
the older and the younger student of nature. 
If the reader, however slight his intercourse with 
nature may have been, shall find somėthing in these pa- 
ges to stimulate his zeal, and direct his mind to the right 
methods of investigation, and also teach him new facts 
concerning the haunts and habits of his favorites of the- 
wood, the lake and the seashore, the great aim of this 
_ Entered a to 4 Act of Congress, in the year 1867, 2 eae ESSEX INSTITUTE, in 
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he District of Massac 
