PREFACE. 



Each article in the present volume is superior of its 

 kind. As a selection of choice reading, the book may 

 be confidently . commended to the reader. We cannot 

 have too much of that class of literature which presents 

 information in an attractive garb. In " Kew Gardens," 

 we have an elaborate picture of one of the finest conserv- 

 atories in the world ; and it is traced with so much pre- 

 cision and clearness, and with so genial a spirit, that we 

 feel ourselves to be simply a companion of the author, 

 as we pursue the record of his observations. "A Chapter 

 on Diamonds" is a learned and highly interesting history 

 of the most costly of gems; and clearly shows us M'hj it 

 has ever been, and continues to be, so highly prized 

 among civilized and uncivilized nations. "The Eelics 

 and Superstitions of the Past" reveals to us, in tales suit- 

 able for fireside reading on a winter evening, the instinct- 

 ive tendency of the human mind to invest with the 

 drapery of superstition whatever is associated with mys- 

 tery and obscurity. In "The Wreck of the Medusa," the 

 keen and prolonged sufferings which persons abandoned 

 on a raft at sea endured are exposed to our gaze with a 

 skill and fidelity which indicate an acute observer and 



