viii 



Garnons, B.D.,* Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cam- 

 bridge, placed in tlie hands of the Council a manuscript 

 notice of the life and works of Ray, and G. W. Johnson, 

 Esq., of Winchester, who has written an unpublished life of 

 Ray, has likewise offered me his papers, and directed my 

 attention to various sources of information. There is also 

 a manuscript life existing in the library of the Hunterian 

 Museum at Glasgow, and permission was granted by the 

 trustees of that institution to Professor Balfour to render 

 this available. I mention these materials not only to 

 express my obligation to the gentlemen who so liberally 

 placed them at my disposal, but also to direct attention 

 to sources of information which some future biographer 

 may profit by. I think it will scarcely be doubted that a 

 more complete biography of our great countryman is 

 needed, when it is known that the three notices in this 

 volume contain the whole account hitherto given of his 

 life. In such a work he would be shown to be much 

 more than " a learned and judicious compiler," and the 

 importance of the results of his labours might be more 

 clearly and fully vindicated than was consistent with either 

 the design or scope of the present volume. 



The extent of the influence of the genius of Ray on the 



* B.A. iy a misprint at page 8. 



