CABINET 



CONDUCTED BY THE 



REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL. D. F. R. S. L. «fe E. 



M.R.I. A. F.L.S. F.Z.S. IIon.F.C.P.S. M. Ast. S. &c. &c. 



ASSISTED BY 



EMINENT LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN. 

 ]Sow publishing by Carey, Lea, <Sc Blanchard, and for sale by all Booksellers. 



This work will form a popular compendium of what- 

 ever is useful, instructive, and interesting, in the circle of 

 human knowledge. A novel plan of publication and ar- 

 rangement has been adopted, which presents peculiar 

 advantages. Without fully detailing the method, a few of 

 these advantages may be mentioned. 



Each volume will contain one or more subjects uninter- 

 rupted and unbroken, and will be accompanied by the 

 corresponding plates or other appropriate illustrations. 

 Facility of reference will be obtained without fettering 

 the work by a continued alphabetical arrangement. A 

 subscriber may omit particular volumes or sets of vol- 

 umes, without disintegrating his series. Thus each pur- 

 chaser may form from the "Cabinet " a Cyclopaedia, more 

 or less comprehensive, as may suit his means, taste, or 

 profession. If a subscriber desire to discontinue the work 

 at any stage of its publication, the volumes which he 

 may have received will not lose their value by separation 

 from the rest of the work, since they will always either 

 be complete in themselves, or may be made so at a trifling 

 expense. 



The purchasers will never find theii property in this 

 work destroyed by the publication of a second edition. 

 The arrangement is such that particular volumes may 

 be re-edited or re written without disturbing the others. 

 The " Cabinet Cyclopedia " will thus be in a state of 

 continual renovation, keeping pace with the never-ceas- 

 ing improvements in knowledge, drawing within its 

 circle from year to year whatever is new, and casting off 

 whatever is obsolete, so as to form a constantly modern- 

 ized Cyclopaedia. Such are a few of the ad vantages which 

 the proprietors have to offer to the public, and which they 

 pledge themselves to realize. 



Treatises on subjects which are technical and profes- 

 sional will be adapted, not so much to those who desire 

 to attain a practical proficiency, as to those who seek 

 thit portion of information respecting such matters which 

 is generally expected from well-educated persons. An 

 interest will be imparted to what is abstract by copious 

 illustrations, and the sciences will be rendered attractive, 

 by treating them with reference to the most familiar ob- 

 jects and occurrences. 



The unwieldly bulk of Encyclopcedias, not less than 

 the abstruse discussions which they contain, has hitherto 

 consigned them to the library, as works of only occasional 

 reference. The present work, from its portable form and 

 popular style, will claim a place in the drawing-room and 

 the boudoir. Forming in itself a Complete Library, af- 

 fording an extensive and infinitely varied store of in- 

 struction and amusement, presenting just so much on 

 every subject as those not professionally engaged in it 

 require, convenient in size, attractive in form, elegant in 

 illustrations, and most moderate in expense, the "Cabinet 

 Cyclopedia" will, it is hoped, be found an object of para- 

 mount interest in every family. 



To the heads of schools and all places of public educa- 

 tion the proprietors trust that this work will particularly 

 recommend itself 



It seems scarcely necessary to add, that nothing will 

 be admitted into the pages of the " Cabinet Cyclopedia" 

 which can have the most remote tendency to offend public 

 or private morals. To enforce the cultivation of religion 

 and the practice of virtue should be a principal object 

 with all who undertake to inform the public mind ; but 

 with the views just explained, the conductor of this work 

 feels these considerations more especially pressed upon 

 his attention. Parents and guardians may, therefore, 

 rest assured that they will never find it necessary to place 

 a volume of the " Cabinet " beyond the reach of their chil- 

 dren or pupils. 



Considerable progress having been made in this 

 work, the publishers wish to direct the attention of 

 the public to the advantages by which it is distin- 

 guished from other similar monthly publications. 



It is not intended that the Cabinet Cyclopaedia shall 

 form an interminable series, in which any work of 



interest which may present itself from time to time 

 can claim a place. Its subjects are classified accord- 

 ing to the usual divisions of literature, science, and 

 art. Each division is distinctly traced out, and will 

 consist of a determinate number of volumes. Al- 

 though the precise extent of the work cannot be fixed 

 with certainty, yet there is a limit which will not be 

 exceeded ; and the subscribers may look forward to 

 the possession, within a reasonable time, of a complete 

 library of instruction, amusement, and general refer- 

 ence, in the regular form of a popular Cyclopasdia. 



The several classes of the work are — 1, NATURAL 

 PHILOSOPHY; 2, The USEFUL and FINE ARTS; 

 3, NATURAL HISTORY; 4, GEOGRAPHY; 5, 

 POLITICS and MORALS ; 6, GENERAL LITE- 

 RATURE and CRITICISM; 7, HISTORY; 8, BI- 

 OGRAPHY. 



In the above abstruse and technical departments 

 of knowledge, an attempt has been made to convey 

 to the reader a general acquaintance with these sub- 

 jects, by the use of plain and famihar language, ap- 

 propriate and well-executed engravings, and copious 

 examples and illustrations, taken from objects and 

 events with w^hich every one is acquainted. 



The proprietors formerly pledged themselves that 

 no exertion should be spared to obtain the support of 

 the most distinguished talent of the age. They trust 

 that they have redeemed that pledge. Among the 

 volumes already published in this literary department, 

 no less than four have been the production of men 

 who stand in the first rank of literary talent, — Sir 

 James Mackintosh and Sir Walter Scott. In the sci- 

 entific department, a work has been produced from 

 the pen of Mr. Herschel, which has been pronounced 

 by the highest living authority on subjects of general 

 philosophy, to contain "the noblest observations on 

 the value of knowledge which have been made since 

 Bacon," and to be " the finest work of philosophical 

 genius which this age has seen." 



The following is a selection from the list of Contributors. 

 The Right Honorable Sir JAMES MACKIN- 

 TOSH, M. P. 

 The Right Rev. The Lord Bishop of Cloyne. 

 Sir WALTER SCOTT, Bart. 

 JOHN FREDERICK WILLIAM HERSCHEL, 

 Esq. 



THOMAS MOORE, Esq. 



J. B. BIOT, Member of the French Institute. 



ROBERT SOUTHEY, Esq. Poet Laureate. 



The Baron CHARLES DUPIN, Member of the 



Royal Institute and Chamber of Deputies. 

 THOMAS CAMPBELL, Esq. 

 T. B. MACAULEY, Esq. M. P. 

 DAVID BREWSTER, LL. D. 

 J. C. L. SISMONDI, of Geneva. 

 Capt. HENRY KATER, Vice President of the 



Royal Society. 

 The ASTRONOMER ROYAL. 

 DA VIES GILBERT, Esq. M. P. 

 S. T. COLERIDGE, Esq. 

 JAMES MONTGOMERY, Esq. 

 The Right Hon. T. P. COURTENAY, M.P. 

 J. J. BERZELIUS, of Stockholm, F. R. S., &c. 

 The Rev. G. R. GLEIG. 

 T. PHILLIPS, Esq. Prof of Painting, R. A. 

 Rev. C. THIRLWALL, Fellow of Trinity College, 



Cambridge. 

 ANDREW URE, M. D. F. R. S., &c. &c. &c. 



