PREFACE 
When the Council of the Worcestershire Natural 
History Society, did me the honour to request the 
publication of the following Introductory Lecture^ I 
at first entertained a doubt whether by so doing there 
might not be some risk of injuring the Society ; for 
the opinion which my own judgment had led me 
to form of its value was much less favorable than 
that which the communication from the Council 
induced me to think they entertained of it. 
This doubt would probably have led me to decline 
committing my manuscript to the press^ had I not 
found several active Members of the Society ready to 
afford me additional information respecting the Natu- 
ral History of Worcestershire ; and with these addi- 
tions I now offer the Lecture to the public^ with more 
sanguine expectations that it will be favorably re- 
ceived. 
I much regret that the urgency of my professional 
engagements has not allowed me to devote more time 
