TO THE INDULGENT READER. 
HE papers now for the first time associ- 
ated, were addressed, many years ago 
in the form of letters, to the Editors of 
the ^Magazine of Natm'al History,' of 
the 'Entomological Magazine/ and the 
' Entomologist.' 
For years past I have observed partial reprints of these 
letters published from time to time, with or without ac- 
knowledgment, sometimes tolerably correct, sometimes 
greatly altered and mutilated; and I have also observed 
that such partial reprints have been favourably mentioned 
both by those who produced and those who read them. 
These circumstances led me to consider the propriety of 
issuing the whole as a complete although fragmentary 
work. The copyright had long since passed into my 
hands, and I had only to deliberate on the chances of the 
success likely to attend the venture. 
Having at length concluded on making the trial, a dif- 
ficulty arose in finding an editor who would undertake to 
collect and arrange the papers. This was scarcely a print- 
er's task ; and yet, as I read and re-read letter after letter, 
I felt so carried back to the scenes of my boyhood, I seemed 
so 
