IV. 
INTRODUCTION. 
41 
be one of the purest sources of intellectual pleasure. It places before us structures 
the most exquisite in form and delicate in material ; the perfect works of Him who 
is Himself the sum of all perfections : — and if our minds are properly balanced, we 
shall not rest satisfied with a mere knowledge and admiration of these wonderful 
and manifold works ; but, reading in them the evidence of their relation to their 
Maker, we shall be led on to investigate our own. 
I do not assert that this study is, of itself, sufficient to make men religious. But as 
the contemplation of any great work of art generally excites in us a two-fold admi- 
ration — admiration of the work itself, and of the genius of its author — so a true 
perception of the wonders of nature includes a certain worship of the author of those 
wonders. Yet we may study natural objects, and admire them, and devote our 
whole life to elucidate their structure ; and after all may fail to recognize the being 
of Him who has fashioned them. Such blindness is scarcely conceivable to some 
minds ; yet to others, the opposite appears but the effect of a warm imagination. 
So inexplicable is the human mind ! The moral evidence which stirs one man to 
his centre brings no conviction to another. Physical truths, indeed, cannot be 
rationally denied ; but there is no metaphysical truth which may not be plausibly 
obscured or explained away by self-satisfied prejudice. Hence the inconclusiveness 
of all reasoning against infidelity. The failure is not in the reasons set before the 
mind, but in the non-acknowledgment of the imperative force of moral reasons. 
No man can be convinced of any moral truth against his will ; and if the will be 
corrupt, it is possessed by a blind and deaf spirit, which none can cast out until a 
“ stronger than he ” shall come. 
Here I pause ; but I cannot conclude this Introduction without expressing 
my warm thanks to the kind friends who have aided me in my researches, both 
with specimens and with sympathy. To some of them I am personally unknown, 
and with others I became acquainted casually, during my recent tour along the 
shores of the United States. From all I have received unmixed kindness, and 
every aid that it was in their power to render. Indebted to all therefore, I am 
more especially bound by gratitude to my friend, Professor J. AY. Bailey, of West 
Point, the earliest American worker in the field of Algology. AY ell known in his 
own peculiar branch of science, he has found a relaxation from more wearing 
thought, in exploring the microscopic world, and his various papers on what may 
be called “vegetable atoms” (Diatomaceco) are widely known and highly appreciated. 
From him I received the first specimens of United States Algm which I possessed, 
and, though residing at a distance from the coast, he has been of essential service 
in infusing a taste for this peculiar department of botany among persons favourably 
situated for research ; so that either from him or through him I have obtained 
specimens from many localities from which I should otherwise have been shut out. 
To him I am indebted for an introduction to a knot of Algologists who have 
zealously explored the south-western portions of Long Island and New York 
Sounds, Messrs. Hooper, Congdon, Pike, and AY alters of Brooklyn, from all of 
whom I have received liberal supplies of specimens ; and through him Professor 
Lewis R. Gibbes, of Charleston, whose personal acquaintance I had afterwards the 
happiness of making, first communicated to me the result of his explorations of 
VOL. III. ART. 4. G 
