PREFACE. vii 
I 
more worthy of attainment than that of the 
order and beauty of the Almighty’s works, 
except a knowledge of the Great Creator, 
and of the relative duties to the performance 
of which we, his creatures, are bound by so 
many ties of gratitude and filial love:^ — if 
we admit this, it follows that we do not 
waste our time, when we devote the portion 
of it which is allotted to relaxation from 
more severe and necessary employment, to 
such edifying contemplations, such engag- 
ing studies, as those suggested by the 
book of Nature. 
The method which has been adopted, to 
create a general taste for pursuits, once 
considered as almost confined to the pro- 
fessional student or the practical collector, 
has been the very best which could be 
