TO THE 
NOBILITY and GENTRY 
OF THE 
COUNTY of CORNWALL, 
With great Refpe£t. 
I T cannot be queftioned, Gentlemen, but that Natural 
History is a moft extenfive Science, taking in all animate 
and inanimate fubftances which Land, Air, or Water contain; ex- 
plaining their relations, properties, and ufes ; and, in fhort, giving 
a recital and detail of the whole vifible Creation. 
Nor is it a fcience left entertaining than comprehenfive ; for if 
the mind thirfts after variety, and a frelh fucceflion of objeds, where 
can fhe find for contemplation fo numerous and various a treafure ? 
If it is folicitous after curious workmanfhip, where fuchvfine mecha- 
mfm as m the Animal ceconomy, from the Elephant to the Pifmire ? 
If ftudious of beauty, fhape, and colouring, where fuch gracefulnefs 
as in Man, fuch tints, delicacy, and luftre, as in Flowers, Birds, 
Fifties, and Precious-Stones? If moved chiefly by the moft afto- 
nifhmg fcenes of grandeur, we need but look upon the Cliffs or 
Mountains, upon the Ocean or the Sky. 
B j i the mere tranfient gratifications of a curious and inquifitive 
find would not give this ftudy its delerved and allowed pre-eminence, 
* ^ C ° uld not ’ in an e fl ual de gree, inftrud as well as pleafe ; if it 
n ° L COllC d and exalt, as well as amufe and engage the mind. 
’Tis 
