MEMOIR 
OP 
ALEXANDER WILSON. 
A peculiar usefulness in biographical writings is 
in their presenting to the reader the characters of 
the persons whose Memoirs are recorded, in de- 
tails, from which all can draw conclusions at once 
instructive and interesting, seeing that the mo- 
dels are taken from real objects and the parti- 
culars from real incidents ; hut we cannot help 
remarking, that the lives of those whose pursuits 
have been directed to the study and contemplation 
of Nature, possess a charm peculiar to themselves. 
True, there may be noither the stirring din or pomp 
of war, nor the exciting turmoil engendered by poli- 
tical struggles for supremacy, in the histories of 
such men ; but nevertheless, the calm and placid 
tenour of their pilgrimage to the “ dark valley” may 
be marked with much that is most instructive. 
In the Naturalist’s Library, we have recorded 
the histories of no less than forty-one such persons.* 
all of which are marked with much interest, and 
many most instructive, both in a historical and 
* See Chronological List at the end of the present Memoir. 
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