PREFACE. 
vii 
gf fuch as ■vvifli to become acquainted with the produdlions of their 
country, the different fiibjefts of Natural Hiftory, hitherto found 
j(i Great-Britain, will be pointed out by an afterifk. 
In the Ornithological department, I have been chiefly affifted by the 
^orks of I>r_ Latham.; in Entomology, by the laft edition of the 
I 5yftcmof Fa ERIC I us; in that of Vegetables, by the Species Plan- 
■ jjtum of the learned and diligent WiLLDENOw ; and in all by the 
j jccurate Dr. Shaw, in his elegant and beautiful publication, the 
Mifcellany. 
I ne numerous fynonyms and references I have omitted ; as they 
vvould fo conflderably have enlarged the bulk of the work, without 
adding a proportionate value. The various fubjcdls of Natural 
1 }Iiftory are fo accurately deferibed, that no doubt can remain as to the 
I jdivWual. 
! The traveller who has lelfure and inclination to be acquainted with 
ibis charming fcience, who may find it necelfary to determine what 
I animals are fit for food, and what are poifonous, or who may wilh to 
j add whatever new materials may occur to him ; the colleftor of fuch 
fubjefts as are valuable either for their beauty or their rarity, and who> 
0ay wilh to arrange his cabinet according to the laws of nature and 
fcience ; and the retired and private individtial, who may defire to fill 
bjs vacant hours with a natural knowledge of the various objc6l;s around 
bim, muft, except they be well acquainted with the Latin language, 
and the technical terms peculiar to the fcience, be for ever ignorant of 
! by which this information may be bell obtained. 
Had Matural Hillory been more fcientifically known, Milton 
would not have deferibed the Whale as a fcaly animal, nor the Snake 
as having a hairy mane: nor would the arms of many of our Nobility 
baye^ been fupported by the reprefentations of compound animals, 
exiting only in the imagination of fanciful dreamers. 
The advancement of agriculture, and moft of our arts and manu- 
j fadures, mud depend in no fmall meafure upon our comparative 
knowledge of Natural Hiftory, particularly of Chemiftry and Botany ; 
and thefe will queftionlefs become enlarged as this fcience is more 
^u^ed, and more known. 
Editor therefore hopes, that in delivering this work in the 
fiiglilh language, he is adding fomething to the dock of innocent 
atnufement, and fomething to general utility. 
i. 
INTRO- 
