5 
and if you be going through Oxford, it will, I dare say, be well 
worth your while to take a view of them.” 
When we had finished our refreshment, we left our kind com- 
municative hostess ; but not, as you might suppose, with any intention 
of immediately visiting the Museum of the University. On the 
contrary, we were aware, that, without some previous knowledge of 
the objects which are there exhibited, the examination of them could 
not yield much satisfaction ; but would serve, merely, to excite that 
curiosity, which it was not able to gratify. We have therefore 
settled it, that our visit to the Museum shall be deferred, until we 
are enabled to view its interesting contents with that satisfaction, 
which can only be yielded, when we possess some knowledge of 
the objects we contemplate. 
Thus, at our very outset, have I experienced a considerable dis- 
appointment. The objects I have already seen, and which I have 
reason to expect I shall frequently meet with, have convinced me, 
that I am totally ignorant of the science, which teaches us their 
natural history : and also that, without this knowledge, the pleasure 
of my journies must be very much diminished. How mortifying 
will it be to have objects presented daily to my view, whose forms 
alone render them highly interesting, and whose history is most 
probably fraught with entertainment ; and to find myself so totally 
ignorant of their origin, as not even to know in what class of 
nature’s works to place them. 
You, I know, have long made this branch of natural history your 
particular study : and I have been informed, that you possess a 
collection of valuable specimens of these substances, which it has 
never occurred to me to request the inspection of. To you, there- 
fore, I confidently apply ; and earnestly intreat you to supply me 
with a regular and systematic history of the strangely figured sub- 
stances, to understand the nature of which, I am impelled by the 
most eager desire. The petition I am making will, I trust, be 
