X 
PREFACE. 
he believes, has originated from the expressions of some 
of the periodical publications which have concluded 
their observations on the former volume, with stating 
the nature of their expectations respecting the future vo- 
lume^ as if no more was intended to be published. It is 
true that the author has never yet specified of how many 
volumes the work is to consist ; and it is as true that he 
is unable, even at the present moment, to form a decided 
opinion on the subject. As his intention is to furnish 
all the important information he can obtain, respecting 
the different objects of his examination, the size of the 
work will necessarily depend on the success with which 
his inquiries may be pursued : but on this point it is 
necessary to be still more explicit. 
Two modes of prosecuting the work offered them- 
selves for his adoption. The one required only a faithful 
history of the different opinions of former writers on 
these subjects. The figures necessary for illustration 
might, in this case, have been obtained, by copying those 
which appeared to have been best chosen and best exe- 
cuted, in the respective volumes of these authors. A 
work executed on this plan would have been accepta- 
ble to many, since no such work at present exists in our 
language. It would also have possessed this advantage, 
that its size might have been, at the first, easily ascer- 
tained and limited. 
