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INTRODUCTION. 
N ATURAL HISTORY is a science both use* 
ful and entertaining : as it comprehends ani- 
mals, vegetables,, and fossils ; air, earth, and sea* 
with all their inhabitants and productions ; it may 
be said to include the knowledge of all nature* 
and to present an inexhaustible fund of inquiry 
and of amusement, It is intimately connected 
with all the other sciences ; and with all the arts* 
from the simplest and rudest, to the most compli- 
cated and the most elegant. 
From an acquaintance with the economy of na- 
ture, many advantages have already accrued to 
man ; and from a more intimate knowledge of 
them, many more may still be derived. The com- 
fort of all ranks may be said to depend on the 
knowledge of natural history. The husbandman 
needs to know the characters of the tame animals 
which he employs; what advantages are, to be 
derived from them ; whether there are others that 
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