PREFACE. 
7 
part, and those of the last and a considerable portion of the 
fifteenth were entirely, my own engraving, and all the others 
were corrected and finished by myself : the drawings also are 
the efforts of my pencil, and the articles and descriptions are 
my own writing ; for any errors therefore I alone am account- 
able. That my labours have been well received by those 
who are impartial judges, I need only refer to the notices of 
Latreille, Burmeister, and many of my own countrymen. 
Before taking leave of those who have been interested in 
my undertaking for so many years, I would remark, that 
without the support of the influential and wealthy, no illus- 
trated work with numerous highly-finished engravings can, 
in this branch of Natural History, leave any reward for the 
labours of the Author, which are of course greatly increased 
when he combines the part of the Artist with his more legi- 
timate duty and if in the present instance I had been 
compelled to pay for the drawings and all the copper-plate 
engravings, it would have caused an additional expense of at 
least twenty shillings per volume to the purchaser. 
It is not expected that the following volumes will afford 
general amusement, but that they will prove useful and in- 
teresting to the genuine lover of nature I have not any 
doubt. It is not necessary here to enter upon the advantages 
to be derived from the study of Natural History ; it will suf- 
fice to say, that many of the best and wisest men in all ages 
have been devoted to it ; I may be allowed however to give 
the words of Sir James Smith, who has truly said, that it 
never disappoints, never satiates, and the cultivation of it 
not only fits the mind for the advancement of its own inter- 
nal powers of happiness, but also renders it doubly capable 
of adding to that of others. 
Such were the sentiments which engaged my mind when 
I commenced this work ; but if experience alone can teach us 
wisdom in the common affairs of life with which we are fa- 
miliar, how much more probable is it, that in the progress of 
enterprises and speculations with which we are totally unac- 
quainted, we should meet with disappointments, and often 
be taught a lesson we little expected ! such has been my 
fortune. — I had little idea of the large sum of money that 
would be required to carry on an illustrated publication, 
containing several hundreds of highly-finished coloured engra- 
