PREFACE. 
XVII, 
furnish the germinating scientific plants. I would but 
add to the individual feelings which are here expressed 
relatively to the study of nature, by adopting the following 
lines— 
“ Fair Nature ! thee, in all thy varied charms, 
Fain would I clasp for ever in my arms : 
Thine are the sweets which never, never sate, 
Thine still remain through all the storms of fate. 
Though not for me ’twas heaven’s divine command 
To roll in acres of paternal land, 
Yet still my lot is bless’d, while I enjoy 
Thine opening beauties with a lover’s eye.” 
But let none forget to warn themselves occasionally against 
an unbounded connexion with natural subjects ; man has 
his best interests in a future existence, and we need to 
remind ourselves from time to time of the fleeting character 
of all things earthly, even the beauties of the natural world, 
surrounding us ; this earth and its possessions form but a 
temporary domicile for us, to be used with discretion, and 
as the accompaniments of a probationary life, calculated 
also to inform us that higher considerations are befitting 
us, that “ all that’s bright must fade,”—that the best 
productions of the world must in the end of time be abolished, 
and in the course of Nature upon ourselves even the 
mighty though sinful fabric of the human mind. 
The engravings and lithographs which accompany this 
work are in great measure directed to an illustration of 
subjects which the scientific will find novel. To Mr. Gosling, 
Mr. T. Colley, and Miss Jones of Plymstock I am greatly 
indebted for the assistance with which they have favored 
me in making certain of the requisite drawings, also to 
my brother Mr. P. F. B. for his etchings ; but I am more 
