INTRODUCTION. 
§. I. 
T 
A HE firfl: ten pages of the following Fragments will, probably, be thought the mofl interefting part of this 
little work. They exhibit a rude and imperfedb Iketch of the Natural Hijiory-Figure in the neighbourhood of Phi¬ 
ladelphia : a pidure which, if it were drawn by an able hand, could not fail to prove interelling to the lovers of 
fcience, in every part of the world. Each of thefe pages is divided into five columns. The firfl refpeds the day 
of the month when the birds mentioned in the fecond column arrived, or were firfl feen, in the vicinity of Philadel¬ 
phia. In the fecond column, I have given what may be called the fcientific Latin name of each bird. In this part 
of my fubjed, I have always preferred the name of Linnseus, when I could difcover that the bird had been defcribed 
by this great naturalifl. But feveral of the birds, which are here mentioned, were not known to Linnaeus: at 
lead, I do not find that they have a place in any of the editions of his immortal work, the Syfiema Nature, I have, 
therefore, been obliged to adopt other names, and, in a few inflances, to impofe them myfelf. I have often 
adopted the names of ProfelTor Gmelin, the laborious, and often fuccefsful, editor of the new edition of the Syfiema 
Nature.* When this is the cafe, I have affixed to the fcientific name, the letter G, thus (G.) I have in this co¬ 
lumn, fometimes made ufe of the fcientific names of my ingenious and good friend, Mr. William Bartram, a 
gentleman who has contributed much to our knowledge of the natural produdions of North-America. To the 
names which I myfelf have impofed, I have affixed the word (mihi.) But I by no means pretend to affert, that all 
the birds thus marked are new, or have not been defcribed by naturalifls. 
§. 11 . 
In the third column, I have given the Englifh fcientific and the Engliffi provincial names. The former are chiefly 
taken from the Arilic Zoology^ of my excellen't friend Mr. Pennant, becaufe this is a work of fuch extenfive merit, 
that I prefume it is in the hands of almofl every naturalifl; and becaufe the names impofed by this gentleman are, 
with a very few exceptions, jiifl and fignificant. By the Englifh provincial names, I mean the names by which thefe 
birds are befl known in Pennfylvania, and in various other parts of the United-States. Thefe provincial names are 
always enclofed within a parenthefis, as in the inflances (Pewe), (Turtle-Dove'), &c. They are defignated in the 
fame manner in the lift of Refident Birds, &c. in Sedion III. The greater number of thefe names are ufed in 
Pennfylvania. 
§. III. 
The fourth column relates to the “ Progrefs of Vegetation.’’ The greater number of the vegetables which I have 
here enumerated are natives of Pennfylvania. Some, which are not natives of this flate, are natives of other parts 
of the United-States ; whilfl others have not, hitherto, been found to grow fpontaneoufly in any part of America. 
In general, the plants are defignated by their Linnaean names. In a few inflances, I have adopted the names of the 
late Mr. Aiton, in his Hortus Kewerfis ; thofe of Marfliall, and other botanifls. All the plants which I have men¬ 
tioned are found, either wild, or growing in gardens, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, where the remarks on 
the time of their flowering and leafing have been made. 
§. IV. 
The fifth and lafl column contains “ Mifcellaneous Obfervations.” In this part of my Sketches, I have done 
but very little. Want of time has prevented me from throwing into this column, many interelling fads, fome of 
which will be prefented, perhaps to greater advantage, to the. public, in my future publications. The few Ther- 
f The fecond edition. 
b 
* Printed at Leipfic, in 1788. 
London; 179s. 
