Excerpt from The Philosophy of Natural History: With an Introduction and Various Additions and Alterations, Intended to Adapt It to the Present State of Knowledge This task his Lordship was pleased to think me not altogether unqualified to attempt. The idea struck me. I thought that a work of this kind, if executed even with moderate abilities, might excite a taste for examining the various Objects which every where solicit our attention. A habit Of Observation refines our feelings. It is a source of interesting amusement, prevents idle or vicious propensities, and exalts the mind to a love of virtue and of rational entertainment. 1 likewise reflected, that men Of learning often betray an ignorance on the most common subjects of Natural History, which it is painful to remark. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.