Excerpt from Magazine of Natural History, 1829, Vol. 2 The great use of Natural History and Comparative Anatomy is to humanise and soften the heart. If boys were acquainted with the wonderful structure of insects, and of other animals low in the scale, they would not be found sticking pins into flies, or torment ing cats; nor, when men, would they treat those noble domestic animals, the horse and the ox, with cruelty. The girl who has learned to derive enjoyment from observing.the operations and watching the metamorphoses of insects, who knows their history, and is conversant with their structure, habits, and curious eco nomy, will mark these circumstances in animals higher in the scale; and, ascending _to her own species, will learn also the elevation of her own nature. As she grows up to womanhood, she will feel more intensely the delicacy and dignity of the feminine character, and resist with more force the temptations which always beset innocence, amiability, and inexperience, both from without and from within. The mind rationally occupied with the study of nature, will no longer seek refuge from ennui in bad novels; and the same superior taste for information, and the same admiration of the wisdom of Nature, as displayed in her works, will'lead to a more select choice of companions, male as well as female. To procure the advantages resulting from the knowledge of Natural History, at the easiest rate of labour, recourse must be had to scientific study, which is to the acquirement of knowledge what machinery is to the production of manufactures. To render this machinery available to every reader, and especially to young per sons, without the aid of a teacher, is the principal object of the Magazine of Natural History; in conducting which we have only to assure our readers, that the most unremitting exertion on our part will be continued, in order to secure success, and to procure for the work the honourable reputation of having given an impulse to the mind of the country in matters of Natural Science. 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.