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PREFACE If this Fourth Volume Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 5:56:19 +0000 PREFACE If this Fourth Volume of the Magazine of Natural History shall be found, as we believe it will, to contain a greater variety of articles than either of the three which have preceded it, our Subscribers are indebted to our Contributors, and we think will join with us in offering them sincere and hearty thanks. Autor of the post: Undefined Under the head of " Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 5:43:09 +0000 We have only to refer to the List of Contributors to show their number, and the rank in science of some of their names. Among the improvements introduced in the present Volume, we are desirous of directing the attention of our readers to some made in the General Index. Under the head of " Queries and Answers" will be found, alphabetically arranged, all the subjects queried or answered in the present Volume, with references con- nected with these queries to former Volumes. Autor of the post: Undefined Lastly, under " Corrections," Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 5:28:30 +0000 Under the word " Hints," in this Index, will be found the various suggestions for improvements in the management of the Magazine, or for articles to be written for it, which have been given in this Volume, without having been complied with. Under " Retrospective Cri- ticism" will be found all the subjects criticised in this Volume, with references, as in the case of " Queries and Answers," to former Volumes. Lastly, under " Corrections," the errors in this Volume, and in preceding ones not before noticed, are given. Autor of the post: Undefined " This circumstance has determined us Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 5:14:18 +0000 Among other advantages which will result from this plan being adopted in future, will be that of pointing out to the more profound Naturalist a ready mode of ascertaining the wants of his less instructed brethren ; there being many of the former, we are convinced, who would willingly answer a query, or settle a point of difficulty or criticism, who have neither leisure nor inclination to write longer articles. It is not without regret that we allude to the large proportion of controversial papers contained in the present Volume ; but our regret is less on account of the unsuitableness of these papers to this Magazine (because we are convinced that in the end they will do good), than because of the space which they occupy among the " Original Communications." This circumstance has determined us to arrange all future controversy (and we trust we shall henceforth have very little) under a distinct head, and imme- diately before " Retrospective Criticism ;" where, being in a small type, it will occupy much less room, and may be passed over by those who do not take an interest in the subjects discussed. Autor of the post: Undefined How far any country Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 5:01:39 +0000 AVhen we cast our eyes around, and observe the comforts and enjoyments, principally derived from the productions of Nature, with which we are on every side surrounded, it will naturally occur to us to consider whence these severally are derived, and how they were brought into general use ; whe- ther they are indigenous to the country, or imported into it by the zeal of individuals. This becomes almost a matter of necessity at the present time; for scarcely a day passes, scarcely a single vessel arrives from foreign ports, which does not bring with it something new or strange, either to supply the demands of luxury, already too far extended, or to fulfil some useful end in the varied concerns of commerce. How far any country is capable of relieving the wants of its inhabitants is a question of difficult solution. Autor of the post: Undefined Thus man ingeniously increases Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 4:50:58 +0000 In an uncivilised state, where, of course, the population is much more thinly scattered, the wants of man are comparatively few, and easily satisfied ; and where commerce is unknown, and intercourse with foreigners is unfrequent, the natives are compelled to subsist on the indigenous productions of the country which they inhabit. But as civilisation advances, the population gradually increases, and intercourse with strangers becomes more frequent ; a commercial spirit is by degrees awakened, and the natives of the neighbouring countries mutually ex- change the productions peculiar to each ; new wants arise, and, consequently, new means must be taken to gratify them ; luxurious refinements creep in, and no exertions are left untried to supply the great and increasing demand. Thus man ingeniously increases his supposed necessities, and is ever seeking something new ; which, when the novelty wears off", must be supplied by others, to an interminable series. Autor of the post: Undefined It is the object Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 4:39:12 +0000 The preceding remarks will be found generally applicable to this country which we inhabit. It will be seen, on con- sideration, that very few of the commonest necessaries of life are the produce of our own, but imported from foreign lands : I perhaps ought to say originally ; fruits, domestic animals, the different species of grain, are originally natives of lands far remote from their present naturalised abodes. It is the object of this paper to take a brief and rapid view of the more remarkable of these importations, and of the principal ones which claim this island as their natural habitation. Autor of the post: Undefined The latter seems the more Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 4:22:24 +0000 Britain, from the earliest periods of history, has been known for its mineral treasures. There is no doubt that the Phoe- nicians derived their supplies of tin from this island, though whether through direct or indirect channels is uncertain. The latter seems the more probable hypothesis ; though, per- haps, the uncertainty respecting the position of the Cassiter- ides, which exists in the ancient authors, may have arisen from the care with which the Phoenicians, in the illiberal spirit of monopoly, endeavoured to conceal the source whence that mineral was derived. Autor of the post: Undefined England was also known Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 4:10:20 +0000 Tin was evidently considered much inferior in value to gold and silver, and was abundant in Egypt at a very early period ; the Greeks were well acquainted with it at the time of the Trojan war, and it was in common use among the Jews in the time of Moses. But to return : the Carthaginians, under Himilco, in that celebrated voyage re- specting which we cannot but regret the scantiness of the materials that remain, reached the coast of England, or Al- fionn, as it was then called ; and Pytheas, a voyager from Marseilles previously to the time of Alexander the Great, was acquainted with its southern and eastern shores. England was also known by name to Aristotle, the father of natural history. Autor of the post: Undefined Plumbum album (or tin) Post Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2008 3:52:44 +0000 But it is from the expedition of Julius Caesar into Britain, and the account which he has transmitted to us, that we derive the fullest information of what were the productions and character of the country at that distant period, f He tells us that the coast was thickly peopled, and that cattle (pecora) were abundant. Instead of money, the inhabitants employed iron and copper rings ; the copper was imported, and the supply of iron was but scanty. Plumbum album (or tin) was of frequent occurrence in tlie interior; and the trees were the same as those found in Gaul, except the abies and the fagus The natives bred the hare, the hen, and the goose, yet did not consider it proper to use them for food. 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