Excerpt from Essays on Scientific and Other Subjects: Contributed to the Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews

HE Essays collected in this volume were written in great part during journeys or voyages which I have been accustomed to make in the autumn Of every year under the conviction, justified by experience, that in no other way could I equally maintain health amid the labours Of a London professional life. During the last twenty years, aided by facilities unknown before, I have repeatedly visited America, and the nearer parts of Africa and Asia hastily, I must admit, yet never without some good attained. Travelling frequently alone, however, and Often by routes rarely followed, it would have been difficult for me to sustain the solitude Of particular times and places in such journeys, with out some personal occupation constantly within reach. This occupation I have found in writing the several papers now republished, or such principal portions Of them as formed a framework, to be filled up on my return home. The employment so gained was as agreeable as beneficial perhaps not less so, from the contrast it Often afforded to the scenes and Objects around me, at the time when I had recourse to it. The greater number Of the Essays, thus composed.

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.