PREFACE.

It has been Mr.

Loudon's custom to preface each Volume of the Magazine of Natural History with an Address to the Contribu- tors and Subscribers ; and the adoption of such a course might naturally be expected from the present Conductor, upon the occa- sion of bringing to a close the First Volume of the New Series.

Prior, however, to the commencement of another year, it is hardly possible to form any decided estimate of the opinion which the Subscribers at large entertain of the general character of the Ma- gazine under the existing arrangements ; and, until all uncertainty upon this point is removed, it would, perhaps, be premature to dis- cuss the present condition, or anticipate the future success, of the work.

The Editor, however, feels bound to acknowledge the support afforded to this Periodical, at a period when the attempt to carry it on promised to be attended with considerable difficulty, from the withdrawal in 1 836 of a large number of the Contributors, and the establishment of a Journal devoted to Zoology and Botany, by par- ties in no way dependent on their literary labours.