P R E F A C E .
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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S79, by
MRS. CHARLES PICKERING,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s : J o h n W i l s o n & S o n ,
C a m b r i d g e .
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T h is work, to the preparation of which the last sixteen years of D r .
P ic k e r i n g ’s life were devoted, forms the last of the contributions to
kn ow led ge due to the zeal and industry in the a ccumulation of facts
which early dis tinguished him. Unhappily, he did not live to see its
publication, but died M arch 17, 1878, while it was passing through the
press.
T h e manuscript, however, was complete, even inclu din g the a lp h ab e tical
index, the whole of which he had prepared, with the exception of the
p a gin g, which it was his custom to render conformable to the printed
sheets of the work ms fa st as he received proofs of them. T h e manuscript
was written with g re a t care, and he had made v e ry few ch an g e s
in the pages, about six hundred and fifteen in number, wh ich he had
seen in type . T h e remainder of the work has a c co rd in g ly been printed
in exact conformity with the manuscript.
T h r e e biographical notices of the author have been added ; one from
the “ U nitarian R e v ie w ” for A p r il, 1878; another from the “ P ro c e e d in g s ”
of the Am e r ic an A c a d em y o f A r t s and Sc iences , Boston, Mas sa chusetts;
and a third from the “ P roceedings ” of the A c a d em y of N a tu ra l S c iences ,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A steel en gra ving of a photograph of D r . P i c k e r i n g , taken a few
years ago, has also been prefixed to the volume.
S. S. P.
B o s t o n , U. S. A., May i , 1879.