Depending on the hard- and software used to read this text and their settins, not all elements may displayed as intended.

Archaic, unusual and inconsistent spelling, grammar and sentence constructions have been retained; accents etc. for French and German have not been corrected unless listed below.

Paragraph numbering has been retained, also when this was not serving any obvious purpose and/or was not contiguous.

The use of italicised and non-italicised reference letters in the text has not been standardised.

The hierarchy in (sub-)section headings has been based on the text, due to the absence of a detailed table of contents and lack of visible differences between the various levels of (sub-)section headings in the source document.

The plates were originally bound separate from the text, but in the source document used they were bound together with the text. Due to the way of binding parts of most plates are invisible and discoloured near and in the gutter. Captions and credits in and around the plates have been reconstructed as far as possible.

Larger versions of the plates may not be available in all file formats, but may be accessed through the browser version available at www.gutenberg.org. In the descriptions of individual items hyperlinks have only been provided to the Plates, not to individual figures in the plates.

Page xv-xvii and Index: the (alphabetical) order of entries has not been corrected.

Errata for page 49: ‘last line’ refers to footnote 28.

Page 32, Fig. 2. and description: as printed in the source document, even though the description does not fully fit the illustration (and vice versa).

Page 74, the end, Fig. 9 and 10: 9 and 10 are reference numbers within Figure 4 rather than figure numbers.

Page 78-79, Eight magnifying lenses ... the list annexed to these Essays: there are no Figures 5 through 12 in Plate III. Several of the items described may be seen in other Plates, but with different reference and figure numbers.

Page 83-84, The two large lenses at F, Fig. 3: there are no large lenses at F, Fig.3 in Plate IX or in Plate III (or in any other Plate).

Page 84, Massachuset’s States: as printed in the source document.

Page 162, ... for the feeding the growth ...: as printed in the source document.

Page 182, ... one of these, i i, b c, Fig. 3. Plate XIII, ... and Page 183, ... the middle part i i ...: there are no reference letters i in the illustration.

Page 205, They first fold back the parts A B: the reference letters are not present in the drawing.

Page 352, Skin of the lump sucker: Plate XVIII. Fig. 7 falls in the gutter of the plate, and has no caption.

Page 446, E. eliptica: eliptica and elliptica were both used.

Page 623, the blea, the bark, and the wood: as printed in the source document.

Page 636, The roundish mouth ... a thorny margin: as printed in the source document.

Page 691, Cold-arbour lane: possibly Coldharbour Lane or Cool Arbour Lane.

Page 695, The English collection contains ...: the numbers given do not add up to the total.

Page 701, knapeseed: probably an error for knapeweed or knapweed.

Page 703, Diptera, entries Oestrus: Footnote 88 continues for three pages (294-296) in the source document.

Plate XXX, Publishd: as printed in the source document.

Changes made

Footnotes have been moved to under the text to which they belong. Where necessary, page numbers in references to footnotes have been adjusted accordingly.

The book uses long dashes as ditto marks; several of these have been replaced with the dittoed text. Where necessary, the word Ibid. in references has been replaced with the actual title.

Minor obvious typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected silently.

The Errata have already been corrected in the text.

Fractions have been standardised ^m/_n.

Page xxiv: N. B. moved from bottom of page xxiii to bottom of list.

Page xxvii: deau douce changed to d’eau douce.

Page 41: fA and Ga changed to fA and gA.

Page 50: pour les mois changed to pour le mois.

Page 52: that it would changed to than it would.

Page 77: The stage, Fig. fghi changed to The stage, Fig. 1, fghi; the screw at a changed to the screw at a.

Page 81: Plate III. B, is the stage changed to Fig. 3 B, is the stage.

Page 85: that at C, Fig. 4 changed to that at C, Fig. 3.

Page 172: their divine original changed to their divine origin.

Page 216: the sphinx atropos squeaks changed to The sphinx atropos squeaks.

Page 361: friends, says the author, who are ... changed to friends,” says the author, “who are ....

Page 387: motion of the fluids are changed to motion of the fluids is.

Page 446: E. eliptica changed to E. elliptica.

Page 476: accuminatus changed to acuminatus.

Page 525: 340. changed to 240.

Page 560: Plate XXII. Fig. 66 changed to Plate XXVII. Fig. 66.

Page 703: page 187, note 623 changed to page 187 note, 623.

Page 704: muscle changed to mussel (Cancer pisum).

Index: the spelling of some entries has been standardised with that used in the body text.