[OBSERVATION.-The several chapters of this work, though numbered continu-
ously, may be classified into three parts or divisions. First, The Elementary or Ab-
stract Portion, contained in the first and second chapters; Second, The Historical
Portion, contained in the third and following chapters, to the eleventh, inclusive; and
Third, The Practical Portion, contained in the remaining chapters of the work. A
corresponding arrangement into Books or Parts, such as is sometimes made in the
treatises, has not been adopted, from believing that such subdivisions practically di-
minish facility of reference, and that it will be sufficient to call the attention of the
reader to this essential feature in the composition.]