The opening of Preface
The ancients boasted of their SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. These were the Pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Aqueducts of Rome, the Labyrinth on the banks of the Nile, the Pharos of Alexandria, the Walls of Babylon, and the temple of Diana at Ephesus. But the WONDERS known to those of the present day, may be counted by hundreds: wonders of Nature, wonders of Science, wonders of Art, and Miscellaneous wonders; each department full, to overflowing, of themes of the richest instruction and deepest interest.
To present some of the most striking of these wonders, in a manner that shall be acceptable to the man of science and profound research, and at the same time full of interest to the general reader, and the family at the fireside, has been the aim of the editor of the following pages.