The aims of this study of Nature Mysticism, and the methods adopted for attaining them, are described in the introductory chapter. It may be said, by way of special preface, that the nature mystic here portrayed is essentially a "modern." Accordingly, his sympathy with the past is profound: so also is his sense of the reality and continuity of human development, physical, psychic, and mystical. Moreover, he tries to be abreast of the latest critical and scientific conclusions. -from the Preface