PREFACE 



Perhaps no book was ever so soon, so generally, and with so little envy, 

 admitted to take its place at the head of that department of knowledge to 

 which it belongs, as the Regne Animal of the illustrious Baron Cuvier. 

 This is a high, but a just tribute, both to the work and the author ; for it at 

 once showed that the former is what had long been required, and that the 

 latter was as much beloved for the kindness and urbanity of his manners, as 

 he was admired for the comprehensive range and unprecedented accuracy of 

 his views. 



It must, indeed, be admitted, that, until Cuvier's great work made its 

 appearance, we had no modern systematic arrangement of animals which 

 applied equally to all the Classes, Orders, and Families ;— which brought the 

 extinct species into their proper situations in the living catalogue, and enabled 

 everv discoverer of a new animal, or part of an animal, instantly to connect 

 it with its proper tribe or family. Important, however, as are the labours of 

 this great naturalist, they could not possibly extend beyond the limits of what 

 was known ; and as Cuvier was no speculative theorist, but a rigid adherent 

 to nature and fact, he kept his system considerably within the limits of those 

 who were more speculative, and consequently less accurate. 



For students, no work is equal to that of Cuvier, for it is at once compre- 

 hensive and concise ; and though the student may choose a particular de- 

 partment, and require books more in detail with reference to that department, 

 he must still have the Regne Animal to point out to him the general analo- 

 gies of the living creation. The present work is a complete Cuvier, as re 

 gards the essential part of the arrangement; and it is not a mere translation, 

 but in some respects a new book, embodying the original one. Throughout 

 the whole of it, there will be found original remarks ; but these are alwaj S 

 distinguished from that which belongs to Cuvier, by being inclosed within 

 brackets. This mode of arrangement was thought to be much hotter than 



