ADDRESS. 



Some apology may be thought necessary on offering to public notice an 

 addition to the already overgrown stock of Periodicals ; and we trust our 

 Readers will find a sufficient one in the following brief statement of the 

 origin and scope of the present Work. 



Since the taste for Natural History has become so widely diffused, a 

 general complaint has arisen that the facts accumulated by the numerous 

 eminent Naturalists of the present age are either concealed from the 

 ordinary reader beneath a rigid scientific phraseology, or are placed 

 beyond his reach in works of great expense and rarity, and frequently 

 written in a foreign language. 



To embody the results of their labours in a series of concise descriptions 

 as free as possible from technicalities, and to accompany them with inter- 

 esting extracts from the latest and most authentic foreign Works, would, 

 we imagine, remedy in a great measure the inconvenience complained of. 

 We have also made such arrangements as will secure for our humble and 

 inexpensive Work, Graphic Illustrations of unquestionable fidelity, and 

 creditable as works of art. 



But while we endeavour to open a source of entertainment to the gene- 

 ral reader, we shall at the same time, in all our descriptions, aim at laying 

 the foundation of a scientific knowledge of Zoology. Possessed of this 

 knowledge, the visitor of a Menagerie derives a rational pleasure from 

 sources infinitely more numerous and diversified than can interest a com- 

 mon observer. He goes not merely to enjoy the feeling of security which 

 arises from the contemplation of the encaged Monarch of beasts, nor is he 

 dependent for his amusement on the sagacious feats of the ponderous 

 Elephant, or on the nimble antics of the Ape ; but in tracing the modifi- 

 cations of form which adapt each animal to its destined sphere, he finds in 

 every species a field for interesting meditation. 



Our aim will be accomplished if, while we are instrumental in affording 

 amusement for a leisure hour, we should be fortunate enough to succeed 

 in inducing the reader unversed in Zoology to turn his attention seriously 

 to its scientific study, and to grapple with those works which have in- 

 struction more especially for their object. No study, he may be assured, 

 is repaid by a more abundant store of rational and innocent entertainment, 

 or opens a wider scope for serious reflection on the wisdom and power of 

 a beneficent Creator. 



y* All Communications for the Editor must be addressed (post paid) 

 to the care of Messrs. Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane. 



