2 BRITISH MAMMALS 



has dealt with MammaHa generally, his work in the Cambridge 

 Natural History Series being the latest study of the subject, 

 and in this book a good deal of incidental information is given 

 regarding the mammals of the British Islands. The admirable 

 work published by Dr. J. H. Blasius in 1857 on the mam- 

 malian fauna of Germany and Central Europe contains much 

 information on the structure and habits of beasts which also 

 inhabit Britain ; and the great German palaeontologist, Dr. 

 Karl A. von Zittel, in his classical Handbook of Paleontology^ 

 has incidentally described and illustrated a good many extinct 

 British mammals. Students who may be attracted to the study 

 of British mammals are also advised to read the files of such 

 periodicals as the Zoologist (London) and the Field newspaper, 

 both of which contain first-hand information of great value 

 on British Zoology. To all of the above-mentioned writers 

 and publications the author of this book is greatly indebted 

 for information, and to these separate works he refers such 

 of his readers as are desirous of learning something more 

 about the beasts of their own country, and who might wish 

 for further detailed information connected with the anatomical 

 structure or life-habits of the British Mammalia beyond what 

 can be given within the space of this volume. 



To the accumulated and carefully sifted facts recorded by 

 this formidable array of writers the author has ventured to 

 add his own observations and theories. Although a good 

 deal of his time has been spent in Africa, he has nevertheless 

 from his youth up been a student of the British Mammalia 

 in all parts of the United Kingdom. His first interest in 

 British beasts was no doubt prompted by their aesthetic aspect, 

 their beauty of outline or colour ; and though he has since 

 become entangled in the fascinations of comparative anatomy, 

 the strongest attraction which beasts and birds still possess 

 for him lies in the part they fill (or should fill) in British 

 landscapes. 



It may be necessary to apologise to the world outside Britain 

 for any attempt to attach importance to our existing mammalian 



