PREFATORY NOTE. 



U. S. Geological ais^d Geographical 



Survey of the Territories, 



Washington, D. (7., July "^1, 1877. 



This treatise on Far-bearing Animals of North America, pre- 

 pared by Dr. Elliott Coues, Assistant Surgeon United States 

 Army, at present on duty with the Survey, is published as a 

 specimen fasciculus of a systematic History of North American 

 Mammals, upon which the author has been long engaged. 



In the forthcoming work, which will be published by the 

 Survey as soon as it can be prepared for the press, it is proposed 

 to treat the Mammals of North America, living and extinct, in 

 the same comprehensive and thorough manner in which the 

 single family of the MusteUdce has been elaborated. 



The form of the final work, however, will necessarily be modi- 

 fied, in order to bring the whole matter within reasonable com- 

 pass, as well as to adapt it more perfectly to the wants of the 

 general public, which it is designed to meet. The technical 

 and critical portions of the treatise will be condensed as far as 

 may be deemed compatible with its distinctively scientific charac- 

 ter, while the aspects of the subject which are of more general 

 interest, such as the life-histories of the species and the eco- 

 nomic or other practical relations which animals sustain toward 

 man, will be presented in ample detail. 



Other considerations have also had weight with me in de- 

 ciding to publish this Monograph of the MusteUdce in advance 

 of the general '< History", and as a separate volume. This 

 family of Mammals is one of special interest and importance, 

 from an economic point of view, as all the species furnish valua- 

 ble peltries, some of which, like Sable, Ermine, and Otter, are 

 in great demand ; while their pursuit is an extensive and im- 

 portant branch of our national industries. 



It is believed that the Monograph satisfactorily reflects the 

 present state of our knowledge of these animals, and forms 



