FORTALE. 



PREFACE. 



Nærværende Værk, til hvis Ildgivel^ie Staten 

 liar bevilget de fornodne Midler, blev paabegyiidt 

 for mere end et Decenniiira siden; men forskjellige 

 uforudseede Omstændigheder bar bevirket, at Ud- 

 ai'beidelsen af samme i længere Tid har maattet 

 standses, saa at forst nu Værket kan ndkomme i 

 sin Helhed. (Jprindelig var Bevillingen givet til 

 den fortsatte Udgivelse af Fauna litforalis Norregiæ, 

 hvoraf tidligere er irdkommet 3 Bind, forfattede 

 dels af min Fader alene, dels af barn i Forening 

 med nu afdode Overlæge Danielssen og Konservator 

 Koren. Da det forekom mig, at denne Titel paa en 

 mindre beldig Maade vikle komme til at begrændse 

 Stoffet, tillod jeg mig at foreslaa, at Benævnelsen 

 littoralis ndgik og at Værket berefter skulde nd- 

 komme under den ber anvendte Titel. Det af mig 

 til nærværende Bind valgte Stof er ogsaa af den 

 Art, at det vanskeligt vikle passe indenfor Rammen 

 af den tidligere Titel, da jo ber ikke blot Sodyr, 

 men ogsaa en Del ægte Ferskvandsdyr er omhand- 

 lede. Idethele syntes mig, at den mere omfattende 

 Titel, Fauna Non-egier, bedre maatte kunne svare 

 til sin Hensigt, da der herunder vil kunne leveres 

 Bidrag til Belysning af bvilkensomhelst Branclie af 

 vor Fauna, der maatte frembyde en særlig Interesse. 

 I Overensstemmelse med de 3 udkomne Bind af 

 Fauna littoralis, tror jeg at nærværende Værk bor 

 indeholde Afbandlinger af en mere udforlig ana- 

 tomisk-biologisk Character, behandlende visse ud- 

 valgte Dele af vor Fauna og udstyrede paa en saa- 

 vidt nraligt tidsmæssig Maade, saavel hvad Text 

 som rianeber angaar. I et andet, paa engelsk .skre- 

 vet Værk har jeg paabeg^-ndt en Bearbeidelse af 

 vor Fauna efter et herfra temmelig torskjelligt Prin- 

 eip, idet dette Værk er nærmest Iberegnet paa at 



The pi'esent '\\-iirk, for the publication of which 

 the (lovernment has granted the necessary funds, 

 was begun more than ten years ago ; but various 

 unforeseen circumstances having combined to put a 

 stop to the ]ireparation of the work for a considerable 

 time, it is only now that it can he published in its 

 entirety. The grant was originally given for the 

 continued publication of Fauna littoralis Norvegiæ, 

 of which three vohimes had already been published, 

 written pai"tly by my father alone, partly by 

 him in conjunction with the late Dr. Danielssen, 

 and Curator Koren. As it seemed to me that this 

 title would Kmit the subject-matter somewhat 

 infelicitously, I ventured to suggest that the desig- 

 nation litforalis should be struck out, and that the 

 work should hereafter appear under the title here 

 em])lo_\-ed. The matter chosen by me for the pre- 

 sent volume, is also of such a kind, that it could 

 hardly be included under the former title, as not 

 only marine animals, but also some true fresh-water 

 animals are here treated of. Upon the whole, it 

 seemed to me that the more comprehensive title. 

 Fauna Norvegiæ, would better answer its jiurpose, as 

 under it, contributions might be made to the infor- 

 mation concerning any branch (if our fauna that 

 might offer special interest. In accordance with the 

 3 published volumes of Fauna littoralis, I think that 

 the present work should contain treatises of a more 

 exhaustive anatomical-biological character, dealing 

 with certain parts of our fauna, and got up as 

 far as possible in a manner suitable to the times, 

 as regards text and plates. In another work, 

 written in English, I have begun an account of our 

 faiina on a very dift'erent principle to this, as it is 

 rather calculated to give, as far as possible, a brief, 



