PREFACE. 
THE present volume deals with the members of the Carnivora, 
with which most people are familiar, viz., the Cats, and I am 
again indebted to Mr. Lydekker for a most useful summary of 
our present knowledge of these animals, and also for his very 
interesting conclusion to the work, wherein he deals with the 
extinct members of the Order. 
To one trained like myself, by long years of work in the 
field of ornithological synonymy and literature, the nomen- 
clature employed for some of the Mammalia appears some- 
what strange; but Iam glad to say that I have induced the 
author to latinise the generic term “ Linsang” into Zinsanga. 
The duplication of the generic and specific names, for the 
necessity of which I always strongly insist, whenever Linnean 
specific names have been misappropriated for generic titles 
by subsequent writers, appears to be necessary in only three 
instances in the present volume. Mr. Lydekker, as is well 
known, does not hold with the practice, but, in my opinion, 
the name of the Common Genet should be Genetta genetta 
(L.), that of the Meerkat, Swricata suricatta (Erxl.), and that 
of Daubenion’s Civet, Fossa fossa (Schreb.). 
R. BOWDLER SHARPE. 
