VI 



PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT 



the chancre of view between 1874 (the date of Bell's last edition) 

 and 19 10. A few of Bell's paragraphs may, indeed, be utilized, 

 wholly or partially, but the work as a whole will be found so 

 completely altered as to leave hardly any trace of connection 

 between the old and the new. 



It may with truth be stated that no such work has ever 

 been written, or attempted, in the English language. Its 

 publication is bound to give an immense stimulus to the study 

 of British Mammals. 



Division into Sections. — The work will consist of three 

 sections, dealing respectively with the Bats, the Land Mammals, 

 and the Marine Mammals. Besides introductory chapters to 

 the various orders, each genus and species will be the subject 

 of an article complete in itself and divided into two portions, 

 the one treating of the habits and life history, the other explain- 

 ing the technical aspects of each animal. 



Habits and Life History. — The habits will be fully 

 traced, thus making the popular side of the subject very 

 complete. The literary and historical aspect is n(3t neglected, 

 the author having made it a point to quote from the best British 

 writers, with a view to illustrate the work of his predecessors 

 and fellow-workers. 



Technical Aspects. — The technical portions of each 

 article will be ample, and contain authoritative details and ex- 

 planations of matters which, although they admittedly appeal 

 rather to the museum worker than to the field naturalist, yet 

 must often be consulted by the latter, and are not at present 

 available in any single work. Much of this part of the book 

 will be based on original work of the author, and it goes without 

 saying that a treatise of this character could emanate only from 

 one who has probably had, in his own particular line, a unique 

 experience of combined work both in the field and in the 

 museum, and whose studies on European Mammals have given 



