PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION 



IN this edition the finest known specimens of antlers, horns, 

 tusks, and skins are, so far as possible, recorded. It has been 

 found impracticable in some instances to verify the measure- 

 ments of trophies in distant parts of the world ; and such 

 records must accordingly be taken on the responsibility of their 

 respective owners or those who have been good enough to 

 measure them. It is to be regretted that one pair of hands 

 and a steel -tape are not responsible for the measurements of 

 all the actual "records." One of the many difficulties in con- 

 nection with compilation of this nature is due to the circum- 

 stance that different measurements of the same specimen are 

 often sent ; this arising sometimes from the use of a common 

 tape or string, instead of a steel -measure. With the horns 

 of freshly killed hollow -horned ruminants an allowance for 

 shrinkage should be made when comparing with older trophies. 

 An average specimen of an Ovis ammon horn, for instance, will 

 frequently shrink half an inch in length and proportionately 

 in girth after it has left the field. 



With the Cervida many difficulties have arisen as to 

 comparison ; and I may point out that although length of 



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