SUBSCRIBERS' EDITION 



SPEC I ALLY PREPARED FOR WILLIAM PATT1SON. 



THE 



NATURAL HISTORY 



OF 



ANIMALS 



(CLASS MAMMALIA-ANIMALS WHICH SUCKLE THEIR YOUNG), 



IN WORD AND PICTURE. 

 BY CARL VOGT, AND FRIEDRICH SPECHT, 



PROFESSOR OF NATURAL HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GENEVA. OF STUTTGART, THE DISTINGUISHED DELINEATOR OF ANIMAL LIFE. 



TRANSLATED AND EDITED WITH ADDITIONS 



BY GEO. G. CHISHOLM, M.A., B.SC., F.R.G.S., 



AUTHOR OP "THE WORLD AS IT is;" 



TRANSLATOR OF "SWITZERLAND; ITS SCENERY AND ITS PEOPLE " ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED BY ABOVE THREE HUNDRED FINE ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD. 



THE SCOPE OF THE WORK. The present 

 Work is devoted to the natural history of the 

 animals that suckle their young, and in the ac- 

 count of them here given the pen of an eminent 

 naturalist co-operates with the pencil of an equally 

 eminent delineator of animal life to produce a 

 view of the subject more satisfactory than what 

 will be found in any previous publication. In 

 this treatise the reader will find along with 

 admirable pictorial illustrations a description of 

 all the principal species, from such ponderous 

 creatures as the elephant, the whale, and the hip- 

 popotamus, to the tiny mouse; from the bat that 

 wings its way through the air, to the mole that 

 burrows through the earth; from the apes and 

 monkeys that have their four limbs furnished with 

 hands, to the seal and walrus that have theirs in 

 the shape of paddles, or the dolphin and por- 

 poise that have no hind limbs at all; from the 

 lion, tiger, wolf, and all their savage tribe, to the 

 timid sheep and rabbit; from the many Mammals 

 that bring forth their young differing but little in 

 appearance from their parents, to the kangaroo 

 that carries its immature young ones in a pouch, 

 and the duckmole and echidna that hatch their 

 young from eggs all being portrayed in the 

 most vivid manner, and their habits, appearance, 

 and place in nature being set forth in sufficient 

 detail. 



THE INTEREST OF THE SUBJECT. As to the 



inherent attractiveness of the subject thus dealt with 

 little need be said, more especially in these days, 

 when all branches of natural history are studied with 

 the keenest enthusiasm ; still, we may remark, that 

 as the Mammalia comprise all those animals that 

 are most useful to, and most closely associated with 

 man, the department of Zoology here treated is, 

 for readers in general, one that is invested with 

 features of interest beyond all others. 



THE AUTHOR AND THE TEXT. The name of 

 the distinguished naturalist Carl Vogt, who has 

 long been recognized as one of the leaders of 

 scientific thought and one of the masters of 

 scientific exposition on the continent of Europe, is 

 sufficient to stamp the work as one of high 

 character, more especially when we know that it 

 is a product of its author's mature years and 

 extended studies. These studies have ranged 

 over almost the entire field of natural science, and 

 have embraced every department that is likely to 

 shed light on the subject which he here discusses. 

 Moreover, the author has not been a mere student 

 of books and of museum specimens, but has him- 

 self visited the haunts of many of those animals 

 which he describes, and consequently much of his 

 information regarding their homes and their habits 

 is given from personal observation. As a writer he 

 has long been one of that brilliant band, so emi- 

 nently characteristic of the present day, who seek 

 to bring science to the knowledge of all, recognizing 



