PREFACE 



THIS volume is what its name suggests. It is a 

 record of observations in natural science. It is an 

 endeavour to gather many and varied facts into one 

 common theme. The observations which it describes 

 have been collected at intervals between the years 

 1914 and 1916 in the Himalayan valley of Hazara. 

 They have been made slowly, gathered intermittently 

 and then arranged with some attempt at order so as 

 to appear in a collected whole. 



My narrative will fall into different parts in accord- 

 ance as my observations refer to different forms of 

 animal life. I will commence with a brief description 

 of the valley itself in order that the reader may 

 appreciate the more striking geographical features of 

 the district in which the subsequent observations were 

 made. In the next four chapters I will discuss the 

 habits, instincts and general economy of certain 

 species of ants that are to be found everywhere in 

 the valley. I will then pass to a series of observa- 

 tions on the natural history of spiders, especially with 

 regard to the wonderful geometrical powers employed 

 in the construction of their circular snares. In the 

 tenth, eleventh and twelfth chapters I have collected 

 a number of varied facts and suggestions that relate 

 to the economy of insect life. In the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth chapters I have discussed some matters of 



