vi INTRODUCTION 



of mullet and other fish, while manatee were not 

 rare. The streams and swamps were full of alli- 

 gators; in fact the wonderful wild fauna of our 

 region filled the land and the waters everywhere. 

 It has seemed to me fitting that some record of 

 this life should' be made, in view of the fact that it 

 is so rapidly disappearing and forever. Already 

 a number of species of our animals and plants are 

 exterminated from this the only area in the United 

 States in which they have ever been found. 



In writing of our animals and plants I have made 

 no attempt to use the very latest scientific names 

 applied to them. Every new manual changes a large 

 proportion of these, for our scientific nomenclature 

 seems to be in an unhappy period of transition. 



I am under great obligations to Mr. John B. 

 Henderson for repeated cruises made with him in 

 his dredging boat the Eolis, and for many col- 

 lecting trips in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the 

 Bahamas, where I was able to study much of the 

 tropical life of Lower Florida where it originated; 

 also for much assistance in preparing this volume. 



Dr. John K. Small, of the New York Botanical 

 Garden, has been my companion and mentor 

 during a great many collecting trips in our terri- 



