PREFACE. 



The present work is based chiefly upon the Intro- 

 duction to the author's * Manual of Zoology,' much 

 of which is given here in an unaltered form. A con- 

 siderable portion, however, of the Introduction has 

 been here recast, whilst fully two-thirds of the work 

 consists of new matter. Illustrations also have been 

 introduced wherever such appeared to be necessary. 



Many important subjects have, of course, been ne- 

 cessarily treated very superficially, or altogether omit- 

 ted, as unsuitable for a merely elementary work. It 

 is hoped, however, that most of those subjects are 

 touched upon, a knowledge of which would be useful 

 to the student of living or extinct forms of life, or 

 to the general reader. 



Toronto, Canada, December \y 1871. 





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