APPENDIX II 



SOME OF THE "BEST BOOKS" ON ANIMAL LIFE 



To recommend the "best books" on any subject is apt to be like 

 prescribing the "best diet." Both depend upon age, constitution, 

 and opportunities. The best book for me is that which does me 

 most good, but it may be tedious reading for you. Moreover, 

 books are often good for one purpose and not for another ; that 

 which helps us to realise the beauty and marvel of animal life may 

 be of little service to those who are preparing for any of the 

 numerous examinations in science. But the greatest difEculty is 

 that we are often too much influenced by contemporary opinicm, 

 so that we lose our power of appreciating intellectual per- 

 spective. 



The best way to begin the study of Natural History is to 

 observe animal life, but the next best way is to read such accounts 

 of observation and travel as are to be found in the works of 

 Gilbert White, Thoreau, Richard Jefferies, and John Burroughs, 

 or in Bates's Naturalist on the Amazons, Belt's Naturalist in 

 Nicaragua, and Darwin's Voyage of the '^'^ Beagle." Sooner or later 

 the student will seek more systematic books, but it is not natural 

 that he should begin with a text-book of elementary biology. 



In introducing you to the literature devoted to the study of 

 animals, I shall avoid the bias of current opinion by following the 

 history of zoology. I shall first name some of the more technical 

 books ; secondly, some of the more popular ; thirdly, some of the 

 more theoretical. If I may make the distinction, I shall first 

 mention books on zoology, secondly those on natural history, 

 thirdly those on biology. 



A. Zoology. 



(i) We can form a vivid conception of the history of zoology 

 by comparing it with our own. In our childhood we knew and 



