Ian 



ised myself 

 . a 



ecipient o 

 occasion- 

 tiers from 



E 



which 



and many otheillPnd ml 



decade past I have been t) 



continuous special correspont 

 ally amounting to an inquisition embracing 

 all parts of the United States, and even rerm 

 tions, mainly penned by young students of Natural His- 

 tory, who, having been deceived by some misleading 

 spirit in my previously published pages, have sought my 

 opinion as though consulting the oracle. 



These letters have embraced questions, I had almost 

 said, upon every conceivable subject of zoology; ques- 

 tions which frequently would have taxed the erudition 

 of Humboldt himself, to say nothing of an occasional 

 inquiry which would as certainly for the moment have 

 annihilated his equanimity. 



The correspondence which these letters have evoked 

 from me if used as MS. would yield a book of no mean 

 dimensions, and the time and labor involved therein, 

 taken also in connection with the frequent repetition of 

 the same queries from various widely separated locali- 

 ties, continually suggested the idea that a popular vol- 

 ume based upon such questions might " meet a long- 

 felt want," as it certainly would meet a genuine need. 



