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PREFACE 



r I ^HE whole of the articles collected in this 

 -L volume have previously appeared in period- 

 ical literature; the great majority in Knowledge, 

 but others in Nature, the Field, and the Asian. 

 To the editors of these journals the Author herewith 

 returns his best thanks for the kind permission 

 to reproduce the articles in their present form ; 

 special thanks being due to Messrs. Witherby, 

 the publishers of Knowledge, for the loan of some 

 of the original illustrations. 



The importance of " nature study," now coming 

 so much to the fore, is strongly insisted upon in 

 several of the articles. 



In a few instances two or more articles have 

 been combined, but for the most part they are re- 

 produced as much as possible in their original form, 

 with such alterations as have been found necessary 

 in order to bring them up to date, and with a 



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