CIV INTRODUCTION. 



pose; and to Messrs. Clift and Owen, the 

 conservator and assistant-conservator of the 

 museum, for their readiness, on all occasions, 

 to show and explain to me such articles under 

 their care as I had occasion to inspect ; to 

 the friendly attentions of the latter gentleman 

 I am particularly indebted, not only for his 

 exertions to serve me in the museum, but for 

 his valuable information on numerous scien- 

 tific subjects, on which I had occasion to con- 

 sult him, which his deep knowledge of com- 

 parative anatomy, and familiar acquaintance 

 with the classification of the animal kingdom, 

 enabled him to give me. To the gentlemen 

 connected with the British Museum and that 

 of the Zoological Society, I have to make 

 similar acknowledgments for the kindness and 

 information with which my inquiries on several 

 subjects have uniformly been answered. 



As the first volume of this work was 

 printed before the publication of Dr. Roget's 

 admirable Treatise, it will not be deemed 

 wonderful that, in some instances, we have 

 treated of the same subject. The history, 

 habits, and instincts of animals, are so inti- 

 mately connected with their physiological 

 structure, especially their external anatomy, 



