AN EXPLANATORY STATEMENT 



IMAGINE a man who has put up a rough shanty or log hut, 

 innocent of any art or science, but placed upon a piece of 

 ground with a fine outlook. Next imagine the shanty to 

 have fallen down from age and inherent defects. Finally, 

 suppose an arhitect with knowledge and skill, recognizing 

 the capacity of the plot , and proceeding to build on the site 

 where once stood the shanty a house worthy of the situation. 

 In these circumstances, if one were told that the architect 

 had gone to the ignorant amateur builder of the first 

 shanty and had asked him to introduce the new house 

 to the public, what would one say? One would say that 

 obviously here was one of the things which don't happen 

 a miracle, in fact. Yet it has happened. Mr. Massingham 

 has asked me to write an introduction to his book ! A 

 quarter of a century ago, at the request of Mr. Fisher 

 Unwin, I made a collection of the dog stories and, later, of 

 stories of other animals from the correspondence pages of 

 the Spectator. I did this though I was ignorant of the 

 sciences of biology and zoology illustrated by the said 

 stories, and also, I may add, almost as unlearned in the 

 metaphysical and psychological problems involved. Of 

 course I ought to have said " No " to Mr. Unwin ; but then 

 I was quite young at the time, and if not foolish, at any rate 

 as a young man no doubt ought to be, keen on trying my 

 hand at anything and everything that could be got at with 

 a pen. It was not only my theory but my practice at that 



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