INTRODUCTION: 



THE advantages to be derived from a collection of objects of 

 Natural History, are too apparent to require any illustration ; 

 and their beauty and variety of their forms have, in a preserved 

 state, ever attracted the admiration of mankind, as being 

 next in point of interest to the living animals. Although 

 good drawings and engravings will give us a perfect know- 

 ledge of the general appearance of animals, still they are de- 

 ficient in many particulars ; for by them we cannot be made 

 acquainted with the texture of the skin, nor the structure of 

 the hair or feathers. 



The naturalist, on all occasions, prefers a reference to the 

 stuffed animal to that of a pictorial representation, as by this 

 means he is enabled to trace, compare, and decide, on the 

 creature in its several characters and relations. 



In museums and cabinets are brought together natural ob- 

 jects of all kinds, from the most extreme points of the globe ; 

 arid presented in a form that enables us, as it were, to look 

 upon the mighty field of nature at one view ; with the addi- 

 tional advantage of having the various Classes and Genera 

 placed in systematic order, to investigate which, in their na- 

 tive wilds, would be the business of several lifetimes. Be- 

 sides, we can here contemplate, without dread, the most de- 

 structive and furious quadrupeds, and the most noxious reptiles. 

 Here we can muse upon and study the animals which have 

 created in us the highest of sentiments while reading the tale 

 of the traveller, or the singularity of organization, pointed out 

 by the naturalist. 



