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INTRODUCTORY PREFACE. 



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REHM'S immortal book, " Life of Animals," . one of the most 

 fascinating works ever written upon natural history. The author 

 devoted his life to a study of animate nature, seeking out the 

 creatures in their wild state and making most intimate acquaint- 

 ance with their habits, traits and chai ,teristics. Many years 

 were spent by him in the great forests, where he seemed to court 

 danger in ord^ aat he might arrive at knowledge of the truth. 

 The results of his studies and observations are shown in this mas- 

 terly production, which, while detailing all the facts essential to 

 scientific knowledge, clothes his narrative in descriptive details that 

 hold the attention of old and young as strongly as the most thrill- 

 ing romances. 



The new and revised edition of this work, carefully cor- jted 

 and brought down by the scholarly Dr. William Haacke anu Pro- 

 fessor Pechuel-Loesche, the latter no ss distinguished as an ex- 

 plorer than as a naturalist, has passed under the hands o f Richard 

 Schmidtlein, the celebrated German naturalist and author, who has 

 r reserved in it all the rich and splendid material of the original, 

 s omitted details and descriptions of a strictly scientific nature, the object being to furnish a 

 : or popular ^rte instruction anr 1 for the use of schools. Professor Schmidtlein, in his scholarly 

 itertaining i ision, made such changes as the progress of modern science demanded and per- 

 his work in a manner to call forth the highest praise from critics everywhere, 

 e present edition has been translated from the German by linguists of distinction who have in 

 Dpiest manner transferred to the English tongue the rich, exuberant and fascinating style of the 



1 ; while competent scholars have carefully revised the translation, making only such changes 



2 calculated to bring it closer to the mind of the English reader. Thus is afforded practically a 

 :te work brought down to date, containing substantially all the matter 1 be found in Brehm's 



of Animals," adapted to meet and reach the popular taste and rendered into English in such 

 r as to make it clear and intelligible to every one, the child as well as the adult, only those 



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f $*| s being omitted which are little known and of interest to none but specialists. 



rr<l le book is designed to meet in the highest degree a great popular need, technical terms and 



oientific descriptions being avoided, whenever possible, and it is invaluable as a work of reference 



study. It not only contains narratives of Brehm's exciting personal experiences and observa- 



n forest and field, but also those of all other leading natuxalists and explorers of the world, 



intimate touch with animate nature inspired them to speak in words that glow with interest and 



. rill the reader. 



•' most attractive feature of the present work is the superb illustrations, which include, with few 



ntons, all that are contained in Brehm's complete work, and also numerous additions designer" nd 



at great expense and including the best efforts of the greatest artists in delineation of aal 



e work of these distinguished artists, supplemented with faithful mechanical reproductions, has 



in the presentation of the various animals p.?cisely as they appear in a state of nature, the 



>eing of a size to enable the student '„o obtain a most accurate knowledge of each creature, 



rents and teachers can be assured that n> ing is exaggerated, but that every detail is gn a 



)lute fidelity. Too frequently it is the r :e that children are shown mere caricatures of beasts 



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