INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS OF REPTILES 9 



LACK OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE REGARDING REPTILES. 

 While birds have been well taken care of in books, museums, 

 zoological gardens and lectures, and mammals are now com- 

 ing in for a small proportion of the attention they deserve, 

 the reptiles have been greatly neglected. Very few zoological 

 institutions contain collections of reptiles worthy of the name, 

 and the books on this Class are mostly to be written. As a 

 result of this well-nigh universal lack of opportunity for study, 

 the great majority of persons possess very little precise and 

 clear information regarding these creatures. The following 

 chapters are offered merely as a foundation on which to build 

 an acquaintance with a world of living creatures concerning 

 which we are assured that a large number of persons sincerely 

 desire information. 



