PREFACE 



IN the following pages I have attempted to raise a corner 

 of the veil which shrouds the face of Nature. To disclose 

 her secrets entirely is beyond the power of any human being, 

 so we must be satisfied with a glimpse of a feature here 

 and there which may seem likely to awaken our interest. 



There are those who would deny to animals the posses- 

 sion of intelligence ; but I trust the pen pictures in this 

 book will prove that they are ingenious, and that many 

 of them are extraordinarily so. 



Animal Ingenuity covers a wide field, so wide that I 

 have been compelled to enlist the aid of a number of 

 standard works. Amongst those into which I have delved 

 somewhat deeply are Dr Wheeler's delightful book on 

 Ants ; the works of Mr Chas. Dixon, who so charmingly 

 describes Birds and their habits ; Professor Dittmar's 

 monumental work on the Reptiles of the world ; Dr 

 Dakin's Pearls ; Mr Warburton's Spiders ; Professor J. A. 

 Thompson's Study of Animal Life^ and, needless to add, 

 that mine of information, the Cambridge Natural History. 

 To the authors of these works I make my excuse, that 

 their writings are practically indispensable to one who 

 would pen a book of the nature of Animal Ingenuity. 



My publishers throughout have shown me such kind- 

 ness and consideration that I wish to take the opportunity 

 of thanking them here. 



C. A. E. 



LONDON, 



517703 



