xx EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 



was written at Shelford's dictation by his wife. I have 

 altered the title to " Crocodiles, Turtles, and Tortoises," 

 these being the actual reptiles treated of. Chapters V 

 and VI, marked as completed, are in Shelford's hand- 

 writing. The original title of V was " Orthoptera," but 

 as important sections of this order are omitted I have 

 altered it to "Cockroaches, Mantises, and Stick- Insects." 

 Chapter VI the author had called " Beetle Larvae," but as 

 there are also many observations on beetles themselves 

 and their pupae I have altered the title to " Beetles." 

 Chapter VII is entirely, and VIII, except for a few pages, 

 written in pencil, and both are marked as rough drafts. 

 The title of VII was "Flies and Hymenoptera and Ants 

 and Plants," but the manuscript treats only of the latter 

 subject, which I have retained as the title. " Mimicry/' 

 the title of VIII, is unchanged. It should be borne in 

 mind that this chapter, in its polemical style, was influ- 

 enced by a controversy which had been going on at the 

 time when it was written, a controversy in which the 

 author was keenly interested. The dispute concerned 

 the relative importance of two theories of mimicry. 

 Their validity was not called in question only the 

 extent of ground which each was believed by its 

 advocates to cover. The remaining chapters stand 

 somewhat apart from the first eight, and the author 

 had arranged them differently. Chapter IX was the 

 " Natives of Borneo," which I have transferred to the 

 end. It is marked as completed, and, like all the re- 

 maining chapters of this volume, written carefully in 

 ink by the author himself. But it is a very brief 

 account of a very large subject, and it is rendered still 

 less complete by the entire omission of a chapter on 

 "Their Arts and Crafts" which was to have followed 



