136 



THE ZOOLOGIST. 



in taking up any branch of Zoology or Botany, almost invariably 

 commence by giving their ideas of classification, and having 

 laid down a scheme to their satisfaction, proceed to deal seriatim 

 with the species under review, in the order which this classifica- 

 tion indicates. There can be no doubt that this method affords 

 an aid to memory — the key to the classification furnishing, as it 

 were, a route map to the unknown country which has to be 

 explored. Dr. Duncan, however, takes a different view. He 

 says, in effect, " If you want to puzzle a beginner, set before him 

 a scheme of classification (bristling with scientific names) which 



The Koala, or Native Beak of Australia, 

 Phascolarctus cinereiis. 



he cannot understand, for he has learnt nothing of the relation- 

 ships of the various orders, families, and genera, and which he 

 cannot remember for the same reason." His advice to a student, 

 in a word, is " Get hold of your facts first, and learn to group 

 them afterwards." 



This doctrine is carried out in the present work, and so 

 pleasantly is the lesson imparted that the reader experiences no 

 feeling of being bored by technicalities, and at the same time 

 acquires, as he proceeds, a considerable amount of information. 



