INTRODUCTION. 
THE advantages to be derived from a collection of objects of 
Natural History, are too apparent to require any illustration ; 
and their beauty and variety of their forms have, in a preserved 
state, ever attracted the admiration of mankind, as being 
next in point of interest to the living animals. Although 
good drawings and engravings will give us a perfect know- 
ledge of the general appearance of animals, still they are de- 
ficient in many particulars; for by them we cannot be made 
acquainted with the texture of the skin, nor the structure of 
the hair or feathers. 
The naturalist, on all occasions, prefers a reference to the 
stuffed animal to that of a pictorial representation, as by this 
means he is enabled to trace, compare, and decide, on the 
creature in its several characters and relations. 
In museums and cabinets are brought together natural ob- 
jects of all kinds, from the most extreme points of the globe ; 
and presented ina form that enables us, as it were, to look 
upon the mighty field of nature at one view; with the addi- 
tional advantage of having the various Classes and Genera 
placed in systematic order, to investigate which, in their na- 
tive wilds, would be the business of several lifetimes. Be- 
sides, we can here contemplate, without dread, the most de- 
structive and furious quadrupeds, and the most noxious reptiles. 
Here we can muse upon and study the animals which have 
created in us the highest of sentiments while reading the tale 
of the traveller, or the singularity of organization, pointed out 
by the naturalist. 
