11 PREFACE. 



thought better to translate the whole of his 

 compendium of zoology, the " Regne Animal," 

 and to make such additions to it as might ap- 

 pear requisite to render the present work not 

 merely useful to the naturalist as a book of pure 

 science, but also interesting at large as a gene- 

 ral zoological biography, and ornamental as 

 containing original and well-executed illustra- 

 tions. It was thus proposed to avoid the charge of 

 unacknowledged or repeated plagiarisms on the 

 one side, or of presumptuous temerity on the 

 other. 



The propriety of this course will, it is hoped, 

 further appear, when it is considered that the 

 " Regne Animal" of Cuvier itself is little else than 

 a scientific, though partial, catalogue or synopsis 

 of the living tribes, arranged according to the 

 laws of their conformation. It was meant to 

 serve as an introduction to his still more elabo- 

 rate work on Comparative Anatomy, and in- 

 tended chiefly for the use of professional stu- 

 dents : it is consequently deficient in much 

 popular and entertaining matter relative to the 

 instincts, habits, cfc, of animals, and contains 

 only a partial selection of the various species 

 sufficient for the purpose of illustrating the 

 different genera. To supply this deficiency, 

 additional descriptions of all the species will 



