6 The Gresham Publishing Company. 
s The Animal Life of the World in its 
The Natural History various Aspects and Relations. By J. 
R. AINSWORTH Davis, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
s e . > a they 
of Animals: and of University College, Aberystwyth. Profusely illus- 
trated with full-page colour and black-and-white plates, and engravings in the text, by 
eminent animal artists. In 8 half-volumes, cloth extra, price 7s. net each. 
While the sum of human knowledge is gigantic now as compared with what it was a hundred 
years ago, in the department. of Natural History the books upon which the great majority of us 
must depend have undergone practically no change. The general Natural History still follows the 
lines adopted by Goldsmith in his famous and delightful Earth and Animated Nature. That is to say, 
they are little more than classified catalogues of animals, taking up in succession the various groups and 
individuals, and describing them one after another, each as standing by itself. This is not what 
the intelligent reader of the present day requires. He must be put in a position to take a comprehensive 
grasp of the subject; he demands a competent guide, not a directory, however accurate. 
It is with this end in view that THE NATURAL HIsTORY OF ANIMALS has been compiled. It treats 
this great subject on essentially modern lines, giving an accurate and vivid account of the habits, 
relationships, mutual interdependence, adaptation to environment, &c., of the living animals of the 
world. 
It is needless to say that the production of such a work demanded a man who has devoted his life to 
the study of biology and zoology, and who at the same time is a gifted writer and expounder. This rare 
combination has been found in the person of Prof. J. R. AINSWORTH DAvis, M.A., of Trinity College, 
Cambridge, and of University College, Aberystwyth, the author of the present work. Prof. DAvis 
is well known to naturalists as an ardent worker in Natural History, particularly in the field of marine 
zoology. He isa very distinguished graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, the chief scientific school 
in Britain, perhaps in the world, and has done a great deal of literary work, both scientific and in other 
directions. 
Briefly, the object of Prof. Davis’s work is to give in a readable form and in non-technical language 
a general survey of the whole animal world from the stand-point of modern science—and the work may 
fairly claim to be a Natural History on a new plan, the first comprehensive work in English of its own 
special kind. Formerly Natural History had much the character of a miscellaneous aggregate of 
disconnected facts, but hardly any fact or feature connected with any animal can now be considerea 
as isolated from others; and animals as a whole must be looked upon as interrelated in ‘the most 
surprising manner both with one another and with their surroundings. 
Every household library should contain a Bible, a Dictionary, an Encyclopedia, and a work on 
Natural History. This is the ‘irreducible minimum"; other books we may have, these we must. 
For THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS it may fairly be claimed that it has a better title than 
any other work to become the Natural History for the Household. It is a work in which the 
adult reader will find a never-failing mine of information, while the younger members of the family 
will delight in its wealth of illustration, and its store of interesting and suggestive anecdote. 
To teachers THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS may be regarded as indispensable. More 
than usual attention has of late been directed to the important subject of Nature-study; and in this 
respect the appearance of Prof. Davis’s work could scarcely have been more fitly timed. In the domain 
of Natural History it is pre-eminently the book for the purpose. Its clear and orderly arrangement 
of facts, its masterly grasp of general principles, its comprehensiveness of scope and simplicity of style, 
combined with the most absolute scientific accuracy, render this work an invaluable book of reference 
for those who aspire to teach Nature-study on up-to-date principles. 
The Illustrations, as befits a work of such importance, are on the most lavish scale. A large number 
are in colour, reproductions, by the latest processes of colour engraving, of exquisite pictures by the most 
eminent animal draughtsmen. In illustrating the work talent has been sought wherever it was to be 
found ; and the list of artists is representative of several nationalities. A large number of the designs are 
the work of Mr. A. FAIRFAX MUCKLEY, who is probably unsurpassed in the capacity to depict living 
creatures with absolute fidelity to detail without sacrificing the general artistic effect. FRIEDRICH 
SPECHT, one of the most eminent German animal painters of the past century, is represented in THE 
NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS by many of his best designs in colour and_ black-and-white. 
W. KUHNERT, another German artist whose work is universally admired; and M. A. KOEKKOEK, 
the talented Dutch painter, are also among those who have assisted in the embellishment of the work. 
An important feature is the series of diagrammatic designs showing the structure of certain typical 
animals, specially drawn under the direction of Prof. Davis. 
Prospectus of any Book post free. 
