THE LIFE OF MAMMALS 
INTRODUCTION 
THIs is to be a book upon the mode of life, the history and 
the relationships, of the most familiar and important class 
of animals —the Mammals. It is the class, indeed, to which 
we ourselves belong, as well as do most of our domesticated 
servants and pets. From it we derive an enormous amount 
of aid and material. It furnishes us with a large part of our 
clothing and bedding; it supplies the principal element of our 
food; it provides materials for making a multitude of things 
of daily use; and were it not for the aid of these animals the 
farmer could hardly raise his crops, nor the merchant dispose 
of his wares, nor the rest of us enjoy many of our ordinary 
comforts and pleasures. And yet the surprising circumstance 
remains, that we have no popular name for this extremely 
important group. 
If I had announced this simply as a book on “animals,” 
without any descriptive subtitle, a reader might have under- 
stood in a general way what it was to be, yet he could not be 
certain; for any living creature is an “‘animal,” and a book 
under that title might properly include the whole range of 
zoology. Hence a distinctive name is required if the author’s 
purpose is to become clear. One cannot say ‘“‘quadrupeds” 
with accuracy, for that would include four-footed reptiles 
and amphibians, while it would exclude man, who has only 
two feet, and such marine members of the class as have no limbs 
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