PREFACE 



I HAVE endeavoured in this book to present a general survey of a 

 large number of the mammals of the world, which will, it is hoped, 

 aided by the comprehensive collection of coloured pictures and photo- 

 graphs, not only appeal to our young folks in the Homeland, the 

 United States, and in Britain beyond the seas, but also to grown-up 

 people who are desirous of acquiring a knowledge of animals without 

 having to resort to bulky and expensive tomes. The story I have 

 told in these pages is set out in a popular, and I hope understandable 

 way, and whilst scientific accuracy has not been sacrificed, it has been 

 my constant aim to eschew dry and uninviting definitions, and to 

 attract all those who read this volume to the fascinating study of 

 animal life. Each section deals more or less with a distinct set of 

 mammals, but some amount of overlapping occurs which it was 

 neither possible nor policy to obviate. Should my work meet with 

 sufficient encouragement, it is intended to follow up this volume with 

 a further one devoted to a careful selection of the Birds of the World 

 whose animate forms and winning ways will make them peculiarly 

 suited for inclusion in The Book of the Animal Kingdom. 



I have several important acknowledgments to make. I am greatly 

 indebted to Mr. Henry R. Knipe for permission to use six plates 

 of Extinct Animals which appeared in his remarkable book. Nebula 

 to Man, and to the Rev. H. N. Hutchinson for help accorded in 

 identifying andlitling some of the huge creatures of other days. For 

 the loan of books I am under obligation to the Hon. Walter 

 Rothschild, whilst for permission to include quotations from books 

 published by them, I am indebted to Messrs. A. & C. Black (Textbook 

 of Zoology, by Dr. Otto Schmeil) ; Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Ltd. 

 (The Life of Animals, by Ernest Ingersoll; A Hunter's Wanderings 

 in Africa, by F. C. Selous, and Curiosities of Natural History, by 



