VI PREFATORY NOTE TO EIGHTH EDITION, 



The corrections in the Reptiles and Batrachians have 

 been made on the plates, from data kindly furnished by 

 Dr. Leonard Stejneger, and Dr. Oliver P. Hay of the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and by Dr. John Van Denburgh 

 of the California Academy of Sciences. A few additional 

 species are inserted in an appendix, the descriptions 

 having been furnished by Dr. Stejneger. " The Birds " is 

 revised to follow the generally accepted nomenclature of the 

 American Ornithologists' Union. " The Mammals " has 

 been fully revised and is printed from new plates. The 

 nomenclature has been carefully corrected in accordance 

 with the views of Mr. T. S. Palmer of the Department of 

 Agriculture. "The Cetaceans" has been revised by Mr. 

 Frederick W. True of the United States National Museum. 

 Two of my own students, Mr. William Weightman Price 

 and Mr. Walter Kenrick Fisher, have assisted me in the 

 revision of the account of the Mammals and the compila- 

 tion of the additional descriptions needed to bring the 

 work fairly up to date. 



DAVID STARE JORDAN. 



Lbland Stanford Jr. Unitersitt, 

 Palo Alto, Califoknia. 

 March, 1899. 



