Vi PREFACE 



one, and that it departs widely from older arrangements. 

 The Author, however, must seek his excuse for its adop- 

 tion — if such be needed — in his firm belief that of all 

 classifications this approximates most nearly to a nat- 

 ural one, and that though subsequent researches may 

 compel its partial modification, its broad outlines will 

 long endure unaltered. 



Toronto, October z, 1871. 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION OF PART I. 



In bringing out the present work, the Audior has been mainly 

 guided by the recollection of his own difficulties as a student, 

 and by the belief that he is supplying a distinct want. Many 

 excellent and original works on Natural History are extant, 

 but they mostly labour under disadvantages which more or less 

 disqualify them as text-books for students. So vast, for in- 

 stance, have been the additions to our Zoological knowledge 

 within the last few years, that no work on Natural History, 

 except the most recent ones, represents adequately the present 

 state of the Science. Under this inevitable disqualification all 

 the older Manuals labour. Other Avorks, again, of the most 

 profound research, are unsuitable for ordinary students from 

 their bulk, cost, and, more than all, from their very profundity. 



The Author's aim, therefore, has simply been to present to 

 the ordinary student those leading facts in Natural History, the 

 knowledge of which is essential, but which lie scattered through 

 the pages of other larger and more costly works, inaccessible 

 to those who merely desire to learn the outlines of the Science. 

 In carrying out this object, it is unnecessary for the Author to 

 remark that he does not lay any claim to originality. He 

 trusts, however, that he has succeeded in laying before his 



