PREFACE 



Tins book is intended for Students of Elementary Zoology. The part dealing 

 with the Frog and the Platana or Clawed Toad has been in use for some time 

 at Cape Town University, and has proved so valuable an aid to the work in 

 the practical classes that other types have now been added in this new and 

 enlarged edition. 



Being specially adapted for the requirements of students in South Africa, 

 the book contains descriptions of certain South African types which are not 

 dealt with in other practical manuals ; and, at the suggestion of the publishers, 

 in order to make the work useful for other students, the principal European 

 types, which are sometimes used in South Africa, have also been described. 



It is recommended that the Frog be studied first, as it is particularly suitable 

 for an introduction to the subject. The other types may be taken in any order 

 convenient. 



The instructions given throughout the text will be clearly understood by 

 reference to the numerous figures. The figures are not to be copied by the 

 student. A drawing of the actual dissection is to be made on the blank page 

 provided ; and the student should be prepared to point out the various parts 

 to the teacher. 



The instructions can be followed without preliminary lectures, and are 

 designed for the use of medical students and others whose course in General 

 Zoology may be unduly restricted by the inclusion of anatomical details. A 

 short lecture course is often overburdened with these details which, we think, 

 can much better be given in the form of a practical handbook. 



With a few exceptions, the figures are original and have been drawn from 

 actual dissections. 



The publishers are particularly desirous of expressing their thanks to 

 Mr Robert A. Staig (formerly Demonstrator of Zoology, School of Medicine 

 of the Royal Colleges, Edinburgh, and University of Glasgow) for the con- 

 tinual assistance of his advice in the preparation of this publication for the 

 Press, and for the excellence of his work in reading the proofs and compiling 

 the index. J. D. F. G. 



C. V. B. 



Zoological Laboratory, 



University of Cape Town, 

 15//^ May, 1922. 



