PREFACE. 
rn G Paee 
THE favourable reception accorded, both by the Press and the 
Public, to my former volume—* Zoological Notes”—emboldens 
me to hope that the present book may also be acceptable to 
that large class of cultivated readers who take more than a 
passing and superficial interest in Natural History. 
My grateful acknowledgments must be expressed to those 
distinguished Naturalists, travellers, artists, and competent 
observers who have responded to my inquiries on special 
points, and have furnished me with numerous valuable facts 
and incidents. 
I am indebted also to the correspondence columns of the 
Field, Nature, and other leading scientific periodicals for 
illustrations of the life and habits of the Carnivora, both in 
the wild and domesticated condition; while I must be held 
personally responsible for extensive extracts from my own 
note books and memoranda (made whilst every incident and 
observation recorded was fresh in my memory) extending 
over a period of twenty-five years. 
Lonpon, November, 1884. 
