PREFACE 



I have now the pleasure of offering a third volume of * The Zoolo- 

 gist ' to the notice of my brother naturalists — a volume containing 

 a vast bulk of original matter, the greater portion of which is of the 

 highest possible interest. The supply of contributions continues un- 

 abated; and I am rejoiced to observe a greater disposition among 

 my contributors, to suppress redundant or common-place observa- 

 tions. I would particularly enforce the necessity of such suppression, 

 for I have been frequently compelled to decline papers containing 

 much that was valuable, because they also contained much that was 

 redundant. I wish that every contributor would recollect, that the 

 real utility of his communication depends upon the amount of infor- 

 mation it contains ; and I would particularly discourage too great a 

 disposition to indulge in amplification. I have always said, and I 

 again repeat, that facts are what we want ; and the more simple and 

 concise the language in which they are clothed, the more intelligible 

 will they be to the readers of the day, the more valuable as archives 

 of the science of Zoology. 



' The Zoologist ' continues to give all but universal satisfaction ; 

 a few pedantic advocates of mystification or technicality still dread 

 to join the ranks of my contributors, lest their own lack of know- 

 ledge should be exposed : these of course regard my labours, or any 

 labours that tend to make science extensively intelligible and useful, 

 with the utmost jealousy: by them the writers in ' The Zoologist' 

 are termed, by way of reproach, " mere observers," " men of facts," 

 " species-men," &c. ; they little think how truly honorable are all 

 these titles. These objectors are however but few, and their at- 

 tempts to retard the progress of ' The Zoologist ' are analogous to 



