VI PREFACE. 



induce some friend to become so. I wish that every district should 

 have a chronicler of its Natural History, and that ' The Zoologist ' 

 should be the receptacle for all. 



My part in connexion with *The Zoologist' is widely different 

 from that of editors in general. I am no intellectual giant, through 

 the ordeal of whose searching criticism each contribution must 

 pass before its publication. Every one who subscribes a single 

 fact is welcome — nay, more than that — has a direct claim to be 

 admitted as a contributor. My only duties are, first, to give 

 the facts something like arrangement, — to associate, as much as 

 possible, those which relate to one group or one class of animals, 

 and to print every communication relating to that group before I 

 proceed to another ; and, secondly, to defray the charges inciden- 

 tal to publication : and, since every item of expenditure is con- 

 ducted with a view to strict economy, the proceeds from a very 

 moderate sale would be sufficient to reimburse me. 



In conclusion, let me advert to the difficulty there is in making 

 the existence of 'The Zoologist' known even to those who feel the 

 warmest interest in the subjects of which it treats — the difficulty of 

 attaining even a moderate circulation : — and let me entreat those 

 who become acquainted with the work, to make it known amongst 

 their friends. 



EDWARD NEWMAN. 



9, Devonshire Street, Bishopsgate, 

 November 11, 1843. 



