442 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



General observers who desire to study these peculiarities will, 

 however, look to a great extent in vain for much direction or 

 information on these somewhat obscure points in those popular 

 treatises on zoology which are in more general use, and which 

 are very largely the only ones available to the less advanced 

 thinkers and members of the general public. 



I feel, therefore, that there is some excuse if, in drawing 

 attention to the particular attitudes and habits of animals, I 

 venture to suggest that this subject has not been given the 

 attention it deserves, chiefly perhaps through want of oppor- 

 tunity of watching animals in their native haunts. This facility 

 is vouchsafed to few of us, and although available to the general 

 sporting traveller or explorer, it by no means follows that the 

 latter, even if a naturalist, is invariably a person wont to or even 

 desirous of noting and chronicling minor observations. 



Many even of our best authorities who have made a life's 

 study of animal anatomy have, apparently, perhaps on account 

 of the arduous and complicated nature of their researches, had 

 little time to devote to these lesser (or shall we say less definable ?) 

 matters, even if they have had the opportunity ; and this at 

 times causes one to think that they give less heed to this subject 

 than it appears to merit. 



Habits of animals appear to be of value in classification, and 

 should the reader dissent or question the accuracy of this state- 

 ment, one has only to point to the very great similarity of action 

 and habit that exists in animals of closely connected species. 

 There is, therefore, some reason to believe that classification 

 might, in certain directions, be somewhat modified by giving 

 careful attention to these points. 



To a certain extent the inability, except on the part of a 

 favoured few, to visit and make observations on animals in their 

 native haunts might be remedied by study of animals in suitable, 

 large, adaptive enclosures, wherein the calls, actions, dispositions 

 and habits of the various groups might be carefully noted. And 

 further, as regards the grouping of the more nearly related 

 species, we might receive, if we took more trouble in experiment- 

 ing, much valuable evidence from the results of hybridization. 

 The experiments which have been made are singularly few, and 

 are often referred to in a somewhat loose manner. 



