\ iii Preface 



here ; and the notices of* extinct species are consequently limited to such as 

 can he located among the existing forms with a fair approximation to 

 certainty. 



Being essentially popular in its treatment of the subject, the work makes 

 no pretence to rank as a strictly scientific treatise, and should not therefore 

 be judged from such a standard. Anatomical details and technical terms 

 are in most cases so far as possible avoided. For instance, the characters 

 of the skull are in general not mentioned ; but in a scientific work it would 

 have to be stated that the common American deer and its numerous local 

 races are easily distinguished from the mule-deer by the shallowness of the 

 pits in the skull for the reception of the face -glands. In spite of its 

 popular treatment, it is nevertheless probable that the professed naturalist 

 will not fail to find much matter of interest, and possibly some aid in his 

 investigations. 



An exceedingly difficult and unsatisfactory part of the subject has been 

 that relating to scientific nomenclature. And both the sportsman and the 

 amateur naturalist will probably be disagreeably surprised to find a large 

 proportion of the species figuring under titles with which they are totally 

 unfamiliar. At the present time zoological nomenclature is undergoing a 

 complete revolution, the currently accepted idea being that the names first 

 given to animals must be used, unless they have been previously employed in 

 another sense, or there is some other bar to their employment. With some 

 misgivings, the author has felt it advisable in the main to follow this ruling, 

 although he cannot at present reconcile himself to the use of duplicative 

 titles, such as Capreolus caprcolus. Moreover, when a specific title indicates 

 a geographical error, it is rejected. And the same course is followed when 

 a name is founded on a misconception. An instance of the latter kind is 

 afforded by the name Hippocamelus, given to the Chilian guemal on the 

 supposition that it was intermediate between a horse and a llama. In this 

 case the name Manama, although later, is selected for use. 



