Vlll 
PREFACE. 
have been in every instance taken from the same 
individuals or carefully collated with them. It 
has sometimes happened that the Editor has been 
unable himself to verify, on the preserved animal 
or its parts, those particulars which it is frequently 
difficult or even impossible to ascertain in the 
living state ; but in such cases he has generally 
quoted his authorities, and the responsibility in 
consequence rests with them alone. In the great 
majority of instances, however, he takes the respon- 
sibility wholly upon himself. 
But the case is altogether different as regards 
the habits of the animals in their native state. 
For these he has almost always been compelled to 
rely on the statements of other writers, principally 
travellers, and rarely versed even in the elements 
of natural science. In referring to such authorities 
he has thought it right to exercise a salutary 
caution, rejecting without hesitation those rela- 
tions which bordered too closely on the marvel- 
lous, or were evidently at variance with the organic 
structure of the animals. By this latter test he 
has uniformly tried them, and where he has found 
the imputed habits to correspond with the organi- 
zation he has adopted the statement as probable, 
even if not altogether proved. There are, how- 
ever, some observers of a higher order, on whose 
accounts he relies with implicit confidence, and 
