The first edition of this work having been attended 
with a success which far exceeded my expectation, 1 
have been induced to commit this second edition to 
the press, with a view of rendering the book more 
perfect, and more worthy of public attention, by the 
addition of various new subjects ; the principal of 
which forms the second part of the present volume, 
I have spared neither time, trouble, nor expense, in 
endeavouring to render it worthy the patronage of 
my friends ; and although I have not the slightest 
pretension to literary tact, 1 do hope that my present 
attempt may be found somewhat interesting, and even 
useful, until some person better qualified for the task 
shall arise, and fill, with a more solid production, the 
u chasm” which has existed so long in this depart- 
ment of Natural and Commercial History, 
If this new effort should be attended, as my first un- 
expectedly was, with the approbation of such natural- 
ists as Owen, Cuvier, and Bell, I shall indeed feel 
myself amply repaid for these labours, which have 
been pursued in hours that I have wrested from other 
and more toilsome avocations. 
Thomas Beale, 
Bedford Square East , 
October , 1838 . 
