PREFACE. 
V 
less than that of preceding years. Nevertheless the reduced 
bulk of the present volume must not be altogether ascribed to 
that cause, but is in a great measure owing to the increased 
care of some of the Recorders to condense their respective 
contributions. I have to repeat the regrets before expressed 
by my predecessor, that a large number of journals which have, 
or should have, appeared in the past year did not reach this 
country in time for their contents to be noticed here, while the 
precise pagination of very many papers which are recorded 
cannot be given, owing to the fact of their being only known 
to the Recorders in the form of separate copies which withhold 
this very necessary information. 
The want of uniformity in the mode of citing the numerous 
journals to which reference is made, though hitherto unavoid- 
able, has caused considerable inconvenience to those who use 
this work. Accordingly steps were taken whereby a more re- 
gular system should be adopted, and, thanks to the Recorders, 
most of whom readily followed the suggestion, this has been 
partially done. Next year it may be hoped that the exceptions 
will be fewer still. Since, however, to save space, more concise 
forms of citation than are common have here been used, an 
alphabetical List of the abbreviations, showing also the full 
title, has been introduced, the advantage of which to readers 
will be obvious. Another novel feature of the present volume 
is an Index to the Genera and Subgenera recorded as new ; and 
the utility of this addition will, I think, be generally admitted. 
In conclusion, I have to acknowledge the liberality of the Zoo- 
logical Society of London, which, by its Council, has placed at 
the disposal of the Zoological Record Association one year’s 
