Excerpt from New Illustrated Natural History of the World The author is sensible of the honour conferred upon him in being requested to write a volume to replace the late Rev. J. G. Wood's "Popular Natural History." Public estimation of that work was marked by the many editions and the various shapes in which it made its appearance from time to time. A growing taste for Natural History, no less than the necessity to utilize the great additions to modern zoological knowledge, render excuse unnecessary for the present volume. It is as comprehensive as a compact form will permit; and a scientific classification has been adopted without overloading the subject-matter with intricate technicalities. Of the twenty-four coloured plates, nineteen are by Mr. W. S. Berridge, F.Z.S., and five by Mr. William Foster. The numerous illustrations in the text are in all cases photographs direct from Nature by Mr. Berridge, except the seven figures on pages509-12 and those otherwise acknowledged. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.