Excerpt from Zoological Mythology, Vol. 1 of 2: The Legends of Animals It is not without some little anxiety and trepidation that I, for the first time in my career as a student, venture to address myself to a foreign public, and clothe my ideas in a foreign tongue; nor is it without considerable diffidence in my own powers that I have chosen to do so on a subject which, however interesting it is on account of its novelty and its historical significance, has brought me face to face with difficulties, and a range of scholarship and speculation, which, as in the presence of a foolhardy enterprise, have more than once given me pause. If, however, notwithstanding these incessant fears of mine, and the caution they so naturally inspire, I have, from other considerations, suffered myself to be hurried away into statements which may appear crude or inconclusive, I cast myself at the outset on the kindness of my readers, and respectfully bespeak their indulgent regards. The essential defect of this book will, without doubt, lie in its incompleteness. 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.