induce some friend to become so. I wish that every district should have a chronicler of its Natural History, and that 'The Zoologist' should be the receptacle for all.
My part in connexion with 'The Zoologist' is widely different from that of editors in general. I am no intellectual giant, through the ordeal of whose searching criticism each contribution must pass before its publication. Every one who subscribes a single fact is welcome—nay, more than that—has a direct claim to be admitted as a contributor. My only duties are, first, to give the facts something like arrangement,—to associate, as much as possible, those which relate to one group or one class of animals, and to print every communication relating to that group before I proceed to another; and, secondly, to defray the charges incidental to publication: and, since every item of expenditure is conducted with a view to strict economy, the proceeds from a very moderate sale would be sufficient to reimburse me.
In conclusion, let me advert to the difficulty there is in making the existence of 'The Zoologist' known even to those who feel the warmest interest in the subjects of which it treats—the difficulty of attaining even a moderate circulation:—and let me entreat those who become acquainted with the work, to make it known amongst their friends.
9, Devonshire Street, Bishopsgate,
November 11, 1843.
