TO
WILLIAM JOHN BURCHELL, Esq.,
THE AFRICAN TRAVELLER,
Whose discoveries have benefited every branch of natural science; whose knowledge is equal to their full elucidation; and whose talents,—unfostered by, and unknown to, his own Government,—are held in respect and estimation throughout the civilized world.
THIS THIRD VOLUME OF
Zoological Illustrations,
IS DEDICATED;
BY HIS ATTACHED AND AFFECTIONATE FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
In closing our second series of Zoological Illustrations, we cannot but express gratification at the terms in which they have been alluded to at home and abroad. It is hardly necessary to state that the scientific interest of the subjects described, and the attention bestowed upon the plates, have progressively increased, as the work has approached its termination. The contents of this series may now be divided into three equal portions, so that the Birds, the Insects, and the Shells, will form distinct and uniform volumes, unconnected, except in the general title, with each other.
As complete sets of the first series have now become very scarce, new editions of the deficient parts are in rapid progress; and the whole will then be divided, as above, into three portions.
It is but justice to Mr. G. Bayfield,[1] that the author should here express his satisfaction at the skill and care with which he has executed the colouring of the plates, both of this work, and of every other in which his services have been engaged.
In answer to several correspondents who have requested to know what book we can recommend, as giving a general and popular introduction to the natural arrangement of animals, we are obliged to confess that amid countless volumes of anecdotes, compilations, and methods, no such work has ever been undertaken. With the intention of supplying this deficiency, we have devoted the greatest portion of the last five years to an Encyclopedia of Zoology; wherein the science will be placed under a new and striking light; no less instructive to the general reader, than interesting to the learned. In another year, we trust this work will be before the public. To that volume we must consequently refer the readers of this, whenever they wish to understand the full scope and influence of those novelties in natural arrangment, which are but slightly glanced at in the following descriptions.
As more than usual care is necessary in the binding of these volumes, it may be as well to mention that we have particularly instructed Mr. Betts, of Compton Street, Brunswick Square, on this subject.
Tittenhanger Green,
4th March, 1833.
- ↑ 9, Trafalgar Street, Walworth.