Natural HistoryinAnecdote
ILLUSTRATING THE NATURE,
HABITS, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS,
OF ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISHES,
REPTILES, ETC., ETC., ETC.
ARRANGED AND EDITED BY
ALFRED H. MILES
EDITOR OF
"1001 Anecdotes", "The New Standard Elocutionist", "The Poetsand the Poetry of the Century", "The A1 Reciters","The Aldine Reciters", etc., etc.
London
HUTCHINSON & CO.
34 PATERNOSTER ROW
A. C. FOWLER,
PRINTER,
MOORFIELDS, LONDON.
Tiger HuntingPREFACE.
Illustrations are like windows to the house of knowledge.They let light in upon the understanding, and they facilitate theoutlook upon truth and beauty. To illustrate is to help onesense by the use of another, to reason by analogy, and to teachthe unknown by the known. When definition fails, illustrationoften carries conviction, and the most successful teachers arethose who make the best use of sound and telling illustrations.How many lessons would have been wholly forgotten by us,but for the illustrations which made their meanings clear, andleft their truths for ever in our minds?
The book of nature is full of illustrations which help theunderstanding of the book of life, and no illustrations are morevaluable and fascinating, whether as revelations of the order andhabits of Nature herself, or as parallels and parables, full ofsuggestive application to the social and moral life of humanity,than those afforded by the study of Natural History.
To gather into a convenient volume Illustrative Anecdotesof Natural History, which shall throw light upon the study ofAnimal Life, for those pursuing it for its own sake, and helpto the understanding of Nature herself is the primary object ofthis work, while it is hoped that it may serve a secondary[Pg vi]purpose of no small utility, in suggesting social and moralparallels.
With a view to its first purpose the illustrations are classifiedin order as those of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, etc., etc.,and as much knowledge of Natural History as can be conveyedin anecdote form has been attempted. The book will thus, itis hoped, be a valuable aid to the teacher of Natural History,as a manual of illustrations for his lessons, as well as full ofinterest to the general reader, who may not wish to devote thetime necessary to more exhaustive scientific study.
A. H. M.