hers, as the historian or
biographer of men, bent only on a record of the thoughts, words, and
acts of men, passes by the abstract details, however interesting they
may be, of human physiology, and the general characteristics of the
species. I have not aimed to introduce to the reader, in this volume,
all the animals belonging to the race of quadrupeds, who have a claim to
such a distinction. I have preferred rather to make a selection from the
great multitude, and to present such facts and anecdotes respecting
those selected as shall, while they interest and entertain the young
reader, tend to make him familiar with this branch of useful knowledge.

I ought, in justice to myself, to explain the reason why I have
restricted my anecdotes almost exclusively to animals belonging to the
race of quadrupeds. It is seldom wise, in my judgment, for an author to
define, very minutely, any plan he may have, to be developed in future
years--as so many circumstances may thwart that plan altogether, or very
materially modify it. Yet I may say, in this connection, that the
general plan I had marked out for myself, when I set about the task of
collecting materials for these familiar anecdotes, is by no means
exhausted in this volume, and that, should my stories respecting
quadrupeds prove as acceptable to my young friends as I hope, it is my
intention eventually to pursue the same, or a similar course, in
relation to the other great divisions of the animal kingdom--Birds,
Reptiles, Insects, Fishes, etc.

The stories I tell I have picked up wherever I could find them--having
been generally content when I have judged a particular story to be, in
the first place, a good story, and in the second place, a reliable one.
I have not thought it either necessary or desirable, to give, in every
case, the source from which I have derived my facts. Some of them I
obtained by actual observation; quite as many were communicated by
personal friends and casual acquaintances; and by far the greater
portion were gleaned from the current newspapers of the day, and from
the many valuable works on natural history, published in England and in
this country. Among the books I have consulted, I am mostly indebted to
the following: Bingley's Anecdotes illustrative of the Instincts of
Animals; Knight's Library of Entertaining Knowledge; Bell's Phenomena of
Nature; the Young Naturalist's Rambles; Natural History of the Earth and
Man; Chambers' Miscellany of Usef