Page:A History of Land Mammals in the Western Hemisphere.djvu/18

 tongue. To meet this need, Chapter III gives a sketch of the mammalian skeleton and dentition, which the reader may use as the schoolboy uses a vocabulary to translate his Latin exercise, referring to it from time to time, as may be necessary to make clear the descriptions of the various mammalian groups. Technical terms have been avoided as far as possible, but, unfortunately, it is not practicable to dispense with them altogether. The appended glossary will, it is hoped, minimize the inconvenience.

No one who has not examined it, can form any conception of the enormous mass and variety of material, illustrating the history of American mammals, which has already been gathered into the various museums. A full account of this material would require many volumes, and one of the chief problems in the preparation of this book has been that of making a proper selection of the most, instructive and illuminating portions of the long and complicated story. Indeed, so rapid is the uninterrupted course of discovery, that parts of the text became antiquated while in the press and had to be rewritten. As first prepared, the work proved to be far too long and it was necessary to excise several chapters, for it seemed better to cover less ground than to make the entire history hurried and superficial. The plan of treatment adopted involves a considerable amount of repetition, but this is perhaps not a disadvantage, since the same facts are considered from different points of view.

The facts which are here brought together have been ascertained by many workers, and I have borrowed with the greatest freedom from my fellow labourers in the field of palæontology. As every compiler of a manual finds, it is not feasible to attribute the proper credit to each discoverer. Huxley has so well explained the situation in the preface to his "Anatomy of Vertebrated Animals," that I may be permitted to borrow his words: "I have intentionally refrained from burdening the text with references; and, therefore, the reader, while he is justly entitled to hold me responsible for any errors he may detect, will do well to give me no credit for what may seem original, unless his knowledge is sufficient to render him a competent judge on that head."