Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon By Sir James Emerson Tennent

Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon by James Emerson Tennent A considerable portion of the contents of the present volume formed the zoological section of a much more comprehensive work recently published, on the history and present condition of Ceylon. But its inclusion there was a matter of difficulty; for to have altogether omitted the chapters on Natural History would have impaired the completeness of the plan on which I had attempted to describe the island; whilst to insert them as they here appear, without curtailment, would have encroached unduly on the space required for other essential topics. In this dilemma, I was obliged to adopt the alternative of so condensing the matter as to bring the whole within the prescribed proportions. But this operation necessarily diminished the general interest of the subjects treated, as well by the omission of incidents which would otherwise have been retained, as by the exclusion of anecdotes calculated to illustrate the habits and instincts of the animals described. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

Hardcover reprint of the original 1861 edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9. No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience. For quality purposes, all text and images are printed as black and white. This item is printed on demand. Book Information: Tennent, James Emerson, Sir. Sketches Of The Natural History Of Ceylon; With Narratives And Anecdotes Illustrative Of The Habits And Instincts Of The Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects, Etc. Including A Monograph Of The Elephant. Indiana: Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012. Original Publishing: Tennent, James Emerson, Sir. Sketches Of The Natural History Of Ceylon; With Narratives And Anecdotes Illustrative Of The Habits And Instincts Of The Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects, Etc. Including A Monograph Of The Elephant, . London, Longman, Green, Longman, And Roberts, 1861. Subject: Zoology

Excerpt from Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon: With Narratives and Anecdotes Illustrative of the Habits and Instincts of the Mammalia, Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, Insects, &C.; Including a Monograph of the Elephant and a Description of the Modes of Capturing and Training It A suggestion to re-publish these sections in an independent form has afforded an opportunity for repairing some of these defects by revising the entire, restoring omitted passages, and introducing fresh materials collected in Ceylon; the additional matter occupying a very large portion of the present volume. I have been enabled, at the same time, to avail myself of the corrections and communications of scientific friends; and thus to compensate, in some degree for what is still incomplete, by increased accuracy in minute particulars. In the Introduction to the First Edition of the original work I alluded, in the following terms, to that portion of it which is now reproduced in an extended form: - "Regarding the fauna of Ceylon, little has been published in any collective form, with the exception of a volume by Dr. Kelaart entitled Prodromus, . Faunce Zeilanicce; several valuable papers by Mr. Edgar L. Layard in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. for 1852 and 1853; and some very imperfect lists appended to Pridham's compiled account of the island.1 Knox, in the charming narrative of his captivity, published in the reign of Charles II., has devoted a chapter to the animals of Ceylon, and Dr. Davy has described some of the reptiles: but with these exceptions the subject is almost untouched in works relating to the colony. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.