The infancy of animals / by W.P. Pycraft, with 64 plates on art paper.

  • William Plane Pycraft
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The infancy of animals / by W.P. Pycraft, with 64 plates on art paper. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE While most people find young animals “ interesting,” few perhaps realise how much more so they become when we ask the Why and the Wherefore of their several peculi- arities of form and colour, and of the degrees of activity which they display on their entry into the world. The purpose of this book is to stimulate a wider interest in this theme, which contains food for thought not only for the Evolutionist, but also for the students of Sociology and of child-life in particular, and for that large and growing body who work under the banner of “ Nature Study.” In the space of a single small volume it was impossible to do more than make a selection from the vast array of animals whose young clamoured, so to speak, for atten- tion ; and it w^as often difficult to decide which of a dozen claimants best served my purpose. I trust that my critics wfill bear my difficulty in mind when tempted to take me to task for my sins of omission. But for the aid of the artist, and the photographer, my task would have been yet harder. And in this matter of illustrations I desire particularly to thank my friends Miss Helen Wilson, Mr. J. G. Millais, Mr. Rowland Ward, and Mr. A. H. Bishop, for their most kindly help. I have also to acknowledge the courtesy of Messrs. Longmans