Excerpt from Elements of Mammalogy: Prepared for the Use of Schools and CollegesThere is no easy method of acquiring knowledge. It is only to be ob tained by close attention and unceasing labour. N o matter what may be the quality of his faculties, the brilliance of his talents, to become usefully learned in any branch of human knowledge, every man must toil and take advantage of all the means within his reach.It has been asserted that, to become familiar with any branch of physical science, it is only necessary to see with the eyes and heat with the ears, without resorting to other means. It is contended, for example, that Natural History is best studied without the use of any books whatever, except the book of nature and its visible illustrations. This notion is entertained by persons of so much learning and in¿uence that it is worth our time to in quire brie¿y, whether the plan has pretensions that should lead to its general adoption.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis 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.