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.