Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon | Page 3

to me many valuable
observations, not only in connection with the botany, but the zoology
of the mountain region. The latter I have here embodied in their
appropriate places, and those relating to plants and vegetation will
appear in a future edition of my large work.
To M. NIETNER, of Colombo, I am likewise indebted for many
particulars regarding Singhalese Entomology, a department to which
his attention has been given, with equal earnestness and success.
Through the Hon. RICHARD MORGAN, acting Senior Puisne Judge
of the Supreme Court at Colombo, I have received from his Interpreter,
M.D. DE SILVA GOONERATNE MODLIAR, a Singhalese
gentleman of learning and observation, many important notes, of which
I have largely availed myself, in relation to the wild animals, and the
folk-lore and superstitions of the natives in connection with them.
Of the latter I have inserted numerous examples; in the conviction that,
notwithstanding their obvious errors in many instances, these popular
legends and traditions occasionally embody traces of actual observation,
and may contain hints and materials deserving of minuter inquiry.
I wish distinctly to disclaim offering the present volume as a
compendium of the Natural History of Ceylon. I present it merely as a
"mémoire pour servir," materials to assist some future inquirer in the
formation of a more detailed and systematic account of the fauna of the
island. My design has been to point out to others the extreme richness
and variety of the field, the facility of exploring it, and the charms and
attractions of the undertaking. I am eager to show how much remains to
do by exhibiting the little that has as yet been done.
The departments of Mammalia and Birds are the only two which can be
said to have as yet undergone tolerably close investigation; although
even in these it is probable that large additions still remain to be made
to the ascertained species. But, independently of forms and specific
characteristics, the more interesting inquiry into habits and instincts is
still open for observation and remark; and for the investigation of these
no country can possibly afford more inviting opportunities than Ceylon.
Concerning the Reptilia a considerable amount of information has been
amassed. The Batrachians and smaller Lizards have, I apprehend, been
imperfectly investigated; but the Tortoises are well known, and the
Serpents, from the fearful interest attaching to the race, and stimulating

their destruction, have been so vigilantly pursued, that there is reason to
believe that few, if any, varieties exist which have not been carefully
examined. In a very large collection, made by Mr. CHARLES
REGINALD BULLER during many years' residence in Kandy, and
recently submitted by him to Dr. Günther, only one single specimen
proved to be new or previously unknown to belong to the island.
Of the Ichthyology of Ceylon I am obliged to speak ill very different
terms; for although the materials are abundant almost to profusion,
little has yet been done to bring them under thoroughly scientific
scrutiny. In the following pages I have alluded to the large collection of
examples of Fishes sent home by officers of the Medical Staff, and
which still remain unopened, in the Fort Pitt Museum at Chatham; but I
am not without hope that these may shortly undergo comparison with
the drawings which exist of each, and that this branch of the island
fauna may at last attract the attention to which its richness so eminently
entitles it.
In the department of Entomology much has already been achieved; but
an extended area still invites future explorers; and one which the Notes
of Mr. Walker prefixed to the List of Insects in this volume, show to be
of extraordinary interest, from the unexpected convergence in Ceylon
of characteristics heretofore supposed to have been kept distinct by the
broad lines of geographical distribution.
Relative to the inferior classes of Invertebrata very little has as yet
been ascertained. The Mollusca, especially the lacustrine and fluviatile,
have been most imperfectly investigated; and of the land-shells, a large
proportion have yet to be submitted to scientific examination.
The same may be said of the Arachnida and Crustacea. The jungle is
frequented by spiders, _phalangia_[1], and acarids, of which nothing is
known with certainty; and the sea-shore and sands have been equally
overlooked, so far as concerns the infinite variety of lobsters, crayfish,
crabs, and all their minor congeners. The _polypi, echini, asterias_, and
other radiata of the coast, as well as the _acalephæ_ of the deeper
waters, have shared the same neglect: and literally nothing has been
done to collect and classify the infusoriæ and minuter zoophytes, the
labours of Dr. Kelaart amongst the Diatomaceæ being the solitary
exception.
[Footnote 1: Commonly called "harvest-men."]

Nothing is so likely to act as a stimulant to future research as an
accurate conception of what has