Gift Book of the Bizarre Animals of 1903. Henri Coupin Translated by E.D. Vourgaft With 211 drawings in the text Marx's Edition About the book: Along with the animals, more or less normal, described in all the writings on natural history, there are a number of such that, departing from the usual type, seem to us extraordinary in their form, their habits or way of life. The great public knows very little about these animals, since information about them is found only in special scientific treatises, which are of no interest to the vast majority of readers. To fill this gap, to popularize in society the knowledge that until now was only the property of a few chosen, I undertook a real work - the Book of Bizarre Animals. I divided the entire material into separate chapters: each chapter contains a description of animals that have some external, physical, or internal, psychological, general signs. Here, for example, are the names of some chapters: Birds-birds. Animals-obstetrics. Peculiar tail appendages. Animals taking strange positions. Crying animals. Animals characterized by amazing survivability. Animals anticipating death. To make the reading of these chapters easier and more interesting, I released almost all the special terminology, provided the text with many drawings and illustrations. Everyone who wants to supplement his knowledge of zoology, it will be interesting to learn something about spit, whose role in nature, apparently, is to brush the teeth of a crocodile, about a sticky fish that clings to sharks-humans, and calmly disperses to them until it does not improve the convenient moment to profit from food-something from them. It will be interesting to get acquainted with the habits of giant whale killer whales eating their tongues, with the habits of fantastic animals that inhabit the depths of the sea, bats, one species of which speaks of the strangeness of these animals, arrowfish, which can be considered the inventor of hunting shooting, octopuses and chameleons, which have the ability to change their color. There are still many other bizarre creatures in nature, such as the so-called "walking sticks", birds singing like operatic tenors, insects playing the violin, hydras that allow you to turn yourself to the inside out, like a glove, and at the same time feel like nothing happened to you. The fact of the existence of all these representatives of the animal kingdom is not only very interesting in itself, but it is also deeply instructive: it tells us about some of the great laws of nature, illustrating such biological phenomena as, for example, mimeticism, symbiosis, the development of species, adaptation to the environment, the disappearance of the less adapted, the struggle for existence, parasitism, automy, etc. The existence of these strange animals, in addition, shows how great and diverse are the creatures of nature, which, not content with their usual, established, templated, very often creates new forms, bizarrely dodging existing types, creates some rogues, monsters that deserve this name either in all their strange appearance (pterodactyls, flying fish, armadillos, lizards). You can write a lot about all this: this is a topic almost inexhaustible. In order to be able to dwell in detail on the oddities of the least known and most curious animals, I left aside anything that could distract me from my main goal of composing a book that would not only satisfy the lovers of curiosities, but would also benefit those seeking to replenish their education in an easy way. Henri Coupin.