2 ZOOLOGY. 



difficulty however is confined to the very lowest and simplest 

 forms of life. The plants and animals which come under the 

 common observation of the student are readily distinguished. 

 It is only the deeper study which reveals the underlying simi- 

 larity of all living objects. The branch of Biology which 

 treats of plants is called Botany; that which deals with ani- 

 mals, Zoology. 



3. Purpose of Zoological Study. The study of zoology 

 is valuable to the general student because animals constitute 

 one of the most interesting and important features of our sur- 

 roundings, and have a most vital bearing upon our well-being. 

 In the second place, it adds to our knowledge of the structure 

 and activities of man himself, to study him in his proper rela- 

 tion to other animals. Finally, its study demands of the student 

 the use of the scientific method, which consists of observation 

 of as many facts as possible at first hand, of comparing and 

 contrasting these facts with one another and with the observa- 

 tions of others, and of reaching such conclusions from them 

 as may seem legitimate. In common with the other natural 

 sciences it is thus seen to have high educational value, apart 

 from the practical importance of the knowledge itself. 



To the investigator, the ultimate object of zoological study 

 is to find the real nature of animal life as it exists, the mode of 

 its development, and the causes which have brought it to its 

 present exquisite variety and adjustment. These larger and 

 more general questions constitute what may be called theor- 

 etical Zoology, or the principles of Zoology. 



4. Practical Exercises. Cause the student to select ten or more kinds 

 of wild animals with which he is partially acquainted, and, from his obser- 

 vation and experience, to enumerate the points at which they touch human 

 welfare. Are they, in each instance, to be classed as helpful ? as harm- 

 ful ? or merely as indifferent ? Is their influence upon man's interest direct 

 or indirect? 



What animals have, in the past, most appealed to your interest? Select 

 that particular quality in which you have been most interested (structure, 

 powers, instincts, habits) and show how the attempt to study or explain 

 any one takes you at once into all the others. 



5. Divisions of the Science. The facts and principles 

 which have been, and are yet to be, discovered concerning ani- 



