46 INTRODUCTION. 



of their own being, physical and moral, as well as 

 with the characters of all the objects of nature by 

 which they are surrounded; — subjects which "come 

 home to every man's business and bosom," but 

 which, in an ordinary course of education as pre- 

 viously conducted, had met with comparatively 

 little attention. 



But still, while the press teems with elementary 

 works upon Botany, Geology, and Mineralogy, in 

 all their branches, very few comparatively have 

 been devoted to the Zoological departments of Na- 

 tural History as far as regards its grand divisions. 

 Many, it is true, afford more or less accurate ac- 

 coimts of the habits of individual animals ; many 

 magnificent works have been MTitten, detailing, 

 with praiseworthy perseverance their external cha- 

 racters, and illustrating with minute fidelity, their 

 forn>s, spots and colours; certain organs have been 

 carefully noticed; and the peculiarities observed 

 by which species are to be distinguished. Never- 

 theless, the English language possesses few works 

 devoted to the consideration, as a Race of Beings, 

 either of Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, or Fishes ; 

 Entomology is the only division of Zoology which 

 has been treated of as a whole. The other 

 branches still require full and accurate gene- 

 ralizations with regard both to the anatomy and 

 physiology — the structure and functions — of their 

 several tribes ; at present, the student is frequently 

 compelled, in order to acquire the knowledge of a 

 single fact relating to each, to wade through masses 



