POPULAR WORK ON NATURAL HISTORY BY 

 REV. J. G. WOOD, M.A. 



Second Edition now ready, in 1 vol. 8vo. price 21s. cloth; or, price 27s. 

 half-bound in morocco by Riviere. 



HOMES WITHOUT HANDS: 



DESCRIPTION OF THE HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS, 

 CLASSED ACCORDING TO THEIR PRINCIPLE OF CONSTRUCTION. 



By J. G. WOOD, M.A., F.L.S. 



With about 140 Illustrations engraved on Wood by G. Pearson, 



from Original Designs made by F. W. Keyl and E. A. Smith, 



under the Author's superintendence. 



'Homes Without Hands is more in- 

 teresting than a fairy tale, and sliews 

 how liighly endowed are the inferior 

 races, which from the very (irst pro- 

 duced in perfection worlcs to wliich 

 the nobler intellect of man cuuld attain 

 only after the discipline and experience 

 of centuries. There is scarcely an in- 

 vention of man of which the prototyi)e 

 may not be discovered in the great 

 patent office of Nature, nor a me- 

 chanical contrivance in which he has 

 not been anticipated by the insects 

 and animals which he is in the habit 

 of rcfrarding with contempt, if not 

 with loathing. The invention of paper 

 was a new era in human history, but 

 wasps made veritable paper and pa- 

 pier-mache from the beginning of the 

 world. Mankind waited throngh thou- 

 sands of years for Professor Wheat- 

 stone to invent the electric telegraph, 

 but ihe Arachiiid;e had their lines in 

 operation on the morning when Adam 

 lirst opened his eyes upon the world. 

 The beaver was from the beginning 

 conversant with the strength and 



virtues of the arch; the burrowing 

 spider made use of the poppet valve ; 

 and as for the bearings of timbers 

 and the strentrth of materials, birds, 

 beasts, and insects were well ac- 

 quainted with them thousands of 

 years before Vitkuvius or Teed- 

 GOLD or Paiebairn was born. The 

 Author, in a fascinating style and 

 with a profusion of elegant engrav- 

 ings, illustrates instinctive art in all 

 its departments, from the labours of 

 the smallest insect up to those of the 

 largest animal which builds itself a 

 dwelling. To enumerate the wonders 

 contained in the book we should be 

 compelled to write an abstract of its 

 contents, for each page contains some- 

 thing that will interest and delight 

 the reader. It is a work calculated to 

 bring pleasures of the most rational 

 and e\evating kind into many a school- 

 room and many a family circle during 

 tlie Christmas seasfm ; and certainly 

 it would be impossible to recommend 

 a more suitable book for a present to 

 a young person.' Daily News. 



Loudon : LONGMANS, GEEEN, and CO. Paternoster Eow. 



