PREFACE. 



I HAVE for years been anxious that Natural History should be made 

 a regular Branch of Education, because it exercises both the observant 

 and the reflective powers; furnishes enjoyment pure and exhaustless; 

 and tends to make devotional feelings habitual. The present little Work 

 has been undertaken in the hope that it might conduce to such a result. 



In its preparation, I have aimed at conveying correct ideas of the 

 peculiarities of structure by which the principal divisions of the animal 

 kingdom are distinguished; and of the habits, economy, and uses of one 

 or more of the most common native species belonging to each of these 

 groups. Foreign species are occasionally mentioned in connexion with 

 their respective classes, but the "home produce" forms the "staple com- 

 modity." 



The exercise of memory involved in the repetition of scientific names, 

 or in the recital of anecdotes respecting the animals of the arctic or 

 tropical regions, is, comparatively, of little importance. The great 

 object should be to bring natural-history knowledge home to the personal 

 experience of the pupil. To teach him to observe, to classify his obser- 

 vations, and to reason upon them, and thus to invest with interest the 

 Co>nioN Objects which he sees around him. Small collections of 

 natural objects, made by the pupils themselves, would, under the guidance 

 of a judicious teacher, be of great value in this species of mental culture, 

 and would form the much-prized ornaments of the school-room. 



The present volume has been prepared amid the scanty leisure inci- 

 dental to the life of a man of business. It will, therefore, I hope, be 

 regarded with indulgence, both by the Naturalist and by him who is prac- 

 tically engaged in the important duties of the school-room. 



R. PATTERSON. 

 Belfast, 3, College Square North, 

 September 5th, 1846. 



Note.— The illustrations, for the most part, are those employed in the " Court 

 Flementaire de Zoologie" of M. Milne Edwards; a work adopted by the 

 Council of Public Instruction in France. 



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