434 INTEODUCTIOX TO ZOOLOGr. 



stands in the scale of the animal creation apai't and unap- 

 proachable, gifted with domuiion over " the beasts of the field, 

 the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever 

 passeth through the paths of the sea." 



It forms no part of oui- design to enter into the natural his- 

 tory of Man. We would only point to the place he occupies, 

 to the external characteristics by which he i^ distinguished, 

 and to the hidden wonders in his bodily frame which the skill 

 of the anatomist has revealed, in the structure of the lungs 

 {Fvj. 288), the circulation of the blood {Fig. 287), and the 

 arrangement of the nervous system {Fig. 342). We leave it 

 to the philosopher to speak of the triumph of mind in con- 

 fei'ring on inanimate objects powers surpassing those of the 

 fabled genii of the East ; conveying the intei'change of ideas 

 with a speed outstripping that of the winds ; and unveihng to 

 the eye in the starry heavens glories to which the highest ima- 

 ginings of the poet had never soared. We presume not to 

 enter on the still nobler province of the moralist or the divine. 

 But we would remark that, in proportion to the high privi- 

 leges with which Man has been endowed, is the responsibility 

 to employ aright the talents committed to his trust. And 

 among the fittmg and proper uses of his powers, the endeavour 

 to know something of the works of creation by which he is 

 surrounded should hold a foremost place. 



The study of the living tribes by which the eai-th and the 

 waters are peopled, forms one department of that course of 

 mental culture, to which every man, in every condition of life, 

 should be subjected. Such study trains our perceptive facul- 

 ties to action ; leads us to compare, to discriminate, to gene- 

 ralize, and to make the acquisition of one tnith, the means of 

 ascending to another still more comprehensive. It suppUes 

 pleasant and profitable companions amid the solitude of the 

 shore, the dell, or the mountain ; brings us a rich heritage of 

 cheerful thoughts and healthful occupations ; and, above all, it 

 teaches us to see the beneficence of the Great Fibst Cause 

 even in the humblest of the creatures W'hich He hath made. 



