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PREFACE. 



THE object of MCGUFFEY'S NATURAL HISTORY READERS 

 is primarily to furnish to children v both at home and in 

 school, interesting and instructive reading in the form of 

 book literature. While no attempt is made to teach sci- 

 ence, the hope is cherished that the descriptions of animal 

 habits and characteristics may, incidentally, stimulate a love 

 of nature, and of science, the interpreter of nature. 



"FAMILIAR ANIMALS," addressing a lower grade of ad- 

 vancement, confined its subjects to mammals, because the 

 facts connected with this class are apparent, and are more 

 easily comprehended. 



"LIVING CREATURES," in respect to grade of thought 

 and expression, takes a step forward. Treating of animals 

 scarcely less familiar, and even more interesting, it enters 

 the field of the lower groups of animal life, where the facts 

 are more remote from ordinary view, demanding closer at- 

 tention and thought. 



To render the illustrations in the highest degree accurate 

 and helpful, the publishers have employed the services of 

 artists whose study and practice have made them specialists 

 in particular departments of animal drawing. 



Copyright, 1888, by VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & Co. 



MO. LIV. CREA. 

 E-P 7 



