56 INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY. 



Miiller, long ago said that we need not resort to distant 

 regions and foreign climes for rare or wonderful creatures ; 

 that the fields, the woods, the streams, and the seas of our 

 native lands, abounded- in wondrous evidences of God's power 

 and wisdom. The investigation of our native animals must 

 ever be a chief source of sound zoological knowledge ; for it is 

 there only we can watch, under favourable circumstances, for 

 the observation of their development, their habits, and their 

 characters. The naturalist whose acquaintance is confined to 

 preserved specimens in a cabinet, can form but a vague idea 

 of the glorious variety of nature, of the wisdom displayed in 

 the building up of the atoms of matter to be the houses of life 

 and intellect ; and, unless we study the creatures living around 

 us, how can we gain that delightful knowledge? The passing 

 note of an animal observed during travel is an addition to 

 science not to be scorned ; the briefly characterizing of a new 

 species from a preserved specimen, if done with judgment, is 

 of importance ; but the real progress of natural history must 

 ever depend on the detailed examination of the beings gathered 

 around us by the laws of geographical distribution, living and 

 multiplying in their destined homes and habitats." 



