FIRST GREAT DIVISION 



THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



ANIMALIA VERTEBRATA. 



The bodies and limbs of vertebrated animals being supported by a frarae- 

 vv-ork or skeleton, composed of connected pieces tliat are moveable upon each 

 other, their motions are certain and vigorous. The solidity of this support 

 enables them to attain considerable size, and it is among them that the lar- 

 gest animals are found. 



The great concentration of the nervous system, and the volume of its 

 central portions, give energy and stability to their sentiments, whence re- 

 sult superior intelligence and perfectibility. 



Their body always consists of a head, trunk, and members. 



The head is formed by the cranium which contains the brain, and by the 

 face which is composed of two jaws, and of the receptacles of the senses. 



The trunk is supported by the spine and the ribs. 



The spine is formed of vertebra, the first of which supports the head, 

 that move upon each other, and are perforated by an annular opening, form- 

 ing together a canal, in which is lodged that medullary production from 

 which arise the nerves, called the spinal marrow. 



The spine, most commonly, is continued into a tail, extending beyond 

 the posterior members. 



The ribs are a kind of semicircular hoops, which protect the sides of the 

 cavity of the trunk, they are articulated at one extremity with the verte- 

 bras, and most generally at the other with the sternum ; sometimes, how- 

 ever, they do not encircle the trunk, and there are genera in which they 

 are hardly visible. 



There are never more than two pairs of members, but sometimes one 

 or the other is wanting, or even both. Their forms vary according to the 

 movements they have to execute. The superior members are converted 

 into hands, feet, wings, or fins, and the inferior into feet or fins. 



The blood is always red, and appears to be so composed as to sustain a 



