CHAPTER XXX. 

 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY. 



395. Reference has already been made in the appro- 

 priate places in the text to some of the most important 

 ways in which the various branches of animals are related 

 to human welfare. We are now in a position to look 

 back over the economic bearings of animals and to get 

 a broader view of the part they play in the life of man. 

 This is a point at which Zoology touches the interest of 

 every citizen of the world, whether he has any other 

 interest in it or not. This should be one of the chief 

 features of the study of Zoology in our schools. 



396. An Analysis of the Ways in which Animals Affect the 

 Welfare of Man. i. Helpfully: (a) as food; (b) for cloth- 

 ing; (c) in the saving of labor; (d) in scientific experi- 

 ment and medicine; (e) for pleasure, as companions and 

 pets; (f) in minor miscellaneous ways. 



2. Hurtfully: (a) directly* hurtful or dangerous; (b) 

 as causes or conveyors of disease in man; (c) as enemies 

 of our friends among the animals; (d) as destructive to 

 vegetation; (e) as injurious to various manufactured 

 products. 



These headings are by no means exhaustive nor of 

 equal merit, but they will give the student some concep- 

 tion of the closeness of the bond between man and the 

 rest of the animal kingdom. 



397. Animals as a Food Supply. The difficulties of 

 human life have been such at various places and times 

 that man has experimented with almost all kinds of food 



396 



