36 THREE KINGDOMS. 



These you will find in ordinary text-books. For chap- 

 ter libraries, and for all who can afford it, I know of no 

 better general work than the Standard Natural History, 

 in six octavo volumes. 



The divisions of the Vegetable kingdom are varioiisly 

 given by different authors. For the great majority of 

 students the text-books by Wood and Gray will prove 

 sufficient. Gray's Manual and Wood's Manual will be 

 useful to more advanced students, while professional 

 botanists must, of course, have recourse to various works 

 in French, German, and Latin. Special works will be 

 referred to in the chapter on 'Books llecommended.' Tho 

 divisions and subdivisions of the Vegetable kingdom will 

 become intelligible to the student as he progresses, and 

 need no mention here. 



The Mineral kingdom is divided into Metallic and Non- 

 metallic substances, and these again comprise minerals 

 which exhibit different degrees of hardness, fusibility, 

 specific gravity, etc., regard being had also to their chem- 

 ical composition, and their peculiar forms of crystalliza- 

 tion. Dana's Mineralogy is a good guide, and Brush's 

 'Determinative Mineralogy and Blowpipe Analysis' is 

 an excellent manual for more advanced students, while 

 beginners can not do better than get Mrs. Ellen H. Rich- 

 ards' 'First Lessons on Minerals;' Professor Crosby's 

 'Tables for the Determination of Common Minerals,' and 

 the 'World of Matter,' by the President of the A. A. 



One object of this division and subdivision in the 

 several kingdoms is so to classify all natural objects that 

 we may determine the precise name of any specimen we 

 may find. The more minute the subdivision, the more diffi- 

 cult often becomes the analysis. Thus, it is usually an 

 easy matter to distinguish between an animal and a 

 vegetable. It is not difficult to determine whether we 



