ANIMAL KINGDOM. 13 



whether a particular being should be classed as an animal or 

 vegetable. 



The different methods by which they receive food, and assim- 

 ilate it or convert it into their own substance, form another dis- 

 tinction between animals and plants. Vegetables imbibe their 

 nourishment through their outward surface, or through their 

 roots and leaves ; but animals, for the most part, have a stomach, 

 or internal cavity, into which the food is received, where it is 

 digested, and by appropriate vessels, absorbed into the body. 



The food of animals is generally in a solid state, and must be 

 rendered fluid before it can be formed into the tissues. Taken 

 at intervals, and stored in the stomach, it does not hinder their 

 movements from place to place. During the intervals of its re- 

 ception, it is kept in contact with the absorbent vessels. Hence, 

 animals are said to "bear their soil about with them." The 

 earth is called "the stomach of plants." 



The habits and instincts of animals must also be considered 

 by the zoologist in making up the account of the differences be- 

 tween them and plants. This is a field which affords a wide 

 scope for comparison and research in tracing analogies between 

 objects in many respects diverse, and one which teaches many 

 lessons concerning the Divine wisdom and benevolence. 



The chart of "the Animal Kingdom" presents a view of that 

 branch of Natural History which is called ZOOLOGY, a term de- 

 rived from the Greek Zoon, an animal, and logos, a discourse. 

 This includes nine divisions, viz. ; I. Mammalogy, which treats 

 of the Mammalia, or animals that nurse their young ; II. Orni- 

 thology, which relates to Birds ; III. Erpetology, which includes 

 the Natural History of Reptiles ; IV. Ichthyology, which gives 

 the Natural History of Fishes ; V. Entomology, which gives 

 the Natural History of Insects ; VI. Crustaceology, which treats 

 of Crabs, Lobsters, &c. ; VII. Helminthology, which treats of 

 Worms ; VIII. Malacology, which includes Conchology, and 

 describes soft-bodied animals, with and without shells; IX.* Ac- 

 tinology, which treats of radiate animals, as the Star-fish, Sea- 

 Anemone, &c. The Animal Kingdom is divided, as on the 

 chart, into four sub-kingdoms, viz. : Vertebrates, Articulates, 

 Mollusks, and Radiates. 



* We have ventured to introduce this new term, formed from the Greek 

 word aktin, a ray, (corresponding with the Latin radius,) and logos, a dis- 

 course, in order to have the names of the several branches alike as to their 

 termination and Greek derivation, though the terms actinia and actiniadae, 

 (generic and family,) refer distinctively to the Sea- Anemones. 



