INTRODUCTION. 



WHILE every department, says Doctor Good, of nature 

 displays an unbounded scope to the contemplative mind a 

 something on which it may perpetually dwell with new and 

 growing improvement, and with new and growing delight, 

 we behold in the great division of the animal kingdom a 

 combination of allurements that draw us, fix us, and fasci- 

 nate us, with a sort of paramount and magical captivity, un- 

 known to either of the other branches of natural history ; 

 and which seem to render them chiefly or alone desirable and 

 interesting, in proportion as they relate to animal life. There 

 is, indeed, in the mineral domain, an awe, and a grandeur, 

 and a majesty, irresistibly impressive and sublime ; and that 

 cannot fail to lift up the heart to an acknowledgment of the 

 mighty Power which piled the massive cliffs upon each other, 

 and rent the mountains asunder, and flung their scattered 

 fragments over the valleys. There is in the realm of vege- 

 tables an immeasurable profusion of bounty and of beauty, 

 of every thing that can delight the external eye, and gratify 

 the desire, simple, splendid, variegated, exquisite. But the 

 moment we open the gates of the animal kingdom, a new 

 world pours upon us, and a new train of affections takes 

 possession of the bosom. It is here for the first time that we 

 behold the nice lineaments of feeling and motion ; we asso- 

 ciate and sympathize with every thing around us ; we insen- 

 sibly acknowledge an approximation to our own nature, and 



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