2 ZOOLOGY 



difficulty however is confined to the very lowest and simplest 

 forms of life. The plants and animals which come under the 

 common observation of the student are readily distinguished^ 

 It is only the deeper study which reveals the underlying simi- 

 larity of all living objects. The branch of Biology which 

 treats of plants is called Botany; that which deals with animals, 

 Zoology. 



3. The Value of the Study of Zoology. The student, on 

 taking up a new subject has a perfect right to ask whether that 

 subject is worth while. A subject may have a great deal of 

 value in practical ways and not mean much in education; or 

 it may have high value in educating human beings and have 

 very little of practical worth. Zoology is strong in both par- 

 ticulars. Animals constitute one of the most interesting and 

 important features 'in the surroundings of man. They arouse 

 our interest, they appeal to our sense of beauty, they furnish 

 us with food and clothing, they attack our crops, they produce 

 diseases in us and in those animals we most use. In the second 

 place, Zoology adds to our knowledge of the structure and 

 activities of man himself since we are enabled through it to 

 study ourselves in proper relation to the other animals. We 

 may gain much light on the means of preserving human health 

 and making right adjustments by the study of animals. Finally, 

 the very method by which we study zoology is of the greatest 

 value in our mental growth. The scientific method demands 

 that we observe at first hand as many facts as possible; that we 

 compare and contrast these facts with one another and with 

 those which other people have observed; that we discriminate 

 between important and unimportant facts; that we learn to 

 draw right conclusions from our facts ; and that we always hold 

 our minds open for new facts even after we have reached our 

 conclusions. It is worth while to get these ideals and form 

 these habits. 



To the investigator, the ultimate object of zoological study 

 is to find the real nature of animal life as it exists, the mode of 

 its development, and the causes which have brought it to its 

 present exquisite variety and adjustment. These larger and 



