6 



the various external appearances presented by animals 

 and the changes they undergo at particular seasons of the 

 year, or at different periods of life. It examines the kind 

 of food on which they naturally subsist, and the abodes 

 which they frequent, whether in the interior or on the sur- 

 face of the earth, or in the atmosphere, or in the waters 

 which encompass the globe. It makes us acquainted with 

 the remarkable instincts and habits which characterise the 

 different species, the climates they inhabit, the extent of 

 their geographical distribution, and the varieties of form 

 and character which they exhibit in different regions of the 

 earth. It describes the periodical or occasional migrations 

 of the different species; their comparative numbers and 

 longevity; their periods of torpidity and hybernation ; 

 their seasons of moulting, pairing, and propagating ; their 

 periods of gestation ; their cares for the preservation of the 

 infant progeny ; the means employed to distribute the spe- 

 cies over the globe ; and the purposes they appear destined 

 to serve in the economy of Nature. 



This science enquires into the origin and duration of 

 entire species, and the causes which operate towards their 

 increase or their gradual extinction ; the laws which regu- 

 late their distribution, and the changes they undergo by the 

 influence of climate, domestication, and other external cir- 

 cumstances. It acquaints us with the uses of animals and 

 of animal substances, in Medicine, Agriculture, Domestic 

 Economy, and various arts ; and the means of rearing and 

 domesticating useful species, so as to increase their num- 

 bers, improve their breed, or extend their advantages more 

 widely to mankind ; and it likewise points out the most ap- 

 proved methods of preserving and preparing animals, dead 

 or alive, for museums, menageries, transportation, micros- 

 copical or zootomical observation, and other purposes of 

 science, utility, or recreation. 



It investigates the characters and relations of the extinct 

 races of animals, the remains of which are found every 

 where imbedded in the crust of the earth ; and thus ena- 



