ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 57 



LESSON II. 



THE THREE KINGDOMS OF NATURE. 



> ALL objects with which we are acquainted have 

 been arranged by naturalists in three divisions, 

 called the " kingdoms of nature." These are, 

 first, the animal kingdom; second, the vegetable, 

 kingdom; and, third, the mineral kingdom. 



The animal kingdom is so named because 

 every thing which it includes possesses animal 

 life, that is, it can move and feel. This king- 

 dom is already known to contain upwards of 

 twenty-three thousand different species, or kinds 

 of animals. The forms and sizes of these animals 

 are exceedingly varied ; and they are found in 

 great abundance on the earth, in the air, and in 

 the waters. Some are so small as to require 

 the aid of a microscope to discover them ; others, 

 as the elephant and the whale, excite our wonder 

 by their magnitude and strength, whilst others 

 delight us by the beauty of their colours, or the 

 elegance of their shapes. 



The vegetable kingdom, which includes trees, 

 plants, shrubs, grasses, and mosses, is so named 

 from the objects embraced by it having what is 

 termed vegetable life, that is, they do live, but 

 can neither move nor feel. A plant lives and 

 dies in the very same place it first took root, and 

 shows no signs of being sensible to injury. This 



