4 IXTUonUCTION. 



iramortalily, or man would be degraded to a level witli, and share the destiny of, 

 " the beasts that jierish." Man, it is said, is continually advancing, developing 

 new jiowcrs, improving his moral and physical condition, adding to his comforts, 

 pleasures, ami luxuries, and subjecting more and more the forces of nature to liis 

 control, while the brute, from age to ago, remains in the same state, without 

 improvement or progress. This proposition is true ; but the inference drawn from 

 it, viz., that this difference arises from the fact that man is endowed with reason, 

 while the brute acts as he is impelled by a blind instinct, is not true. The almost 

 numberless facts recorded on the following pages demonstrate clearly that brutes 

 — even the most insignificant insects — do reason, in the same way, and for tlie 

 same i)urpose, in a limited sphere, as man. 



The distinguishing attribute and glory of man is not the faculty that we call 

 reason, but tlie caj'acitv to terceive, and aspire to, the Ideal. It is this 

 which perpetually .stimulates his reason to new exertions, and impels it forward to 

 new triumphs. Breathing the inspiring perfumes, and favored with glimpses of 

 the glories of the Ideal World, his soul burns with unappeasable longings, and thirsts 

 to embrace the Inliuile. It is in this sublime gift, and not in the possession of 

 the reasoning faculty, that we discover the filial relationship of man to the Divinity, 

 liis right to an immortal destiny, and capabilities for endless progi'ess. To the 

 brute the Ideal World is closed ; consequently his reason, aroused to activity merely 

 by his pihysieal wants, slumbers as soon as those needs arc su])plied. Hence he 

 makes little or no progress, and his liislory to-day is the same as his history three 

 thousand years ago. 



Pvcason, or tlie power of reflecting, is not a creative faculty, but simply an 

 instrument, an agent. Among the lower orders it acts only as it is forced into 

 exercise by the impulsion of material wants. AVlien it has satisfied these, it seeks 

 nothing further or higher. With man, on the contrary, inspired by the Ideal, it 

 produces an everlasting unrest, and, alter providing for all temporal wants, em- 

 bellishes his life witli the glories and enchantments of art, poetry, and philosophy, 

 and illumines his soul with inspiring hopes and the S]dendors of an immortal life. 



Instinct is a faculty entirely distinct from reason, and, like reason, is possessed 

 by botli man and brute. When we sec the newly born of any race seeking, by 

 natiu'e, sustenance at the maternal breast, we see a manifestation of instinct. The 

 acts produced by this impulse arc entirely irrational and involuntary. But when 

 we see an insect, which, after seizing its prey, pauses to consider how ho may the 

 most easily convey it to a safe retreat, where he may enjoy it without molestation, 

 and after repeated trials comes to a successful decision, we see an incontestable 

 manifestation of a rational meditation. 



The living world is separated by naturalists into four grand divisions, viz., 

 1. Vertebrated animals ; 2. Mollusca ; 3. Articulated; 4. Radiated. These are 

 divided again into classes, orders, genera, etc., which are arranged and considered 

 in this work according to the system of Cuvicr, modified slightly, following tlie 

 suggestions of Professor Owen, and more especially of Professor Louis Agassiz, 

 of Harvard University. 



