PREFACE 
THE present volume is designed to meet the needs of 
the beginning student of zoology. Accordingly, technical 
and scientific names have been avoided as far as possible, 
and those used are fully explained in the text or elsewhere. 
The opening chapters deal with the characteristics of living 
things, and, in contrasting animals and plants, attempt to 
bring into relief the distinguishing marks of all animals. 
Then follows a discussion of the cell and protoplasm, pre- 
paring the way for the examination of a series of animals 
representative of each of the great groups, from the sim- 
plest to the most complex. These are considered from the 
view-point of structure; but considerable attention is also 
paid to the functions of their parts, to their habits and life- 
history, so that while the representatives examined are, for 
the sake of simplicity, relatively few in number, they are, it 
is believed, thoroughly typical. Hence, with a knowledge 
of the facts presented, the student should have a broad 
view of the animal kingdom, and a foundation on which to . 
base future study and observation. It is perhaps unneces- 
sary to add that from the study of books alone no one can 
really make such knowledge his own. A personal acquaint- 
ance with even a few animals in their native haunts, and 
an understanding of the structure and the function of their 
: v 
