Vni PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION 



problems through considerable periods ; a sense of the way 

 in which organisms respond to the environing conditions; 

 an elementary conception of development and of the evolu- 

 tionary series of animals ; some experience in classification 

 of organisms — theoretical and practical; a conception of 

 the place of man in the biological series, along with the 

 conviction that this does not invalidate, but rather 

 heightens, the meaning of all the higher human qualities. 



2. The first thing to be sought therefore is a thorough-going 

 appreciation on the part of the student of the attractiveness, 

 the scope, and importance of animals and their activities. 



3. A first course should really be a foundation course, and 

 as such should give the student a broad and catholic view of 

 the whole subject. It should utilize all the main departments 

 of Zoology, because each department contains matter which 

 should be familiar to all persons of ordinary education. Further- 

 more, the departments of morphology, physiology, ecology, dis- 

 tribution, and classification furnish exercises which have dis- 

 tinct, and yet complementary, pedagogical value. Any single 

 phase of the subject, however important or interesting, gives 

 a false and therefore an unscientific view of the wonderful science 

 of Zoology, unless it is supplemented by the others. Therefore 

 a book, if it is to serve the pedagogical needs of beginners, should 

 contain fairly representative matter from all the main depart- 

 ments of the science; and it should at the same time provide 

 both for the descriptive work and for the practical work in the 

 field and laboratory. 



4. Laboratory work and field work are essential, both to 

 proper interest and to proper results, and should not be merely 

 illustrative of text or lecture work, but as far as possible should 

 be the foundation and point of departure of the lectures and 

 the text. No instrumentality open to the teacher is better than 

 the laboratory as a means of securing real interest and mental 

 growth for the pupils. However, in order to attain this end 

 it is essential that this work shall really be vitally done. It is 

 not enough that a pupil be induced to observe and to record 

 his observations. The pupil's mind should always be en- 

 couraged to "follow through" to whatever response in the way 

 of conclusion or explanation seems sound in the light of his 

 knowledge at the time. It is much more important that these 



