INTRODUCTION xxi 



order that we may understand their proper relationships, and their places in Nature, we must learn 

 and remember the general principles of animal classification. Without this foundation knowl- 

 edge, a clear view of the splendid domain of animal life is impossible, and the life histories of our 

 living creatures will be but a jumble of disconnected facts, of very slight practical use. 



When properly simplified, the classification of the principal groups of our vertebrate animals 

 is as easily learned and remembered as the leading facts of geography. Once learned, each animal 

 observed thereafter can be located in the group to which it belongs, and its place in Nature under- 

 stood. This helps toward exact knowledge of its anatomy and habits. 



No-men'cla-ture is the naming of animals, and the groups to which they belong. The object 

 of popular nomenclature, or naming, is to make the place and character of an animal clearly and 

 correctly understood by the greatest possible number of people. 



» Scientific nomenclature relates to the use of technical names, in Latin or Greek, in which 

 the general student is not often interested. Whenever through frequent or frivolous changes of 

 scientific names, or by the giving of too great a number of them, our knowledge of animals becomes 

 confused and uncertain, scientific classification defeats its own object, and becomes worse than 

 useless. The observance by technical writers of the fatal rule of priority, by which the most obscure 

 names often are exalted at the expense of more appropriate names in universal use, is rapidly 

 debasing the legitimate value of Latin names generally, and creating wide-spread uncertainty and 

 confusion. 



Latin words are used for most scientific names, because Latin is the universal language of scien- 

 tific men, the world over; and Latin names are used by all educated nations without change in form. 



In the development of animal classification, the various classes of animals are subdivided into 

 groups which gradually grow smaller, until at last each species is named and placed, thus: 



Classes are divided into Orders: 



Orders " " " Families: 



Families" " " Genera (singular = genus): 



Genera " " " Species (singular = species) : 



Species " " " Individuals. 



As an example, take the Puma, or Mountain " Lion." 



Its Order is FE'RAE, the wild beasts. 



" Family is Fe'li-dae, the Cats. 



" Genus is Fe'lis, the true Cats. 



" Species is concolor, gray. 



" Scientific name, therefore, is Felis concolor. 



All these groups are divided into subdivisions, such as suborders, subfamilies, subgenera, and 

 even subspecies; but in the writer's opinion there is very little excuse for their creation, or for 

 their continued existence, and the student will do well to let them alone — until he feels the need 

 for them. 



A tau'to-nym is a scientific name in which the name of the genus is repeated as the name of the 

 species. Thus, some authors write the Latin name of the American Bison as Bison bison; and the 

 Anhinga is Anhinga anhinga. In America, the tautonym habit is merely another step toward the 

 complete demoralization of zoological nomenclature. 



A tri-no'mial is a name in three sections, applied to a subspecies; such as Felis concolor 

 oregonensis. 



By scientific authors, species are frequently divided into subspecies, or races, because in widely 

 separated localities, animals of the same parent stock sometimes are so influenced by differences in 

 climate, food, and surroundings that they assume different colors, or grow larger or smaller than 

 the type. But, no matter how much individuals may differ in size and color, if it is possible to 

 bring together a collection of specimens which will show all stages of variation from the type to 



