MTURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS. 



A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ANIMALS. 



Animals are living beings which feed upon plants, 

 — or, in many cases, upon animals whose food is 

 plants, — and in which the sense of feeling and the 

 power of motion are well developed. The kinds of 

 animals are very numerous, — more numerous than the 

 kinds of trees in the forest and the flowers of the 

 meadows and fields; and they are of all sizes, from 

 those so minute that thousands can sport in a drop of 

 water, to those of large dimensions, like the Horse and 

 the Ox, the Elephant and the Whale ; and their forms 

 are as various as their sizes and kinds. But the name 

 Animal is given to them all, whatever their size or 

 form, and whether they swim, creep, fly, walk, or run. 



Animals are most interesting objects for study, and 

 the child as well as the man is delighted with learning 

 their forms, structure, color, habits, and names, and 

 soon becomes as eager as a naturalist to find a new 

 Bird or a new Butterfly. 



Some kinds of animals, as Man, Cattle, Deer, Sheep, 

 Beasts of Prey, Birds, Turtles, Lizards, Snakes, Frogs, 

 and Fishes, have a backbone, and a spinal cord 

 which is enlarged at the forward end into an organ 



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