X EDITOR'S PREFACE 



variety, the energy, and the complexity of animal life throughout the 

 world. If in certain cases the idea is earried too far, as in reference to 

 coloration, the author is only following some of the most eminent 

 authorities on the subject ; but, as a general rule, his interpretations 

 have a sound foundation of physical science. 



Zoology is the study of living animals and their relations to the 

 matter and energy around them, and its special departments are of little 

 educational or scientific value unless their bearing upon the main object 

 of the science is understood and kept in view. This is the view which 

 Dr. Schmeil takes of the science, and which he has exhibited in his book 

 with remarkable skill and knowledge. The book will be of great assist- 

 ance in the teaching of zoology as a part of that comprehension of the 

 universe which constitutes scientific culture, and as a branch of scientific 

 training for the development of the faculties of observation and reason- 

 ing. The more difficult and remote problems of the science are beyond 

 the limits of the work, but as an introduction to more advanced study it 

 seems to me excellent. 



J. T. CUNNINGHAM. 



April, 1900. 



