878TEMATIG ZOOLOGT. 5 



How to Begin the Study of Zoology. — In our rapid survey 

 of the animal kingdom, in order to obtain a clear idea of 

 what an animal is, and of the structure of some common, 

 well-known type or example, we would earnestly advise the 

 student to study some human physiology, such as Martin's 

 " The Human Body," or any other at hand, and then to 

 read the account of the anatomy of the fish in this book, 

 and also study the skeleton and dissect a j)erch or any 

 common fish. The student will thus have a standard of 

 comparison, a standpoint from which to survey the animal 

 world as a whole. He will thus learn the relations of the 

 skeleton or solid framework of an animal to the muscles, 

 etc., and learn what a heart, lung, or eye is. Then he can 

 the better understand the structure of the lower animals. 



This book begins with the lower, simpler, one-celled 

 forms and ends with the most complicated, i.e., birds and 

 beasts, as it is believed that this is the most natural and 

 philosophical method. In geological history the inverte- 

 brates, i.e., those animals without a backbone, appeared be- 

 fore the vertebrates. It is better to lead the student from 

 the simpler to the more complex animal forms, just as in 

 studying hitsory we begin with the origin of mankind and 

 trace the history of the earlier nations which have preceded 

 existing peoples; or in the history of our own country, be- 

 gin with the discovery and first settlement by our European 

 ancestors. To begin the study of zoology by first taking 

 up the mammals and birds is like reading history back- 

 wards. Besides this, the student, being more familiar with 

 the birds and mammals, will find the subject growing more 

 interesting as he gets nearer the end of the book. 



General Woeks on Zoology. 



T. H. Huxley. A Manual of tlie Anatomy of the Invertebrated 

 Animals, 1877. A Manual of the Anatomy of the Vertebrated 

 Animals, 1871. 



C. Gegenbaur. Elements of Comparative Anatomy, 1878. 



G. Glaus. Elementary Text-book of Zoology. 3 vols. 1884-85. 



A. Lang. Text-book of Comparative Anatomy. Pt. I. 1891. 



Goues and Kingsley's Standard is'atural History. 6 vols. 1884-85. 



Also, Darwin's Origin of Species, and the works of Lamarck, Sem- 

 per, Haeckel, Wallace, Weismann, and Eimer. 



