PREFACE. V 



The present work has been prepared as a companion to 

 the Geographical Reader, to furnish reading matter of this 

 desirable kind. Natural History, whether considered in its 

 relations to mental development or as furnishing the mind 

 with useful knowledge, can scarcely be overestimated. It 

 deals with life in all its varied forms, and from concrete 

 facts it rises to a consideration of those principles upon 

 which human existence depends. Its common facts are 

 such as come under the cognizance of every pupil, giving a 

 basis of personal observation which makes the treatment of 

 every department intelligible and of the greatest interest. 



In selecting the articles, an endeavor has been made to 

 secure the interest which comes from variety. Care has 

 been taken also that the statements shall be scientifically 

 correct, though mere scientific abstracts have been avoided. 

 The poetry and general literature of natural history have 

 also received due consideration. In many of the articles it 

 will be found that the statements are clear and precise, 

 answering the demands of science, but at the same time are 

 crisp and sparkling, stimulating the imagination, and giv- 

 ing that nameless charm which appeals to the sense of beauty 

 and arouses the finer emotions and sentiments. In beauty 

 of literary form, and in variety of literary expression, the 

 work will be found fully equal to the reading books that 

 have an unlimited scope of subjects. 



Another point has been kept in view. The old primal 

 animal instinct in man to hunt and kill, necessary in savage 

 life, still persists, and is sufficiently strong without special 

 cultivation. At present the lower animals need no longer 

 be regarded as enemies to be destroyed, but rather as friends 

 to be cultivated, or as curious objects to be studied. Most 

 of the articles selected, it will be seen, are pervaded by a 

 strong humanitarian sentiment, which is felt as an under- 

 lying principle, and is all the more effective from not being 

 formally expressed. The tenderness and finer emotions 



