PREFACE, 
In the present work, that is intended as a text- 
book for schools and academies of all grades, the 
design has been to present in concise and plain lan. 
guage, and in the light of the latest research and in- 
vestigation, the life-histories of the various groups 
that constitute the animal kingdom. Technical 
terms have only been employed where there was 
no simple equivalent, and the long tables of classi- 
fication and formulz, that can only be understood 
after a complete mastery of biological knowledge, 
have been omitted, as tending to divert the atten- 
tion of the student from the real issue. Professor 
Huxley strikes the key-note of this question when 
he says: “ That the power of repeating a classifica- 
tion, with all its appropriate definitions, has any- 
thing to do with genuine knowledge, is one of the 
commonest and most mischievous delusions of both 
students and their examiners. The real business ot 
the learner is to gain a true and vivid conception of 
the characteristics of what may be termed the nat- 
